Galveston weather concerns

[CRUISEFAN0001]

Another thread said Carnival has just canceled this weekend's Galveston cruises. [i expect that is true and sources confirming will soon be availabl[/color]e.]

 

RCL may do that unless they want to sail back across the Gulf again toward a closed port that is as I type getting hit with a lot of rain [and Harborside Drive is now flooded and closed.]

 

There will be issues with suppliers being down and out for a while. Traffic in Houston will be heavily impacted for days. Many routes are closed and will be for quite a while. Then there are the closed airports.

But RCL Chief Meteorologist James Van Fleet probably sees a "window" for a turnaround as he did last week. [Except that window was never actually open...just like the Port of Galveston was never open]

There must be some mistake - Carnival always has the best customer service and would never inconvenience their customers by changing their announcements due to weather conditions. I read it on the Internet, so it must be true.

 

Maybe now 1 or 2 more people will realize this isn't such an absolute situation they thought it was to predict, and things just might need to change as weather conditions evolve. But of course we won't say "we told you so" about this latest development.

 

Bottom line is that things are bad, will remain bad for some time, and won't improve as rapidly as some had thought or hoped. That's indeed unfortunate.

[tankerat]

Latest update from Port of Galveston Website:

UPDATE: Official Port of Galveston Parking Lots A and B

Port Police are accessing both parking lots.

There has been steady rain for hours and the roads surrounding the parking lots have become inaccessible again. As you know our lots are large so it is possible that sections of the lots could have water rising while other sections do not.

The lots have taken in some water so as of now there is some flooding. Check back for additional updates.

[caribill]

Just heard a live interview with a passenger on the Carnival ship that is currently in New Orleans.

o Over half of the passengers have disembarked to returrn home from New Orleans.

o Most of the remaining passengers live in the Houston area or elsewhere in Texas and have their cars parked in Galveston

o The Captain said that the port is closed indefinitely (which could of course change at any time) and they might not get back to Galveston until Sunday.

[Scottee25]

Carnival has already canceled their cruise for this Thursday the 31st.

may some should go ahead and start letting RCL know??

 

http://www.galveston.com/blog/626/tropical-storm-harvey-update/

 

Liberty sails on Sundays, that's a 3 day difference. Also, Hobby airport isn't set to reopen until tomorrow (at the earliest) and IAH isn't set to open until Thursday (at the earliest). I would suspect closed airports and continued rain played a big part in that decision.

[Galveston Cruiser]

Conditions have changed in Galveston.

 

Harborside Drive (which goes to the Cruise Port) is closed due to high water. Most of Broadway, the street that leads to I45, is closed due to high water.

 

Many other streets in the East end of the city are flooded.

 

Galveston residents who have left for the mainland are being told not to return to the island at this time.

 

Source of the above info:

http://www.galvestontx.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=538

http://www.galvestontx.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=543

 

Hope you are okay in League City.

 

Yes, Galveston streets are flooded other than Seawall and a few streets behind.

We are 14 blocks from Harborside and 2 blocks south of Broadway. We have had water up to the bottom step of our raised house most of the day

 

The rain seems to lessening, but wind continues at 36mph sustained with gusts to 52mph.

 

Expect clear streets tomorrow, but no knowledge what the mainland will be.

Am liking the 72* weather, but not what everyone has to go through.

[Candocruises]

About Houston airports reopening:

 

The airports are not only shut down because Tropical Storm Harvey continues to dump unprecedented amounts of rainfall on Houston and there's water on the runways. Houston Airport Systems (HAS) also has to consider whether passengers and employees can reach the airports safely. Employees include airport employees, airline employees, TSA employees, customs employees and more.

 

 

“There is a whole list of boxes that need to be checked ‘yes,’ and we will only open up when we can check all the boxes,” spokesman Bill Begley said.

 

SWA was flying its aircraft out of Hobby as the storm rolled in and I can only assume all the airlines did the same at IAH. Right now the plan is to reopen the airports at noon Thursday however that doesn't mean that operation will be anywhere close to normal for at least 24-48 hours. The airport closures will impact air travel nation wide, not just in Texas especially since the two Houston airports are hubs for two of the five major airlines. Good luck to anyone trying to fly anywhere in the southern half of the country as someone commented that they could fly to an alternate airport then drive to their home in South Padre, TX. It won't happen anytime soon.

[Daiho]

This is a weird thought, but I wonder what the contractual arrangements are with suppliers. If the ship makes it to port but all the roads are closed so the suppliers don't get there are they not paid and maybe even do they face penalties whereas if the ship doesn't make it to port even though the suppliers couldn't make it there they still get paid? (They say they were ready to deliver, even though it wasn't true) Could that be an incentive for RCI to get the ship back to the Port of Galveston even though there is no way it would get passengers? Just an odd thought that popped into my head.

 

I still think doing next week's out of Miami would salvage some money for them. They might lose money on the cruise, but I would think they would lose less than the ship being idle for a week. But, there are lots of considerations that I know nothing about. Is there port space available on Sunday, can they get supplies ready, can they get the ground crews, etc.

 

From just the people perspective here is the tricky balance. The optics of a luxury ship coming into and running from somewhere that is devastated aren't good. Thousands flying in excited for their vacation. Also how those vacationers feel about coming into that area and seeing depressing sights before their trip. Balance that against the boost it gives the area in tourism and just feeling good that things are getting back to normal. Shuttle drivers getting work, hotels getting guests, port workers having work... Then again my back of the envelope calculations say the revenue on one week is on the order of $10MM.

[tugboat]

SWA was flying its aircraft out of Hobby as the storm rolled in and I can only assume all the airlines did the same at IAH. Right now the plan is to reopen the airports at noon Thursday however that doesn't mean that operation will be anywhere close to normal for at least 24-48 hours. The airport closures will impact air travel nation wide, not just in Texas especially since the two Houston airports are hubs for two of the five major airlines. Good luck to anyone trying to fly anywhere in the southern half of the country as someone commented that they could fly to an alternate airport then drive to their home in South Padre, TX. It won't happen anytime soon.

 

 

 

Why not take the non-stop flight from Dallas Love to Harlingen

 

 

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[LadyFureya]

Another thread said Carnival has just canceled this weekend's Galveston cruises. [i expect that is true and sources confirming will soon be available.]

So far I've only seen confirmed news about the Thursday sailing (31st). No news yet about the September 2nd one.

 

If they act similarly to how they did for the August 31st sailing, we'll find out tomorrow about the September 2nd one and Thursday about the September 3rd one. And Royal, well if they follow their current behavior, they'll be telling people to come to port all the way through Sunday morning before cancelling their September 3rd sailing > <

[spleenstomper]

Looks like the seawall cam is down: http://www.galveston.com/seawallcam/

[ace1zoe2]

Why not take the non-stop flight from Dallas Love to Harlingen

 

 

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It's still almost a 6 hour drive from Harlingen to Galveston. Plus the time to get to Dallas & flight time.

 

Our drive would be shorter on a normal day. Now taking the long way around it would be more than the normal 5 hour drive from where we are.

 

 

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[tugboat]

It's still almost a 6 hour drive from Harlingen to Galveston. Plus the time to get to Dallas & flight time.

 

Our drive would be shorter on a normal day. Now taking the long way around it would be more than the normal 5 hour drive from where we are.

 

 

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Your Post says you are trying to get to your home in South Padre,

Where are you trying to end up at.

 

 

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[Beachdude]

Just heard a live interview with a passenger on the Carnival ship that is currently in New Orleans.

o Over half of the passengers have disembarked to returrn home from New Orleans.

o Most of the remaining passengers live in the Houston area or elsewhere in Texas and have their cars parked in Galveston

o The Captain said that the port is closed indefinitely (which could of course change at any time) and they might not get back to Galveston until Sunday.

I'm trying to imagine when the ship can leave New Orleans. Ships have to navigate a pretty tight river for a couple of hours to get to the ocean. Can they do that if the river is higher than normal as result of heavy rain?

 

Burt

[ace1zoe2]

Your Post says you are trying to get to your home in South Padre,

Where are you trying to end up at.

 

 

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Sorry I'm hoping to be on the next cruise out. I live south of the DFW area.

 

I thought someone was suggesting flying from DFW to Harlingen to board the ship so I was pointing out to others how far away that airport is from Galveston.

 

Apparently the post you are referring to was someone else's post.

 

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[tugboat]

I'm trying to imagine when the ship can leave New Orleans. Ships have to navigate a pretty tight river for a couple of hours to get to the ocean. Can they do that if the river is higher than normal as result of heavy rain?

 

 

 

Burt

 

 

 

It is a 8 hour trip from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico

 

 

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[tugboat]

Sorry I'm hoping to be on the next cruise out. I live south of the DFW area.

 

I thought someone was suggesting flying from DFW to Harlingen to board the ship so I was pointing out to others how far away that airport is from Galveston.

 

Apparently the post you are referring to was someone else's post.

 

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What were your original plans to get to Galveston?

 

 

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[ace1zoe2]

What were your original plans to get to Galveston?

 

 

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We normally drive down the day before and stay the night in a hotel. Current reservations are in League City if the hotel hasn't flooded. Normally come down 45 but looking like another route will be necessary

 

 

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[Ocean Dancer]

The death toll is rising, A family of 6, 4 children and their grandparents were washed away while driving to escape the flooding.

A police officer was washed away while trying to report to work..................just on the news. Flooding in SOME areas MAY last into October.

God Bless All!!

[tugboat]

We normally drive down the day before and stay the night in a hotel. Current reservations are in League City if the hotel hasn't flooded. Normally come down 45 but looking like another route will be necessary

 

 

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Call your hotel find out their condition. By Friday I will have a route for you.

 

 

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[ace1zoe2]

Call your hotel find out their condition. By Friday I will have a route for you.

 

 

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Hotel says they are up & running but sold out thru October 31. Reservations will be honored but they are calling daily to see if anyone is cancelling so they can resell the rooms if they are no longer coming.

 

 

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[tugboat]

Hotel says they are up & running but sold out thru October 31. Reservations will be honored but they are calling daily to see if anyone is cancelling so they can resell the rooms if they are no longer coming.

 

 

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See put yourself down for one Positive already things are looking up.

 

 

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[spleenstomper]

Hotel says they are up & running but sold out thru October 31. Reservations will be honored but they are calling daily to see if anyone is cancelling so they can resell the rooms if they are no longer coming.

 

 

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For now. During katrina, the hotels here wound up cancelling standing reservations because the displaced people living in the hotels came to take precedent.

[yetidog]

Everyone will have to make their own decisions on how to plan ahead over the next 30 days or so in terms of anyone having a cruise scheduled. Some may wait to adjust, some may not. It may all work out, it may not. But there is no certainty, and likely won't be for at least some time. That's the whole point.

 

 

And those are very good points. We are supposed to leave 9/10 from Galveston driving down from San Angelo the night before. I upped my travel insurance to cancellation for any reason in the event water is still on roads and they are telling folks to stay away. The dilemma (to the extent it is one, comparatively speaking) is being compelled to travel through and to disaster conditions to take a cruise that you don't want to take due to those conditions. Small potatoes in the scheme of much bigger things and the uncertainty of a cruise sailing is nothing like the uncertainty of where do you spend the night now that your home is gone.

[cruisnpat]

Hotel says they are up & running but sold out thru October 31. Reservations will be honored but they are calling daily to see if anyone is cancelling so they can resell the rooms if they are no longer coming.

 

 

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May I ask what hotel that is. We are also booked at a hotel in League City but they say they are flooded and not sure if they will be open for our night on Sept. 9th.

[ace1zoe2]

May I ask what hotel that is. We are also booked at a hotel in League City but they say they are flooded and not sure if they will be open for our night on Sept. 9th.

 

 

 

Candlewood Suites

 

 

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