Mobile Development Thread

[Electrical Porpoise]

Originally Posted by tredici

I actually, I wouldn't be surprised if it was a shorter distance between Mobile and Cancun. I mean, you have to take into consideration the extra distance that travel through the Mississippi Delta adds.

That was my immediate thought. I went on the Carnival out of NOLA a long time ago and it was the next morning before we were in the gulf...we left the previous afternoon. And Im sure the gas mileage is terrible coming inbound up the MS.

[Port_of_Bama]

Originally Posted by OCA REP

Very true... no pun intended (Boeing -vs- EADS)



Ummmm... no.

As a long-time cruiser, Carnival and NCL are lower-end products in my opinion. If you wanted to try and entice the Audi and BMW crowd to even consider cruising out of Mobile, you would have to offer a Royal Caribbean or Celebrity option. If you have cruised much, you know there is a distinct difference!

I forgot about Celebrity and I have only cruised Royal and Carnival...I have never been on NCL ship but the one that was docked in Mobile a few years ago looked nice with the colors and the painting of a large sun on the side.So I assumed that it was Audi lol.

[SouthSky]

I have little doubt we'll see another company come in... the only question is when.

But for Carnival, it seems as if there is little to no communication with the terminal or the city. The prevailing feeling in Mobile was that Carnival was doing incredible... 130% and such each departure. Now they say they weren't making money on that much of capacity. How could they not raise prices and make more money? I know for airlines the target load factor is around 70% to start maximizing profits. I guess the cost structure is just that radically different between the two industries.

[Electrical Porpoise]

Originally Posted by SouthSky

I guess the cost structure is just that radically different between the two industries.

Yes. Cruise ships are allowed to pay employees 12 cents an hour. Airlines can't, obviously.

Carnival is not a good liar. Still interested in their thought process though.

[eshore78]

Recent tweet from WKRG Jessica Taloney:

-Governor #Bentley's staff promising a 'big announcement' at his meeting with Chamber leaders today.-

Should be an interesting afternoon.

[eshore78]

the 'big' announcement was the appointment of the Seafood Marketing Commission.

[elb401]

I had a feeling it wasn't going to be that great, but at least he wasn't cutting anymore programs that the state needs.

[Port_of_Bama]

MOBILE, Ala. -- The U.S. Navy today gave Austal USA a $368.6 million contract for the company's fourth littoral combat ship.
The vessel, scheduled for completion in summer 2014, is the second to be awarded under a 10-ship, $3.8 billion deal that Austal secured in December.
The company has built one LCS and is halfway through with a second. Both of those vessels -- the first named Independence and the second Coronado -- were part of an earlier contract.
Austal officials said they could not comment on the new award under rules of the Australian Stock Exchange, where its parent company, Austal Ltd., is traded.
The December LCS deal was described as a game-changer for the company's Mobile River shipyard. Austal is expected to invest about $160 million upgrading its facility, and increase employment there from 1,800 to about 4,000 over the next few years.

http://blog.al.com/press-register-business/2011/03/austal_awarded_368m_for_next_l.html

[Port_of_Bama]

I hope the cioty is trying to repair relations with Carnival but if we can`t work out a deal with them what are our chances of landing on of these ?


American Cruise Line (based out of Guilford,Ct)



Celebration



Celebrity


Norwegin



Regent Seven Seas

Or either we can try to convince an international cruise company to give us a try.

AIDA Cruises out of Germany

Hapag Lloyd out of Germany

Trans Ocean Tours germany

??????????????????????????

[Port_of_Bama]

There is a rumor floating around that Kroger is eying Mobile...Downtown or midtown would be ideal for one....Also IKEA is eying two locations a warehouse downtown and Covington,La....I hope it`s all true and not rumors.


I hope they choose Mobile !

[elb401]

Thats awesome news. Is anyone going to the real estate summit tomorrow? I'm going to be there and I would love to meet ya'll.

[Port_of_Bama]

Originally Posted by elb401

Thats awesome news. Is anyone going to the real estate summit tomorrow? I'm going to be there and I would love to meet ya'll.

What time and where at ? It would be cool to do a FORUM meeting one day.The guys in Montgomery do it all the time.

[SouthSky]

As for the cruise lines mentioned above (or left off), I would lean towards Royal Caribbean being the top contender.

[Port_of_Bama]

I hope so sky

[thecapitalbama]

I always thought Royal Caribbean was a good fit for Mobile. Just seems right lol

[jmbreland]

I'm optimistic that the cruise ship terminal won't be sitting unused for very long. The city would be making sure of that.

As for IKEA, no way they will build a store in Mobile. ALL their locations are in very large, heavily populated metro areas. But, if "warehouse" means a distribution center, then, yeah, Mobile's got a possibility.

Great news about Austal's new contract with the Navy.

[elb401]

so TK still has another 800 or so people to hire. I'm sure it will help out.

[jmbreland]

Is the "yo-yo" atop the GM Tower (or whatever name it is now) still the Moonpie, or have they changed it?

[NitekKetin]

Originally Posted by jmbreland

Is the "yo-yo" atop the GM Tower (or whatever name it is now) still the Moonpie, or have they changed it?

Still there. Also, substantial progress is being made on the GM Tower's renovated facade.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Anyone been paying attention to the job announcements around Thomasville? Gah, I mean, I think we've heard of about 400-500 jobs announced within the past week. Good news for the Black Belt.