Texas cruiser
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Posts posted by Texas cruiser
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On 10/27/2018 at 10:54 AM, twangster said:
A fifth Oasis ship in Florida is too much capacity so in that sense they need to find another Oasis class home port once OA 5 comes along. Any bets what they do with Liberty?
Most likely Florida...Reason being most of the amenities of the ship are intended for warmer climates.
I believe RCCL will deliver an Oasis-class ship to Galveston before the new RCCL terminal is completed which may cause a bit of an issue because Carnival uses terminal 2 on Saturdays...Hinz the reason for Liberty Leaving. Once the 3rd terminal is completed I suspect another freedom class ship will arrive to take over the Saturday departure itineraries with an Oasis-class ship leaving on Sundays.
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From what I am hearing from local threads is the Liberty will leave Galveston in 2020 to be replaced by the Symphony of the Seas... Again nothing officially confirmed yet, just what I am hearing. As of right now, I would consider this only a rumor, but it does make sense if you look at the Oasis moving to Miami in late 2019 after drydock. Looks to me that Oasis may replace Symphony until the Oasis 5 arrives in 2021.
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On 10/26/2018 at 6:05 PM, twangster said:
No disrespect to the wonderful people of Texas intended but the itineraries are pretty uninspiring. I'd love to see them spice up Galveston itineraries but the geography doesn't lend itself to this need.
If it were a slam dunk it would have been done by now. Royal is struggling to make the numbers work. Its that simple.
I do agree that RCCL needs to spice things up a bit. I have heard the reason for the smaller class like Enchantment and the Vision are there not just for the 4 and 5-day cruises, but eventually Cuba. I hope that RCCL will do some Bahamian cruises, but they don't want to take away the revenue from Florida ports. Also, regarding the third terminal announcement... Word is that the announcement will be made when they release the 2020-2021 deployments which happen in late November or December.
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21 hours ago, twangster said:
They sail at capacity in low season because people like me use those $379 pp rates to sail cheaply. There aren't too many 7 night cruises on Freedom class ships to be had at that price point. San Juan sometimes, another port that struggles to fill the ship.
$379??? Where are you seeing that price? That is the price for booking the Vision, or Enchantment in the offseason. Lets put this discussion to bed...Do you really think RCCL would add additional ships to sail out of Galveston if they were not filling the boats and making profits? Also, You do know that the POG and RCCL are in serious negotiations as we speak to build a new terminal in which RCCL plans to build it with their own money. You would not do that if you are not selling out the ships. I work in the cruise industry, and I have to disagree with your statement regarding Galveston.
21 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:I had a sneaking suspicion that Galveston may not be filling the ships all the time as Galveston cruises often appear on the list of "free" cruises offered by the casino. Trust me, if there weren't open cabins there, the casino would NOT be giving them away. That's how I got my awesome OS on Liberty over Labor Day.
Whether or not they could fill an O class ship or not is yet to be determined. I hope they give it a try. I enjoy cruising out of Galveston.
Cruise industries give away free cruises all the time. Carnival is doing it right now for the NFL season. Chances are if you were at a casino in Lousiana, Galveston is the closest port of departure for RCCL until they return to New Orleans. Smart marketing by RCCL...If you vacationed to a casino, chances are you will spend lots of time in the ship's casino as well.
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When RCCL does a sale on cruises they are usually always fleet wide. Not just Galveston... If there is a difference in price it usually because of duties and port taxes. All the cruise lines out of Galveston sail at capacity every sailing. Which is why RCCL wants to put an Oasis Class there.
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GALVESTON - July 15, 2018
Port of Galveston officials are nearing an agreement with Royal Caribbean to build a third cruise terminal at the Port of Galveston that could cost $85 million and bring the world’s largest passenger ship to the island in 2020.
“We’re working toward a really good agreement,” said Ted O’Rourke, chairman of the port’s governing board. “It’s a great opportunity if we are able to put it together.”
Port Director Rodger Rees in March announced that Royal Caribbean wanted to bring an Oasis-class ship to the island, but that doing so would require a new cruise terminal.
The port already is home to two cruise terminals at piers 25 and 27, but the size of the Oasis-class ships requires additional support, officials said.
Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class ships, of which there are four with more planned, are more than 1,180 feet long and capable of carrying more than 6,200 passengers.
Officials are discussing putting the third cruise terminal at Pier 10, next to the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics and BMW vehicle processing plant, Rees said.
“Right now, the talk is about having Royal Caribbean come in and build the terminal themselves, then we’d have them lease the land from the port, sharing in revenues with them. We’d control the parking aspect of it,” Rees said.
Royal Caribbean officials did not respond to a request for comment by deadline Friday.
The proposed facility would have to be about 155,000 square feet, port officials said.
The BMW facility would not have to move under current plans, Rees said.
The benefit of having Royal Caribbean build the cruise terminal would be that the port wouldn’t have to take on substantial debt and would, instead, be able to focus on its substantial infrastructure needs, Rees said.
Ever since the Carnival Celebration made its first voyage from the island in September 2000, the port has come to depend more and more on the cruise business for revenues.
The port depends heavily on revenues from cruise ships. Port officials anticipate about 55 percent of revenue budgeted for 2018 will be cruise related.
Port officials are projecting operating revenues of about $37.4 million in 2018 against operating expenditures of $37.2 million, according to documents.
“This doesn’t use up our borrowing power to build a new terminal,” Rees said.
Addressing dilapidated facilities at the island’s public docks could cost as much as $250 million, a problem exacerbated by the fact the port is projected to bring in only about $250,000 in net income in 2018, port officials said.
For a third cruise terminal to be ready to host an Oasis-class ship in the fall of 2020, officials will need a project planned and designed by about November, Rees said in a previous interview with The Daily News.
There is not yet a final agreement with Royal Caribbean, and all details of the proposed third cruise terminal could still change, Rees said.
The Wharves Board of Trustees must approve whatever agreement is eventually reached with the cruise line, Trustee Elizabeth Beeton said.
The Port of Galveston is a landlord port, which generates much of its income from lease agreements with maritime tenants and fees related to ship calls.
The port is home to three year-round Carnival Cruise Line ships, one year-round Royal Caribbean ship, one seasonal Royal Caribbean ship and a seasonal Disney Cruise Lines ship.
The Carnival Vista, the cruise line’s newest and biggest ship, will arrive at Galveston’s docks Sept. 23.
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I'm afraid you missed my point. The issue was not that the port was closed due to fog: yes, that happens a lot at that time of year. The issue is that the port cannot handle the current ships with fog delays, let alone a larger ship. The only issue we should have experienced was a boarding delay, and a longer time in line. I'm pretty sure those are the only issues that Tampa and New Orleans experience with fog. We had a delay once in New Orleans that wasn't due to fog, but everything was very orderly. No one passed out. It sounds like the new additions were a complete failure, or they are not yet finished with key elements like training personnel or crowd control. The fog didn't cause those problems: The Galveston Port Authority did. If they have more to do before parking a larger ship there, so be it. But it would be a disaster if it happened now.
No...I hear ya, but I have sailed out of Galveston several times from both terminals 1 and 2 and have never had any issue with embarking, if anything it is usually debarking that is slow.
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I disagree. The port can't handle the Liberty, let alone a larger ship. The Galveston terminal was a complete failure with Liberty of the Seas on the New Years cruise. The port had been fogged in, and as a result of the delay, everyone arrived at once. It was a complete madhouse. The port staff were poorly trained, and there was absolutely no crowd control. People passed out in the line, and they had difficult getting medical care in to them. I would hate to see what would happen with a larger ship. On the other hand, debarcation was painless.
Galveston is not the only port with that has to deal with fog during certain times of the year. Other Gulf ports like Tampa and New Orleans have to deal with it as well. If you want to avoid fog I would recommend any other time of year other than early winter. All I am saying is that the new additions to terminal 2 were built to handle the latest and greatest mega ships.
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The ship may fit and all, but right now there is no way the New cruise terminal can handle 6500 passengers getting on and off and the parking. Not yet anyway.
The terminal was designed to handle it, but I agree about the parking...
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This Proves an Oasis class ship will fit. I found this info on the web...
Comparison of Class Ships:
Class Length Ft Draft Ft
Freedom 1112 29
Oasis 1181 31
Galveston Port Channel:
Narrowest channel width is around 1200ft and wider at turning basin and the minimum Galveston channel depth is around 45ft (Port Canaveral is about 44 ft deep)
There is a 69ft length difference between the Liberty and the Oasis Of The Seas.
That means there is plenty of space both in width and depth at the turning basin near the Yacht Club
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You also just made a good argument for a Quantum-class vessel. Unfortunately, I don't think the fares will be high enough to justify that class of ship.
Thanks...I do think RCCL would be fine with an Oasis or Quantum class ship in Galveston. The fares between Port Canaveral and Galveston are very similar. Here is the link on RCCL's website for June of this year.
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The rumor does not make sense to me why the Liberty would move up north. The ship is one of the only RCCL ships to have waterslides. Why move it to a colder climate? What makes the most sense to me is to move an Oasis class ship to Galveston to compete with the Carnival Vista and move the Liberty to Saturday sailings. That way Liberty could sail the 4 and 5 day cruises as well as some 7 day Eastern Caribbean itineraries and the Oasis would take over the Liberty's Sunday departure itineraries. FYI...Galveston is one of the busiest cruise ports in the USA and if you look at the concept art for terminal 2 it clearly shows an Oasis class ship in port....Not a Quantum or Freedom class...just saying...and yes from the research I have found an Oasis Class ship can fit in the Galveston Ship Channel.
Here is a link to the article that shows an Oasis class ship in the concept drawing:
http://www.naylornetwork.com/aap-nwl/articles/index.asp?aid=289706&issueID=40350
New Galveston Terminal
in Royal Caribbean News and Rumors
Posted
1. I believe Celebrity is coming and will use terminal 2 because RCCL still will have the use for terminal 2 based on the new contract.
2. Regarding LNG...Isn't there an LNG plant already in the Freeport area near Galveston.
3. It has been reported that the Symphony of the Seas is the ship that will be coming.