Norwegian Dumps Texas AGAIN

[quercus alba]

I agree with this comment.

 

 

As someone that always has to fly for a cruise vacation, a Texas port is great for locals but if given the choice of Houston, New Orleans, or any city in Florida, it's unlikely that I would fly to Texas.

 

This.

[DebJ14]

It was great while it lasted.

 

Like!

[FreestyleNovice]

Ever flown 4600 miles each way for a 4 day Sky cruise? :D

[mediccruzin]

If cruises out of Houston were profitable enough for the cruise lines involved, they probably wouldn't have made a decision to pull out. I understand people are disappointed, I would be too, but it is a business after all, not a public service.

 

Concur, also the Bayport terminal is further up the very crowded ship channel. It takes close to two hours to sail up and down the channel from the gulf. Also since NCL and Princess only sailed out of Bayoort in the winter and early spring months fog was a major issue, causing a delay getting in and out. The city of Houston did this to themselves. There are better locations to out a secondary cruise terminal that would have been easier to get in and out of.

[xriva]

Houston was called out on the Norwegian quarterly call as the lowest performing port. I live in Dallas and we're sailing on the Jade before she leaves. We'll drive down, so that saved the airport question. (Houston has two good airports - one is in Galveston, and one is in Dallas, so the saying goes.) However, there are virtually no hotels close to the port, as opposed to Miami, where we have never stayed at the same hotel twice (seven cruises) and we're always ten minutes or so from the ship. We've sailed out of New Orleans twice and were close. Houston, notsomuch. In fact, Hilton will still let you make reservations at a Hampton Inn that apparently burned down earlier this year.

 

Houston is an interesting town (I lived there for three years) but it is spread out and with no zoning, is completely unorganized, so (like Dallas), you have to have a car to do anything. Traffic can be bad, the distance from the airports to the port is insane, and people all bitch about the drinking and gambling delays (I'm not that much of a drinker, so I'll survive.)

 

I'm sorry to see both lines leave, but the more I read about the port, I'm not surprised. It doesn't sound very convenient, it accommodates one ship at a time, and it's in the middle of nowhere. Actually. it does sound like a government project.

 

We're sailing out of Houston because we're Norwegian loyalists and Texans by choice (we weren't born here, but we got here as fast as we could.) I'm glad we will get one chance to sail from Texas.

 

The major advantage for us is we can save the plane fares to Miami or New Orleans. Otherwise, there's not much different - we're doing a very similar sailing to one we did from NOLA a few years back.

 

I hate to see Texas lose two lines, but I would rather have Norwegian go to new places - I can only take the same handful of ports for so long. So, if it's a question of new ports or going back to Cozumel again, I'll take the new ports.

Edited August 10, 2015 by xriva

[fshagan]

Probably should tell the whole story. Houston built the new port several/many years ago to try to bring some cruise business to the area. It didn't work, the cruise lines didn't want it. When Katrina hit, it was used as a replacement port until New Orleans was ready again. Houston made a big push a couple of years ago to try to gain some return on the the taxpayers money. They made a sweet deal to bring the lines in for two years with an option to extend. The cruise lines chose not to extend. It was and has been a taxpayers boondoggle. And because you created a website to support the insanity you are now leaving NCL! Oh well.

 

From what I infer from the investor conference call, the Houston port was the least profitable port ... I think they called it the "lowest yield" port ... that they had. So it wasn't that NCL hates Texas, but that Texas didn't provide the passengers in a volume large enough to support operations out of that port. So it's the other way around: Texas hates NCL, and refused to provide enough passengers to make it worthwhile. Texas left NCL holding the bag, so to speak.

 

Not really, of course. It's simply a matter of market based economics which are still alive, no matter how much the big government boon-doggle from the state of Texas tried to corrupt it.

[JetSet2B]

Having sailed out of Houston, I didn't enjoy the experience and would never have sailed out of Houston again. However, it is unfortunate for those who live in TX.

[GORDONCHICK]

I thought sailing out of Houston was great and a breeze. Of course, we drove, but we do the same for NOLA and did the same for Galveston (won't sail out of there again). And I don't see the couple hours to get to the gulf as an issue - it's much longer out of NOLA.

 

It was a business decision.

[TrumpyNor]

For the 2nd time in 8 years, Norwegian Cruise Lines has decided Texans don't have the deep pockets of the Asians and Australians are are leaving the $108 million dollar terminal the Houston Texas taxpayers built for them.

The new terminal was vacant after being built and Houston bribed Princess and Norwegian with millions in incentives AND they still bailed out on Texas.

My wife and are a wayyyyyy Platinum on NCL and we even made a website to promote the return of NCL to Texas. http://www.texaribbean.com.

Big waste of time.........after April 2016, it is bye bye Texas again. He is what I say "Bye Bye NCL!" :mad:

 

Maybe I should stop cruising with NCL because they have NO cruises departing from any place in the country I live in (Norway), even when they still call themselves Norwegian Cruise Line...??? Of course not! The longest flight (including time at airports between different flights) I have done to do a NCL cruise was 36 hours was for an Hawaiian cruise - and I was not complaining....!!!

 

So do I feel sorry for you if NCL leaving Texas means that you have to travel to a different state if you want to cruise with them in the future? Not really....

Edited August 11, 2015 by TrumpyNor

[swilliams1660]

Maybe I should stop cruising with NCL because they have NO cruises departing from any place in the country I live in (Norway), even when they still call themselves Norwegian Cruise Line...??? Of course not! The longest flight (including time at airports between different flights) I have done to do a NCL cruise was 36 hours was for an Hawaiian cruise - and I was not complaining....!!!

 

So do I feel sorry for you if NCL leaving Texas means that you have to travel to a different state if you want to cruise with them in the future? Not really....

 

Like

[Sotermarler]

Maybe I should stop cruising with NCL because they have NO cruises departing from any place in the country I live in (Norway), even when they still call themselves Norwegian Cruise Line...??? Of course not! The longest flight (including time at airports between different flights) I have done to do a NCL cruise was 36 hours was for an Hawaiian cruise - and I was not complaining....!!!

 

So do I feel sorry for you if NCL leaving Texas means that you have to travel to a different state if you want to cruise with them in the future? Not really....

 

 

I live in AZ so I have to fly no matter what port they sail from (except CA). I'm just sad there is one less option of ports as well as sad for the folks who may now lose their jobs.

[yj_eugene]

NCL IS deserting us and you can't sugar coat that fact

 

Maybe if you change "deserting" to "desserting"?

 

Seriously, I think it's just economics. Houston, Tampa and NOLA all have long trips to the Gulf, and then from Houston it's a longer trip to the same ports, so it costs them more fuel money. Add to that the whole Texas alcohol tax issue, and I can understand if NCL thinks they can make more money with that ship elsewhere while Tampa and NOLA can handle those that still want cruise NCL to the same ports.

[swilliams1660]

I guess NCL is just abiding by the slogan "Don't Mess with Texas".

[wvfrogg]

I sailed out of Texas last year, and am doing so again this December. It is probably my least favorite location from which to sail. The hotels around Houston Hobby have no restaurants nearby, and the Port itself was out in the middle of nowhere. But ... I love the Jewel class ships and this was the only one that did a Caribbean cruise when I wanted to go. I am not a fan of the "mega-ships" (only been on one - the Epic - and did not care for it). I would much rather go out of Miami but only the mega ships are going out of there.

 

So now, I have to make up my mind whether to stay with the Jewel class or try something new. I guess the Jade is going out of NOLA next year, so that may be my best bet.

[pisenor]

I guess the Jade is going out of NOLA next year, so that may be my best bet.

 

Sorry to throw another wrench in your plan. The Jade is going to Tampa. This is copy from the NCL press release regarding the redeployment.

 

 

Norwegian Jade will replace Norwegian Star and homeport from Tampa from November 2016 through April 2017 and sail a seven-day Western Caribbean itinerary departing on Sundays to Cozumel, Mexico; Costa Maya, Mexico; Roatan (Bay Islands), Honduras; and Norwegian's new Caribbean destination experience, Harvest Caye, Belize. In addition, Norwegian Jade will also sail two eight-day Western Caribbean holiday sailings in December 2016. Guests aboard these two cruises will enjoy the holidays under the sun with ports of call in Cozumel, Mexico; Costa Ma

[judipa]

Thanks for a reasonable response. I would love to have seen this work, we are tired of not being able to drive to any port unless we allow 2 or 3 days, but we also are tired of the same itinerary. I think this was, probably a good business decision. Sad, for many of us, good decision.

 

I believe that all cruise lines have "deserted" Houston. I read that no ships will be leaving houston.

[Jane Don]

If I were a taxpayer in the city of Houston, I would be furious. It is the taxpayers I feel sorry for. Now they have paid for this enormous building that is useless because municipal politicians gambled with their money and lost. I would love to read a story by a good investigative reporter about the history of this fiasco.

 

My guess is that after the 'we will pay you to sail from here' contracts were up the city wanted to charge port fees and both Princess and NCL laughed and in unison they replied, "No thanks."

[lifes-a-beach]

we live about 90 minutes from the Bayport terminal and have sailed from there several times. in all fairness, the staff there is very friendly and the facility is much better run than Galveston. there is nearly no traffic and parking is like being at the mall. for us there was nothing not to like. as for those decrying the politicians, this was just business as usual. some politician got paid off by some contractor for the contract to build the port. some other politician got paid off by whoever they bought the land from. some other politician got paid off by the contractor that built the roads. and so it goes. if you have never been exposed to Houston politics it might be hard to understand. suffice to say the voters have gotten exactly what they deserve.

[zdcatc12]

if you have never been exposed to Houston politics it might be hard to understand.

 

But makes it easier when you realize that they are the same politicians that made all the restrooms in the city unisex now.

[wvfrogg]

Sorry to throw another wrench in your plan. The Jade is going to Tampa. This is copy from the NCL press release regarding the redeployment.

 

 

I can handle Tampa -- although the one time I sailed from Tampa we were 6 hours late in leaving due to the fog. Still like Miami the best!

[rvsullivan]

I sailed out of Texas last year, and am doing so again this December. It is probably my least favorite location from which to sail. The hotels around Houston Hobby have no restaurants nearby, and the Port itself was out in the middle of nowhere. But ... I love the Jewel class ships and this was the only one that did a Caribbean cruise when I wanted to go. I am not a fan of the "mega-ships" (only been on one - the Epic - and did not care for it). I would much rather go out of Miami but only the mega ships are going out of there.

 

So now, I have to make up my mind whether to stay with the Jewel class or try something new. I guess the Jade is going out of NOLA next year, so that may be my best bet.

 

It is Dawn out of NO now and going forward with the "new" schedules. Never been fogged out in NO.

[DebJ14]

But makes it easier when you realize that they are the same politicians that made all the restrooms in the city unisex now.

 

Nah - the Bayport mess began years ago before she was Mayor. And thanks to the Supreme Court they have to cancel the ordinance or put it on the ballot so it is safe to go to the bathroom!