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Galveston Port closed?

GreenZolie

By GreenZolie,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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gman0119

gman0119

Posted
Posted
GreenZoolie and gman0119 you both mentioned working in the diaster recovery field - THANK YOU! I also live in hurricane country but live about 30 miles north of I-10 so it is very seldom that I have to leave my house, even when the hurricane is a Cat-5. But having to live with no electricity, water or sewer for a week or more at a time I have to say we appreciate all of you who come to our aid in times like this. Once again - THANK YOU

 

It is people like you that have kept me at this job for 28 years!!! To be quite honest, though, I will enjoy when I can evacuate like the general public!!! Never got to do that, always have to stay!!! LOL

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JRock59

JRock59

Posted
Posted
Now everyone go home, regroup, book early and come back later this year or into 2012 with a really fresh attitude toward cruising. Bon Voyage!

 

 

I am so looking forward to meeting ya'll on the Magic! You have great attitudes also. :)

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MLJS

MLJS

Posted
Posted

I feel really bad for everyone who had to wait both to get off and get on. Bad way to start or end a vacation.

 

I also feel really bad for the staff on board these vessels. I am sure the people who were on board the extra day were not charged an additional days gratuities and there is not way the people boarding would be charged. So all the staff had to work over time, lost a day's gratuities....which is a major part of their pay....and most likely lost their day off for the week. But I am sure the passengers on board now are getting great service.

 

Hope this is the last of the bad weather this year!

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tnt091605

tnt091605

Posted
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We were on the Conquest. We woke up and could not see past our balcony. Thought we were docked. But something did not seem right. We went outside and could not see very far at all. But we kept hearing fog horns every few minutes. A few minutes later came the announcement that the port was closed. Carnival aloud everyone to stay in our rooms and the captain or the cruise director made regular announcements. Even if it was that they had no further information. We then got an announcement that someone was coming on board. The pilot pulled along our boat and someone got aboard. Our engines fired and we were moving. We were told it would be an hour and a half before we docked. We did not realize we were that far out. We were allowed to stay in our cabins. Carnival opened regular lunch, the pools and the bars. They also made an announcement they were opening the phone lines and internet so passengers could call family members and make travel arrangements. Not sure if they meant it was free or they had turned them off. At about 12:30 we were asked to leave our cabins and they would begin regular debarkation procedures. It went as smooth as it always does. We made it off the Conquest at 2:00. We had luggage tag 2. Missed our flight. Called Southwest and we scheduled on the first flight in the AM. No Change Fee! No difference in Fee! Thank you Southwest! Booked a room at the Houston Embassy Suites next to the Galleria. Waited for our car service for over an hour. He kept calling saying he could not get through the traffic. The traffic was really bad. Finally we were off to our hotel. Got cleaned up, walked the mall and went to a nice dinner. The service picked us up at 6AM for the airport. 20 minutes later we were checking our bags. The flight was full with passengers from all 3 cruise ships.

 

I believe Carnival did a great job of dealing with this unfortunate situation. I do think it is strange that Carnival did not communicate to us that the Port of Galveston was closed before the morning we were to arrive since the Ecstasy had not been aloud to port the previous day. But I am sure Carnival did not want to alarm anyone before they knew if it was going to be a problem. But as we got back I heard from a bunch of passengers waiting to start their vacation that Carnival did not communicate effectively. I am sure Carnival just did not have any information. But sometimes it is important to tell people that than for them to hear nothing. The Carnival staff on board the Conquest did a great job! Thank you!

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auntkaty

auntkaty

Posted
Posted
auntkaty-

 

Yes, cruise lines can and often do change ports of call for a variety of reasons-weather, ship problems, passenger illness/injury, ect. So you have to look at cruising as just an enjoyable mode of travel (ummm....food, someone cleans up your room, all the entertainment:)) and be willing to be flexible if a port of call is changed.

 

Book a cruise for the ship experience and the joy of travel hoping to get to your destination but still making a great vacation if you don't;)

 

Just my two cents.....

 

I kind of equate it to booking a Tour of Italy, but instead being diverted to a Tour of Spain. You could argue they are both vacations, but when you pay specifically for one experience, I think they should let you cancel and get your money back if you don't happen to like the alternative offered. Just my point of view. I hope I will not be an unhappy camper when my time comes in about 12 days!

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auntkaty

auntkaty

Posted
Posted
They certainly can.

 

Those who bother to read the terms and conditions/ticket contract are aware of that.

Might be a good idea for you to at least look at what you have bought and agreed to....

 

Ouch! My hand is duly slapped, G'Ma. You're right....I am not the experienced cruiser you are (based on your 5000+) and I sure don't read all the fine print. I'll deal with the hand I am dealt, but still feel that if I am slapping down thousands of dollars, I should get what was advertised.;)

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auntkaty

auntkaty

Posted
Posted
Frankly' date=' too many who travel or cruise are totally unfit. they have no understanding of the nature of either. Expecting to be paid off because of rotten weather is childish.[/i']

 

To expect a cruise line or air line, hotel or resort, to flip a switch and make rain, fog, cold, snow, ice, unrest or any condition - "go away" is childish.,,as is blaming the carrier/ship for the weather.....

 

To expect that any vendor or travel supplier or anyone else has control over such things is childish.

 

To expect a huge lollipop from "Nanny" as reward for some perceived injustice is childish.

 

In a situation like this, at most, a refund of days cancelled, return of port tax is plenty....and more than you'll get from many other suppliers..like airlines.

 

Carnival offered to refund the entire cruise for those who decide not to go...that's fair. However, if you chose to stay onboard,quit whining.

 

As for "people remembering", you may be right. However, adults are able to recognize that there are things over which they have control...and make the best of it.

 

Bad weather is a fact of life. Get over it.

 

 

G'Ma....I think it's time for your medicine....try some happy pills

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cheryl20772

cheryl20772

Posted
Posted
That's for sure, it hard to understand when it's not difficult to figure out how to put a "Weather Alert" or "Cruise Alert" type bullet on the home page
These days I would expect them to use a Facebook page or Twitter to send alerts. That's the kind of thing those work best for and they work well on many different devices like Ipad and cell phones.
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r121567

r121567

Posted
Posted

Same experience for us. We were off the ship and in our car leaving Galveston by 2:30 (luggage tag 3 - VIP does have an advantage!) I was actually happy about the extra 6 hours aboard - that meant one last meal at Fish & Chips! I did feel really bad for those bus loads of people had expectations of leaving 4:00 pm who were delayed; however, Jamacia is not my favorite port, I think I would like a Progresso-Grand Cayman-Cozumel intenary!

 

 

 

We were on the Conquest. We woke up and could not see past our balcony. Thought we were docked. But something did not seem right. We went outside and could not see very far at all. But we kept hearing fog horns every few minutes. A few minutes later came the announcement that the port was closed. Carnival aloud everyone to stay in our rooms and the captain or the cruise director made regular announcements. Even if it was that they had no further information. We then got an announcement that someone was coming on board. The pilot pulled along our boat and someone got aboard. Our engines fired and we were moving. We were told it would be an hour and a half before we docked. We did not realize we were that far out. We were allowed to stay in our cabins. Carnival opened regular lunch, the pools and the bars. They also made an announcement they were opening the phone lines and internet so passengers could call family members and make travel arrangements. Not sure if they meant it was free or they had turned them off. At about 12:30 we were asked to leave our cabins and they would begin regular debarkation procedures. It went as smooth as it always does. We made it off the Conquest at 2:00. We had luggage tag 2. Missed our flight. Called Southwest and we scheduled on the first flight in the AM. No Change Fee! No difference in Fee! Thank you Southwest! Booked a room at the Houston Embassy Suites next to the Galleria. Waited for our car service for over an hour. He kept calling saying he could not get through the traffic. The traffic was really bad. Finally we were off to our hotel. Got cleaned up, walked the mall and went to a nice dinner. The service picked us up at 6AM for the airport. 20 minutes later we were checking our bags. The flight was full with passengers from all 3 cruise ships.

 

I believe Carnival did a great job of dealing with this unfortunate situation. I do think it is strange that Carnival did not communicate to us that the Port of Galveston was closed before the morning we were to arrive since the Ecstasy had not been aloud to port the previous day. But I am sure Carnival did not want to alarm anyone before they knew if it was going to be a problem. But as we got back I heard from a bunch of passengers waiting to start their vacation that Carnival did not communicate effectively. I am sure Carnival just did not have any information. But sometimes it is important to tell people that than for them to hear nothing. The Carnival staff on board the Conquest did a great job! Thank you!

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arthierry

arthierry

Posted
Posted
It was this same weekend last year when we were fogged out of Galveston on Conquest. Ours wasn't this bad, though - we were able to dock around 1 in the afternoon (although we weren't able to make our flight home). It's not fun for those waiting to board, those trying to debark, or (especially) the crew.

 

Oh how I remember that. FUN times... NOT

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capndinghy

capndinghy

Posted
Posted
I will tell you HOW LONG it took to get off ...... it was horrible ... when we finally ended up at the terminal amid all the Conquest passengers debarking and new ones trying to get on ... that's approx. 6000 debarking combining both Conquest and Ecstasy passenger ... we left the cruise terminal at 6:10 PM after waiting in that madhouse nightmare crowd for over 5 hours with a heart patient husband and a brother in law fresh out of a cast due to a broken ankle, my sister and I (not spring chickens) wrestled our luggage from one place to another BY OURSELVES. We were instructed that everyone would "self-assist" and luggage assistance was non-existent.

 

Thank you for replying. I realize we were very fortunate. I was afraid it would get pretty ugly which it did. I too heard that there would be assistance with luggage and did not see anyone there to help until we were off the ship and a (local) Baggage handler grabbed my stuff for a 2 foot drag to the waiting bus in hopes of a tip. I am glad you 2 spring chickens finally escaped the Chicken Coop. What took us 2 hours from Cabin to Car took you all much longer. I guess it got worse and worse. Are you saying it took you 5 hours after you arrived at the Cruise Terminal?????

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Girly10374

Girly10374

Posted
Posted

I was one of the people stuck on the ship and I agree that the communication could have been WAY BETTER. I ended up missing TWO flights out of houston because of this (one being my original flight that I had booked for Saturday) and when asked if Carnival could help me book a flight through them they just simply said there would be nothing they could do to help. I get it that it was the weather but we learned the port had been closed for at least a DAY before we arrived there. Instead of announcing when the next BINGO round would be held maybe they should have given everyone a courtesy heads up so we would be able to get a head start in looking into other arrangements if need be instead of being left to figure everything out at the LAST MINUTE when flight prices SKY ROCKET. I called carnival to inquire about compensation for my flight home due to this since I learned they were helping other people to which the costumer service rep told me there was nothing they could do and when I asked to speak to a manager I was told no as well. Like I said I understand that the fog couldn't have been prevented but I feel that due to the lack of cummunication, which caused me a ton of stress and money that I really didn't have to spend last minute like that, Carnival should have at least treated me with a little more courtesy instead of just being outright nasty and thinking I am just asking for a hand out which was REALLY insulting. It wasn't like I was asking for a FULL REFUND of the cruise, although I should have considering the "all you can eat food" was horrible, how many times can you really eat chicken fingers and burgers, the only thing that was worth anything was our cleaning service which we tipped generously. I just wanted to have them help me any way they could as a matter of good faith, like the post before said it builds costumer loyalty, but I didn't get anything close to that so this will be my last carnival cruise. I want to write a letter to corporate reagrding the treament and lack of communication I recieved on this ship. Does anyone know of an address or name for me? I can probabaly just find it online.

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232271

232271

Posted
Posted

we are supposed to leave on her tomorrow and i just got THIS!!!

 

 

CARNIVAL ECSTASY

2/24/2011 DEPARTURE

IMPORTANT WEATHER UPDATE

February 23, 2011

 

Hello y'all,

 

The Galveston area is currently experiencing heavy fog and the port is closed. Since this may delay the arrival of the ship, for your comfort and convenience, please visit Carnival.com and enter 'fog' in the search bar for further updates before proceeding to the cruise terminal. There is limited seating at the terminal and we just want you to be as comfortable as possible in case there is a delay. If you are able, please check your email regularly since we will be sending you updates starting tomorrow morning.

 

We look forward to welcoming guests aboard the Carnival Ecstasy!

 

 

 

Sincerely,

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freewilly

freewilly

Posted
Posted

Carnival Conquest CD announced Saturday night that the port of Galveston was closed.He warned that he would keep us apprised of events. I heard us drop anchor early Sun am. I looked out and saw fog and figured we were going to be delayed. The only other delay we have had on a boat was engine issue on Princess. The bars and restraunts opened as usual. We had a crappy disembark number since we drove, this caused us to be very late getting off. I gladly do this so others can make a flight, I have been the other guy too. Carnival did a great job with communicating the delays and when to be ready to leave. We were not ask to leave our room or rushed in anyway. The ports lack of transportation ( shuttles, taxis, etc, was our nightmare issure).

We felt that Carnival did a good job. We hope the port of Galveston will be more prepared when the Dream floats in ...

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laurenpie

laurenpie

Posted
Posted

I am glad to hear for the people who eventually got off on the cruise.... my thoughts are with everybody who missed out xx

 

I do have a question though - how often is Galveston like this, what time of year is it usually that this sort of thing happens?

 

Thanks & hope everyone cruising is having a fabulous time!

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