Carnival Cruise Lines Returns to Norfolk in 2015

Carnival Glory on October 18, 2013, in Norfolk when we returned from a cruise to The Bahamas

The boyfriend and I enjoy cruises - as do a lot of our gay friends and some of my fellow LGBT bloggers - and we have sailed on Carnival out of Norfolk twice and had a wonderful time at very reasonable cost since no air travel has been required.  We were most disappointed when Carnival announced it would not have a ship home ported in Norfolk in 2014.  Thankfully, as announced by Gov. McAuliffe today to the General Assembly, Carnival is returning to Norfolk in 2015.  For those who have never cruised before, mark your calendars for 2015 and check it out.  Here are details from the Virginian Pilot:

Carnival Cruise Lines is returning to Norfolk next year, Gov. Terry McAuliffe told the General Assembly on Monday night.  The world’s largest cruise line intends to resume sailing from Norfolk in the spring and fall of 2015, McAuliffe announced.

“This renewed activity in Hampton Roads will not only generate important tourism dollars for the commonwealth, but will also be a catalyst for job growth,” he said in his first address to General Assembly members.

“I am delighted to welcome Carnival back to Virginia next year, but my administration’s goal is to encourage them to bring more ship calls and ultimately, regular homeport service to downtown Norfolk, and to continue to grow our tourism economy across the commonwealth.”

The announcement comes 2½ months after the Carnival Glory pulled out of Norfolk for Miami, leaving the city’s nearly 7-year-old, $37.4 million Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center without a ship that calls it home.

“I can confirm that Carnival Cruise Lines is returning to Norfolk in 2015 to operate a series of cruises in the spring and fall,” Jennifer de la Cruz, a spokeswoman for the Miami-based cruise line, wrote in an email to The Virginian-Pilot on Monday.

“Specific ship, date and itinerary information is still being finalized and more specific details are expected to be announced this spring. We would like to thank the port, and local and state leadership, for their continued partnership and we greatly look forward to returning to Norfolk next year.”

Norfolk officials said they expect Carnival to offer 10 to 12 cruise departures in 2015, with Caribbean ports being the likely destinations.

Fraim said that while the city had not offered any Carnival any incentives to come back, he suggested that the state might.  “We live in a very competitive environment with cruise ships,” he said. “And we know that both Maryland and South Carolina, their states provide marketing dollars to aid the sale of tickets. And we hope that the commonwealth will do the same.”

Fraim said McAuliffe, whom he praised for helping win back Carnival, is committed to doing everything possible to have a ship homeported in Norfolk year-round.

“He gets it; he acts quickly,” Fraim said. “The one thing about Gov. McAuliffe is he knows most captains of industry well. He is able to make phone calls returned  quickly and he has been of great assistance in this regard.”

 I guess we will be cruising from Norfolk again next year!

Bahamas Bound

After a whirlwind week and Saturday, today the boyfriend and I and several friends will be boarding the Carnival Glory and setting sail for Nassau in the Bahamas (the entrance of Nassau's harbor is pictured above).  All the house sitting and pet sitting arrangements are in place and my youngest daughter picked up my car yesterday so it will be in Norfolk when we arrive back at the end of the week.  As is the norm, I will try to get some posts up every day and monitor things at the law firm as well.  Having one's own law firm sadly means that one never fully gets away.   The Glory, which has had all its public rooms redecorated since we sailed on her last year is pictured below.

Headed to Nassau on Sunday

I suspect that it will not be as upscale as the cruise of the Western Mediterranean that the boyfriend and I did last year at this time on Royal Caribbean, but on Sunday we sail out of Norfolk headed to Nassau in the Bahamas aboard the Carnival Glory (pictured above).  Booking through BJ's Travel the price made the cruise too good to pass up (the over 55 discount made the deal even sweeter).  I suspect that there may be local and other readers of this blog on board and, if that's the case, I hope folks will touch base with me.  Nothing would be more fun than to get together for drinks or an evening in the ship's dance club or one of the other bars.

Since I have to stay in contact with my law firm, I will be using satellite Internet while on board and I will be doing some blog posting over the six days that we are on board ship.   Needless to say, unless something really gets me riled up, the volume of post will likely be reduced.  I will be posting some photos through out the trip.

Fortunately, we have the Obama campaign staffer that we are housing through election day to house sit for us and keep an eye on things while we are gone. And since we sail right from Norfolk, it will be a simple drive to Norfolk and my daughter or son-in-law will simply drop us at the cruise terminal  It can't be much easier.

In any event, it should be a welcomed get away.  Again, I am serious about the offer that if there are any blog readers going on the cruise, we'd love to get together and chat in person.  Drop me an e-mail or leave a comment.