Port Of Galveston Developments

[J.A.S.O.N.]

Edited March 9, 2006 by J.A.S.O.N.

[J.A.S.O.N.]

Carnival to add another year-round ship to island operations

Posted: Thursday, April 24, 2014 8:06 am | Updated: 9:56 am, Thu Apr 24, 2014.By LAURA ELDER

GALVESTON -- Carnival Cruise Lines next year will base a third year-round ship in Galveston, luring thousands of additional visitors to the island while marking the first time a cruise line has deployed three passenger liners in Texas.The Miami-based company, which homeports ships Magic and Triumph in Galveston, said it would add Carnival Freedom to that lineup in February 2015, beginning with a special six-day Caribbean voyage before the start of year-round seven-day departures from Galveston.The news secures Galveston’s status as the No. 1 Gulf Coast cruise port and underscores Carnival’s bullishness on the seaport city.“In partnership with the Port of Galveston and the local community, we have been able to increase our passenger counts fivefold since we first launched service from Galveston in 2000,” Carnival President and CEO Gerry Cahill said.Moving the 2,974-passenger Freedom from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Galveston represents a 38 percent capacity increase for Carnival in Galveston; the cruise line’s ships from Galveston carry about 600,000 passengers a year.Before arriving in Galveston, Freedom will undergo a multimillion dollar makeover, Carnival officials said...

http://www.galvestondailynews.com/news/local_news/article_33618be6-cbb1-11e3-afba-001a4bcf6878.html?TNNoMobile

[hindesky]

Architect - https://bermelloajamil.com

[texan]

Cruise Terminal #4 being explored by the Port and MSC:

It was previously planned for the 2030 - 2040 timeframe but looks like it could be online prior to 2030 if all moves quickly and smoothly.

https://maritime-executive.com/article/galveston-plans-fourth-cruise-terminal-as-port-handles-1m-passengers

Edited January 14, 2023 by texan

[ChannelTwoNews]

https://www.galvnews.com/news/port-of-galveston-extends-contract-with-carnival-for-17-years/article_3f3d4a4d-ebdc-5648-a06e-398b9b4b792e.html

"The Wharves Board of Trustees at a special meeting Thursday approved a 17-year renewal of its contract with Carnival Cruise Line that will increase passenger fees the company pays to the Port of Galveston.

[editor]

2 hours ago, ChannelTwoNews said:

https://www.galvnews.com/news/port-of-galveston-extends-contract-with-carnival-for-17-years/article_3f3d4a4d-ebdc-5648-a06e-398b9b4b792e.html

"The Wharves Board of Trustees at a special meeting Thursday approved a 17-year renewal of its contract with Carnival Cruise Line that will increase passenger fees the company pays to the Port of Galveston.

Boarding a Carnival ship is a lot like walking through a big warehouse, which is what I suppose the building used to be.

Visuals aside, I can't say enough good things about how incredibly organized, and orchestrated the whole process is.  You would have to be a complete dingbat not to get where you're supposed to be, Carnival (or the port?) has so many many people all over the place helping people get where they should be, grabbing luggage, directing traffic. It's Disney-grade customer service.

The only deficiency is that if you want to get an outbound ride hail (Lyft, in my case), you have to walk a bit of a distance across the train tracks and down to the end of the block.  It's not awful, except for a few details:

• A good number of people take cruises because they are elderly, infirm, or otherwise not very mobile.  The pick-up area is a good three blocks away.
• It's in the blazing Texas sun
• Once you're off the boat, all of the helpful people evaporate and there are no signs directing you to the ride hailing area.
• This seems to be a known problem, as the people operating the parking garage on the corner were loudly complaining about it and shouting at the Uber/Lyft drivers, even threatening to write them tickets, as if a parking garage attendant has some kind of law enforcement power.

But as cruise experiences go, Port of Galveston exceeded my expectations.

[hindesky]

"A major expansion is coming to one of Port of Galveston's cruise terminals to accommodate a new cruise ship arriving in December.

Carnival Cruise Line's newest cruise, Carnival Jubilee, will set sail Dec. 23, and with it, the maritime commercial center Galveston Wharves announced they are investing $53 million to improve Cruise Terminal 25.

Construction plans include improving the way guests can efficiently get on and off the ship, along with updating the terminal to make it more accommodating for the ship, according to a news release.

There will also be improvements to facilities used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection."

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/port-of-galveston-terminal-expansion-18109164.php#photo-21389697

[texan]

The Port of Galveston is preparing a $120 million bond package to fund the improvements mentioned above at Cruise Terminal 25 and to build the new fourth cruise terminal at Pier 16. $70 million of bond funds will go toward the new terminal. The trustees expect to have a contract with MSC on the fourth terminal within weeks, prior to bond issuance.

https://www.portofgalveston.com/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=261

[Naviguessor]

This is a huge deal for the Island, The Port and the cruise industry in Galveston.   Equally big for the island and port of the improvements for the Westport Cargo Complex, also, discussed in the article.   Galveston has become The Hub for for Wind Turbine imports and transportation and with likely offshore Wind farms, this will only increase revenues and employment for the island.   

[texan]

The Pelican Island Bridge replacement will begin in 2025. This will be critical for further port development once cruise terminal 4 and Westport developments get underway. The only other place to expand to is Pelican Island and there’s plenty of land there!

https://www.txdot.gov/projects/projects-studies/houston/seawolf-parkway-at-pelican-island-channel-bridge-replacement.html

[ChannelTwoNews]

https://www.galvnews.com/news/galveston-council-oks-51m-port-bond-on-second-vote/article_5635a410-3853-5e19-b800-b0a5e64a8ae6.html

"City council members unanimously approved a $50.8 million bond package to pay for expansion projects port officials say are necessary to maintain growth.

The proposal allows the Port of Galveston, a utility of the city, to take on almost $51 million in debt in part for berth improvements to accommodate a massive passenger liner at Cruise Terminal 25."

[ChannelTwoNews]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2023/09/21/carnival-legend-ship-homeport-in-galveston-texas.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_27&cx_artPos=0#cxrecs_s

"Carnival Cruise Line, part of Miami-based Carnival Corp. & PLC (NYSE: CCL, CUK), is bringing yet another ship to Galveston.

Carnival Legend will homeport in Galveston starting in fall 2025, the company said Sept. 21. It will offer a variety of four- through 10-day Western Caribbean sailings plus a few Panama Canal cruises."

[texan]

The Wharves Board of Trustees will also be considering a CMAR contract at Tuesday's meeting for the fourth cruise terminal. There may be some drama here though as trustees have repeatedly delayed moving forward with the cruise terminal (and upgrades to an existing one) to chase a dream of additional cargo operations development despite cargo being on the decline in Galveston and tourism being on the rise (check the numbers in the agenda packet below and note Carnival's very recent plans to add another ship in Galveston).

Just this year Del Monte has announced its exit (this is where cruise terminal no. 4 will go) and now the port has negotiated an early contract termination with ADM with potential plans to demolish the grain facilities.

https://www.galvnews.com/news/agri-giant-adm-agrees-to-cease-port-operations-terminate-lease/article_8ce271c3-7a9a-52ac-8763-6ddc9a407dca.html

[editor]

On 9/24/2023 at 10:31 PM, texan said:

The Wharves Board of Trustees will also be considering a CMAR contract at Tuesday's meeting for the fourth cruise terminal. There may be some drama here though as trustees have repeatedly delayed moving forward with the cruise terminal (and upgrades to an existing one) to chase a dream of additional cargo operations development despite cargo being on the decline in Galveston and tourism being on the rise (check the numbers in the agenda packet below and note Carnival's very recent plans to add another ship in Galveston).

Just this year Del Monte has announced its exit (this is where cruise terminal no. 4 will go) and now the port has negotiated an early contract termination with ADM with potential plans to demolish the grain facilities.

https://www.galvnews.com/news/agri-giant-adm-agrees-to-cease-port-operations-terminate-lease/article_8ce271c3-7a9a-52ac-8763-6ddc9a407dca.html

CMAR?

[hindesky]

31 minutes ago, editor said:

CMAR?

Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR)?

[texan]

3 hours ago, hindesky said:

Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR)?

Yes

[phillip_white]

https://www.galvnews.com/news/port-of-galveston-receives-largest-state-grant-in-its-history/article_2d7870cc-8fa4-59fb-a4aa-eecd90797017.html

[texan]

15 hours ago, phillip_white said:

https://www.galvnews.com/news/port-of-galveston-receives-largest-state-grant-in-its-history/article_2d7870cc-8fa4-59fb-a4aa-eecd90797017.html

Hopefully this will cool what seems to be one trustee's mission to kill the cruise terminal 4 project.

[texan]

The Port of Galveston Board of Trustees approved moving forward with the fourth cruise terminal on Tuesday. They deferred action on a $7 million contract for design and engineering services until after meeting with the City Council today (have not heard the outcome of that meeting). They will take action on that contract in November.

Rendering and site plan for the fourth cruise terminal and garage:

 

https://www.galvnews.com/news/trustees-vote-to-move-forward-on-fourth-cruise-terminal/article_543f3068-0ceb-5c5c-b0a8-68075549df13.html?block_id=531919

 

The board also approved a lease for the USS Texas to be moored at Pier 10, pending approval from the Army Corps of Engineers and pilots association.

https://www.galvnews.com/news/port-approves-lease-discussions-for-battleship-texas-berth/article_65dcffee-cac3-59ce-81b7-38de4275ef52.html?block_id=531919

[hindesky]

"Battleship Texas cleared an important hurdle in its quest for a permanent home this week. During its regular meeting on Tuesday, the Galveston Wharves board of trustees authorized the creation of a lease between the Port of Galveston and Battleship Texas Foundation, which operates and maintains the historic warship.

The proposed lease would be for 10 years with two additional 10-year options, explained port director and CEO of Galveston Wharves Rodger Rees. Once it has been drafted and signed, which Rees said could happen at the board’s next meeting later this month, the foundation would pay the port $20,000 per month in rent; plus $1.2 million (another $20,000 a month) in case an extreme-weather event or other dire scenario forced the port managers to take drastic measures with the ship like towing her out to sea."

https://www.chron.com/gulf-coast/article/battleship-texas-galveston-deal-18467432.php

[ChannelTwoNews]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2023/11/08/regal-princess-cruises-galveston-texas-homeport.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_27&cx_artPos=2#cxrecs_s

"Santa Clarita, California-based Princess Cruises has made a big splash in Galveston less than a year after returning to Texas.

Regal Princess is now sailing out of Galveston, making it the largest Princess ship ever based in the Lone Star State, the company said Nov. 5. The 1,083-foot ship has a guest capacity of 3,560 and carries 1,346 crew members.

From Galveston, Regal Princess will sail 21 roundtrip voyages to the Western Caribbean through March 24. The ship is expected to carry about 75,000 travelers during that time. The voyages will range from seven to 12 days and visit destinations such as Cozumel, Mexico; Costa Maya, Mexico; and Roatan, Honduras."

 

[texan]

Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees approved the engineering contract for the fourth cruise terminal and a parking garage. Connected to this, the port should have a contract with MSC within 30 days.

https://www.galvnews.com/news/port-of-galveston-trustees-approves-5m-engineering-contract-for-fourth-cruise-terminal/article_2ce4a31c-9a75-5563-9237-ddc595f92ff7.html?block_id=531919

Additionally, in 2024, the port will demolish the ADM grain elevator, reopen the skywalk across Harborside Dr., and make some roadway improvements. 

https://www.galvnews.com/news/port-of-galveston-leaders-set-sail-for-2024-with-largest-ever-budget/article_054f0846-cf01-5225-9420-0e02ac5f1922.html

[hindesky]

"With the support of the Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees, Battleship Texas could soon make Galveston its permanent home. The world’s last surviving dreadnought could welcome visitors as early as 2025 once fully renovated. 

“We’ve been working on it for a long time and now we have some really good support on the Port of Galveston board,” Battleship Texas Foundation president and CEO Tony Gregory said. “So, we think that it’ll land us in the best spot on the Galveston ship channel to attract the most visitors to the battleship.”

The Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees gave Battleship Texas a conditional lease based on several factors including ample parking for visitors and the ability to regulate traffic in what board members describe as a congested area. 

Landry’s Inc. will be the lease holder for the historical ship that took part in both world wars. Landry’s throwing it’s resources and reputation behind the project sealed the deal for many on the Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees board."

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/galveston/article/battleship-texas-galveston-permanent-18527001.php

[hindesky]

[texan]

Norwegian Prima has arrived in Galveston. Carnival Jubilee arrives on Wednesday. Norwegian Escape arrives next year and Norwegian Viva arrives the year after.

https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-lines-prima-begins-full-season-from-texas/118420

https://www.galvnews.com/news/galveston-to-welcome-carnival-jubilee-wednesday-as-ship-comes-in/article_2bc1164e-4c1d-50e1-ba01-1499da0d48da.html?block_id=531919

https://www.ksat.com/news/texas/2023/12/14/norwegian-cruise-line-announces-new-cruise-out-of-galveston/

[hindesky]

"The Battleship Texas is looking better than ever. The venerable warship, which has become a popular conversation piece in Galveston as it undergoes $60 million in repairs at a nearby dry dock, recently got a fresh paint job that matches its coloring while serving in World War II, its caretakers said recently.

https://www.chron.com/gulf-coast/article/battleship-texas-new-paint-repairs-18600363.php

 

 

Edited February 16 by editor
Edited for copyright reasons. Do not copy and paste. Summarize and link.

[texan]

MSC officially announces its first planned cruises out of Galveston for late 2025! The Galveston Wharves is currently in the design phase of the fourth cruise terminal, of which MSC is expected to be an anchor tenant.

https://www.galvnews.com/news/msc-cruises-announces-galveston-dates-for-2025/article_caeb7f0b-ce60-566d-acd3-564698ecc0ea.html?block_id=531919

[ChannelTwoNews]

Port of Galveston, MSC Cruises reach deal for 4th cruise terminal - Houston Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

"The Port of Galveston's fourth cruise terminal complex will get underway soon thanks to a deal with Switzerland-based MSC Cruises.

The agreement between the Galveston Wharves and MSC, which has been in the works since at least 2022, was signed this week. The project is slated to begin in early 2024 and be complete in time for the MSC Seascape to homeport at the new terminal in November 2025, Galveston Wharves said Feb. 6."

[phillip_white]

3 hours ago, ChannelTwoNews said:

Port of Galveston, MSC Cruises reach deal for 4th cruise terminal - Houston Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

"The Port of Galveston's fourth cruise terminal complex will get underway soon thanks to a deal with Switzerland-based MSC Cruises.

The agreement between the Galveston Wharves and MSC, which has been in the works since at least 2022, was signed this week. The project is slated to begin in early 2024 and be complete in time for the MSC Seascape to homeport at the new terminal in November 2025, Galveston Wharves said Feb. 6."

The remainder of the article:

MSC's 20-year operating agreement for the terminal includes four five-year extension options. The company will have a set cruise schedule at the terminal, but the port can negotiate with other cruise lines to use the facility when it's available.

The port will develop the $100 million cruise terminal, $42 million parking garage, internal roadway and other improvements using port cash reserves and revenue bonds. Located at Pier 16, the project includes converting an existing cargo warehouse into the 165,000-square-foot cruise terminal.

In November, the Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees approved a $5.3 million engineering and architecture services contract for Miami-based Bermello Ajamil & Partners Inc. The full scope of work includes designing the terminal building, a parking garage, marine structure improvements and a passenger boarding bridge. BA also will design civil improvements such as surface parking, access roads and utilities.

The 20-year strategic master plan that the board approved in 2019 originally projected the fourth cruise terminal would not be needed until 2031. However, the project is getting underway years earlier than expected — and less than two years after the third terminal opened — because Del Monte Fresh Produce Co., a longtime cargo tenant, outgrew its Port of Galveston facilities.

"We are happy to see that Del Monte was able to relocate 30 miles to the south in Freeport, thus retaining its regional economic impact," Rodger Rees, Galveston Wharves port director and CEO, said in the Feb. 6 announcement. "We leveraged this opportunity based on the unprecedented popularity of the cruise industry and our optimal location in the central part of the United States."

Galveston will be MSC's fourth homeport in the U.S., joining those in Miami; Port Canaveral, Florida; and New York City. MSC Cruises is the world’s third-largest cruise brand, per the Port of Galveston, and the MSC Seascape is the newest vessel in the company's Seaside class of ships, which were designed specifically for Caribbean cruising and feature enlarged and enhanced outdoor spaces. Launched in 2022, MSC Seascape can accommodate 5,632 passengers and 1,648 crew members.

With the additional capacity from the new terminal, the Port of Galveston is expected to be the eighth-largest cruise port globally, Rees said.

"That MSC chose Galveston as its newest home port is a tribute to our strong and growing cruise market," Rees said. "Our popularity is reflected in the growth of our passenger counts and sailings."

Nationwide, Galveston is the fourth-busiest port for cruises, based on its record 1.49 million cruise passengers in 2023, up 43% from 2022. For 2024, the port has scheduled 388 sailings, which could carry 1.6 million cruise passengers, Rees said.

Adding a fourth cruise terminal is expected to create 925 jobs for the local economy, $58.6 million in income, $177 million in revenue, $21 million in onshore spending by passengers and crew, and $5 million in state and local taxes, Galveston Wharves said previously.

In 2022, the cruise business had a huge impact on the local economy, according to a port-commissioned study by Martin and Associates. The industry created 3,489 local jobs, $567.8 million in local business revenue, $19.7 million in state and local tax revenue, $1.9 million in business revenue per cruise vessel and $73.5 million in onshore spending by passengers and crew. Direct benefits to the city of Galveston included an estimated $900,000 port payment for total passenger movements, $370,000 in sales tax from port parking revenue and a $180,000 guaranteed port payment.

In addition to opening its third cruise terminal, the Port of Galveston also has welcomed several new ships in the past few years. Most recently, Carnival Jubilee and Norwegian Prima arrived in Galveston in December.

[asubrt]

I wonder with this much increased cruise capacity if there’s any chance at a weekend flight or two to Scholes Airport? Doubtful, but a Saturday/Sunday-only service to DFW on AA or ATL on Delta would be cool.