Caribbean Princess delayed 24 hrs

[gooch47]

Just got an email that our Caribbean Princess cruise will NOT leave on Saturday, but on Sunday. The Harbor Master has closed the port, so that means that people currently on the ship won't arrive here until Sunday, either.

 

We are already in Houston. Really bad weather forecast for tomorrow. Only restaurant close to our hotel is about .2 miles. May get wet. But we were able to extend our hotel stay.

 

I really feel bad for those scheduled to fly in tomorrow, too.

[gooch47]

Here is the email:

 

We regret to inform you that embarkation for your voyage on Caribbean Princess has been delayed 24 hours due to adverse weather conditions in the Houston area.

 

We have been advised that due to adverse weather conditions the Port of Houston, Bayport Cruise Terminal is closed and the local harbor pilot will not allow ships to enter the port. In response to an earlier weather forecast calling for high winds, Caribbean Princess made arrangements to arrive early into Houston in an attempt to avoid delay. Unfortunately, the marine forecast has further deteriorated as dense fog/mist has limited visibility to less than one nautical mile. The fog is expected to persist through Saturday evening and Caribbean Princess is not expected to be able to dock before 11:00pm Saturday, December 21.

 

We wanted to advise you as soon as possible of this delay for those of you who may need to rearrange flights or alter other transportation details.

 

Due to this weather delay, Caribbean Princess will be delayed by one day and will commence embarkation procedures at 12:30pm, Sunday, December 22. Please follow the same arrival instructions as you would have used for Saturday. The delay in departure will necessitate a change to our planned cruise itinerary but at this time we are unable to determine the full impact. All passengers will receive a one night per diem for the day missed onboard in the form of an onboard shipboard credit.

 

Passengers who have purchased Princess Air and/or Princess Transfers will be contacted regarding their specific travel plans. Should you decide to make changes to your plans, you will be responsible for any travel arrangements and associated expenses.

 

We will continue to monitor the changing weather conditions and will provide updates as they become available. We sincerely apologize for the impact this has on the start of your cruise holiday.

 

The Officers and Crew of Caribbean Princess look forward to welcoming you onboard.

[Cruzin-K]

Oh no :eek:

 

I actually can't help but laugh. That poor ship has had nothing but trouble this season. I was on the (I think) only cruise that actually left on schedule and arrived back on schedule (a smidge early, in fact). The cruise before mine left a day late, and the cruise afterwards got back a few hours late.

[gooch47]

While I can't really appreciate the humor in the situation, I am not terribly surprised at this. I've been watching the weather forecast all day and knew that the ship would be delayed. Just not this much.

[DrivesLikeMario]

What a bummer! :( At least Princess did their best to get notification out ASAP and I give them kudos for communicating with the passengers. We almost booked this sailing and now I'm so glad we didn't. I cannot believe the run of bad luck the CB has had this season.

 

So sorry for everyone's plans being changed like this. :(

[gooch47]

Can you imagine trying to reschedule flights this close to Christmas?

[yoyosma]

My goodness, you are right. It will be very hard for those disembarking on Sunday flight wise, won't it? I hope Princess is helping those on board reschedule their flights. I really feel sorry for them.

[sea_u_onboard]

All I can say is WOW.

[Cruzin-K]

Don't get me wrong, I don't think this is funny. It's more of an "I can't believe it happened again" laugh, shaking my head at the same time. I feel really bad for anyone who has to deal with flight changes because of this, especially with all the bad weather around the country.

 

I'm happy that I drove to the port when it was my turn to sail on her. I think if I'd flown, I would have somehow jinxed our sailing as well. :o

[gooch47]

I understand, Karen.

 

Unless you booked your air through Princess, I don't think they will help. I know an NCL cruise we were on was terribly late and we had to fend for ourselves. Another Princess cruise was terribly late and we DID book through them and they rescheduled it for us.

 

But NCL provided free internet for everyone making new arrangements. It was h-e-double hockeysticks trying to get through. (This was many years ago, BTW.) My hubby finally managed to get cell phone service from our balcony instead of trying to do it through the internet.

 

This is our 58th cruise. Nothing like this ever before. The second worse was an NCL cruise out of New Orleans where the ship got in very late. We didn't get to our cabin until midnight.

[tarps]

I'm so very glad I had been reading about the departure/arrival problems with this cruise when trying to determine the best flight to book home. Did not know of these problems before I booked the cruise, as Princess hadn't started sailing out of here yet, or I probably would have booked a different one

 

In the end I decided we had better stay over one night post-cruise (don't like doing that and have never had to before) .... but looks like it is a necessary move for this port.

I'm really surprised that Princess elected to sail out of here .... must have gone in with eyes wide open to the problems that would be encountered .... I cant see how it can be worth all the aggravation it is causing...... to staff and passengers alike.

 

However, we are booked, and I'm looking forward to a much needed break, so I will try and be as positive as I can in order for these events not ruin my vacation. ...... however, sometimes there comes a critical breaking point. I hope we don't reach that!

 

Here is to a clear sailing week...... coming and going!

[sea_u_onboard]

As soon as I realized that Houston could be a trouble-some port I purchased Trip Insurance through Travel Guard. As least I know that IF anything happens I don't have to worry about the added expense (as it will be reimbursed).

[utah62]

You got to be kidding me..we were on the 2nd sailing out of this port in early November and where delayed returning to port by 3 hours due to fog which made a lot of passengers miss their flights. You have to wonder if Princess was aware of these possible weather issues before they agreed to sail out of the port of Houston.

[gooch47]

Staying a day extra won't help us much if we are delayed a whole day like the poor people on the ship right now are. Our flight leaves at 8:00 a.m. the day after we "supposedly" return.

 

I may need to convince my husband to try to reschedule for a later flight NOW. My granddaughter and her parents are with us and our daughter needs to get back. She doesn't have any more vacation days this year.

[gooch47]

A little surprised ... but not really now that I think of it ... that someone already on the ship hasn't chimed in yet.

 

Why not really? See my post about the nearly impossibility of getting internet time.

[tarps]

will the present passengers not be allowed to disembark upon a late arrival at port that night? I would expect to be allowed to disembark and go to the hotel I had booked, so that I may catch my sunday flight.

 

If they can disembark, you would still be okay for an 8:00 am flight.

I'm guess I'm lucky that the first direct flight back to canada isn't until Noon on Sunday, so I would think that even if I couldn't get off ship until the morning, I should still make that flight.

[gooch47]

Fortunately in my case it would be a "what if" situation. For those on the ship now, I don't know if you would be allowed to disembark in the middle of the night or not.

 

Immigration, Customs, whatever you call it would have to work. Baggage handlers, etc. I kind of doubt they will be able to get off until morning.

[Roses2]

Disembarkation would depend on many variables such as the availability and schedule of customs, immigration, support staff, etc.

 

The ship can not just dock and disgorge its passengers. There are many people, contracts, agencies, and other elements that have to be meshed together to process a disembarkation and embarkation of a cruise ship.

[Cruzin-K]

I can tell you that because of weather, we high-tailed it up to the port Friday night and actually arrived Saturday morning around 1 a.m. We were not allowed to get off until the regularly scheduled time.

[DrivesLikeMario]

It's not only Houston that has these problems. Our sailing out of Galveston last January was delayed getting into port by something like 9 hrs. due to heavy fog. Once it and the Disney ship arrived, it was many more hours before we could board. We finally sailed around midnight as the fog rolled back in again. I was hoping that Houston would be a better option with weather delays, but it looks like it's not the case so far.

 

Hang in there, Linda. Enjoy the time together with your family while waiting for the ship.

Edited December 21, 2013 by DrivesLikeMario
sp

[planb]

We sail out in March and hope it will be better than but alas we are not in charge of the weather. We're going the day before and book late flights the day back. Our airline said that if there is issues they will change flights to work. They did this for us before when the tsunami in Japan kept us out to sea for safety. Never any fun for anyone to have the trip changed or miss fights though.

[caribill]

It's not only Houston that has these problems. Our sailing out of Galveston last January was delayed getting into port by something like 9 hrs. due to heavy fog.

 

The bad weather forecast* Saturday for Houston (fog unless the 60 MPH wind gusts blow it away) also affects the Port of Galveston, but I do not know how much for Saturday.

 

Tonight's forecast for Galveston says in part: "Areas of fog in the evening...then areas of dense fog with visibility one quarter mile or less at times after midnight."

 

 

 

*:From a local TV station: "The winds in the atmosphere will be screaming along so fast that these storms should race through at 40-60mph! Anytime storms move that quickly, you're looking at a threat for a widespread damaging wind event. I believe we will have at least two lines of storms blow in, the first arriving between 6am and 9am. The second will be from 12pm-3pm. After 3pm, the sky should rapidly clear out as the stormy mess moves on."

[Clipper]

Pleased to get a per diem credit for this shortened cruise but doubt there will be anything I want to spend it on to such an extent as to use it up. Is it use it or lose it? We have a suite so even a day is quite substantial.

[caribill]

Pleased to get a per diem credit for this shortened cruise but doubt there will be anything I want to spend it on to such an extent as to use it up. Is it use it or lose it? We have a suite so even a day is quite substantial.

 

You should be able to get it in cash at the end of the cruise (or refunded to your credit card).

[chrismch]

I've never heard of a refund on shipboard credit, but will be happy to know if it can be credited back to us.

 

For those going on the cruise tomorrow, how do you manage to get lodging for tonight?