Cruises out of Jacksonville, FL

[avenger]

I heard rumor that they are dredging the waters there so that they can fit larger ships in there, is that true? And if so, does anyone know when they may be doing that and what ships are looking to sail out of there? Thank you.

[penny3333]

I haven't heard that, but it would be great. Sure wish Mobile could get other ships in there as well. Hopefully someone knows on the board.

[drlivingston]

Jacksonville's dredging project is well underway. They were hoping to beat Mobile in constructing a 45-50 ft. deep canal to allow Panamax freighters (and eventually post-Panamax) into their harbor. Alas, Mobile is scheduled to open in September and Jacksonville is still in the planning and construction phase. Now Jacksonville will be behind Charleston, Savannah, AND Mobile in ship size handling capacity. Haven't these port authorities ever watched "Field of Dreams?" "If you build it, they will come."
Also, keep in mind, different ships need different depths to travel. The bigger the ship does not necessarily mean you need deeper water. Look at RCCL for instance. The Freedom class ships are 9% longer and have 16% more tonnage than the Voyager class but they require less water. The draft of a Freedom class is 28ft. the draft of a Voyager class is 29ft.

[avenger]

Thank you for the information dr. There ya go Penny, looks like you beat me! HA HA! Well I'm in SC so Charleston, maybe even Savannah, I believe are even closer. Do you know when Charleston and/or Savannah will be ready and what ships will be going out of there by any chance?

[drlivingston]

The answer to the cruise ship aspect is not merely dealing with dredging (depth). Take Mobile for instance. The port is deep enough to handle larger cruise ships. That is not the problem. It's the width of the waterway itself. The Holiday is a small ship until you witness her doing a u-turn in the harbor. That is where the problem lies with many ports. Cruise ships and freighters, while they are both ships, have different requirements when it comes to docking.

[avenger]

Oh I think I understand. So Jacksonville and Charleston won't get much of a change in cruise ships, right?

[Cruise Fanatic]

Well, the 70,000 ton Fascination is coming to JAX to replace the 47,262 ton Celebration, so that's bigger. Don't know if they will ever plan bigger than the Fascination. I guess they will wait and see how demand is to fill the Fascination.

[avenger]

Understandable. Thank you.

[drlivingston]

Originally posted by Cruise Fanatic:
Well, the 70,000 ton Fascination is coming to JAX to replace the 47,262 ton Celebration.

I appreciate that little tidbit... (humorous sarcasm) My wife is now wanting me to book the Fascination out of Jax for Thanksgiving this year. I was thinking about Hawaii and now I am probably going to Nassau. (Now if I can just figure out a way of preventing her from leaving the ship when we get there, I will be ok)

[avenger]

LMAO dr! I was just on the Fascination in September and am not fond of going on it AGAIN! But being as it seems to be the most convenient I may be going on it yet again.