Galveston will have problems for the near future - Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers

MCcruiser · 09-14-2008, 04:12 PM

If you are scheduled to cruise out of Galveston anytime during Sept or Oct 2008, please check with your travel agent about departure changes. Access to Galveston island is limited to emergency personnel only and there is no telling when the cruise terminal will be operational again.

Char · 09-14-2008, 04:17 PM

Carnival has officially canceled the Conquest and Ecstasy sailings scheduled for this week.

I am going to copy this over to the main Carnival forum.

Sandie · 09-21-2008, 05:07 PM

Two cruise ships, Carnival Conquest and Carnival Ecstasy, had departed from Galveston on September 7 and 11, respectively, and were not able to return due to Hurricane Ike's devastating hit on the port.

Carnival cancelled the September 14th sailing of the Conquest and the September 15th sailing of the Ecstasy, and the ships were diverted to New Orleans, where passengers were given the option of disembarking or remaining onboard until the vessels were able to return to Texas. Passengers who were scheduled to cruise on the cancelled sailings will receive a full refund.

Unfortunately, it has now become clear that the cruise port in Galveston will not reopen in the near future, and Carnival has just announced that the Conquest and the Ecstasy will resume operations this weekend from the Port of Houston's Bayport Cruise Terminal. The ships will operate the same itineraries as before and will return to Galveston as soon as the port and city are ready.

The brand-new, state-of-the-art Bayport Cruise Terminal was completed earlier this year, at a cost of $81 million, without the commitment of a single major cruise line to call there. The temporary closing of the port of Galveston will give Bayport an opportunity to impress cruise lines that could consider using the terminal as a home port in the future.

On a related note, cruise ports throughout the Caribbean and the Bahamas fared well through hurricanes Gustav, Hanna and Ike. Even in Turks & Caicos, where the island of Grand Turk was hit hard, there was no damage to the pier at the Grand Turk Cruise Center and the damage to the facility's restaurant and retail shops is relatively minor. Carnival Corp., which operates the Cruise Center on Grand Turk, has begun repairs and has set an October 8th reopening date.