Houston Cruise Port

[GayleR]

Those of you who cruise on the Ecstasy and the Conquest or anyone who cruises from the Houston area, this was on our local news last night. Looks like the cruise terminal in Houston will be sitting empty until 2011.

 

http://www.click2houston.com/news/20582765/detail.html

 

 

Carnvial did use it after Hurricane Ike......it looks beautiful. It's sad that it is sitting empty waiting for any cruiseline to use it.

[jimbo5544]

What a waste

[pnjkeith]

Funny how our tax dollars waste away. Maybe they can sell it China.

[jimbo5544]

Funny how our tax dollars waste away. Maybe they can sell it China.

 

Kind of like giving stimulus check to inmates....(not to make this a political discussion.....)

[cruisin'4fun]

originally, NCL was supposed to come back after it was completed. Wonder what happened:confused:

[salty dingo]

My guess is that there was an incorrect assumption by the city of Houston that the cruise lines would come to the terminal and pay inflated fees. Nope, not happening. People are happy to drive to Galveston and cruise lines are happy to pay lower fees.

 

You can thank you local business leaders for building you a pig in a poke.

[frankief]

Funny how our tax dollars waste away. Maybe they can sell it China.

 

 

Sell it to China? Heck, aren't they holding the @#)(_)(#$#$ note!!!...(for all practical purposes, I think they already own it!).

 

:D

[falkcor]

My guess is that there was an incorrect assumption by the city of Houston that the cruise lines would come to the terminal and pay inflated fees. Nope, not happening. People are happy to drive to Galveston and cruise lines are happy to pay lower fees.

 

You can thank you local business leaders for building you a pig in a poke.

 

really, the operative paragraph of that article, as to why the port exists, is the following:

 

The cruise terminal sits on the Houston Ship Channel, next door to an industrial container terminal. It was part of the port's Bayport bond election in 1999 and 2007. Voters approved the idea both times. The port touted the cruise terminal as the new place for you to walk onto a luxurious cruise ship.

 

'they' attached the cruise port to a bond to fund expansion of the adjacent container port... this made it more appealing, even 'sexy' to voters, which garnered public support and the vote...

 

funds for expansion of the container port have been applied and put to use, but in my opinion, it was just a way to make the vote and funding more appealing...

 

they built it per the vote (and funding), and it's having positive effects for the port, but the cruise port is just a non-used asset as part of that expansion.

 

i don't think they ever intended from the onset for the port to be used. it was just a pawn to get approval for a much larger initiative...

[oldmedic]

Those of you who cruise on the Ecstasy and the Conquest or anyone who cruises from the Houston area, this was on our local news last night. Looks like the cruise terminal in Houston will be sitting empty until 2011.

 

http://www.click2houston.com/news/20582765/detail.html

 

 

Carnvial did use it after Hurricane Ike......it looks beautiful. It's sad that it is sitting empty waiting for any cruiseline to use it.

 

thanks for posting!! I tried to find the article, but could not remember which channel it was on...

[*Mach*]

Those of you who cruise on the Ecstasy and the Conquest or anyone who cruises from the Houston area, this was on our local news last night. Looks like the cruise terminal in Houston will be sitting empty until 2011.

 

http://www.click2houston.com/news/20582765/detail.html

 

 

Carnvial did use it after Hurricane Ike......it looks beautiful. It's sad that it is sitting empty waiting for any cruiseline to use it.

 

 

As I just mentioned in another thread, I sailed from there last fall on the Conquest.

That facility needs improvements to make it acceptable for a ship the size of the Conquest... insufficient parking (by a HUGE margin...) nothing at all available for the waiting passengers, not even a water fountain...

I really appreciated the Port of Houston Authority working as hard as they did to accommodate Carnival but, man, that place just wasn't terribly well thought out...

:(

[*Mach*]

really, the operative paragraph of that article, as to why the port exists, is the following:

 

 

 

'they' attached the cruise port to a bond to fund expansion of the adjacent container port... this made it more appealing, even 'sexy' to voters, which garnered public support and the vote...

funds for expansion of the container port have been applied and put to use, but in my opinion, it was just a way to make the vote and funding more appealing...

they built it per the vote (and funding), and it's having positive effects for the port, but the cruise port is just a non-used asset as part of that expansion.

i don't think they ever intended from the onset for the port to be used. it was just a pawn to get approval for a much larger initiative...

 

 

You're right... The economic benefits of the port as a facility for cruise ships was how the thing was sold with the container terminal being almost an afterthought...

The proposal included FOUR cruise terminal at Bayport and you see what the City of Houston got... one rather undersized, under designed facility.

Here's a picture of the parking situation from last fall when I was on the Conquest:

 

 

:(

[Mekamax]

I really liked Bayport when we went out after IKE. It was designed for only one ship as it's current parking lot size but I'm sure they could get more parking if business would come and it will come. The old port was a lot worse and we loved sailing out of there. NO fuss and no traffic and no shuttles to the ships - much much much better than Galveston!!!!! The old port was smaller and it worked so I'm sure this one will get used eventually - hopefully NCL. As for longer sailing time to the open sea - give me a break it is that long from New Orleans! The article did seem one sided.... The old port had no shops and stuff around until it got going with business and then shops and motels popped up around so I'm sure that would happen again when the cruise lines come in. Debbie

[oldmedic]

I really liked Bayport when we went out after IKE. It was designed for only one ship as it's current parking lot size but I'm sure they could get more parking if business would come and it will come. The old port was a lot worse and we loved sailing out of there. NO fuss and no traffic and no shuttles to the ships - much much much better than Galveston!!!!! The old port was smaller and it worked so I'm sure this one will get used eventually - hopefully NCL. As for longer sailing time to the open sea - give me a break it is that long from New Orleans! The article did seem one sided.... The old port had no shops and stuff around until it got going with business and then shops and motels popped up around so I'm sure that would happen again when the cruise lines come in. Debbie

 

 

I wonder why NCL hasn't returned?

[*Mach*]

I wonder why NCL hasn't returned?

 

 

NCL ships are committed through 2011.

Additionally, they had a very difficult time filling ships sailing out of Barbour's Cut... I suspect that they're a bit leery of returning to Houston when they have ports with a known record of producing profits...

:rolleyes:

[jimbo5544]

NCL ships are committed through 2011.

 

Additionally, they had a very difficult time filling ships sailing out of Barbour's Cut... I suspect that they're a bit leery of returning to Houston when they have ports with a known record of producing profits...

 

:rolleyes:

Mach, I knew you would jump in on this one.....does not appear to have positive outlook in the future either.

[auntkaty]

Personally, I would sail from there in a heartbeat, particularly if it offered a different cruise line option than Galveston. I hope the original poster of this segment will also post on the general cruise blog board (not just Carnival).

[LEtue]

Personally, I would sail from there in a heartbeat, particularly if it offered a different cruise line option than Galveston. I hope the original poster of this segment will also post on the general cruise blog board (not just Carnival).

 

Me too! I am not a fan of Galveston after sailing from there on the Ecstacy last year. I would much rather fly into Houston and go directly to the ship.

 

When ships sail from Tampa it takes about 2 hours to clear the Skyway Bridge and get into the Gulf......

[futaba951]

The port authority may hate the terminal sitting there as much as the rest of you. There is NO WAY in the world that the space devoted to the terminal will ever generate the money that would be made if that space was devoted to container traffic. It sounds like the terminal was a necessary evil to achieve the funding they desired to accomplish what they REALLY wanted to do at the port. That may explain the lack of adequate parking on site as they are probably reluctant to give up valuable land to a project that they may not be whole heartedly endorsing and see no viable future in. Wasted money is not a new idea BTW. Mobile had a brand new Navy homeport facility built back in the early 90's. It was in use less than 2 years before it was closed in a round of base closures. At the time of abandonment, the gym and medical facility were still under construction and had to be completed per contract. As far as I know they have never been used to this day. The base is now owned by the AL state port authority and is partially leased to a few companies, one of which makes undersea pipelines and umbilicals. I'm sure that they have no use for the apartment style housing, the gym, the medical clinic and the commissary that remain on the base.

[karenh1127]

The port authority may hate the terminal sitting there as much as the rest of you. There is NO WAY in the world that the space devoted to the terminal will ever generate the money that would be made if that space was devoted to container traffic. It sounds like the terminal was a necessary evil to achieve the funding they desired to accomplish what they REALLY wanted to do at the port. That may explain the lack of adequate parking on site as they are probably reluctant to give up valuable land to a project that they may not be whole heartedly endorsing and see no viable future in. Wasted money is not a new idea BTW. Mobile had a brand new Navy homeport facility built back in the early 90's. It was in use less than 2 years before it was closed in a round of base closures. At the time of abandonment, the gym and medical facility were still under construction and had to be completed per contract. As far as I know they have never been used to this day. The base is now owned by the AL state port authority and is partially leased to a few companies, one of which makes undersea pipelines and umbilicals. I'm sure that they have no use for the apartment style housing, the gym, the medical clinic and the commissary that remain on the base.

 

 

I agree. The main objective was to get the voters to agree to the container port. The cruise terminal was just the dangling carrot. I remember when the surrounding neighborhoods didnt want the container port so something had to happen to get their support. I live just 10 min from the terminal and it is a really nice building. There is lots of empty space around it for businesses and more parking. In fact I have seen development up on Hwy 146 with motels and fast food places. I certainly would sail from there.

[dmdiver]

Funny you posted this - I was just wondering this week why there were no cruises leaving out of Houston. It would cut an hour off my travel time if I could catch a cruise out of Houston. I would love to have more options for cruising out of Texas.