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 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