Emerald Princess Still In Houston

[Cruisedolls]

Texas and Liquor, if memory serves me well, was late 70s before you could go into bar or restaurant and get Liquor by the glass. or a mixed drink. I can remember going to Texas with friends stopping in Liquor store and buy a bottle and bring it to restaurant or dance put it on the table and the place would sell you set ups to cover profit. Took long time to get were they are. They have always collected State Excise Tax on Liquor at the Mexican border but this year the started collecting it when you buy from duty free shop. I have seen the numbers on this and it is a large sum of money. A large number of Texan's were going on board buying the limit and bring it home to avoid State Taxes. You still are exempt from Federal Excise tax up to a limit. Think like 5 quarts. The cruise ships are picking up liquor with no taxes and selling it on board to you. This is 50% of the cost of the Liquor. So they do not what to get into having to carry two inventories to keep states or Texas Happy. Most cruise ships you are only on them 4 to 5 hours before they can open bar

 

and sell anything they want. Texas could exempt the cruise ships from the rules for on board consumption and just stick with collecting State Taxes on Duty Free Sales. But not being in the industry any more do not how many problem this creates. Some of the biggest Liquor and Wine importers and Wholesalers are based in Texas and will not give up a penny.

 

I would say like many little things in this industry that has some really strange rules, this is one we are going to need to work around. Do not see It changing in the rear future. Or sail out of Galveston you will be in Gulf 2.5 hours quicker. If you were on a DCL ship this is not a problem they allow you to carry on all the liquor and wine you want. But it is built into the price of the cruise just like the fact that they do not have casinos That is built in also. Pay me now or pay me later. Ship like the Emerald, Royal, Regal, D Fantasy, and D Dream all take a lot of money to run at the levels they are operating at.

 

The one thing I am sure about if it could be changed Carnival would of had it done by now. They have been sailing out of Galveston for a long time.

 

 

Like I said just sailed out of Galveston a few months ago every bar in the ship was open and selling .... Crazy port of Houston nothing more .

[Beermam42]

After watching and reading all of these comments and ones on the RR page for this cruise. I would think the Emerald Princess needs to work more on a better plan B. The part about making the people wait extra hour to disembark in favor of walk off is discrimination. Many of us and more so with this cruise line have no way to handle two bag and two carry on bags. Other cruise lines do not handle it this way. There is walk off line but all allowed to start disembarking at the same time.

 

This will be interesting.

[caribill]

Like I said just sailed out of Galveston a few months ago every bar in the ship was open and selling .... Crazy port of Houston nothing more .

 

When we have sailed out of Galveston in the past on Princess, the same limited variety was available until we departed Texas waters.

 

Were the bars that were all open on the ships you were on have the full menu of drinks available, or just a limited number of brands while in Texas water?

 

What brands can be sold in Texas waters depends on what brands the cruise company buys from Texas distributors. Each cruise line determines what brands to purchase this way.

[caribill]

By the way, in both Galveston and Houston, returning passengers are asked to pay the Texas tax on all alcohol and cigarettes purchased while on the trip.

 

In Houston this is done after clearing immigration/customs.

[Cruisedolls]

After watching and reading all of these comments and ones on the RR page for this cruise. I would think the Emerald Princess needs to work more on a better plan B. The part about making the people wait extra hour to disembark in favor of walk off is discrimination. Many of us and more so with this cruise line have no way to handle two bag and two carry on bags. Other cruise lines do not handle it this way. There is walk off line but all allowed to start disembarking at the same time.

 

This will be interesting.

 

All of this is controlled by the port authority .... It's not the cruise line they tell u when u leave and when u come in .... Houston needs to get it together and soon ... When sailing down the Mississippi u need a special river pilot that gets off the ship at the mouth of the river .. They never have any of these issues .. And as far as the fog goes .. Fog in NOLA is so bad sometimes u can't see a thing but it never stops them from staying on time . Just a very unorganized port it sounds like .

[Times Prince]

Princess told us today that drink packages can be bought BUT only beer and wine can be served until u pass the breakwater ....I have been on over 20 cruises and ports all over and never have I heard such a crazy thing ... I know princess has nothing to do with this ... Houston really needs to get its act together .... New Orleans was just named one of the best places to sail out of and with the new Poland ave terminal opening next year word is that princess will have a new home along with the disney cruise line ! We sailed out if Galveston 5 times and didn't have any of these issues .

Until one goes 3 miles past Galveston starting from Houston Bayport you are still in Republic of Texas waters. That's why you haven't seen this before. Texas makes their own laws, and is a major "states' rights" player. (it is just plain weird living in this state.)

 

Cruise lines can only live with the rules, or depart.

[Cruisedolls]

When we have sailed out of Galveston in the past on Princess, the same limited variety was available until we departed Texas waters.

 

Were the bars that were all open on the ships you were on have the full menu of drinks available, or just a limited number of brands while in Texas water?

 

What brands can be sold in Texas waters depends on what brands the cruise company buys from Texas distributors. Each cruise line determines what brands to purchase this way.

 

 

I was on royal caribbean... This is my first princess cruise ... I've been on royal , celebrity , Paul Gauguin .... From ports all over never seen such nonsense that I'm reading about going out

of Houston ... This is my 23 cruise just crazy if u ask me . No need to complain it is what it is ... 1st and last out of Houston I can tell u that .

Cruises are always a roll of the dice ... However I have found sailing out of Puerto Rico has always been the best .

[caribill]

All of this is controlled by the port authority .... It's not the cruise line they tell u when u leave and when u come in .... Houston needs to get it together and soon ... When sailing down the Mississippi u need a special river pilot that gets off the ship at the mouth of the river .. They never have any of these issues .. And as far as the fog goes .. Fog in NOLA is so bad sometimes u can't see a thing but it never stops them from staying on time . Just a very unorganized port it sounds like .

 

The channel for ships on the Mississippi is wide. The Houston ship channel is narrow and there is little room for error when traveling on what is one of the busiest ship channels in the world.

[Cruisedolls]

The channel for ships on the Mississippi is wide. The Houston ship channel is narrow and there is little room for error when traveling on what is one of the busiest ship channels in the world.

 

 

Then maybe they should reconsider allowing cruise ships out of Houston .... People pay good money to go on these vacations . Plenty of other places to

Cruise from . Just my thoughts and I can tell u this if I would have read all of the stories mostly bad out of Houston we would be sailing from another port .

[MarkSeattle]

Like I said just sailed out of Galveston a few months ago every bar in the ship was open and selling .... Crazy port of Houston nothing more .

 

No it's TX law.

 

Sounds like the other lines stock a small number of everything from TX distributors whereas Princess has chosen not to and wait until they hit international waters instead.

 

This one is on Princess, not the port.

[Mississippian]

I rarely drink hard liquor, although being told I can't have any suddenly makes we want some. Anyway, I'm just curious how Princess handles the pre-orders of bottles that people have for their rooms. Do they wait until the ship hits international waters to deliver the liquor?

[matandbri]

Not sure I can do this right, but this is the Houston bar menu. I was on the 5 day. NEVER again will I sail out of Texas. If you live there and can drive I get it, but if you are flying, fly somewhere else!

[Stevesan]

PBS ran an excellent program about the Houston ship channel, starting from its beginning. Virtually all of the channel had to be both widened and deepened. if you missed it and it reruns, be sure to view it.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_Ship_Channel

[pablo222]

After watching and reading all of these comments and ones on the RR page for this cruise. I would think the Emerald Princess needs to work more on a better plan B. The part about making the people wait extra hour to disembark in favor of walk off is discrimination.

 

It's not as unfair as it may seem.

 

As soon as ship is cleared, people can start walking off, and

clearing customs / immigration.

 

They can't call 'colors' until the bags for that color have been

offloaded, and placed in luggage hall.

 

Seems like a bit of parallelism if people are walking at the same

time forklifts are off-loading bags -- good for everyone.

Edited November 20, 2014 by pablo222

[bjkTX]

I am on the same sailing as you, am trying to keep the good thoughts going for our sailing :) As we get closer I am obsessively checking the extended forecast and hoping to see some higher temps and clear skies.

 

We're also on that cruise with you - fortunately we can drive to the port if things get delayed. We were on two that were late last year - one leaving and one coming home.

[bjkTX]

I rarely drink hard liquor, although being told I can't have any suddenly makes we want some. Anyway, I'm just curious how Princess handles the pre-orders of bottles that people have for their rooms. Do they wait until the ship hits international waters to deliver the liquor?

 

In our experience what we pre-ordered was delivered the next day after we got on the ship.

[jeffdal]

Sunday's cruise on Emerald is going to be packed. Should be interesting!

[Mississippian]

I have been looking at the Pasadena, Texas, weather for Saturday. The forecast for both day and night is for off-and-on thunderstorms, sometimes severe, wind gusts from the s sw 10-15 or 10-20 miles an hour. Inch of rain.

 

As of now the worst weather is going to be between 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. Saturday night. Any thoughts of whether this might make the Emerald late getting in on Sunday? It's going to be a full ship going out!

[bjkTX]

I have been looking at the Pasadena, Texas, weather for Saturday. The forecast for both day and night is for off-and-on thunderstorms, sometimes severe, wind gusts from the s sw 10-15 or 10-20 miles an hour. Inch of rain.

 

As of now the worst weather is going to be between 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. Saturday night. Any thoughts of whether this might make the Emerald late getting in on Sunday? It's going to be a full ship going out!

 

It should be fine by Sunday - 79 and sunny after the storms end Saturday evening. But - this is Texas :-)

[reney313]

In our experience what we pre-ordered was delivered the next day after we got on the ship.

 

Thank you for confirming this is the same with Princess. This was our experience on Mariner of the Seas out of Galveston a few years ago. I had pre-ordered Champagne for Sail Away for my cabin as well as the other 2 cabins in our party. I was disappointed when we did not receive it, unaware of TX laws. We did receive on Day 2.

 

The Mariner did have a limited availability of spirits and beer available until we sailed away, but there did seem to be a little more than what is available on the Houston menu. Either way, there is still enough variety to choose from for the few hours onboard before sailing away.

[DebJ14]

In our experience what we pre-ordered was delivered the next day after we got on the ship.

 

It is the same way on Carnival and Royal Caribbean out of Galveston. You get your Bon Voyage Champagne delivered on day 2.

 

Go prepared with a bottle for your cabin that you can drink on embarkation day.

[DebJ14]

Does anyone know if they have changed the itinerary for the current cruise on Emerald Princess?

I thought they were going to Island of Roatan, Honduras

But webcam says bound for Costa Maya!!

 

It is an operational thing. Too many Carnival Corp ships at Roatan so some being diverted to Costa Maya. We deliberately picked our date in January because it was going to Costa Maya and not Roatan!

[Dudleydog73]

It is an operational thing. Too many Carnival Corp ships at Roatan so some being diverted to Costa Maya. We deliberately picked our date in January because it was going to Costa Maya and not Roatan!

 

Its not always a choice by Princess, but a necessity. The current cruise did not depart on time and because of this there was NO way to reach Roatan and still get back in time for the next cruise scheduled to depart, so Costa Maya was substituted.

[TubT]

We sailed twice on the Norwegian Sea out of the previous Houston cruise port (a little north of where the current port is). They had no problems on any of their sailings that I know of. But it WAS a much smaller ship.

[Cruisedolls]

Thank you for confirming this is the same with Princess. This was our experience on Mariner of the Seas out of Galveston a few years ago. I had pre-ordered Champagne for Sail Away for my cabin as well as the other 2 cabins in our party. I was disappointed when we did not receive it, unaware of TX laws. We did receive on Day 2.

 

The Mariner did have a limited availability of spirits and beer available until we sailed away, but there did seem to be a little more than what is available on the Houston menu. Either way, there is still enough variety to choose from for the few hours onboard before sailing away.

 

We sailed on mariner out of Galveston also feb 2013 ordered champagne as well it was in our room when our room was ready ... Non of this makes sense at all ... All the bars were open and were serving anything u wanted ... As a matter of fact they were walking around putting extra shots in people's glasses