Never Again Out of Galveston!!

[ssb]

I am not a fan of Galveston, though I've sailed from there twice. That drive from and back to Bush International is a killer. Our first time we had purchased our air through Royal. They had us fly down on the day of the cruise. We had a slight delay on a transfer in Chicago, but still arrived in Houston at about 12:30 PM. We were scheduled to have Royal bus us to the ship at 1:30. We met a panicked Royal Representative at 1:00. She said she hoped she could get a bus in time. We waited at the airport for three hours! We, along with about 30 others, arrived at the peir AFTER THE MUSTER DRILL!

 

Next time we flew in the day before and had a nice stay in Galveston. This time it was the end of the cruise that was a problem. It took us 3 hours to clear customs. I was very glad that I scheduled a later flight home. Many people around us missed their flights.

 

I might sail out of there again, but I'll always look for other options, and I'll always be careful to leave lots of cushion both ways.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Please come back before or after and enjoy Galveson for Galveston.:)

 

We will even show around.

 

And yes in any departure port

"I'll always be careful to leave lots of cushion both ways."

We have missed flights in other cites also for not.

 

Sounds like Chicago was the problem coming in

and someone made it happen to get you here. Sounds good!

 

Sounds like customs was the problem again going out.

 

Try Hobby Airport next time if it works for you!

[SamFritz]

--------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Please come back before or after and enjoy Galveson for Galveston.:)

 

We will even show around.

 

I did meet a very nice Cab driver for Busy Bee Taxi in Galveston last time there.

 

And yes in any departure port

"I'll always be careful to leave lots of cushion both ways."

We have missed flights in other cites also for not.

 

I think I need to leave more cushion in Galveston than most other ports.

 

Sounds like Chicago was the problem coming in

and someone made it happen to get you here. Sounds good!

 

The problem not Chicago, it was Royal's Ground Transportation in Houston. We arrived in time to make our scheduled transport. They messed up and then had to knock themselves out to take care of us. I do think they held the ship for our final bus load.

 

Sounds like customs was the problem again going out.

 

Customs was unquestionably the problem going out. It was by far the worst disembarkation I've experienced.

 

Try Hobby Airport next time if it works for you!

[stewpapa]

Been on many cruises from Galveston because it is a 3 hr drive for us and saves flight and hotel. Never had much of a problem with traffic or waiting. Once we waited a while due to the ship being late getting in. I would think most ports have similar stories.....whatever, Galveston is the best deal for us!

[rubrrick]

Never having been to Galveston......to board a ship before, I think I'll hold my thoughts..........till we return on March 14th.

 

After leaving San Diego......and while we were in line to get into the building, it was a total downpour.........and 3 ships in port, and the security check was worse than any TSA disaster.........I mean, they left us outside of the building, in the rain!!

 

How many times have we cruised out of San Diego........maybe 12.....and how many times have we experienced this.........once!!

 

So, for those of you that have experienced it once........think again.....or forget going to Galveston!!:D There is not a pier in the world......that from time to time has problems.

 

Try a porter strike........and see how you like it. Fill out your slips, and get your bags into the terminal, where scabs (that's what the union calls non union workers) are trying their best to take care of you.......but have only been at the job for a week.......and probably the strike will be over next week.........so anything goes!!

 

Rick

[Cuizer2]

Never having been to Galveston......to board a ship before, I think I'll hold my thoughts..........till we return on March 14th.

 

After leaving San Diego......and while we were in line to get into the building, it was a total downpour.........and 3 ships in port, and the security check was worse than any TSA disaster.........I mean, they left us outside of the building, in the rain!!

 

How many times have we cruised out of San Diego........maybe 12.....and how many times have we experienced this.........once!!

 

So, for those of you that have experienced it once........think again.....or forget going to Galveston!!:D There is not a pier in the world......that from time to time has problems.

 

Try a porter strike........and see how you like it. Fill out your slips, and get your bags into the terminal, where scabs (that's what the union calls non union workers) are trying their best to take care of you.......but have only been at the job for a week.......and probably the strike will be over next week.........so anything goes!!

 

Rick

 

Is there a point to this? :confused:

[rubrrick]

Is there a point to this? :confused:

 

 

Yes!

[Cuizer2]

Yes!

 

Well, you are doing a great job of keeping it a secrete.

[rubrrick]

We just returned (a day later than scheduled) from Galveston. Never again will I take a cruise out of this port. I don't think I would travel here even if I lived in Texas!!

 

We were on board the Voyager of the Seas for the February 14, 2010 voyage. It is such a hassle to get to Galveston from Houston....cheapest one-way car service we could find was Galveston Limousine from IAH. $55 per passenger. The van was pretty new and the driver, Evelyn, was excellent. We arrived a day later and missed Mardi Gras, but when we drove through Galveston and saw the city, we realized we shouldn't have been disappointed.

 

Galveston embarkation was a nightmare. Arrived at noon but didn't get on board until after 3:00. Lots of waiting in line....it was as if the staff had never loaded a ship before. Everything was chaotic.

 

Disembarkation was even worse....ship came in to port seven hours late due to the fog. We missed our flights and had to spend another night in Houston....didn't arrive home until Monday evening. At least going through customs wasn't a hassle and they seemed very nice, but once again the cruise staff were less than helpful.

 

 

All that I'm saying......is that this happens to other ports, not just Galveston.

 

Sorry if I did not make my point clear!

 

Rick

[fun_one]

Barbara, on our last Voyager cruise in Jan 2010 I asked about Eric. Word was he jumped ship and went to Holland. . .and maybe also the activities girl, Traci. They were on VOTS Feb 1, 2009 and left shortly after is what I heard on board last month.

 

Thank you for that info on Eric. I've been trying to figure out what happened and you are the first one to reply!

 

Take care.

Barbara

[BillB48]

Thank you for that info on Eric. I've been trying to figure out what happened and you are the first one to reply!

 

Take care.

Barbara

 

We were on the Voyager in late Feb '09 with Eric. He left shorlty after that under some sort of cloud that was only eluded to on these boards. Go down to post # 7 on this link... mentions him now with HAL.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=978353&highlight=eric+dowis

[mtchg]

....I have taken two cruises; both Royal CCL out of Galveston (admittedly both pre-IKE). I can't help but think that some of these folks failed to "do their homework" pre-cruise. There is really no excuse to be suprised at the cost to shuttle from Houston. A knowledgable traveler would know that going in; and ideally before the cruise is booked.

 

I weighed the extra cost against the cheap airfare from Kansas City to Houston and it was still a bargain compared to flying to Florida. I had already purchased my round trip shuttle fare on the internet (and got a discount for it) and knew right where to go after luggage pick up.

 

As for Galveston itself...admittedly it, nor the port is the most cosmetically appealing area, but we REALLY enjoyed the seaside "vibe"...plenty of great places to eat, drink and check out. We spent a little extra on our first visit and stayed pre-cruise in the Moody Gardens hotel. As you locals know it's a ways from downtown and the port; but we were there (totally unplanned luck) on the weekend before Mardi Gras and they had all of their fesitivities going on, and the hotel offered free shuttles all day and nite to the party. We were able to see Chubby Checker live and the night time Mardi Gras parade; it was an awesome time; and we have nothing but great memories of Galveston..

 

And I got a tear in my eye when I saw Ike's devastation on TV and the internet. Two cheers for Galveston's reconstruction efforts.

 

We like Galveston and plan on sailing out of her port again.

 

Mitch

[Shekim]

http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?wcd=119683

 

This is one of my masterpieces (oh please...) published.

 

As for the island being surrounded by water, I heard the Washburn Tunnel is underwater too :eek:

 

Drink Upstream From The Herd.

 

.

Fantastic! And boy, talking about bringing back some memories...my dad had a friend with a beach house at Crystal Beach. We spent MANY, many, many weekends there. You will always remember the first time you get stung from a Man o' War (dreaded jellies...), the bon fires...

 

Thanks so much for the trip down memory lane! ;)

[wolfganghowell]

Rick, you were perfectly easy to understand. Some people just like to play unnecessary mind games. Hope you enjoy Galveston and Voyager.

 

Galveston is not a convenient port to every cruiser. It is not a port like Miami, Ft Lauderdale, San Juan, Los Angeles - with a plethora of pre and post cruise options. It is however, a port with legitimate offerings to people that do their research and have resonable expectations of what Galveston has to offer. We appreciate it and find it is a great port for US. For those that dislike it, we invite you to cruise from a different port. :)

[RICKnVICK]

I have only cruised out of Galveston and Puerto Rico, so my experience with other ports is non-existent. I have to be honest and say that I am always so excited to be going on a cruise, that I don't pay attention at all if the person checking me in is in training, in a bad mood, etc..... All I know is, I am going on a CRUISE!!! :) We all know the weather is beyond anyone's control so I don't get upset at bad weather either. I do have to say living only 45 minutes from Galveston, that Hurricane Ike devastated Galveston and surrounding towns probably the worst we have ever seen. I personally think Galveston has done a great job getting back to normal after such a storm. I am sorry your experience wasn't a good one, but I certainly hope you will continue to cruise.

[spongerob]

Galveston is no worse than many of the home ports used by cruise lines. Few were built with the idea that thousands of people would descend upon them, wanting to dump baggage, pick up friends, park cars, etc. Ft. Lauderdale spoils us in that respect!

 

Go to San Francisco, New York, Southampton, Rome, etc. and you will find that you have to do some pre-planning to get from the airport to your hotel to your ship.

 

Galveston does have some unique challenges, but then again so does everywhere else. This is what CC is for, to get you in the know ahead of time so you don't have to be one of those people who come here and complain later.

[goose30]

To the OP.

 

What makes you think that your experience is unique to Galveston? It can happen at any port. sorry if it messed up your perception of the cruise.

[debates2]

If you ever find yourself departing out of Galveston again, I might suggest you stay at the Moody Gardens the night before and park your car with their valet service. They will provide a shuttle to the port. There are many fun things to do at the resort for all ages.

[estoyer]

Sorry to here of your bad experience. We also cruised the same ship and date. I must agree the cost of transportation is high but given the distance its' the same cost and mileage from our home to DFW airport. So in compairson its' the cost of ground travel today. I agree the coming and going was not easy but given this port is not used to its capacity year round may have something too do with the issues. I believe the city of Galveston owns the Port. The cruise ships are tenants. Guess the cruise lines part time Port only help, city and the fog would be the culprits. Bad Port and city management may also play a part. Another gripe to add to others, is the condition of the parking lot which is owned by the Port and the City. I paid $100 for covered parking. A little high but, the lot had a connecting drive from the cheaper non covered lot, that has pot hole full of muddy water of great size as well as depth. I believe you could almost float a tender in it!! This really PEED me off!!! Dam it, you would think the Port Authority could have at least repaired the drive before the next cruise left but no !! I checked upon return and the hole and water where still there. This I must say it was a rip off for the price we paid!! The port itself is in poor condition! Galveston please try to fix your issues before the 2011 cruise season!!!

 

On the positive side. We had so much fun on this cruise we booked another on the same ship half way through our cruise!!

 

YOU WON US OVER!

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

ROYAL CARIBBEAN!!

[Texaspepper]

We live in Fort Worth, TX. Thank You. . .thankyouverymuch!

 

For my wife and I, the Port Of Galveston works great for us. We cruise RCL Voyager Of The Sea; Carnival Conquest and Carnival Ecstasy. Don't have to fly anywhere and hassle overweight bags, airport hassle and transfers.

 

We always book parking on line at Lighthouse Parking and print out the receipt. Leave home on Saturday and drive to Houston and stay at Sheraton off 290 @ 610. Relax and drive to Galveston on Sunday. Arrive at Lighthouse Parking about 10:30AM. We are on board the ship by 11:45AM and having lunch. At the end of the cruise we reverse, stay in Houston and drive home on Monday. It's a breeze going up 610 -290 to 6 and then Waco pick up I-35 to home.

 

Living in Texas and cruising out of Galveston is the best. Only one thing could be better. . .another cruise line to come to Galveston. Houston has a new Cruise Terminal- they spent $80 million . . .hoping "If you build it . .they will come." Thus far; no one has come. It is 1 hour + more cruise time to reach the mouth of the gulf. We cruised out of Houston Sept 2008 after Ike wiped out Galveston. Not a great experience.

 

So, Galveston is it. Don't care for Miami port. Big. . busy. Think the most comfortable port we cruised out of was Barcelona, Spain. Zip check in. Zip on the ship.

 

I will say, when we arrived back in Galveston from Barcelona it was a bit of a hassle to Blue Shuttle from the port to Hobby Airport and fly SW Airlines to DFW. So, I do understand what some folks are saying about Galveston to Hobby or Houston Int. Come on Galveston get a new cruise line to give CCL some computation year around. RCL is only there mid Dec to mid April.

[Supurcell]

I understand your experience must have been extremely frustrating. I was actually on the exact same cruise with you on Feb. 14th. I have cruised out of Galveston many times. This was the ONLY time I have experienced trouble. Usually when we arrive the port in Galveston we have absolutely no wait & we are aboard the ship in time to eat lunch. However, this time customs was delaying the cruise before us, which forced us to wait. The wait time was unfortunate & inconvenient --- but it is the only time it has happened to me. Now the problem when we returned to Galveston was simply an act of nature. It was so foggy that it wouldn't have been safe for the ship to approach the port, so the coast guard shut down the port. I felt sorry for people like you who had early planes to catch. I just hope you will give Galveston another chance in the future, because this was a rare situation.

[newcruiser80]

Perfect, all cleaned up! :D

[maf07]

I just returned from the 03/07 - 03/14 Voyager of the Seas cruise out of Galveston. I am a fairly new cruiser, this being my 2nd cruise with RCCL, but let me tell you, this cruise paled in comparison to my Serenade experience out of San Juan.

 

In all fairness, most of the problems we encountered on the Galveston cruise were not due to weather.

 

Boarding the ship was a nightmare - 2 hour wait. Not only that but one RCCL employee was directing the line one way, and another RCCL employee came up and chewed this person out saying the line was going the WRONG WAY and sent us in another direction which resulted in us waiting even longer. It was very disorganized and no one seemed to know what was going on. The lines were so long and it was wall to wall people.

 

Once we reached check-in, the person behind the counter was very friendly and helpful.

 

Our state room smelled like a dirty sweat locker. Whoever had stayed in our room before us had serious body odor. We had to leave the balcony door open for 3 days and our room attendant came in and super-cleaned the carpets to try to remove the smell.

 

There were holes in our bed sheets. We spoke to our room attendant who replaced them. They never should have made it on the bed, but we were happy they fixed it.

 

Our fridge did not work. The volume was blown on the tv so it was like listening to an AM radio.

 

The food was bland and greasy. Breakfast seemed to be the same every day, however we were pleased with the variety of selections with lunch and dinner.

 

RCCL messed up our departation times, and my mother-in-law had to go to customer service 3 times for them to get it right.

 

Our hall smelled of raw sewage. Came to fine out a lady 3 doors down from us had sewage dripping from the bathroom upstairs into her room. Because the ship was booked, there was nothing they could do for her besides give her a noisy fan to try to dry the dripping sewage. Talk about a health hazard.

 

The Vault security staff seem to be on a power trip. I witnessed 3 people get cut off from drinking because of "security concerns". One woman only had 2 drinks and she was not acting out of line or extremely drunk and they cut her off. She was very upset.

 

In the library, only 2 of the 10 or so computers actually worked. I let customer service know of this, but nothing was done.

 

I guess overall, it wasn't a terrible cruise, but I wouldn't go back. My overall impression is that quality is slipping, they are cutting corners to save money and it is showing. Things are slipping in terms of paying attention to the "small things".

 

I wasn't greeted by name AT ALL on this cruise, a stark contrast to my experience on the Seranade.

 

Overall, not impressed.

[BecciBoo]

We got on Voyager the day the OP got off. Major uncontrollable fog/weather problem. We had a blast at the Olympia next to the pier for drinks and RCCL paid for our lunch as well with a $20 OBC per person(thank you RCCL). We even got some shopping in on the Strand...FUN! It was an adventure as far as we are concerned and we had a good time. Pier people, (thanks Erica) did their best under the highly unusual circumstances, IMHO, which had happened back in December as well. Patience IS a virtue!;) We were in long lines by 3:00 and finally made it on the ship around 4:00, but went straight to our rooms. We missed the usual festive sailaway, but were able to get this cool photo of the tanker behind our Aft cabin around midnight:

When I woke at 3:00 we were already out to sea(thanks Cpt. Dahlgren). Rest of cruise was marvelous with perfect weather. Return to Galveston was on lock down...again weather problems due to high winds, no one allowed on deck but we had great views of the high seas all over the ship. Bottom line...no cruise is a bad one where we are concerned and driving down to Galveston with minimal expense is a great experience for Texans and surrounding states. If you fly in, yes, transfers can be more expensive, but through no fault of Galveston, which was once the busiest and most promising port in the United States, google it! We've done many Galveston cruises and this was the first time for fog problems. We love Galveston, but to the OP, try Miami next time. That's my least favorite port, its like being in another country.:( And as for Voyager, she's a grand old dame, just a little tattered. Better luck next time, but put the blame where it belongs...mother nature.:D

[Bluegirl]

http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?wcd=119683

 

This is one of my masterpieces (oh please...) published.

 

 

Blusry, thanks so much for posting this! I love "your story!"

 

I have to say I'm a Galveston fan - I love cruising out of Texas (even though I'm a 'Skins fan)! We're cruising out of there next Sunday, in fact (on the VOS). Only good experiences so far.

 

I have to say there's something special about cruising out of a Gulf port - my first cruise, on the Conquest, was out of New Orleans - maybe since I grew up visiting my relatives in Mobile, Gulf Shores and Beaumont. I love that Galveston is a "real town." I love that investing my $$ into a Gulf port means more than investing it in Ft. Lauderdale, which doesn't really need my help. (Full disclosure: As RCCL cruisers, we sail nearly *every* time out of Ft. Lauderdale.)

[rubrrick]

Just a quick post.....to say that we were also on the 3/7 to 3/14 cruise.

 

Our experience was just a bit different. It was our first time out of Galveston, and we flew in the day before and stayed at the Hilton North near IAH. We learned that the hotel is beautiful, but outside of that, there was nothing to do near that area.

 

We had hired a limo service to take us to the pier at Galveston, and they were excellent. My DW is still unpacking us, but as soon as I have the name.......I'll post it here, as they gave the two of us the same price as the RCCL bus, but we rode in style!!

 

At the port, our bags, with tags on them, were taken immediately, and then did not show up till almost 6 PM. Royal Caribbean needs to do something about bags and suite guests........but it all blends in.

 

Outside of the bags..........out check in was fast, efficient, and easy to board. A quick note.........this is the only pier that champagne has been offered to us on RCCL. A very nice touch!!

 

We had a wonderful cruise..........excellent food, both in the Windjammer, and the only time that we experienced dinner in the MDR was at the captains table........and honestly (sorry Patrick) probably the worst meal we had on the trip. Not the captains fault...........he is one of the finest captains that RCCL has...........and will probably take Captain Wrights spot in the future!!

 

Is it a known fact that the Voyager is #1 in the fleet as far as service is concerned?? It's a fact, and meeting some of the officers, they truly gave us service beyond what we feel that is the norm for RCCL.

 

Unfortunately, Captain Patrick is headed off to the Navigator in the near future, and Captain Bang will be his replacement.

 

I'm headed for the Navigator!!:D

 

Rick