Live from Caribbean princess

[obnurse]

It didn't make sense to me, either. If the return was due to the forecast of fog, they should have let the passengers stay on board and enjoy the last evening of their cruise. There would have been no reason to disembark early unless there was a significant illness problem and they were preparing to do heavy sanitizing. Why didn't the cruise line just tell the truth? There really isn't any shame in the Noro thing. It is what it is.

[Highlander1]

It didn't make sense to me, either. If the return was due to the forecast of fog, they should have let the passengers stay on board and enjoy the last evening of their cruise. There would have been no reason to disembark early unless there was a significant illness problem and they were preparing to do heavy sanitizing. Why didn't the cruise line just tell the truth? There really isn't any shame in the Noro thing. It is what it is.

 

 

Noro is bad for the publicity business and many future cruise sales are deeply affected by these type of conditions. More than anything, Princess and all cruise lines like to make $$$$.

[luv that cruise]

There is fog. Thick fog. Set in about an hour ago. I'm sitting on the bay looking at it. I live in houston. The weather people see this days ahead of time. Sorry guys - they called it correctly.

[Colo Cruiser]

[QueenofEverything]

There is fog. Thick fog. Set in about an hour ago. I'm sitting on the bay looking at it. I live in houston. The weather people see this days ahead of time. Sorry guys - they called it correctly.

 

Fog this afternoon and evening would not have affected last week's cruise. If they had kept their schedule, they would not have come in during the night last night and not been delayed by fog. They called it incorrectly.

[baronessk]

Silly question maybe, but do they make an announcement that they are going to pay for hotel rooms, etc. or does everybody need to go stand in line??? I live near Port Everglades that is normally not a concern for me, BUT one day will do Alaska...soon hopefully.

[luv that cruise]

Dense fog advisory from Friday til Sunday. Heavy traffic in houston ship channel. Fog can come on very quickly as evidenced by what happened this afternoon - it was clear and 10 minutes later we were enveloped in fog. Floating vessels can't stop in a dime. They don't wait for the fog, they predict when conditions are favorable and adjust ship traffic accordingly. Just because the fog didn't actually set in til this afternoon doesn't mean they made the wrong call. It is likely the port authority made a recommendation and princess had to weigh the options - come in early or risk sitting off the coast of galveston. They had an additional factor to consider - they knew that ship needed a comprehensive cleaning and that takes time. Ya it's disappointing to be the traveler who walks off a ship in clear weather. But circumstances necessitated a difficult decision. Ya - we'd all like 20/20 hindsight but it just doesn't happen like that.

[TubT]

The Galveston web cam, just for comparison:

 

http://www.galveston.com/cruisecam/

 

 

You know...I think if I were Princess (and Houston), I'd be scrubbing everything in the terminal, just for starters.

Edited February 2, 2014 by TubT

[waterboy2006]

I was on the ship. I don't see where Princess screwed up, at all. With the information they had, they made the decision to skip Belize and head in early. There was a very good chance that the port would be fogged in. That is not my opinion. That is the opinion of people who's job it is to know weather forecasting. The call Princess made inconvenienced roughly 3100 passengers. If they had stayed out and the fog did materialize, they would have inconvenienced roughly 6200 passengers by messing up two sailings. And they would've been criticized for NOT paying heed to the weather reports. This way, they only messed up one sailing.

I think the media loves a story about sickness on cruise ships right now. Big News. 180 people out of 4253 people on board got sick. From what I've seen, people on vacation over-drink on cruise ships. Amateurs! People get queezy from the movement of the ship, even if they're not drinking. People spew. Put 4253 people in a party atmosphere anywhere alcohol is served and there is jostling about and some will get sick. Ever been to a Men's room during a pro basketball, baseball, or football game? Yuk. Some awful sounds and smells emanate from those stalls. I didn't witness anything like that on the Caribbean Princess.

This experience will not dissuade me in the least from sailing again on Princess or any other cruise line.

[TubT]

If you look at that Galveston web cam right now (2/2, 19:41 CST), at least one of the ships out of Galveston is still sitting at the dock.

[satxdiver]

Silly question maybe, but do they make an announcement that they are going to pay for hotel rooms, etc. or does everybody need to go stand in line??? I live near Port Everglades that is normally not a concern for me, BUT one day will do Alaska...soon hopefully.

 

Princess gave every pax a 20% discount on this cruise, a 20% discount on a future cruise and paid for hotel rooms for those that were flying out on Saturday. How they actually did that I don't know but would be interested in knowing.

 

The ship when deciding to leave Bayport, enter the 30+ mile channel and arrive in the Gulf has to take into consideration the time involved versus the risk of getting caught in thick fog and stranded in the channel. Add to this they cannot enter the channel unless the harbor master allows it. They are not the only ship in the harbor coming or going.

 

The captain of the ship has to rely on the weather reports by the weather experts. We cannot predict 100% what the weather is going to do but rather have a good educated guess. Given the reports prior to the weekend and what actually happened, the captain made the correct call. It is better safe than sorry.