A lot will be riding on the Carnival Fantasy after it leaves Charleston for its next tour of duty. The cruise ship will transfer its home port in November 2016 to Mobile, Ala., where memories about the industry aren’t exactly fond.
The reason: Carnival Cruise Lines pulled out of Mobile in 2011, vacating a $20 million passenger terminal the city built to attract pleasure ships. At the time, the Gulf Coast was reeling from the 2010 BP oil spill, struggling with the national economic downturn and still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, according to the Associated Press.
“When Carnival left in 2011, we saw about a 10 to 15 percent drop in our business,” Deborah Deguire, owner of AM Peanut Shop in downtown Mobile, told the news service.
The city began losing about $5,000 a day in accrued interest on the passenger terminal, which has been rented out for weddings and other special events.
Now, Carnival is returning with its 2,056-passenger Fantasy, which will begin offering four- and-five-day cruises to Mexico after a roughly nine-month overhaul.
Carnival will continue to operate in Charleston by shifting its Ecstasy ship to the State Ports Authority’s Union Pier Terminal in February.
The good news for Mobile and the cruise line is that the economy in the south Alabama city is in much better shape this time around. For example, Boeing Co. rival Airbus has opened a $600 million aircraft assembly plant in the area.
Also, new stores, restaurants and other tourist businesses have opening in recent years in downtown Mobile.
“There will be a lot of disappointed people around here if the Carnival cruises don’t work out this time,” Deguire told the AP.
Zip it
A couple of new Zipcars are now available for hire from their base on the Charleston peninsula.
The two rental vehicles are stationed at the 930 NoMo student apartment building on Morrison Drive. Zipcar has been operating at Charleston International Airport since May, company spokeswoman Katelyn Chesley.
The Boston-based car-sharing service, which is owned by rental giant Avis Budget Group, has a mobile app that allows members to reserve and lease automobiles by the hour or day. It focuses on urban areas and college towns.
Members get access to Zipcars and the keys by using an access card to unlock the door.
Enrollment costs for college students is $15 a year, plus the rental costs, which start at $10 an hour and $79 a day, according to the website. For others, the annual membership fee is $70.
Each reservation includes gas, insurance and 180 miles a day, the company said.
Elsewhere in South Carolina, Zipcar has a presence in Clemson, Myrtle Beach and Conway, according to its website. The company has more than 900,000 members and about 10,000 vehicles in the United States, Canada and Europe.
Zipcar was founded in 2000 and purchased by Avis in 2013.
Terrifying tourists
Just in time for Halloween week, Charleston’s Bulldog Tours has been voted the top ghost tour nationwide by online readers of USA Today.
The contest was part of the national newspaper’s 10Best.com travel guide. The public could pick from 20 different ghost tours around the county, which were selected by various judges.
John LaVerne, who founded Bulldog Tours, said the company’s guides and the city itself make up “the recipe for successful ghost tours.”
“Charleston’s an awesome venue for something like this,” he said.
Bulldog is open 362 days a year and does three walking tours a night, LaVerne said. He estimated that 40,000 people a year take the ghost tours, which include the Old Exchange Building’s Provost Dungeon, the Old City Jail and the Old Circular Church.
The company was founded in 2001. It also offers walking tours based on food and history.
Appalachian Ghost Walks, based in Virginia and Tennessee, took second in the 10Best.com contest. Savannah’s Blue Orb Tours came in third.
Changing hands
A newcomer to the Charleston banking industry is coming under new ownership.
Yadkin Financial Corp. is buying the smaller Greensboro-based owner of NewBridge Bank. The all-stock deal is valued at $456 million, or $11.40 a share.
NewBridge expanded into the local market about a year ago by opening a loan office on Daniel Island. It has scheduled a grand opening for its first full-service branch in the region for this week. That location also is on Daniel Island, at 865 Island Park Drive.
NewBridge also operates a loan office in the Upstate.
The boards of each company have unanimously approved the buyout, which requires shareholders and regulators to sign off on it. The sale is expected to close in the second quarter of next year.
Raleigh-based Yadkin Bank has 70 branches, mostly in North Carolina. Three are in the Palmetto State, in Gaffney, Blacksburg and Tega Cay, according to its website. CEO Scott Custer said the purchase “strengthens Yadkin’s leading position as the largest community bank” in its home state.
“The merger will also increase our presence in South Carolina with the addition of offices in the Greenville-Spartanburg and Charleston markets,” Custer said.
The merged company would have total assets of $7.1 billion, deposits of $5.2 billion and loans of $5 billion.
Bank analyst Chris Marinac of Atlanta-based FIG Partners predicted that Yadkin, which trades as YDKN, could itself change hands at some point.
“Equity investors should ultimately look out to late 2016 and early 2017 when YDKN could be considered an attractive merger partner for a larger super-community or mid-sized regional bank,” he wrote in research report after the NewBridge deal was announced.
Playing through
Golfing legend Jack Nicklaus and wife Barbara are scheduled to make a swing through Charleston this week. The couple will be in town for a private reception. Also this week, his Golden Bear Realty office in Mount Pleasant will be dedicated. Based in North Palm Beach, Fla., the real estate agency has offices in Florida and South Carolina. It takes its name from Nicklaus’ nickname, “The Golden Bear.”
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