Is Caribbean Princess going to be late into Houston this morning?

[DebJ14]

The NCL Jade is at the pier, so hopefully she will sail on time. But it does look like she is getting shrouded in fog or really low clouds.

 

http://www.portofhouston.com/cruise-information/live-cruise-terminal-cam/

[sptrout]

Here is a direct link to the NWS' Houston/Galveston Radar. At 2:55PM CST, there is a large band of rain moving in from the west/southwest. The heaviest rain, and possible heavy thunderstorms, are due tonight into tomorrow morning with a line of storms that has not developed yet (not part of what is shown on the radar now). So keep checking back during the next 24 hours. Hopefully, the CP can make into Port between the two storm systems.

 

http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?rid=hgx&product=N0R&overlay=11101111&loop=no

[ChaserX]

Jade is leaving the terminal!

[jbobst]

We are on Caribbean now. We are currently heading up the channel now and the air looks pretty clear at this point. The plan is to spend the night docked at the cruise terminal tonight and then disembark at normal time tomorrow morning.

Edited December 13, 2015 by jbobst

[moki'smommy]

Yeah! Normal embarkation tomorrow. Even if the ship can't get out of the channel, guests can board. That will give them beds and meals as well as entertainment.

[bellebaby]

We are on Caribbean now. We are currently heading up the channel now and the air looks pretty clear at this point. The plan is to spend the night docked at the cruise terminal tonight and then disembark at normal time tomorrow morning.

 

Thanks for the information. We saw the ship on the Galveston webcam.

 

B

[TracieABD]

This sounds like such a better scenario than a couple of weeks ago. I hope the three conditions are met, and that everyone has a place to sleep and a meal (or 17!) to eat!

[ChaserX]

5PM announcement:

Jade has cleared her berth and is on her way out. Visibility is holding up and winds are within limits. Pilots were contacted and said “Keep her coming, Cap!”

Pilot(s) have apparently been embarked as of 6:30PM. If all goes well, there will be no more announcements from the bridge, so no news will be good news.

Current(7:25PM) location from ship’s information channel and my Delorme Street Atlas program is a couple miles east of San Leon.

10.6 miles to go.

I will advise when we have docked.

Sean

[DebJ14]

The CB is docked at Bayport tonight. I hope they have an easy disembarkation tomorrow morning and that the weather holds so the ship sails on time tomorrow.

 

We have had some wicked weather in the Houston area today including a confirmed tornado touchdown in Willis.

[ChaserX]

We are alongside and mooring. Disembarkation should begin at 7AM as soon as the ship is cleared.

 

Safe travels, and bon voyage to all.

 

Sean

[moki'smommy]

Princess will lose revenue from casino and from liquor sales (can only sell Texas liquor in port), but that's nothing compared to what our cruise must have cost them.

[sptrout]

The CB is docked at Bayport tonight. I hope they have an easy disembarkation tomorrow morning and that the weather holds so the ship sails on time tomorrow.

 

We have had some wicked weather in the Houston area today including a confirmed tornado touchdown in Willis.

 

Hats off to the Captain for making the call to sail at what must have been near full speed to get in before the next round of storms in the morning. ETA for the big storms is between 6AM - to around noon. By sail away time the weather should be OK. May be tough for any folks flying (or driving) in tomorrow morning.

[satxdiver]

Welcome back to Houston. Temperature is being reported as 75F and a big band of storms just to the west of Houston. The rain front stretches from northern Mexico up to KS/MO. Hope you have rain gear.

[PenguinLife]

We are sailing out on Caribbean Princess in the morning, the weather forecast is a big reason we chose to drive over and spend the night near the port instead of driving all the way from home in the morning (150 miles). We are staying at the Holiday Inn Express in La Porte (7 miles from the cruise terminal), we had club points that were expiring in a couple of months so used them for a "free" night, overall it is a nice Holiday Express, very comfortable firm bed, I am surprised how empty it is though, after 10 pm and there are only about 9 or 10 cars in the parking lot, maybe because its cash price is $139 per night vs the neigboring motels in the $90 range. So far no real rain since we arrived around 5:30 pm, just some light mist, we ate dinner at the 101 Grill in downtown La Porte which is about half a mile off the main highway. Nice upscale casual dining, menu was a mix of contemporary Italian, seafood and steaks, prices were reasonable, particularly their 3 courses for $21 options. I have paid 2 - 3 times as much for lesser food.

[232271]

Why is the CP there tonight instead of in the morning??

Edited December 13, 2015 by 232271

[moki'smommy]

Why is the CP there tonight instead of in the morning??

 

Because the weather report is for fog/storms in the morning. 2 weeks ago, the CP was stuck in Galveston and not allowed to enter the channel due to fog. We spent the entire day sitting in the terminal before being sent to a hotel and missed a day of our cruise. The people on the ship had all their air reservations messed up, missed a day of work or school, etc.

 

Captain Nick wasn't about to let that happen again if he could help it. He went very rapidly back to Galveston after the final port stop with the intention of getting the ship in as soon as possible. This way, everyone can get off in the morning and keep to their schedules. The new guests can board. If the ship can't get out tomorrow due to weather, at least everyone will have a bed and meals...and party at the dock area (on board, of course). Beats what happened to us!

[Colo Cruiser]

Why is the CP there tonight instead of in the morning??

 

 

Trying to beat the fog. By the way its CB not CP. ;)

[232271]

I thought, I had fixed that, oh well, anyway, what a great captain, we sail on her in March and have been fogged in/out before, twice, so that's great to hear at least they can unload and reload. Thanks!! P.s. if it's Caribbean princess , why cb and not cp?

Edited December 13, 2015 by 232271

[Cindy]

Trying to beat the fog. By the way its CB not CP. ;)

 

 

Yes, Captain Nash really raced back to try to avoid a weather delay. We docked about 9:00 last night. It was absolutely the right thing to do, both for the people with flights today and all the boarding passengers.

 

Just beware if it happens to a cruise you're on everything shut down about 4:00 yesterday and they had to go back to the extremely limited Texas bar menu. We had thought ahead and gotten wine for dinner, but a lot of people were caught off guard despite all the announcements.

 

I thought embarkation and parking were simple here, but after seeing the logistics first hand I understand why the ships are pulling out. It's a lot more complicated than Galveston because of the ship channel and distance to the Gulf.

 

 

Cindy

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[faeriedust101]

Yeah! Normal embarkation tomorrow. Even if the ship can't get out of the channel' date=' guests can board. That will give them beds and meals as well as entertainment.[/quote']

 

 

They will be boarding late. I'm waiting to get off CB now and they're at least an hour behind getting us off. The wind is causing problems with the gangways.

 

 

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[Cindy]

We're in a holding pattern on the ship. They had to close the gangway on Deck 7 because of wind and are moving it down to Deck 4. Apparently people are behaving badly and storming the stairs. I'm sitting in Club Fusion waiting for instructions to disembark from Deck 4.

 

 

Cindy

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[moki'smommy]

It is a very difficult port. From the time they enter US waters, they can sell only alcohol purchased in Texas and must charge Texas tax on it. This means a very limited selection as the cruise line opts to not purchase much. They also must close the casino and shops. Other ship functions can remain much as normal.

 

It takes about 3 1/2 hours from the time they enter the channel till they are docked at Bayport. The cruise line has no place at Bayport to leave their equipment; everything must be carried on the ship and brought to the port. This includes wheelchairs and the computers they need for check in, all office supplies, etc. The only thing they have at the terminal is the shell of the building. It was explained to us that after the ship docks, it takes 2 hours to bring the computers off the ship with the IT people, hook up the system, and get ready for check in. All this because I asked why we couldn't check in during our long wait and be ready to board as soon as the ship got in (rather than just doing the manual stuff to be "ready to check in."

 

I'm more used to Port Canaveral where each of the major lines has a dedicated terminal; they can leave all their equipment set up between cruises and be ready for the next ship. Of course there, the cruise lines are using "their" terminals more than once a week. There have been rare instances when another line had to use a terminal (typically a weather issue), but that's rare.

 

When you see the difficulties involved here, it makes total sense that they would decide to leave Bayport...despite good airport access.

[satxdiver]

I thought, I had fixed that, oh well, anyway, what a great captain, we sail on her in March and have been fogged in/out before, twice, so that's great to hear at least they can unload and reload. Thanks!! P.s. if it's Caribbean princess , why cb and not cp?

 

It is Princess's choice for CB. They also have the Coral Princess but I am not aware as to what they call it. Perhaps that ship is the CP.

[Coral]

It is Princess's choice for CB. They also have the Coral Princess but I am not aware as to what they call it. Perhaps that ship is the CP.

 

CP is Sea Princess

CO is Coral Princess

Edited December 13, 2015 by Coral

[surfnsun]

I was on deck 7 and one of the first to get down to deck 4. They suggested everyone go back up to deck 5 to relax but we didn't leave knowing it would be chaos when they we able to start disembarking from deck 4. They starring disembarking about 920am and now we are sitting on the transfer shuttle hoping it leaves soon. In case it's not mentioned in an earlier post that I've not read yet. We got yesterday to try and beat the storm and just sat in port until this morning. Deck 4 gangway disembarking is very very slow.