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Published: June 20th 2017
Geo: 29.7605, -95.3698
Jeff woke me at 7:50 this morning. "I have something to show you" he said. I replied "This had better be good..." I tried not to sound threatening. He held out his IPad and I saw that our cruise ship, the Emerald Princess, was in port and it was sunny out. Yippee!
Okay, true confessions time. My husband has a minor obsessive streak, and he has the Port of Houston, Port of Ft Lauderdale and the Port of Miami webcams bookmarked on his iPad. He enjoys watching the cruise ships sail in and out of port and has, occasionally, hooked his iPad up to our TV so we can watch on the big screen. I admit it. I enjoy watching the ships as well. A couple of weeks ago he was monitoring this very cruise. The boat didn't leave on time (4pm Sunday), didn't leave, didn't leave. We could see why. It was very foggy in Houston. Finally, Monday, in the late morning the ship set sail.
Now, having seen that happen we got worried yesterday when we received a text message from Princess Cruises giving us a head's up that because of weather conditions in Houston, (remember all the rain yesterday?), our ship might be delayed getting into port. We were to call at 8am today to see if the departure time had changed. See why he woke me up to show that the ship was in port? I'll say it again: Yippee!
We packed up and went to breakfast. A woman came up to me and asked "Are you going on the ship today?" WHAT???? Why would she think that? Do I look like a senior citizen as I swill down my free oatmeal to tide me over until I can get to the buffet? I wasn't wearing socks with my sandals or anything. Then I realized that the reason this hotel probably exists is for cruise in/out traffic.
I smiled nicely "Why yes, I am."
"Do you know if the boat's here?"
" Why, yes, it is."
She was so excited. They had gotten the same message about a potential delay and didn't know what to do. I refrained from asking her if she could read and dial a phone because she WAS wearing socks with her sandals.
When Jeff and I arrived in Houston on Wednesday we flew into Bush airport instead of Hobby airport which is much closer to the port. As a result we had to drive 45-50 minutes back to Bush to return the rental car and then catch a shuttle BACK to where we had just left. (The airfare into Bush was much less expensive than into Hobby.) But first we stopped at Kroger to buy flowers for our cabin.
Everything went according to plan. Our shuttle reservations were fine but we were running a little later than we had planned and got caught up in the busiest transfer time. We were told it would be about an hour before our shuttle turn. We settled in to relax and not 5 minutes later our names were called and onto the shuttle we went. All 6 of us in the van were heading for the same ship so we introduced ourselves and made small talk. The couple sitting next to me were from Aurora, CO. Geez.
Because we are Princess Platinum members we enjoyed expedited check-in and were pleased not to be busted since Jeff had slipped a bottle of gin into his jacket pocket. A glass bottle with a plastic lid doesn't show up on the scanner thingy. He thought he'd been routed though because the machine did beep - he had forgotten to take his phone out of his pocket. We also successfully did not declare our 2 bottles of wine so if we want to get a couple of bottles later in the cruise we'll be legal. (Each adult is permitted to bring on one bottle of wine per cruise)
We were able to board immediately and were in our cabin by 1:30. We were a little concerned about our cabin, not the cabin itself because we always get a mini-suite, but because of the cabin's location. We are on the Emerald Deck - deck 8 - so very low on the ship and ours is the next to the last cabin at the back of the boat. There is a full suite beside us and they are the back of the boat. And there is a nightclub under us. So, basically we are miles and flights and flights of stairs from almost anywhere else.
But, OMG!!! Our balcony is WONDERFUL!!!!! It is almost twice the size of a normal balcony and curves a little to meet the shape of the ship. We have an almost panoramic view.
Wow! Wow! Wow! This is awesome!
After the mandatory safety briefing we head up (and up and up) to the sail-away party on the top deck. Sail away is at 4pm. At 4:15 we are watching the port crew still loading luggage...4:30 the luggage has been loaded but we sit - who cares? There is music and dancing, silly contests and drinks. 4:45 - the band has finished playing and is packing up. The party's over. Hmmm...
Suddenly, announcement from the Captain. Something about delaying our push off but up here no one can really make out what he's saying. Then the reason for our delay becomes clear. On the port road a large tour bus is zooming toward the ship. It barrels into a parking space, we see porters running to unload the luggage and about a dozen passengers get off.
A bit of explanation for you non- cruisers - the cruise ship waits for NO one! If you aren't on the ship in time it leaves you behind, period. Except if you are with a Princess travel group. So these folks had probably booked their flights via Princess and if their flights or transport were delayed the boat will wait; for a little while anyway. If the delay is too long, they will fly you to the first port.
As the dozen latecomers boarded we cheered, clapped and hooted to them. I think they appreciated the welcome as several of the smiled and waved back.
We're off!! An hour and 15 minutes late - who cares?! We go down to our wonderful balcony to hang out and watch the birds and waves. In order to get to open water the ship must first travel through a 30 miles channel. This is a super busy channel and a lot of big ships pass us as they head to port.
We pass Galveston and chug along slowly. Our ship is accompanied by two armed Coast Guard boats. We can see the machine guns at their prows. On we sail. We're going very slowly. Around 8:15 our escorts leave. At 8:45 we still have not reached the ocean. We seem to be going even slower.
"This is really strange" we agree. Just as I was saying, "Jeff, I think we're stoppi..." the Captain interrupted me announcing that there was a medical emergency on board.
The ship was going to turnaround! A Coast Guard craft from Houston or Galveston was on it's way out to meet the ship for a medical transfer. Holy crow. It takes forever AND a day to turn a cruise ship around. We had not quite completed the process when we saw the blue flashing lights of the Coast Guard ship approaching. Our engines off we floated for a bit while the medical folks did their thing. About 20 minutes later we saw the Coast Guard boat leaving and we began our laborious turn back to the south.
What a day.
Jeff and I sat out on the deck, drinking champaign, until late and now it's time for bed. I'll let you know tomorrow how sleeping above the engines and the nightclub worked out!
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"So, basically we are miles and flights and flights of stairs from almost anywhere else." ... Now you won't have to spend so long in the gym!!Eve