Fogged out of Houston

[Nauticat42]

I originally posted this on a thread relating to our recent Princess cruise out of Houston (Caribbean Princess, Nov. 9-16). Somebody suggested I also add it to the Gulf Coast Departures forum as the same thing could happened in other Gulf Coast ports.

 

Our ship was returning to Houston on Nov. 16 when a zero-visibility fog stopped us and forced the ship to anchor a mere 1.5 miles from the dock. The port of Houston had officially shut down all traffic, so several other vessels ahead of us were forced to do the same. So when the fog finally cleared enough to move, several other ships ahead of us had to move on before we could. This fog-related delay taught us a valuable lesson -- choose a disembarkation scenario that allows PLENTY of time to get to the airport. Here's what happened to us:

 

We had a 2:16 departure flight out of Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) which is about 1 hour from the terminal. We previously booked a Princess bus transfer to that airport and chose a 9:15 am bus, thinking the 2 earlier ones (8:15 and 8:45) were earlier than necessary and would have us rushing around in the morning, then hanging around a boring airport for hours on end. It never occurred to us there could be a weather delay (dumb, in retrospect). When the ship did dock, they logically proceeded to disembark people in the original step-by-step pattern, which resulted in our getting off the ship shortly after 12 noon. We knew the Princess bus would take significant time to load people and luggage and then stop at multiple terminals once at the airport. So we knew there'd be little or no chance of getting to our plane on time. So we told Princess we wouldn't be on that bus and chose a waiting taxi instead. We were lucky enough to get a VERY experienced driver who knew all the fastest routes and knew we had a deadline to make. She couldn't guarantee we'd make it on time, but promised to do the best she could. She got us there in 50 minutes and we got there with a bare 10 minutes to spare. (Amazingly the TSA line had NOBODY in it, otherwise it would have been impossible). The cab driver told us that, because the Houston cruise ship terminal is new, many drivers are unfamiliar with the route, so we were doubly lucky in getting her as a driver because she used to drive commercial rigs in and out of the neighboring cargo terminals. The whole experience caused us to lose the cost of our Princess bus transfer and the cab fare was $100.00 (plus a very generous tip thrown in), but it was money well-spent since missing that flight and re-booking the next day would have cost us $490 x 2 people = $980 (plus the cost of eating the original tickets and cost of a hotel). So next time we'll either fly home the next day or get to the airport ASAP and sit around the airport where a cup of coffee and a Danish would cost $10 (instead of FREE on the ship).

 

Incidentally, the many local Texans aboard told us that fog in this area is quite common, so it seems to be something to plan for in future cruises from Houston (and maybe also Galveston).

[Little Sister]

Hopefully my reply starts a friendly thoughtful commentary. I know that profit is the bottom line for any business, and Princess is no exception. I am curious if the issue of fog will be a determining factor in staying with Houston. I would imagine they are giving "some" concessions due to the itinerary change. I was surprised that they didn't just "speed up" and arrive at Cozumel this morning as designed, but there are many things that went into making that determination. I presume Princess has a signed contract to sail out of Houston for X amount of years, but will this glitch be a deal breaker or a solid reason they do not renew the contract once it is up for renewal. On the same vein....is this why the Houston terminal has sat somewhat empty of cruise ships for the past few years. I freely admit I am not an expert on weather, Houston, or nautical issues, so I wonder if my thoughts are valid. I look forward to reading and learning from your replies.

[piper28]

Hopefully my reply starts a friendly thoughtful commentary. I know that profit is the bottom line for any business, and Princess is no exception. I am curious if the issue of fog will be a determining factor in staying with Houston. I would imagine they are giving "some" concessions due to the itinerary change. I was surprised that they didn't just "speed up" and arrive at Cozumel this morning as designed, but there are many things that went into making that determination. I presume Princess has a signed contract to sail out of Houston for X amount of years, but will this glitch be a deal breaker or a solid reason they do not renew the contract once it is up for renewal. On the same vein....is this why the Houston terminal has sat somewhat empty of cruise ships for the past few years. I freely admit I am not an expert on weather, Houston, or nautical issues, so I wonder if my thoughts are valid. I look forward to reading and learning from your replies.

 

It'll almost certainly be a factor whenever it comes time to renew any contracts there. However, I think a much bigger issue will be whether they can get the fares they need to support it being worth sailing out of Houston. As far as I know, one of the reasons they left Galveston was that they were having to discount the ship enough that they felt it was worth basing it somewhere else. That'll be especially important because I'd guess that Houston isn't going to want to give as generous terms as they have for the current contract (and my understanding is that Houston is basically *paying* Princess to sail out of there, something that hasn't necessarily gone over all that well with some of the taxpayers in the area). (That said, Princess did extend their original agreement by 2 years, so they must at least have seen some things they liked in their initial bookings.)

 

I think it does add a couple hours leaving and arriving to the times versus Galveston. I think that's one reason that this route has dropped Costa Maya (even leaving out of Galveston, it was a pretty ambitious route, and seas conditions could impact on time arrivals when they had Costa Maya on the schedule).

 

Ultimately, it'll come down to the same thing it always does - money. If they think they can do better elsewhere, they will. Will they get the repeat traffic from customers? (Let's face it, departing from either Galveston or Houston definitely limits the posibilities that one can do a 7 day cruise for - is that limited choice something that will draw repeat cruisers?)

 

My personal guess is that they'll sail for a few years, but that after that, it's likely that the novelty will have worn off enough that the fares they're able to pull are going to be borderline, and they'll probably experiment with somewhere else at that point. (Quite honestly, I think what could end up being another strike against it is how often they actually make Roatan. The port there is so badly placed that it doesn't take all that much to make it impossible to enter. If you start getting a bunch of people that take the cruise complaining about them not making Roatan with any regular frequency, that's the type of thing that can have a negative impact for future bookings. And there are some people on cruises that can get downright nasty when ships miss ports)

 

Oh, and as for just speeding up to make the port on time. Doing some rough math, it's around 850 miles from Houston to Cozumel. If you leave on time, there's about 40 hours to do that transit, which means you have to average 19.3 knots from the time you leave the dock to when you arrive, and keep in mind there's probably an hour or two at the start and some time at the end that you're not going to do that speed, so the average speed that they're going to have to do is actually higher than that. If you lost 5 hours of that time, that average would have to be 22 knots. Top speed for these ships under normal conditions is typically about 21.5 to 23 knots, so when you factor in that time you've lost during the times you can't go top speed, you've probably just run out of capability of the ship. (I've seen them push over about 23 knots when they were in a hurry for a medical emergency, but it's above their normal top speed, and wouldn't expect them to try doing that for an extended run like Houston to Cozumel).

[DaNana]

This string is full of delayed ships in Galveston because of fog. I'm sure this will be the case here also. Glad you got out on time!

[urbanhawk]

Is there a "fog season" for Galveston/Houston? (ie:winter months?) I live in the desert, and once every few years, we may get a partial day of fog-this is why I ask......Also, is fog ever an issue for flying into Houston in the a.m.

Thanks,

"A desert rat"......except when I am on a cruise, I'm a "dessert pack rat"!!!!:D

[JJPacer]

We were on OP cruise on the Caribbean Princess out of Houston. We were scheduled to start disembarkation at 7:15 AM. However, when we awoke, there was zero visibility in Houston Bay, due to fog. The Captain said we were a little over a mile from the dock, but had to drop anchor and remain where we were until the fog burned off. Other ships in the bay did the same. There was a ship in front of us, that had to move, before the CP could move. We had to vacate our cabins by 8:00 AM. Needless to say, there were people & luggage everywhere. We finally docked and began disembarkation 3 hours late. They went by the assigned disembarkation schedule. Priority walk offs first, etc. We had Princess transfers to Houston Hobby, but didn't get any kind of consideration or earlier disembarkation because of it. If we had been able to disembark soon after it was allowed, we would have made our flight.

 

Many people missed their flights. If you had a 3:00 flight or later, you had a chance of making it. 3:00 would have been pushing it. We are fortunate we were booked with Southwest. We did not have to pay a change fee, or pay for a higher fare to catch a later flight.

 

My advice for those sailing on CP. The fog is a frequent occurrence. I would schedule a walk off with all your luggage, and plan on taking a cab from the dock to the airport. That will be about your only hope of catching your flight, unless you have a late afternoon - evening flight scheduled.

[sminfiddle]

I think it does add a couple hours leaving and arriving to the times versus Galveston. I think that's one reason that this route has dropped Costa Maya (even leaving out of Galveston, it was a pretty ambitious route, and seas conditions could impact on time arrivals when they had Costa Maya on the schedule).

 

Princess dropped Costa Maya from the itinerary while sailing from Galveston, I don't think any of their 2013 cruises had it.

Reason given was "Operational reasons" and the reason conjectured here is Fuel Cost.

 

They didn't drop CM due to Houston's longer distance to open sea.

[sminfiddle]

...is this why the Houston terminal has sat somewhat empty of cruise ships for the past few years. I freely admit I am not an expert on weather, Houston, or nautical issues, so I wonder if my thoughts are valid. I look forward to reading and learning from your replies.

 

No, I wouldn't think so. The fog situation is no better or worse between the Bayport port and the Galveston one. Both are on Galveston Bay.

[jonbgd]

Isnt the fog issues with Galveston usually in Jan/Feb?

Is this normal for this time of year?

 

Being from SF I don't understand what this fog issue is :eek::p

[LARGIN]

Leaving ship January 18th @ Bayport. Heard about the potential fog issue in Houston. Is a 2:10 Hobby flight OK or should we get a later flight?

[gdk321]

Leaving ship January 18th @ Bayport. Heard about the potential fog issue in Houston. Is a 2:10 Hobby flight OK or should we get a later flight?

If you can it is best to be safe later is best

Edited November 19, 2013 by gdk321

[JJPacer]

Another passenger sitting next to me was on his cell phone trying to change to a later flight. The airline rep told him he would have to pay a $200 change fee plus the difference in prices between the tickets. When the airline rep told him what the new ticket price was, he said

 

WOW!!

 

Ticket prices can jump up hundreds of dollars on the day of the flight. So it is better to plan ahead, than to be at the mercy of the ticket agents.

[sminfiddle]

Leaving ship January 18th @ Bayport. Heard about the potential fog issue in Houston. Is a 2:10 Hobby flight OK or should we get a later flight?

 

Is it Southwest?

I have been hearing they have much friendlier change policies than other lines.

 

 

~sent using Cruise Critic app~

[LARGIN]

Is it Southwest?

I have been hearing they have much friendlier change policies than other lines.

 

 

~sent using Cruise Critic app~

 

Yes Southwest.. I changed to a 4pm flight. Was a little less$$. No problem with changing..

[jonbgd]

Yes Southwest.. I changed to a 4pm flight. Was a little less$$. No problem with changing..

Good call That Southwest line gets pretty long on cruise days

HOU reminds of a nicer OAK

 

Houston doesnt have the tully fog we get in SF, it seems to shut down the ports, but not the airports:confused:

[Whoop98]

Good call That Southwest line gets pretty long on cruise days

HOU reminds of a nicer OAK

 

Houston doesnt have the tully fog we get in SF, it seems to shut down the ports, but not the airports:confused:

 

Houston airports are a 30-40 (Hobby) or more (IAH) minute drive from the port of Galveston.

[CGBCruiser]

I've lived down here in the Houston/Galveston area for 35 years. If you live close to the sea, there is a possibility of fog. However, the past year has not been bad at all. And yes, it is more likely to happen during the winter months as we live in a subtropical climate here and although cold fronts do make it down this way, it doesn't stay cold for long and the winds return from the South. The Carnival Triumph was delayed this past Monday getting into port. We have also experienced fog in Florida, both on the East and West coast.

 

Southwest does not charge change fees, but United is $200 and most others charge as well. And yes, the airports are further inland so foggy weather doesn't interrupt their operations often at all. I was in Houston last night and it was foggy in downtown. Worried about making the hour drive home but was all ok. A balmy 81 degrees here today with LOTS of humidity!

[dcrow72]

I'm not sure I would ever do a Houston itinerary again We were on the first repo cruise that brought the CB to Houston. It's a very, very long and narrow channel (someone said 37 miles??). There were tankers right next to us going the other way all the way in. We were lucky that we had no fog that day. There is nothing at all around the terminal area to do or see. IAH was over an hour ride and $130 cab fare which I consider steep. Couldn't even rent a car. If I were to do it again, I would book an evening flight to be sure. We had a noon flight and although we made with walk off, it was close. The terminal and staff were excellent though and very accommodating.

[Nauticat42]

We emailed Princess asking for a refund of our prepaid airport transfer which we could not take due to the fog delay. We frankly did not expect they would refund it because the delay wasn't Princess' fault (weather being one of those "Acts of God" you always see in disclaimers). But today we received a voice message saying they will refund the cost to our credit card in a few days. Very impressed!

[CGBCruiser]

I'm not sure I would ever do a Houston itinerary again We were on the first repo cruise that brought the CB to Houston. It's a very, very long and narrow channel (someone said 37 miles??). There were tankers right next to us going the other way all the way in. We were lucky that we had no fog that day. There is nothing at all around the terminal area to do or see. IAH was over an hour ride and $130 cab fare which I consider steep. Couldn't even rent a car. If I were to do it again, I would book an evening flight to be sure. We had a noon flight and although we made with walk off, it was close. The terminal and staff were excellent though and very accommodating.

 

I live here and I don't want to go down the channel to the Gulf. With that said, it's a pretty long trip down the river from New Orleans to the Gulf too! I might do the trip if the ship was very much worth it, but with RCCL's NOS sailing year round I'd just do that.

[DaNana]

We emailed Princess asking for a refund of our prepaid airport transfer which we could not take due to the fog delay. We frankly did not expect they would refund it because the delay wasn't Princess' fault (weather being one of those "Acts of God" you always see in disclaimers). But today we received a voice message saying they will refund the cost to our credit card in a few days. Very impressed!

 

That is great. However, I would have travel insurance to take care of those costs, knowing the possibility exits.

[Texas4808]

Hopefully my reply starts a friendly thoughtful commentary. I know that profit is the bottom line for any business, and Princess is no exception. I am curious if the issue of fog will be a determining factor in staying with Houston. I would imagine they are giving "some" concessions due to the itinerary change. I was surprised that they didn't just "speed up" and arrive at Cozumel this morning as designed, but there are many things that went into making that determination. I presume Princess has a signed contract to sail out of Houston for X amount of years, but will this glitch be a deal breaker or a solid reason they do not renew the contract once it is up for renewal. On the same vein....is this why the Houston terminal has sat somewhat empty of cruise ships for the past few years. I freely admit I am not an expert on weather, Houston, or nautical issues, so I wonder if my thoughts are valid. I look forward to reading and learning from your replies.

 

 

I had a worse experience out of Galveston. Ship didnt leave until 10pm.

[rvsullivan]

When Houston is fogged in, so is Galveston, same ship channel. This has been an issue for years. Coast Guard shuts down the ship channel and nothing can be done. It is not a routine event, but it does happen in the fall/winter. The difference with New Orleans (long trip to the Gulf) it does not close due to fog. Three years ago you could not see the bow of the ship and we cruised down the Mississippi at normal speed.

[rcgcruiser]

I used to live in Houston and along the coast fog can be pretty intense during the short winter season (Jan./Feb.). The humidity, the rather high (upper 40's) overnight lows and lack of wind make fog a real possibility during the winter. Combine this with the topography of the Houston Ship Channel and Galveston Bay, both fairly narrow and shallow, plus the huge amount of ship traffic, delays are a real concern in the winter. With the huge increase of commercial ship traffic anticipated because of the Panama Canal improvements mean a lot more congestion coming into Galveston and Houston.

 

I am personally surprised that Bayport is being used again, Bayport is at least 2 hours from the mouth of the Gulf. I will be very surprised if Princess and NCL decide to renew after 2017.

 

If you are disembarking from a winter cruise in Houston I would strongly suggest a later flight time. Besides even with no fog, Houston traffic is unpredictable, especially if flying out of IAH.

Edited December 1, 2013 by rcgcruiser

[MrSnarkyPants]

Is there a "fog season" for Galveston/Houston? (ie:winter months?) I live in the desert, and once every few years, we may get a partial day of fog-this is why I ask......Also, is fog ever an issue for flying into Houston in the a.m.

Thanks,

"A desert rat"......except when I am on a cruise, I'm a "dessert pack rat"!!!!:D

 

Fog is common in the winter in Houston, especially on the coast. The airports are further inland (especially IAH) but even they can get socked in at times.