Galveston Steve

Please see the comments about Harbor House in my original post on this thread. I try to keep that information up to date. We stayed at Harbor House a couple months ago and loved the location, close to the cruise terminals, right on the water, nearby restaurants, friendly staff. But our room had a mildew smell. I don't know if the rest of the hotel had the same issue.

After discussing this topic at length during the past several monthly meetings, a decision has been made. The Port of Galveston Trustees voted last week to approve the following change in the cruise terminal numbering system: Cruise Terminal 10 - New Royal Caribbean Terminal Cruise Terminal 25 - Existing Terminal 1 (used mainly by Carnival) Cruise Terminal 28 - Existing Terminal 2 (used by Royal, Carnival, and Disney) These numbers line up with the city's street numbers and also coincide with the port's pier numbering system.

I agree. We are doing this on a couple upcoming cruises because of the high prices on the island. And I second your advice to avoid hotels close to the airport due to those being less desirable (less safe) areas. One point: Uber is not allowed on Port property because they have refused to cooperate with the Port on an operating agreement. Lyft is the only ride share company allowed to drop off at the port, and your bill will include a $2.00 port surcharge. Uber will be able to drop you off in Galveston, just not at the Port. However, the Port is asking the City to clamp down on Uber drop-offs that block traffic near the port.

That was 5 years ago in 2016. We sailed her pre- and post-refurb back then. I don't think they have done much since then. You're right, she needs Playmakers and some other restaurants, and the cabins need refurbished. Here's April 3, 2016:

I wouldn't bet against Royal pulling off a surprise Amplification. We'll see. First tip-off will be if she stays in Cadiz much longer. She arrived on July 18. If she leaves Cadiz and heads toward Freeport then it will fuel the speculation!

Wait, what!!! Got this from my travel agent. Is this another intern error is is this real? If it's real, we're booked on the first sailing of the Newly Amped Liberty of the Seas!

I completely agree with your logic and your plan.

I can't directly answer your question, but another option is to go ahead with the transatlantic sailing and just end it in Florida, then do a couple Florida sailings before coming to Galveston.

My son and his family have used the Tremont parking option (before the pandemic shutdown). At that time they were teamed up with the Hotel Galvez (located on the seawall). You drove your car to the Galvez and parked in their lot, then the Galvez provided a shuttle bus to the port. Both hotels are under new ownership now so I'm not sure if that is still the way they handle the cruise parking. I suggest calling the Tremont to confirm how it works. If you're able to walk a few blocks with luggage then yes, it's definitely walkable to the port from the Tremont. Remember that summer in Galveston can make for a hot and humid walk if that matters to you. We like staying there and they have a great rooftop bar that we like to enjoy if the weather is good.

I feel confident in the terminal completing on time. This is my opinion as a former industrial project manager, from following the progress reports monthly with the Port of Galveston, and seeing the commitment to this project as one of Royal's priorities during the pandemic. That said, we are also booked on the Nov 13 and Dec 4 sailings and we will keep them both. Being on the first Oasis Class ship to sail from the new Galveston Terminal? Priceless!

August 1 “test cruise” is detailed in the local paper. If this is successful I sure wish they would relax the “must be vaccinated” requirement for Independence.

I'm seeing some pretty expensive hotel rates for a couple upcoming cruises. We are staying at the Hilton Space Center on Clear Lake for one cruise and at the Springhill Suites in Webster for the other one. I normally advocate staying on Galveston Island and enjoying the island before a cruise, but if you don't like the hotel rates then the Webster or Clear Lake areas are a good option.

Here is the link to the thread on All Things Galveston

The rewards are selected and redeemed online through your Bank of America Visa card account. You enter your information online, including ship and sail date and your reservation number. It doesn't matter whether you booked through a travel agent or not. Rewards can be redeemed for any Royal Caribbean or Celebrity ship.

I suspect it's because you can't fly internationally with a passport card. If you test positive for Covid you will likely be disembarked at the next port and would have to return home by air. This happened this week on Adventure of the Seas. Since the passport cards are limited in how and where you can travel, I have always advocated spending a few dollars more to have the full passport book so you can travel by any means to virtually any country.

I see how there could be confusion, but I read it differently. I think they are basing the design on a traffic study that was completed in 2020 and which took into account the future number and size of cruise ships per week. Here is a portion of that announcement for the original traffic study: "The scope of the study includes collecting and validating traffic data at 25 intersections along Harborside Drive and Broadway, forecasting future traffic conditions out to 20 years in the future, operational/capacity analysis of the conceptual master plan roadway, and creating a simulation to evaluate the access roads to Cruise Terminal 3 and the adjacent parking areas."

From yesterday's Port of Galveston Trustees meeting: Construction activity is picking up and things continue on track to be ready for Allure in Nov 2022. Carnival Vista is still planning to sail from Galveston beginning July 3rd. Governor Abbott will attend a Royal Caribbean event at the port on August 15th to celebrate the first sailing of Independence of the Seas. An LNG company held a demonstration of truck delivery of LNG and related safety measures earlier this month. Attending were representatives from the Port, US Coast Guard, city fire department, and others. There are a few ships in the region that use LNG fuel and this company wants to do truck deliveries for now. The US Coast Guard has approved ship-based LNG deliveries on the east coast but has not approved it for the Houston/Galveston area yet. Although this demonstration was not specifically related to Royal Caribbean's LNG-powered Icon Class ships, the new Galveston Cruise Terminal is designed for the Icon Class ships.

I definitely agree with this as it pertains to this situation with Covid and cruise ships. However the longer-lasting impact will be 124 pages of judicial precedent that says this type of government control and overreach is unlawful and harmful.

Wow. Glancing through this 124 page order, the judge seems to slap the CDC down throughout his order. A few examples: "the expansive breadth of authority asserted by the conditional sailing order to microscopically regulate a multi-billion- dollar industry is breathtaking." "the conditional sailing order imposes an indiscriminate and burdensome conditioning of free pratique that amounts to an unprecedented detention of an entire fleet of recreational cruising vessels." "CDC’s authority to issue the conditional sailing order remains suspect." "In short, none of the regulations invoked by CDC justifies the conditional sailing order." "CDC cites no historical precedent in which the federal government detained a fleet of vessels for more than a year and imposed comprehensive and impossibly detailed “technical guidelines” before again permitting a vessel to sail." "Thus, although CDC enjoys the authority to temporarily detain a vessel and to condition pratique, that authority is not boundless." "In sum, defining “transmission” as a single human-to-human infection, CDC claims authority to impose nationwide any measure, ... to reduce to “zero” the risk of transmission of a disease — all based only on the director’s discretionary finding of “necessity." That is a breathtaking, unprecedented, and acutely and singularly authoritarian claim." And on and on it goes with the judge slapping the CDC for its unlawful overreach.

Haha, yes... I do try to keep it updated as a resource for Galveston cruises based on current events.

Did y'all notice I did a MAJOR update to the "Parking" section of my original post? It's like an "All Things Parking" section inside "All Things Galveston". ?

From the Galveston Daily News... ROYAL CARIBBEAN BREAKS GROUND ON NEW GALVESTON TERMINAL After more than a year of delay, construction crews this week broke ground at the site of the Port of Galveston and Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s new $110 million terminal at Pier 10. It will be months still until the new terminal begins looking like a building. There’s a lot of ground to be broken. Before upward construction of the terminal can begin, crews need to rip up acre upon acre of concrete at the pier, officials said. Work removing the old concrete marks a milestone for the terminal that once seemed likely to become a casualty of the coronavirus pandemic. “It’s finally started,” said Albert Shannon, the chairman of the Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees. “After all the preparation, all the negotiation and the pandemic and everything else, they’ve finally started.” Officials warned the next four weeks of work would mean more traffic on Harborside Drive west of 14th Street as trucks haul away demolition debris. Eventually, trucks will haul in tons of dirt to lay the groundwork for the terminal. The two-story terminal building will be about 150,000 square feet, and the facility will cover about 10 acres. To make room for the terminal, the port has moved many of the operations conducted by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, which imports BMW automobiles and roll-on, roll-off cargo such as farm equipment, to the west end of the port. Officials have presented multiple concept drawings of the new terminal. The latest designs feature a building with a large rotunda, painted blue, with a covered passenger drop-off area spread out in front of it. The port intends to build a new paid parking area near the terminal, Shannon said. Royal Caribbean didn’t respond to questions Wednesday about whether it had finalized designs for the building. Royal Caribbean and the Port of Galveston announced plans to build a third terminal in 2018. In December 2019, they announced the company was on the verge of signing a long-term lease with the port. But the signing was delayed for a year after the U.S. cruise industry was shut down over the coronavirus pandemic. Royal Caribbean received a year-long extension on its due diligence period for the new terminal. During that time, the company — which lost $56.8 billion in 2020 — could have walked away from the deal. In April, the port and Royal Caribbean ended the due diligence period and finalized their agreements, allowing construction to begin. Port officials said from their perspective the deal was never in jeopardy and noted Royal Caribbean continued engineering and analysis work at the terminal site throughout the past year. Port officials estimate the new terminal will create at least 400 construction jobs. The terminal is expected to be open by late 2022, although the company has until 2023 to finish the job. When it opens, Galveston also will welcome larger Oasis-class ships, which can hold as many as 5,400 paying passengers on a single trip.

New terminal construction continues with demolition work over the next 4 weeks... this was posted today on the Port of Galveston's Facebook page: Harborside Drive traffic notice from the Galveston Wharves Cruise terminal construction at Pier 10 is expected to generate additional truck traffic on Harborside Drive west of 14th Street beginning the week of June 14. The Galveston Wharves said that truck traffic, associated with demolition work at the construction site, is expected during daytime hours Monday - Saturday for about 4 weeks. Royal Caribbean International is building the $110 million cruise terminal, which is scheduled to open in late 2022. The project will generate an estimated 400 construction jobs and 400 operations jobs.

I wonder if this prompted the change to test all Adventure passengers?

Well that could get really complicated for cruise ship passengers. I wonder if there will be exemptions for cruise ships even though it does say “arriving by sea”. For example, cruise ship passengers typically do not need to show passports when they enter a new country at each port, as the country has worked out the process assuming that the cruise lines have already verified passports. Hopefully the islands would rely on the strict protocols that cruise lines have instituted to ensure that arriving passengers are either tested or have received the “vaccine“.