SURPRISE (Or What Happens to a Ship in the Fog)

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Geo: 29.2953, -94.8079

Nikki and i woke before the alarm and I could tell we were still bouncing a little but not moving. i looked out the window and saw lights from what I thought were oil rigs. But, shortly after we woke up, the captain made an announcement that the Port of Galveston was fogged in and closed because visibility was zero. By now it was light enough to see that what i thought were oil rigs were actually ships.

We were told that we were expecting word sometime between 7 and 9 am as to when the port would open.

We were also told that we needed to go to our assigned breakfast time but we could continue to use our staterooms.

We had decided to go to Cabanas for breakfast so when the time came we met the girls and went up there. While we were eating, they made several announcements but they still did not have any updates. Around 9:00 they announced that a pilot would be getting on the ship around 10:20 which would mean that we would pull up to the port about noon.

We were told that we could continue to use our staterooms and the public areas. They also started showing a movie in the Buena Vista theater and had family crafts in D-Lounge.

Since it was cloudy and breezy and a little chilli, we decided to hang out in the second floor of Cove Cafe. We found a table and decided to play cards. Nikki took some photos around the ship.

Around 10 they announced that they would be starting a movie in the Walt Disney Theater as well. Also that they would be opening Daisy Delights, Broiler Bites and I-Scream at 10:30 for lunch. Cabanas would open at noon and Triton would be open at 11:30.

The pilot did arrive on the ship about 10:20 and took the ship into port. We arrived in port and then began the process of getting luggage off the ship. At noon, they called for people doing Express Walk Off to debark. Our zone was called around 1:00 and we made it off the ship and through customs by about 1:30.

The port was a mess with people getting on the ship and people getting off the ship nobody knew where to go or what to do. We ended up walking with our luggage to the parking lot to get our car. We were on our way by 2:30

Then we were on our way to meet a friend of Kelsie's who was living in Beaumont. The drive was about 2 hours long.

We met them at a restaurant called Tony's BBQ. It was a nice visit and good to see Parker.

We then left to head to Houston to check into our hotel. Beaumont is about 90 minutes from Houston. Parker told us we needed to stop at Buccee's on the way and see a true southwest Texas institution. It is a convenience store that has 100 gas pumps and the store sells just about anything you would ever need.

We got to the hotel around 8:30 and dropped our bags and I took the car back to the airport so we could avoid that on Christmas Eve. The girls were in bed when I got back and Nikki and I watched TV for a little while before turning in ourselves.

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Photos

Ship in the Fog
Thanks Carol G for the photos from the land