Galveston weather concerns

[Aquahound]

I think the overwhelming consensus is that RC is not handling the situation with safety in mind or properly.

 

If that's the case (and I don't think it is), the overwhelming consensus is retarded. Fake news. It doesn't even make sense to think a major cruise line is disregarding the safety of lives and their own property.

[BecciBoo]

looks terrible :). All those cars driving casually down the street and the folks walking around d on the beach.

lol

[CRUISEFAN0001]

In that case, the overwhelming consensus is retarded. Fake news. It doesn't even make sense to think a major cruise line is disregarding the safety of lives and their own property.

Actually it's no news (no such thing)...but bravo to your basic point.

[Jzx1103]

Here is the latest projected paths on our News channel here in San Antonio: took this with my phone

 

None of them show the path getting near Houston/Galveston

 

Yes but Houston/Galveston is on the dirty side (east side) of the storm. The line you see not hitting houston is just center of the storm. We're still getting all the rain with this track.

[BarryH]

Looks terrible :). All those cars driving casually down the street and the folks walking around d on the beach.

 

I don't know what to believe/expect anymore. Onboard it's like nothing is happening. RCI's last update is less optimistic than previous one's yet we're still sailing toward Galveston. The seas are getting rougher and I'd assume they will continue to as we get closer.

 

And if we get to Galveston then what? The update from the city's .gov official site doesn't paint a great outlook.

 

A lot can change in the next 20+ hours but Carnival's choice of diverting to New Orleans seems a lot more reasoned than RCI's "damn the torpedos" approach.

 

We're supposed to get another update at 7:00PM. Sigh.

[hazence]

Haven't posted here in years, but I do enjoy reading here for various reasons. Today I have learned a great deal...particularly about the demographic of RCCL cruisers...who apparently consist of retirees who may drive to port whenever summoned...and individuals with private planes and pilots awaiting their call.

 

Which is all good because they can wait till 9pm tonight to see if RCCL gives them the big "C'mon down" signal at the last minute. Anyone not in this category would spit at the name and logo forevermore.

 

This is most obtuse display of corporate obnoxia that I have observed in years. Keep em hanging on, RCCL. Great PR move.

 

 

Genius.

[YlangYlangF9PB3E]

Horse hockey

 

Captain of the Royal Caribbean Brown-Nose Cheering Squad!!

[Aquahound]

Yes, the cruise line does not owe him anything. But they can easily show good customer service and be sympathetic to the situation. RCL is not showing any sympathy at all right now. As I said earlier, as soon as Carnival gave their customers yesterday the option to cancel for future cruise credit. RCL should've done the same thing. People pay attention to these gestures and will remember these when booking in the future. It also make good business sense for RCL to give their customers this option under the current circumstances. I guarantee you he is one of at least a few hundred customers in the same delimma right now. Royal Caribbean needs to step up to the plate.

 

I would agree with this post if all things were equal.....meaning both cruise lines had ships coming in at the same time. But they didn't. Carnival had 2 other ships scheduled to port in Galveston days before RCI's ship was scheduled. This meant Carnival had to make a quicker decision. Comparing CCL's to RCI's reactions to this dilemma really is an apples to oranges comparison.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

Captain of the Royal Caribbean Brown-Nose Cheering Squad!!

I guess that Carnival employees have every right to post on this site too.... :rolleyes:

[CRUISEFAN0001]

I would agree with this post if all things were equal.....meaning both cruise lines had ships coming in at the same time. But they didn't. Carnival had 2 other ships scheduled to port in Galveston days before RCI's ship was scheduled. This meant Carnival had to make a quicker decision. Comparing CCL's to RCI's reactions to this dilemma really is an apples to oranges comparison.

Ya gotta love when people post things that make sense. Thanks nice work!

[Arizona Packer Backer]

I don't know if this has been posted already, but just in case it hasn't been, here's a link that may be helpful:

 

http://www.galveston.com/blog/624/live-updates-harvey-2017/

 

And from that link, also FYI:

 

Cruise Parking

Port of Galveston

If you would like to retrieve your vehicle or a family member’s vehicle please contact the Port of Galveston Police Department at 409-766-6172. If you would like to cancel your pre-paid parking reservation please send an e mail to parking@portofgalveston.com with the name, reservation number, and departure date.

[AustinCruise]

But if you look at the Strand you can see standing water which extends down to the terminals and open air parking:

 

http://www.galveston.com/strandvideocam/

 

True, the island has terrible drainage. A bit surprising for an island. Should be places for the water to run off.

 

But look at the radar - the eye of the storm is 150 miles away. They have had heavy rain but not currently raining and looks like they missed the bigger bands thus far. Wind isn't bad either. The storm surge luckily didn't happen.

 

So it looks to me like local flooding is a problem. Probably flooding in Houston will be a problem (or at least traffic caused by flooding). Airports are delayed due to the storm.

 

So far Galveston is largely spared.

 

Folks may have a problem getting there.

 

They may have problems with dock workers. Our porter two weeks ago said how great it was that they get paid even if they can't work due to rain.

 

They may have provisioning problems, depending on where the stuff comes from.

 

If the storm stalls and goes east like some expect, they may be best off using the earliest clear window (tomorrow) to get the ship turned around.

[dickinson]

I have read parts of this thread and find it quite interesting but mostly very sad. I have never cruised RC and now will never do so. Many people on this thread along with RC HAVE shown a disregard for people's safety. To tell people to go to a hurricane zone is absurd. If the cruise line offers no compensation it puts their customers in a difficult situation. With airline flights cancelled or possibly will be... what is a person to do? Many people like to arrive 24-48 hours in advance of their cruise. RC should have done what Carnival did. Then people can plan and make alternate arrangements without hating RC. Most 3rd party travel insurance is not cancel for any reason. If the cruise line does not change the sail date or whatever, then if you cancel you can't get your money back from insurance. Quite the dilemma. Not a nice position RC is putting their "valued" customers into.

 

In 2004 we were taking a Panama Canal cruise on Carnival at the beginning of Sept. Hurricane Frances mosied her way through the Caribbean at a very slow pace towards FL. We did not know what was going to happen. Carnival made a decision approximately 48 hours in advance. Many people did not come and took the credits etc. We were able to change our flights and made it to FL. The cruise was shortened by one day. 500 people did not come. No one was upset with Carnival and I am sure today the same thing. RC on the other hand.....

[CRUISEFAN0001]

I don't know if this has been posted already, but just in case it hasn't been, here's a link that may be helpful:

 

http://www.galveston.com/blog/624/live-updates-harvey-2017/

 

And from that link, also FYI:

 

Cruise Parking

Port of Galveston

If you would like to retrieve your vehicle or a family member’s vehicle please contact the Port of Galveston Police Department at 409-766-6172. If you would like to cancel your pre-paid parking reservation please send an e mail to parking@portofgalveston.com with the name, reservation number, and departure date.

Nice info!

[Ladysilver]

EZ Cruise parking lots are high and dry. :)

[Deptacon]

Since grade school....I vowed never to do someone else's homework for them. No different now.

 

By the way...ALL THE MONTHS you listed are part of "hurricane season"....so of course June/July and August/September wouldn't reflect much difference.

 

It's not rocket science to look online and find which ships are deployed to other locations (Europe being the most common). This happens every year...to reduce the number of ships in the Caribbean during hurricane season.

 

So now that some people are better educated on this topic...we can all defer to the main topic at hand..."What's going on in Galveston during this weekend".

 

They go to Europe to sail the baltics and Med in the summer....not to avoid hurricane season.

[BarryH]

Comparing CCL's to RCI's reactions to this dilemma really is an apples to oranges comparison.

 

Let's be blunt. Carnival took the more expensive route in an effort to make it easier for the passengers currently onboard and with upcoming sailings.

 

Rerouting two ship's to New Orleans and holding one in Cozumel cost money. So did allowing all those with weekend sailings to cancel two days ago.

 

Two days ago CCL said don't go to the port. RCI had the same revelation this afternoon but still hasn't provided a cancel option.

 

Meanwhile we on the Liberty are sailing in to the back end of hurricane with no idea what awaits us should we get in to Galveston tomorrow.

 

I'm not a CCL fan and won't/don't sail with them but anyone who doesn't think they handled this better than RCI and incurred more expense in the process is delusional.

[Jzx1103]

I would agree with this post if all things were equal.....meaning both cruise lines had ships coming in at the same time. But they didn't. Carnival had 2 other ships scheduled to port in Galveston days before RCI's ship was scheduled. This meant Carnival had to make a quicker decision. Comparing CCL's to RCI's reactions to this dilemma really is an apples to oranges comparison.

 

Ok so then even taking the Freedom and Valor out of the equation since they were supposed to come in today. Carnival also gave their customers for the Breeze (which sails tomorrow just like RCL) the same offer. They could've easily just said we will do this for just the Saturday sailings but treat their Breeze passengers the same way Royal treated their Liberty passengers thus far, with uncertainty and anxiety.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

I have read parts of this thread and find it quite interesting but mostly very sad. I have never cruised RC and now will never do so. Many people on this thread along with RC HAVE shown a disregard for people's safety. To tell people to go to a hurricane zone is absurd.

If you're basing that on a couple of posts making the (wrong) claim that they encouraged going to the port...you have been misinformed. A few other folks pointed out the error.

 

The exact opposite has been the case - a focus on safety. The ship was steered away from the hurricane, and those on the next cruise have been told to stay away for now. If you read back several posts....you'll see that Royal Caribbean actually told people NOT TO GO TO the Galveston port until further notice - the responsible thing to do.

 

Unfortunately this is exactly why reading posts with mis-information results in confused or misinformed consumers.

[time4u2go]

I have read parts of this thread and find it quite interesting but mostly very sad. I have never cruised RC and now will never do so. Many people on this thread along with RC HAVE shown a disregard for people's safety. To tell people to go to a hurricane zone is absurd. If the cruise line offers no compensation it puts their customers in a difficult situation. With airline flights cancelled or possibly will be... what is a person to do? Many people like to arrive 24-48 hours in advance of their cruise. RC should have done what Carnival did. Then people can plan and make alternate arrangements without hating RC. Most 3rd party travel insurance is not cancel for any reason. If the cruise line does not change the sail date or whatever, then if you cancel you can't get your money back from insurance. Quite the dilemma. Not a nice position RC is putting their "valued" customers into.

 

In 2004 we were taking a Panama Canal cruise on Carnival at the beginning of Sept. Hurricane Frances mosied her way through the Caribbean at a very slow pace towards FL. We did not know what was going to happen. Carnival made a decision approximately 48 hours in advance. Many people did not come and took the credits etc. We were able to change our flights and made it to FL. The cruise was shortened by one day. 500 people did not come. No one was upset with Carnival and I am sure today the same thing. RC on the other hand.....

Well said. Bottom line, Carnival handled this correctly, RCI did not.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

They go to Europe to sail the baltics and Med in the summer....not to avoid hurricane season.

Apparently a few are confusing /misrepresenting the destination of the relocation with the reason they go there. :rolleyes:

 

By repositioning the ships, they continue filling ships with better-weather opportunities and servicing more than one continent as well.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

Well said. Bottom line, Carnival handled this correctly, RCI did not.

With one day earlier in the case of Carnival...like someone else said...an apples to oranges comparison.

 

If they offer booked passengers free rebookings sometime today or early tomorrow...which in fact they may already have started...then BOTH handled it the same way given the same timeframe comparison.

[hazence]

If you're basing that on a couple of posts making the (wrong) claim that they encouraged going to the port...you have been misinformed. A few other folks pointed out the error.

 

The exact opposite has been the case - a focus on safety. The ship was steered away from the hurricane, and those on the next cruise have been told to stay away for now. If you read back several posts....you'll see that Royal Caribbean actually told people NOT TO GO TO the Galveston port until further notice - the responsible thing to do.

 

Unfortunately this is exactly why reading posts with mis-information results in confused or misinformed consumers.

 

Not so.

 

,RCCL is holding thousands of hard earned dollars of customers money. They retain the ability to KEEP that money and not deliver the vacation product it was intended to provide....if the customer is not there...if and when they get there.

 

That is power.

 

And I submit an abusive power. They may say don't come...but as long as they have the power to keep your cruise money...the underlying threat is..."but if I get there and you don't...GOTCHA! Got your money! Get to keep it and don't have to provide the vacation you worked for and paid for!"

 

So of course, some people will try desperately to get there just in case. RCCL has their money! A great deal of it!

 

It is despicable customer service.

[ducklite]

I would agree with this post if all things were equal.....meaning both cruise lines had ships coming in at the same time. But they didn't. Carnival had 2 other ships scheduled to port in Galveston days before RCI's ship was scheduled. This meant Carnival had to make a quicker decision. Comparing CCL's to RCI's reactions to this dilemma really is an apples to oranges comparison.

 

Carnival had two ships that were supposed to come in today. Carnival and RCI each had a ship that was supposed to come in tomorrow. Days? Um, no.

[Deptacon]

Looks terrible :). All those cars driving casually down the street and the folks walking around d on the beach.

 

Completely inconsequential if the PORT is closed to MARITIME TRAFFIC and flights to nearby airports are being cancelled.