Galveston cruise passengers lose their cars to Hurricane Ike

by Anita Dunham-Potter on September 16, 2008

Real bad news for those who drove their cars to Galveston for the September 7th sailing of the Carnival Conquest and the September 11 sailing of the Carnival Ecstasy. According to the Galveston Daily News all the cars that were parked at the port are ruined.

“Cars left in port parking lots by cruise ship passengers are most likely a total loss,” said city spokesperson Alicia Cahill.

According to the paper, the cruise terminal was flooded with 2 to 3 feet of water, and the wall next to the water was torn down. Yesterday ExpertCruiser.com reported cruise ships scheduled to return to Galveston on Sunday and Monday were diverted to New Orleans.

The fate of cruising out of Galveston remains a big question mark for Carnival until more information can be attained from authorities regarding port repairs.

Stay tuned.

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Tagged as: Carnival Conquest, Carnival Cruise Lines, Carnival Ecstasy, Galveston, hurricane damage, Hurricane Ike

  • Joe Farrell

    Wasn’t that a 4 story parking structure? 2-3 feet of water also will not damage full size and many lifted SUV’s . . .

    Seems to me like they just do not want to deal with the hassle of bringing the owners back.

  • Craig

    Last time I parked for a cruis in Galveston, there was no parking garage – just a big open level parking area. Drivers in Texas are supposed to have minimum insurance, so they should be taken care of, but what a bummer to return to that – if they can ever get back to claim their cars. Right now, no one can get on the island.

  • Carlo

    Not all of the cars parked there are from Texas. Although anyone who drove down should have insurance, not all of them will have full coverage. Many people only have liability coverage, which means they are not covered for this loss. Including Texans. One person has mentioned not having gap coverage, which (I think) means they owe more than the car is worth and they’re still going to be paying for the car even after the insurance totals out the car and issues the settlement. HOWEVER, I have heard FEMA may be able to help. What I haven’t heard is any details on the situation.

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  • http://www.click2houston.com/video/17480828/index.html JD Sams

    For those of you that parked your cars at the cruise terminal, check out the site below and go to the ariel tour for the seawall tour. Things are not as bad as many news reporters indicate. I am sure there is a lot of water damage and wind damage but things are still standing and look pretty good. The cruise terminal is still there and it looks like many of the cars are still parked and not washed together. Take a look and see. This is an ariel view and a good one.

    http://www.click2houston.com/video/17480828/index.html

  • http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/ike/geo-C25885961.jpg FT

    First, that 2-3 feet of water was what got into the cruise terminal building itself. That doesn’t necessarily reflect how much water was covering the ground outside the terminal or in other areas of Galveston. The official cruise parking lots are just flat pieces of property a short distance from the water in a rather open industrial area. There’s not much of anything between the lots and the water. Not even a seawall.

    Second, the aerial video provided doesn’t show squat in terms of the cars that were parked in the official cruise lots. The only thing I can find in terms of aerial shots of the lot post-Ike is at the NOAA website. http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/ike/geo-C25885961.jpg (two lots at very top of image)
    Those aerial shots are very clear, and I can almost pick out my car if I could only recall the colors of the cars I parked next to. While some of the cars still seem to be parked neatly, many others are completely sideways and/or shoved up against a fence or other cars in bizarre configurations. This clearly indicates that there was sufficient water in the lot to cause quite a few cars to float around. (We don’t all own mega-trucks or even SUVs for that matter.)

    I’d like to be hopeful that my car somehow survived the flooding and the impacts from floating cars and debris. But at the same time, that hope doesn’t get me into a car and back to daily life. And I don’t want my insurance company to cling to that hope, either. I need them to total the car so I can buy a new one and move on.

  • Dee

    I was scheduled for the Esctacy Cruise, but I called Carnival to ask, was the cruise still scheduled, they said yes, but, at that time they were evacuating Galveston. Since I was suppose to drive into Galveston the next morning( in my car) I then called the Department of Highway Safety, the personnel confirmed that it was’nt safe and he said that cruise he thought the cruise would be cancelled. I also called and checked the Hurricane Bureau on the internet..I read it’s report and then my group of friends who were booked for the cruise decided that we would not put our lives in harms way. It is sad that after Hurricane Katrina, Carnival wanted and intended for it’s patrons to put themselves in this type of situation, and now they show that still do not care about the life and livelihood of it’s patrons.

  • http://www.portofgalveston.com/cruiseinformation/ FT

    http://www.portofgalveston.com/cruiseinformation/
    NOTICE TO PORT OF GALVESTON PARKING LOT CUSTOMERS
    September 17, 2008

    The Port of Galveston ’s Board of Trustees of the Galveston Wharves and Port staff sincerely hope that the passengers and their families had a great cruise. The Port understands that the passengers, crew and other cruise ship workers are concerned about their vehicles that may have been parked at the Port’s parking lots or other parking locations on Galveston Island during Hurricane Ike.

    To the best of our knowledge the parking lots could have had over 7 feet of salt water in them, which would have placed most engines underwater. Many vehicles floated around in the parking lots. Therefore, most of the vehicles will probably not be in drivable condition.

    At this time, only emergency personnel and work crews are allowed on Galveston Island , because most of the Island , including the Port’s property, does not have utilities. In spite of not having utilities on the Island, Port personnel, who are off the Island , are able to receive telephone calls and e-mails through offsite connections.

    You are respectfully, requested to e-mail parking@portofgalveston.com or call (888) 838-7678 with the following information:

    Name:
    Phone Number(s):
    e-mail Address(es):
    Vehicle model, color and license tag:

    The Port is not responsible for any damage that may have occurred to your vehicle while parked in the Port’s parking lots. A vehicle owner should contact his/her insurance carrier to report a damage claim. Claims adjusters may e-mail or call the Port’s 888 telephone number if they are on the Island and need to see a vehicle.

    Sincerely,
    Port Management

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