As Cruise Industry News correctly points out this morning, neither Princess nor NCL have any plans on returning to Houston’s Bayport Terminal after this winter 2015-2016 season concludes. Houston has always had difficulty in attracting lines to call their terminal. I touched upon this in one of my first editorials here. The terminal will now be a layberth for vessels needing dock space on the Houston Ship Channel.
The same cannot be said about the much more popular, and closer to the Gulf of Mexico, Galveston. Royal Caribbean will be sailing the much larger Freedom-classed Liberty of the Seas from Galveston starting this winter. Carnival also recently added a third ship to the mix from Galveston as well.
This was pretty much the last attempt Bayport Terminal had at a sustained cruise business. The long term plans for it remain murky.