Driving to Galveston

[Kokopelli2]

We are thinking about driving to Galveston from California so we can finally take a Caribbean cruise. Has anybody done this? Any tips?

 

How about parking in Galveston? Any good stay and park hotels in the area, or should we park at the terminal?

 

Thanks for your help!

[firefly333]

Iv never ever parked at any port, not even once. Galveston, pretty much every hotel has free parking, but there are options that are not expensive, like lighthouse, discount, and EZCruiseparking.com

 

Most hotels do not have free shuttles, so the taxi costs about as much as just parking at one of the off site places... depends on how many days you are cruising.

 

I drove to Florida, so dont know why you couldnt drive to galveston. Its a sleepy beach town.

 

EZCruis parking for instance is $35 for short cruises or $50 for 7 day cruises to park and they have lots of shuttles back and forth to and from the port. Hotels are cheap compared to other ports, except during summer when people come to down for the beaches.

[CRJ700]

We are thinking about driving to Galveston from California so we can finally take a Caribbean cruise. Has anybody done this? Any tips?

 

How about parking in Galveston? Any good stay and park hotels in the area, or should we park at the terminal?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Park and Cruise is directly across the street from the terminal. 7 day rate was $45 for uncovered and $60 for covered. No taxi or shuttle hassles.

[JRock59]

Head over to the Galveston Board under Gulf Port Departures and check out Galveston dot com lots of good info! Also there is a live web cam to watch the ships arrive and depart. :D

[asb2164]

I-10 East have a good time

[Alliezona09]

We drive from Phoenix to Galveston~ are doing it again this October~ Will get to El Paso the first day (friday) and then to Houston the second (saturday) then head down to Galveston on cruise day~I'd rather stay in Houston the Galveston~ personal choice for us~ We use Galveston Park n Cruise dot com also, right across the street! Easy to walk to and from~!

[Princesss]

I have driven back and forth between CA & Dallas TX a few times and usually stop overnight in AZ or El Paso. El Paso has more places to go & AZ is a little dead by the border with TX. You will have a lot of free time to do something in the evening.

Houston isnt that much different than Dallas distance-wise, you would just come out I10 to Houston instead of going North on I20 to Dallas.

[Wayfairers]

I always drive to cruise... so much easier than flying in. More interesting trip too!

[Princesss]

We drive from Phoenix to Galveston~ are doing it again this October~ Will get to El Paso the first day (friday) and then to Houston the second (saturday) then head down to Galveston on cruise day~I'd rather stay in Houston the Galveston~ personal choice for us~ We use Galveston Park n Cruise dot com also, right across the street! Easy to walk to and from~!

 

Houston hotels are nicer and cheaper, and you have a much better selection, but the advantage of staying in Galveston is that you can get free parking at the hotel you stay in, which can save you @ 50 bucks. Most Galveston hotels have free shuttle service right up to the terminal door & all you do is tip the driver a few bucks each way. They get your luggage out then it is whisked away, to be seen later that evening ! If you want to park in a parking lot, they make you drive up to the terminal, deal with all that traffic, then you unload your luggage, make sure its tagged then when they "whisk it away" you have to drive to the lot of your choice, park your car, then wait for their shuttle to take you back to the terminal. I guess how you handle it depends on how much luggage you have. I usually try to pack really light so I can get on and off easily.

[Princesss]

I always drive to cruise... so much easier than flying in. More interesting trip too!

 

I agree, especially since its only a 4 hour drive from Dallas; by the time I drive to the airport, find parking, go thru security and everything else, then the flight time, arrival and waiting for luggage, find a ride to the hotel, there goes my 4 hours, plus I have to pay airport parking on top of that when I get back !

[firefly333]

Most Galveston hotels have free shuttle service right up to the terminal door & all you do is tip the driver a few bucks each way.

 

Actually there are not that many hotels in Galveston with free shuttles.

 

You might want to check out the gulf ports boards and check the percentage yourself.

[stobe1]

You'll be fine. We drove to Galveston from Cincinnati a few years ago for a cruise on Rhapsody of the Seas and made a day and a half out of the drive each way. We paid ahead of time for parking on the internet and it was cheaper than paying on departure day. It was also stress free because we didn't have to worry about catching a flight on the last day and all that stuff. We just leisurely walked off the ship in one of the last groups and got in the car and started driving home.

 

Have a nice trip!!!

[truchattycathy]

Holiday Inn on Seawall Blved in Galveston has free cruise parking and a free shuttle to and from the ship.

 

There are less expensive hotels that offer free parking as well.

 

If you join your roll call you will get some great suggestions.

 

I have used EZ Parking and Lighthouse. Much cheaper than the terminal and actually closer, because when the terminal parking next to the ship fills up, they send you off to remote parking. None of that with EZ or Lighthouse.

 

Enjoy Galveston, I love it.

[Raven Days]

We are thinking about driving to Galveston from California so we can finally take a Caribbean cruise. Has anybody done this? Any tips?

 

How about parking in Galveston? Any good stay and park hotels in the area, or should we park at the terminal?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

 

Sorry you lost me at DRIVING to Galveston from California! Holy Smokes I live in San Antonio and I HATE driving to Galveston! Of course I hate driving anywhere....if there is a plane I will take it. I dont care how much money I save by driving...I am in the end saving my sanity and that is worth so much more!

[Little Elm]

I have driven back and forth between CA & Dallas TX a few times and usually stop overnight in AZ or El Paso. El Paso has more places to go & AZ is a little dead by the border with TX. You will have a lot of free time to do something in the evening.

 

Houston isnt that much different than Dallas distance-wise, you would just come out I10 to Houston instead of going North on I20 to Dallas.

Do you mean border with NM? AZ does not border TX.

[Alliezona09]

I'd rather pay the $60 for a week of parking in a secured indoor parking lot then just park in an open parking lot, most likely not secured~ Would hate to come back from a wonderful trip to find something happened to my vehicle~~

[k2excursion]

Three times, we parked our car at the hotel in Galveston. They let us leave it there for free. My favorite was La Quinta Inn: low rates (around $70), good location, taxi ride to/from the terminal was about $10 each way. But Galveston can sometimes be very expensive (about $160 instead of $70), for different reasons. That was the case the 4th time, so we stayed at a nice hotel (Drury Inn) in Southeast Houston, near the Hobby Airport, for around $70. The next day, we drove the remaining 45 minutes to the terminal and did one of the cheaper parking options for $50. We've driven to Miami & Ft. Lauderdale before (nearly 1500 miles each way). It's no big deal. Saves a ton of money, and you get to see more of the country.

[Wayfairers]

Sorry you lost me at DRIVING to Galveston from California! Holy Smokes I live in San Antonio and I HATE driving to Galveston! Of course I hate driving anywhere....if there is a plane I will take it. I dont care how much money I save by driving...I am in the end saving my sanity and that is worth so much more!

 

To me driving is not about saving money or to see how quickly we can get there, it is about a more relaxed and interesting trip. We only drive around 6 hours a day and stop for hikes or to see something or to visit with friends/family along the way. Of course it helps that we aren't on a time crunch - when time is short and the drive would be more than half a day you can't beat flying!

[DEBnGAB]

We drove from Sacramento, Ca to Galveston...and I thought we were nuts, but it turned out to be a cool road trip!

 

Drove day 1 from Sac to Tucson, Tucson to San Antonio, then San Antonio to Galveston. On the way back, drove to San Antonio to spend the night and go to Sea World, day 2 San Antonio to Las Cruces, Las Cruces to Flagstaff to go to the Grand Canyon, then spent the final day driving home.

[DragonMouse]

I dunno about driving from California but we drive from San Antonio. It's not a big deal. You can probably go to "Hotwire or Priceline" and get a good deal on a hotel either in Galveston or Houston. Many hotels in Galveston offer "free cruise parking". I guess it depends on if you plan on returning to that hotel after the cruise or starting your return to California. Honestly I don't believe anything is "FREE" anymore. If a hotel includes it they probably roll it into the price somehow.

 

We've used the EZParking (I think that's the one)...You can book it on-line and save about $5. I "personnally" liked it because it was INSIDE. The car was cooler when we came back. But inside or outside the car seemed "secure".

[txlnghrn79]

We use Galveston park n cruise....just type that in with no spaces....add a .com and you will bring up their web site...their indoor covered parking is just that...completely indoors and locked up once each little garage gets full. The main bonus to this is you can drop your bags at the terminal and then pull across the street and your are where you park. It is like 40 for covered for a 5 day cruise and i think 60 for a 7 day cruise.

[MrSnarkyPants]

We are thinking about driving to Galveston from California so we can finally take a Caribbean cruise. Has anybody done this? Any tips?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Plan on your first leg of the trip being wherever you are in SoCal to Phoenix. If you got a hotel in Tempe/Awhatukee/Chandler along I-10 you would be in a good spot to leave the next morning, as you would be going the opposite way of rush hour.

 

Phoenix to El Paso will be your next day on the road. I don't really have a suggestion for El Paso other than to get a taco at El Taco Tote. I usually stay at one of the La Quinta hotels in that city, and they're your typical La Quinta.

 

El Paso to Galveston will be another full day on the road. As others have pointed out, hotel prices vary in Galveston with the season, so whether you'll be better off staying somewhere along I-45 before Galveston or on the island itself depends upon the weekend. The Gulf Coast departures board will have suggestions. I'll add mine: call the hotels directly in Galveston to ask about park & cruise rates. They're not always listed on the web.

 

Galveston is a sleepy beach town, but I love it. If you left on Wednesday, that would put you in Phoenix that night, in El Paso by Thursday night, in Houston/Galveston on Friday night, and would have time to spend the day on the island on Saturday before getting on the ship for a Sunday departure (assuming you're going for one of the 7 day itineraries).

 

You could also get off of I-10 after San Antonio, detour over to Fredricksburg & spend a night in a B&B before making an easy drive into Houston/Galveston.

[Kokopelli2]

Thank you all for the responses, especially those of you that have done the drive before!

 

I will check out the hotels in Galveston for a park and cruise special. If you have any more tips for the drive to and from I would appreciate them. We will not be in a hurry to get there, and I was figuring 2-3 days each way (DW does not want to spend 12-16 hours in the car at a time).

 

I am excited to finally do a cruise other than Mexico (DW is afraid of flying). So, if this drive works out we can do the east and west Caribbean from Galveston.

 

If anyone needs help on Mexico cruises, let me know. We have done enough of them! :D

[cruising_kenboy]

El Paso to San Antonio is a long, boring drive, google says 550 miles. We love the B&B's outside San Antonio in Gruene. Wonderful restaurants, and you have to go to Gruene Hall.

 

Personally, I'd do phoenix-el paso-san antonio one way and albuquerque - grand canyon/vegas the other.

[MrSnarkyPants]

We will not be in a hurry to get there, and I was figuring 2-3 days each way (DW does not want to spend 12-16 hours in the car at a time)

 

My parents drive from Phoenix to visit me in Houston fairly often.

 

LA to Phoenix is about 8 hours on the 10 freeway, depending upon where you're starting. (If you're coming out of San Diego, it's about 6 hours on the 8 freeway.)

 

Phoenix to El Paso is about 6 to 7 hours on the 10.

 

El Paso to Houston is the killer segment. That's 12 hours in the car, with a whole lot of nothing between El Paso and San Antonio. Once you hit San Antonio, you might as well keep going and just finish the drive. Texas is an enormous state, and you're going end to end.

 

If you want to make that segment a little easier, you could go instead from Phoenix to Fort Stockton, TX (about 10 hours), which then makes the next day's drive into Houston/Galveston 7 to 8 hours. Fort Stockton isn't much. There are a few hotels of middling quality, and about the only claim to fame in the town is a restaurant keeps a table set for John Madden because he stopped there once during a football season road trip.

 

Here's another option:

 

Southern California to Phoenix (I-10) (8 hours)

Phoenix to El Paso (I-10) (7 hours)

El Paso to Fredricksburg, TX (jump off of I-10 onto US 290 before Kerrville; about 8 hours)

Fredricksburg to Galveston (via US 290, through Austin into Houston. In Houston, 290 ends at 610, take 610 south to I-45 south; I-45 ends in Galveston) (5 hour drive)

 

If you jump off of I-10 and go to Fredricksburg, you get to see the Hill Country and Austin, which after all the flat desert you will have been driving through will be a nice change of pace. Fredricksburg is a cute town with lots of B&B's. It's a popular honeymoon destination in these parts, and they decorate the whole town nicely for Christmas.