The BayPort and Caribbean Princess experience Jan. 18 sailing

[5:00_Somewhere]

I've never been so happy to be awakened early by the thrusters. We are safely docked at Bayport looking out at a gorgeous sunrise. It's a bit nippy at 32 degrees, but clear skies. Will answer more questions once we're of the ship. Thanks again for your interest and assistance.

 

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[MTdreaming]

Sounds like you had a great cruise (and a good attitude). Glad you made it back into port fine, hope disembarkation goes well.

[azbirdmom]

Glad you made it back on time and that you hit all ports! Sounds like your last day was similar to our's. Safe travels home.

Edited January 25, 2014 by azbirdmom

[CaribbeanCuties]

Glad everyone is safe during these winter storms! My daughter and I sailed out of Bayport Terminal with Princess this year January 4 and we had rough seas with 50 knot winds. Crazy times!!

 

 

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[Rancher Dave]

Viewing Galveston webcams and ship tracking there appears to be no signs of fog or delays for returning to Bayport Cruise Terminal. The CB is about to join a stream of traffic in the Houston Ship Channel through Galveston Bay.

 

We are having a major winter storm (for us) in Southeast Texas. Yesterday most schools and businesses in the area were closed due to ice and road conditions. Freeways were a mess overpasses and bridges covered with ice and closed. Many flights Friday morning cancelled. Things are back pretty much to normal with concern if any ice will be a problem first thing in the morning from water still around on the roads. It is going to be cold first thing in the morning around 29 and warming up to around 57 by 3 PM. Hope that none of this causes any problem for people traveling.

 

From your reports it appears you have enjoyed your cruise. Thanks for your detailed report. We will be going on the cruise in a few weeks.

 

Glad to know I was not the only one up watching the map at that hour. Actually I did go to bed about that time.

 

It is so nice outside today. No jacket required!!! Should be a perfect day for sailaway later today as well.

[sminfiddle]

There was some earlier discussion, and I am wondering which of the Bayport area hotels, I might suggest for the out of towners. I have not stayed in that area and its about 75 miles from me so it may as well be the moon.

 

I would appreciate your thoughts and suggestions. I know some provide transport to Bayport and some may not.

I mentioned Candlewood Suites in La Porte earlier, I can provide more details.

Overall less expensive than the hotels nearer NASA or in Kemah. For our Friday night stay, I found their "Candlewood Weekend" rate was lower than the AAA Member rate.

Rooms have a real kitchen with stove, oven and a tall refrigerator, plates, utensils etc. For those driving in, parking is free; for others, grocery store (with pharmacy and wine shop) is across the street and most fast-food chains are within walking distance, plus the sit-down Baytown Seafood which offers good value.

Port shuttle was $20 (for the two of us) and includes pickup after the cruise. Runs hourly - tell them the night before how early you want to get to the port. It takes like twelve minutes to get to the port.

 

 

 

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[5:00_Somewhere]

I want to thank you all again for your interest, support and help with weather information, etc.

 

I wanted to give one final report regarding disembarkation and such.

 

Disembarkation was an absolute breeze. We were assigned to the first group to disembark after express walk off (because we had a Princess transfer to the airport, with a 1:00 pm departure.) We went to the departure lounge at 8:00 in preparation for a scheduled 8:25 disembarkation. In fact, that called our tags at about 8:10. It took no time to find our suitcases or to get through customs (there were at least 8 lines open, with no more than 1 person/couple waiting for each agent.) We exited the terminal and saw big signs pointing left for the airport transfers. There were several large motor coaches with signs in the windows clearly displaying which airport they were going to. We boarded the bus and by about 8:30/8:35 we were leaving for the airport. The trip took almost exactly 1 hour. The bus first stopped at Terminal A housing many airlines other than United (which uses Houston as a hub), then United's terminal C. I note that at Terminal C we were dropped on the lower level near baggage claim and had to go up 1 level to check in.

 

It appeared to me that all remaining passengers got off our bus at Terminal C. There may be a separate bus for the other terminals, such as International flights leaving from Terminal E, but I would recommend checking with Princess about this.

 

Check in was also a breeze at this hour. We had checked in for our flight online, but still needed to check and pay for our large suitcases. Again, there were several gate agents open with very few people waiting. Security was also very quick. By 10:00 we were seated in "Bubba's Bar and Grill" enjoying a Bloody Mary and ordering breakfast.

 

I would note that we purchased Princess Transfers to IAH/Bush before the cruise. From our own personal experience in the past, while we've found that transfers from the airport to the ship can sometimes be problematic, the transfers from the ship to the airport are often very convenient and cost effective, and this proved to be the case for us in Houston: $24 per person, vs. the reported $100 plus tip by taxi.

 

Our flight was easy and we returned to Boston at 5:40 last night ... to snow and temperatures in the teens. But, that's okay with us. We had a great cruise and are happy to be home with our doggies.

 

I hope this is helpful, and will look through this thread later today to see if there are any other specific questions I can help answer.

 

Happy Sunday, everyone!:D

Edited January 26, 2014 by 5:00_Somewhere

[5:00_Somewhere]

So I've looked through all the pages of this thread, and the following appear to be the only questions that were not answered by others or me at some point. But, please feel free to ask any other questions you may have.

 

Guys- I have been following along. It's always good to hear from you and I am glad you are enjoying your cruise as much as I did.

 

It's minus 1 in Chicago tonight and windy....bad combination, so if it is 58 in Bayport on Saturday morning count your blessings!

 

Did you like the itinerary? I certainly liked seeing some new ports (had been to Cozumel many times) even though they were poverty-stricken. Hopefully our tourist dollars will have some trickle-down effect in the long run.

 

Have a great sea day! If you see Vlada the bar waiter on deck tell her Norris said hi.(young, blond, pony-tail, big smile)

 

Safe travels!

 

Norris

 

Norris, we really enjoyed this itinerary, especially for relaxation, which is what we were looking for more than anything else from this cruise. We especially enjoyed the 3 sea days, with the last 2 back-to-back, for maximizing relaxation potential. ;) Also, we had visited Cozumel many, many times, and planned to do nothing but enjoy the Sanctuary in the morning and then go ashore and have lunch (and margaritas) at Pancho's, which we always enjoy, even though it's a bit on the "touristy" side. I would definitely do this itinerary again, especially for the price, though I would choose a different way of exploring Belize.

 

Sure would love to hear your favorite venues, shows, meal choices etc. Which deck is breakfast served in the dining room?

 

So glad you have had a great cruise. We board in a couple of weeks!!

 

Sort of following on the theme I mentioned above, this cruise was all about relaxing and not scheduling much, so we really didn't see any shows while aboard, and we were very casual in our dining choices. I can highly recommend martinis and jazz/dance music in the Wheelhouse (with Conrad, who is a WONDERFUL friendly bartender). There was a great young piano player in Crooners this trip, and everyone really enjoyed him. There was a lot of entertainment all day and evening in the Piazza. We always love Vines, and had a good time there with our friend, Ryan, whom we know from a previous cruise on the Ruby Princess. We reserved the Sanctuary for the entire week, and very much enjoyed that; the staff there was fantastic as always. We had Anytime Dining and ate in the Island Dining Room on Deck Five 3 or 4 nights (the eggplant parm appetizer on Italian Night was very good and extremely popular.) We also had a very good meal in the Crown Grill on the second Formal Night - our waiter was so kind that he went to the main dining room and got us each the escargot appetizer we love that was being served there that evening. One night we just had burgers while watching football on MUTS, and one night we simply had sushi and tapas at Vines for dinner. Oh, Breakfast was being served every morning in the Coral Dining Room on Deck Six, just off the atrium. I believe lunch was served there, as well, but we never ate lunch in the dining room. They also offered Pub Lunch in the Crown Grill on the first and last sea days (but not the middle sea day.) I think that's about it. Might sound a bit boring but, as I said, this trip was all about no pressure and no plans for us. Hope that's helpful, though.

 

Thank you for the review. Can you tell me what you guys did in Rotan? still looking to either go through the ship or private. Your review of Belize was very helpful. Have a safe trip back home.

 

We did a private catamaran snorkeling excursion in Roatan. It was booked by a fellow passenger (from our Roll Call) and my husband planned it. I can get the details if you like. We had to walk a small distance out of the port area to meet a taxi van. We then traveled about 35 minutes to a small village where the boat was docked. The boat is owned by a Canadian couple, and crewed by 3 locals: a cook and 2 snorkel/dive guides. They were all VERY nice. The offer beverages and home made muffins while motoring to the snorkel site. We snorkeled around 2 large rocks (the "Cow" and "Calf") for about 40 minutes and saw lots of good sea life. We re-boarded the ship and were served a nice lunch of grilled chicken and shrimp with a salad and some sides. We then sailed back to the little village and re-boarded the taxi van which took us back to the port. It was about a 4 1/2 hour trip in all. There were only 8 of us on the excursion, which I believe is their minimum; they will take up to 20. The cost was $100/person.

 

One final not that I know will be important to many people: on the last day the Chicken and Cashew Waldorf Salad (with cashews) reappeared at the IC! And there was much rejoicing. ;) The oatmeal cookies were there all week. :)

Edited January 26, 2014 by 5:00_Somewhere

[Colo Cruiser]

Welcome home! :)

[caribill]

Thanks for all the reports.

 

Glad you had a great trip.

 

Sorry about the Boston weather.

[douglinc@msn.com]

Really enjoyed reading your review, just found out last night that we had some friends on the same cruise. We will be doing it also on 3-29.

 

Doug

[poncho1965]

Enjoyed your report, my brother and SIL were also on this cruise :-) Thanks!

[5:00_Somewhere]

Really enjoyed reading your review, just found out last night that we had some friends on the same cruise. We will be doing it also on 3-29.

 

Doug

 

Thanks Doug, glad you found it of interest. I hope you have as good (and uncomplicated) a time as we did. By late March, I strongly suspect the weather will present significantly less concern. Wonder if we ran into our friends. We met quite a few people during the week.

Edited January 28, 2014 by 5:00_Somewhere