Update: Carnival has cancelled a second trip departing November 5 due to the same issue. If you are booked on this cruise, Carnival should be in touch with details on a refund.

Carnival Liberty was recently delayed in returning to Galveston, and now we are finding out why. An issue with the ship’s alternators/generators have caused it to have trouble maintaining top speed.

While the ship was delayed getting back to Galveston, investigation into the problem revealed that it was more difficult to fix than previously thought. As a result, the cruise line has cancelled the current cruise (which was already set to start later than originally scheduled) and has adjusted two future cruises to accommodate the new schedule.

Guests on the cancelled cruise will be reimbursed the cost of their cruise, plus credit for a future cruise as well. In addition, they will receive a stipend of $90 per person.

Here is Carnival’s full statement, courtesy of CruiseLawNews.com:

“The cruise ship Carnival Liberty, which is homeported in Galveston, Texas, is experiencing a technical issue which is affecting the ship’s maximum cruising speed. The issue is only affecting the ship’s speed and all other systems are operating normally. The ship arrived in Galveston yesterday and since then we have been working with outside technical experts which we brought on to help us confirm our repair plan.

Guests had boarded the vessel yesterday in anticipation of sailing, however, outside technical experts, together with the ship’s technical team, conducted a deeper inspection of one of the diesel generators overnight and uncovered an additional problem not previously known. It has now been determined that one of the alternators cannot be readily fixed. This means the ship will not be able to maintain the sufficient speed needed to operate the itinerary as planned and unfortunately we must cancel today’s cruise.

Guests scheduled to sail on this voyage will receive a full refund of their cruise, along with a 100 percent future cruise credit and $90 per person reimbursement representing a previously promised onboard credit and stipend for meals in Galveston yesterday.

While repairs are ongoing, the itinerary for the ship’s next two voyages will be modified, as well. The Nov. 5 five-day cruise will include a full day call in Cozumel, however, the call in Progreso will be cancelled. The Nov. 10 four-day cruise will include a call in Progreso instead of Cozumel. Guests sailing on these voyages will receive a $50 per person credit to their shipboard accounts and a 25 percent discount on a future Carnival cruise. Guests also have the option of cancelling and receiving a full refund. Voyages departing Nov. 14 and beyond are scheduled to operate their normal itinerary.

We sincerely apologize to our guests for this disruption in their vacation plans.”

Are you scheduled on one of these cruises? Let other people know what you plan to do in the comments below.

When it comes to cruising from Galveston, the biggest headache is getting from the Houston airports to the cruise port on the island. Taxis are expensive, cruise shuttles usually operate on a set schedule, and there simply aren’t many convenient ways to get to Galveston short of driving your own car.

For a time, rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft offered a great solution. Not only did they offer on-demand rides available at any time of day, but they were also much cheaper than other methods of transportation.

It was too good to last, however. Due to disagreements over regulations, both Uber and Lyft pulled out of the Galveston market and Lyft left the Houston market completely.

Now, there is a new service that can get you back and forth between the airport (or other points in Houston) and the cruise port. It’s a rideshare service called Get Me.

Get Me operates similar to other rideshare services that you might be familiar with. They have an app that you download to your phone. When you are ready for a ride, you simply pull up the app and request a ride. Within minutes a driver should arrive, ready to take you wherever you need to go. Once the ride is done, you’ll pay for your ride through the app. No money changes hands with your driver. It’s all handled through the app.

The rideshare company has been operating in the Houston and Galveston markets for months now. However, they were recently awarded permission to pick-up at both Houston airports, making Get Me a viable options for cruise passengers flying into the city.

Estimated rates are actually comparable with taxi rates. The company estimates that will cost between $90-145 for a ride from Houston Hobby to the cruise port, and $145-200 from Houston Intercontinental.

If that’s the case, why bother taking Get Me for your cruise instead of just catching a cab?

First, many people prefer to ride with rideshare companies like Get Me instead of cabs because the experience is better. Rideshare drivers drive their own late-model cars and have to maintain a high review rating from passengers to keep driving. That leads to more satisfied customers than with taxi cabs.

Second, the rideshare companies often offer discounts and coupons that make the rides considerably cheaper. With Get Me you can use the discount code “GCT” when you pay for your ride to receive 50% off your fare. That makes it as little as $45 one-way from Hobby to the cruise port. And keep in mind that rate is for up to four people, not per person.

Update: Get Me is now offering only 15% off rides, using code “GALV”.

If you are flying into Houston and want to try Get Me, you can download the app for iOS and Android before you arrive.

Have you used Get Me to get to the Galveston cruise port? What was your experience like? Let your fellow cruisers know in the comments below.

Great news for Royal Caribbean fans in Texas. With little fanfare, the cruise line has added a second cruise ship to its schedules for late 2017. We first discovered the new ship coming to the island while doing a random search for cruises on cruise line’s website.

To be more specific, Royal Caribbean is adding the Vision of the Seas to its Galveston cruises. As of now, only 10 trips are scheduled. The first trip departs November 6, 2017 and the last cruise departs December 18, 2017.

During that time, the ship will sail 4 and 5-day trips to Mexico, with most trips stopping in Cozumel, but one itinerary stopping in both Cozumel and Costa Maya.

The Vision of the Seas is a smaller and older ship in Royal Caribbean’s fleet, first sailing in 1998 and measuring 915′ long. For comparison, the Liberty of the Seas — the line’s other ship sailing from Galveston — is more than 1,000 feet long and can carry almost double the number of passengers.

So while no one is likely to be “wowed” by the Vision of the Seas compared to more modern ships, we think it’s a very important signal for the Galveston cruise market.

For years Royal Caribbean has left the shorter voyages to Carnival in Galveston. If you wanted a quick 4 or 5-day getaway, your only option was to take one of Carnival’s trips. Royal Caribbean focused only on week-long cruises.

Placing the Vision of the Seas shows that Royal Caribbean is at least testing out the market for shorter trips itself. We believe that if the demand is there, the company may decide to put a smaller ship here full-time to sail shorter cruises.

That would be just another sign that the Galveston cruise market continues to grow steadily.

For a video tour of the ship, check out the video below:

In May 2016, the Houston Chronicle reported that State Representative Todd Hunter from Corpus Christi will co-chair a new joint committee looking into the viability of another cruise port along the Texas coast.

According to the article, Representative Hunter has championed the idea of a cruise port on the southern Texas coast for several years. His argument is that the more southern location could attract cruisers from San Antonio and Austin, as well as northern Mexico.

The appeal of bringing a cruise port to the area is clear.

Over the past decade and a half, cruising in Galveston has soared in popularity. In that span, it has grown from nothing to be the fourth-busiest cruise port in Texas. Today there are roughly 250 calls to the port each year, and more than a billion dollars in economic impact.

That’s left many people trying to replicate that same sort of success elsewhere. As you may know, a cruise port in Houston (Bayport) opened several years ago, sitting empty for years before Norwegian and Princess Cruise Lines signed on to sail from the port. However, those cruise lines left after this year, with no intention to return. Among other reasons, the cruise lines reportedly don’t like the inland location of the Houston cruise port, which adds valuable time to their journey.

So with the recent failure of the Bayport Cruise Terminal, is it crazy to assume that a port further down the Texas coast would meet a similar fate?

According to the article, Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, Brownsville and South Padre Island, Point Comfort and Port Lavaca are all locations that the committee will look at. Frankly, we can’t imagine any of them being viable cruise ports that compete with Galveston.

Possible locations for another cruise port in Texas.

Galveston has some huge built-in advantages that other ports in Texas simply can’t compete with.

First and most importantly, Galveston is in the best location possible for a Texas cruise port. The cities of Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Dallas, and Houston are all within a five-hour drive of the Port of Galveston. These cities make up the bulk of the Texas population, giving more than 20 million people an opportunity to cruise with a half-day’s drive.

In comparison, Corpus Christi (the largest of the cities mentioned for a possible port) is nearly six hours from the DFW Metroplex. Meanwhile, it’s safe to assume that passengers in Houston (a three hour drive to Corpus) would much rather than quick one-hour trip to Galveston to sail instead.

Next, a big draw to Galveston is that it can be served by Houston’s two major airports. If you are a Texas resident, then you might not realize that literally thousands upon thousands of cruisers fly into the area for their cruise. With Hobby and Intercontinental serving Houston, this gives cruisers dozens of options of airlines to fly into the area, both domestic and international. From there, they have a roughly one-hour trip to the port of Galveston.

The same cannot be said of any of the proposed port locations. San Antonio would have to serve as the airport hub for cruisers sailing from a south Texas port. It is two hours and fifteen minutes from Corpus Christi, meaning that by the time most people landed in the city, they would still be about 3-4 hours from the port given taxiing to the gate, unloading bags, and getting transportation. That’s a major hurdle.

Finally, Galveston has a built-in advantage given the length of time it has operated as a cruise port. That manifests itself in several ways. First, there are the built-in relationships with cruise lines servicing the ports. While cruise lines can and do come and go from Galveston, it’s much easier to continue cruising from a known port than to switch to a new port or add ships to another port.

Galveston also has the tourist infrastructure to attract cruisers and keep them happy. This includes everything from hotel rooms to activities to restaurants to services to get passengers back and forth from airports. At this point, any port in southern Texas would have to start from scratch to build out this ecosystem around cruising. It’s not impossible, but it’s definitely a challenge.

In total, we would welcome any more cruises from Texas as it means more options for passengers and more economic development for the state. However, looking critically at the possibilities, if a port in Houston can’t gain traction, then the more isolated ports options on the southern Texas coast stand little chance.

Do you think a cruise port in south Texas is a good idea? Let us know in the comments below.

Expecting a newborn soon? Already have a little one and ready to hit the water? Not so fast. Before you cruise with your new baby, there are some rules that you need to follow to meet cruise line regulations and be ready to set sail.

First, and most importantly, all the major cruise lines — including Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Disney — require an infant to be at least six months of age at the day of sailing. If you are planning a Transocean cruise (from U.S. to Europe) or to Hawaii, then the child needs to be at least one year old.

Carnival:

For all cruises (except Transatlantic, Hawaii, TransPacific and South America cruises), Infant guests are required to be at least six (6) months of age on embarkation day to be eligible to travel.

For Transatlantic, Hawaii, Transpacific and South America cruises, Infant guests are required to be at least twelve (12) months of age on embarkation day to be eligible to travel. Transatlantic cruises are those from the United States to Europe or Europe to the United States.

Royal Caribbean:

Infants sailing on a cruise must be at least 6 months old as of the first day of the cruise and/or CruiseTour. HOWEVER: For transatlantic, transpacific, Hawaii, select South American and other selected cruises and/or CruiseTours, the infant must be at least 12 months old as of the first day of the cruise/CruiseTour. For the purposes of this policy, any cruise that has 3 or more days consecutive at sea will require infants to be 12 months old on the first day of the cruise/CruiseTour.

Disney:

Your child needs to be at least 6 months of age on the day of sailing for most itineraries. The minimum age for Transatlantic, Hawaii, and Panama Canal itineraries is 1 year of age on the day of sailing.

The cruise lines use strong language to enforce this policy. For instance, Royal Caribbean states that “guests travelling with a young infant that does not meet the infant policy will be denied boarding. No refunds or other compensation shall be due from the cruise line to anyone as a result of the denial of boarding to an underage infant or other accompanying guests.”

The reason that the cruise lines are so adamant about age restrictions are for health purposes. Newborn infants have much weaker immune systems than older children or adults. As a result, the potential for illness is much greater. Since it isn’t in the best interest of a cruise line to have sick passengers, the risk of letting newborns on board is too much.

But even after meeting the age restrictions, there are reasons that you might want to wait until your child is a little older and more independent before taking them on a cruise with you. Yes, the cruise lines can accommodate young passengers. For instance, Disney has “Pack and Play” cribs available to passengers free of charge. Cruise lines also have babysitting services available so that Mom and Dad can enjoy a night out.

Still, the younger and less independent (including potty-trained) your child is, the more special accommodations you’ll have to make to enjoy your cruise. While these aren’t impossible, they can put a damper on your fun. Instead, waiting until your child is a little older can make it much easier (and less work) for you to enjoy yourself on your trip.