Fog Houston Bay - missed flights

[JJPacer]

We returned Nov. 16 on the Caribbean Princess to 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.

 

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.

[notentirelynormal]

Your should post this on the cruise air thread also. Too many times people ask but don't listen. Good advice.

[Musky Ike]

Message received. We booked a later than usual flight home for our next cruise out of Houston, but I am not a fan of getting home so late at night. Makes me wonder if this situation will make people less likely to cruise from this port?

 

On the other hand that could drive prices down even further:D

[Pam in CA]

Your should post this on the cruise air thread also. Too many times people ask but don't listen. Good advice.

People frequently post that they booked an early flight and had no problems so you won't either, which is very misleading. Delays can, and do, happen and just because one person (or even ten) had no problems, expect the unexpected.

 

FYI, the "CP" is the Sea Princess; the Caribbean is "CB", Coral is "CO" and Crown is "KP." These are the Princess abbreviations which you can check if you go to the Princess website and to each individual ship's information. The abbreviation will be in the URL. :)

[capriccio]

Your should post this on the cruise air thread also. Too many times people ask but don't listen. Good advice.

 

And on the Gulf Coast Departures board.

[whataboutport]

I was also on this sailing. We had a 2:49 flight out of IAH via a Princess transfer and got there with more than 40 mins to spare, then our gate was changed and had to wait another 45 mins. We walked off with the express walk off groups. The exiting gangway was by the casino, so that was a good place to wait.

 

I too wondered if this port usually has problems w fog, esp since CB would be sailing out of Bayport in the winters. I also saw many many many other people in balconies still hanging out in their cabins. So we stayed as well.

Edited November 19, 2013 by whataboutport

[caribill]

I too wondered if this port usually has problems w fog, esp since CB would be sailing out of Bayport in the winters.

 

Whether the port is Galveston or Bayport, the fog problem can occur.

[gooch47]

Quite a few cruises ago we started staying an extra day after the cruise as well as going in a day early. It is so nice waking up that last morning and not have to fret about catching a flight.

 

I know everyone can't do this, but it sure works for us.

 

Our next cruise is out of Hobby.

[RickEk]

Whether the port is Galveston or Bayport, the fog problem can occur.

 

A couple of years ago, the fog was so severe that it impacted 3 cruises for a couple of days...

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4381

[Pia1913]

I realize this doesn't apply to Princess, but for future reference, this can and does happen in Tampa too. We were so fogged in that the ship couldn't dock until after 2 PM. There were 3 ships trying to get in and needless to say hundreds missed their flights. We were fortunate, as we had our car, but still more than a four hour drive ahead of us.

[satxdiver]

In the fall and spring, this can happen in Houston. It also can affect flights out of and into HOU or IAH. Since the CB is sailing on Saturday, it could be easier to fly out on Sunday. We always arrive the day before for all cruises and leave the day after if traveling by air. This worked out on our last cruise out of port everglades. We had arrived in port during the shutdown and immigration was moving at a snail's pace. We had a 8:00 walkoff and actually left the ship after 10:00 only to be greeted by a long 30 minute line at immigration/customs. Luckily our flight was the next day but many I am sure missed their flights.

[sunprincess]

I heard about the 3 hr delay this past cruise. Concerned with my flight being 1335 - booked with Princess Air.

Any feedback on how missed flights were being handled?? Thanks so much

[ehogan]

We sailed out of Galveston last year and had a similar problem...four hours delay and also missed our flight.

 

We were told this is very common in Galveston due to fog.

 

If we did it again I would arrive a day early and also fly out a day after cruise arrival but then we really enjoy Exploring Galveston.