Have You Cruised from Bayport (Houston) or NOLA at Christmas?

We are considering a Christmas (Dec 21 - 28) cruise from either Bayport (Houston) or New Orleans. Both cruises have the same ports--Cozumel, Belize City and Roatan, Honduras.

I know none of us can predict the weather, but I have heard that fog can be a problem at the ports in winter (as early as December?) and that the seas can be rough on this itinerary. (FWIW, I cruised from Galveston in early February and experienced rough seas, but no fog nor missed ports.)

If any of you have departed from these ports and/or had a similar itinerary at Christmas, can you tell me what weather you experienced?

Thanks so much.

We sailed on the Carnival Sunshine on 12/22/13 out of NOLA and had no problem leaving or returning. In mid March we were on the Sunshine again and it was very foggy when we started back up the river but we still docked on time. For some reason Galveston has a harder time dealing with the fog. One spring we didn't get into Galveston until about 2PM.

This will be out sixth cruise out of NO in December. Fog is never an issue on the Mississippi, can't say the same for Galveston. Coast Guard at times closes the ship channel to Galveston and Houston.

In all of those years we have had one night that was a little bumpy, not bad but a little bumpy for about 6 hours.

Depending on the cruise line some have different ports for Houston and NO. NCL for example does three ports from Houston, but four ports from NO.

I'll never do Galviiston again. January -- stuck outside of port due to fog. Missed flights. Paid heavy change fees for airfare then missed the rebooked later flights because the port itself cannot handle the crowds when late ships arrive all at once. Stay away unless your travel plans are totally flexible.

I guess we have been very fortunate with December weather. We have taken 3 Christmas week cruises out of Galveston and didn't have any fog delays.

I'm looking forward to booking a cruise out of Houston soon. We have sailed on Princess before and enjoyed the experience.

Cruising is a great way to see the world.

Thanks for your input, everyone. The die is cast--we are taking the Christmas cruise out of the Port of Houston.

Thanks for your input, everyone. The die is cast--we are taking the Christmas cruise out of the Port of Houston.

I hope you will come back to Cruise Critic when you return and post a review. Take lots of pictures. Have a great cruise.

We're back from the Christmas cruise on the Emerald Princess out of Houston. I will be writing a review for the "Members Review" forum later, but just wanted everyone to know that we had a fantastic cruise. The two main problems I anticipated for this cruise, bad weather in Houston and hordes of children, did not materialize. We had excellent weather throughout the entire trip, including Houston, so neither our departure nor arrival was delayed by more than 30 minutes. Also, I was amazed at how few children were on this Christmas cruise and those that were on it behaved themselves.

For anyone considering a cruise at Christmas on Princess, I would definitely recommend it. The ship was beautifully decorated; there were many nice holiday touches in food and entertainment; and there were not a large number of children aboard.

We're back from the Christmas cruise on the Emerald Princess out of Houston. I will be writing a review for the "Members Review" forum later, but just wanted everyone to know that we had a fantastic cruise.

You're back! I'm glad you had a good cruise. I look forward to reading your review.