I'm from Tampa and embarrassed!

[TDKK4SEV]

The reason for the delayed sailing is because the Carnival Miracle is going to be in Jacksonville for the Superbowl. Then they are doing a three day cruise on the 9th. Then going back to Tampa and they need a little extra time to prepare.

[TVMet]

The delay to an 8 pm departure shouldn't be a big deal since the Miracle has plenty of speed to get to G.C. on time.

 

Looks like the Miracle is in for a rough ride out of Tampa Bay this Sunday (tomorrow) as the forecast is for 10-12 foot seas in the Gulf behind the cold front. We were on the Miracle for 10 foot seas back in Dec. and it wasn't too bad. A little motion and a few people complained but it wasn't bad.

 

I'll never understand how people can complain about the rough seas and blame the cruise company or the ship. I even witnessed one guy in the walkway by the cassino, a young officer walked by, the guy stopped him and demanded the captain put out the stablizers. The officer calmly explained to him (in a Italian accent) that the stablizers were out and we were being hit by 30-50 kt. winds and 10 foot seas. The guy didn't seem to believe him.

 

I'm sure the captain hopes he never experiences anything like the 81 kts the Miracle took in the middle of Tampa Bay on Dec. 26th again. That was serious.

[cruzincurt]

In the paper today there was an article about the new casino ship that sails out of St. Pete. They mentioned that some people who got sea sick were complaining to the Coast Guard!

 

Wonder what they expected the Coast Guard to do about the waves??

[c&d]

I heard the Miracle is a long ship and is hard to turn around in the port.

So I am not surprised about this issue.

 

Lisa

You will have to let me know how the cruise go. Wish we could wave you off. But we had to cancel our trip next week too close to due date of Grandchild. So we will miss the CC group at Stumps.

 

Bye

Debbie in Ohio

[kujobie]

This is just one of the reasons I no lomger live in Tampa.:confused:

 

One of the reasons you moved from Tampa is because of the narrow shipping channel?

[jemingway]

Very funny. I was sarcastically referring to the limitation on which cruise ships can be stationed there.

[cruzincurt]

Being a long ship has little to do with passing another docked at the petro terminal in the channel. The turning basin is nowhere near the petro dock.

[jewopaho]

So much for the gloom-and-doom posts. According to Carnival and the Port of Tampa, yesterday's Miracle's arrival and departure were uneventful. Again, Carnival wouldn't even consider bringing in such a ship if passengers would have to be shuttled to and from a freighter terminal. We look forward to our My 8th sailing.

 

Al

[cruzincurt]

It wasn't meant to be "gloom and doom". It just points out a problem that needs a solution if Tampa wants to leave a good memory with our guests.

[rgreenpc]

I love Tampa....

 

Lived in the area for 25 years...

 

I will admit I wish we had more cruise ships here... but we have 4 other places to catch cruise ships, all within 4 hours drive ( how many people can say that )????

[deerby27]

My DW and I were on the 1/16/05 sailing of the Miracle. We were EXTREMELY lucky. Because we went down a day early, we got to the port around 10:15AM. The cab driver said "OH-OH" as we pulled up to Pier 2 and then said that there was no ship. We stopped and talked to a Sheriff's deputy and he told the cab driver that we needed to be at Pier 7. Luckily the cab driver did not believe him and let us off at the entrance to the Aquarium. We made our way into the terminal and got the scoop. We were standing at the right place at the right time and were in the first group let upstairs to check-in. We then were directed to a waiting area for the bus ride to Pier 7 with the bus #1. This was all before 11:00AM. We finally bearded a bus around 1:45PM and were on the ship by 2:15PM. The only complaint we had was that a Carnival rep. kept making announcements thanking us for our patience, but never really told us how much longer we had to wait. I really consider ourselves fortunate that we were able to get on as early as we did. Buses were still bringing loads until after 6:00PM. I also think under the circumstances that Carnival did a great job with a logistical nightmare. By the way the debarkation on the 23rd was by far the best we had ever been through at any port.

[mikeymars]

Carnival and the Port of Tampa have addressed the problem (they're not about to go through this every Sunday)Al

 

No, just every other Sunday. It happened AGAIN yesterday. Apparently, CITGO is in charge of the Tampa Port Authority......

[MyImagination]

No, just every other Sunday. It happened AGAIN yesterday. Apparently, CITGO is in charge of the Tampa Port Authority......

 

Miracle is serving as one of the five "floating hotels" for the Superbowl in Jacksonville. She wont be back in Tampa until Feb 13.

[mikeymars]

Fine. I'm sure CITGO and the Port Authority are already busy insuring that there will be big, ugly oil tanker sitting in the channel on February 13.

[mikeymars]

So much for the gloom-and-doom posts. According to Carnival and the Port of Tampa, yesterday's Miracle's arrival and departure were uneventful.

Al

 

Perhaps, but they "fixed" that a week later:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=129645

[MyImagination]

Perhaps, but they "fixed" that a week later:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=129645

 

The OP is talking about the same sailing, the problem was on 1/16. The newspaper article was written 1/20. On the other thread the OP said they disembarked at the normal location.

[JerseyShore64]

I knew when I heard the story on the news that there would be angry folks all around. I guess I would be a little upset if I had to have my plans altered. Really, what is more important than my plans, right????

 

Clearing out the channel has no bearing on this situation, the "agreement should have been extended".

 

Here's a thought, why not have some ships go out of Port Manatee, since the demise of Regal Empress, that port is not housing cruise ships.

[rgreenpc]

Here's a thought, why not have some ships go out of Port Manatee, since the demise of Regal Empress, that port is not housing cruise ships.

 

But we ( the tax payers ) spent all that money on a nice cruise terminal...

 

I think the harbor master just has to schedule accordingly for the cruise ships.

 

That is what other ports do.

 

You know the ship will be back around X - and they can update via the 'net as to updated ETA.

[gtalum]

Being a long ship has little to do with passing another docked at the petro terminal in the channel. The turning basin is nowhere near the petro dock.

 

The problem is where the Citgo tankers park in the channel when they're offloading. The Citgo terminal is right at a bend in the channel at Hooker's Point. When the Citgo tanker is there, there's very little clearance to get a long ship like the Miracle around that bend. Since they're transferring gasoline, which I assume you know is extremely flammable and a volatile explosive, from the tanker to the shore, I think it's wise that they take extra safety precautions. This i sstill a rleatively new procedure, since the Miracle has only been there for three months. They will work it out.

[jcrandle]

I don't think this holds a candle to the port debacle we went through to board the Conquest in NO in March 2003. Due to high water in the Mississippi, and a power cable that Entergy had hung too low over the water, we were bussed 90 miles from the Julia Street terminal to Biloxi, MS. Carnival had check in and security there, and since the check-in computers were in NO, the whole deal was done manually. We had gotten to the NO terminal about 10 AM, and weren't on board the ship til 7 PM. Luckily, the rest of the cruise was wonderful.

[mikeymars]

So much for the gloom-and-doom posts. According to Carnival and the Port of Tampa, yesterday's Miracle's arrival and departure were uneventful. Al

 

For only a week.

 

Then things went back to "normal" (a.k.a. "tourists be damned") at the Tampa Port Authority.

 

For when the Carnival Miracle returned yesterday, Sunday 1/30 from the seven day Western Caribbean cruise it left for on Sunday, 1/23, it couldn't dock at the cruise ship terminal again because (JUST LIKE ON 1/16) an oil tanker was blocking the channel.

 

Instead, passengers again had to (JUST LIKE ON 1/16) debark at a freight pier at Hooker's point and take busses to the cruise ship terminal.

 

Proof? Read the trip report below from a passenger aboard said cruise (scroll down to their discussion of dembarkation):

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=129805

[mikeymars]

The OP is talking about the same sailing, the problem was on 1/16. The newspaper article was written 1/20. On the other thread the OP said they disembarked at the normal location.

 

Wrong. They are referring to a DIFFERENT sailing, specifically, the Carnival Miracle 1/23 Western Caribbean sailing that returned yesterday 1/30.

 

When it arrived yesterday, it couldn't dock at the cruise ship terminal because (AGAIN, JUST LIKE ON 1/16) an oil tanker was blocking the channel.

 

Instead, passengers had to (AGAIN, JUST LIKE ON 1/16) debark at a freight pier at Hooker's point and take busses to the cruise ship terminal.

 

Proof? Read the trip report below from a passenger who was aboard said cruise (scroll down to their discussion of dembarkation):

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=129805

[gtalum]

The above is inaccurate.

 

You should check the date on posts before claiming their info is inaccurate. ;)

 

The Miracle sailing that returned on the 23rd (ie, the day before that poster posted that message) did indeed dock at the cruise terminal.

 

While I do not understand your illogical anger at the issue, something clearly does need to be done.

 

Citgo doesn't "control" the Port Authority. However, there are often delays in offloading vessels, and both times the Citgo barges were there longer than intended. Personally, I have no doubt that the situation will be fixed soon. The Port Authority is now under new management as of last week.

[jewopaho]

I was as disappointed as anyhone, given what I had posted. I called Carnival today, and politely told the rep that I would like an update on this matter. He referred me to a supervisor, who stated that from this point on, the Miracle will be leaving from, and returning to, the cruise terminal. He couldn't offer any explanation as to why Citgo and Carnival didn't resolve the issue before this, but he did acknowledge that there is a new Port Director - and that this was his immediate concern. I still believe that Carnival won't let such incidednts re-occur, nor will the Port of Tampa, which has its eyes on expanding its cruise business. Hopefully, we're back on track.

 

Al

[mikeymars]

I was as disappointed as anyhone, given what I had posted. I called Carnival today, and politely told the rep that I would like an update on this matter. He referred me to a supervisor, who stated that from this point on, the Miracle will be leaving from, and returning to, the cruise terminal. He couldn't offer any explanation as to why Citgo and Carnival didn't resolve the issue before this, but he did acknowledge that there is a new Port Director - and that this was his immediate concern. I still believe that Carnival won't let such incidednts re-occur, nor will the Port of Tampa, which has its eyes on expanding its cruise business. Hopefully, we're back on track.Al

 

Thank you for following up with Carnival and providing the update. Hopefully, the supervisor you spoke to is correct. Carnival management can't be happy about the costs of those buses to move passengers and luggage from the terminal to the other pier, much less the inevitable passenger complaints and negative "buzz" that ends up in places like this.