Norfolk Cruise Terminal

[skylinefan]

You know I had no idea how large of an effect the Half-Moon Cruise center would have on Downtown when it was first proposed, but now that it is a reality the cruise terminal may become one more thing that distinguishes Norfolk from other cities. Even Prince Phillip read up on the cruise terminal before today's visit. The article in the Pilot said he had read about the origins of the name of the terminal before arriving in Norfolk. This indeed will greatly increase cruise business out of Norfolk and I think the projections for the future are erring on the conservative side which I understand, but just call it a hunch I think this new cruise terminal will catapult Norfolk into the big leagues for cruise business.

[okinawatyphoon]

Nauticus Marina Opens at Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center

[vdogg]

So that's why it was so busy down there today.

[skylinefan]

Nothing special here, but I was down in Norfolk this last weekend and took some pictures of the cruise terminal. I am amazed that the pictures came out as good as they did given that my friend and I drank copious amounts of wine at the Virginia Wine Festival!

Edited May 16, 2007 by skylinefan

[gosscj]

I was in Norfolk also, and saw that cruise ship docked next to the BEAUTIFUL new cruise terminal. You can get onto that balcony facing the water at all times of the day and they have nice chairs out there. If you haven't been, it's a very nice place to sit for a few minutes.

[Sky06]

Nothing special here, but I was down in Norfolk this last weekend and took some pictures of the cruise terminal. I am amazed that the pictures came out as good as they did given that my friend and I drank copious amounts of wine at the Virginia Wine Festival!

I plan on doing same this Saturday at the Beer Fest.

[Merrittk92]

I plan on doing same this Saturday at the Beer Fest.

Beer Fest!!

[4307]

Those two on the right look like they came from The Matrix

[Merrittk92]

Interesting OpEd I thought you might enjoy.

Cruise artifacts reflect Texas man's passion

From the Virginian Pilot

"Today, the items are thought to be one of the largest privately held collections of cruise memorabilia in the country.

But the story does not drop anchor there. It docks in Norfolk."

[vdogg]

Rules change could tank local cruise industry

A redefinition of a 122-year old U.S. maritime law could spell disaster for the cruise industry, a city official said.

The proposal also requires that foreign-owned passenger ships spend the same amount of time in foreign ports as in U.S. ports. The rule would hurt small U.S. ports that are part of an itinerary, such as those between Norfolk, New England and Canada. Cruise lines would skip small ports to satisfy the rule.

Man, I really hope this does not go through.

[scm]

Rules change could tank local cruise industry

Not an unusual move -- if you can't compete, get the gov't to raise your competitors cost of doing business. Where this came from is NCL's two ships in Hawaii. What they don't like, is foreign ships visiting US ports without paying US wages -- like they have to do, since they have to be US flagged to operate in Hawaii alone. What they are trying to eliminate, in competition from cruises that leave from LA, cruise Hawaii, then on one way or the other, stop in Ensenada for six hours to comply with the law.

So what if you kill other port's business? It is all about protecting NCL's business in Hawaii. Shameful.

[Sky06]

Not an unusual move -- if you can't compete, get the gov't to raise your competitors cost of doing business. Where this came from is NCL's two ships in Hawaii. What they don't like, is foreign ships visiting US ports without paying US wages -- like they have to do, since they have to be US flagged to operate in Hawaii alone. What they are trying to eliminate, in competition from cruises that leave from LA, cruise Hawaii, then on one way or the other, stop in Ensenada for six hours to comply with the law.

So what if you kill other port's business? It is all about protecting NCL's business in Hawaii. Shameful.

I got news for Hawaii. There are way too many ports in CONUS to let this happen without a fight.

[lil-bear]

It's been a year already?

Report on the terminal!

[rusthebuss]

[Merrittk92]

Cruise passengers rate Norfolk among top 10 ports

From the Virginian Pilot

Norfolk ranked first in the country and second in the world, behind only Venice, Italy, in Royal Caribbean International's most recently released weekly passenger ratings of ports, city officials crowed Monday.

[vdogg]

Hah, I was just about to post this. It's pretty amazing actually, and some real good publicity.

[Sky06]

Hah, I was just about to post this. It's pretty amazing actually, and some real good publicity.

I doubt it would help much. Just look at the sarcastic comments posted on pilotonline. Why do these people live here? Oh, I forgot, it's the only place they can get a job. And live affordably. And enjoy good weather (most of the time). This just proves the point I made in another thread. Push a negative agenda long enough and you get people who can't think for themselves. All they can do is repeat what everyone else says--even if they can't back it up.

[mikeas]

I was out on a jet ski today around Norfolk and crews were installing a mermaid logo and colorful Welcome to Norfolk sign on the side of the Cruise Terminal. Looks pretty nice, I'm glad to see the city supporting more modern cosmetic detail.

[ronsmytheiii]

The cruise ship Enchantment of the Seas is moving to Baltimore, where it will be homeported beginning Friday, said Harrison Liu, a spokesman for Miami-based Royal Caribbean, which has sailed from Norfolk since 2007."It's not a reflection on Norfolk," Liu said. "It's about us being able to deploy a ship year-round out of Baltimore. We offer cruises where the demand is, and we believe that Baltimore offers the year-round demand that we're looking for."

Recently, however, the city's cruise venture has been dwarfed by Baltimore's.Since the 2006 opening of its $13 million cruise terminal, built on the site of a former paper warehouse off Interstate 95, its business has grown dramatically, said Richard Scher,a spokesman for the Maryland Port Administration.This year it expects 91 homeported cruises - starting and ending in Baltimore - serving about 190,000 passengers.Next year, it's anticipating 113 such cruises, with up to 240,000 passengers, Scher said.Norfolk expects 11 homeported cruises this year - starting and ending in Norfolk, said Stephen Kirkland, the city's cruise manager. Counting cruises that just stop in Norfolk, the city will see about 60,000 passengers.Next year, he said, Norfolk has so far scheduled six homeport cruises and expects to see about 40,000 passengers on those and from other cruise stopovers.

Well thanks alot Baltimore for eating our market, they should at least stop by Norfolk

Norfolk cruise officials are talking with three other cruise lines that might sail from the city, Kirkland said.There is no problem filling up cruise ships departing from Norfolk, he said. It's just that they don't always fill up fast enough, leading cruise lines to cut prices closer to departure dates, lowering their per-passenger yield, he explained.

Please Cunard!

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/06/norfolk-loses-cruise-line-baltimore-steams-ahead

[mikeas]

They have a better population base for the cruises but I'll bet after their half day cruise to the Chesapeake Bay bridge tunnel the Baltimore passengers will wish they had departed from Norfolk.

[hollise]

They have a better population base for the cruises but I'll bet after their half day cruise to the Chesapeake Bay bridge tunnel the Baltimore passengers will wish they had departed from Norfolk.

Just to chime in on this, mikeas is correct, Norfolk cannot compete directly with Baltimore since it has several strategic advantages over Norfolk. They are located within a 3 hour drive of the 20MM+ population vs our 8MM+ within 3 hours. This is a fact of life and nothing that Norfolk can do about that. I have read on other comments indicating that their is nothing to do once embarking/debarking off the boat, however, this is really immaterial. Most importantly, most people that are 'driving' in or 'transferring' to the boat are more interested in getting on or off. Having amenities surrounding the terminal is nice, however, it won't make or break filling the boat. Time and ease of getting on and off is most important.

Therefore, IMO, I do believe that Norfolk needs to change its marketing mix in that they should be trying to create a more fly vs drive based market for their cruises. This would require more direct flights to ORF since transfers could be made more quickly under these circumstances. Nothing against PHF, but its located too far from the cruise terminal to offer timely transfers to the boat. This would create a MUCH larger catchment or service area than what exist now. Now Baltimore already has the infrastructure to do this, however, from reading that Pilot article, it doesn't appear that they are capitalizing on this since the customer base is already within their backyard.

If they don't do this, cruise lines will come and go and ultimately Norfolk will end up with another White Elephant.

[jaypee757]

There are many factors that the cruise lines consider when deciding where to place their ships. Obviously the market size is a big one, and one that we really cannot do anything about. Another thing that nobody has brought up yet (thanks local news teams for not asking enough questions) is port fees. It is my understanding (though I do not have hard facts) that Norfolk's fees are much higher than other cities - including those of Baltimore. The cruise lines look at their bottom line before anything else. We have an amazing terminal (if you haven't been, you should check it out) that is probably one of the nicest in the entire country. We have extremely satisfied passengers AND crew members (the ship workers, Captains, etc. ALL love Norfolk and wish it was their home port) - but we have a city full of negative citizens who can't seem to think or do anything positive. Just look at the comments on any PilotOnline article... hardly a single positive comment to be found - ever! HR citizens could make a dog show sound like genocide. All anyone wants to do is complain about the failure of Waterside, the Half Moone, Nauticus - how about supporting them? Or try to come up with an idea of how to make them better. If you want to cruise out of Norfolk but are dissatisfied with the lineup... stop complaining!!! Go online, send an email, call a customer service rep, travel agent, or even write a letter! Tell the lines that you want more ships leaving Norfolk. There are tens of thousands of potential cruisers out there who are equally convenient to Baltimore / Norfolk / Charleston and because of that, when they don't see what they want, they simply go to another port. Nobody feels that their opinion is valued and so they don't try. Well, I'm telling you, it does!!! Get out there and make yourself heard - but try to be positive about it! We CAN get Royal Caribbean back and we CAN get other cruise lines in as well. Just because one ship left for Baltimore does not mean we are out of the line up. There are newer, bigger ships coming out every year and the smaller ones have to relocate somewhere. Norfolk's harbor can not accommodate the massive ships that are considered state of the art today (have you seen Grandeur, Enchantment, or Glory turn around in the river? its a close call!) but we can certainly provide a home for the (still luxurious!) ships of a smaller class.

[hollise]

There are many factors that the cruise lines consider when deciding where to place their ships. Obviously the market size is a big one, and one that we really cannot do anything about. Another thing that nobody has brought up yet (thanks local news teams for not asking enough questions) is port fees. It is my understanding (though I do not have hard facts) that Norfolk's fees are much higher than other cities - including those of Baltimore. The cruise lines look at their bottom line before anything else. We have an amazing terminal (if you haven't been, you should check it out) that is probably one of the nicest in the entire country. We have extremely satisfied passengers AND crew members (the ship workers, Captains, etc. ALL love Norfolk and wish it was their home port) - but we have a city full of negative citizens who can't seem to think or do anything positive. Just look at the comments on any PilotOnline article... hardly a single positive comment to be found - ever! HR citizens could make a dog show sound like genocide. All anyone wants to do is complain about the failure of Waterside, the Half Moone, Nauticus - how about supporting them? Or try to come up with an idea of how to make them better. If you want to cruise out of Norfolk but are dissatisfied with the lineup... stop complaining!!! Go online, send an email, call a customer service rep, travel agent, or even write a letter! Tell the lines that you want more ships leaving Norfolk. There are tens of thousands of potential cruisers out there who are equally convenient to Baltimore / Norfolk / Charleston and because of that, when they don't see what they want, they simply go to another port. Nobody feels that their opinion is valued and so they don't try. Well, I'm telling you, it does!!! Get out there and make yourself heard - but try to be positive about it! We CAN get Royal Caribbean back and we CAN get other cruise lines in as well. Just because one ship left for Baltimore does not mean we are out of the line up. There are newer, bigger ships coming out every year and the smaller ones have to relocate somewhere. Norfolk's harbor can not accommodate the massive ships that are considered state of the art today (have you seen Grandeur, Enchantment, or Glory turn around in the river? its a close call!) but we can certainly provide a home for the (still luxurious!) ships of a smaller class.

I have to agree wholeheartedly.

[Sky06]

There are newer, bigger ships coming out every year and the smaller ones have to relocate somewhere. Norfolk's harbor can not accommodate the massive ships that are considered state of the art today (have you seen Grandeur, Enchantment, or Glory turn around in the river? its a close call!) but we can certainly provide a home for the (still luxurious!) ships of a smaller class.

This implies that Norfolk can't compete with Baltimore because they CAN accommodate the larger ships. Although I don't have the facts at hand, I'm willing to bet that Norfolk can handle anything Baltimore can. We didn't get to be a larger port than Baltimore for nothing. And with completion of Craney Island, we'll be the biggest on the East Coast. So while your statement that we can't currently handle the world's largest cruise ships most likely is true, it's most likely true Baltimore can't either. So that in itself does not give Baltimore an advantage. Your other comments are valid, however.

Edited July 26, 2010 by Sky06

[vdogg]

Haven't seen this in a while. Didn't even know they still had cruises.