Published on: September 16, 2008 and credited by modernagent.com
With the Port of Galveston out of commission following Hurricane Ike, Carnival Cruise Lines is sending two Galveston-based ships to New Orleans instead. The Carnival Conquest arrived in New Orleans on Monday morning, and Carnival Ecstasy was scheduled to do so Tuesday morning. Conquest passengers were told they could disembark on Monday or Tuesday or remain on the ship until it can head back to Texas. Conquest on Tuesday will move down the dock to make room for Ecstasy, whose passengers can debark Tuesday or Wednesday or remain on the ship. “We do not currently have a lot of information about the status of the shipping channel, cruise terminal or the port access infrastructure,” Carnival said. “Local communication has been very challenging, and there are restrictions against incoming traffic into the Galveston area.…There is tremendous uncertainty about when the port will be available to us.” The line cancelled the Conquest’s Sept. 14 departure and the Ecstasy’s Sept. 15 cruise. Guests will receive a full refund of cruise fare within three weeks.
“We came into New Orleans for the sake of the people on these ships. They have the opportunity to get off if they want to, but they don’t have to. If people can extend their vacations they can stay onboard — we’re not charging them,” said Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz. “Our object is to get the ships back to Texas as soon as possible.” She said she did not know how many passengers chose to disembark. Carnival was rebooking air arrangements for passengers who had booked air-sea packages through Carnival. “For those with independent air, it’s up to them to deal with the airlines, which we speculate will be quite cooperative — they usually are when changing tickets for hurricane.” Passengers who drove and parked at the Port of Galveston likely lost their cars in the flooding, according to the Galveston Daily News. “We don’t have a complete handle on the car situation, we’re trying to find out as specifically as possible what’s happening there,” de la Cruz said. It remained uncertain when the ships can head back to Texas. De la Cruz said the company is talking to Houston port officials.
The Houston port sustained “limited negative impact from Hurricane Ike. As is most of the Houston area, we are without electricity and we are operating with limited temporary power from generators,” the port authority said in a statement. “Initial assessments of the terminals revealed minimal wind damage that knocked down a few fences, containers and electrical lines. We also received expected minimal water damage that caused some standing water. Overall, the port authority facilities and its assets are in good shape considering the magnitude and strength of the hurricane.” For more information, visit www.carnival.com or www.portofgalveston.com.