LoneStarJeffe

Nice sail away for Navigator. Everybody standing around the decks. I wish them a great cruise.

Just watched Magic depart on the cruise cam. Navigator is next. Not a bright sunny day for departure, but I am sure they are having fun. :)

Beautiful sunrise this morning over the ships on the Pier 23 cam! We board in two months. I cannot wait.

Regarding expansion of Terminal 2, I have seen nothing since this announcement.

http://www.cruisehive.com/port-of-galveston-upgrade-cruise-terminal-thanks-to-royal-caribbean-agreement/2224

Main complaints are the general line inefficiencies, especially waiting for the security scanning, and lack of seating for embarking passengers and the long, long wait times for disembarking passengers, especially at customs and having to pay Texas taxes for duty free items purchased. New terminal will likely improve embarkation but disembarkation issues or more lack of manpower. Too few customs agenst for the passenger volume. I hope this commitment gets both expanded custom line capacity and a commit to staff them.

Enjoying the review. Being from the Houston area, I think you absolutely nailed it on the hot observation! :)

There is no best cruise line since each one offers an experience that appeals to different people. The key to choosing any cruise is not to think price, but think value. What do you think is the best value for your money? I personally think I would enjoy the cruise more on Oasis inside than Breeze outside if prices were the same. But not $1000 more. So the better value would be Breeze. Only you can determine which is the best value. The fact I would choose Breeze is just my opinion.

I enjoy roll calls. However, I never felt a cruise was made or not by the roll call or the M&M on board. I cruise to relax. I do not get worked up if table mates are less than friendly or a roll call isn't as expected. You are taking another cruise!!! That is all you need to know!!!

Some people are more social than others. It is luck of the draw of who you meet on board. Me? I can have fun just leaning on the rail by myself watching the waves pass by. :)

We sailed Enchantment last January out of Baltimore. It was one of our best cruises. It was never too crowded, the crew was fantastic, and we loved the food both in main dining and the windjammer. I think three things can alter a ship's perception pretty quickly: an unhappy or lackluster crew that only does the minimum needed and without a smile, lousy food, and a sewer smell. All can be controlled. The ship itself I found well designed and while smaller, it was also easy to get around. I loved the Centrum and how it became a focal point for so many activities. I would sail her again.

12 night itinerary is really good when combined with the ship design for colder days. We took a similar cruise last year out of Baltimore and loved it even though it snowed the last sea day.

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I am one of those impacted. We booked this cruise 8 months ago. I did a lot of planning and we had high hopes for a fun week. Then came the oil spill and late arrival of Navigator. We boarded a little past midnight Sunday. Monday night at dinner they informed us the cruise was officially cancelled and the ship was not leaving Galveston. We decided to at least stay on board for few days before driving back home to Spring, Texas an hour and a half away from Galveston.

Three things happened Tuesday that really impacted our decision on what to do next.

The first was, as I suspected, they began shutting down the hot tubs and pools. Navigator uses salt water and the water is changed out frequently. They could not refill them when docked port side with the oil in the water.

The second was the announcement that we had until 6 pm to get our cars out of the parking facilities, including all private cruise parking lots, or else we would not get access to our car until Sunday. This meant we could not stay on board day by day and leave when we wanted.

I will get to the third item shortly.

Once they made the announcement about getting your car, we left the ship and went to our parking facility and confirmed that access would be closed until Sunday. We then went to find an alternate parking facility. There was none available that we found. Hotels would not accept liability for cars unless they were registered guests. City of Galveston parking has essentially daily metered parking lots which you must pay at least twice a day or else they would boot your car. So our choices to pay for a hotel room to allow us the option to go day by day, leave and drive home, or stay om board until Sunday. We went back to the ship to think through our options. That is when the third item happened.

It was 2 pm and we were not immediately allowed back on board., We had to wait in the terminal since they were moving the gangway. That was done for cleaning the ship of oil. So we then had to worry if we decided to leave the ship, would we hit another delay of missing our window to get our car because they were not just allowing you to go on or off the ship at any time.

We decided that since the last report was the ship was there for the week, the pools were going to be shut down, and we had been to Galveston many times and sightseeing was not really preferred over just going home and relaxing there, we decided to leave. We got off the ship a little after 3pm. We stopped along the way home for dinner. We got home a bit after 6pm due to rush hour traffic Tuesday. It was then we found out they ship planned to sail the next day to Cozumel.

At some point you have to call it. I asked my wife if she wanted to go and take the shorter cruise. We discussed and decided we were already back home and it didn't make sense to us. Yes, it is essentially a free cruise to Cozumel. But we already had a full refund. We were not out money and we will cruise again in the future. We had already decided what we would do instead for the rest of the week. Had we stayed on board, we would have enjoyed the cruise to just Cozumel. But the lack of car access until Sunday and the fact we were previously told in no uncertain terms the ship was not leaving meant we had to decide if five more days in Galveston was how we wanted to spend our vacation time. That answer was no.

I am very happy for those who had flights and no option to leave that they get a shorter cruise plus the full refund. Especially the families with children. For us, we made the best decision we could at the time. Stuff happens. We will enjoy our time together a different way and thanks to RCL, we are not out any cost of the cruise.

I am watching the Galveston cruise cam and RCL just moved away and is departing. Bon voyage and happy cruising to those on board!

We left this afternoon and do not plan to return tomorrow for the sailing. We drove and were facing a shutdown of the parking access and our car until Sunday. Certainly not Royal's fault. We could drive back tomorrow but we are really done with back and forth. We got a full refund and already booked another cruise on her in November.

I am very happy for those onboard. Had we known this was coming, we would have stayed. But we made the right decision at the time. We absolutely did not want to be onboard until Sunday with no car access staying docked in Galveston. No regrets on our decision. :)

There will be other cruises.

It is 25% off a future cruise based on what you paid for this one. They will send us a cert with the details to our home address. We are treating it as a port day onboard with facilities and shops closed. Hopefully we will get to go ashore each day and see Galveston. Since we never left port, we should not need customs and immigration checks. Ice show today. We will see how well they skate when the ship isn't moving!!! :)

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Surviving the delay with a Kindle in one hand and an adult beverage in the other. It is not what you want. You just shrug and enjoy a different type of cruise. Roatan is out. The rest are day by day. But the Navigator crew has been great.

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Muster drill at 10am. Captain stated we must be inspected to ensure no oil on the sides before we can leave port. Then , if channel is open enough to let us leave, we depart and then anchor offshore outside the channel to be reinspected and decontaminated if any oil is on the side of the ship. Only then can we leave. Spirits are good onboard. Everyone is just going with the flow and happy to be onboard.

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Onboard. Took about an hour and a half to board. Very long line. Thankfully no rain. But I am very happy to be onboard last night. My cruise vacation has started. We boarded at just after midnight. All the people who support the boarding process and were working late could not have been nicer. Muster drill at 10 am and hopefully we depart afterwards. Late night and up early. I am on vacation and expect a nap today. :)

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My wife and I am planning on boarding tonight. Just waiting a bit before we drive in so departing passengers exit the parking lot.

I don't have to get up early tomorrow. A late night start to cruise sounds EXCELLENT to me!!! :)

Hello, this is Royal Caribbean International. We would like to provide you with important update regarding your sailing today, March 23, 2014, onboard Navigator of the Seas. The U.S. Coast Guard has allowed access to the Port of Galveston for cruise ships at this time. We anticipate that most guest will be on board by midnight. We will provide you with another update once the process of disembarking guest is underway with the times that check in will be available. Should the situation change, we will update you accordingly. As always, we appreciate your patience until this situation is resolved.

Encouraging words from those who have experienced late departures. Thank you for sharing!

Fog is really gone. You can see the Magic cruise cam other ships waiting to enter port.

Much easier when like you sitting in own home waiting is possible. I feel most for those with upcoming checkout times at hotels unwilling to give a late checkout and those stuck offshore missing flights.

 

From video of crash it sure seems one of the pilots or vessel captains really messed up and the effects are wide reaching. Not only for ship pax but also crew due to crew change off cruise ships and even the cargo ships...folks who have been away for weeks or months ready to go home stuck on ship longer than planned....

Agreed. It is easier. But then it easier to be onshore waiting to get on then on the ship waiting to get off. I was in Vegas and our flight got cancelled and there were no flights out that day. So we went back to our hotel and had to wait four hours for a room. We just checked our bags at the desk and went out and about. I assume folks can do the same even if they cannot stay in the room. Not a great solution but will work. What I would not do is head to port because of a checkout time and wait in a very long line. Even a motel lobby is more comfortable then that choice.

I am sailing today on Navigator but oil spills this size are no minor deal. I am fine with delays in order to ensure proper containment and clean up to protect the environment longer term. I might not want this situation but it has happened and safe clean up is the correct priority. Stuff happens. I prefer not to stress.

DH and I were just talking about this trip and the fact that we really don't care about what time we board, only that we get on board! LOL... we both need some time away! Heck I would be fine with hanging in port... just so long as I don't have to cook or make beds. ;)

 

We also are hoping that this doesn't turn off my dad and step mom to cruising. This is their first time. So far they have been impressed that RCCI called to give updates...

 

The kids have been begging to just wear there swim suits under their clothes so that they can swim as soon as they get on board. I'm thinking it's gonna be a bit cool.

 

Which got me to thinking... what is the first thing that you like to do once you get on board?

My wife and I usually drop off our carry on bags in the cabin and stow our valuables in the cabin safe. Then we head to the pool deck and get adult beverages. :) We generally are not fans of fighting crowds at the Windjammer. I would love some hot tub time but agree the weather might be a bit cool for that. We meander over to find our table in the main dining room at some point as well. I generally do not really explore the ship until the next sea day. Generally, we just take it easy and enjoy the fact we have arrived on board and no further travel is needed. We are finally on board!

Per Channel 13 just now, Coast Guard will not have an update until at least 10 am on options for cruise ships waiting to dock at the Port of Galveston.

Just heard on our M&M thread from someone on board Navigator that the captain said the port likely will not open until at least noon. Docking and disembarkation would likely not start until 1:30 or 2 pm. That is hoping the port opens then which is far from confirmed.

We are on the NOS. Our family of 4 and my dad and step mom. We usually sail out if NOLA or Florida. My dad and stepmom have never cruised. The kids don't know they are going. We were going to surprise them on board.

 

 

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Hang in there. I doubt we will know more for a few hours. Should have a better idea of how long a delay between 10 and 11 am this morning.

By the way, the Pier 23 cam is usually easiest to use to see if the Carnival Magic has docked. If you see Magic there, then likely Navigator is sitting right behind her out of camera view.

http://www.galveston.com/pier23cam/

More info at the March 23rd Navigator Meet and Mingle roll call here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=42156334&posted=1#post42156334