Galveston weather concerns

[CRUISEFAN0001]

Well, they have booze in the airports and on the planes so we have that going for us. :D

Now we're seeing much more useful posts. :D:D:D

[stewpapa]

I believe the idea (hope) is that the port would reopen sometime tomorrow.

 

 

 

Ok I hope it does for everyone's good. I thought it was confirmed closed until Tuesday and all roads to the cruise terminal flooded. If it DOES open, it will be a chaotic day! But worth it in the end.

 

 

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[ducklite]

Tell that to the hurricanes that arrive in May and December.

 

 

It can happen, but the Official National Hurricane Center hurricane season runs June through November.

[ducklite]

LOL....we know you can't possibly be serious. :rolleyes:

 

The cost of any hurricane that impacts any Caribbean port could wipe out their revenue for months (obviously Florida ports would be a worse case scenario)...so yes...they do move them primarily for reducing risk and potential lost revenue. It doesn't take more than one major storm to disrupt things - one bad storm in Atlanta last year cost Delta 4 months of revenue...the cruise industry has a similar situation.

 

Nope. They move them because far more people want to cruise in other locations over the summer than the hot, sticky, crime infested Caribbean. If no one bought tickets to cruise Europe, Asia, or Alaska over the summer, all those ships would be in the Caribbean. It's based on passenger demand.

[Cruiseathoning]

All the travel insurance I have had allowed for refunds in the event of a National Weather Service warning because they had cancel for any reason. Maybe some don't. Consult your policy.

[sos41]

I live in Pearland a suburb about 30 miles from the port. Many flights in and out are cancelled tomorrow and Monday including mine for business. This morning the most severe rain bands have basically been tracking from the gulf, over Galveston, and up the gulf freeway (the road into and one out of Galveston) and to its east. Rain bands typically train over the same areas for extended periods of time during tropical systems. They are predicting huge amounts of rain over the next few days as the storm is expected to stop or linger. This has happened twice in my lifetime and the flooding can reach the you can't believe it stage. Flooding is very location specific but if you get 15 or 20 inches of rain in an area you can expect severe flooding on the roads. I don't know when you will get to board or get off, and honestly I doubt if RCL can give you specific date or time yet either. One guarantee is if the system spends the next 3 or 4 days raining over the same areas, the flooding will likely be record setting. I would enjoy my cruise extension if I were on the ship. I board on 9-18-17

[pspercy]

Update from RCL website:

 

August 26, 2017

We are still actively monitoring path and progression of Hurricane Harvey. At this time, Liberty of the Seas will keep her original schedule for Sunday’s turnaround in Galveston, Texas. Should we make any changes to Liberty of the Sea’s itinerary, we will make sure to inform our guests.

 

We will post another update on Saturday, August 26, 2017 by 2:00 PM CT.

[Dennis#1]

It can happen, but the Official National Hurricane Center hurricane season runs June through November.

 

Hurricanes in May are quite rare. I remember a Cat 3 in May of 1951 (Hurricane Able) that caused much damage to the North Carolina coast.

[kendracruises]

Latest Update from RCL:

ITINERARY UPDATES

 

August 26, 2017

We are still actively monitoring path and progression of Hurricane Harvey. At this time, Liberty of the Seas will keep her original schedule for Sunday’s turnaround in Galveston, Texas. Should we make any changes to Liberty of the Sea’s itinerary, we will make sure to inform our guests.

 

We will post another update on Saturday, August 26, 2017 by 2:00 PM CT.

[BarryH]

Ok I hope it does for everyone's good. I thought it was confirmed closed until Tuesday and all roads to the cruise terminal flooded. If it DOES open, it will be a chaotic day! But worth it in the end.

 

Docking and disembarking are two different things. Assuming the ship would be safe docking it in Galveston tomorrow wouldn't take an enormous amount of ground personnel. We could stay moored until Monday (or later) when it's safe to disembark using the ship as a hotel until then. That provides more options faster than trying to get in to Galveston in the first place.

 

They want us to put our luggage out tonight which raises all sorts of "what if" questions for us onboard.

[css5]

LOL....we know you can't possibly be serious. :rolleyes:

 

The cost of any hurricane that impacts any Caribbean port could wipe out their revenue for months (obviously Florida ports would be a worse case scenario)...so yes...they do move them primarily for reducing risk and potential lost revenue. It doesn't take more than one major storm to disrupt things - one bad storm in Atlanta last year cost Delta 4 months of revenue...the cruise industry has a similar situation.

 

Delta Airlines take in $13,213,000,000 in revenue in 4 months....that's 13.2 Billion Dollars! And you think one storm in Atlanta cost them that much money? And you think cruise ships go to Alaska and Europe in the summer to avoid Hurricane Season? And yet you ask me if I am serious? LOL!!!

[Jzx1103]

KHOU channel 2 just had their van drive through an area near the port of Galveston in a live coverage. Water levels are high enough that only Trucks and larger vehicles are getting through. It's still raining pretty hard there. This is stuff that's hard to see from the online cameras.

[mt82]

From the RCCL site, not sure how much this helps everyone

 

 

August 26, 2017

 

 

We are still actively monitoring path and progression of Hurricane Harvey. At this time, Liberty of the Seas will keep her original schedule for Sunday’s turnaround in Galveston, Texas. Should we make any changes to Liberty of the Sea’s itinerary, we will make sure to inform our guests.

 

We will post another update on Saturday, August 26, 2017 by 2:00 PM CT.

[HicksRA]

Here's one from the Port of Galveston:

PORT CONDITION remains at Zulu. If there is a lull in the storm the Captain of the Port MAY allow for inbound cruise vessels however there is no guarentee. Saftey of passengers is a rpiority. Please contact your cruise line for additional information Royal Caribbean International: 1-800-764-7419 Carnival Cruise Line: 1-800-256-6649.

[stewpapa]

Docking and disembarking are two different things. Assuming the ship would be safe docking it in Galveston tomorrow wouldn't take an enormous amount of ground personnel. We could stay moored until Monday (or later) when it's safe to disembark using the ship as a hotel until then. That provides more options faster than trying to get in to Galveston in the first place.

 

 

 

They want us to put our luggage out tonight which raises all sorts of "what if" questions for us onboard.

 

 

 

Wow! How are things on the ship?

 

 

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[DragonOfTheSeas]

 

They want us to put our luggage out tonight which raises all sorts of "what if" questions for us onboard.

 

 

If it were me, I would wait until the last possible time to pack or keep my luggage to do self assist disembark. That is better than putting your luggage out and having to wait for it to return. [if that is needed]

 

Good luck.

[Cindy]

 

 

 

They want us to put our luggage out tonight which raises all sorts of "what if" questions for us onboard.

 

 

 

I predict most of the passengers will be changing their disembarkation plans to Self-assist![emoji23]

 

 

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[knittinggirl]

If it were me, I would wait until the last possible time to pack or keep my luggage to do self assist disembark. That is better than putting your luggage out and having to wait for it to return. [if that is needed]

 

Good luck.

Standard operating procedure.

 

 

We've only been told to wait till the following morning to put luggage out only once or twice. And that's when they know we're returning late.

[lbjen]

At this point you are probably right to just continue as planned. I don't think RC will leave you hanging, if they can't get you on the ship they'll do something to keep you safe. And it will certainly be an adventure to remember!

[BarryH]

Wow! How are things on the ship?

 

Completely normal except for the elephant in the room. ;) It's a beautiful slightly overcast day.

 

Assuming we get to Galveston tomorrow it's going to be a cluster on board. When do we get off? In what order? Will there be enough ground personnel or is reduced staffing going to be a problem?

 

My biggest concern is being able to find a route off Galveston island to get to I-10. What's going on in Galveston isn't the only issue many of us are facing.

 

We'll cross those bridges (no pun intended) when we get to them.

[rum & monkey]

EB you might want to try @JamesVanFleet on twitter he seems a lot more helpful to your situation he is Royal Caribbean's chief meteorologist

 

 

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[cruising grandma]

EB, it’s odd that we aren’t sweating this cruise out with you since we have done an annual Aug cruise every year since 2004. We have an Aug anniversary and DH’s birthday is in Aug, so it’s been a celebration cruise for us each year since 2004. This year, we couldn’t get any dates to work for us due to some family/grandkid activities that required our presence.

 

In all those Aug cruises, we only encountered a hurricane once - Hurricane Isaac in 2012. We were on the way (driving) to Ft Lauderdale on Saturday, the day before our cruise. It was a beautiful, sunny, Florida day as we drove south. About 2 hours out of FLL, our cell phones went crazy and the Hurricane Cruise began.

 

Isaac was off the coast of Florida. The forecast looked like it would hit the Miami/FLL area, but it was a tricky storm and it kept changing. Port Everglades decided, based on the forecast, to close on Saturday at 6pm until Tuesday morning at 5am. So the recorded messages on our phones were giving us this information.

 

We checked into our hotel (1 night pre-cruise reserved) and learned there was no option to stay longer - they were booked. We met up with another couple from our roll call who had flown in at the same hotel, and the 4 of us hung out until Tuesday when we finally boarded Allure.

 

Royal took care of us quite well. In fact, DH and I concluded, after putting a pencil to it, that we had actually made a $250 profit from the compensation. First, they sent us and the other couple to Embassy Suites for 2 nights. It was a direct bill to RC, so we paid nothing other than the daily charge for parking. (We were advised by a Royal customer care person to save our receipt and submit it for reimbursement.) We were told to keep meal receipts since Royal would reimburse up to $100 per person per day. (Embassy Suites has a fine big breakfast and an evening happy hour with drinks and munchies. We didn’t come close to spending that, even though we went out for an expen$ive crab dinner one night.)

 

Compensation on the ship depended on cabin type. We had a balcony, so we were given a $650 OBC and they mailed us a Future Cruise Certificate for 50% of what we’d paid for our balcony. They reimbursed all our meals from Sun-Tues & our parking at Embassy Suites.

The irony was…Port Everglades jumped the gun when they closed the port. Isaac did not hit Florida, but rather veered off around Haiti and followed the gulf to the west. FLL and Miami had some heavy rain and wind. (We live in Oklahoma so we know all about wind.) The weather people in FLL were jumping up and down in their excitement, warning people about the terrible wind gusts up to 35-40mph. (In OKC we call that a fairly decent hair day. We did note one coconut and some palm fronds down in front of our hotel, though.)

 

Anyway, our hurricane cruise turned out to be a whole lot of fun. By the time we finally embarked on Tuesday, we had been advised of the compensation, and everyone was pretty upbeat. Some people had cancelled, so the ship was not totally full and we had a wonderful 5 day cruise on Allure, despite the fact that our itinerary had changed drastically.

EB, I hope you’ll be treated as well as we were by Royal! We got the word early Sat afternoon, so that’s what will probably happen for you. The “not knowing” is what’s frustrating, but once you know what’s going to happen, things will be better for you. Good luck, try to keep a good attitude, and have a wonderful shorter cruise! And don’t take any flack about cruising in August. We got inconvenienced by a hurricane once in 13 years. We still will book in Aug because it’s a great month for us to be away and a celebration month for us

Judy

 

 

Hi Judy (and Buz)!

 

I met y'all on that Allure cruise, and yes Royal totally took care of everyone, and we had a fantastic five night cruise, after spending three hotel nights in Ft Lauderdale. I dealt with hurricane Matthew on Allure last October, and have Allure booked leaving two weeks from tomorrow. Stuff (hurricanes) happen!

[cricketts]

EB you might want to try @JamesVanFleet on twitter he seems a lot more helpful to your situation he is Royal Caribbean's chief meteorologist

 

 

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Not normally on twitter, but this seems like a good one to follow!

[tankerat]

We have a Disney booked out of Galveston because it goes to the Bahamas instead.

 

 

Yeah but Disney Cruises also have a bunch of kids..:o

[cruiselvr04]

I think parking and getting in and out of port by land will be rough. We cruise a lot from a Galveston. I'd still go if the ship got in but I wouldn't want to park my car there this week as they think the storm will hit that area again mid week. Some of lots are elevated a bit but the ones right by the pier sure are not. Maybe I'd park in a garage several floors up in Houston and get transportation to the pier...

 

I feel for those planning a cruise this week. You get excited, take vacation time etc. it's disappointing. Personally we won't cruise mid August to mid September but have taken them earlier in August and later in September. We have missed ports several time due to huricances but have never had trouble getting on and off a ship.

 

However the bigger issue is the safety of all affected by this storm. Homes and businesses have been lost and probably some lives. This storm is still nothing to take lightly and not over yet.