Baypoint Cruise Terminal—Definitely Not Ready for Prime Time

[Rockpop]

We are on the Nov 16 Princess Cruise out of Houston’s newly opened Baypoint Cruise Terminal. We knew the ship’s arrival would be delayed because of “fog”, but we had little choice but to go to the Cruise Terminal as we had planned because we had a rental car that had to be turned in. We took a taxi from the Budget rental office in Webster, TX. About 2 miles before we arrived at the terminal, multiple police or security vehicles were stopping all cars and making them go around a huge loop before they proceeded to the terminal. We passed several uniformed officers and asked what the delay was about and they simply said “move along” or “you’ll find out at the end.” We were delayed for at least 20 minutes by this idiotic process with the taxi meter running (Thanks Houston Baypoint!!) and when we got to the end of the traffic jam, they simply informed us that the cruise would be delayed. Duh! What a waste of time and money.

 

We finally got to the terminal and found most workers to be civil, but the security screeners definitely had an attitude, very much like the famously rude TSA screeners at LAX. After we got through security, we had to wait in line for about 20 minutes until we reached the check in counter. The Princess check-in personnel were friendly and courteous. They suggested that we take a free shuttle to nearby Kemah for some lunch or shopping because they expected embarkation to be delayed by at least 3 hours. We tried to take that option, but after waiting at the end of a long line for 20 minutes or so with no shuttle in sight, we decided to go back to the cruise terminal.

 

Since we now had to re-enter the terminal, we got to enjoy the surly attitudes of the screeners once again. Then we got to sit on hard seats in the terminal for approximately 3 hours. There are absolutely no services at Baypoint other than a water fountain, restrooms, and a couple of overpriced vending machines that often took people’s money without dispensing any product. One would think that Princess would bring out some meager refreshments for the hundreds of passengers who were inconvenienced by the long delay, but no. I’ve been on many cruise lines, and I don’t recall one that did not at least have some ice water and/or iced tea for passengers who were waiting to board or waiting for tenders. Not a single courtesy from Princess. And they claim to be “The Consummate Hosts”, by the way.

 

After this inauspicious beginning, I won’t ever sail out of Baypoint again, and I certainly wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

[sewingmolly]

I would much rather sail out of Galveston than Houston. The Galveston has shops, restaurants, hotels and is a destination in itself. The Bayport terminal is convenient to chemical plants. It's about 20 miles closer than Galveston, but the transportation options still aren't great. I'm sure that Princess would have stayed in Galveston, if it wasn't for the financial incentives. There's no way that it's better for the passengers.

[TruckerDave]

To be fair this is a whole new operation. It will take some time to get all the kinks worked out. There has only been a few, at most. sailings from this new port and probably the first one to be delayed by fog. So you might want to cut them a little slack until they get things ironed out. Now if by spring there are still issues then by all means crush them, but not really fair at this point. I'm sure Miami, Port Canaveral, Tampa etc etc all had issues when they first started. Only diff is there were no message boards for people to go whine on.

 

 

Sent using a small piece of fruit.

Edited November 17, 2013 by TruckerDave

[Texas4808]

Fog happens at Galveston and Bayport. That line you spoke of would be similar in Galveston. The cars of the passengers waiting to depart the ship are sitting in the spaces you want to park in.

 

That said Galveston is more convenient because there are more places to wait until parking places are available but you will be waiting in a long line at some point. A delay like this basically means everyone who is getting on the ship are there all at the same time and not staggered throughout the day. I had the same situation happen in Galveston except that the fog lingered longer and we didn't leave the port until 10pm.

 

Fog delays suck period.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Texas4808

[rvsullivan]

Wow!! They gave you some really good options for Kemah, which has shops/food/activities, and you were upset about a 20 minute wait??? Try NYC or any of the really large ports and see if you can make it in 20 minutes. Cut them some slack, they are building things as fast as they can. You might be a bit surly too if you had rude passengers complaining about fog delays. Houston and Galveston are both know for fog delays. Coast Guard shuts them down when the fog is bad. Been that way for years and will continue into the future.

Personally, we drive right past both Houston and Galveston and sail out of New Orleans, Mississippi does not shut down for fog!!!

[Rockpop]

As I said, we waited 20 minutes while no buses came. There was already at least one bus load in line ahead of us, so at a minimum we'd be waiting at least 20 more minutes before a second bus showed up. This would have been a forty to sixty minute wait on the front end to spend 1 or 2 hours in Kemah. We had no way to predict how long we would have to wait in Kemah for the return bus, but judging from the wait at the terminal, it did not look promising.

[satxdiver]

While Bayport is not right next to a hotel, restaurant, etc., it is within a few miles of the Clear Lake area where there are many hotels from all brands at reasonable prices and not resort prices like Galveston. Besides the hotels are many restaurants both chains and locals serving any type of food you may want and again not at resort prices. There is a shopping mall and several strip centers with all the big box stores for those items you may have missed. If you want entertainment on a resort level, there is Kemah and the boardwalk where you can watch small craft leaving/returning to Clear Lake. I don't miss Galveston and its high prices one bit.

[piper28]

I always find it a little amusing when people complain there's nothing available in the terminal. Unless you're a first time cruiser, doesn't one know this? I think I've been in exactly one terminal where there was something available that you could purchase as a snack or something (Dover to be exact, there was some sort of small store there).

 

And in general, unless they've planned ahead to provide something, they're not going to be able to provide something in the terminal, because in general it's not legal for them to bring food stuff off the ship. In general, the laws in most countries prohibit it. And it's not like it's something you can just run down to the local (or not so local) grocery store to put something together for people. While I've sometimes seen juice or water, that's something they've likely sourced locally ahead of time, or gotten advanced permission to bring ashore.

[Rockpop]

I always find it a little amusing when people complain there's nothing available in the terminal. Unless you're a first time cruiser, doesn't one know this? I think I've been in exactly one terminal where there was something available that you could purchase as a snack or something (Dover to be exact, there was some sort of small store there).

 

And in general, unless they've planned ahead to provide something, they're not going to be able to provide something in the terminal, because in general it's not legal for them to bring food stuff off the ship. In general, the laws in most countries prohibit it. And it's not like it's something you can just run down to the local (or not so local) grocery store to put something together for people. While I've sometimes seen juice or water, that's something they've likely sourced locally ahead of time, or gotten advanced permission to bring ashore.

 

Well, let's see. I've embarked/disembarked from approximately 30 cruise terminals around the world. Other than San Pedro, CA, virtually all of them offered way more than Bayport. San Diego is within walking distance of many restaurants and attractions, SF is within walking distance of Pier 39, Seattle is within walking distance of many restaurants, so is Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, etc., etc.

 

All I'm trying to do here is to inform people from outside of Texas that this cruise terminal has only the bare minimum. It is in the middle of NOWHERE. If I were going to take a cruise out of Texas again, I would simply go through Galveston. Please tell me what's better at Bayport.

[Stevesan]

Well, let's see. I've embarked/disembarked from approximately 30 cruise terminals around the world. Other than San Pedro, CA, virtually all of them offered way more than Bayport. San Diego is within walking distance of many restaurants and attractions, SF is within walking distance of Pier 39, Seattle is within walking distance of many restaurants, so is Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, etc., etc.

 

All I'm trying to do here is to inform people from outside of Texas that this cruise terminal has only the bare minimum. It is in the middle of NOWHERE. If I were going to take a cruise out of Texas again, I would simply go through Galveston. Please tell me what's better at Bayport.

 

The ships. :p

 

P.S. I feel your pain: Galveston is far more user friendly.

[TruckerDave]

Well, let's see. I've embarked/disembarked from approximately 30 cruise terminals around the world. Other than San Pedro, CA, virtually all of them offered way more than Bayport. San Diego is within walking distance of many restaurants and attractions, SF is within walking distance of Pier 39, Seattle is within walking distance of many restaurants, so is Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, etc., etc.

 

All I'm trying to do here is to inform people from outside of Texas that this cruise terminal has only the bare minimum. It is in the middle of NOWHERE. If I were going to take a cruise out of Texas again, I would simply go through Galveston. Please tell me what's better at Bayport.

 

Well, besides the many folks who posted on here (including myself) that there was/is nothing around the port before they even started operations, google maps would have shown nothing around it as well.

 

It doesn't matter if it is better/worse than Galveston. If you want NCL or Princess you are using Bayport. If you want Carnival or RCL you are down on the island.

 

 

Sent using a small piece of fruit.

[jonbgd]

It doesn't matter if it is better/worse than Galveston. If you want NCL or Princess you are using Bayport. If you want Carnival or RCL you are down on the island.

 

 

Good thing we sail on all those lines and can pick either depending on pricing

 

But both of those are better as drive to ports, than having to fly in

Hopefully the hotels around Bayport/Hou area will start shuttle service

[TruckerDave]

Good thing we sail on all those lines and can pick either depending on pricing

 

But both of those are better as drive to ports, than having to fly in

Hopefully the hotels around Bayport/Hou area will start shuttle service

 

Hotels don't matter to me, I live in the western burbs of Houston, but drive to ports do rule. I even put NOLA in that category for myself. (A six hour drive is nothing for me. I do that before I stop for lunch everyday. ;)

 

 

Sent using a small piece of fruit.

[jonbgd]

Hotels don't matter to me, I live in the western burbs of Houston, but drive to ports do rule. I even put NOLA in that category for myself. (A six hour drive is nothing for me. I do that before I stop for lunch everyday. ;)

 

 

Sent using a small piece of fruit.

I drive to the port as well and have driven to Nola also

But for others that fly in it would be nice.

The more convenient it is for the non locals the more likely we can keep 4 cruiselines in the area

[ultimatemaniaccruiser]

Last Saturday we arrived at Bayport at about 12:30 pm and got on-board around 3:30! We've sailed out of port everglades before and it was a quick easy 20 minute process. When we disembarked one of our bags was missing and my wife tried to get help from one of the staff who I could tell right away had no idea what she was doing and sure enough she just hummed and hawed while I left to go find the bag. Luckily I found the lost and found area and got the bag (tag had fallen off) and went through customs. I think I'll stick with port everglades next time!

[hockeygal54]

I'm hoping this isn't the case in another week! I'd much rather go out of Galveston but since Princess decided to take this ports "incentives" here we go!!

[sminfiddle]

Good thing we sail on all those lines and can pick either depending on pricing

 

But both of those are better as drive to ports, than having to fly in

Hopefully the hotels around Bayport/Hou area will start shuttle service

The Candlewood Suites in La Porte runs a shuttle to Bayport now. $20 round trip. Both they and the La Quinta have free parking. Overall the hotel prices in La Porte are less than the more popular NASA and Kemah areas.

 

We enjoyed complimentary pastries and coffee/tea/ice water at Bayport, but that takes Platinum or Elite status, or booking a Suite.

 

We noticed there were a number of "first day on the job" personnel working the terminal. This was Nov. 30th so about what we reasonably expected!

 

I left a bag in the hotel closet and the shuttle brought it to me. :o Other than waiting for this bag and re-entering thru security, embarkation was painless. Disembarking on Dec 14th was even better. Both were better than March embark & debark in Galveston. We will get to try Port Everglades next May and report back :)