NCL Departing Houston-Any tips??

[farjar]

We've been on 2 NCL cruises before, but never departed from Houston. Any info on which airport to choose (Hobby or Bush) from west coast, tips getting from airport to cruise terminal, or other helpful hints would be greatly appreciated.

[fin]

Last October I flew SW Air from Nashville to Hobby and took limo to pier. Since then, there have been dozens of posts on this same topic, discussing this subject thoroughly. Probably worth a bit of a search.

[ute_fan]

Hobby is closer to the pier, but for us, flying from Utah, there are no direct flights. It's much easier (and cheaper) to fly into Bush -- may be different for you. NCL does have a transfer (seems overpriced to me) and it only goes from Bush, if my TA is correct.

 

Lots of back posts about renting a car (Enterprise??) and driving it to the pier. Search for Enterprise and you should find them.

 

We're still trying to figure out our transfers. Good luck!

[kidfanz]

We are flying into Hobby - because that's where Southwest flies into and it's the least expensive for us from Cal. Enterprise quoted a van for $50.00 which we will have from Fri. afternoon til Sat. morn. Returning to Seabrook office before cruising. They close their office at noon on Sat. They have a complimentary shuttle to NCL Port of Houston. For the return trip we are using Kays Transport with a van (there are 6 of us) for a cost of $30.00.

[specialthing1]

Just returned on 19th from wonderful cruise on the sea. We flew into Hobby on friday for a sat sailing stayed at the Drury Inn Hobby really nice but not Spectactular facility. Free Full Breakfast and one hour long distance phone calls.They pay for trans from airport.We used Kays Marine transportation to the pier and back to airport $30 for up to 6 people because of lugage 4 is more realistic.They were right on schedule for both pickups and are really nice people. If your looking for luxury this is not it but for economy and reliability I would highly recomend them. Hope this dosent get the post pulled but their number is 832 265 5049. Their 7 yr old son read us ghost stories on the way to the pier but he ask us if it was ok. With 5 children 9 grands and 2 Great grands we aprove of anyone reading but just a heads up for those of you who expect more than inexpensive, friendly, reliable transportation. Smooth Seas To All, Carol

[crackercruise]

kidfanz- Is that Kays Transport $30 per person? Where do they pick up/drop off? Thx

[kidfanz]

No it is $30.00 for the trip. They will pick us up at the cruise port and drive us to Hobby.

[rnjhill]

I have to disagree with UTE Fan. The NCL ground transfer is very cheap. We are paying $20 per person from Bush to the pier.:D

[ute_fan]

I thought the NCL transfer was more than that per person, but the problem is that we have 4 people, which would be $80 one way. We may be giving Kays Transportation a call! However, if we're flying in on Friday night, which it looks like we will, renting a car may make more sense so that we have transportation for the evening.

[sdirector77]

We are sailing on the 23rd of April and I just received information on a shuttle service from Hobby to the port. Name of service is West Side Shuttle, phone number is 281-923-0408, I have not called them yet but one of the area hotels made the recommendation, said they were reliable and reasonable. Happy Cruising. :p

[Kathieko]

We are also on the 4/23 sailing of the Sea. I called Kays Transport today and they confirmed that it's $30 for up to 7 people from Hobby to the Port. I booked with them immediately!! We have 3 going and it would have been $20/each or $60 to go on the NCL transfer. Thanks for the tip!

Kathie

[newmexicoNita]

We've been on 2 NCL cruises before, but never departed from Houston. Any info on which airport to choose (Hobby or Bush) from west coast, tips getting from airport to cruise terminal, or other helpful hints would be greatly appreciated.

 

Hobby is much closer: think about renting a car from Enterprise, you can pick it up at the airport and drop in off near the pier. They will shuttle you back to the pier and pick you up when your cruise is over. I know you have heard or read this a million times, but be prepared for the size of the cabins and don't laugh to hard when you open your door. Best part of the cabin experience is there is plenty of storage at least. We have cruised her twice and are used to tiny quarters.

 

Be sure and eat both at Le Bistros and Pasta Cafe. Some don't think the Pasta cafe is all that great, we did and there is no service charge, but make your reservations early as it is quite small.

 

Expect to find a wonderful crew and have a relaxed vacation. We have found booking tours for Roatan either via the net or after you get there works well; everyone swears by the tubing trip in Belize and Cozumel has so much to offer you can never do it all. Hope this helps some. NMNita

[mobes97]

We are also on the 4/23 sailing of the Sea. We're flying from Ontario Int'l to Bush and got a very reasonable price (less than $500 for both). The biggest thing for us was getting there early enough because we can't fly in the day before. Continental has a direct flight into Bush that arrives just after noon, central time. That gives us about three hours to get luggage and get over to the docks. All the flights going to Hobby had at least one stop, so they didn't land until 2pm at the earliest. If

 

We have a friend a Houston that is going to be our taxi so we're lucky in that respect. However, we did research before our friend committed to picking us up and found that Kays and Enterprise were about equal cost-wise (shuttle is cheaper if you are sharing with more people). I guess it depends on if you want to explore Houston at all before or after the cruise.