Galveston fog question

[CruisinQueen2013]

With all of the fog talk lately, I checked the weather report for our upcoming Navigator cruise on Sunday and it shows some morning thunderstorms with "fog developing in the afternoon". Obviously, we'd ordinarily be leaving in the afternoon so my question is does it take a lot of fog (i.e. dense) to close the port of Galveston or is it likely that just about any fog would delay sail-away? Any one have experience with this? As long as we can get onboard, I'll enjoy the ship even if we have to stay in port longer but was just curious what others have experienced.

[Clarea]

We were delayed by fog once on Voyager out of Galveston. I believe it was about a 2 or 3 hour delay. The only semi big deal I recall was that they ran our of Texas stamped beer, so there were some unhappy folks on board who had to wait until we sailed before they were able to serve more beer.

[CruisinQueen2013]

:) thanks. Running out of alcohol is definitely not high on my concern list. I'm almost 5 months pregnant. :)

[Clarea]

:) thanks. Running out of alcohol is definitely not high on my concern list. I'm almost 5 months pregnant. :)

Just so you know:

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&pnav=5&pnav=2&faqType=faq&faqSubjectId=333&faqSubjectName=Onboard+Policies&faqId=313

[bighairtexan]

I've cruised out of Galveston about 10 times on a couple of lines. In that 10 times, fog affected 3 or 4 cruises so that's a fairly high percentage. I never cruise in the summer, but usually November thru April when it's more likely to be an issue. Usually I'm still in Galveston waiting for the ship to come in. COme to think of it I've never been out in the ocean w/ a delayed arrival, just delayed departure.

 

I'm not sure what a lot of fog is compared to a little fog. I've seen it dreary but not foggy ashore, but you can see a big cloud bank just sitting off the coast.

 

As for staying in port longer.... I stayed in port THREE DAYS LONGER on the Galveston oil spill cruise last year. Fog related collision of 2 barges. Definitely better than staying in the terminal etc, but a weird half of the cruise (we were BEYOND well compensated).

[chengkp75]

I've looked at the Marine Zone forecast for Galveston Bay, and it looks okay for Sunday: SW winds 10-15, seas 3-5, slight chance of showers. No mention of fog. I'm in and out of Galveston Bay all the time, and generally the limit is 1/2-1/4 mile visibility. Galveston is one of the foggiest places in the US from Nov to Mar, but usually burns off by midday.

[knittinggirl]

We've been delayed three times by fog in Galveston. One time, we didn't get out until day 3! The other time, the ship arrived late and we embarked around 5 PM, the last time, we were on the ship when the fog hit Galveston, and we waited ten miles off coast for several hours. We got off the ship around 3 in the afternoon.

 

For the three day delay, we were told that Voyager had only 30' of clearance to make a turn. Carnival made it out of port on Day 2, but Voyager needed more visibility.

[CruisinQueen2013]

Just so you know:

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&pnav=5&pnav=2&faqType=faq&faqSubjectId=333&faqSubjectName=Onboard+Policies&faqId=313

 

Yep, I know, thanks. I'm several weeks under that so all is good. I've also got my fit to travel note from the doc.

[CruisinQueen2013]

I've looked at the Marine Zone forecast for Galveston Bay, and it looks okay for Sunday: SW winds 10-15, seas 3-5, slight chance of showers. No mention of fog. I'm in and out of Galveston Bay all the time, and generally the limit is 1/2-1/4 mile visibility. Galveston is one of the foggiest places in the US from Nov to Mar, but usually burns off by midday.

 

Very helpful, thanks!

[Cindy]

I've sailed out of Galveston 12 times -- once in November, once in December, twice in April, and 8 times in March. In all those sailings, we've been delayed by fog once, when we were held outside the port until it started to lift. We reached the terminal that day just after 8:30.

 

The foggiest months are January and February. That's when the water is the coldest and when warm air moves in Galveston is very prone to sea fog. Once the days start to get longer and the water begins to warm up the fog is less of a threat. It's also much worse some years than others. Last year was particularly bad, but we had a very cold (for us) winter. There haven't been as many foggy days this year, because our winter has been much milder.

Edited February 25, 2015 by Cindy

[murfturf]

We've been delayed three times by fog in Galveston. One time, we didn't get out until day 3! The other time, the ship arrived late and we embarked around 5 PM, the last time, we were on the ship when the fog hit Galveston, and we waited ten miles off coast for several hours. We got off the ship around 3 in the afternoon.

 

For the three day delay, we were told that Voyager had only 30' of clearance to make a turn. Carnival made it out of port on Day 2, but Voyager needed more visibility.

 

Was one of those the Navigators first cruise out of dry dock? We were on that Feb 9 2014 on disembarkation day and sat off the coast for hours, I felt bad for those in their cars waiting for us to get off the ship and leave the parking lot! It made for a long drive home, but RCI did a good job taking care of us while we waited.

[CPADWJ]

Cruise Critic has a page about the fog:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4395

[dschultz56]

We had a delayed arrival due to fog on our first cruise on Voyager. It was in Feb and the fog didn't lift enough for us to come in until about 1pm. And then it was a couple of hours to get docked. It was kind of cool being on the deck and hearing all the ships sound their horns but you couldn't see them. When the fog started lifting there were probably 80-100 ships offshore. I think one of the Carnival ships had been stuck out there for 2-3 days.