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Dry Parking in Galveston?


Just_Wondering
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With Hurricane Harvey approaching Texas and my cruise set to sail out of Galveston on Sunday (8/27/17), I find myself in a predicament. There is a chance (hopefully) we will be sailing on Sunday even though Galveston is expected to receive a lot of rain and a storm surge. I've heard that Galveston flooded during Hurricane Ike. My wife and I will be driving to Galveston from Arkansas. Anyways, my question is: Are there any parking lots that we can virtually guarantee will not get flooded during the cruise? Any long-term parking garages where we can park a few floors off the ground? Any suggestions may prove helpful. Thanks!

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Maybe park in a parking deck at Hobby or another parking lot and find transportation from there?? Would cost more, but better than coming back to a flooded car. Our neighbors are on the Liberty right now out of Galveston. They just bought a brand new REALLY nice luxury car. I sure hope it's not flooded when they return! If memory serves me correctly, ships have been known to return to a different port and then passengers are bused back to their original point of embarkation. In this case possibly return to NOLA? If that were the case, the parking lots at the terminal will still be full of cars belonging to passengers from that cruise, so the next round of passengers can't park. What a mess! Maybe others have better ideas and can help. We also live in AR and have started cruising from Galveston because it's so easy for us. You might also search these boards and see if there's anyone on board your ship right now who can give updates as to what the ship will be doing as far as returning goes. Good luck and safe travels!

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Pretty sure that during Ike cars parked in cruise parking were flooded.

 

At the time of Hurricane Ike, there were no elevated public parking lots servicing the cruise industry (there may have been elevated private parking lots). In any case, there were a whole lot of cruisers that got new cars after Ike; all lots were flooded as I remember. BTW - - There is a parking lot now that has elevated, inside, parking.

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Anyone who parks a car on ground level on a barrier island in the path oh a hurricane should not be too surprised.

 

I have experienced a number of hurricanes on Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and along the Connecticut shoreline. In addition to stocking up on flashlight batteries, etc, finding a high spot for your car is part of basic preparation. The suggestion of parking at an airport garage makes a lot of sense.

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I would also call your cruise line today to see what they recommend before you set out to drive to Galveston. And from what I'm seeing on these boards and the news, chances of you actually getting to Galveston are extremely slim due to flooding. Good luck and be safe!!

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Looks like that Hurricane is going to just hang around South Texas for 3 days. Not sure when the port will open. I think the person who suggested you park at the Houston airport might have the right answer. Bet there is done kind of shuttle to the port.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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The cruise lines usually have shuttle service to/from the airports on cruise day. You could park at the airport then go inside the airport terminal and find your shuttle. The cruise reps will have signs. But you must make a reservation so just call your cruise line. I hope all turns out well for you! Mother Nature isn't always kind to us cruisers!

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I do know that if you use the valet parking at the terminal, they park your car across the street in a several story parking garage. However if it is flooding I am not sure how they would get it over there. Just another idea.

 

Hope it all works out for you.

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Hopefully, you checked with your cruise line and the news before you left.

Current reports state lot isn't flooded, but you can't get to the lot because the access is flooded. Your cruise isn't leaving today.

Good luck working this out.

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No help for this cruise,but please consider using EZCruise parking! They have two lots, and they towed as many cars as they could to higher ground to save them! They didn't have to do this! Just great people! I have booked with them a lot through the years,and have a reservation for October!

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  • 1 year later...

I know this thread is from last year but just wondering where you ended up parking or if there are any new thoughts on the subject. We leave in a week and it looks like the possibility of bad weather so rethinking our parking situation.

Thanks for any new input! Are there any actual elevated garages to park in at the port or hotels that give you parking with one night?

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Hotels along Seawall are 17 ft above sea level , because Island was raised after 1900 storm . Island slopes downward from Seawall 1 ft every 1200 ft all the way to sea water level on Port . Galvez on Seawall also has multi story parking garage above the 17 ft. Moody Gardens has multistory parking garage . A multi story parking garage with limited space at 25th and harboside is operated by the Port . EZ parking is elevated somewhat near the port . And a new one Falstaff Parking appears to elevated even more than most all other private and Port ground parking lots near port . There are some elevated warehouses used for parking along Harborside but do not know elevations or recall names .

Edited by ssb
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Hotels along Seawall are 17 ft above sea level , because Island was raised after 1900 storm . Island slopes downward from Seawall 1 ft every 1200 ft all the way to sea water level on Port . Galvez on Seawall also has multi story parking garage above the 17 ft. Moody Gardens has multistory parking garage . A multi story parking garage with limited space at 25th and harboside is operated by the Port . EZ parking is elevated somewhat near the port . And a new one Falstaff Parking appears to elevated even more than most all other private and Port ground parking lots near port . There are some elevated warehouses used for parking along Harborside but do not know elevations or recall names .

 

Thank you.

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I just got off the Valor yesterday and there was just water everywhere from 2 days of rain. I parked at Falstaff (excellent service, with 24/7 security), which is an indoor parking structure on a raised platform. All the cars were fine, but the streets around the parking structure were so flooded (I'm 5'5", water was hip high) that no one could get their cars out of the garage for hours. I had gotten off the ship at 9:30am, at 3pm ended up leaving my car in the garage and riding with a stranger in a pickup truck back to the mainland, and was finally able to get my car at 9:30pm last night (and the main entrance was still too flooded to drive through... I had to carefully maneuver my car down a pedestrian ramp).

 

It seemed every parking lot/structure we passed had some degree of water in it/around it. My friends all parked at the Port of Galveston Lot A and they said one half of the parking lot was fine, and the other half was full of flooded cars, but they got lucky and the streets there had less water so they were able to get out, although they still saw lots of people get flooded out trying to leave. I was desperately wishing I had parked at Hobby airport (even though I live in Houston) and just rode the big bus to and from Galveston from there.

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Sound good, vehicles at Falstaff were safe .:)

 

 

Mother nature happens !

 

Yesterday was some what a perfect storm situation with concentrated rain in one place , ......with 10 inches of rain , ......storm training up the coast for hours.... to an infrastructure not ready for it , .......and a very high tide .

 

Considering all the circumstances, it drained off fairly quickly .

 

We were eating dinner out at 5:00 .

And the cruise ship left at 7:00 .

 

Majesty of Seas did not leave Tampa last night until after midnight .

 

MOTHER NATURE DOES NOT ALWAYS COOPERATE.

 

We have had inconveniences all over the world.

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Anyone who parks a car on ground level on a barrier island in the path oh a hurricane should not be too surprised.

 

I have experienced a number of hurricanes on Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and along the Connecticut shoreline. In addition to stocking up on flashlight batteries, etc, finding a high spot for your car is part of basic preparation. The suggestion of parking at an airport garage makes a lot of sense.[/quote

Edited by cruisinmeme
replied to an old posting. My reply does not apply.
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Just would like to mention the Port of Galveston has recently requested bids for a 3,000 space parking facility to be constructed over Parking Lots A and B. This will be a very large parking garage so flooding will not be a continuing problem for cars parked there during a cruise.

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