Galveston weather concerns

[RoyalC]

If you want to cross the street and see a car coming, do you just cross or do you wait for some indication tha the car is going to stop?

 

You wait for the car to pass. The car (hurricane) is around 750 miles from you (Liberty). The car on Sunday will be inland over 200 miles from Galveston/You/Liberty and seriously weakened. The area southwest of 45/the port is taking the bigger hit of rain squalls. They could very well be fine. The port made no official statement on how long they will close- that is up to the weather.

[Coralc]

Sorry, coming in late. Seriously? Royal Caribbean has not made any announcements about what they are going to do with the Liberty cruise(s)?

 

I give absolute props to Carnival on this one for making announcements and accommodations to passengers and customers in advance of this particular storm. Ship placement, guest cancellation information, ship deployment in the storm is already available to their guests......geez, Royal Caribbean. I read the optimistic posts from a passenger onboard.

 

But from a customer level opinion of your corporation level emergency preparedness and future guest communication, it sounds like about a 2 out of 10.

[Jzx1103]

Ugh!!! I live in Sugar Land TX which is a subburb southwest of Houston, we already lost power. Only day damn one dammit. I didn't think power outage would be that fast here. :loudcry: I'm sure Galveston already has some outages too.

[Cotswold Eagle]

Sorry, coming in late. Seriously? Royal Caribbean has not made any announcements about what they are going to do with the Liberty cruise(s)?

 

 

 

I give absolute props to Carnival on this one for making announcements and accommodations to passengers and customers in advance of this particular storm. Ship placement, guest cancellation information, ship deployment in the storm is already available to their guests......geez, Royal Caribbean. I read the optimistic posts from a passenger onboard.

 

 

 

But from a customer level opinion of your corporation level emergency preparedness and future guest communication, it sounds like about a 2 out of 10.

 

 

 

Carnival have got their PR right, clearly, and their cancellation option is to be applauded.

 

But on ship placement and deployment, they are no wiser than Royal - their statement amounts to the same (ships heading to Galveston) and they too see a possible window - this from their website currently:

 

"Our intention is to be in position to take advantage of any docking opportunity that may become available in Galveston late Sunday evening or Monday."

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited August 26, 2017 by Cotswold Eagle

[lbjen]

Ugh!!! I live in Sugar Land TX which is a subburb southwest of Houston, we already lost power. Only day damn one dammit. I didn't think power outage would be that fast here. :loudcry: I'm sure Galveston already has some outages too.

 

Yep Centerpoint outage map is lit up over Galveston. I hope your power is back on quickly.

[lbjen]

I wish you guys could hear the weather at my place right now, no way you'd want to get on a plane and head this way.

[EBFURR]

Carnival have got their PR right, clearly, and their cancellation option is to be applauded.

 

But on ship placement and deployment, they are no wiser than Royal - their statement amounts to the same (ships heading to Galveston) and they too see a possible window - this from their website currently:

 

"Our intention is to be in position to take advantage of any docking opportunity that may become available in Galveston late Sunday evening or Monday."

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Right. And those of us who have dangling flight reservation, hotel, rental car, shuttle, and other arrangements are left hanging. Carnival allowed their customers the option of trying to stay with an abbreviated cruise or cancel and make other plans. It is more than PR if you have skin in the game.

[ducklite]

Well, that is our strategy. Our early Saturday flight was cancelled but they moved us to a later flight at no charge and said that if the cruise is cancelled or moved we can get a full refund. Love Southwest! Phone calls to RCI say that the cruise is still scheduled, so if we do not go with that and stay home we lose it all if they manage to make it. Carnival has told their passengers not to go to Galveston unless they hear differently and offered refunds/credits (according to a post with an image of of the announcement). The only option we have is to go with what RCI tells us which as of 30 minutes ago was that our cruise will sail.

 

To all you experts and "concerned" citizens who are not cruising this weekend nor live in the area: You have nothing at stake here and your opinions and advice mean nothing to me, nor am I a "fool".

 

Have you called your travel insurance provider for guidance?

[mike_ga]

Ugh!!! I live in Sugar Land TX which is a subburb southwest of Houston, we already lost power. Only day damn one dammit. I didn't think power outage would be that fast here. :loudcry: I'm sure Galveston already has some outages too.

 

 

I felt that way last year with Matthew. I live 45 miles inland and 196 miles from the landfall point yet I lost power at ~1:30 am on the night of landfall. Thankfully Georgia Power got my electric service back on after only 33 hours. Comcast took 10 days to restore TV/Internet. The local EMC customer were without power for up to 8 days. The company I work for has it's own substations and lost power for less than an hour and never lost the backup internet connection from AT&T Fiber Services.

 

I never realized just how far away the damage could get so severe until the morning after when every Leland cypress on my property was partially uprooted then drove through town to discover pine trees on roofs, commercial signposts bent and broken, debris blocking roads etc.

 

Luckily, the city sewage drained well enough without the pumps working for those 33 hours and the water tower that feeds my house never fully emptied. so I had toliet facilities and warm enough water to shower for the first day.

[ducklite]

I'm reading this thread and a lot of things have occurred to me.

 

The port reopening for cruise passengers doesn't just depend on the wind and rain stopping. They also need to make sure that they have power/Internet/potable water/phone service, sufficient staff can get to work (that includes everything from customer service to security to the janitor). And before the port can open they have to determine that the ships can actually safely get in and out of it by inspecting the channels to make sure that they are deep enough and don't have debris that could damage the ships. Once the bad weather passes all of this doesn't happen immediately.

 

I expect that they will keep their ships at least a full day away from the backside of the storm in calmer waters, and will stay at a point where they could still turn and head for Miami or Tampa if the port of Galveston is damaged to the point that it won't be usable for a week or more.

 

It could take a full week for airport operations to return to normal and for all of the passengers delayed by canceling flights to get to their destinations. If your flight is canceled it doesn't mean that you'll be on the next flight. It means you'll be on the next flight with available seats which could be days away.

 

And for those driving in, don't expect to get a hotel room even if you had one reserved. Hotel rooms will be at a premium due to the number of people who have a evacuated from their homes or become stranded because their flight was cancelled. Hotels can and do cancel reservations and give the rooms away. I'd also like to mention that many roads will be flooded or blocked by debris and impassable. Once a state of emergency is declared there are new set of rules regarding travel and accommodation.

 

If you're lucky enough to get a room reasonably close to the port, your next problem might very well be lack of any open restaurants. They can't open if they don't have staff and adequate sanitation facilities. They also can't serve food that requires any kind of refrigeration once the power has been out and the coolers/freezers have risen above safe temperatures.

 

I would strongly suggest calling your travel insurance provider for guidance.

 

I have empathy for those whose vacation plans will be affected by this. I have cruised three times during hurricane season and I am an advocate of the lower rates and less crowded ships it brings. However I've also known the risks and accepted them.

 

Hopefully you have travel insurance which will make you at least close to whole financially and you'll be able to rebook a cruise that will go without a single hitch and be the best trip of your life. :)

[EBFURR]

I felt that way last year with Matthew. I live 45 miles inland and 196 miles from the landfall point yet I lost power at ~1:30 am on the night of landfall. Thankfully Georgia got my power back on after only 33 hours. Comcast took 10 days to restore TV/Internet. The local EMC customer were without power for up to 8 days. The company I work for has it's own substations and lost power for less than an hour and never lost the backup internet connection from AT&T Fiber Services.

 

I never realized just how far away the damage could get so severe until the morning after when every Leland cypress on my property was partially uprooted then drove through town to discover pine trees on roofs, commercial signposts bent and broken, debris blocking roads etc.

 

Luckily, the city sewage drained well enough without the pumps working for those 33 hours and the water tower that feeds my house never fully emptied. so I had toliet facilities and warm enough water to shower for the first day.

 

I feel for you guys in the area. We have been through our share of hurricanes over the years with the worst being Hugo way back in 1989. We lost power for 15 miserable days and lost several oak trees, one of which missed our bedroom by 4 feet and ripped up the gas lines. spewing natural gas until they got out there (in the height of the storm) and repaired it. I am whining about my vacation while you guys are having real problems. That said, I am still upset with the way the cruise line is handling it. Best of luck to all. Please stay safe.

[ducklite]

I felt that way last year with Matthew. I live 45 miles inland and 196 miles from the landfall point yet I lost power at ~1:30 am on the night of landfall. Thankfully Georgia Power got my electric service back on after only 33 hours. Comcast took 10 days to restore TV/Internet. The local EMC customer were without power for up to 8 days. The company I work for has it's own substations and lost power for less than an hour and never lost the backup internet connection from AT&T Fiber Services.

 

I never realized just how far away the damage could get so severe until the morning after when every Leland cypress on my property was partially uprooted then drove through town to discover pine trees on roofs, commercial signposts bent and broken, debris blocking roads etc.

 

Luckily, the city sewage drained well enough without the pumps working for those 33 hours and the water tower that feeds my house never fully emptied. so I had toliet facilities and warm enough water to shower for the first day.

 

I live in Central Florida, 60 miles from the coast and within five miles of my home the damage from wind and flooding (not to mention tornadoes) was devastating after the 2004 hurricanes. We were extremely fortunate, but know many who weren't, and some still trying to recover emotionally and financially.

[ducklite]

Right. And those of us who have dangling flight reservation, hotel, rental car, shuttle, and other arrangements are left hanging. Carnival allowed their customers the option of trying to stay with an abbreviated cruise or cancel and make other plans. It is more than PR if you have skin in the game.

 

I know it's not what you want to hear, but it would probably be best for you if your cruise is actually canceled rather than shortened. That way you can get a full refund (not just a credit) and book with a different line moving forward. Good luck.

[Milwaukee Eight]

Early video and stream feed from Galveston show power still on. The streets shown on streaming feeds show no indication of flooding.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[EBFURR]

I know it's not what you want to hear, but it would probably be best for you if your cruise is actually canceled rather than shortened. That way you can get a full refund (not just a credit) and book with a different line moving forward. Good luck.

 

Duck, I know that and you are correct in a sense. My issue is that RCI had the same information that Carnival did yesterday and refused to deal with it. We have planned this for a year and as of yesterday if we had the option we could have possibly booked another cruise for tomorrow. Not that it matters, but this is our 35th anniversary so we wanted to do something. We have all of the plans in place including juggling work schedules, care for our pets, etc. Had they given us options in time we could salvage something. By waiting until the last minute they remove most all of those options. True that if they cancel and refund later today we can book another vacation later, but we would have preferred to be able to be able to do something different now if this cruise is not to be. I agree that at this time a full cancellation situation might be better than keeping the situation in flux, but it would been much better yesterday when C did it. The probability of getting into Galveston Sunday was probably 10-20% at most as of yesterday. Rather than face the 80-90%, RCI chose to bet on the 10-20% at our expense. A bad choice IMO. I begged them to give us some options yesterday but they were adamant.

 

As I sit here we still have an un-cancelled late flight today and hotel etc. Based on reports of power outages, etc. around Houston that is not looking so good. We will deal with whatever comes along but it is very difficult to be positive about the way things have been handled.

[mike_ga]

Early video and stream feed from Galveston show power still on. The streets shown on streaming feeds show no indication of flooding.

 

 

Centerpoint is showing most of the island without power:

http://gis.centerpointenergy.com/outagetracker/

 

The Nationwide power outage tracking site is showing 193,479 American Electric Customers without power and 60,596 of Centerpont Customers without power.

https://poweroutage.us/State?id=Texas

[perditax]

Centerpoint is showing most of the island without power:

http://gis.centerpointenergy.com/outagetracker/

 

The Nationwide power outage tracking site is showing 193,479 American Electric Customers without power and 60,596 of Centerpont Customers without power.

https://poweroutage.us/State?id=Texas

 

To say nothing of the fact that the flooding is going to be post-storm and ongoing. Oh, and the storm is still just sitting there dumping rain.

[ducklite]

Duck, I know that and you are correct in a sense. My issue is that RCI had the same information that Carnival did yesterday and refused to deal with it. We have planned this for a year and as of yesterday if we had the option we could have possibly booked another cruise for tomorrow. Not that it matters, but this is our 35th anniversary so we wanted to do something. We have all of the plans in place including juggling work schedules, care for our pets, etc. Had they given us options in time we could salvage something. By waiting until the last minute they remove most all of those options. True that if they cancel and refund later today we can book another vacation later, but we would have preferred to be able to be able to do something different now if this cruise is not to be. I agree that at this time a full cancellation situation might be better than keeping the situation in flux, but it would been much better yesterday when C did it. The probability of getting into Galveston Sunday was probably 10-20% at most as of yesterday. Rather than face the 80-90%, RCI chose to bet on the 10-20% at our expense. A bad choice IMO. I begged them to give us some options yesterday but they were adamant.

 

As I sit here we still have an un-cancelled late flight today and hotel etc. Based on reports of power outages, etc. around Houston that is not looking so good. We will deal with whatever comes along but it is very difficult to be positive about the way things have been handled.

 

I agree that it was handled horribly. But my experience with RCI is that horrible handling of anything is the status quo. I'm sure that there will be cheerleaders who try to convince you otherwise, I've never been able to figure out how people can continue to support an organization which has proven over and over that they obviously do not care at all about retaining customer loyalty.

[mediccruzin]

http://www.portofgalveston.com/AlertCenter.aspx?AID=Cruise-Information-23

The port is closed.

[mike_ga]

EBFURR I have to ask. What made you book a cruise out of Galviston?

 

I always think of the Gulf Cruise ports as being for local people who can't be bothered to travel to Florida, Maryland or NY/NJ. The itineraries are far more limited that those of ships leaving from Canaveral, Everglades, and Miami. At least those from Maryland, and NY/NJ often have Bermuda cruises. I'll look at Seattle for Alaska cruises, but not L.A. because there are really only Baja Mexico cruises.

 

After the first few cruises hitting the more popular ports it just seems like the gulf cruises would be repetitive with ports. Then again, I'm 30 miles from I-95, Five hours from Port Canaveral, 7 hours from Port Everglades and 8 hours from Port Miami, and 10 from the Maryland port so Maybe I'm spoiled by being within a reasonable driving distance. In a pinch I'll cruise out of Jacksonville, which is two hours away, but I've never actually wanted to go back to Freeport after the first trip there, and Nassau after maybe the second.

[EBFURR]

EBFURR I have to ask. What made you book a cruise out of Galviston?

 

I always think of the Gulf Cruise ports as being for local people who can't be bothered to travel to Florida, Maryland or NY/NJ. The itineraries are far more limited that those of ships leaving from Canaveral, Everglades, and Miami. At least those from Maryland, and NY/NJ often have Bermuda cruises. I'll look at Seattle for Alaska cruises, but not L.A. because there are really only Baja Mexico cruises.

 

After the first few cruises hitting the more popular ports it just seems like the gulf cruises would be repetitive with ports. Then again, I'm 30 miles from I-95, Five hours from Port Canaveral, 7 hours from Port Everglades and 8 hours from Port Miami, and 10 from the Maryland port so Maybe I'm spoiled by being within a reasonable driving distance. In a pinch I'll cruise out of Jacksonville, which is two hours away, but I've never actually wanted to go back to Freeport after the first trip there, and Nassau after maybe the second.

 

Good question. We try to cruise the last week of August each year for our anniversary. We on board last year and looking at this year with the Next Cruise lady. This particular sailing was a really good deal at the time. We did not know anything about Galveston logistics at the time but thought it would be a nice change of venue. By the time I figured out the airfare, hotel, transportation, etc. we could not re-book without losing a lot of our perks. I did the best I could with the logistics, of course not knowing that the gulf would have it's worst hurricane in many years. In other words, I plead ignorance.

 

We prefer to drive to Port Canaveral and we should have done that again. Lesson learned.

[Cel_cruise]

EBFURR I have to ask. What made you book a cruise out of Galviston?

 

I always think of the Gulf Cruise ports as being for local people who can't be bothered to travel to Florida, Maryland or NY/NJ. The itineraries are far more limited that those of ships leaving from Canaveral, Everglades, and Miami. At least those from Maryland, and NY/NJ often have Bermuda cruises. I'll look at Seattle for Alaska cruises, but not L.A. because there are really only Baja Mexico cruises.

 

After the first few cruises hitting the more popular ports it just seems like the gulf cruises would be repetitive with ports. Then again, I'm 30 miles from I-95, Five hours from Port Canaveral, 7 hours from Port Everglades and 8 hours from Port Miami, and 10 from the Maryland port so Maybe I'm spoiled by being within a reasonable driving distance. In a pinch I'll cruise out of Jacksonville, which is two hours away, but I've never actually wanted to go back to Freeport after the first trip there, and Nassau after maybe the second.

 

 

 

I'm not the poster you asked about but we are from the Boston area and prefer to sail out of Galveston over Florida ports and have done so for our last 2 cruises!! It's got a great ship and we enjoy the ports and my husbands motion sickness is MUCH better if we avoid the Atlantic...oh - and as a bonus - flights are much cheaper to Houston than Florida during our vacation weeks! (Like 30-50% of the ticket cost!)

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NouCruzer]

Some recent news from Houston re: Bush airport (posted 5 - 15 min ago).

 

 

 

An inbound ground stop has been initiated due to wind. Outbound flights are still departing. #Harvey2017 #fly2houston

64 flights already cancelled. Contact your airline for specific flight info. Traffic and flight stats at fly2houston.com #Harvey2017

 

 

HOU - 102 Cancellations, 1 Delays

 

updated 54 minutes ago

 

 

 

 

Traffic Status at the Houston Airports

 

Roadways and traffic may be affected this weekend due to severe weather from Hurricane Harvey.

UPDATED 8/26/2017 at 7 a.m.

 

IAH - Currently, roadways are clear. An accident has closed all lanes on the southbound hardy toll road connector.

HOU - Currently, roadways are clear. Traffic to/from WIlliam P. Hobby is moving normally.

[Galveston Cruiser]

Centerpoint is showing most of the island without power:

 

http://gis.centerpointenergy.com/outagetracker/

 

 

 

The Nationwide power outage tracking site is showing 193,479 American Electric Customers without power and 60,596 of Centerpont Customers without power.

 

https://poweroutage.us/State?id=Texas

 

 

 

Not true! West End, which is not behind Seawall has power outages. We are midtown and have had no issues. Centerpoint coverage is huge. Issues are on mainland. The few transformers that blew in town were repaired immediately. Windy and raining but no different than any rainstorm.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[BarryH]

Heres's where we (Liberty) are as of 7:30AM. The seas are smooth and it's a beautiful day.

 

 

Here's the rainfall projected by Galveston.c0m over the next few days.

 

 

Large amount but 8" a day seems manageable. Maybe someone from Galveston can comment.

 

With 24 hours left until our scheduled docking maybe RCI was correct in sending us directly to Galveston. There are a ton of potential logistical issues to deal with should we dock. But being docked at our intended destination even if we spend the night on the ship there until ground conditions allow us off seems like a fairly sound approach.

 

As for the impact to those on the outbound sailing and RCI's handling of them that's a whole different discussion.