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19 minutes ago, Zurc said:

Galveston Steve - 

we’ve read Royal is rethinking 2020 capital expenditures.   What is the word in Galveston regarding Terminal 3?  Understand Royal is still in the due diligence time period.   Is Terminal 3 build still a go for this year, or are they considering canceling (postponing) the terminal ?

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. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/15/2020 at 10:40 AM, Galveston Steve said:

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. 

Well, looks like a delay for Terminal 3.   Capitol Project on hold; due diligence period extension to April 9, 2021 requested by RC.  

details on slide 31 in link below. 

https://www.portofgalveston.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/3347?fileID=5011

Completely  understandable as a business decision, but I was sure looking forward to my Allure cruise next November.     Now the guessing begins - will Liberty of the Seas fall 2021 schedule be redeployed back to Galveston?    

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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

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  • 2 weeks later...

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

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  • 2 weeks later...

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.

778154263_ScreenShot2020-04-26at6_38_02PM.thumb.png.b6022ca91e4e44eb85f77a00fe6b90c4.png

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Just now, Galveston Steve said:

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.

Interesting! 

At first I thought perhaps they got it mixed up with Allure but I didn't think Allure would be able to use the current terminal due to size.

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15 hours ago, Galveston Steve said:

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.

That's interesting about possibility of Anthem at Terminal 2.  I hope to listen to the Wharves meeting online tomorrow.

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. 

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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.

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? 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.

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12 hours ago, Sparkymedic said:

Is the current terminal unable to physically accommodate allure or is there a depth issue at the port?  My question would be if they dredged the port would allure be able to dock there?

think it's both. I know for certain the terminal cannot handle an Oasis Class ship. I thought I heard dredging was part of the work to be done as part of the recent meeting.

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Any guesses on when RC will cancel cruises on Allure out of Galveston.  I'm guessing it will move to Miami or Ft Lauderdale.  If we have a booked room, do you think we would have the option of keeping the booking with the new port/itinerary?

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3 hours ago, wordell1 said:

Any guesses on when RC will cancel cruises on Allure out of Galveston.  I'm guessing it will move to Miami or Ft Lauderdale.  If we have a booked room, do you think we would have the option of keeping the booking with the new port/itinerary?

There are a lot of us wondering about this!  I'm trying to be patient.  I'm not good at it (even though it's almost two years away, lol).

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  • 2 weeks later...

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.

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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.

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9 minutes ago, cruisellama said:

Sailed both those itineraries different times  - family really enjoyed it.   Liberty is a friendly ship, we'll sail her again..

Awesome!!

First sailing is my wife and I with our oldest (whose birthday is sail away day) and his new wife (they are getting married shortly before).  We are taking them for their honeymoon on the first leg.  I'm doing the second leg by myself to do some diving since I have six weeks vacation to my wife's three.

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  • 1 month later...
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.

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20 minutes ago, Galveston Steve said:

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.

That's a good sign from a port readiness perspective.   (Agree the CDC and RCL will decide when to go and from where.)

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