Cruise Ship Terminal in Solomons?

[bilbur]

don't worry, those black folk from DC won't be coming your way, SMC took care of that by chopping up the right of way. To bad, a light rail service could have taken a significant load off of RT 235/RT 5 traffic. People would not have to leave their house at 0 dark thirty to drive into the DC area.

It has nothing to do with black or white, it has everything to do with congestion from weekenders or criminals who now have access to an area they might consider a soft target. I have no problem driving to DC or Baltimore the 5 to 10 times I go to each a year.

 

[officeguy]

Baltimore to Solomons = 80 miles. Baltimore to Solomons = 230 miles. Most willing to drive to Baltimore would more than likely they would be willing to drive to Solomons. Norfolk, most likely not so much. Baltimore/Solomons are in the same market, Norfolk is a different market.

People fly to Florida to board cruises. The people who board cruises in Baltimore are not FROM Baltimore, they come from all over the eastern US. Even if the run down the bay was the issue for the cruise ships, moving from Baltimore to Solomons makes very little difference. For work, I follow some containers around on the tracking sites, the bay only adds a couple of hours to a voyage.

A port is more than a dock. You have service providers like tugboats, marine contractors, engineering support etc. Building an isolated facility for cruises only that has no commercial port in the area makes very little sense.

Port Everglades has the Fort Lauderdale airport within a 10min drive. Your customers come off Spirit airlines and hop on a bus shuttle to the dock. Same in Baltimore, BWI is a southwest hub, you get to the dock an hour after you arrive, not after another 2hr bus ride to the boonies of Calvert Co.

 

[Gilligan]

People fly to Florida to board cruises. The people who board cruises in Baltimore are not FROM Baltimore, they come from all over the eastern US. Even if the run down the bay was the issue for the cruise ships, moving from Baltimore to Solomons makes very little difference. For work, I follow some containers around on the tracking sites, the bay only adds a couple of hours to a voyage.

A port is more than a dock. You have service providers like tugboats, marine contractors, engineering support etc. Building an isolated facility for cruises only that has no commercial port in the area makes very little sense.

Port Everglades has the Fort Lauderdale airport within a 10min drive. Your customers come off Spirit airlines and hop on a bus shuttle to the dock. Same in Baltimore, BWI is a southwest hub, you get to the dock an hour after you arrive, not after another 2hr bus ride to the boonies of Calvert Co.

That. All of it.

 

[BernieP]

People fly to Florida to board cruises. The people who board cruises in Baltimore are not FROM Baltimore, they come from all over the eastern US. Even if the run down the bay was the issue for the cruise ships, moving from Baltimore to Solomons makes very little difference. For work, I follow some containers around on the tracking sites, the bay only adds a couple of hours to a voyage.

A port is more than a dock. You have service providers like tugboats, marine contractors, engineering support etc. Building an isolated facility for cruises only that has no commercial port in the area makes very little sense.

Port Everglades has the Fort Lauderdale airport within a 10min drive. Your customers come off Spirit airlines and hop on a bus shuttle to the dock. Same in Baltimore, BWI is a southwest hub, you get to the dock an hour after you arrive, not after another 2hr bus ride to the boonies of Calvert Co.

yep, been trying to make that point. One exception, Baltimore is there to attract mid atlantic customers - driving distance. Some of the cruise lines, notably Carnival, offer huge discounts on last minute travel. They want to fill the ship. Found this out standing on line in Port Canaveral. A lot of folk from Florida, Georgia, - driving distance - who book thru sites like "CheapCruises". So highways are part of the transportation infrastructure needed to support the cruise industry. Both for passengers and the logistics.

 

[officeguy]

So highways are part of the transportation infrastructure needed to support the cruise industry. Both for passengers and the logistics.

Agreed, and that is why Solomons at the end of a local surface road 1 hr drive from the next interstate exit is a non-starter. Highways, amtrak, budget airlines, that is how the cruisers get to the cruise-ship. Baltimore is a 90min drive from X mil people (X got to be somewhere north of 8). That number is much much smaller for Solomons.

 

[luthersomd]

The cruise ship in Solomons day dream is deader than a dead dog's bone buried down a blind alley off a dead end street in a ghost town.