Where is Liberty and How are Things On board?

[Milwaukee Eight]

Just watched Weather Channel in Galveston. Minor flooding was remedied by cleaning debris from storm water drains. They also indicated that pwr was still on.

 

 

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[trapps30]

The whole point of this site is for people to share their opinions. If I don't agree with you on this then sorry. But I am perfectly entitled to my opinion and no I do not believe RC have handled this well at all. Especially when multiple news sources have said the port is closed through Tuesday..

 

 

 

Whilst I might not know when the storm will pass, I do know that gusty winds, strong rain, are expected to persist through Monday. There are 340 weekend flights cancelled in and out of Houston. The Houston area Has been declared a state of disaster. Parts of Galveston have been advised to evacuate. Galveston schools are closed through midweek.

 

 

 

So whilst I would love to be as optimistic as you, sadly I am not.

 

 

 

You do realize the news can say whatever they want. They are NOT the port authority nor did they get the closure info from them. If you follow the port itself, at no time have they said it will be closed until Tuesday. In fact they said their MAY be a window for the ships to come in tomorrow. Update to come tonight. It's a wait and see situation. News outlets tend to sensationalize a situation. So in this instance I'm following the ports FB and I'll get my info from them.

 

 

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[stewpapa]

You do realize the news can say whatever they want. They are NOT the port authority nor did they get the closure info from them. If you follow the port itself, at no time have they said it will be closed until Tuesday. In fact they said their MAY be a window for the ships to come in tomorrow. Update to come tonight. It's a wait and see situation. News outlets tend to sensationalize a situation. So in this instance I'm following the ports FB and I'll get my info from them.

 

 

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Yes, FB is the most reliable source.

 

 

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[ONECRUISER]

No since it is a free upgrade!

But you have to pay extra gratuities!:D;p

But in this same situation, ship stayed out extra couple days due to storms, even though not supposed to get extra points, Cruise Critic members said they did. So can always hope...

[flviking]

So encouraging thousands of people to a city in the early stages of post-hurricane to got right into that mess is a good idea?

 

OR...

 

Cancelling the cruise completely whereby many if not most people (those without insurance) will lose thousands of dollars is a good idea?

 

The fact is no matter what, there is so simple or all-resolving answer. The one that Royal seems to have taken is "be safe and wait and see"...you know...the smart path. For that a few narrow-minded people ridicule them. It has nothing to do with RCI specifically...it's just prudent and common sense...and the same advice given by authorities for people living in the area and wishing to return home.

 

Not sure how this continuing non answer is safe for those scheduled to begin their cruise in a federal disaster area. I'd imagine the hotels are filled with evacuees who don't know when they can return to their homes. It's hard for me to see how adding more people into this tragic weather event is considered safe or smart rather than greedy.

[Spurschick]

You do realize the news can say whatever they want. They are NOT the port authority nor did they get the closure info from them. If you follow the port itself, at no time have they said it will be closed until Tuesday. In fact they said their MAY be a window for the ships to come in tomorrow. Update to come tonight. It's a wait and see situation. News outlets tend to sensationalize a situation. So in this instance I'm following the ports FB and I'll get my info from them.

 

 

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Yes the news can say what they want and so can the weather channels. That doesn't always mean it's sensationalized though.

 

The whole point of many people's disgruntlement is that RC are not allowing any cancellations and now the next update is less than12 hours before the ship is due to dock.

 

The vast majority of guests on this sailing would travel to the area today. A lot of guests have already had their flights cancelled yet RC still won't let them cancel or change to other sailings this weekend that they could have made.

 

The main argument of all of this is Carnival made an announcement and gave guests a choice. RC is still leaving people in limbo. For a "MAY" be able to get in but we still don't know chance. That's the problem.

Edited August 27, 2017 by Spurschick

[Wanna Be Retired]

They just told us they were hoping to get us in the port at 9:00 in the morning. We are setting our luggage out to get off the ship in the morning. The Captain did not say we are definitely getting off, but it looked favorable.

[dcrow72]

Wow. Can't believe they actually think they can dock and take off again with this going on. They are predicting horrible flooding in Galveston overnight and tomorrow. I'm scheduled for my first RCL on Liberty next Sunday. If this is how they operate, I'll stick to Princess in the future.

 

 

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[dsvd79]

James Van Fleet‏ @JamesVanFleet 46m46 minutes agoMore

 

 

For those coming to next Cruise, we will be delayed 1 day for embark leaving Monday. We will be offering 1 day missed cruise credit plus

 

 

 

[kevdad]

James Van Fleet‏ @JamesVanFleet 46m46 minutes agoMore

 

 

For those coming to next Cruise, we will be delayed 1 day for embark leaving Monday. We will be offering 1 day missed cruise credit plus

 

 

 

And those that came into the natural disaster area today to board the ship tomorrow get to spend another night in the natural disaster area. Wow. Just wow. How that is viewed as acceptable is beyond me.

[Wanna Be Retired]

James Van Fleet‏ @JamesVanFleet 46m46 minutes agoMore

 

 

For those coming to next Cruise, we will be delayed 1 day for embark leaving Monday. We will be offering 1 day missed cruise credit plus

 

 

 

Thanks! Does that mean we get off the ship tomorrow and they let new group on the next day? Or, are they trying to get in the port, send us out and wait for the next day to let new group on and leave? Maybe early Monday morning since we can't do anything until 9:00 tomorrow?

[LMaxwell]

Thanks! Does that mean we get off the ship tomorrow and they let new group on the next day? Or, are they trying to get in the port, send us out and wait for the next day to let new group on and leave? Maybe early Monday morning since we can't do anything until 9:00 tomorrow?

 

Go demand some answers onboard, they clearly are not being 100% forthright with you.

[JupiterTwo]

So encouraging thousands of people to a city in the early stages of post-hurricane to got right into that mess is a good idea?

 

I think I see the problem that has been bothering me while lurking on your posts.

 

You think this is a "post-hurricane" situation.

 

Newsflash... the storm is still going on. It may not be a hurricane anymore, but there is no "post" to it; it's still parked off of Victoria and sending rain bands over Galveston and Houston.

 

A big one is about to drift over Galveston as I type. Local TV has been covering this all day and night. My weather scanner has been going off constantly with tornado warnings and flash flood warnings over the entire region.

 

While that region may not be the port, it does cover the airports, roadways from the airports to the port, and the communities where the port workers live.

 

If your opinions were based on this being a "post-hurricane" event where all is now better and the winds and seas are now calm as seen from Atlanta, then I now understand why you're so far off the mark today.

[perditax]

Thanks! Does that mean we get off the ship tomorrow and they let new group on the next day? Or, are they trying to get in the port, send us out and wait for the next day to let new group on and leave? Maybe early Monday morning since we can't do anything until 9:00 tomorrow?

 

Someone else on board in another thread seemed to imply they might use the ship as a floating hotel for people stranded in Galveston after the alleged disembark tomorrow.

[pspercy]

Thanks! Does that mean we get off the ship tomorrow and they let new group on the next day? Or, are they trying to get in the port, send us out and wait for the next day to let new group on and leave? Maybe early Monday morning since we can't do anything until 9:00 tomorrow?

 

From http://www.royalcaribbean.com/beforeyouboard/itineraryUpdates.do?cS=NAVBAR&pnav=3&snav=10

 

ITINERARY UPDATES

 

August 26, 2017

 

Due to Tropical Storm Harvey and weather conditions around the Galveston/Houston area, as well as the port's current closure, Liberty of the Seas will arrive to the Port of Galveston tomorrow later than originally scheduled. Because of this, boarding for the next cruise will now take place on Monday, August 28 between noon and 3 p.m. We ask that guests not arrive to the port before noon.

[Ocean Dancer]

Go demand some answers onboard, they clearly are not being 100% forthright with you.

Post of the day!!:cool::cool:

[perditax]

Wow. Can't believe they actually think they can dock and take off again with this going on. They are predicting horrible flooding in Galveston overnight and tomorrow. I'm scheduled for my first RCL on Liberty next Sunday. If this is how they operate, I'll stick to Princess in the future.

 

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I'm pretty sure my first RC cruise next month will be my last, but wanted to give them a try. Being kept waiting till the night before for real info on such a blatantly obvious situation would have had me climbing the walls. And I'm sailing out of FL in a few weeks and it's still hurricane season, so who knows. ;)

 

(Yes, I have comprehensive travel insurance, which is not the point.)

[blueclawfan]

TINERARY UPDATES

 

August 26, 2017

 

Due to Tropical Storm Harvey and weather conditions around the Galveston/Houston area, as well as the port's current closure, Liberty of the Seas will arrive to the Port of Galveston tomorrow later than originally scheduled. Because of this, boarding for the next cruise will now take place on Monday, August 28 between noon and 3 p.m. We ask that guests not arrive to the port before noon.

[LMaxwell]

Post of the day!!:cool::cool:

 

I mean come on, when people on the ship are posting to CC to find out what's happening on the ship something definitely is not right. Weren't all of these cruisers told to put luggage out tonight? Now best case scenario is they get in late tomorrow and possibly debarked Sunday night or Monday morning.

 

BIWISI status

[lbjen]

He said on Twitter that they are going to have a conference call with the authorities at 9:30am to discuss whether they can enter the port or not. I think that's all they have as a concrete time frame right now.

[snoopy5386]

So the people who are supposed to be on the next cruise and can't get to Galveston by Monday because of the hurricane are SOL then? Can't imagine too many hotels

in Galveston are taking reservations right now.

 

We were cruising on Disney during Hurricane Matthew last year and had travel insurance. I spent quite a bit of time of the phone with them. And bottom line is, the insurance won't necessarily cover the cost of the cruise if it isn't canceled. Perhaps trip interruption coverage will apply?

 

Thankfully for us it didn't come into play because we were able to change our flights with no penalty since the airline waived its fees, but basically we didn't know when we were going to dock or if we would make our original flight, it would have been cutting it very close if everything went according to plan. The trip insurance company told me if the flight was not canceled (it wasn't) and if they decided that there was a "reasonable amount of time" (but wouldn't give me a number, 3 hours? 4 hours?) for us to make it after the ship docked they wouldn't cover the cost of changing the flights. It was very stressful and not what I was expecting, I thought the insurance was there for peace of mind but it was not.

 

Thankfully Southwest let us change our flight without penalty, Alamo let us do the same with the car and Disney allowed guests to stay an extra night on the ship since no one was really sure what situation we were going to be getting into once we got off the boat. And no, Disney did not charge gratuities for those extra days on the ship. We tipped extra anyways, not the crew's fault.

 

In the end all the trip ins ended up covering was two meals on our departure day (which if the hurricane hadn't happened we'd have paid for those ourselves) and a couple of extra days of airport parking. I would absolutely buy trip insurance again for a cruise, but it's not always going to solve every problem and even if we didn't have it, we would have been just fine.

[alonzo14]

Here in the Dallas area there are road signs stating not to drive to the Texas coast.

[perditax]

Road outages in Houston due to high water:

 

https://traffic.houstontranstar.org/layers/#

 

The situation is quite grave.

[perditax]

NWS Houston @NWSHouston

FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCY: Around & north Hobby Airport to Pearland & Friendswood. PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TRAVEL!

[Beachammo]

Liberty waiting off the coast. Carnival to the east....

 

 

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