Caribbean Princess cruise cut short?

[Mom33]

The Harbormaster need to grow a pair.:p

Below is what it looked like when we sailed into the LA harbor last week.:eek:

Viz couldn't be more than 200 feet at times less than 50 feet. The ships location is known within 20 feet...

 

 

2014-01-24_16-24-33_807 by MauiLvrs, on Flickr

 

Seriously considering moving our cruise to FFL...

 

The Harbormaster has to control the arrival and departures of ALL ships coming into port, not just the Caribbean Princess. The entrance to LA's harbor and the entrance to Houston harbor may have different size channels. Some are very narrow and leave no room for error.

[Tbirdconvert]

I was on the ship and I personally check noaa the day the announcement was made. It stated patchy fog possible. noaa is the same source they are using.

Yes the captain should pay attention to the forecast. I am say the captain and princess used the patchy fog possible as an excuse hoping the virus went away. when it did not they were forced by the cdc to clean the ship.

 

Originally we were told we could not leave the ship until our regular departure time. After more people got sick we were then told cdc was going to board and supervise the cleaning of the ship and we could not stay aboard.

 

Just respect us as your customers to tell us the truth or you may not have customers.

[Tbirdconvert]

Current position shows she left the harbor

[Tbirdconvert]

If they return due to weather they have no liability to their passengers as it is an act of God. If they return due to illness they have more liability. I am not sure who got 40% of anything. i sure did not. As a side note they did not provide transportation to the airport as promised in the letter. Only to the hotel.

[5:00_Somewhere]

Post. removed. There is clearly no point in trying to contribute to this conversation.

Edited February 2, 2014 by 5:00_Somewhere

[RDC1]

Not at all. However, I do find it interesting that the Carnival Triumph managed to get in and back out of Galveston, I assume with the same fog warning.

 

The Port of Galveston is about 15 minutes from the entrance to the channel accessing the bay. The Port of Houston is 3 hours from it. 3 hours along a narrow channel that is heavily used.

 

While ships are impacted by fog at Galveston even if they could not enter at night, they can get in within 30 minutes of the fog lifting. As such they are not as concerned.

 

Princess was looking at a fog warning that, if it had happened, would have resulted in the ship not being able to dock until Saturday afternoon and then would not have enabled the ship to leave again until late Sunday. The fog didn't happen on front end, but it certainly happened today and is keeping the ship at dock.

 

I can just imagine how many people would be complaining if they had not come in early, the fog had come in, and a lot of flights had gotten missed. Flights that would not have cost Princess a dime, except those that booked through them.

[txgood]

We are on her in 2 weeks.. can't wait to see what happens

 

We are on the same cruise and I'm with you: ready for the adventure where ever it goes! (or doesn't!) :)

 

I'm also ready for a break from the crazy weather we have been having down here in the Houston area. We have been here about 9 years and this seems to have been the oddest winter on them all.

[MauiLvrs]

We took the captain's first announcement seriously, but I know a lot of people didn't and continued to refuse to use the sanitizers.

 

They should be the ones to get sick :eek:

[ar1950]

Post. removed. There is clearly no point in trying to contribute to this conversation.

 

LOL, best comment yet! Ditto to that sentiment 5:00_Somewhere. :cool:

Edited February 2, 2014 by ar1950

[MaChere]

My sister-in-law and family were on board. They have lived on Galveston Bay for over 20 years. She said absolutely the captain made the right decision..."Many thought the fog issue bogus...but living on the bay for as long as we have...it was not bogus but a legitimate concern...if the port is fogged in...the tugs give no assist to ships so this causes all ships to stay in Gulf until fog lifts. The port did not fog...but with the cold front through and a warm front approaching one never knows."

 

As it turns out, the CB is fogged in tonight instead and cannot depart.

[Rancher Dave]

A quick glance at marine traffic shows a quiet port. Don't think I ever looked at it before when shut down.

[Rancher Dave]

Web cam shows her at dock still also. Triumph made it out before the fog. Sad for those stuck at dock.

[Rixnsd]

My father in law said it right. Keith Davis of Austin questioned the fog story.

 

"That's last Tuesday they tell us this, and they've never said anything different," he told KHOU. "I knew then nobody can predict five days in advance. I knew that that wasn't the case. They were just doing that to minimize their damages."

The truth goes on but you do not want to hear :-) got recordings and you tubes.

 

Is there fog yet??

[Rixnsd]

Yes, this evening's fog was correctly predicted days in advance. However, Friday night's lack of fog was incorrectly predicted. I still maintain that making itinerary changes based on foretasted weather is ridiculous.

 

If the cruise ships begin to routinely base their itinerary changes on predicted weather events, then I expect to see a increase in unhappy passengers.

 

They predicted the harbor to be shut down for three days. Why didn't they tell everyone leaving on Saturday not to arrive until Sunday? After all, as of three days ago, the port was supposed to be closed.

 

And we certainly didn't arrive at 10pm on Thursday night because the harbor might have been closed on Friday evening. We could have had that last night and morning at sea. But when all is said and done, our cruise was cut short for Noro. Not for fog. I enjoy my sea days and evening as much as I enjoy my port, and I lost even that for something that never happened. Ah, but at least the true main objective of cleaning the ship was achieved, so I guess it was worth it.

 

I like that. Very in perspective to what we went through.

[Rixnsd]

Perhaps this is one reason, from CBS News:

 

"Princess has notified the CDC (about Noro), who will board Friday to oversee an “extensive sanitation of the ship” prior to the next cruise departing February 1."

 

By getting in early and dumping those folks early Friday, Princess created time for the CDC to conduct this extensive sanitation on that day. Had they arrived on Saturday as scheduled, that CDC supervised inspection and sanitation would have surely prevented the ship from sailing with its new batch of passengers on Saturday.

 

Thanks for telling the truth perfect. CNN had my dad on first off said I do not like a Capt. to lie to us and say 3 days from now we will have fog at 7:30 am Sat. therefore we have to depart beautiful weather withstand a rough 28 ft storm to return immediately to Houston because the going to close the Port down. We new at 8:36 the announcement at dinner was a lie. I was telling my father in law how important and why we booked the cruise to visit Belize. I will Cont. if you want.

[satxdiver]

Thanks for telling the truth perfect. CNN had my dad on first off said I do not like a Capt. to lie to us and say 3 days from now we will have fog at 7:30 am Sat. therefore we have to depart beautiful weather withstand a rough 28 ft storm to return immediately to Houston because the going to close the Port down. We new at 8:36 the announcement at dinner was a lie. I was telling my father in law how important and why we booked the cruise to visit Belize. I will Cont. if you want.

 

There was fog and in fact there still is fog which is why the ship is still tied up to the Bayport pier waiting for it to lift. Weather prognosis is 70% chance of rain today and 30% tonight which should clear up the fog sometime during the day.

 

Galveston has near zero visibility in dense fog right now. Rain is predicted for later in the day. Until the fog lifts, the Caribbean Princess cannot leave Bayport and the Carnival Magic and Explorer OTS cannot enter the Galveston port.

 

I guess the captain was telling the truth about the fog after all. Poof goes another conspiracy theory.

 

The noro outbreak on the ship was also a problem but nothing like the RCCL ship that had to return early with over 600 sick pax and 100+ sick crew. The extra time in port allowed the CDC to come aboard and supervise the cleanup effort. We will find out later in the week how well that was done.

 

Sorry for those that were on the ship but they were given monetary concessions from Princess for their disrupted cruise, hotel rooms for those that needed it and assistance with flight changes, etc.

 

We were on the Mariner OTS sailing out of Galveston in December 2011 when we had a noro outbreak which they tried to clean up. They were not successful as the next week the outbreak was even more serious as was the following week. It can happen to any cruise ship anytime. Wash you hands properly with soap and rinse them good. Keep them out of your mouth!

Edited February 2, 2014 by satxdiver

[Rixnsd]

http://www.princess.com/bridgecams/

[satxdiver]

They are still in port and Galveston is fogged in at zero viz. It does not look good at this time. Rain is predicted (70%) later this morning which should clear up the fog. So now we just hope the wind does not come up.

[pablo222]

I think the water/ice tea stations are a good possibility for the noro spread. I see many people filling their personal water bottles on every ship and the lid touches the dispenser. Something to consider.....

 

When I have been on a ship, and they have code-red procedures

in place, a buffet steward mans the water/ice station, and serves

you.

<br/>

So, you're right -- and they try to prevent in from Happening.

<br/>

On Ruby, the water dispenser was behind a plastic guard, so

you couldn't touch the nozzle without actually trying to do so.

[pablo222]

I still maintain that making itinerary changes based on foretasted weather is ridiculous.

 

I think most people prefer to avoid hurricanes, and other severe weather,

and appreciate their ship diverting as needed.

<br/>

What a successful year for Princess! First, give away a bunch of short cruises that aren't selling. Then, put a ship in Houston, where cruise-after-cruise is fouled up. I know there are a lot of people in Texas, but how many of them will be interested in booking a cruise after all the negative publicity.

Edited February 2, 2014 by pablo222

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

I will never sail out of Houston again. We were the only cruise that sailed on time. Not something I want to worry about when we have the option of FLL. And I'm not alone. Princess made a huge mistake with sailing out of this port.

[L454S]

Agree with above, this is starting to look silly. Princess sent DW and I a special for this (2/1) sailing that we almost took. It is only about a 5 hour drive from home to Bayport. We turned it down at the last minute.

 

Being born and raised here, what I wonder about is how they get the ships(3 at times) in and out of New Orleans and down 80 miles of the foggy Mississippi River? Can Bayport be worse?

[Jzx1103]

Currently on CB and we are still docked in Houston. The captains log on my stateroom tv says we will leave at 1pm today bound for Costa Maya. However I could not confirm this with any of the employees here and we havnt heard from the captain since the muster drill yesterday. I recalled this happened once before a few sailings ago. Anyone who was on that sailing or read about it recalled if they still made it to roatan and belize after costa maya?

[alisrockin]

What drink options are there while sitting at Bayport?

[eclue]

Talk about exaggeration....one of the previous posters stated 28ft seas....seas were rough at 12 to 18 ft but never did we have 28 ft seas.

Some people are so filled with this " hate " attitude that they will not let it rest.....the fog was predicted and it happened..maybe not on the exact date .....so no my friends, the captain did NOT lie to us....

eclue:)