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Galveston Port closed?

GreenZolie

By GreenZolie,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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nybumpkin

nybumpkin

Posted
Posted

It was this same weekend last year when we were fogged out of Galveston on Conquest. Ours wasn't this bad, though - we were able to dock around 1 in the afternoon (although we weren't able to make our flight home). It's not fun for those waiting to board, those trying to debark, or (especially) the crew.

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JRock59

JRock59

Posted
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lots of talk on the Galveston dot com Cruise Cam site one nice person posted this site http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/default.aspx?zoom=10&mmsi=353479000&centerx=-94.59953&centery=29.29824# the pilot boat did go out to her and we think he got on but than she seemed to turn around and head back out. But now it looks like she's turned again but they might just be doing small circles as coming to a stop would not be good.

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seabrookcruiser

seabrookcruiser

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I know there are a lot of frustrated people in Galveston right now. I noticed on the National Weather Service site that the outlook for Galveston and Matagorda bay is a dense fog advisory in effect until noon on Sunday. We know someone that works at the Port of Houston and they were told they might be able to report to work this evening, but about an hour ago they were told to not report for work until 3 p.m. tomorrow.

 

I just looked at the Galveston Cruise web cam and the fog is very dense. Interestingly enough, we live across Galveston Bay in Seabrook (about 20-25 minutes from the port of Galveston) and it is bright and sunny here right now. But I am sure the fog will be rolling in soon. It was very thick here last night and this morning.

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firefly333

firefly333

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We had pea soup fog Thursday morning, but Elation docked. I guess maybe that port isnt a tricky as Galveston's. I was surprised that Elation docked after hearing how so many ships dont when its fogged in.

 

I just thought it was interesting that one port will dock in this kind of heavy fog and another cant. Galveston port does have to travel up a channel for one thing.

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Fighterone

Fighterone

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This happened to us last year on the Ecstasy March 2010 cruise. We were on the cruise and the fog never lifted that day and we ended up with an extra night on the cruise....a bonus for us but not good for those waiting to get on the ship. It was a 4 day cruise that was waiting for it and I heard they had to make it a 3 day cruise to nowhere and that they gave them $90 credit for the lost day and for not making it to Mexico. On the ship there is a lot of waiting but carnival did a fine job trying to entertain us and feed us. They updated us as much as they could from their communications with the port.

We were waiting to board when you ..."""never""" came in so after no food, no water, all day in the terminal, we were told to get a hotel and come back the next day for a cruise to nowhere. My friend decided she hated Carnival because of the way they treated us and will never cruise with them. I got the credit and am waiting to use it another time. See my signature. Hope these folks get to go out tonight. Doubt it though! Good luck!

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BMRSNR

BMRSNR

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oh my .... not good ... heres my ?

 

next weekend we will be leaving on our trip ... if there is fog and we get delayed ... do they pay for the other 60.00 a night hotel room ? were going to be driving down sunday and leaving out on monday ... any input ?

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MrSnarkyPants

MrSnarkyPants

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I just looked at the Galveston Cruise web cam and the fog is very dense. Interestingly enough, we live across Galveston Bay in Seabrook (about 20-25 minutes from the port of Galveston) and it is bright and sunny here right now. But I am sure the fog will be rolling in soon. It was very thick here last night and this morning.

 

It was really thick inland in Pearland this morning, so the coast has to be really socked in.

 

But it's not looking great.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/severeweather?pt=detail&&zone=TX20110219211900DenseFogAdvisory20110220180000TX.HGXNPWHGX.c6d696f46588c82b478409314c7c125c

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firefly333

firefly333

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We were waiting to board when you ..."""never""" came in so after no food, no water, all day in the terminal, we were told to get a hotel and come back the next day for a cruise to nowhere. My friend decided she hated Carnival because of the way they treated us and will never cruise with them. I got the credit and am waiting to use it another time. See my signature. Hope these folks get to go out tonight. Doubt it though![/color][/font][/b] Good luck!

 

I did the Ecstasy cruise to nowhere over July 4th weekend...guessing you were on another.

 

Those folks got 25% of their 4 day cost back, for not boarding until a day late, but they had to eat for almost 24 hours and get a last minute hotel room. Some I talked to had to pay around $150 they said. They got 25 percent off a future cruise, but felt cheated because some spent more than what the 25% off the price was on the 4 day.

 

I booked the next morning and dashed to the cruise, and felt bad talking to people, when I wasnt in the same boat, some cancelled and there were last minute prices.

 

I wouldnt be surprised if there wasnt tomorrow morning too, if its tomorrow they dock. I had to wait until my PVP came in is why I almost didnt make it. Its a unpushblished rate, so you have to call into someone who can get it. The 800# folks said they werent aware of it..and she didnt get in until 10 am.

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MrSnarkyPants

MrSnarkyPants

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oh my .... not good ... heres my ?

 

next weekend we will be leaving on our trip ... if there is fog and we get delayed ... do they pay for the other 60.00 a night hotel room ? were going to be driving down sunday and leaving out on monday ... any input ?

 

Probably some form of on-board credit for all if they dock late.

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firefly333

firefly333

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Posted

If anyone can go last minute and get to the port. This is exactly when they sometimes have some cancellations you can get by calling and talking to someone. I had to pay 200%, too late to pick up anyone. ..and for 3 days to nowhere was still less than $300.

 

I just came back late Thursday so I cant even think of it so soon. People here would kill me if I took off again.

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nybumpkin

nybumpkin

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I know folks wanting to embark are frustrated, but what about the ship full of folks who have missed their flights! Yikes! Will carnival pay for the new flights home?
Been there, done that last year on Conquest. (Did it in 2005 on Conquest as well - apparently she likes us and doesn't want us to leave.:D) Weather happens and I wouldn't expect Carnival to pay for it. Once we realized we were going to miss our flight we called Southwest to re-book for the following day - no fees to change. Then called the hotel near Hobby where we stayed prior to cruising and got a room for the night. For us, the biggest inconvenience was missing a day at work and at school for the kids.
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krhpee

krhpee

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I see a tug pushing a barge through right now. I'm thinking maybe the Ecstasy will be allowed in after that barge is out of the way. Just guessing, but it seems logical...

 

 

Hey it's Karen and Santa here. We made it to our cruise. Doing another Jan 1 and Jan 8th. Out Of New Orleans Join us.

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G'ma

G'ma

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I know folks wanting to embark are frustrated, but what about the ship full of folks who have missed their flights! Yikes! Will carnival pay for the new flights home?

 

No, the won't pay. Why should they? The have no control over the weather......

 

Just like the airlines, weather is weather and nobody is in charge of it...delays are not anyones fault...it simply is.

 

Hopefully, everyone has bought travel insurance which will reimburse them for their expenses.

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GreenZolie

GreenZolie

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I'm just so disappointed. My husband and I (newly reconciled) were looking soooo forward to this cruise. We are crushed, but it could have been worse, and I imagine it was for some people.

 

We spent the early afternoon wandering around Galveston, finally making our way to Terminal 2 around 4 pm, where we were told to go and sign in. Apparently this is Royal Caribbean's terminal that was loaned to Carnival today. There were only about 50 people in the whole terminal at that point.

 

At 6:00 people started pouring into the terminal. At 6:54 pm the place was packed and the supervisor in charge got on a weak intercom system and the huge room quieted so we could listen to her. She told us they would have an update at 7 pm. At one point the intercom system went dead and the people in the back could not hear her, so they yelled out "We can't hear you." Then a guard bellowed out "If you will be quiet, you will be able to hear!!" Then people started yelling they couldn't hear even when they were being quiet. The guard bellowed something out again.

 

At that point I sensed things were about to get ugly, and I had had enough of the whole fiasco, so I turned to my husband and said "Let's go, I'm done."

I already figured that the ship would not be docking tonight at all, and maybe not even until Monday, so I was just not in the mood anymore.

 

We are lucky that we have relatives in Houston to stay with before and after our cruises, so we just came back to my cousin's house. We had a good evening drinking wine and eating pizza with them, so the day ended on a good note.

 

This is my husband's first time to [almost] cruise and he doesn't quite get the cruise logic yet, so he was mad about the whole thing and I had to gently explain that it's not Carnival's fault. He does understand that, but was upset at the lack of information/communication. But, I guess they just didn't know anything themselves, to tell us.

 

We are deeply disappointed, and have probably lost the cost of our cruise tickets, because even though I bought insurance, I only bought the insurance that covers medical situations, I think. Am too tired tonight to go look. And frankly, I don't care tonight. It's only money...

 

At this point, though, I just want to go home tomorrow. Due to various and multiple reasons, (namely not being able to pay for another cruise after losing this fare), we will not be able to cruise again this year. So, our reconciliation vacation is not going to happen for us. But, if it was that important to us, then I guess I shouldn't have booked the type of vacation that is subject to weather. My bad. Sigh.

 

I hope everyone found a safe place to stay the night tonight. For those of you who will take the cruise anyway, tomorrow or Monday, have fun! For those of you who opted out like we did, have a safe trip home. And for all of you, I hope you found a safe place to spend the night tonight.

 

Night all...

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