Could Carnival Leave Jax?

[simms3]

My parents have gone on many cruises on many nice ships from the likes of Celebrity and Holland America, and my mother, being from a more European family, grew up taking ocean liners across the Atlantic for travel...

Jesus, how old is your mother?!?

My mother actually is European and travels by air like most people (and she turns 77 this year). Maybe she just wasn't fancy enough?

I do remember us taking a hydrofoil from France to England in the 70s, but I think that was a ferry.

My mother is from a Swedish/Norwegian family and almost exclusively traveled to Europe by ship.  She would go most summers with her mother and brother, and on occasion her father - ship travel for her was actually NOT necessarily luxurious as typically it would be on smaller ships like the Rotterdam and the North Atlantic is very very rough.  Yes, she grew up fairly well (her father, my grandfather, was a very successful surgeon in Chicago).  She would go on family ski trips to Switzerland, Austria, and the Dolomites and they would travel by ship, as well, bringing the car!  The irony is her mother, my grandmother, was a flight attendant for SAS, and that is how she ended up meeting my grandfather...via air travel and stopoffs.

Separately, she did a semester abroad, on a ship, completely circumnavigating the globe and stopping off at various ports along the way.  I'm not aware of similar programs today, but it was offered through her school, and this was in the early 70s.

[Adam White]

My parents have gone on many cruises on many nice ships from the likes of Celebrity and Holland America, and my mother, being from a more European family, grew up taking ocean liners across the Atlantic for travel...

Jesus, how old is your mother?!?

My mother actually is European and travels by air like most people (and she turns 77 this year). Maybe she just wasn't fancy enough?

I do remember us taking a hydrofoil from France to England in the 70s, but I think that was a ferry.

My mother is from a Swedish/Norwegian family and almost exclusively traveled to Europe by ship.  She would go most summers with her mother and brother, and on occasion her father - ship travel for her was actually NOT necessarily luxurious as typically it would be on smaller ships like the Rotterdam and the North Atlantic is very very rough.  Yes, she grew up fairly well (her father, my grandfather, was a very successful surgeon in Chicago).  She would go on family ski trips to Switzerland, Austria, and the Dolomites and they would travel by ship, as well, bringing the car!  The irony is her mother, my grandmother, was a flight attendant for SAS, and that is how she ended up meeting my grandfather...via air travel and stopoffs.

Separately, she did a semester abroad, on a ship, completely circumnavigating the globe and stopping off at various ports along the way.  I'm not aware of similar programs today, but it was offered through her school, and this was in the early 70s.

I think that Semester at Sea programme is still around - or it was still around in the early 2000s.

[jaxlongtimer]

Carnival has sold the Fascination which sailed from Jacksonville from 2008 to 2016.  The current Jacksonville-based Ecstasy, the oldest ship in the current Carnival fleet somehow has escaped being sold or scrapped so far.

The below article, taken with the above fact I previously noted, makes one wonder about the theme of this thread.  Are we about to lose the Ecstasy for good?

Carnival Cruise Line announced its early 2022 lineup of destinations — and Jacksonville is not one of them.

Jaxport officials expressed hope as recently as a fortnight ago that when Carnival declared where it would be sailing early next year that Jacksonville would be included.

The company is starting some cruises back up in January, but the Carnival Ecstasy, the vessel that operated at Jaxport, is one of three U.S.- based ships whose service has been canceled at least until the beginning of March.

"Our restart plan continues to excel across all metrics, and we are looking forward to completing the restart of the fleet in the new year," Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy said in a statement.  "We appreciate the support and patience of our guests, travel agents and port and destination partners who have been key to this successful restart."

Carnival's three other Sunshine State destinations will all have at least one ship with routes starting in January.

Miami will have four routes: Carnival Freedom, Carnival Horizon, Carnival Sunrise and Carnival Conquest. Port Canaveral will have four routes: Mardi Gras, Carnival Elation, Carnival Magic and Carnival Liberty. The Carnival Pride will operate out of Port Tampa Bay.

Wednesday's announcement means Jacksonville will go almost two full years — or longer — without cruise service. Carnival suspended its cruise service on March 13, 2020, and the Centers for Disease Control issued its No Sail Order one day later.

Despite the setback, Jaxport is confident that cruise service of some variety will return this fiscal year. The port projected it would earn $1.22 million in cruise revenues for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1.

https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2021/10/08/carnival-jaxport.html?utm_source=st&utm_medium=en&utm_campaign=me&utm_content=ja&ana=e_ja_me&j=25275543&senddate=2021-10-08

[jaxjaguar]

I wish that boat that hit the Mathews a few years ago would've condemned it... It would've been an excellent opportunity to replace the bridge with something taller and move the cruise port to that area. It would better integrate with downtown, provide guests with easier access to hotels to extend their stay in an area that desperately needs it and provide more opportunity for future growth of the industry. Obliviously the Dames Point would need to be raised, but at least it's easier to do that to a suspension bridge and the costs would be easier to swallow than building a completely new bridge.

[Charles Hunter]

A taller Matthews would only get bigger ships to Commodore Point, north of the Hart Bridge, which is even lower than the existing Matthews.

While you're raising things, don't forget the JEA power lines

Raising the lines to 197 feet would cost at least $29 million, according to a study commissioned by JEA that was finalized in October [2020]. Recent surges in construction costs could push that number higher, with the cost getting closer to $100 million if the lines were buried.
https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2021/05/12/jaxport-air-draft-jea-wires.html

Do you have any documentation to support your claim about the costs and ease of raising a "suspension bridge"? By the way, the Dames Point is a cable-stayed bridge, different engineering.

[jaxjaguar]

Savannah is working on raising their cable suspension bridge to increase the ship size that can enter their port, so we should have the cost and timeline to do something like that soon.

[BridgeTroll]

The terminal should be in Mayport. Period.

[acme54321]

The terminal should be in Mayport. Period.

But it will kill the historic charm!

[thelakelander]

Unfortunately that was done when all the buildings and shrimp docks along the riverfront were razed.

[BridgeTroll]

The terminal should be in Mayport. Period.

But it will kill the historic charm!

You "recreate" historic charm for the folks getting on and off the cruise. I'm in Helen Ga now. The town created a destination out of basically nothing.  Mayport could do something similar on a much smaller scale. Unfortunately you need vision and buy in from locals. Dingy and dirty is what the locals seem to prefer.

[acme54321]

I mean Singleton's has all the charm we could even need

[BridgeTroll]

No doubt. That and the rusting sinking shrimp boats

[jaxlongtimer]

Well, my prediction is coming true, Carnival Ecstasy is leaving Jax (for Mobile).  The good news is it is being replaced by Carnival Spirit, a newer and slightly larger ship being moved here from Australia.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2022/02/02/carnival-changing-its-jacksonville-based-cruise-ship/

https://cruiseradio.net/carnival-cruise-line-removes-ship-from-australia/

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/newer-bigger-carnival-spirit-coming-jacksonville-march-re-start/DLCOVFR5XBCO5HY2A233ERS5NA/

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/entertainment/goodbye-ecstasy-carnival-brings-new-cruise-ship-to-jacksonville/77-2cc7e9af-46e7-43d6-a127-53365ab0760b

Carnival has sold the Fascination which sailed from Jacksonville from 2008 to 2016.  The current Jacksonville-based Ecstasy, the oldest ship in the current Carnival fleet somehow has escaped being sold or scrapped so far.

The below article, taken with the above fact I previously noted, makes one wonder about the theme of this thread.  Are we about to lose the Ecstasy for good?

Carnival Cruise Line announced its early 2022 lineup of destinations — and Jacksonville is not one of them.

Jaxport officials expressed hope as recently as a fortnight ago that when Carnival declared where it would be sailing early next year that Jacksonville would be included.

The company is starting some cruises back up in January, but the Carnival Ecstasy, the vessel that operated at Jaxport, is one of three U.S.- based ships whose service has been canceled at least until the beginning of March.

"Our restart plan continues to excel across all metrics, and we are looking forward to completing the restart of the fleet in the new year," Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy said in a statement.  "We appreciate the support and patience of our guests, travel agents and port and destination partners who have been key to this successful restart."

Carnival's three other Sunshine State destinations will all have at least one ship with routes starting in January.

Miami will have four routes: Carnival Freedom, Carnival Horizon, Carnival Sunrise and Carnival Conquest. Port Canaveral will have four routes: Mardi Gras, Carnival Elation, Carnival Magic and Carnival Liberty. The Carnival Pride will operate out of Port Tampa Bay.

Wednesday's announcement means Jacksonville will go almost two full years — or longer — without cruise service. Carnival suspended its cruise service on March 13, 2020, and the Centers for Disease Control issued its No Sail Order one day later.

Despite the setback, Jaxport is confident that cruise service of some variety will return this fiscal year. The port projected it would earn $1.22 million in cruise revenues for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1.

https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2021/10/08/carnival-jaxport.html?utm_source=st&utm_medium=en&utm_campaign=me&utm_content=ja&ana=e_ja_me&j=25275543&senddate=2021-10-08

[Gators312]

https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/carnival-cruise-line-plans-to-retire-two-more-of-its-oldest-ships

Restart plans for the Mobile and Jacksonville cruises were delayed making the Carnival Ecstasy and Carnival Sensation among the last scheduled to return to service. They have been expected to resume cruises in March 2022, but Carnival again revised the plans based on continuing delays by Australia to permit cruises to resume. Two cruise ships based down under, the Carnival Spirit and Carnival Splendor, will reposition to North America with the Carnival Spirit briefly taking over the Jacksonville cruises while the Carnival Ecstasy will move to Mobile through October 2022 replacing the Carnival Sensation, which never returned to service after the pause in operations two years ago. The Carnival Ecstasy will retire from the fleet in October 2022.

In addition to repositioning the two ships from Australia, Carnival Cruise Line will also be receiving another large ship from its sister brand Costa Cruises in Italy. The line is also adding sister ships to the new LNG-fueled Mardi Gras, the Carnival Celebration due for delivery from Meyer Werft in 2022, and the Carnival Jubilee in 2023. Carnival, however, plans to suspend cruises from Mobile starting in October 2022 till 2023 and assign a different ship to Jacksonville with the details to be announced shortly.

[Charles Hunter]

Unless the LNG ships are too big to fit under the Dames Point Bridge, it would make sense to assign one here, with our LNG infrastructure at the port.