Galveston Steve

Very interesting and fun.  The videos and text explanation describing the history and the meaning of the name of each cocktail takes you away from the reality of the day for a few minutes.

On 12/12/2020 at 1:31 PM, Galveston Steve said:

I have the Celebrity offer on my account and am just about ready to put it to use.

Update: my wife has a card attached to my account, so I was able to add the AmEx offer to both cards.  I made a payment on each card through my travel agent (Foray Travel) for an upcoming cruise.  These were just additional payments on a cruise I already had booked, not a new booking.  I received the credit back from Celebrity on both cards within 2 days!

The Port of Galveston reported this week that Cruise Terminal 3 is still on track to begin construction in April 2021 to be ready to open in October 2022.  Allure of the Seas is still mentioned as the first ship to be based at the new terminal!

Today Celebrity provided this additional information...  "As we shared, your sailing will need to be cancelled, however, we are reaching back out today to provide additional details regarding the reason for cancellation.  To clarify, the Celebrity Millennium is scheduled for dry dock in 2022, however the Celebrity Reflection sailings of 4/16/22 and 4/23/22 will needed to be cancelled in order to facilitate a smooth transition from the Caribbean season to our Summer sailings in Europe."

Just got an email about our April 2022 Reflection cruise:

”...routine maintenance dry docks have been scheduled in early 2022 for Celebrity Millennium and Celebrity Reflection.  Unfortunately, the time needed to complete all maintenance will require cancellation of your sailing.”

“From now through December 28, you have the option to rebook on any other Celebrity Cruise in 2022 at prevailing rates.  If you choose to rebook, you will also receive an onboard credit of $200 per inside, ocean view, standard veranda, Infinite Veranda^SM, AquaClass® or Concierge Class stateroom; or $400 for The Retreat®.  You must rebook a sailing of the same length as your original booking and in the same stateroom category to qualify.”

This was originally booked as a group rate, so that may affect our offer of compensation. 

On 12/1/2020 at 3:01 PM, twangster said:

Love Amex.  

 

Me too. Their customer service is the best I've ever seen. I pay an annual fee, but I get that and more back in benefits every year.  I have the Celebrity offer on my account and am just about ready to put it to use.

2 hours ago, twangster said:

So if Texit happens, will they still send Allure to Galveston? 

That would make Galveston a foreign port, opening up some interesting itinerary options.

12 minutes ago, Matt said:

I thought it was always Allure

Once Covid struck and they canceled all the Allure Galveston sailings I assumed all bets were off.  She’s slated for the Mediterranean through October 2022 right now. 

27 minutes ago, cruisellama said:

Any updated rumors to which Oasis class ship will show up after the port upgrade?  Last I heard it was Allure.

I have not heard anything. The new terminal will open in late 2022 at best.  With deployments only going out to Oct 2022, we may not hear anything for a while.

7 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

I really want to book another cruise and get the double points which would get us to Diamond status!!....Just need to have some confidence that cruising is going to start back up and that the 14 day quarantine rule will be reduced or removed in the near future!

 

Its a great offer with the points.....wonder what would happen if 2021 is a wash for cruising and these cruises get pushed into 2022...would double points follow and apply with a Lift & Shift type thing.....hmmm

If 2021 is a wash and cruises are pushed to 2022, I don't think there will be much of a cruise industry left. So the points will be worthless.

8 minutes ago, cruisellama said:

Any info out there regarding Galveston being able to re-open when (if) the CDC lifts restrictions?

The Port of Galveston has been preparing its cruise terminals for COVID-safe cruising with touchless bathroom fixtures, plexiglass dividers, sanitation contracts, etc.  It's primarily up to the CDC and how Royal Caribbean wants to manage its restart in terms of which ships/ports will be released to sail first.

10 minutes ago, Atlantix2000 said:

Is there a map showing where the new terminals would be located?

Yes, I posted the maps earlier in this thread, here and here.

2 hours ago, twangster said:

Thanks for the update.  

Interesting on the ride sharing.  Lyft has traditionally been cheaper for me to HOU airport but one time their surge price was $150 compared to Uber's $50 so I took Uber that time.  With Uber deciding not to participate I'm curious how Lyft's pricing will change.  

Hey @twangster!  The Lyft customer will pay a $2.00 surcharge for a drop-off and another $2.00 surcharge for pick-up at the Port.  Keep in mind that if you prefer Uber you can still use Uber from the airport to your Galveston hotel.  And Uber can drop you off a block from the Port and you can walk from there if you prefer Uber.  I've seen a lot of cruisers do that at Starbucks and on the Strand.

I watched the Port of Galveston Trustees meeting today and heard the following items of interest:

• The Port Director stated "Royal Caribbean insists they will begin construction on Cruise Terminal 3 on April 1st (2021)."
• Other Cruise Terminal 3 updates:
  • The design of roads and infrastructure for the East End Cruise Corridor is ongoing.  This includes roads to Terminal 3 and roads to a potential future Terminal 4.
  • Design of utilities to support Royal Caribbean's Cruise Terminal 3 is 90% complete.
  • Traffic study is 90% complete.  The study will recommend upgrading Old Port Industrial Road to accommodate traffic to Cruise Terminals 1 & 2, and using Harborside Drive for traffic to Terminals 3 & 4.  The traffic study determined that a lot of vehicle traffic arrives at the port from hotels along the beach, and it seemed to be a surprise to some Trustees that people spend the night in hotels the night before a cruise.
  • As I speculated back in April, the Port is planning for a "potential" Cruise Terminal 4 in their planning and design.  Nothing has been announced about a 4th Cruise Terminal.
  • I announced earlier this year that building permits for Cruise Terminal 3 were already approved by the City of Galveston.
• The Port Director participates in online meetings with other Ports and the major cruise lines.  What he's hearing:
  • Most COVID precautions will be similar to what we are already doing on land.
  • The main focus is on getting on and getting off the ships: keep people with COVID from getting on... and if someone does get COVID while aboard the ship then get them off ASAP.
  • CDC is finally talking to the cruise lines.
  • Disney will limit the number of people in the terminal by enforcing check-in arrival times.  They will limit ship capacity to 70%.
• The Port has signed a contract with Lyft that charges passengers $2 per pickup and $2 per drop-off.  Uber has declined to sign such a contract and has been informed that they (Uber) are not allowed in the Port.

I will also post this information in my other topic titled All Things Galveston.

I watched the Port of Galveston Trustees meeting today and heard the following items of interest:

• The Port Director stated "Royal Caribbean insists they will begin construction on Cruise Terminal 3 on April 1st (2021)."
• Other Cruise Terminal 3 updates:
  • The design of roads and infrastructure for the East End Cruise Corridor is ongoing.  This includes roads to Terminal 3 and roads to a potential future Terminal 4.
  • Design of utilities to support Royal Caribbean's Cruise Terminal 3 is 90% complete.
  • Traffic study is 90% complete.  The study will recommend upgrading Old Port Industrial Road to accommodate traffic to Cruise Terminals 1 & 2, and using Harborside Drive for traffic to Terminals 3 & 4.  The traffic study determined that a lot of vehicle traffic arrives at the port from hotels along the beach, and it seemed to be a surprise to some Trustees that people spend the night in hotels the night before a cruise.
  • As I speculated back in April, the Port is planning for a "potential" Cruise Terminal 4 in their planning and design.  Nothing has been announced about a 4th Cruise Terminal.
  • I announced earlier this year that building permits for Cruise Terminal 3 were already approved by the City of Galveston.
• The Port Director participates in online meetings with other Ports and the major cruise lines.  What he's hearing:
  • Most COVID precautions will be similar to what we are already doing on land.
  • The main focus is on getting on and getting off the ships: keep people with COVID from getting on... and if someone does get COVID while aboard the ship then get them off ASAP.
  • CDC is finally talking to the cruise lines.
  • Disney will limit the number of people in the terminal by enforcing check-in arrival times.  They will limit ship capacity to 70%.
• The Port has signed a contract with Lyft that charges passengers $2 per pickup and $2 per drop-off.  Uber has declined to sign such a contract and has been informed that they (Uber) are not allowed in the Port.

I also posted this topic here.

40 minutes ago, cruisellama said:

So a year delay in port modification - possible Oasis class in November 2022?  Or still wishful thinking?

Maybe Icon Class by then?  I think a lot can happen in the next two years... let's hope it's good!

Galveston's Port Director reported this week that they will now study the need for a parking garage at the future Royal Caribbean Cruise Terminal 3.  He also reported that the Port of Galveston is continuing its commitment to Cruise Terminal 3 with surveying,  engineering, traffic studies and design, and other physical work to support the new terminal.  As a reminder, Royal Caribbean requested earlier this year that they be allowed to delay the terminal completion by one year.

2 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Is it just the terminal that can't accommodate Allure in Galveston, or is there something about the physical landscape of the pier/channel that prohibits it as well? (Asking because there's a "discussion" on a FB page saying that it would just be "inconvenient" for the current terminal to accommodate that many passengers but they'd find a way.

The current terminal is designed for 1,500 passengers per hour in each direction (embarking/disembarking), and the Port refers to its capacity as a 5,000 passenger terminal. Liberty and Anthem can each carry just under 5,000 passengers, while Allure's capacity is 6,780.  I think it would be very crowded but it might be done with some adjustments, such as passenger arrival timing, installation of facial recognition for Customs and Border Protection, etc.  Before the current terminal was expanded a few years ago they set up a large air conditioned tent to handle the overflow, for example.

The channel depth all the way in to the pier is 46 feet, so that's not an issue.  There are a few areas of the channel that will be dredged this year to maintain that depth.  The pier is a 1,000 foot pier, which would be a little short but the aft could extend a bit to the west, so I do believe Allure could physically fit alongside.  I believe the limiting factor may be the mooring bollards which may be under-designed to safely handle the wind load of such a large ship.  This was an issue when Liberty of the Seas came to Galveston and they had to add additional mooring bollards to accommodate her.

1 minute ago, karl_nj said:

Anything more about that bullet point re: Anthem?

Sorry, no.  That bullet point was on the slide deck, but the Port Director skipped over it.  It's probably too early to talk about and shouldn't have been on the public slide deck!

It’s Official Port of Galveston voted this afternoon to allow Royal Caribbean a one year delay in building Cruise Terminal 3. New target completion date is September 1, 2022. Neither the Port nor Royal Caribbean wanted to cancel the contract and felt the best option was the one year delay.

It’s Official Port of Galveston voted this afternoon to allow Royal Caribbean a one year delay in building Cruise Terminal 3. New target completion date is September 1, 2022. Neither the Port nor Royal Caribbean wanted to cancel the contract and felt the best option was the one year delay.

10 hours ago, Zurc said:

Did you notice the Terminal 3 parking diagrams in the slide deck.  Can't imagine that will be enough parking for the car-riders for Allure alone, not to mention if Royal rotates 2 ships, with 7-day and 4-5 day like they do now, from Terminal 3. 

I think about 70% of Galveston passengers drive to the terminal, so I agree with you and am surprised they are not planning to build a parking garage at the new Terminal 3.  However, there are quite a few private off-site parking options in Galveston, and the Port of Galveston has plans to build two additional parking garages near Cruise Terminals 1 & 2.

1 minute ago, AshleyDillo said:

Is this something completely new?

This is the first time I've seen it... I assume it has to do with Royal's request to delay the new Galveston cruise terminal by one year as they conserve cash.

6 minutes ago, karl_nj said:

 

That is pretty interesting.  I wonder when they were thinking that would be.  Would they cancel the currently scheduled Anthem cruises in late 2021/early 2022, or would it be May 2022+ (when the ship might have went back to the UK for the summer)?

I'm assuming that with all the Coronavirus turmoil it would fill the gap due to the impending 1-year delay in Galveston's Cruise Terminal 3, so from late 2021 to late 2022.  But that's just my opinion.

Galveston's Port Director will present his monthly report to the Board of Trustees on Tuesday.    There are some very interesting items in the report:

• The Port is working with Royal Caribbean on the possibility of receiving Anthem of the Seas at the current Cruise Terminal 2
• A decision on approving Royal Caribbean's request to delay the new Terminal 3 by one year is on the agenda
  • Target completion date would now be September 1, 2022
  • Royal Caribbean management has reiterated that Galveston is an integral part of Royal's strategic plan
• Cruise Terminal 3 progress is continuing even during the Covid-19 crisis:
  • City of Galveston has approved the building permit for the cruise terminal building
  • Phase II Environmental Site Assessment shows no significant concerns
  • Utilities design is ongoing and will be complete in June. 
  • Roadway layout is under development and traffic study simulations are being incorporated 
  • Ready to issue a contract for wharf repair design work
  • Construction work is ongoing to relocate existing operations to make way for Terminal 3
• The conceptual plan for the East End Cruise Corridor (shown below) includes not only the new Royal Caribbean Terminal 3, but an additional 4th cruise terminal at the current Del Monte terminal.