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

StLouisCruisers

By StLouisCruisers,
in Princess Cruises

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satxdiver

satxdiver

Posted
Posted
To those coming off the ship in past few weeks/months, Can I wear dark nice jeans to non formal dinners?? Do people wear jeans? Leaving in three weeks. Thanks! P.s. Were jackets required for men on formal nights?

 

Jeans are allowed in the MDR for dinner on all nights except formal nights. Sailing out of Houston, you will see quite a few in jeans as that is what we wear most of the time. I have worn shorts the first and last nights on the ship without any problem because either my luggage had just come or that I had to put it out before dinner to be taken off the ship.

 

Jackets and ties are not required for men on formal nights in the MDR regardless of what Princess publishes. I have not worn either for quite a few years on formal nights. I used to take a blue blazer but gave it up quite a few years ago. I do not even own any neck nooses nor intend to buy one.

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dforeigner

dforeigner

Posted
Posted

Marine Weather for GM 335

 

Forecast as of 9:35 PM CST on February 20, 2016

 

 

Matagorda Bay-Galveston Bay-

 

Rest Of Tonight

 

Southeast winds 5 to 10 knots. Bay waters smooth.

 

Sunday

 

South winds 5 to 10 knots becoming southeast in the afternoon. Bay waters smooth.

 

Sunday Night

 

Southeast winds 5 to 10 knots. Bay waters smooth. Areas of fog. A slight chance of showers and isolated thunderstorms.

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dforeigner

dforeigner

Posted
Posted

Update on the marine weather:

 

Marine Fog Advisory

 

Issued: 2:57 AM CST Feb. 21, 2016 – National Weather Service

 

 

... Dense fog advisory in effect until 10 am CST this morning...

 

The National Weather Service in Houston/Galveston has issued a

dense fog advisory... which is in effect until 10 am CST this

morning.

 

* Visibility... less than 1 nm at times.

 

Precautionary/preparedness actions...

 

Mariners should be prepared for sudden changes in visibility over

short distances. Reduce your speed and keep a lookout for other

vessels... buoys and breakwaters. Keep your navigation lights on.

Inexperienced mariners... especially those operating smaller craft

or not equipped with radar... should consider seeking safe Harbor.

 

Having said that, the view from the WEB cams appear to be pretty clear.

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Paula_MacFan "Live from...." Rare

Paula_MacFan

Posted
Posted
Update on the marine weather:

 

Marine Fog Advisory

 

Issued: 2:57 AM CST Feb. 21, 2016 – National Weather Service

 

 

... Dense fog advisory in effect until 10 am CST this morning...

 

The National Weather Service in Houston/Galveston has issued a

dense fog advisory... which is in effect until 10 am CST this

morning.

 

* Visibility... less than 1 nm at times.

 

Precautionary/preparedness actions...

 

Mariners should be prepared for sudden changes in visibility over

short distances. Reduce your speed and keep a lookout for other

vessels... buoys and breakwaters. Keep your navigation lights on.

Inexperienced mariners... especially those operating smaller craft

or not equipped with radar... should consider seeking safe Harbor.

 

Having said that, the view from the WEB cams appear to be pretty clear.

 

We are pretty close to the pier area and it looks clear. The local weather is still broadcasting fog advisory until 10am. Glad the ship came back early last night - better safe than sorry.

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land lover

land lover

Posted
Posted

What a great thread and useful, both our cruises in Dec. 2014 and Jan. 2015 had fog problems ....but the Captains seem to be on top of it often bringing the ship in early and telling everyone of a possible delay..unfortunate these will be some of the last sailings as it will hurt tourism in the port area.

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satxdiver

satxdiver

Posted
Posted
What a great thread and useful, both our cruises in Dec. 2014 and Jan. 2015 had fog problems ....but the Captains seem to be on top of it often bringing the ship in early and telling everyone of a possible delay..unfortunate these will be some of the last sailings as it will hurt tourism in the port area.

 

The port area around Bayport is literally open fields and this will hurt tourism? Six miles away is the NASA area with thousands of people. I doubt they even realize that tourists from the ship are present.

 

It looks like the fog is lifting and the CB should be able to leave on schedule in just an hour or so. I will e watching the Bayport cam and CB cam with fingers crossed.

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Pierlesscruisers

Pierlesscruisers

Posted
Posted
The port area around Bayport is literally open fields and this will hurt tourism?

 

Yes, the fog will hurt the tourism, regardless of the open fields and the nearby NASA location. Why? Because, if the ship cannot depart on schedule, that affects the cruise in a number of ways. First of all as the ship at the port cannot depart, it cannot clear the pier by the scheduled time. That causes an increase in costs due to overtime for the longshoremen who have to stay there to cast off the lines once the ship receives clearance to leave. There may also be penalty charges by the port for not clearing the pier. The delay in departure may cause one or more ports of call to be missed causing unhappy passengers. Another cost that may be incurred would be having to speed up cruise speeds to try and get the ship back on schedule which causes increased fuel costs.

 

The fog can also cause delays in the arrival of inbound ships which causes decreaes in the amount of available time to process onboard passengers off and oncoming passengers on as well as loading of ships' stores, equipment, etc. Plus, delayed arrival at the pier may mean onward transportation of the departing passengers may have to be reschedled causing increased costs to either the cruise line or the passengers or both for changing reservations on flights/trains/whatever or obtaining overnight lodging.

 

The Houston port also has the situation of having a long (approx. 20 or so miles) and narrow ship channel through which the ships must navigate just to get to the coast and access open waters!

 

Neither cruise lines nor passengers win when fog delays departures/arrivals at a port!

 

Tom

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satxdiver

satxdiver

Posted
Posted

That is a very good argument. However let me inject a few items. Port of Houston had a multi-million dollar facility that was setting empty for a number of years never used except for a few weeks Carnival used it after the hurricane wiped out Galveston. So they paid NCL and Princess to use it for the first time. From what I have heard one of the sweeteners was that the two did not have to pay docking fees. Whether that is true or not, POH paid millions of $$$ to Princess and NCL to commit to a 3 year contract to use Bayport. That contract is up and I have heard that POH did not want to renew it with such largess. So NCL and Princess are leaving the Texas coast again. Both have been here before with Princess using Galveston and NCL using the old POH cruise terminal. Therefore it is highly unlikely that Princess has to pay the port for delayed departure.

 

The bad publicity about the fog issues at Bayport are legend both on CC and to the general public. Just check out this thread for some idea. I do not see how the fog issue could drive away any more pax that have already been driven away. Perhaps this is an additional reason Princess is leaving.

 

If you are from Houston, perhaps you can further enlighten us on just what POH paid Princess and NCL to use Bayport and what they now refuse to pay. It is my understanding like many governments, POH and Houston do not particularly want to let the information known.

 

BTW - The POH ship channel is 50 miles long total, 530 feet wide and 45 feet deep. It takes over an hour for the CB to reach the Gulf.

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Colo Cruiser

Colo Cruiser

Posted
Posted
Yes, the fog will hurt the tourism, regardless of the open fields and the nearby NASA location. Why? Because, if the ship cannot depart on schedule, that affects the cruise in a number of ways. First of all as the ship at the port cannot depart, it cannot clear the pier by the scheduled time. That causes an increase in costs due to overtime for the longshoremen who have to stay there to cast off the lines once the ship receives clearance to leave. There may also be penalty charges by the port for not clearing the pier. The delay in departure may cause one or more ports of call to be missed causing unhappy passengers. Another cost that may be incurred would be having to speed up cruise speeds to try and get the ship back on schedule which causes increased fuel costs.

 

The fog can also cause delays in the arrival of inbound ships which causes decreaes in the amount of available time to process onboard passengers off and oncoming passengers on as well as loading of ships' stores, equipment, etc. Plus, delayed arrival at the pier may mean onward transportation of the departing passengers may have to be reschedled causing increased costs to either the cruise line or the passengers or both for changing reservations on flights/trains/whatever or obtaining overnight lodging.

 

The Houston port also has the situation of having a long (approx. 20 or so miles) and narrow ship channel through which the ships must navigate just to get to the coast and access open waters!

 

Neither cruise lines nor passengers win when fog delays departures/arrivals at a port!

 

Tom

 

 

Good points.

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dforeigner

dforeigner

Posted
Posted
We are pretty close to the pier area and it looks clear. The local weather is still broadcasting fog advisory until 10am. Glad the ship came back early last night - better safe than sorry.

 

All checked in and waiting to board. There is large number of back-to-back passengers that are being processed now.

 

Agreed and glad to hear that everything worked out.

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caribill

caribill

Posted
Posted

If you are from Houston, perhaps you can further enlighten us on just what POH paid Princess and NCL to use Bayport and what they now refuse to pay. It is my understanding like many governments, POH and Houston do not particularly want to let the information known.

 

 

From a Cruise Critic article:

 

Houston will no longer serve as a cruise port in 2016, as both Princess and Norwegian Cruise Lines are moving the ships that homeport there.

 

The Port of Houston had served as the base for Caribbean Princess and Norwegian Jade. While the ships will continue to cruise to the Caribbean from Bayport Cruise Terminal through this fall and early next year, the sailings will end in April 2016.

 

After a summer in Europe and a scheduled dry dock in October 2016, Norwegian Jade heads to the Tampa for the late 2016 and early 2017 season. Meanwhile, Caribbean Princess will also head to Florida in late 2016, where it will sail to the Southern, Western and Eastern Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale.

 

Houston reopened its cruise terminal in 2013, after a $108.4 million investment. While the terminal was more convenient to cruisers who fly to Texas for Gulf of Mexico cruises, it took ships longer to get to international waters from the port, which meant that the shops and casino couldn't open as quickly.

 

In addition, the port was often plagued by fog problems, an issue shared by the nearby port of Galveston. That port, which is about 90 minutes from Houston, continues to grow as a homeport for Carnival and Royal Caribbean, with Disney also offering sailings. (Read more on Houston vs Galveston).

 

Cruise Critic members expressed disappointment that the lines were leaving. "I've left from both Bayport and Galveston and I much prefer Bayport. It is a much newer and cleaner facility," said Mikeyto in one of several threads discussing the news.

 

Others noted that the issues surrounding Houston's port made the pullout inevitable. Said jewopaho: "Given the obstacles ... long, winding trips through the Ship Channel (no casino, {limited} bar, no shops), the location (in the midst of one of the most active freight terminals in the country, with absolutely nothing for visitors to do), a capacity of one (count' em, one!) ship, the expense of getting to and from the airports, and the proximity to Galveston (a pretty decent tourist area, with two cruise lines sailing year-round) ... it was simply a matter of time. We sailed from there once ... that was enough for us."

 

According to the Houston Chronicle, the move out of Bayport took port officials by surprise. When Princess and Norwegian signed the contracts to come to Houston in 2012, they were given $6.7 million in incentives as well as waived rent and docking fees; the article states that the port has been "leaking money."

 

In the story, a Princess Cruises spokesman attributed the change to increased cruise demand in Asia and Australia, which created a domino effect with the line's ships. He said Princess would reconsider Houston in the future.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6478

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232271

232271

Posted
Posted (edited)

Does Anyone know if we have to follow the boarding time guides??? Got an email with times for every deck, our friends are two hours after us!! Is that just suggestions or are they strict???

Edited by 232271
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beckntom

beckntom

Posted
Posted
Does Anyone know if we have to follow the boarding time guides??? Got an email with times for every deck, our friends are two hours after us!! Is that just suggestions or are they strict???

 

Strictly a suggestion/request only. We always ignore and board as early as possible. :)

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Pierlesscruisers

Pierlesscruisers

Posted
Posted
That is a very good argument. However let me inject a few items. Port of Houston had a multi-million dollar facility that was setting empty for a number of years never used except for a few weeks Carnival used it after the hurricane wiped out Galveston. So they paid NCL and Princess to use it for the first time. From what I have heard one of the sweeteners was that the two did not have to pay docking fees. Whether that is true or not, POH paid millions of $$$ to Princess and NCL to commit to a 3 year contract to use Bayport. That contract is up and I have heard that POH did not want to renew it with such largess. So NCL and Princess are leaving the Texas coast again. Both have been here before with Princess using Galveston and NCL using the old POH cruise terminal. Therefore it is highly unlikely that Princess has to pay the port for delayed departure. I don't know whether Princess had to pay the port for delay fees or not, but it is my understanding that is normal. At the very least, the overtime wages for longshoremen, increased costs due to itinerary adjustments and any costs associated with adjustments/changes to travel itineraries of incoming/outgoing passengers could still run into a large sum of money, especially if it happened with any regularity. Those might easily be large factors in changing ports. And that doesn't even address the long term effects of the unhappiness caused to passengers whose cruise(s) were affected by such delays. It seems to me that if only 2 cruise lines are using a facility and both stop using the facility when their contracts are up, there must be a root cause in there somewhere that cause them both to leave. It's a shame too, because that facility is really a beautiful one. I was on the first Princess cruise out of there and I thought it was very nice and spacious.

 

The bad publicity about the fog issues at Bayport are legend both on CC and to the general public. Just check out this thread for some idea. I do not see how the fog issue could drive away any more pax that have already been driven away. Perhaps this is an additional reason Princess is leaving. How many passengers does it have to drive away for it to be a bad deal? If my friend/neighbor/cousin/whatever comes back from a fog-delayed trip and tells me of how their trip was negatively affected by the fog, am I going to ever sign up for a cruise going out of that port, especially if I also read about the problem's others had at that same port? I might, but I probably won't I'd suspect! I'll go to another port and avoid the hassles associated with the port with problems, whatever those problems might be.

 

If you are from Houston, perhaps you can further enlighten us on just what POH paid Princess and NCL to use Bayport and what they now refuse to pay. It is my understanding like many governments, POH and Houston do not particularly want to let the information known. I haven't lived in Houston for 60 years and have no idea what any contract between the port and either Princess or NCL said and suspect that those who do know what they said are restricted from telling what they know just as with any other business contract.

 

BTW - The POH ship channel is 50 miles long total, 530 feet wide and 45 feet deep. It takes over an hour for the CB to reach the Gulf. I would guess that the waterway has a hefty speed restruction during transit of the Houston Ship Channel and that the transit time would be closer to 2+ hours. (Was curious and just looked at the ships currently moving in the channel and their speeds varied between 5 & 9 knots so I'm guessing that's the norm for that area.)

 

Why the two lines both are leaving Houston as a port of departure/arrival, we will probably never know for sure, but I suspect that for whatever reason, it is because the income it produced for the companies involved was deemed to not be worth the trouble/cost of cruising out of there. Will either of them go back to Galveston if/when space at the pier(s) in Galveston allow? Good question and one to which I have absolutely no idea as to if or when it might occur.

 

Tom

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land lover

land lover

Posted
Posted (edited)

.......and when I said tourism I was thinking of the little guy;).... taxi and town cars that transported us, the small hotel we stayed in, the restaurants......the princess check in clerks..etc etc......since it appears no other cruise lines will leave from the port.

 

I'll add something regarding the cruise lines decision.... how about a lot of unreasonable and dissatisfied guests, on RTs you always seem to have well how can I say it... unpleasant people that if there is a delay to get off the ship their fangs come out. I saw it on my 2 cruises that were delayed...Crowd control becomes a BIG issue.

Edited by land lover
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