Port of Charleston, SC question

[mrs.tate]

Why is the port of Charleston, SC so underused by Carnival? Where we live (near Charlotte, NC) it is 7 hours to JAX and 9 to Canaveral. I think they would increase their customer base tremendously if they included Charleston, SC more often. So many aren't willing to drive the long distances or fly to a port. Any ideas on this?

[oscar's mom]

I have been told by my TA that Charleston does not want the cruise business in their city. They are afraid it will lose some of its charm and the crowds will be greater. Living in Greenville, I would love to see more cruises offered out of there and it really makes no sense. Seems like more crowds would equal more money:confused:

[destin023]

I have been told by my TA that Charleston does not want the cruise business in their city. They are afraid it will lose some of its charm and the crowds will be greater. Living in Greenville' date=' I would love to see more cruises offered out of there and it really makes no sense. Seems like more crowds would equal more money:confused:[/quote']

 

I'm with you girls.. I live in Florence and to know I could hop a cruise out of Charleston from time to time would be terrific.. The itinerary is probably more basic (key west,, bahamas) but a quick getaway without 8 hrs of driving would be wonderful!

[salty dingo]

I think some of the concern in Charleston was that cruise passengers would not be spending money there... they arrive, park, get on the ship, leave, and spend money elsewhere. So, the cruise line needs to figure out how to compensate for that. Maybe by having the ship in port in Charleston overnight? A little less time at sea but a lot of good times in Charleston. This may work well with a Bermuda itinerary.

 

I live in the Charlotte area as well, and would love to see more Cruises from such a convenient port. NCL home-ported the Majesty there during the winter, and I had a chance to do that cruise. I would love to see a Bermuda cruise from Charleston, or an eastern Caribbean cruise.

[starketcher]

I live near Clemson and would LOVE to have a regular cruise, possibly alternating Eastern, Bermuda, Nassau weeks, out of Chas!

 

We did the Carnival Victory 5 day from therea couple years ago. It was great! We did go down the day before, did the town, stayed at the hotel and then cruised. Got off the cruise and we were home before dark!!

 

I would definitely cruise alot more if we had that option!

[mrs.tate]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Norfolk is only 4-4.5 hours away, I'll look there, as well, it just seems to me as if the fares from Norfolk are much more expensive. I'd like to cruise as much as I can, and Bermuda seems a good destination for either of these ports.

[KBfromNC]

Why is the port of Charleston, SC so underused by Carnival? Where we live (near Charlotte, NC) it is 7 hours to JAX and 9 to Canaveral. I think they would increase their customer base tremendously if they included Charleston, SC more often. So many aren't willing to drive the long distances or fly to a port. Any ideas on this?

 

I had posted this exact ??? a few months back and here were some of the replies~ I even e mailed Carnival to ask them about it~

Read on......

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=325854&highlight=untapped+market+charleston

[sunnidayz]

Why is the port of Charleston, SC so underused by Carnival? Where we live (near Charlotte, NC) it is 7 hours to JAX and 9 to Canaveral. I think they would increase their customer base tremendously if they included Charleston, SC more often. So many aren't willing to drive the long distances or fly to a port. Any ideas on this?

 

Not sure what the deal with Carnival coming into Chas. :confused: We live here, and when the Queen Mary 2 came in a few weeks back, the local politicians pulled out all of the stops to try and convince them what a wonderful Port of Call Charleston would make for them.:rolleyes: It was all over the papers. That's Charleston for you!! We left out of Charleston on the Triumph last October and it was so nice to be able to drive fifteen minutes to get on the ship. We would have loved to have left from here again. I guess we'll have to make do going out of Tampa on the Miracle in three weeks!:)

[destin023]

mind me asking where the Triumph went to on that particular voyage? Sorry, I don't keep up with it that much,, just interesting to me,, thanks in advance.....

 

Destin :cool:

[GoinCruisin]

I would love to cruise out of Norfolk or Charleston, but I can FLY to Tampa, Miami, NOLA, etc. and with cruise fare, it generally ends up being less than I could cruise from Chas or Norf for... I definitely understand the city not wanting to turn into a year round cruise ship port...

 

But we should be getting something in Wilmington in the coming years :D

[sunnidayz]

mind me asking where the Triumph went to on that particular voyage? Sorry, I don't keep up with it that much,, just interesting to me,, thanks in advance.....

 

Destin :cool:

 

We went on a five day to Freeport and Nassau:) . I know that when we got back the Triumph was going into dry dock somewhere to be "refurbished" and now there's another ship going out of Charleston, at least in May...not sure about October.

[jrmende63]

Not sure what the deal with Carnival coming into Chas. :confused: We live here, and when the Queen Mary 2 came in a few weeks back, the local politicians pulled out all of the stops to try and convince them what a wonderful Port of Call Charleston would make for them.:rolleyes: It was all over the papers. That's Charleston for you!! We left out of Charleston on the Triumph last October and it was so nice to be able to drive fifteen minutes to get on the ship. We would have loved to have left from here again. I guess we'll have to make do going out of Tampa on the Miracle in three weeks!:)

Hi Sunnidayz,

I am from Charleston too! I loved all the attention the QM2 got...I still keep my fingers crossed that someday we will have a ship that leaves from here year round! :D

[bguppies]

Living in Charleston, I seriously doubt the city DOESN'T want to become a year round port.

Besides, I live in North Charleston (which is actually the biggest "city" in the Charleston area) and our Mayor trys to annex any piece of nearby land he can get, lure any business he can into the area, and I'm sure, he would try to find a way to turn the old Charleston Naval Base here, into a state of the art cruise terminal, if a cruise line would sail a ship out of here yearound.

Like was said before the Mayors of Charleston and nearby Mount Pleasant went into a tizzy when the Queen Mary 2 was in town.

If I was cruising, I would love to see Charleston as a port of call.

So many interesting sites within walking distance of the existing port or just across the river in Mount Pleasant. (a 5 minute drive from port)

 

Bill

[tumeroll]

Not sure what the deal with Carnival coming into Chas. :confused: We live here, and when the Queen Mary 2 came in a few weeks back, the local politicians pulled out all of the stops to try and convince them what a wonderful Port of Call Charleston would make for them.:rolleyes: It was all over the papers. That's Charleston for you!! We left out of Charleston on the Triumph last October and it was so nice to be able to drive fifteen minutes to get on the ship. We would have loved to have left from here again. I guess we'll have to make do going out of Tampa on the Miracle in three weeks!:)

 

Guess that tells you which market Charleston is interested in. The upscale Cunard passenger vs the mass market Carnivally.

[HurricaneSally]

I know that coming from the Northeast (Philly area), it is every expensive for me to fly into Charleston. About double what it costs to fly to Fort Lauderdale and there aren't very many direct flights. That would stop me from using Charleston as a port.

[deborah grimes]

I live in Chas. too, and the mayor of the city should I say "STINKS" he trys to shout down anything that the out side people wont. The up town people says they don't wont to many visters then Mayor Riley will shoot down Chas. from having to many cruise ships for comming here. I for one love to see the ships come here. Yes when the QM2 came we had to run out and see her. What a beautiful sight. I for one have not taken a ship out of Chas. To me I can go to Florida for a cruise and it is cheeper then here! I can't figure that one out.:confused:

[sunnidayz]

Hi Sunnidayz,

I am from Charleston too! I loved all the attention the QM2 got...I still keep my fingers crossed that someday we will have a ship that leaves from here year round! :D

 

I agree. Did you get to see it when it was in port? I was driving over the IOP connector as it left Chas. and it was fabulous:), although I love it when any cruiselines come into Port. They seem to dwarf the city. I love coming over the bridge and seeing these massive ships...there's nothing like seeing them come into the harbor. OK, I guess that's silly, but having a 2 and a 3 year old makes the little things extra special. :D They go nuts...and Mommy follows...

[RED318is]

If my memory serves me right, one reason there aren't more cruises out of Charleston is that until recently the state had a ban on foreign passenger travel. This law was repealed by the US Supreme Court in 2002 because it violated Federal Maritime Law. This law had been on the books since some time around 1900. It was intended to prevent immigration. This might not be accurate but its what I seem to remember from the news.

 

I have heard many complaints from locals about cruise ships. The main concern is overcrowding. If a ship is embarking/disembarking from Charleston the complaint is that they add a lot of traffic and the don't spend any money. If the ship is using Charleston as a port of call, people complain that it makes the sidewalks overcrowded. I have even heard people complain about the ships being an eyesore, because the are one of the tallest buildings in the city while in port. Personally, I have not had any problems with cruise ships in port. It seems like the local shops do very well while ships are in port. I find cruise ships to be much better looking than the large container ships we have in port everyday. Plus cruise ships don't require large cranes and stacks of containers which I believe is a much larger eyesore. I'm not saying we should get rid of our container industry, I understand all of its benefits, I'm just saying it is more of an eyesore.

 

One more issue is that I don't believe the port facilities are very nice judging by its looks, but I have not been in them, so I can't really judge. Currently we can only handle one ship at a time, but I would be in support of expanding. Although currently there isn't a ship in port everyday, probably not even once a week on average throughout the year.

 

The Charleston airport is an issue. Flights are limited and pricey, but if there were more cruises out of Charleston, the airlines would likely follow. That would be a big benefit to all of us locals.

 

The cruises from Charleston seem to be popular and command a premium price. I hope to see more cruises in the future both embarking/disembarking and using Charleston as a port of call.

[bguppies]

It is definitely centrally located, being less than 5 hours drive from Atlanta to the West, less than 5 hours from Raleigh, 3 hours from Charlotte.

3 very metropolitan areas, plus the smaller cities like Savannah, Greenville, Columbia, Spartanburg, etc. also a 1-3 hour drive away.

 

Plus so much farther south than Norfolk, Baltimore and NYC, to be able to accomadate 7 day or longer cruises throughout the carribean.

 

It is a shame to waste such a prime location, with so much to offer pre and post cruise or as a port of call. (compared to Jacksonville or Port Canaveral for example)

 

Bill