Carry on Luggage***Grand Princess***

[Pughaven2003]

We are sailing on the Grand out of Galveston on 2/5/2005. Can someone tell me the rules and regualtions for carry on luggage and bags? We are thinking about carrying on a garment hang up bag with our formal wear in it. Will they allow this to be carried on? After all the "lost luggage horror stories" I have heard I am almost tempted to carry on all my luggage!! How many carry ons can you have? Do certain sizes apply? Thanks for any info!

 

Pughaven2003

[sailinglisa]

You can carry on as much luggage as you can handle, BUT, it must be able to fit through the airport sized scanner at the security checkpoint. Your garment bag and regular airline sized carryons will fit - another over approx 21" must be checked with the porter (they will go through x-ray at a different point.) If you bring oversized bags to check in, you will be asked to go out and check them with the porter.

[Flyer]

I carried a garmet bag onto the Grand Princess leaving Galveston 11/28/04 with my tux and it went through the scanner easily. As the previous poster said if you can handle it...BTW I'm sure there are some bags that get misplaced but I think you can relax. At times your bags won't get to your cabin until early evening but they will be there. On this cruise ours were in the cabin within an hour after we boarded. Most bags make it to your cabin before the evening is over.

[bdpacker]

Tony and Tammy, I am glad that you will be on this, your first cruise. My wife and I are also scheduled to sail on the Grand departing Galveston on February 5, 2005. I have seen from previous posts that you are from Sulphur Springs. We are from Dallas, and plan on staying in Houston on the Friday night before sailing. Hotels in the Galveston area are hard to come by and a bit pricey because of Mardi Gras.

 

Flyer, it appears from looking at the calendar for the Port of Galveston that the situation you experienced with embarkation and disembarkation on your cruise is the same that we will experience in a couple of weeks. The calendar indicates that you departed from Terminal 1 on November 27, and that you were the only cruise ship in port that day. It also indicates that you returned on December 4 to Terminal 2, and that the Carnival Ecstasy was docked at Terminal 1.

 

Having read on these boards about problems associated with parking and traffic congestion, I am interested in knowing when you arrived at the terminal on the day of embarkation and what problems you encountered. With the Grand being the only ship in port that day, I am guessing that it may not have been as much of a problem as other Grand cruises. Being from San Angelo, I am assuming that you drove to Galveston and back home. We are planning on using EZ Parking and are especially interested in hearing from you or anyone else who may have used that parking facility.

 

I also am wondering about the traffic situation upon your return, especially with a second ship to add to the congestion. I have heard that getting a shuttle back to EZ Parking can be difficult. If so, is it reasonable to grab your luggage and walk to the lot and drive off from there, thus avoiding the madness at the terminal.

 

Any thoughts you may share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

Barry

[MaryPoppinz]

. Your garment bag and regular airline sized carryons will fit - another over approx 21" must be checked with the porter

 

That really depends on the port. My biggest bag has gone through the scanners in Ft. Lauderdale and SF.

[Flyer]

bdpacker (Barry),

 

You are right in that we did in fact drive to the port (the first time we've had that opportunity :)) and we did leave from terminal 1 as you mentioned. In our case we stayed at the La Quinta Inn and Suites (8700 block of Seawall) and scoped the area out the night before. We drove to the terminal area about 11:00 and I dropped my wife and luggage off at Terminal 1. A person was there to take the luggage and it arrived in our cabin before 2:00 o'clock.

 

Traffic was increasing then but not a real problem. I used the Port's parking and parked in the "B" lot and caught the shuttle back. It took about 30 minutes. After getting into the terminal, going through security, we were at the check in desk before 12:00 which took just a few minutes. We had to wait about 15-20 minutes before they allowed us to board. There were probably 200-300 people ahead of us and when they allowed us to board it took less than 10 minutes to clear the room. It was pretty efficient. Went to the cabin and then to lunch. EZ Parking was one block the other direction and some friends did walk it to save time.

 

Upon returning I can't say the traffic was caused by the other ship being at terminal 1 but overall it was a madhouse. If you decide to roll your luggage to walk to EZ Parking you would save time. We got off the ship about 9:30 am, found our luggage that was sorted by disembarkation tag color AND number. We were Silver 5 and rolled it out to the front of the terminal 2. This was easy enough. I left my wife with the luggage, walked to the end of the terminal area and waited about 30 minutes for our shuttle to the B parking. While I was going for the car my DW said it was chaos on the curb. She just stood back and waited until I arrived. Traffic can only go in and out one way so just be patient. Overall we were crossing the causeway on our way to San Antonio. We stayed there overnight.

 

When I entered the terminal area to pick up my wife I stayed in the right lane to terminal 1 and had to exit and enter again. If you drive back to pickup passengers and luggage watch for the sign on your left to take the lower road to terminal 2 and you will be OK.

 

Overall it moved pretty smooth as the local police were there and helped the traffic proceed smoothly and they would help a car get to the curb to load and help them to exit the area. As I said, less that an hour from the time we got off the ship we were on the way out of the area but Galveston REALLY needs to work on that terminal area. Again be patient and things will move pretty well.

 

Enjoy your cruise. How can you miss :)

[smitty2]

Thanks Flyer for all the great info on parking in Galveston. Can you tell me what the average cost for parking costs?

 

We are also sailing out on The Grand on the Feb. 5th. I read from another thread that there will be a parade down by the seawall at 11:00 the morning we are to depart Galveston. I am wondering how that will effect all of us trying to get to the port, being I know nothing about Galveston.

[bdpacker]

Flyer and Smitty,

 

Thank you for the very helpful information. We are staying in Houston Friday night, February 4, and will plan on arriving at the terminal on Saturday morning around 10:00 or 10:30. I believe this should avoid much of the traffic related to the parade. EZ Parking is $45 for the entire week, with a $5 discount if you pay in advance online. Upon disembarking on February 12, I will plan on walking to pick up the car since the shuttle buses are rather small. We will either roll the luggage ourselves to get out of the chaos or I will possibly return to pick up my wife and luggage at the terminal.

 

Barry

[Flyer]

Smitty2

 

I think we paid $60.00 for the port parking. EZ Parking is cheaper. there are web sites for both. http://www.portofgalveston.com and I don't remember ezparking's url at the moment. If you can't find it I will look it up for you. BTW Seawall is on the other side from the ship docks so a parade should not bother you.

[aggieastrosfan]

EZ Parking's website is http://www.ezcruiseparking.com .

 

FYI, a lot of the traffic that was mentioned on 12/4 can be attributed to Dickens on the Strand. I sailed that day, and getting into the area was horrible because of two ships AND Dickens traffic.

[NoNoNanette]

Does anybody know what the situation in Galveston will be on Jan 29th? How does one find out how many ships will be in port? Thanks:)

[Flyer]

Go to http://www.portofgalveston.com and look at the calander. It shows which ships and what terminal they will be docked.

[smitty2]

thanks flyer and aggieastrosfan for all the info. Just made my parking reservations on line will cost us $40.00 for the week. Can't beat that!!!!

[West Coast]

Does anybody know what the situation in Galveston will be on Jan 29th?

 

There are two ships scheduled to be in port on the 29th: Grand and Ecstasy.

 

See: http://www.portofgalveston.com/meetings/2005cruisecalendar.pdf

 

Note: the Grand is at Terminal 1 and the Ecstasy is at Terminal 2

[NoNoNanette]

There are two ships scheduled to be in port on the 29th: Grand and Ecstasy.

 

See: http://www.portofgalveston.com/meetings/2005cruisecalendar.pdf

 

Note: the Grand is at Terminal 1 and the Ecstasy is at Terminal 2

 

Hi there! Have you seen our roll call thread over here?

 

http://www.***********.com/forums/showthread.php?p=50121

 

We've got a fun group, thus far. Hope to see you soon!:)

 

Nan

[NoNoNanette]

Hi there! Have you seen our roll call thread over here?

 

http://www.***********.com/forums/showthread.php?p=50121

 

We've got a fun group, thus far. Hope to see you soon!:)

 

Nan

 

Well, apparently Cruise Critic is filtering out what they must see as "competition".

 

At the risk of breaking the rules further, please go to the Cruise F O O L S website, and find us at "roll calls".:rolleyes: