Emerald out of Houston

[dforeigner]

Doing some research and discovered that the Emerald will be sailing out of Houston (Bayport) on Sundays rather than Saturdays. Logistically, I find this odd as Princess has, for the most part, always sailed out on Saturday.

 

Anyone know as to why the change?

[runner15km]

NCL sails on Saturday ? :confused:

[jeffstew]

I would imagine it's because the NCL ship will be sailing from Houston on Saturdays.

[dforeigner]

Not sure why this would be an issue. They have three ships sail on the same day out in Galveston. Next year it will only be Carnival and RCL.

 

On a side note, parking at Bayport will be a nightmare with two ships sailing every weekend. Unless someone came up with a plan B.

[cubfan63]

Not sure why this would be an issue. They have three ships sail on the same day out in Galveston. Next year it will only be Carnival and RCL.

 

On a side note, parking at Bayport will be a nightmare with two ships sailing every weekend. Unless someone came up with a plan B.

 

 

It is Bayport in Houston not Galveston where they are docking. It handles one ship. Reference to Galveston being able to handle three ships is not relevant to this.

 

I didn't park there when I was on the Caribbean Princess in November 2013, but there seemed to be plenty of parking.

 

Hopefully someone who drove when they took a cruise can confirm whether the parking lot can handle it.

[caribill]

Hopefully someone who drove when they took a cruise can confirm whether the parking lot can handle it.

 

There were plenty of empty spaces when we were on the CB in February.

 

Plus, they plan to expand the number of spaces by the time NCL starts there.

[jean s]

I do remember seeing lots of empty spaces in February when we cruised out of Houston. I don't think there will be any problem with parking spots.

[Colo Cruiser]

Well just look at it as now you have an extra day coming back on Sunday instead of Saturday. :eek:

[R&S]

We are booked on the first cruise after the Emerald arrives in Houston. (5 day cruise) It will get the ship on the Sunday rotation schedule. We are excited to sail on the Emerald and to sail out of the Houston terminal.

 

Enjoy your cruise,

[Dudleydog73]

We are booked on the first cruise after the Emerald arrives in Houston. (5 day cruise) It will get the ship on the Sunday rotation schedule. We are excited to sail on the Emerald and to sail out of the Houston terminal.

 

Enjoy your cruise,

 

Good luck! I hope your November goes to plan, but I doubt that Princess learned anything from their failures last year.

[rdsqrl]

I'd rather sail on a Sunday. It's much easier to arrive a day before the cruise and not be rushed (especially for people with full-time, M-F 8-5 jobs). And being in Houston, it's not like flying home will require a red-eye flight post-cruise on Sunday night, even to the east coast.

[Stevesan]

I do remember seeing lots of empty spaces in February when we cruised out of Houston. I don't think there will be any problem with parking spots.

 

There well may be with two ships in port and Princess on Sunday.

My January cruise saw many empty slots, but the April trip the lot was near capacity. I recommend a reservation as early as possible.

[dforeigner]

There well may be with two ships in port and Princess on Sunday.

My January cruise saw many empty slots, but the April trip the lot was near capacity. I recommend a reservation as early as possible.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

[caribill]

There well may be with two ships in port and Princess on Sunday.

My January cruise saw many empty slots, but the April trip the lot was near capacity. I recommend a reservation as early as possible.

 

They are expanding the lot before NCL starts their cruises.

[Bimmie Girl]

Good luck! I hope your November goes to plan, but I doubt that Princess learned anything from their failures last year.

 

 

We just booked a cruise on Emerald in Feb. What problems did Princess have last year? Just curious?

 

 

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[Pam in CA]

We just booked a cruise on Emerald in Feb. What problems did Princess have last year? Just curious?

Not sure what they're referring to but last Fall was the first time Princess had cruised out of Bayport which was a new cruise port for them. It probably took time to iron out all of the logistics. I cruised last year out of Galveston and there weren't any problems. Edited June 8, 2014 by Pam in CA

[jean s]

When Princess started sailing out of Houston/Bayport in fall of 2013 they ran into problems with fog. The fog issue caused delays for a number of months. Some ships were late getting back into port so of course the next cruise would be delayed. Many passengers missed their flights which understandably upset folks. I sailed in February and everything was perfect.

[Pam in CA]

When Princess started sailing out of Houston/Bayport in fall of 2013 they ran into problems with fog. The fog issue caused delays for a number of months. Some ships were late getting back into port so of course the next cruise would be delayed. Many passengers missed their flights which understandably upset folks. I sailed in February and everything was perfect.

Yup... that's Princess' fault. :( There were fog problems out of Galveston, too. It's not unusual and it affects all of the cruise lines sailing out of Houston or Galveston.

 

I was reading John Heald's Carnival FB page and someone complained about the ship having to use fog horns which ruined their sleep. They were demanding $100/cabin for loss of sleep due to fog horns. Go figure the logic in that.

Edited June 8, 2014 by Pam in CA

[cruzrbachoua]

The problems being referred to are the late departures due to the wind and fog closing the channel. Then the day we sailed back in 2 ships collided in the channel spilling oil and dealying the CB from sailing out. I also read of parking delays and nightmares as the parking lot was jammed. I did hear that they are to expand it but when we sailed there were some parked in dirt I believe. We didn't drive in. Also the building at the port is quite small. We arrived and it was raining and luckily we arrived via a princess transfer and were able to get right through check-in (platinum) but then once we had the card we were lined up in a hallway and wound through the gangway and on the promenade deck. When we came back we came down the gangway and escalator and ended in a line...only to find out that was the line to exit once you had luggage...no signs to tell you to go around the line to get your luggage and then get back in line to go through customs. But then again there was really no other area to have that line go...but a sign would have been good.

[Dudleydog73]

Not sure what they're referring to but last Fall was the first time Princess had cruised out of Bayport which was a new cruise port for them. It probably took time to iron out all of the logistics. I cruised last year out of Galveston and there weren't any problems.

 

Pam, cruising out of Galveston is a completely different animal as fog is the only issue at play and it is not NEAR as bad to maneuver through the ship channel at Galveston.

 

Princess chose to abandon Galveston and accept bribes in the form of parking incentives and no docking fees to move their operation in the area 20+ miles up a narrow shipping channel that is affected even moreso by fog and even worse by wind.

 

On our Thanksgiving cruise, we lost a full day due to wind that would not allow the CB to leave which threw off the schedule and we ended up missing every scheduled stop with the the exception of Cozymel, however when we were there just about every excursion was cancelled.

 

While we were held hostage on the ship we were only allowed to consume alcoholic beverages that were purchased in Texas, and it seemed Princess decided to purchase extremely bottom shelf brands. No shops were open, no casino, only wine by the glass (again extremely poor selection) at meals in the main dining rooms, etc. All Princess said when contacted post cruise was oh well, stuff happens, no compensation or any goodwill FCC to try the cruise again.

 

I realize it was not all Princess issues, but I have a firm belief that had they stayed in Galveston we would have had a better shot of experiencing the cruise we paid good money in all its glory.

[loma linda ca a & j]

wow ! i hope there is no fog when we sail in nov !!!:eek:

[Stevesan]

We just booked a cruise on Emerald in Feb. What problems did Princess have last year? Just curious?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Fog caused several late arrivals and departures.

[Musky Ike]

Pam, cruising out of Galveston is a completely different animal as fog is the only issue at play and it is not NEAR as bad to maneuver through the ship channel at Galveston.

 

Princess chose to abandon Galveston and accept bribes in the form of parking incentives and no docking fees to move their operation in the area 20+ miles up a narrow shipping channel that is affected even moreso by fog and even worse by wind.

 

.

 

 

Well said. Those incentives are being offset with refunds and bad PR. As for us, we will not sail out of Bayport again, on any line. Princess made a choice and so do we. There is a reason that terminal sat empty for so long.

[eclue]

FYI, Galveston also experienced MANY fog delays due to the unusual winter that we had here in Houston. It was a really wierd weather year,

I will deinitely sail on Princess out of Bayport again..we have no control over nature and the weather.

[DrivesLikeMario]

That may be true, but fog delayed our boarding in Galveston by many hours. We were some of the lucky few to board first at 6:30pm. Others weren't on until 11pm. It's the nature of the beast there. Anyone that sails out of TX should be aware of it during the winter months and plan for contingencies just in case something causes a delay leaving, or arriving back into, port.