Galveston Steve

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.

Sorry I’m late @Matt. Rough weather in Texas but I’m on board now!

Regarding the new Terminal 3 in Galveston... In yesterday's Special Meeting, the Galveston Wharves Board: Delayed until April 28 the vote on Royal Caribbean's request to delay the Galveston terminal construction by one year. The board member who moved to defer the vote wanted more details about "where we're going in the future" with Royal. Royal has reiterated their commitment to the new terminal project, but with a one year delay. https://www.galvnews.com/news/free/article_48caa8ab-1a9b-5216-9e98-7a1ace114e9d.html

Disappointing, but certainly understandable. "Royal Caribbean Cruises has asked the Port of Galveston for a yearlong extension to begin construction on its new $100 million cruise terminal." https://www.galvnews.com/news/free/article_3110ec89-1a5f-5cc1-a4f6-2d81dad146af.html

I have seen no announcement on any changes at Galveston so far. Your point is a good one and in these times anything seems possible. The contract has been formally signed and construction was scheduled to begin next month. I don’t know what contractural ability Royal would have to delay or cancel at this point.

Wow, big news for Galveston on the Short Caribbean deployments! Adventure returns to Galveston newly Amplified and will sail along with the Amplified Allure beginning in Nov 2021! And the newly Amplified Explorer will sail from Galveston for the Summer of 2021! There are now six Royal Caribbean ships slated to sail from Galveston: Current Ships Liberty of the Seas - 154,407 GT - 3,648 Passengers - 7 night sailings (Royal Amplification 10 Jan to 21 Mar 2021. Repositions to Miami 31 Oct 2021) Enchantment of the Seas - 82,910 GT - 2,284 Passengers - 4-5 night sailings (Repositions to San Juan Nov 2020) Future Deployments Jewel of the Seas - 90,090 GT - 2,191 Passengers - 7-11 night sailings (Arrives from Rome 11 Dec 2020, apparently repositioning to Europe 22 Mar 2021) Adventure of the Seas - 137,276 GT - 3,114 Passengers - 4-5 night sailings (Arrives 16 Nov 2020. Repositions to Copenhagen 21 Apr 2021. Returns to Galveston Amplified 13 Nov 2021.) Explorer of the Seas - 137,308 GT - 3,286 Passengers - 4-5 night sailings (Arrives Amplified 5 May 2021. Repositions to Miami 25 Oct 2021.) Allure of the Seas - 225,300 GT - 5,484 Passengers- 7 night sailings (Arrives Amplified 10 Nov 2021)

You will sign the kids up for pickup from dinner with the Adventure Ocean staff once onboard the ship. The pickup time will be coordinated with the early dining time for the ship. Early dining times vary between 5:15 and 6:00 pm depending on the ship, so the Adventure Ocean pickup time is determined by ship to coordinate with the early seating time. Since you are all linked for the early seating, then once you are onboard you will talk to the Adventure Ocean staff to sign them up for the dining pickup on the specific days the you want to do that. The kids will dine with you in early seating. Let your waiter know so they can expedite their meals so the kids can meet the Adventure Ocean staff at the restaurant entrance at the appointed time.

It definitely depends on many factors. Ship. Sail date. Number of people in the cabin. When you book. etc. We booked the 2 Bedroom Large Balcony AquaSuite on Allure for its first 7-day out of Galveston (14 Nov 2021). We booked it the first day that Allure was open for bookings out of Galveston (Dec 2019, so 23 months before the cruise). For 4 adults plus 1 child (NOT a kids sail free sale) we locked in at $8,399.65 total for all passengers. This is Star Class, so free specialty dining, free internet, free Deluxe Drink Package, etc. I think this shows the value of planning ahead and booking early. As mentioned above, these suites sell out very quickly.

I have not heard specifically, but certainly it will be fenced and secured for liability reasons. Also, the Port will be building an additional parking garage near the existing cruise terminals.

Some have asked where the new Terminal 3 will be located at the Port of Galveston. First is a big picture view, followed by a more detailed view.

Beginning this weekend, the Port of Galveston has moved the cruise terminal entrance to 23rd Street to improve traffic flow to both cruise terminals. I have updated the directions in my original post on this topic.

I’m on Enchantment of the Seas right now as well. I have a different perspective. Tuesday afternoon a 600 foot tanker ran into an 80 foot fishing boat at the entrance to the Houston-Galveston Ship Channel. 1 person confirmed dead, 1 person in the hospital. The Coast Guard abandoned the search for two other missing crew members today and they are presumed dead. The crew of the Pappy’s Pride fishing boat and their families are having a horrible week, much worse than I ever hope you or I have. I’m happy to be enjoying time on a cruise ship with my family this week. Due to this tragedy there has been NO ship traffic in or out of the ports of Houston, Galveston, or Texas City since Tuesday afternoon. The economic impact of shutting down tanker and other ship traffic in this area is staggering. After Enchantment waited offshore all day, the Coast Guard was gracious enough to allow her into port Wednesday afternoon as she passed within yards of the wreckage site at a very slow speed while the responders were still securing the wrecked vessel, controlling the environmental damage, and searching for two missing human beings. After waiting all last night and all day today, Enchantment was escorted out of port this afternoon in heavy fog with two pilot boats off our bow to ensure we safely traversed the fog. I was deeply moved as we passed the crash site at a very slow speed so as not to disturb the small fleet of boats and the crane platform that were continuing the recovery operation in the channel. Enchantment of the Seas was the ONLY ship allowed to come in or out of the area since Tuesday afternoon. Then Carnival Dream was finally allowed in this evening after she waited offshore all day. As of this moment the area remains closed to all other ship traffic. Only a few small service boats have been allowed in the area. Royal Caribbean provided text and email updates about every two hours yesterday as we waited to learn when we could board. Enchantment’s captain provided several updates last night after we boarded, and several more updates throughout the day today. There was little information that they could provide because they had no control over the weather or the tragic situation in the Galveston Jetties, but they checked in with us regularly to let us know they were communicating with authorities and trying to get us underway. They also did not offer false hope or speculation because they knew the situation was fluid and telling us one thing and then changing their story would have drawn much criticism. We’re now underway to Cozumel and I’ve been having a great time, all things considered. I’ve used my cell phone as a tool to find out as much as I could about what was happening with our situation, much of which is spelled out above. May God bless the crew of Pappy’s Pride and their families. May those who perished Rest In Peace.

Interesting... when Royal Caribbean announced the cancellation of five Liberty of the Seas sailings to extend her Royal Amplification, they quietly added Jewel of the Seas to Galveston for several months to pick up the slack! Jewel arrives from Rome on 11 Dec 2020 and will run sailings from Galveston ranging from 7 to 11 nights until 22 Mar 2021. Then she appears to reposition back to Europe (although a repositioning cruise from Galveston is not currently available to book). It's also very interesting to me that the Royal Amplification for Liberty of the Seas appears to be during the period from 10 Jan to 21 Mar 2021 (based on available booking options). That's 70 days. Assuming some transit time to the shipyard, this is about as long as the 63 day Amplification of Oasis. This must be a big-time Amplification for Liberty of the Seas!

We booked the first two sailings, 4 and 7 day. 2BR Aqua.

Confirmed with NextCruise on Oasis today: first Allure sailing from Galveston is 10 Nov 2021 four day to Cozumel, followed by a 7 day to Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Roatan on 14 Nov 2021! Hopefully available for booking in a few days.

Port of Galveston is building a surface parking lot at Pier 10 (new Terminal 3) as part of the deal. They will also build a new parking garage near the existing terminals and presumably offer shuttles to the new Terminal 3.

Not to fan the flames, but Adam Goldstein is in Galveston today... Port of Galveston

But for us in Texas it will be about driving to an Oasis class ship!

I concur with the Fulton Place recommendation. We used it on a Royal Caribbean cruise and it worked out great. Since it’s covered I feel it is superior to the port parking lot which is an outdoor surface lot.

Local media in Galveston recently reported that construction would start in April 2020 with an 18 month construction schedule. That would put completion in fall of 2021, as originally announced.

The port recently announced that they have budgeted for the projects that they will do to support the new terminal next year. However the port also said that they expect to sign the final contract by the end of 2019, so it’s not signed yet. Construction would start in April 2020 with an 18 month construction period. That puts completion in late 2021, which was the original schedule.

This place stores luggage for a small fee. It’s right at Strand and 25th, easy walk from the cruise port. The Cruise Stop 2418 Strand St a, Galveston, TX 77550 (409) 497-2974 https://maps.google.com?q=The Cruise Stop, 2418 Strand St a, Galveston, TX 77550&ftid=0x863f9e6cec5b734b:0x8242331ba52b9dea&hl=en-US&gl=us

Port of Galveston continues to grow its cruise business: Carnival is adding a fourth year-round ship in Galveston, adding Carnival Radiance in 2021.

It’s implied by Rob&Ana’s post, but remember that each Diamond and above member receives a free photo, so a couple can receive two photos.

Two of my cruises for 2020 have OBC from the travel agent (Cruise Planners / American Express). The travel agent OBC and the Royal Caribbean OBC all appear now in my cruise planner.