Bayport Cruise Terminal (Houston)

[riofriotex]

Boarding time could definitely be affected.

I'd be shocked if that meant the doors were closed to people checking in.

 

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On our cruise that departed late, a message was sent out (e-mail/text/phone) asking people not to come to the terminal until 4 PM, if I remember correctly. Previous sailing did not arrive until around noon instead of the usual 7 AM or so. I remember arriving about 5 PM and there were still long lines outside the terminal. Not sure if they were checking anyone in before 4 PM or not.

 

If I was leaving Galveston or Bayport on a foggy day, I'd call before heading out to the terminal! We had just checked out of our hotel when we got the message, but had a car, and spent the afternoon at the Hotel Galvez brunch and doing the tree sculpture tour before heading to the port.

[sminfiddle]

On our cruise that departed late, a message was sent out (e-mail/text/phone) asking people not to come to the terminal until 4 PM, if I remember correctly. Previous sailing did not arrive until around noon instead of the usual 7 AM or so. I remember arriving about 5 PM and there were still long lines outside the terminal. Not sure if they were checking anyone in before 4 PM or not.

 

If I was leaving Galveston or Bayport on a foggy day, I'd call before heading out to the terminal! We had just checked out of our hotel when we got the message, but had a car, and spent the afternoon at the Hotel Galvez brunch and doing the tree sculpture tour before heading to the port.

 

You hit it squarely on the head - today's CB arrival was delayed about three hours for fog:

 

Just got an email from Princess asking us not to come to the terminal unti 3pm! Don't think we will wait quit that long - maybe 1:30 or 2.

 

 

 

 

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[sminfiddle]

Oh no! An even worse scenario!

 

Private cars that need to park are being turned away. 6 of is in a shuttle got dropped off. There are buses and Super Shuttles here.

 

Just cleared security, and in line to check in. We will have to wait, but we will hopefully be first to board when that happens.

 

 

 

 

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[mistshar]

Oh no! An even worse scenario!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hopefully they are not turning away people who have already reserved a parking spot. That would be terrible. Maybe they will have all the bugs worked out by 2015 when we plan to cruise out of there.

[steelpanz]

Hopefully they are not turning away people who have already reserved a parking spot. That would be terrible. Maybe they will have all the bugs worked out by 2015 when we plan to cruise out of there.

 

We're looking at the Jan 11th departure and this thread is quite helpful First, is fog season essentially the wintertime in Houston? And in regards to parking, can anyone confirm that they are saving spots for those who reserved parking?

[riofriotex]

We're looking at the Jan 11th departure and this thread is quite helpful First, is fog season essentially the wintertime in Houston? And in regards to parking, can anyone confirm that they are saving spots for those who reserved parking?

 

Yes on the fog - tends to be worst in January. I would advise anyway flying to/from Houston/Galveston for cruises to plan to fly home the day AFTER the cruise - or at least as late as possible on the day you return.

 

As for people being turned away on parking - think about it - how can they let people IN to park early if the folks from the previous cruise are not yet gone?

 

Another reason to call ahead to check - particularly if there is fog down in Galveston (everybody comes in through the same channel). Could be clear at Bayport but if there is fog in Galveston, there will be a delay.

[Cruzin-K]

Yes on the fog - tends to be worst in January. I would advise anyway flying to/from Houston/Galveston for cruises to plan to fly home the day AFTER the cruise - or at least as late as possible on the day you return.

 

As for people being turned away on parking - think about it - how can they let people IN to park early if the folks from the previous cruise are not yet gone?

 

Another reason to call ahead to check - particularly if there is fog down in Galveston (everybody comes in through the same channel). Could be clear at Bayport but if there is fog in Galveston, there will be a delay.

 

I guess I'll check the webcam first thing that morning, and if I see a ship, I'm good to go :D

[sminfiddle]

I guess I'll check the webcam first thing that morning, and if I see a ship, I'm good to go :D

 

If the cruise terminal cam is overbooked (as it has been), check the ship's Bridge Cam. :)

 

 

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Edited November 16, 2013 by sminfiddle

[Clay Clayton]

Does anyone else find it interesting that the Captain is watching MUTS? LOL

[Clay Clayton]

Boy, that fog this morning really made them late leaving. It's 8:31pm CST and the ship is just leaving:eek:

[txskier]

We are onboard the Caribbean Princess now. We lucked out in the line of cars that were first let in at 330. Once we started to move at 330, we were onboard at 4.....remember that the last person was onboard around 7pm.....they were still loading luggage (they say) until after 8.

We are hauling ass across the Gulf to make up lost time so we have a full day in Coz tomorrow.

One couple I was talking with who had airport transfers.....the buses were let in and dropped off.....these people were in the Terminal for hours with nothing but food machine food to nibble on.

We stopped on the way at Pappas Seafood at noon.....then took the scenic route for 2 hours til we found a sitting place for an hour and a half close to Bayport Terminal.

 

Today is a lazy day

[TruckerDave]

We are onboard the Caribbean Princess now. We lucked out in the line of cars that were first let in at 330. Once we started to move at 330, we were onboard at 4.....remember that the last person was onboard around 7pm.....they were still loading luggage (they say) until after 8.

We are hauling ass across the Gulf to make up lost time so we have a full day in Coz tomorrow.

One couple I was talking with who had airport transfers.....the buses were let in and dropped off.....these people were in the Terminal for hours with nothing but food machine food to nibble on.

We stopped on the way at Pappas Seafood at noon.....then took the scenic route for 2 hours til we found a sitting place for an hour and a half close to Bayport Terminal.

 

Today is a lazy day

 

Dude/dudette....you are on VACATION. get off the message boards and enjoy it.

 

Kidding..enjoy.

 

 

Sent using a small piece of fruit.

[Cruzin-K]

We are onboard the Caribbean Princess now. We lucked out in the line of cars that were first let in at 330. Once we started to move at 330, we were onboard at 4.....remember that the last person was onboard around 7pm.....they were still loading luggage (they say) until after 8.

We are hauling ass across the Gulf to make up lost time so we have a full day in Coz tomorrow.

One couple I was talking with who had airport transfers.....the buses were let in and dropped off.....these people were in the Terminal for hours with nothing but food machine food to nibble on.

We stopped on the way at Pappas Seafood at noon.....then took the scenic route for 2 hours til we found a sitting place for an hour and a half close to Bayport Terminal.

 

Today is a lazy day

 

Interesting :( I'll keep my fingers crossed that we don't have fog in two weeks. I'm one of the "lucky" ones who gets to drive to the port :rolleyes: :p

 

I'll at least have an option to hang around the hotel until the forced check out time, and then I guess I can find something to kill some time if they don't let people in until 3:30 :eek:

 

At least my parking is paid for.

 

How full was the lot, once all was said and done? Did you notice as you were sailing away?

[oleanmike]

I was on the Nov 9-16 cruise and the parking lot was only about half full. Plenty of space available and very efficient getting into and out of the lot. I suspect that will be the case for most departures.

[sminfiddle]

Interesting :( I'll keep my fingers crossed that we don't have fog in two weeks.

I was altering my plans to adapt to the possibility of fog (delayed arrival).

Now I am more a-feared of wind!

But I don't expect either, looking at that weekend's forecast. *knock on wood*

 

 

 

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[Clay Clayton]

Yay! Looks like CB docked on time this morning.....or at least not too late, it's 9:11 cst and she is showing alongside on the ports webcam.:D

[Cruzin-K]

Check in was a breeze. I had to spend about 7 or 8 minutes at the parking lot entry because they couldn't find my resv. It got straightened out though and I parked in the very end row. There are already a few hundred people here and chairs are filling up fast.

 

no problems bringing water/soda through security

 

perfect weather. It should be a great sail away

[trabeler]

Just got off the Caribbean Princess today. Have to say that disembarkation was probably the fastest I've ever experienced. Our departure time was 9 am... got called around 9:10 am from the waiting area (Island dining room) and walked straight through to the luggage area without stopping.

 

Picked up luggage and then through customs/immigration... there had to be 10+ agents available and absolutely no waiting.

 

Was in the car and leaving the parking lot by 9:30.

[djh]

We were on the ill fated November 23rd cruise, and I just wanted to give some info for anybody that might want to know going to Bayport. Bayport was great for embarkation and disembarkation, easiest in all my experience. I just wish we hadn't waited the extra 18 hours to leave!

We brought two bottles each of wine and they didn't care. We were prepared to pay the corkage for the overage at the pier but nothing was said. Friends traveling with us actually brought a case of wine on in Houston without any issues.

Also, one of our friends brought four very large bottles of Crown Royal back from the trip and customs in Houston had no problems with it. Since Houston is a new facility we were unsure about some of these issues.

[riofriotex]

We were on the ill fated November 23rd cruise, and I just wanted to give some info for anybody that might want to know going to Bayport. Bayport was great for embarkation and disembarkation, easiest in all my experience. I just wish we hadn't waited the extra 18 hours to leave!

 

Ill-fated? Fog delay?

[djh]

Ill-fated? Fog delay?

We were supposed to leave at 4 pm, the captain pushed it to 6 pm, then 10;30pm. A strong cold front had come in and the wind was fierce. The next morning we woke to find that we were still in Houston and the captain was concerned about the narrow channel that we had to navigate in the winds. The tugs came again at 6 am but it was then decided to wait until high tide and attempt to leave at 10 am. We did finally leave at 10 am on Sunday but the captain couldn't tell us anything about where we were going until we were well underway. At about 3 pm we were informed that we would not be stopping in Cozumel on Monday (we already knew that) but that we would go straight to Costa Maya and stop there on Tuesday (therefore missing Roatan), go to Belize on Wednesday as scheduled and then stop at Cozumel on Thursday.

Well, we made Costa Maya and the weather was ok, but on Wednesday morning we woke up to find we were still quite a distance from Belize. Apparently, the pilots came on at 4:30 am and they, the captain, somebody, decided it was not safe to go in and anchor because of the winds. The waves were pretty bad, but..... we could see three other ships anchored at the tendering spot (even though we were supposed to be the first ship in). We found out that at least two of the ships were able to tender in and enjoy Belize. So we had another sea day. We made it to Cozumel the next morning to find out that all excursions involving water or beach sports were cancelled because the island was red flagged because of,you guessed it, high winds. You asked....

[LewesBeach]

We are arriving into Bayport on the Emerald Princess TA Nov 11, 2014. We are staying post-cruise in Galveston for several days and are interested in any info on a car rental close to the port. From reading previous posts, it doesn't seem there are any? Should I take a cab, and are there plenty of cabs available when disembarking? My other option is finding a Galveston hotel with free shuttle. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

Berni

[TruckerDave]

We are arriving into Bayport on the Emerald Princess TA Nov 11, 2014. We are staying post-cruise in Galveston for several days and are interested in any info on a car rental close to the port. From reading previous posts, it doesn't seem there are any? Should I take a cab, and are there plenty of cabs available when disembarking? My other option is finding a Galveston hotel with free shuttle. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

Berni

 

You won't get any hotels in Galveston to pick you up in Bayport. Your best best for a rental car (most options) would prob be to get a cab (or shuttle) to Hobby airport and rent a car there. Then depending on what airport you are leaving from either return in there or drop it off at IAH.

 

 

Sent using a small piece of fruit.

[mistshar]

We are arriving into Bayport on the Emerald Princess TA Nov 11, 2014. We are staying post-cruise in Galveston for several days and are interested in any info on a car rental close to the port. From reading previous posts, it doesn't seem there are any? Should I take a cab, and are there plenty of cabs available when disembarking? My other option is finding a Galveston hotel with free shuttle. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

Berni

 

Berni,

 

I did a little research and found that there is an Enterprise Rental Co. in Seabrook which is not very far from the port. The phone # is (281) 474-4466. You might be able to call them and find out if you could make some type of arrangements with them. Hope this helps you.

 

Have a great cruise!

[LewesBeach]

Thank you both for your research & help. I have a couple months before I need to make a decision.