Cruise out of Miami or Galveston?

[ryane369]

I was originally planning a cruise out of Miami or Fort Lauderdale for October but was unable to fly there with my air miles. Flights to Houston are available but I'm not sure what the age demographics are out of Galveston. I'm a 26 year old travelling solo and would like to meet other singles and have a great nightlife. Do the Galveston cruises generally have the same age range, number of singles and as good of a nightlife as the Miami cruises?

 

Thanks:)

[jimbo5544]

I was originally planning a cruise out of Miami or Fort Lauderdale for October but was unable to fly there with my air miles. Flights to Houston are available but I'm not sure what the age demographics are out of Galveston. I'm a 26 year old travelling solo and would like to meet other singles and have a great nightlife. Do the Galveston cruises generally have the same age range, number of singles and as good of a nightlife as the Miami cruises?

 

Thanks:)

Lord knows the answer to that. I would think that the demographics are not significantly different. The drivers that change things like that are usually cruise destinations...such as Alaska.

[okgirl]

You will find plenty of people in your age range. The Conquest is a great ship and has a fantastic crew and lots of fun night life activities.

 

John Heald was just on the Conquest and said in his blog last week that it is now his official favorite ship and home port. He went on and on about how fun and friendly the passengers are (most of whom are from Texas like me.......) :p

 

The worst part of sailing out of Galveston is getting from the airport to Galveston. It's a pretty expensive taxi ride so if you are flying in on Sunday embarkation day you might want to consider taking the Carnival transport.

 

There are no car rental agencies in Galveston that are open on Sundays so renting a car isn't really an option.

[SoonerOne]

We love Galveston and the Conquest! It's a great place to cruise out of!

[firefly333]

I cant imagine the locals who fills the majority of cruises being older out of Galveston than Miami...seems like Florida is the one known as home for many seniors.

 

Galveston has all ages. I have not noticed one age more predominant than others on my Galveston vs. Florida cruises.

 

I agree with the above poster ...the worst part is getting from the airport to Galveston. If you are flying in ...its not that easy to get to port. Luckily there are tons of folks who can drive there, making it a very popular port.

[jimbo5544]

I cant imagine the locals who fills the majority of cruises being older out of Galveston than Miami...seems like Florida is the one known as home for many seniors.

 

Galveston has all ages. I have not noticed one age more predominant than others on my Galveston vs. Florida cruises.

 

I agree with the above poster ...the worst part is getting from the airport to Galveston. If you are flying in ...its not that easy to get to port. Luckily there are tons of folks who can drive there, making it a very popular port.

Good point Fire. The downside of sailing out of Galveston is the hour bus ride from the airport.

[LambKnuckles]

Having only sailed from Galveston or NOLA... I like the crowd who cruises from there!!! DD turned 21 on the CONQUEST... and she loved the age groups...

It is a FUN FUN FUN group who cruises on the CONQUEST and the ECSTASY!!!

[cruisekwazee]

I have cruised out of both ports and I found the age range to be about the same. You will love the Conquest and Galveston. That drive from the Airport won't be that bad. Just have fun no matter what and go with an open mind.

[JRock59]

Sail on the Conquest you'll have a great time! Wonderful crew and IMHO after saiing out of Florida and Gulf Coast Ports the folks out of Galveston are the most friendly, polite and fun group! :)

[mrs. love to cruise]

I've been out of Galveston, NO and Ft Lauderdale. Galveston was by far, in my opinion, the worst embarkations we've had, and we've gone out of there three times I think. (You'd think after 1 or 2 we'd give up on that one.) The staff was by far the most friendly and most fun though, so I guess it's a trade off.

[divingmedic]

I've been out of Galveston, NO and Ft Lauderdale. Galveston was by far, in my opinion, the worst embarkations we've had, and we've gone out of there three times I think. (You'd think after 1 or 2 we'd give up on that one.) The staff was by far the most friendly and most fun though, so I guess it's a trade off.

What made the embarkations so bad? Crowds? Unorganized staff?

[jimbo5544]

What made the embarkations so bad? Crowds? Unorganized staff?

YES.....

We have cruised out of 8 different ports. It is not that some are bad per se, but that some just do it better. Sometimes the staff tends to be say...on the senior side and a little grumpy. Not the worst thing in the world for sure.

[divingmedic]

YES.....

We have cruised out of 8 different ports. It is not that some are bad per se, but that some just do it better. Sometimes the staff tends to be say...on the senior side and a little grumpy. Not the worst thing in the world for sure.

Thanks, we are fairly local, so we might just wait till the two hour before boarding mark and board then.

[jimbo5544]

Thanks, we are fairly local, so we might just wait till the two hour before boarding mark and board then.

Don't wait too long. There are rules about the minimum length of time to get on a ship before it cruises. Think it might be an hour but not positive.

[Texarribean Chick]

OP - I don't know where you are from; but if you have never sailed with a bunch of folks from Texas - YOU ARE IN FOR A TREAT! Friendly people and GORGEOUS women! I'm from Texas and DH is from Philadelphia. We met on a cruise years ago (out of Miami); but he says that people from Texas are by far the most fun beautiful people he has ever known!

 

Go for it and HAVE AN AWESOME CRUISE!

 

Chick.

[firefly333]

On the other hand the one bad experience out of Galveston the poster had, could have just been that one time.

 

Iv not had any bad experiences boarding out of Galveston, but have twice out of New Orleans. I really would not characterize Galveston as being disorganized ... they are better than New Orleans in many ways.

 

We have had a bad disembarkation on Ecstasy but that was the crew onboard when we hit the darn pier and broke it.

[aggie1]

The only time we had a bad disembarkation at Galveston was when we did the TA on the VOS and came into Galveston for the first time. Galveston was just not quite ready for 6,000 px disembarking at the same time. We have done 3 cruises out of Galveston with no problem. Took the whole family for a New Year's cruise on the Conquest and all of them really enjoyed it and we have enjoyed our cruises alone on the Conquest. Great port to sail from.

[kimscruisin]

I prefer Galveston over Miami, but I am partial since I am from TX. Nothing like Southern Hospitality. I have young adult sons 26, 21, they prefer leaving out of Galveston. Also, Houston Hobby is much closer to Galveston than IAH. So, if you can find a flight into Houston Hobby, it's about 30 minutes to Galveston. Otherwise, IAH is much farther--about an hour--on a good day with little traffic--which is rare. Southwest does fly into Hobby.

[divingmedic]

I prefer Galveston over Miami, but I am partial since I am from TX. Nothing like Southern Hospitality. I have young adult sons 26, 21, they prefer leaving out of Galveston. Also, Houston Hobby is much closer to Galveston than IAH. So, if you can find a flight into Houston Hobby, it's about 30 minutes to Galveston. Otherwise, IAH is much farther--about an hour--on a good day with little traffic--which is rare. Southwest does fly into Hobby.

We Texans are some mighty friendly folk ain't we?

[cruisekwazee]

We Texans are some mighty friendly folk ain't we?

We surely are!!! :D:p

[ibm_db2]

Miami or Fort Lauderdale, help my local economy.

[dmdiver]

We've done 3 cruises out of Galveston. I think the staff is friendlier on those ships as well. That's not to say that they are unfriendly out of Miami, just the Miami staff was not as likely to strike up a conversation. Our ships out of Galveston were Jubilee, Elation & Conquest. I think Texas people are friendlier than those in other areas of the country, also. This is not my observation, it's based on comments that others have made to me. I met a guy who was from California at Pizza Hut. They were so slow that night & all these people were waiting on pizza. We started chatting & he made the comment that in California this conversation never would have taken place. He said he never wants to leave Texas. That's the only specific incident I can recall at the moment, although I know there were others.

[reyesj226]

First off – I am proud to say that I am a Texan – especially after reading all these wonderful comments of us Texans!!

We are taking our first family cruise in a few days on the Conquest!! I originally wanted to go on the Liberty out of Miami because the ports seem more exotic, but since it was going to cost as much to fly as the cruise, we decided on the Conquest.

I felt like I was going on a “cheaper” boat when I read several comments about the Liberty, but after reading all of ya’lls (yes, in my Texan accent! J) comments, I am so happy and excited with my decision!!

Happy Sailing! :D