Christmas aboard Caribbean Princess: Dec 20-27,2015 (sort of live from).

[Shoalwater]

Boarded in Houston Sunday, 20-Dec. Princess announced late boarding commencing 2:30 PM due to deep cleaning of both ship and terminal after Norovirus outbreak on the previous voyage. Arrived by car at 3PM and promptly waited in line in the car for nearly 2 hrs to drop off luggage and park (IMHO a Port of Houston design problem and not a Princess issue). Muster was delayed until 5:30 PM, with dining starting at 6:45 PM. We were very late leaving because of the cleaning delay, a storm, and heavy ship traffic in the Houston Channel.

 

Arrived 2 days later in Cozumel, but nearly 4 hrs late. Too late for many of the tours including ours to operate, so they were cancelled. We were at a pier with two other behemoths, all disgorging passengers into the long shop building where the duty free shops are stationed. Took nearly 30 minutes in that mass of gawking, bargaining, window shopping sea of humanity to finally clear out onto land. Ship crew are allowed to bypass the shops, passengers are not. Weather was windy but pleasant. We looked about then returned to the ship having to first pass through the same gauntlet of vendors. Sailaway was delayed by late returning passengers.

 

The next morning we awoke early, anxious to enjoy our excursion in Roatan at Mahogany Bay. When I went out on the balcony I saw the ship was wstopped at the entrance to a narrow channel it would have to back up to get to the pier. Unfortunately the thrusters could not overcome the 35kt wind that was blowing us out of the channel, and so we were forced to sail away over to the other anchorage, arriving there very late, around 10 PM and now having to run tender service in heavy swells. More tours, ours included were cancelled since there was no transportation available to get to the beaches at Mahogany Bay. Scratch two excursions, but at least we had something nice scheduled for Belize the next morning.

 

Up early the next morning for Belize City, but when we walked out on the balcony….no land in sight. Once more the heavy 35+kt winds prevented the ship from aligning properly to safely pass through the narrow channel into the anchorage, and we were once again cancelling the port and all excursions. The seas were rough, and the pools had to be closed around noon much to the enjoyment of many parents having to keep their children occupied on this cruise to nowhere.

 

Friday, today, Christmas dawned perfect with calm winds and smooth seas as we are slowly sailing back to Houston. There are about 2,000 or so first time Princess cruisers aboard and many are wondering why the ship has had these issues. They will sort it out as they wish, but it has been a difficult trip for the staff. The Christmas spirit is probably the glue holding things together, as there has not been the grousing I would have expected. The Norovorus issues have abated and we went off condition “red” yesterday. Cudos to the staff, crew and passengers. The Elite lounge opened with service having been closed till now. Merry Christmas to our many cruise friends and we hope to see you once more aboard a ship or elsewhere.

[IECalCruiser]

Thanks for the update. There is another thread about this cruise but you have provided the facts that explained the port issues. Certain ports can be more impacted by weather conditions and some research should be done to be fully aware of issues. Merry Christmas and we hope people enjoy the last two sea days of their cruise.

Edited December 25, 2015 by IECalCruiser

[avp1234]

Thank you for posting this. We are supposed to leave Sunday, but received an e-mail our trip may be delayed. Sorry for your issues and hope you make it back in time.

[bellebaby]

Thank you for posting this. We are supposed to leave Sunday, but received an e-mail our trip may be delayed. Sorry for your issues and hope you make it back in time.

 

The NCL Jade is already at the terminal this evening.

 

I assume they wanted to avoid the morning fog. It wouldn't surprise me to see an early arrival of the CB Saturday night/Sunday morning.

 

B

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the updates.

[Shoalwater]

Capt. Nash just announced he "hopes" to be able to beat the severe weather forecast for Houston and arrive at port by 9PM tonight, provided:

 

1. The ship channel that has been restricted/closed for a couple of days opens.
   
2. The Norwegian Line ship currently berthed can sail at 4 PM today on schedule.
   
3. The winds don't exceed the maximum limits for safely navigating up the channel. The Caribbean Princess carries an extra deck and so has a lot of windage area to counteract.
   

Otherwise, we'll lie at anchor offshore and wait till its possible to return to port. I give the captain marks for frequent and informative communication, and the ships company kudos for making the best out of what nature has dealt us on this voyage. Glad we just have to drive home. I suppose Princess and the staff and crew aboard Caribbean Princess will give a sigh of relief and good riddance when it leaves in April for Europe.

Edited December 26, 2015 by Shoalwater

[CruisinCoach]

Boarding tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed

[Colo Cruiser]

Boarding tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed

 

Good luck. :)

[vplsh]

Capt. Nash just announced he "hopes" to be able to beat the severe weather forecast for Houston and arrive at port by 9PM tonight, provided:

 

1. The ship channel that has been restricted/closed for a couple of days opens.
   
2. The Norwegian Line ship currently berthed can sail at 4 PM today on schedule.
   
3. The winds don't exceed the maximum limits for safely navigating up the channel. The Caribbean Princess carries an extra deck and so has a lot of windage area to counteract.
   

Otherwise, we'll lie at anchor offshore and wait till its possible to return to port. I give the captain marks for frequent and informative communication, and the ships company kudos for making the best out of what nature has dealt us on this voyage. Glad we just have to drive home. I suppose Princess and the staff and crew aboard Caribbean Princess will give a sigh of relief and good riddance when it leaves in April for Europe.

 

 

Thanks for the information. We board tomorrow, hopefully on time. Sorry you missed your ports. Those Christmas winds can really mess things up i. The Caribbean. We had issues a couple of years ago for similar reasons.

[Cindy]

Capt. Nash just announced he "hopes" to be able to beat the severe weather forecast for Houston and arrive at port by 9PM tonight, provided:

 

1. The ship channel that has been restricted/closed for a couple of days opens.
   
2. The Norwegian Line ship currently berthed can sail at 4 PM today on schedule.
   
3. The winds don't exceed the maximum limits for safely navigating up the channel. The Caribbean Princess carries an extra deck and so has a lot of windage area to counteract.
   

Otherwise, we'll lie at anchor offshore and wait till its possible to return to port. I give the captain marks for frequent and informative communication, and the ships company kudos for making the best out of what nature has dealt us on this voyage. Glad we just have to drive home. I suppose Princess and the staff and crew aboard Caribbean Princess will give a sigh of relief and good riddance when it leaves in April for Europe.

 

We were on the December 6th sailing that returned early. Captain Nash told us the EXACT same thing, and we docked just about 9:00.

 

We missed it, but quite a few people saw us pass the Norwegian Jade about 7:00 Saturday evening. They said the ships were so close it looked like you could reach out and touch the other ship!:eek:

[Astro Flyer]

Thanks George for sharing your experiences and hopefully you & Anne enjoyed the time on the ship despite missing those ports.

 

Last night on the news they said there is a new strain of Norovirus this year that is expected to affect 50% more people this year...Code Red may become the norm & not the exception this winter.

[Shoalwater]

Boarding tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed

 

The webcam shows the port empty with reasonable visibility. Capt. is on the hailer now, channel is open but heavy ship traffic. Should make it in tonight.

[avp1234]

Thanks for the updates. We board tomorrow hopefully

[Cindy]

The webcam shows the port empty with reasonable visibility. Capt. is on the hailer now, channel is open but heavy ship traffic. Should make it in tonight.

 

You must be getting close. I just looked at the Bridge cam, and I can see lots of shore lights in the background.

[satxdiver]

Marine locator shows the CB inside the Houston ship channel and traveling at 14 knots. They are just off Texas City.

[Cindy]

You can see the CB on the port cam now. She should be docked by 11:00.

[mncruizr]

Seems like early arrival in port may be the new "norm" at Houston.

[satxdiver]

We certainly have been having a warm winter which for Houston means a lot of fog as the warm humid Gulf air hits the mainland air mass. This has impacted the Port of Houston operations where ships were not allowed to leave or enter the channel. Cruise ships return early to both Houston and Galveston due to the changing weather conditions. Houston by being in the middle of the country is affected by the northers that blow in regularly in the winter while southern FL and SoCAL escape that weather.

[TxTeach79]

Wow. Thanks for sharing this story! When it rains it pours for sure....

 

As a note for comparison (and my apologies if this has been posted before elsewhere), I was on the Norwegian Jade cruise out of Bayport the same week, leaving one day earlier. We had no issues whatsoever with ports of call (I did see the CB pulling around a bit late that morning at anchorage in Roatan, significantly farther out than Jade and Liberty of the Seas), but did in fact arrive back a night early into Houston.

 

In fact, at the Latitudes party earlier in the week - and by earlier I mean the second day of the cruise - the Captain informed us that based on projected fog in the forecast he anticipated it likely we'd have to dock in Houston around 10pm Friday night before debarking on Saturday, but that he was monitoring the situation and would keep us updated. He then made an announcement Thursday night saying that yes, fog would likely force us in a night early. On Friday morning, he made another announcement saying that the fog necessitated us stepping up the timeframe and actually entering the channel around 2pm and docking by about 6pm. Sure enough, when we hit the channel the fog was substantial. We blew our horn about every three minutes as we slowly navigated the high traffic channel, shrouded in fog... I was at the Bali Hai pool bar up on Deck 13 (for those familiar with NCL's Jewel class) and could barely even see our funnel. I know it was a difficult situation, but I'd be lying if I didn't say part of me thought it was incredibly cool to experience. Spent the whole few hours up top with a drink and a camera and it was definitely a unique cruise experience. We were alongside in Houston by 6pm and that was that. Normal night onboard minus the casino/gift shops/pesky TX liquor tax.

 

I sailed out of Bayport on the Norwegian Jewel in March, and the same thing happened. The cruise went off without a hitch until we had to berth in Houston at about 10pm the night before debark. It's too bad, because as a Texan I really enjoy the physical nature of the port - it's new, easy to get around, and the easiest shuttle-free parking situation of any US port I've sailed from. I've never had a traffic issue, etc... that said, I completely get the weather/ship traffic issue, and it certainly isn't the most scenic area to sail from.

 

Just some perspective for comparison's sake. Sounds like Norwalk really put the CB behind the 8 ball from the outset, which is a bummer.

Edited December 28, 2015 by TxTeach79