Caribbean Princess delayed 24 hrs

[MauiLvrs]

Really bad weather forecast for tomorrow.

 

 

The ship knows where it is within 10 feet and is moving less than 5 kts and can't dock with a mile viz.

In the meantime ... aircraft can land a few miles away with 1/8 mile viz going 160kts :confused:

 

Doesn't seem that bad...

GMZ300-211630-

SYNOPSIS FOR HIGH ISLAND TO THE MATAGORDA SHIP CHANNEL OUT 60

NAUTICAL MILES INCLUDING GALVESTON AND MATAGORDA BAYS

916 PM CST FRI DEC 20 2013

 

 

.SYNOPSIS FOR HIGH ISLAND TO MATAGORDA SHIP CHANNEL OUT 60 NM...

MODERATE TO STRONG ONSHORE WINDS WILL PERSIST THROUGH TONIGHT AND

INTO SATURDAY AHEAD OF A COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE SATURDAY AFTERNOON.

SOME FOG DEVELOPMENT REMAINS POSSIBLE ALONG THE COAST AND IN THE

BAYS DUE TO COOLER SHELF WATERS. EXPECT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS

ACCOMPANYING THE FRONTAL PASSAGE ON SATURDAY.

 

$$

 

 

 

 

GMZ355-211630-

WATERS FROM HIGH ISLAND TO FREEPORT OUT 20 NM-

916 PM CST FRI DEC 20 2013

 

DENSE FOG ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 AM CST SATURDAY

 

SMALL CRAFT SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION

 

 

REST OF TONIGHT

SOUTH WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET.

AREAS OF FOG LATE IN THE EVENING...THEN AREAS OF DENSE FOG WITH

VISIBILITY 1 NM OR LESS AFTER MIDNIGHT. AREAS OF DENSE FOG LATE.

A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SPRINKLES LATE IN THE EVENING...THEN A CHANCE

OF SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS LATE.

 

SATURDAY

SOUTH WINDS 15 TO 25 KNOTS BECOMING SOUTHWEST 20 TO

25 KNOTS IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET. PATCHY DENSE FOG IN

THE MORNING. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE

MORNING...THEN SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY IN THE AFTERNOON.

 

SATURDAY NIGHT

WEST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS BECOMING SOUTHWEST

AROUND 5 KNOTS AFTER MIDNIGHT. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET SUBSIDING TO 2 TO

3 FEET AFTER MIDNIGHT. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS EARLY IN THE EVENING.

Edited December 21, 2013 by MauiLvrs

[chrismch]

On embarkation day, you are supposed to be out of your book usually no later than 9 AM. When a ship is delayed several hours or a full day like the current cruise, what do passengers do? Are they allowed to go back to their room? Does dining still run the regular schedule? What happens to ship's activities? Any purchases are only done by cash?

[IECalCruiser]

The ship knows where it is within 10 feet and is moving less than 5 kts and can't dock with a mile viz.

In the meantime ... aircraft can land a few miles away with 1/8 mile viz going 160kts :confused:.

According to a recent post, the Port of Houston, Bayport Cruise Terminal is closed and the local harbor pilot will not allow ships to enter the port. They make the safety call.

[caribill]

On embarkation day, you are supposed to be out of your book usually no later than 9 AM. When a ship is delayed several hours or a full day like the current cruise, what do passengers do? Are they allowed to go back to their room? Does dining still run the regular schedule? What happens to ship's activities? Any purchases are only done by cash?

 

Only need to be out of the room by 8 AM when new passengers will be embarking that day.

 

In this case, until they dock it will be like a day at sea (except for casino and bars if in Texas waters). There will be the usual set of daytime activities, regular meals, and room accounts still active since they will not be closed out until late in the evening Saturday instead of late in the evening Friday.

[Asilverclover]

Hi everyone, so I am currently on the ship that is being delayed and I think I can answer a lot of questions that have been posted here. I am a 1st time traveler with Princess and only 3rd cruise overall so forgive me if I neglect to mention anything of importance.

 

So to start, we were delayed bording for 4 hours when we first arrived. I believe that they rebated us a (very) small portion of our cost as a credit to our shipboard account. It was listed as coming from "Government/Taxes". This is just a hypothesis since I honestly didn't inquire but it is one shared by several passengers.

 

As for our delayed arrival, they announced last night (Thursday) that they were concerned about weater conditions arriving and planned on being through the passage by 6pm Friday and being docked by 9pm. Although they were not going to allow anyone off the boat until Saturday morning.

 

Now Friday... We started the day off at a good clip as we have been traveling most this trip constantly trying to catch up (We were delayed in destinations too but Ill get to that later). But as the day went on we gradually slowed from 20 knots to only 5 and this was not due to weather. Supposedly our dinner partners saw the Captain just after the annoucement at 7:50pm Saturday (that decared us stuck on the boat an additional day) saying that he "told them" they need to keep the speed up to get in early, but whoever "them" were didn't listen. I know this sounds really vague and Im probably not describing it well but it was very noticable that our speed dropped early in the afternoon and thus we were unable to get in before the Harbor Master or such closed the Port.

What they have told us currently (and unfortuanally I do not have the sheet in front of me to quote) is that due to fog and weather, the port is not expected to open until 9pm Saturday and thus we will most likely dock around 11 pm. Then we will be allowed off of the boat at our original departing times just on Sunday. Unfortunally we believe that they think the upcomming storm will cause the fog to move out but several locals don't believe that will clear enough especially that late at night if it didnt during the day.

 

Currently, we are anchored as it also appears that several other boats are around us waiting. They have announced that all calls made from the stateroom are free of charge and the internet cafe is also open and free of charge. It you stand out on the deck you can also get a signal from the mainland so you dont have to be dependant on what feels like only 6 lines that the ship has avaliable for outgoing calls.

 

I must be honest that initially I was looking forward to an extra day on the boat since it has been very enjoyable (and my car is parked at the port as well as I dont really have any deadlines at least til Xmas). But as soon as I talked with anyone else on board its a nightmare for those with children at home, those having to rebook flights, etc.. To put it briefly, it is almost 2am Saturday (6 hours after they made the anouncement) and the hone lines are still busy on the 1st try and 1/2 the computers in the internet cafe are occupied by those trying to alter their travel plans. Now we just have to hope that the timeline doesn't change again do the the large storm that is developing just west of us....

 

And as for the not about our ports of call, they were very wet. And due to the wet and nasty weather several excursions had to be cancelled in each port. Excursions that traveled far from port, involved snorkeling, etc were some to be hit hard.

Time is runnign out so I may or may not be back later. Bye

[caribill]

 

So to start, we were delayed bording for 4 hours when we first arrived. I believe that they rebated us a (very) small portion of our cost as a credit to our shipboard account. It was listed as coming from "Government/Taxes". This is just a hypothesis since I honestly didn't inquire but it is one shared by several passengers.

 

 

Thanks for the onboard report.

 

The small amount rebated was probably a reduction in port fees/taxes and had nothing to do with the delayed departure.

[CantSwim63]

about what it is like onboard and Internet and phone service.

 

Wifi is available in cabins with your device, but if you don't have an account set up already it might have been difficult to figure out how to set it up and then "purchase" emergency time/minutes for $0.00. I am going to guess that there was a big line up for those who did not have devices or needed help. And as expected because of limited bandwidth it was very slow.

 

Phone was free but busy until at least 02:00 when I finally gave up. At 04:30 the 77 line (to use the satellite line) was clear but not working), so I called passenger services and they made the call for me. I do not know if I could have done this from the beginning or someone finally figured out that setting up a queue would be more efficient or everyone else was done (or asleep LOL).

 

Patter was out by 04:30; lots of repeat activities, movies and entertainment; casino has to remain closed; (not sure on this one but believe to be true) only four bars allowed to be open; and for those "lucky" enough to have purchased duty free, they are very popular right now because the bottles were delivered prior to the delay announcement (this line is only half tongue in cheek and intended as a poke at ridiculous laws).

 

Safe travels to all, and hope those coming on received their warning in time.

 

Raoul

[cubfan63]

Thanks for the onboard report.

 

The small amount rebated was probably a reduction in port fees/taxes and had nothing to do with the delayed departure.

 

I was on the 11/16 trip that had embarkation delayed due to late docking due to fog. We had a similarly titled credit, despite our departure being delayed until 8:15 pm. We were also late into Cozumel and left at the same time.

[coo359a2]

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.

 

Not sure if it will work the same for you but my friend got a cash refund for unused OBC. His OBC was only for the military OBC and TA credit. He didn't realize that a negative balance meant he still had credit so when he was disembarking the ship, he was stopped and had to go to purser's desk to get his $28 in cash.

[txskier]

this information is truly amazing! we were on the 11/16 sailing, delayed on embarkation. Once we were underway, the rest of the cruise was excellent. Very good food, EXCELLENT service in all areas on the ship.

 

I worked down at the Galveston terminal in 2009 and 2010 ground crew checking in guests for Voyager of the Seas. I saw first hand several times how the fog can be and how guests don't understand that a cruiseline has no control over the weather.

[MaeMae2]

On embarkation day, you are supposed to be out of your book usually no later than 9 AM. When a ship is delayed several hours or a full day like the current cruise, what do passengers do? Are they allowed to go back to their room? Does dining still run the regular schedule? What happens to ship's activities? Any purchases are only done by cash?

 

I was on the sailing last week, and we were delayed by about 4 hours. Our original time to be out of our cabins at 8am was officially changed to 10am, but our cabin steward kindly let us stay for as long as we wanted as long as we stayed in the living area so he could change the beds and clean the bathrooms. We left the room at 11:30. They didn't announce the change to 10am, but we called the front desk to get the information. There were a ton of people who vacated their rooms at 8am. We went and had a leisurely breakfast, returned to our room where we stayed until 11:30.

[bsarabia]

We are booked on this ship as well and I recieved the same email. Funny I can't find any more info tho and can't reach Princess by phone either. Hopefully we sail tomorrow. We should meet up for an adult beverage when we finally get onboard. :)

[likeadisguise]

Princess opens at 6 a.m. PST on Saturday, so you should be able to get someone there now.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[CantSwim63]

Around 08:30. ETA is 11:00/11:30. More information to be announced. Just sending out so the 21st cruisers keep checking their email notifications or be prepared to be flexible.

 

Of course for me and DS, now have to try to get back our hotel room that I just cancelled LOL if we are allowed to disembark. Trying to keep my cruise smile on. Raoul

[DrSch]

I was told by princess on phone all passengers will be moved from ship to marriot houston. No pickups allowed at port... if you hear different let me know

[DrSch]

Oh and hotel rooms would be arranged

[Dudleydog73]

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

 

I was on the cruise to mostly Mexico and nowhere on Thanksgiving. The PSD folks kept telling us that credit balances would be refunded to our cards (since the vast majority of us had credits due to missing every port scheduled, including Cozumel that we actually got to but all excursions were cancelled that I knew of).

 

After weeks of nothing on the card when we returned I emailed Customer Relations who informed me that since we did not cash out at the PSD desk (PSD said that we didn't have to) they have no mechanism to process credits on a card that had not been billed.

 

They said to expect a paper check in the mail from headquarters within 4-6 weeks since all folios with credit balances get turned over to them once they zero out the ship.

 

She also mentioned that they would send memos out to the crew working at the PSD desks to let them know how to inform folks with credit balances what will happen to "retrain" them properly.

 

Also for the itinerary, since you will be leaving even later than our cruise did, I can say you will most definitely miss Roatan as it is the furthest southern port and would only be possible if everything ran on schedule. For us they substituted Costa Maya as our first port, but I suppose you will only know the full plan once you get onboard and actually leave through the ship channel, which seems quite problematic for the CB.

Edited December 21, 2013 by Dudleydog73

[ggTexasGal]

http://cruiseoutlook.com/position/55-princess-caribbean-princess

[txskier]

yeah....earlier this morning, there was no marine traffic in Galveston Bay, It is now full of traffic

[caribill]

I was told by princess on phone all passengers will be moved from ship to marriot houston. No pickups allowed at port... if you hear different let me know

 

Sounds as if they will put everyone who does not have a car at the port in a ballroom at a Marriott (there are several in Houston) and then try to arrange things from there.

[caribill]

(not sure on this one but believe to be true) only four bars allowed to be open; and for those "lucky" enough to have purchased duty free, they are very popular right now because the bottles were delivered prior to the delay announcement (this line is only half tongue in cheek and intended as a poke at ridiculous laws).

 

 

The law involved here is that in Texas only alcoholic beverages purchased from a Texas distributer can be sold at the retail level. So all the beer, wine and spirits that Princess sourced outside of Texas cannot be sold while in Texas waters.

 

If Princess was willing to purchase adequate supply from a Texas distributer, then all the bars could remain open and serve the full range of offerings.

[texast518]

The law involved here is that in Texas only alcoholic beverages purchased from a Texas distributer can be sold at the retail level. So all the beer, wine and spirits that Princess sourced outside of Texas cannot be sold while in Texas waters.

 

If Princess was willing to purchase adequate supply from a Texas distributer, then all the bars could remain open and serve the full range of offerings.

 

Can they give free drinks? Which is what they should consider for PR.

[caribill]

Can they give free drinks? Which is what they should consider for PR.

 

Only if the source was a Texas distributer.

[gooch47]

Can they give free drinks? Which is what they should consider for PR.

 

 

Not sure that would be a good idea. Not just pi$$ed off passengers. Drunk pi$$ed off passengers.

 

An update from Princess would be very much appreciated. We've heard nothing since the original email.

[azbirdmom]

http://cruiseoutlook.com/position/55-princess-caribbean-princess

 

Thanks for the link. I've already set up a report for our next cruise which happens to be next Saturday on the Caribbean Princess. I've already told DH not to be too disappointed if we miss a port, or if we experience delays as those seem to be a weekly event with this itinerary.

 

Hope those of you currently on the ship are able to make alternate arrangements that allow you to get home as quickly as possible, and that those about to board are able to find lodging for tonight. What a mess!