Caribbean Princess still at dock

[Cruzin-K]

I'll throw a few comments on here (although I will be doing a short review later) just for those of you subscribed to this thread for Bayport info.

 

I just got off the CB this morning. It was probably one of the best cruises ever, and like a couple others on here I generally prefer Royal Caribbean, but I think Princess has a fine product and I will continue to sail both lines.

 

We had perfect weather for sailaway, perfect weather in all three ports, and only hit bad weather Friday afternoon, when the ship rocked ever so slightly more than it had all week. Because of the weather though, the Captain (after discussions with the Houston Port Authority) hauled butt back to Houston at top speed and we entered the channel sometime after 10pm Friday, docking sometime around 1:00 in the morning. The casino and some bars closed at 9:45pm Friday because of the early arrival into Texas waters.

 

My disembarkation meeting time was 8:25 but we actually got called a few minutes early. I was at my car at 8:34 and home by noon.

[whataboutport]

I will tack this on here instead of starting another thread. Seems a lot of negative reviews about this Texas cruise. Don't think it is just Bayport since I have also seen the same comments about Galveston. My question: Is there a better time of year to cruise from Bayport? Right now I see talk of fog, wind, missing ports. For us the ports on this cruise are pretty much all new so I would like to leave from Texas instead of flying to Florida.

Thanks

Joe

I think the CB is in the Caribbean only during winters and does New England in the summer. Or at least that's what they did last year. I don't know if the new Houston port is year round or just winter, but seems like both Galveston and Houston have fog issues during the winter.

 

Galveston does not have a 50% failure rate which is what Houston is close to.

Once it has more cruises out of Houston/Bayport, that number will come down.

 

How did the CB do today? Today would only be the 5th sailing out of Bayport. Hopefully they left on time today? I know we are having nasty weather throughout the country right now.

[caribill]

I don't know if the new Houston port is year round or just winter.

 

 

 

Port is year round. Princess is winter only.

[frangul]

CB left a little late today, 12/7, and there were cars still coming away from the terminal after departure time passed, perhaps those arriving late on flights coming from weather related parts of the country. Wonder if some did not make it with cancellations on all the airport departure boards.

 

Kudos to the captain, getting you back before any storms coming into Houston could hinder that happening. That helped not impact a departure for today's sailing as well. That kind of out of the box thinking is preferred to the "leaving now, no leaving later, and later yet" not "knowing what our new route would be" till too late to do any research so some scuba/snorkeling could have been gotten in, on our 11/23 sailing.

Edited December 8, 2013 by frangul

[MarkSeattle]

...Kudos to the captain, getting you back before any storms coming into Houston could hinder that happening. That helped not impact a departure for today's sailing as well. That kind of out of the box thinking is preferred to the "leaving now, no leaving later, and later yet" not "knowing what our new route would be" till too late to do any research so some scuba/snorkeling could have been gotten in, on our 11/23 sailing.

 

Part of the reason may also be that the Captain was signing off the ship today and didn't want to be late ;)

 

We were lucky this week vs. the prior with nearly perfect weather. Only downside to the early arrival was the Casino and almost all of the bars had to close at 9:45pm in preparation for entering Texas waters early.

[jrzebird]

I think the CB is in the Caribbean only during winters and does New England in the summer. Or at least that's what they did last year. I don't know if the new Houston port is year round or just winter, but seems like both Galveston and Houston have fog issues during the winter.

 

 

Once it has more cruises out of Houston/Bayport, that number will come down.

 

How did the CB do today? Today would only be the 5th sailing out of Bayport. Hopefully they left on time today? I know we are having nasty weather throughout the country right now.

 

The CB was in New England/Canada, out of NYC, for 4 years that I know of. Generally she does Europe after her repo to Florida. I'm not sure where she's going this year but it looks like she'll stay in Houston. Next Fall the Royal Princess will do the New England cruise as well as the Emerald, I believe. I'm too tired to look it up now, so will say good night.

[caribill]

The CB was in New England/Canada, out of NYC, for 4 years that I know of. Generally she does Europe after her repo to Florida. I'm not sure where she's going this year but it looks like she'll stay in Houston. Next Fall the Royal Princess will do the New England cruise as well as the Emerald, I believe. I'm too tired to look it up now, so will say good night.

 

CB will leave Houston in May to sail out of Port Everglades at least until the end of 2014.for the Caribbean.

 

The Emerald Princess will arrive in Houston in November for the winter season in 2014.

[ASeaPrincess1]

I was on Emerald for my b2b and had Desmond. Absolutely the consummate host. He was amazing.

We had Desmond, too. Did he leave you a "critter" in your cabin?

He was a great steward. :)

[Clay Clayton]

It's 9:30 on 12/14/13 and Caribbean Princess isn't along side yet:mad:

Hope our BVE experience won't be too much of an "experience":eek:

[gooch47]

I'm beginning to think we picked the wrong cruise. We leave next weekend.

[MarkSeattle]

It's 9:30 on 12/14/13 and Caribbean Princess isn't along side yet:mad:

Hope our BVE experience won't be too much of an "experience":eek:

 

Yikes, those of us onboard last week (11/30-12/7) seem to have lucked out as far as the new port has been running.... Cam still shows no CB in sight.

 

Edit: and there is going to be nowhere to sit for many of those waiting to get on in a couple of hours unless there is another area they can open up that wasn't open last week.

 

Looks like it's almost there on marine traffic at 945

Edited December 14, 2013 by MarkSeattle

[dforeigner]

Yikes, those of us onboard last week (11/30-12/7) seem to have lucked out as far as the new port has been running.... Cam still shows no CB in sight.

 

Edit: and there is going to be nowhere to sit for many of those waiting to get on in a couple of hours unless there is another area they can open up that wasn't open last week.

 

Looks like it's almost there on marine traffic at 945

 

The ship is now inside the bay area heading to the port.

Edited December 14, 2013 by dforeigner

[dforeigner]

[jbflyfisher]

The ship is now inside the bay area heading to the port.

 

We are pulling up to the terminal now. 3.5 hour fog delay this morning. We were outside the channel with what looked like 100 tankers. Hoping the process of getting off the boat is quick so we make our flights. We had a great cruise!

[Clay Clayton]

Watching on the ports webcam....been fun making the beep beep. Beep sound as you backed in.:D

 

Best of luck making your flights!

[phantomII]

After our disaster cruise of Nov 23 out of Galveston I don't know if I will ever use that port again. What does this make now? 4 delayed arrivals or departures or is it just 3?

[Wehwalt]

We are pulling up to the terminal now. 3.5 hour fog delay this morning. We were outside the channel with what looked like 100 tankers. Hoping the process of getting off the boat is quick so we make our flights. We had a great cruise!

 

The delay is going to be the bags, I suspect. There's only so fast they can move them, even with all hands on deck, or wherever.

[gooch47]

I should know this, but where are those .jpg's coming from?

[dforeigner]

I should know this, but where are those .jpg's coming from?

 

http://www.livecruiseshiptracker.com/

[bellebaby]

Has the ship departed today?

 

B

[cruzrbachoua]

Looks like she is still at dock at about 7pm Houston time.....:confused:

[bellebaby]

Looks like the ship is pulling away now...

[chrismch]

How long did it take to board?

[CruisewhenWecan]

After our disaster cruise of Nov 23 out of Galveston I don't know if I will ever use that port again. What does this make now? 4 delayed arrivals or departures or is it just 3?

 

Let's see, I took the reposition and arrived in Houston on time, left on the 4 day vet cruise departure was only a few minutes late due to a passenger got taken off (medical issue), but ship returned on time. Went on the 11/30 sailing that left on time, and due to the winter storm on arrival we actually pulled in around 130am (ahead of schedule) and regular disembarkation that went smooth. So for my 3 cruises no problems :D

 

Maybe folks should take up a collection for me to sail every week :eek:

[Clay Clayton]

Just got a text (10:30pm, 12/20/13) from friends aboard Caribbean Princess now. Due to predicted bad weather, the ship hurried back towards Houston...but didn't make it to Galveston Bay before it was closed due to weather. Now expected to dock 11 pm, Saturday night and disembark Sunday morn. So folks heading out for the Christmas cruise won't be happy, they will loose a day and those folks disembarking a day later than expected who miss their flights will have real trouble finding flights this holiday week. Ugh, no way to end a vacation and start Christmas!

 

Keep in mind the information given herein has been received from passengers aboard and is not information being issued by the cruise line. While I have no doubt that my friends are reporting what they have been told, I do know that situations like this are fluid and everything could change by morning.

 

MerryMerry!