Galveston Bay Oil Spill.

[1025cruise]

Apparently, both Carnival ships are still in Galveston due to required hull cleaning that has to be done during the day. I also understand RCI cancelled their cruise this week.

[Sharonlee912]

The front page of the Chronicle shows the oil. The fog has been terrible with the weather change. Living My Dream, I hope that your son has fun somehow and please thank him for his service!

Edited March 25, 2014 by Sharonlee912

[Texas-Surfer-50]

There are ships lined up all out channel and past 43rd street waiting to get into the channel. I live in Galveston and the oil spill is really bad. Tar is washing up on ALL the beaches. This has not been reported by the media but i personally walled the beaches today and SAW it .The wind shifted to blowing southwest. Ira going be awhile with that many ships waiting although the spill is now moving out of the channel south onto our beaches. As you can tell, I'm furious. There goes our dolphins, turtles, shrimp, and fish. Deep sea fishing companies are filing lawsuits because they are SHUT down. I cant surf in oil nor can do i recommend our fish.

 

Ironic that its the anniversary of Exxon's oil spill

[Galveston Cruiser]

Personally, I would rather keep the media out of it as they rarely state the correct facts.

 

It s time for all Galvestonians to get out and help, where possible, to clean our beaches. Focus that anger on doing something constructive.

 

Lawsuits can wait until after we get this area clean. Though, I am sure, those not affected, will be the first to file suit:rolleyes:

 

As a small business owner here, I will take a "wait and see" attitude and compare this year with last year's business.

 

One day at a time - just the same as after Ike:)

[Stevesan]

An extract from this morning's Houston Chronicle re Galveston beaches:

 

Late Monday, authorities reported tar balls on East End beaches. If they don't get it up in the next day or so, we're going to start feeling the impact.

Edited March 25, 2014 by Stevesan

[RescuedPoodleMom]

Here is my first-hand report of the oil spill delay.

 

I was on the March 20-24th sailing on the Carnival Triumph. The delay was long and the conditions aboard were extremely chaotic. Our debarkation was the "relaxed" one with a normal estimate of 10:20 AM (the ship was supposed to dock around 8 AM). We were not able to get off the ship until after 6 PM because the Magic was at Carnival's dock and not all passengers were aboard, plus the oil was floating around and the ships had to be cleaned off. On board, food lines were long (at least 50 people but probably more in each line), buffet shut down after lunch, most things on the ship were closed down (bars, lounges, shops, etc), and I felt like the administration did not handle the delay well at all. :confused: They did provide several trivia events and one card of free bingo. Most of the ship staff looked stressed and unhappy, which is understandable. I was extra nice and polite to them. You could see oil floating around the ships and the port, and there were boats out cleaning up the oil (I think). The cleaning boats had orange hoses and they had lined the nearby docks with them also.

 

One major screw up was the debarkation. The staff supervising this allowed everyone to pile into a line and get off with very little to no organization, which resulted in the port getting clogged up with at least 1,000 passengers (some of whom could not debark due to not having luggage sorted out at the port yet), which caused even more unnecessary delay. If there are procedures in place to make debarkation more efficient, the crew needs to manage guests and make sure they comply with procedures. Basically the last thing on the loudspeaker from Jenn, the cruise director, was this despairing comment: "I don't think anyone is listening to me anymore... thank you to the guests who followed the debarkation rules..." I was able to get out a little more quickly because I had a passport, but there were still about 1,000 people still waiting at customs when we escaped.

 

While I know the oil spill is beyond the control of the Carnival staff, I wouldn't want to see how they handle a REAL emergency. This is my third cruise with Carnival (we even used them for our wedding), and while I am patient with delays and was OK for the first 5 or 6 hours, even I got fed up by hour 8. I definitely am NOT one who complains about every little wait or inconvenience, so please don't think I am THAT person because I am even-tempered and patient... but even I am looking to book with Royal Caribbean next time. :cool:

 

Good note, I HIGHLY recommend Park n Cruise, the parking lot service across from the Port of Galveston. They were doing an excellent job, stayed open late because of the delay, answered my call about my car, and were $13 cheaper than the Port of Galveston parking (and we avoided the long wait for the shuttles to the PoG lot). If you drive to the port, use their services with confidence. It made it SO much easier for us-- we just crossed the street, loaded up, and drove away. ;)

[Galveston Cruiser]

The sad part is the majority do not follow rules and recommendations. Their tunnel vision has them believing they are the only ones:rolleyes:

This occurs on all cruise ships; the staff can only do so much.

 

After all the cruises on various cruise lines all over the world, I have found a large number of people are rude:mad:

 

Until rules are enforced, this chaos will continue.

[Clay Clayton]

Carribbean Princess is still alongside in Bayport.

 

Here is what the Port of Galveston website states:

Latest Update:

 

March 25, 2014 12:23 PM

March 25 NOON

Carnival Magic has set sail.

Carnival Triumph is anticipated to set sail this afternoon.

Royal Caribbean remains docked at pier 26.

[I miss Enchanted Isle!]

Caribbean Princess is underway

[ssb]

Spared Galveston Beaches so far

We just drove Galveston's Seawall Blvd along side the Gulf of Mexico.

There was no evidence as seen from car that beach

has any spill presently on its shore!

 

The spill appears to be in bay and out at sea.

East County Beach was closed and believe for workers staging area on channel side of East Beach.

Hopefully the wind and water currents continue to spare the beach of Galveston on the Gulf side, where the majority of hotels and tourists are?

 

Glad the US Coast Guard has cleared Carnival and Princess to depart ships. :)

[mconthehighseas]

Both Carnival ships and the Princess ship are now on shortened itineraries.

From the Carnival website: http://www.carnival.com/core/faq.aspx#q-1568992

From the Princess website: http://www.princess.com/news/notices_and_advisories/Houston-Oil-Spill-/-Closure-of-Port.html#.UzNYS_ldU1J

 

Royal Caribbean originally cancelled its cruise, but they are now preparing the ship to sail tomorrow on a shortened itinerary as well.

From the Royal Caribbean website:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/beforeyouboard/itineraryUpdates.do

Edited March 26, 2014 by mconthehighseas