I’ve still got the cruise on my brain today, readers. I am told this is normal - pining for the ship, wasting umpteen hours gazing at itineraries of other cruises, wondering if Doris in the Sports Bar has told the same jokes to new passengers.

I also began to wonder about the fact that Holland America plans to cease its New York embarkations in the near future. They say it’s because they can’t fill up the ships at a workable price point and they toss in the cost of fuel for good measure. I’m sure both of those factors come into play - but other lines seem to do OK out of New York and Brooklyn. And yet, other lines are rumbling similar rumbles. Why? I’m just guessing but I think the state of the New York Passenger Ship Terminal might have something to do with it.  Now  (as stated previously), as bad as it is, it’s still 200% better and easier than any airport so I’m not saying the Terminal is a lost cause or a waste of time. I am saying it’s an obstacle and needs to be fixed.

Why is the New York Passenger Ship Terminal still in such a state?

According an April 2006 press release on the NYC.gov site, the Bloomberg Administration has (or rather had) plans “to facilitate the growth of New York City’s cruise industry.” Part of that plan included reaching agreements with Carnival and Norwegian Cruise in April of 2004 whereby the cruise lines would bring at least 13 million passengers to New York City through 2017 and would pay the City at least $200 million in port charges to support the City’s investment in improving its cruise facilities. Well, if THAT’S an improved facilities, I’m Charley’s Aunt.

I wasn’t surprised to see Bloomberg had a plan for that but I am surprised that apart from the massive amount of work done to bring the Brooklyn Terminal into being (and seriously - bravo to all), nothing seems to have been done to even spruce up the Manhattan Terminal. Seriously, even a lick of paint would help. And that “at least $200 million in port charges” the cruise lines were to pay into the terminal improvements? Has anyone asked what’s been spent so far? I’d ask.

Why aren’t the hotel and other tourism related New York groups chiming in to find ways to keep the cruisers here. After all, I take a cab to the ship but tens of thousands of people every month come from out of town, stay overnight - sometimes more than one, making it very much part of their trip and they spend money here. According to a 2004 article from the AP, “the cruise industry contributed $800 million to the economy last year as more than 887,000 passengers embarked from the West Side, up from 425,000 a decade ago.” Imagine how much more money that would be AFTER the Bloomberg agreements with Carnival and Norwegian and then imagine all that money fading away because no one bothered to DO anything about the terminal, the cruise line support infrastructure and/or incentives (and don’t whine about the word incentives. They offer them to almost every other industry that threatens to leave the city. Why not the cruise industry?). Despite the fact that the article was written 4 years ago, the description of the West Side terminal, the issues surrounding it and the concerns of the lines on how it may hamper growth are still spot on today. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose

You’re probably wondering why all the bitching? Sure, I could go to Fort Lauderdale and catch a ship but - quite apart from my personal preference to avoid flying when I can just take a cab - it’s should be a point of pride for New York to be one of the leading cruise hubs in the country. I mean COME ON! We are a destination in and of ourselves - not to mention a more sensible starting and ending point for transatlantic and Northeast coastal trips. Why are we not DOING something about this?