Cruise Lines Leaving From Fl

Full steam: Are you sitting down? The Port of Galveston�s governing board on Monday approved spending $190,000 to nearly triple the number of chairs at the Texas Cruise Ship Terminal on Pier 25 as waterfront managers prepare for the arrival of 3,690-passenger Magic, a Carnival Cruise Lines vessel that begins sailing from the island in November.

The money also will pay for stanchions or barriers for crowd control.

With the improvements, the terminal will have seating for 3,640 passengers, up from 1,350. When folding chairs are added, the terminal could seat 4,000 passengers, officials said.

Altogether, the port will spend about $12 million on improvements to the terminal to meet contractual agreements with Carnival, which also plans to move its 2,758-passenger Triumph from its New Orleans base in October.

Magic and Triumph are larger than ships homeporting on the island now.

Other improvements include moving the screening area for embarking passengers from the terminal�s second floor to the first floor, expanding waiting areas and adding restrooms.

In September, the seven-member Wharves Board of Trustees, which governs the port, gave the nod for port staff to enter in to a lease/buy agreement with Trelleborg, Sweden-based FMT to install a new gangway with the stipulation that costs not exceed $3.5 million.

Cruise industry trackers and bloggers for weeks have wanted to know whether the terminal renovations will be complete in time for the new arrivals. �Yes,� Port Director Steve Cernak said.

Other terminal improvements include a system allowing passengers to check in and obtain room assignments, then explore downtown during fog delays.

Trustees John Manlove and Edward Walsh are urging port staff to use social media and text messages to deliver information about delays and also promote island restaurants and shops to cruise passengers.

In April, Disney Cruise Line announced it would sail from the island, departing Sept. 22, 2012, on the first of 12 seven-night cruises from the port to the Western Caribbean.

In March, Princess Cruises said it planned to resume sailing from the island. Beginning 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.