Fog and liberty

[SciFiGuy1960]

No confirmation as of yet but given the amount of money RCCL is getting ready to spend on the new terminal and the infrastructure improvements the port is getting ready to start I think it's a safe bet to expect an Oasis class ship to be sailing out of Galveston once completed.

[ssb]

 

 

In an article written by Roger Rees Director and CEO of Port of Galveston, 

he wrote in December 2018 after the signing  - " Royal Caribbean and Port of Galveston signed a Memorandum of Understanding to build a $100,000 million cruise complex at Pier 10 . This terminal will be home port to the world's largest cruise ships in 2021".  

 

Port of Galveston's Rodger Rees and Royal Caribbean International's Michael Bayley sign the MOU (Image: Port of Galveston)

 

# CT3 Terminal.pdf

 

 

Edited March 9, 2019 by ssb

[StrikeEagle]

I want to give you a first hand experience of the improvement situation cruise ships arrival in the fog at port of Galveston.  I'm set sail on the Liberty of the Seas today 3//10.  Lastnight local weather has dense fog advisory for Galveston from midnight to 9:00am.  I also received text and email from Royal Caribbean telling me about the heavy fog and the ship can be delayed getting into port.  This morning I woke up at 4:00am and monitor the Liberty on marrinetraffic.com.   At that time I see the Liberty is at Galveston coast moving at around 12 knots right behind it is the Carnival Vista and also the boat Texas which is a pilot boat.   Those 3 ships/boat are the only ones which is moving.  There are at least 20 other nearby vessels which are not moving.  Some of those are tankers and cargo ships.  I kept on monitor the Liberty and Vista and I see it is moving as it should even in dense fog and dock at around 6:00 am.
I think it is true what being said about the improvement of the pilot ship association and it is good news for cruisers since Galveston port often has fog.

 

Attached is the screen shot from marrine traffic at around 5:00 am.  The list of nearby standing still vessels was long I only capture what fit on the screen.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 10, 2019 by StrikeEagle

[StrikeEagle]

this is how heavy the fog is at 7:07 am,  about one hour after both Liberty and Vista docked.

 

 

 

Edited March 10, 2019 by StrikeEagle

[ssb]

We need to commend the Pilots , Royal and Port of Galveston for timely ship arrival this morning. 

I watched on Cruise Tracker also this morning . Thanks Strike Eagle for photos and comments . Both Liberty and Vista ships were in Galveston Channel around 6 am . Liberty was leading the way . 

Edited March 10, 2019 by ssb

[ssb]

As far as the other tankers in Gulf just outside the jetties  and the ship channel , most are tankers being used as storage of oil in the world futures market . They will not move until the oil is sold . 

[ssb]

On 3/6/2019 at 3:15 PM, BillOh said:

 

 

I know there have been rumors of moving an Oasis class to this port, that is still just a rumor isn't it?

 

On 3/6/2019 at 3:26 PM, Host Clarea said:

 

Yes, no confirmation from the cruise line.

 

Royal Caribbean to build nearly $100M cruise terminal in Galveston

By Andrea Leinfelder

Updated 8:23 am CST, Thursday, December 6, 2018

GALVESTON — Royal Caribbean expects to bring some of its largest ships to Galveston after investing close to $100 million to build a new cruise terminal at the Port of Galveston.

"When we're investing this heavily in the construction of a terminal and entering into long-term lease agreements, then that usually signifies that we will be bringing our ships such as the Oasis Class," said Michael Bayley, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International.

The 200,000-square-foot terminal is slated to open in the fall of 2021 and will be the third cruise terminal for Galveston, which is the fourth-busiest cruise port in the country. Just shy of 1 million people will board cruise ships from Galveston this year, and the port is about to see its 10 millionth passenger since it began cruise operations in 2000.

Michael Bayley and Rodger Rees, port director and CEO for the Port of Galveston, signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday to outline general terms for the deal. A final agreement must be approved by the Board of Trustees of the Galveston Wharves.

 

"At least the 11 months that I've been here," Rees said, "we've been working on this transaction."

The new terminal will be on 10 acres of land at Pier 10, which is in the port's southeast section. Royal Caribbean will initially lease the terminal land for 20 years. It will then have the option of extending that lease for an additional 10 years and can do this four times if desired.

 

The port will be responsible for items including maintenance, parking and improvements to the dock so that it can accommodate the larger vessels. Royal Caribbean will help with the cost of improving the docks.

With the traffic generated by the new terminal, Richard DeVries, a trustee on the Galveston Wharves Board that oversees port operations, said he hoped Galveston's port could rise a notch from its No. 4 U.S. ranking.

Oasis Class can hold more than 5,400 guests if each room has two people. Total guest occupancy surpasses 6,600, and the ships carry more than 2,000 crew members.

 

Royal Caribbean currently has two ships that sail out of Galveston: Liberty of the Seas, the largest cruise ship to sail from Texas with its capacity of 3,798 at double occupancy, and Vision of the Seas. These ships share Cruise Terminal 2 with Carnival Cruise Line and Disney Cruise Line. Terminal 1 is only used by Carnival.

 

Royal Caribbean will be the only cruise line to use Terminal 3. And after a few years of operating there, Royal Caribbean has the option to use Terminal 2 in addition to Terminal 3 if needed.

Michael Bayley said Galveston is an appealing port because it gives many people in Texas, Oklahoma and other nearby states an opportunity to drive to their tropical vacations.

 

And the cruise industry, overall, is growing. According to the Cruise Lines International Association trade group, 28 million passengers were expected to cruise globally in 2018. That's up 57 percent from 17.8 million in 2009.

Rees added that just a small percentage of people who take annual vacations choose to cruise, so there's room for further gains.

 

"This industry almost has an infinite ability to grow," he said.

And if the port's growth continues as planned, Bayley said, it would be "a natural progression" to one day bring its LNG-powered Icon class of ships that are not yet sailing. They're expected to be similar in size to the Oasis class.

 

[DrivesLikeMario]

That's interesting news.  Glad we'll be sailing out before they send an Oasis ship there!

[cementhands]

Coming back to Tampa a few years ago we were stopped by fog. We enjoyed an extra night. Total mess for passengers waiting to board. Fog was severe. The bridge was the issue.

[dude_hdt]

I was on Liberty of the Seas for the 2019 New Year cruise.  The forecast for return day was fog.  The day prior, the captain announced that Liberty would be speeding up to get back to port early...around 2am I think, to beat the forecasted fog.  I woke up around 5am and we were already in port.  The foggy forecast didn't materialize but the point is that there are some leeways the captain and corporate can do to try to avoid a messy situation.