GALVESTON, Texas After sailing away in 2007 to court a hot European market, Princess Cruises will resume voyages from the Port of Galveston, this time with a larger ship.
Beginning December next year, the 3,070-passenger Crown Princess will launch its Caribbean season from the island port, planning 19 departures between Dec. 22, 2012, and April 27, 2013.
Crown Princess arrival marks the second time a Princess Cruises ship has been deployed in Texas for an entire season. The island s public docks were a seasonal home port to the 2,592-passenger Grand Princess from 2004 to 2007. The ship left for more profitable waters in Europe and other markets.
Customer demand prompted Princess Cruises to return to the island, officials said.
It shows that Princess Cruises first experience with the Port of Galveston was very positive, and it proved it has a market here, port Director Steve Cernak said.
Passengers also wanted a Galveston option, the company said.
We have received a great deal of feedback from cruisers interested in sailing from Galveston again, said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises executive vice president of sales, marketing and customer service. So, we re excited to be returning in 2012 to bring our Western Caribbean sailings back to Texas.
Cruise news in recent months has been a bright spot on the island, which is the No. 6 U.S. port in terms of passengers.
Last year, 434,524 passengers embarked on cruises from the island.
The Port of Galveston has been adept at attracting bigger and better cruise ships, even as its larger rival, the Port of Houston, has struggled to attract cruise lines to the $81 million Bayport facility.
That facility hasn t seen much business, except when it helped the island port by allowing Carnival s Conquest and Ecstasy, which homeport in Galveston, to sail from Bayport for a few weeks after Hurricane Ike in September 2008 damaged Galveston s Texas Cruise Ship Terminal at Pier 25 and Harborside Drive.
The island port s proximity to the Gulf of Mexico makes it a desirable cruise embarkation point, industry observers said.
Late last year, Florida-based Carnival Cruise Lines announced it would bring two new vessels to Galveston in the fall this year.
Carnival said Magic would begin sailing from the island port in November. The 101,500-ton Triumph would be moved to the island from its New Orleans base a month before that.
Magic and Triumph, with a passenger capacity of 2,758, are larger than the ships home-porting on the island now.
They will bring the largest-ever capacity commitment by a cruise line to Texas, with more than 450,000 passengers expected to sail annually.
Also next year, Royal Caribbean International plans to replace its Voyager of the Seas with Mariner of the Seas, one of the world s 10 largest liners.
The liners, which carry tourists on trips to Mexico and the Caribbean, also bring in about $5 million yearly to the port.
The landlord port, which owns 850 acres and makes money from leasing its facilities to maritime tenants, posted about $23 million in revenues last year.
Passengers pay between $45 and $100 to park in port lots. After expenses, the Crown Princess is expected to generate about $200,000 for the port.
The island s lucrative cruise business hasn t gone unnoticed. Last month, wharves trustees who govern the port voted to pursue a public-private partnership with a joint venture comprised of a major investment group and one the world s largest maritime shipping terminal operators.
The vote launched a months-long process during which port staff will attempt to hammer out a definitive agreement with The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, and Hutchison Port Holdings, which operates more than 50 ports in 25 countries.
Although the port is a utility of the city, it doesn t receive tax money. It is seeking private partners to take over management and invest in some port facilities. For years, the public docks have deteriorated, with little cash available to make more than emergency repairs.
Initially, the port considered keeping its cruise business off the table. But The Carlyle Group and Hutchison Port Holdings wanted the cruise facilities included in a deal that has yet to be finalized and presented to port officials.
Port officials said they would not negotiate a deal allowing new managers to shut down cruise business, which benefits island stores, hotels, restaurants and others catering to ship crews and passengers.
Any successful agreement would provide protection against the shutdown of the port, Cernak said.
This story was brought to you thanks to khou.com s partnership with the Galveston County Daily News.
