cannot get out of port

[JTexcruise]

Question: Is there a separate line for passengers who don't have liquor?

 

No...just one separate line after clearing customs.

[JTexcruise]

If you don't have liquor you won't have to wait in the line.

[gambler]

Friends of mine were on the Magic, they were out and in the car around 9 am today.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Question: Is there a separate line for passengers who don't have liquor?

 

If you don't have liquor you won't have to wait in the line.

 

One would think there would be 2 separate lines! :eek:

 

***

[reney313]

While my experience in Nov. 2012 was the worst of any cruise I have ever taken, I would chalk this one up more to the crew disembarking as well.

 

That said, early birds self disembarking were off quickly. Those of us who had our luggage in the terminal had excruciating wait times.

[roboref]

I have arrived at Galveston twice on TA's and once we sailed out of there and it is the worst port to disembark at period. I love Texas but the port (ICE) there isn't efficient at getting people off the ship. I once nearly missed a 2pm flight from HOU, and so I thought the next time I would not cut it so close, so i had a 3 pm flight and almost missed it. So unless, I can drive there I will not being going through Port of Galveston again!.

 

BTW, just because it didn't happen to you doesn't mean it didn't happen!

[SPacificbound]

I am now officially concerned. I booked this week for a cruise out of Galveston on Navigator in May. We have never cruised from there before. To be safe, what is a good time to schedule a flight home from Houston?

 

It doesn't make sense to spend lots of money to unwind for a week and then get stressed out for the trip home.

 

Talk to me CC please.....!:eek:

 

From Bush Airport IAH it is 70 miles to Galveston cruise terminal. That could take you anywhere from 1 1/4 hours to 3 hours, just depends on traffic and road construction.

 

Hobby Airport HOU is just over 40 miles from the Galveston cruise terminal. That could take you 45 minutes or 1 1/2 hours. Again dependant on traffic and construction.

 

If I was doing this I would not schedule a flight from HOU before noon or IAH before 2PM. I would also fly in the day before and stay on Galveston island the night before the cruise.

 

I live 53 miles from IAH, which is the airport I always fly out of. I have gotten to the airport in 45 minutes and I have gotten to the airport in 2 1/2 hours. You just never know, so I always allow at least 3 hours before my flight.

 

Hope this helps. :)

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Ok, now I'm scared!

A terrible disembarkation can ruin a great cruise!

 

I sure hope they get their act together by May 25!

 

***

[pupiczech]

I was on this ship. Took us 4 hours to disembark. The exiting crew had NOTHING to do with this. They stayed on the ship to work during the refurbishment. The new tax had NOTHING to do with this. After customs the tax man was at the door and asked if we bought smokes or liquor. Nope. Off you go (Finally!).

 

The problem was that they let EVERYONE off the ship at one time. The numbers for luggage pick up were in pencil on the walls, no rhyme or reason. I asked an employee if there was another #8 area, she said no. There was but she probably didn't speak English so she didn't understand me. You live and work in America, learn English. While in the line we asked a security officer what days ships sailed and returned. She said they all leave on Saturday (We left on Sunday) and ONLY return on Wednesday. Yep, they all come in on Wednesday. (Umm today is Sunday? Helloo). She said, oh did you come in today? (Yes with these 3498 other people milling about here. Idiot). The line for customs went around and around and around with feeder lines everywhere. Everyone just started their own lines! It was HORRID! Customs, when we got there, took 30 seconds. There were 4 agents. The RCCL employee we talked to said there were 28. The other 24 must have been at the Carnival Magic because they were not at ours.

 

I'm a travel agent. I will never go through Galveston again and I will NOT willingly book a client through there either. RCCL will hear from me tomorrow, along with about 2000 other angry cruisers. (The 819 kids on board will not call and the over 500 foreign cruises will not call. The rest of us will.)

[RSLeesburg]

If you don't have liquor you won't have to wait in the line.

 

I read on the Carnival board that the tax is only for Texas residents, so if you are non-resident, you do not have to pay the tax. Is this true?

[satxdiver]

We were on the Navigator for the 12/15/13 sailing. The Friday Compass warned us that due to sequestration, disembarking might be slower than usual. We did the walkoff and were off by a little after 9. By the time we had gotten up to the area where the ICE officers were the line behind us had become way longer than when we joined it. At the time TABC had not set up shop so this is new. I guess gov numb nuts wants more money.

 

I did talk to a bartender one day on the lido deck and he said all the crew was staying on the ship and would be working on the ship while in drydock getting it ready to sail again. I doubt many crew were getting off today.

 

As stated one of the negatives of this port is that the airports particularly IAH is over 70 miles away on a limited access highway that goes right through the center of Houston with its 4+ million population. How does that song go ... on a wing and a prayer?

 

We were on the Mariner in 12/2011 and the walkoff was a freeforall. They completely blew it and lost control as soon as they opened the doors on the ship to let us off. It took several hours to walk off and get through ICE. I can imagine how long the pax with checked bags had to wait.

[boaterette]

The port in Galveston is terrible today. My worst experience here ever. After almost two hours there is still no end in sight.

 

Sure would be nice to state why instead of just a general blanket statement that means nothing. Were you stuck in the bathroom with no toilet paper?

[JasonTehGreat]

I have sailed 2 times out of Galveston and it was HORRIBLE. On my last RCI cruise on Voyager it took me nearly 5 hours to get home after starting leaving the ship and I lived maybe 4 blocks from the cruise port.

 

Customs lines take forever and it is always a disorganized mess getting your luggage.

 

As a travel agent I tell people there will be a horrible delay when you get off and not to book an early flight.

[Ranger]

We had ZERO problems getting off the Navigator today. It was exactly 45 minutes from line up at 8:30 to clearing customs. BTW....it took us only 15 minutes to embark (we were on board at 11:00 am). I realize some others may have waited longer but many of us had a great experience. The TABC tax table was after customs and off to the side. It did not slow us getting off the ship since we had no liquor. This was our 6th cruise out of Galveston and all have been trouble free.

 

Apparently if you did the walk off with your luggage early you were OK, just like pupiczeck said above, it took us over 3 hours from walking off the ship to get through immigration. The ship let everyone off at the same time, totally screwed up.

[Galveston Cruiser]

It is unfair to blame the port or RCI for the debacle.

Customs and immigration seem to have it in for Galveston and RCI.

Apparently Carnival has no problem, only RCI.

 

If you want to send complaint letters, send to the State Department. They are the entire problem at the port.

[reney313]

It is unfair to blame the port or RCI for the debacle.

Customs and immigration seem to have it in for Galveston and RCI.

Apparently Carnival has no problem, only RCI.

 

If you want to send complaint letters, send to the State Department. They are the entire problem at the port.

 

I agree...and while Galveston (and NOLA) are the only 2 ports I can drive to within a day trip, after my last experience in Galveston, this will only be a "last resort" port for me to sail out of again. I guess if the price is right, I will, and prepare myself mentally for the mayhem we experienced last year. That or try and be the first off before the lines start forming.

[Cindy]

It is unfair to blame the port or RCI for the debacle.

Customs and immigration seem to have it in for Galveston and RCI.

Apparently Carnival has no problem, only RCI.

 

If you want to send complaint letters, send to the State Department. They are the entire problem at the port.

 

Do you think things might improve with RCI here year-round now? Based on my two horrible Galveston disembarks (compared to 9 that went off without a hitch), I agree the problem is on the government end.

[mjldvlks]

. . . If you want to send complaint letters, send to the State Department. They are the entire problem at the port.

Let's think this through a bit. It seems to be the consensus that, as you say, the problem is on the federal government end. But who is going to have a bigger stick in that battle? My guess is RCI, the state and local government, and businesses who have an economic interest in seeing that there continues to be cruise traffic from Galveston are going to have better leverage to get some action from ICE. So I would not hesitate to write to RCI, Texas travel and tourism [or whatever it is called], Galveston city government, and the local chamber of commerce. I would politely tell them that, while my problem does not seem to be their fault, the port risks losing my business [and probably that of many others] if the situation does not improve.

[Tigers2]

We experienced fog in 2010.....but besides that.......it was a great experience!

[JimAOk1945]

If you don't have liquor you won't have to wait in the line.

 

Thanks for answering my question.

[SPacificbound]

I agree...and while Galveston (and NOLA) are the only 2 ports I can drive to within a day trip, after my last experience in Galveston, this will only be a "last resort" port for me to sail out of again. I guess if the price is right, I will, and prepare myself mentally for the mayhem we experienced last year. That or try and be the first off before the lines start forming.

 

There is actually a new port that would be within driving distance for you if Galveston and New Orleans are.

http://www.portofhouston.com/cruise-information/

 

I can't comment on their efficiency since there are not any cruises I am interested in at any of the above three ports.

[Villagemdu]

I was on this ship. Took us 4 hours to disembark. The exiting crew had NOTHING to do with this. They stayed on the ship to work during the refurbishment. The new tax had NOTHING to do with this. After customs the tax man was at the door and asked if we bought smokes or liquor. Nope. Off you go (Finally!).

 

The problem was that they let EVERYONE off the ship at one time. The numbers for luggage pick up were in pencil on the walls, no rhyme or reason. I asked an employee if there was another #8 area, she said no. There was but she probably didn't speak English so she didn't understand me. You live and work in America, learn English. While in the line we asked a security officer what days ships sailed and returned. She said they all leave on Saturday (We left on Sunday) and ONLY return on Wednesday. Yep, they all come in on Wednesday. (Umm today is Sunday? Helloo). She said, oh did you come in today? (Yes with these 3498 other people milling about here. Idiot). The line for customs went around and around and around with feeder lines everywhere. Everyone just started their own lines! It was HORRID! Customs, when we got there, took 30 seconds. There were 4 agents. The RCCL employee we talked to said there were 28. The other 24 must have been at the Carnival Magic because they were not at ours.

 

I'm a travel agent. I will never go through Galveston again and I will NOT willingly book a client through there either. RCCL will hear from me tomorrow, along with about 2000 other angry cruisers. (The 819 kids on board will not call and the over 500 foreign cruises will not call. The rest of us will.)

 

We were stuck in the terminal bldg for hours as well. The staff workers who were there to help created confusion with the pax with conflicting directions and often argued publicly between themselves over who was right. One of the staff members actuall grabbed my handicapped mother by her arm who was in a walker at that time and attempted to drag her as if she were a piece of luggage. I asked her politely the first time to let go of her arm as she has a degenerative bone disease and is very frail. There was no response and then I raised my voice and repeated the request. She looked at me and gave me a dirty look without releasing her hold. At that point I removed her arm for her and after doing so I was threatened with an assault charge by the worker. My mother has a large bruise on her arm this morning from the staff worker.

Something needs to be done about this port starting with calling to RCI I believe. No other port that I have been to compares to the chaos experienced yesterday.

[Galveston Cruiser]

We were stuck in the terminal bldg for hours as well. The staff workers who were there to help created confusion with the pax with conflicting directions and often argued publicly between themselves over who was right. One of the staff members actuall grabbed my handicapped mother by her arm who was in a walker at that time and attempted to drag her as if she were a piece of luggage. I asked her politely the first time to let go of her arm as she has a degenerative bone disease and is very frail. There was no response and then I raised my voice and repeated the request. She looked at me and gave me a dirty look without releasing her hold. At that point I removed her arm for her and after doing so I was threatened with an assault charge by the worker. My mother has a large bruise on her arm this morning from the staff worker.

Something needs to be done about this port starting with calling to RCI I believe. No other port that I have been to compares to the chaos experienced yesterday.

 

Please contact the port director. This is not to be tolerated and the executives must be informed.

 

Michael Mierzwa - email: mmierzwa@portofgalveston.com

[Shekim]

I wonder if yesterday's debarkation debacle was due to it wanting all the passengers off ASAP (or so they thought) to get under way for refurbishment? I've sailed from Galveston 4 times; and other than fog we have never had problems quite like that. Yes, one time it did take us about 1 1/2 hours to go through customs. and Yes, sometimes it's not clear where your luggage could be. But all in all it's not that bad. My only other comparison would be Miami and San Juan. To me San Juan was worse!!!! Getting on and getting off.

[Iamthesea]

The OP must still be stuck onboard as he hasn't been heard from since posting yesterday. :D

 

Seriously, we cruised in and out of G-town a few years ago and had not one single problem.

 

Villagemdu - There is no excuse for the way your mother was treated by the agent. I hope you responded that she would be getting hit with assault charges, also!