Friday, August 20, 2010

SORRY RALPH, CRUISERS AREN'T BITING

"The reality is they have as much chance to get a cruise ship to (home port) as they do in luring the Lakers from Los Angeles," says Stewart Chiron of CruiseGuy.com. "They're too far from any major airport, and there aren't enough people within a three hour drive to warrant it." USA TODAY, on Brownsville officials efforts to get a cruise ship.

By Juan Montoya

Judging by the responses to a USA TODAY travel poll taken after the Port of Brownsville approved an additional study to determine the feasibility of establishing a cruise ship home port there, the enthusiasm for such a move seems to be underwhelming.
The online poll asked readers whether they thought Brownsville would be a likely place to where they would board a cruise ship for destinations elsewhere.
So far, the responses (5), aren't encouraging.
After approving the expenditure of $48,000 to study the idea, local entities involved in the endeavor might want to rethink before throwing more good money after bad.
We're sure BND commissioner Ralph Cowen will take issue with this unscientific poll given the fact that as the city's Goodwill Ambassador he has spearheaded the effort to lure a cruise line down here. Well, take the responses for what they're worth.

A sample below:
"If South Texas gets a hub - it should be on South Padre - where there are places and beaches that people may want to visit either before or after their cruise.
Brownsville is not a tourist destination, nor will it ever be. Folks from San Antonio aren't going to drive 300 miles to get there - let alone any other part of Texas."

don pedro wrote:
I find Brownsville to be a city that could care less about tourism. I used to shop there and now I go elsewhere....almost any other city in Texas is friendlier and the chamber of commerce is more sensitive to the needs of visitors in any other location that I can think of.So if Brownsville offered a cruise embarkation...I'd most certainly still look elsewhere."


sal5x5 wrote:
"NO, THE CITY IS A LESS THAN AN ATTRACTIVE PLACE AND THE AIRPORT FACILITIES AND TRANSPORTATION OF LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE WOULD ADD NEEDLESS STRESS TO THE BEGINNING OF A VACATION. IN THESE HARD TIMES TO SPEND $48,000.00 SHOWS THE MIND SET OF STUPID GOVERNMENT PEOPLE. CRUISING IS ALL ABOUT GETTING TO AND FROM AIRPORTS TO THE SHIP AS QUICKLY AND AS PAINLESS AS POSSIBLE. BROWNVILLE/HARLINGEN HARDLY COMES CLOSE TO THESE REQUIREMENTS. ADDITIONALLY THERE ARE NO DIRECT FLIGHTS. PASSENGERS WOULD HAVE TO CHANGE PLANES IN EITHER HOUSTON OR DALLAS SO WHY BOTHER.


ionu wrote:
Why is the USA Today always pimping Texas? Texas represents everything that is wrong with America. Drill baby drill mentality, poor to none mass transit, infested with illegals, terrible public schools, on and on...


Socrates-at-Sea wrote:
I might cruise out of Brownsville, if there were something special about the itinerary. But if it will just be another place from which one may cruise to Cozumel, then probably not. If I see the port of Cozumel one more time, I may scream...The real value of Brownsville as a home port may be in the possibility of luring large numbers of cruisers living in Mexico. Whether this would be enough to sustain Brownsville, would be an open question--but one probably resolved quickly.

2 comments:

Fred Drew said...

The thing that gets me are the 100,000 or so (last year)Central Americans that transit through this area -Los Indios through the war zone to drive home. 10 years ago when there was just half of that or less the Regal Voyager had a waiting list of several weeks in spite of known mechanical issues. The business isn't sevy but could be very lucrative.

Anonymous said...

Juan, Someone is asking that I run for BISD Trustee. Interesting thought, but at this time there is no one on the board willing to support the children. They are all playing, including the little princess Katy Garcia and sanctioned Escobedo, the game of give my friends and family jobs. If I were to run and win, I would be a vote of one. The goal is to find a way to get rid of Springston. Springston if forced out will sing like a canary. In case you have not noticed he is yellow.

Jude

rita