Bad disembarkation on Navigator in Galveston today

[Eng23]

Funny, we have gone through customs with several bottles in liquor boxes from the ship and have never been taxed....don't smoke though...so there is duty free shopping. Just a limit on how much liquor you bring in duty free.

 

 

 

And its not new......

 

 

As I understand it Texas last year finally started collecting duty on alcohol and tobacco that passengers buy while on the cruise. They set up a table near the customs area for people to pay the Texas taxes on their way out. Many people complained about it because for so many years Texas never enforced this and decided out of the blue to suddenly start.

[BecciBoo]

My bad, we've not cruised Galveston since 2014 I think.

 

Say it isn't so!

 

Well, then no liquor for me this time around. RCCL is the loser, no?

 

Wonder what other things have changed....seems with all these reports, the customs routine has gone downhill also....and I have to deal with all my 14 cruisers......eek

Edited September 8, 2015 by BecciBoo

[kike368]

We just booked a Galveston cruise for next year. Guess we will plan accordingly for delays or just plan to stay an extra day.

 

We are doing to the Roatan/Belize route, since these are two places we have never been, but now it concerns me reading that this itinerary seems to cause disembarkation issues. Anyone know why? You would think it would be the same whether this itinerary or the Grand Cayman route.

 

Belize is the hot spot for drugs coming from all over central America, so customs applies higher level of scrutiny to both bags and passengers coming from there

[BonTexasNY]

What do people do who are physically unable to stand in line for 2-3 hours? Not the wheelchair bound, but those who are elderly or weak. :(

 

I have that problem! I called RCI Special Needs and they advised me to go to Guest Services once on board and request a wheelchair (even if I don't really need it for walking) and an RCI employee will meet me in a designated location and escort me off the ship and wait until I reach customs. I don't know what happens to the luggage??? I'm assuming we would be able to get a porter to hold our luggage until we reach the customs area. My husband can't stand for too long either but will NEVER admit to needing extra care.

 

Ahh the joys of getting "old". Yes, yes, I know. It's better than the alternative. :rolleyes:

 

See you Dec. 6!!

[Cindy]

Belize is the hot spot for drugs coming from all over central America, so customs applies higher level of scrutiny to both bags and passengers coming from there

 

That may well be true, but I don't understand why they only seem to do it to Royal Caribbean ships that home port in Galveston.:confused::confused::confused:

[mil76]

For disembark, we'll wait onboard until the last call and then maybe the crowds will be thinned by then. I don't see a benefit this time around for early departure with this many people together. We'll just try to remain unhurried and calm. Nobody is flying which will help. All driving to port.

 

Don't count on the crowd being thinned out in the terminal when they kick the last passengers off the ship. We tried the same thing with disastrous results arriving on Easter Sunday, and it wasn't even the Belize route. We were one of the last off the ship, and we basically walked off the boat right into a queue that started a few feet from the ship on the gangway, which was blazing hot by that time. It took 2 1/2 hours to get through the mess, and instead of thinking we were going to be waiting an hour on the pavement outside the terminal for our shuttle to Hobby, we ended up calling and begging him not to leave us ("luckily", Carnival disembarking was a disaster too so everyone took forever getting off that ship as well so the shuttle waited). They want to get everyone herded off the ship into that mass of humanity in the terminal as quickly as possible so they can get on with the next cruise. The really bad thing was they couldn't start boarding until after the end of the queue got past the door to the check-in area which was well over an hour. You can't imagine the dirty looks we were getting from the passengers waiting to embark when the door was occasionally opened by the staff and they saw us still waiting in line and delaying their vacation (like it was our fault).

[ewenix]

Our worst disembarkation was off the Liberty in FLL back in 2013. We had booked a GS and were so glad we could sit in the CL. I had booked a late afternoon flight so we were in no rush (thankfully.) The concierge kept checking on the wait times and would update us every once in a while. He kept telling us it was Customs holding things up. Finally about 11:30 he took us down a non-public elevator. We bypassed some people but still waited in line outside just waiting to get into the terminal building.

 

We sailed the Navigator from Galveston in Nov 2014. We were game to try a sailing from there since we hadn't before. Some of my wife's family lives in Ft. Worth and they didn't want to fly. They ended up backing out so we took the in-laws instead. We had a good time, but there are just a lot of hurdles in sailing from there if you don't have a car. Add to that any embarkation/disembarkation issues and it's just not worth the hassle. All 7 in our group agreed, sailing one time out of Galveston was plenty.

Edited September 10, 2015 by ewenix

[north29]

On Customs. What could have happened that customs held up the entire ship?

 

I thought we were all check out before we board by home land security.

[Ladysilver]

I have that problem! I called RCI Special Needs and they advised me to go to Guest Services once on board and request a wheelchair (even if I don't really need it for walking) and an RCI employee will meet me in a designated location and escort me off the ship and wait until I reach customs. I don't know what happens to the luggage??? I'm assuming we would be able to get a porter to hold our luggage until we reach the customs area. My husband can't stand for too long either but will NEVER admit to needing extra care.

 

Ahh the joys of getting "old". Yes, yes, I know. It's better than the alternative. :rolleyes:

 

See you Dec. 6!!

 

Thanks so much for answering my question! It's hard sometimes to ask for help. :)

[rmurray847]

So here's why we chose to fly for a cruise out of Galveston:

 

1. The dates worked well for us.

2. We actually like the itinerary., especially Cozumel and Grand Cayman.

3. Prices were good, both for the cruise and flights (Florida flights were almost double the price).

4. Flights are easy and convenient - 1.5 hour direct on SWA from BHM. We arrive early on Saturday for a full day of time to spend in Houston, and leave late Sunday for another mostly full day.

5. Having sailed previously on Freedom, we are looking forward to nearly the same amenities on the recently refurbished Navigator.

6. We are looking forward to spending a day before and after the cruise in Houston.

7. We have a condo in Destin, FL so "Florida" is nothing special for us, especially the port cities (PC, FLL, MIA).

8. Ground transportation (rental car + parking) for the entire 9-day vacation will cost us $300. It's not much more expensive than shuttles, and we have the flexibility of the car for the day before and after the cruise.

 

Thank you for this. We live in Albuquerque, and it is much cheaper to fly to Houston via a non-stop on SWA (and Hobby is closer to Galveston than Bush, so that's a bonus). We liked the itinerary because it was new for us. The price was great and dates were perfect. Yes, the port at Galveston is pretty awful in many ways...but not so that I'd never consider it again (and we had a pretty bad debarkation experience).

[rmurray847]

Perhaps, but we personally loved our August 23rd cruise out of Galveston and weren't among those who had a problem with getting on or off the ship. I do understand that others had a problem so maybe we were just very fortunate.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We were on this cruise too, and disembarkation would have been fine (from what we saw, the line was moving pretty fast), but some EXPLETIVE DELETED person decided our suitcase was theirs and left with it. Until most of the luggage had been picked up and we could start calling folks whose bags looked like ours and ask them if perhaps they had the wrong bag, we were stuck in the terminal. But it was emptying out quick, and if our bags had been left alone we would have been from ship to sidewalk in no more than 45 minutes, I would say.

 

My complaints around Galveston are actually more about the difficulty getting to the drop off area, since you have to drive through all the traffic for Terminal 1 first. And dealing with the shuttle to the parking lots, etc. was a pain. The terminal is mostly hot and ugly.

[rmurray847]

On Customs. What could have happened that customs held up the entire ship?

 

I thought we were all check out before we board by home land security.

 

They want to know what you bought when you were out of the country. Make sure you are taxed accordingly.

 

For reasons explained in my post just above, we were kinda late going through customs, so didn't have to stand in much of a line (and the line moved fairly fast anyway, it seemed), but when we got to our official, she looked at our passport photos very slowly and carefully and then at us and then back at the photos. That was more scrutiny than I've ever had from a customs or TSA official. Perhaps we just looked suspicious that day...but if that's the level of scrutiny they gave to everyone, it would sure slow things down.

[BonTexasNY]

Thanks so much for answering my question! It's hard sometimes to ask for help. :)

 

You're very welcome!

 

That may well be true, but I don't understand why they only seem to do it to Royal Caribbean ships that home port in Galveston.:confused::confused::confused:

 

I too don't understand why Galveston is made to carry the brunt of this customs nightmare. Does this happen at other ports? Is it because Texas is a border state?

[jewopaho]

Thank you for this. We live in Albuquerque, and it is much cheaper to fly to Houston via a non-stop on SWA (and Hobby is closer to Galveston than Bush, so that's a bonus). We liked the itinerary because it was new for us. The price was great and dates were perfect. Yes, the port at Galveston is pretty awful in many ways...but not so that I'd never consider it again (and we had a pretty bad debarkation experience).

Being relatively close to Texas makes a difference ... and access to Southwest Airlines is definitely a bonus. We've run into folks who flew from the Pacific Northwest, the UP of Michigan, New England, Canada ... virtually all into IAH, which is at least an hour from Galveston, and much more expensive to get to and from the port. Unless there's a huge saving, I don't see any advantage to sailing very typical Western Caribbean itineraries from Texas. For us, it's a no-brainer, living under an hour from the cruise terminal. Flying to Houston from, let's say, New York, would equate to us hopping a plane to FLL to sail to the same ports of call as we do from Galveston.

 

Don't get me wrong ... we've met some lovely folks from all over on our dozens of cruises out of Galveston. I guess that living so close to the port puts a different spin on it for me.

 

Al

[MindyJohn]

I was happy to try cruising from Galveston because Texas is closer to Seattle than Florida. After our one and a half hour van transfer from IAH to Galveston, I realized I could have just sat on a plane for the same amount of time and been in Florida. The transfers are not cheap either! But we gave ourselves a full day in Galveston and enjoyed exploring on bikes and seeing lots of beautiful Victorian architecture plus a very enjoyable beach walk. Those who are within driving distance have the best scenario.

 

As I posted before, we were first through one of the customs desks so had a birds eye view of their problems. The computers were super slow and only two or three were responding even after very long waits. At our desk, he swiped our passports and then stared at a frozen screen. After several tries at rebooting, with the same exact results, someone came over and instructed him to get rid of the second name showing on the screen and process the first one individually. The computer finally cooperated with that work around, but during the lengthy delay the lines had backed up into the main hall and the scene was set for the rest of the day.

[rudeney]

Galveston cruise terminal has its share of complaints, many of them warranted, but this particular situation could have happened at any customs desk at any cruse terminal or airport. Unless this particular problem is occurring at Galveston on a regular basis (and from reading posts on CC, it isn't) then I would not really say this is a "con" to cruising out of Galveston.

 

Earlier I posted my reasons for choosing or cruise out of Galveston, but I will also say we have discovered some challenges. One is ground transportation. Without a rental car desk at or near the cruise terminal, your choice is to either pay for a rental car to sit in a lot all week, or pay for shuttle service that may not fit your particular schedule. Another issue is that hotels in Galveston are expensive ($150/night for a 1.5-star!). I have not yet experienced it for myself, but I understand the traffic flow at the terminal is terrible (looking at satellite imagery, I can understand why) and that the terminal building itself is very "rudimentary" and lacks climate control.

[BOLTFISH]

The thing I noticed with Galveston was that the people directing and working the port area were as poorly advised as the people getting off the boat.

 

ZERO Signage anywhere... Most people were getting in line for buses that were the wrong bus and nobody working that area did anything to fix it. Saw numerous people put their luggage on a Hobby bus that was destined for Houston... This after they specifically asked the port workers if it was a Hobby bus.

[time4u2go]

Galveston cruise terminal has its share of complaints, many of them warranted, but this particular situation could have happened at any customs desk at any cruse terminal or airport. Unless this particular problem is occurring at Galveston on a regular basis (and from reading posts on CC, it isn't) then I would not really say this is a "con" to cruising out of Galveston.

 

Earlier I posted my reasons for choosing or cruise out of Galveston, but I will also say we have discovered some challenges. One is ground transportation. Without a rental car desk at or near the cruise terminal, your choice is to either pay for a rental car to sit in a lot all week, or pay for shuttle service that may not fit your particular schedule. Another issue is that hotels in Galveston are expensive ($150/night for a 1.5-star!). I have not yet experienced it for myself, but I understand the traffic flow at the terminal is terrible (looking at satellite imagery, I can understand why) and that the terminal building itself is very "rudimentary" and lacks climate control.

The OP's complaint wasn't as much about customs or Galveston as it was about how Royal handled the situation.

Edited September 11, 2015 by time4u2go

[rudeney]

The OP's complaint wasn't as much about customs or Galveston as it was about how Royal handled the situation.

 

Yes, you are correct. I was really addressing what others were saying about Galveston. From reading about this, it does seem RCCL could have handled disembarkation better. Even so, the situation wasn't their fault, and if they did delay "feeding" passenger into customs, it then would have delayed the passengers waiting to board, so not matter how they handled it, people would be mad.

[AustinCruise]

At some point, rccl does seam to just give up and say "everyone go".

 

I'm sure it's because everyone complains and just starts pushing through the lines.

 

 

Personally, I think they should issue numbered stickers that match the luggage tags. The stickers go on the sea pass. No sticker, no pass...

[rmurray847]

The thing I noticed with Galveston was that the people directing and working the port area were as poorly advised as the people getting off the boat.

 

ZERO Signage anywhere... Most people were getting in line for buses that were the wrong bus and nobody working that area did anything to fix it. Saw numerous people put their luggage on a Hobby bus that was destined for Houston... This after they specifically asked the port workers if it was a Hobby bus.

 

Very true. BAD signage. Few folks around to help and lots of conflicting information from them. And the traffic flow is pretty bad too, particularly if you're at Terminal 2, because you're stuck behind everyone also going to Terminal 1 (in my case, that was the Carnival Magic, I recall). Arriving with time to spare is important, because things just move slow there. The porters, however, were very nice and accomodating, so once I got my car parked to let my wife (and luggage) out, a guy came right up and took our bags, a modest tip, and our burdens at least were taken care of. I still had to deal with parking the car, which is somewhat slow going. Then the shuttle from the Port of Galveston parking is allowed to get REALLY packed with people...and it stopped at both ships! Much could be done to improve the flow.

[Trainman-2]

The bureaucrats in customs do strange and unexplainable things!

 

Sometimes things go smoothly and sometimes they don't!

[catjohnsn2]

We have sailed out of Galveston for nearly 12 years and other than one experience with fog, all disembarkations have been uneventful. We are not itinerary driven and we always book suites and spend our days enjoying the splendid service and beautiful ships of RCCL....Rhapsody, Mariner, and now Navigator. Prior to that we sailed from FLL, Seattle, San Juan, and Acapulco on HAL and RCCL.

 

We love the convenience of driving to the port and the money we save not having to book air fare enables us to book suites and totally enjoy that experience. Not having to deal with the airport makes Galveston a piece of cake for us.

 

We have been told that the return from Belize is always slow because of additional attention by customs and have experienced some delays in boarding after a Belize itinerary but nothing too terrible. We are patient, always get a porter, and we never make purchases or have stuff to declare so I guess we have been lucky. In addition, suite passengers get escorted by the concierege for priorty disembarkation. Our cruise on October 25th will include Belize so I'll report in after we get home and let you know if was terrible.

[ehfl]

Thanks for the reminder to take responsibility for our plans. It's always a good idea to allow time for the unexpected when choosing a flight. And if they start calling the Diamond people, get off the ship, rather than waiting for someone to hand-carry us off. Excellent tips.

[jewopaho]

We have been told that the return from Belize is always slow because of additional attention by customs and have experienced some delays in boarding after a Belize itinerary but nothing too terrible. We are patient, always get a porter, and we never make purchases or have stuff to declare so I guess we have been lucky. In addition, suite passengers get escorted by the concierge for priority disembarkation. Our cruise on October 25th will include Belize so I'll report in after we get home and let you know if was terrible.

Our solution to this potential issue is simple ... we avoid the Belize itinerary. Given the long tender trip, the run-down shopping area, and the fact that our ages preclude zip-lining and cave-tubing (although we've done them), there isn't much that attracts us anyway. We're very much like you, cruising for the experience, not the ports (we've been to them so many times, we could probably apply for citizenship). While we don't book suites, we've never had a non-weather-related departure that didn't go well. We're D+, so we're in the first few groups to be called ... but we've sailed out of Galveston so often, many crew members have come to know us, and simply let us depart with the first number called after self-assist and suite passengers. We're also well beyond the souvenir/memento stage, so our customs declarations always read "zero." If all goes normally (as it usually does) we're generally back home before 11:00 a.m. Can't beat it!

 

Al

Edited September 18, 2015 by jewopaho