? About Ecstacy cruise...drive or fly from Dallas

[wesail4fun]

We are going on the Ecstacy out of Galveston in Feb........trying to decide if we should drive or fly into Houston. Does anybody know how much for shuttle or taxi from Hobby airport to cruise terminal (Hubby thinks about 41 miles to pier).

 

We are guessing about a 5 hour drive from Dallas??? We live about 30 minutes north of Dallas.Any advise either way.

 

Thank you

[klmorg]

If it were me, I'd drive for sure. It's kind of a pain and a bit pricey to get from either Houston airport to Galveston. I'd drive down the day before, spend the night, and get on the ship as early as you can the next day.

[forwardcabin]

Our daughter drove from Garland and it took her about 5 hours on I-45 all the way to Galverston. I guess it just depends on whether you want your car close when you get back. Flying is just not that much fun anymore.

[firefly333]

Many of us live north of Dallas. I drive. Folks who flew in complained about the cost of shuttles and getting to the port. Unless you HAVE to fly in, I wouldnt recommend it. You cant really even rent a car on Sunday, if you are considering a 7 day, no place to turn it in last time it was discussed, could have changed.

 

EZcruise and others, you can book parking online for 7 days for $50 or get a hotel that includes cruise parking and enjoy the seawall area and the beach the night before your cruise. I drive. .. We are considering flying to New Orleans where parking is much harder and shuttles cheaper.

[BallFour4]

Take the drive down the day before and enjoy Galveston. There is tons of stuff to do. Grab a hotel around Baybrook Mall and see that area if you don't want to pay Galveston rates for the stay.

 

If you are coming in the afternoon take the Hardy Toll Road to the Beltway system and go around town.

 

Shoot me a reply and I will email you a cell number. I drive the tollways daily and know how to skirt traffic in Houston.

 

 

.

[wesail4fun]

Many of us live north of Dallas. I drive. Folks who flew in complained about the cost of shuttles and getting to the port. Unless you HAVE to fly in, I wouldnt recommend it. You cant really even rent a car on Sunday, if you are considering a 7 day, no place to turn it in last time it was discussed, could have changed.

 

EZcruise and others, you can book parking online for 7 days for $50 or get a hotel that includes cruise parking and enjoy the seawall area and the beach the night before your cruise. I drive. .. We are considering flying to New Orleans where parking is much harder and shuttles cheaper.

 

How long does it take you to get there from Richardson. I live in Lewisville.

 

Thanks

[forwardcabin]

On our Dec 26 cruise, we are driving down on Christmas Day and staying at the BW on seawall. Then we can sleep in before going to the ship. When we get back from the cruise, we will drive straight back.

[firefly333]

How long does it take you to get there from Richardson. I live in Lewisville.

 

Thanks

 

Id guess less than 5 hours. We used to stop in Huntsville, because they have great coffee for cheap at that Pilot Gas station, but now they got that new chimuck kinda place before Huntsville, cant remember the cute name, they got dozens of signs advertising it ... FAMOUS RESTROOMS. I had to check them out last trip. It just opened finally before my Sept cruise. Its HUGE. Caters to autos, not trucks. You can believe how many were there filling up with gas.

[kc5grw]

I would definitely drive. Once you figure all the time you spend at the airport in addition to the flight time it's pretty much a wash on time. We're driving to NOLA from Dallas in Dec to board the Triumph, it's only a few hours further and still a savings considering it's 4 of us going.

[DFW Airwolf]

Driving is the way to go. We have gone down the day before, but have decided it is just too much $$$ for it. We would rather spend it on the cruise.

 

We are planning a cruise in May of next year & maybe a 4 or 5 day in February. Definetly planning on driving down early day of cruise (I.E. like leaving Arlington around Midnight) Get down to Galveston, eat Breakfast at Dennys & get onboard & start relaxing.

[lgbteacher]

Id guess less than 5 hours. We used to stop in Huntsville, because they have great coffee for cheap at that Pilot Gas station, but now they got that new chimuck kinda place before Huntsville, cant remember the cute name, they got dozens of signs advertising it ... FAMOUS RESTROOMS. I had to check them out last trip. It just opened finally before my Sept cruise. Its HUGE. Caters to autos, not trucks. You can believe how many were there filling up with gas.

 

It is called Buckys. We stopped there on our way to the Ecstacy in May. They aren't kidding when they say everything is bigger in Texas. Wow!

[aggie1]

It is actually called Buc'ees and they are great!!! Started in Lake Jackson, Tx.

[jam82]

I'd drive. Plan time to stop at Woody's for BBQ, cheese, pies and jerky. I think they are exit 167 or 163 in Centerville. From Lewisville you can count on a 5-6 hour drive. However, with I-45 it could be more if you hit traffic. I-45S can back up even at off times. It would be best to drive down and spend the night before. If you can't, I would plan on getting into Galveston around 9am.

[karenh1127]

Check Southwest Airlines quick! They are having a special but you have to book by Thursday. It is like $50 for 500 miles one way or something. Your cruise in Feb might fit into the timeframe for flying. And I agree.....Bucees is fabulous! We travel a distance just to go. Get their Buccee Nuggets or whatever they are called. Great snack!

[firefly333]

lol yes, Buc'ees is the name, some little animal on the sign.

 

I probably will just drive to New Orleans too, like the control. Ill worry if we have to fly, more things that can go wrong.

[koolaid71]

Take the drive down the day before and enjoy Galveston. There is tons of stuff to do. Grab a hotel around Baybrook Mall and see that area if you don't want to pay Galveston rates for the stay.

 

If you are coming in the afternoon take the Hardy Toll Road to the Beltway system and go around town.

 

Shoot me a reply and I will email you a cell number. I drive the tollways daily and know how to skirt traffic in Houston.

 

 

.

 

does my ezpass for the txdot toll roads in central texas/austin area (45, 130, etc) get me thru the tolls in houston? or will HPD be asking me to pull over and explain the difference?

[Texaslandshark]

does my ezpass for the txdot toll roads in central texas/austin area (45, 130, etc) get me thru the tolls in houston? or will HPD be asking me to pull over and explain the difference?

 

Drive, drive, drive along with coming in the day before. We have around 4 plus hours to get to Galveston...piece of cake.

Used the TexTag all the way w/no problems. Toll roads around Austin and then not until the loop(s) around Houston. Probably like 3 different systems but they all cooperate with the billing between each other.

 

Parking costs little more than at airport.

[Texas Cruising]

I'd drive. Plan time to stop at Woody's for BBQ, cheese, pies and jerky. I think they are exit 167 or 163 in Centerville. From Lewisville you can count on a 5-6 hour drive. However, with I-45 it could be more if you hit traffic. I-45S can back up even at off times. It would be best to drive down and spend the night before. If you can't, I would plan on getting into Galveston around 9am.

 

We drove down for the Oct 17th cruise. It was an easy drive and took about 5.5 hrs from the mid cities area.

 

We also stopped at Woody's. We love their jerky and sauces.

[LoriTX]

We live in Lewisville too!!!

 

We drive! 5-6 hours depending on who is diriving and if we miss rush hour in Houston! If you leave here before Dallas rush (7am), however Dallas rush hour is NOTHING like Houstons (just try to read a map, while driving there!) you will get through Houston before evening rushour. Saturday or Sunday not much traffic to deal with.

 

We always drive down the day before and enjoy the beach, seawall area. Last time we stayed near Houston Space Center and toured that the day before! Moody Gardens is a great place to visit also.

 

The only time we ever drove in the day before was when Ecstacy had a 3 day cruise to nowhere between hurricanes and my daughter and I drove down in the middle of the night. We left home at midnight and got to Galveston at 5am, ate breakfast at Denneys and walked accross the street to watch the sunrise, took a nap in the car for a few hours parked on the seawall - then went to the ship!!! Good thing this was not our first time there!!:D

 

Have Fun!!!

[pgibbs]

Driving is the way to go. We have gone down the day before, but have decided it is just too much $$$ for it. We would rather spend it on the cruise.

 

We are planning a cruise in May of next year & maybe a 4 or 5 day in February. Definetly planning on driving down early day of cruise (I.E. like leaving Arlington around Midnight) Get down to Galveston, eat Breakfast at Dennys & get onboard & start relaxing.

airwolf.... we are driving down fri. night from anna, north of dallas .but, we have to pick one up at ft. worth.had planned on leaving anna at midnight,hoping to have time for brfk. at golden corral.then drive around the seawall and other places like postoffice st.do you think we need to leave earlier so we would have time to do this?.....pgibbs:confused:

[txladydi]

We always drive from Mesquite (Dallas' east neighbor). We have left home as late as 10am on day of cruise and still made it. But my nerves were shot. This is driving on the weekend, weekday travel we did get away earlier. The NTTA tolltag works in Houston. We like EZ Cruise parking - reserve online and get a reduced price!

 

Feb cruise - well we've done that too. When we drove home it was during one of the sand storms - where all of the west Texas red clay gets relocated to east Texas. Such fun with that crosswind.

 

Have fun,

Di

[okgirl]

We always drive down from Dallas the day before. It usually from downtown takes 4 1/2 hours.

 

We stay the the Howard Johnson's on Harborside for under $70 and it includes free parking. We take a taxi to the pier for $15 bucks.

 

Just a warning for all you Galveston cruisers. We were there in September for the Crazies cruise and the mosquitos nearly ate us alive. Apparently the city doesn't have any money to spray since Ike and I must have been bitten 30 times.

 

I'm not sure if it ever gets cool enough in Galveston to kill off the mean little critters, but lesson learned. NEVER TRAVEL WITHOUT OFF WIPES

 

Oh and BTW, none of the downtown Galveston parking meters were working because of the flooding, so check before you put any coins in.

[big_schots]

I would definitely drive. We drove in from Fort Worth (same day) and it takes around 5.5 hours with a short stop or two. But, to preface it, both times we left at 6:00 A.M., and the Ecstasy cruise began on Saturday. Thus, the Houston traffic wasn't weekday bad. We arrived at Lighthouse Parking around 11:30 A.M. I found for Ecstasy cruises that Lighthouse parking is better than EZ Cruise. EZ Cruise, sometimes, will take you to a remote lot, since their primary lot is filled with Conquest and Voyager cruisers. Flying into Houston would definitely take longer after factoring in all the extra hassles, and certainly is not relaxing in today's environment.

[kcroxyoursox]

We live in Keller and will be driving.

 

I'm from Houston so I enjoy the drive, as each landmark we pass I know how much closer we are to home. We take 35 to hwy 6 and go the back way through Waco and College Station. I can get home in 4 hours, so to Galveston straight through in about 5.5 give or take with traffic.

 

We will be heading down there in two weeks! But we are going down early to visit my parents so we can leisurely take our time getting to the pier on e-day.

 

I say drive. It puts you in control. And it's cheaper!

[flounder315]

it would cost more money to fly and get a taxi to the pier, than it would to drive and park at the pier