Published on : Wednesday, April 29, 2020
The decision took place through a voting system where the Board of Trustees took a vote on item E10 of the agenda and voted 6 to 1 to approve the Royal Caribbean’s amendment to allow the delay in building Cruise Terminal 3. The one dissenting vote expressed a desire to explore other options before committing a one year delay in the project. The cruise lines first requested the delay back in late March.
Terminal 3 will be built on 10 acres of land at Pier 10 and will be used by Royal Caribbean. The terminal is being built to accommodate Oasis-class ships. It was in December 2019 that the plan to build this terminal was first announced. There was no verbal mention or discussion regarding one presentation slide indicating Anthem of the Seas possibly moving to Galveston at the current Cruise Terminal 2.
Royal Caribbean has been granted time until April 2021 to fully commit to building a new terminal. An updated completion date is expected to be in the third quarter of 2021. The new target completion date for the terminal is September 1, 2022. Neither the Port nor Royal Caribbean wanted to cancel the contract and felt the best option was the one year delay.
In November 2021, the newly completed terminal was originally set to welcome the Allure of the Seas following her $165 million amplification. The Allure was scheduled to sail seven-night Caribbean itineraries from Galveston. Without an Oasis-ready terminal at the port, Galveston will lose out on one of the world’s largest ships.
Tags: Galveston, royal caribbean