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Norfolk Cruise Terminal


willy

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Wow thanks for the site....the new renderings give us a better idea of how the whole thing will tie into Town Point park and just how it will look overall. Has anyone seen how construction is proceeding lately?

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I've seen them out there but haven't seen what they have done. But everytime a cruise ship comes in they have to stop construction so that will definetly slow the process down

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Thats going to look great on the Norfolk waterfront.  Nauticus and the cruise terminal will compliment each other nicely.

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I am so excited about this cruise terminal. Once this is complete it will really put Norfolk on the map. And if you think downtown development is taking off now, watch out for when they finish this project. It's gonna bring a lot of new business to this area.

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I am so excited about this cruise terminal. Once this is complete it will really put Norfolk on the map. And if you think downtown development is taking off now, watch out for when they finish this project. It's gonna bring a lot of new business to this area.

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I can remember the first few years after Nauticus opened, it wasnt doing that great. Attendance was lagging and its operations were being subsidized by the city of Norfolk. I would have laughed if someone said a terminal would be built next to it in the years to come. And now a decade later look at what is taking place - a cruise terminal is being built next to it. Downtown Norfolk (and Hampton Roads) never ceases to amaze me.

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I remember when the only cruise ships that came to Norfolk were the ones that needed overhauling, LOL.

Here's a nice article from Inside Business how the cruise industry is helping out ORF.

Cruise business gives airport a lift

By Philip Newswanger

Inside Business - Hampton Roads

Monday March 21, 2005

Cruise passengers are making waves at Norfolk International Airport.

A side effect of Norfolk?s burgeoning cruise business is an influx of air travelers, drawn by cruises to nowhere and cruises to somewhere. They represent maybe less than 1 percent of the airport?s yearly count of 2 million to 3 million passengers ? but they indicate that Norfolk?s cruise market may be larger than first imagined.

This is a new direction for the city?s cruise business.

Post 9/11, cruise lines decided to go after the drive market, since many travelers were afraid to fly to larger port cities. In response, cruise lines deployed ships along the East Coast, hoping to attract travelers from within a 300-mile radius of smaller cities like Norfolk.

That has changed ? which has surprised and pleased Nauticus officials, who are now building a marketing campaign that targets travel agents in cities that have nonstop flights to Norfolk.

?When we started this, cruise lines were attracted to us because of the drive market,? said Stephen E. Kirkland, manager of cruise operations and marketing for Nauticus. ?We knew that the drive market would be high.?

Kirkland provided figures that show that 60 percent of Norfolk?s embarking cruise passengers drive here from elsewhere while 40 percent of them use Norfolk International Airport.

The figures are a tally of 33,759 passengers from Celebrity Cruises and Holland-America Line in 2004, showing that 4,460 travelers from Florida, second only to Virginia in head count, and 1,716 from Texas flew to Virginia.

According to a marketing strategy compiled by a task force of vested cruise interests, Holland America?s marketing efforts resulted in a large number of Texas passengers in 2004, whereas Floridians chose Celebrity for its Bermuda itinerary.

Because of an increase in air passengers, Nauticus will hire a consultant by May or June to spread the word ? ?Here?s where we are and here?s what we are doing? ? in Charlotte, Atlanta, Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington D.C.

?It?s necessary to reach out to those travel agents,? Kirkland said. ?The convenience of the airport is very attractive to cruise lines. Most ports don?t partner with airports.?

?It?s growing from pretty much nothing to something,? said Tom Host, senior vice president for T. Parker Host Inc., ship agents and brokers based in Norfolk. ?Until these ships were home-ported here, there was pretty much nothing for the airport. This is a new phenomenon. It?s starting slow and may grow like Tampa.?

Sixty percent of Tampa?s cruise passengers use the airport, said Host, whose company represents the following cruise lines in Norfolk ? Holland-America, Radisson, Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruise Line, Crystal Cruises, Cunard Lines, Silver Sea Cruises and Seabourn Cruise Line. Host also sits on the Norfolk Airport Authority board of commissioners.

As the 80,000-square-foot cruise terminal adjacent to Nauticus aims for a 2006 completion, Cruise Norfolk, the cruise-industry side of Nauticus, is stepping up its marketing efforts with articles in trade publications and membership in the American Association of Port Authorities and the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association.

Norfolk?s cruise terminal will cost $41 million, funded by the state and city. The cost includes construction of the corrugated steel and glass building with a maritime theme, the renovation of nearby piers and some Town Point Park enhancements.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Not much to say but there is progress going on. There are piles sticking out of the water at the site as well as the cranes, dredgers and pile-drivers. Someone down there said that the island should be done this July then construction on the actual terminal will begin.

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With all of the delays, i don't see this done until 2007

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It will be done. They have always anticipated the ships to come in and I'm sure it was incorporated into the projected construction timeline. Plus the building will have a lot of open space and be mostly glass and steel. Look at the new headquarters of the steamship line at lake wright executive center. It's a good reference for the size and style of the terminal with its all glass exterior and mostly open interior plus its 88,000 sq ft and the terminal is 80,000 sq ft. they are similar sized buildings.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thats great news Okinawa. Hopefully this is just the beginning of an increase in the cruise business for Norfolk.

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Once the terminal is completed, I think you'll see a couple of new ships come in for sure, but it will take Nauticus' marketers to work hard to keep expounding the virtues of the HR area to make it work in the long run. The cruise industry is notoriously fickle with their ports of call, so keeping a fresh supply of new lines or ships coming is very important to the long term profitability of the terminal.

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