First Time Disney Cruisers out of Galveston

[Glamourgal]

Hey Everyone, We are very excited to be taking our very first Disney Cruise in Oct. Currently we are booked with Disney Ground transportation for round trip transfers that are $60 per person, round trip. Although this is a great price the only problem we have is that we will not know what time our shuttle will be picking us up at the airport until approximately two days before our trip and were told it would probably be around noon. I usually like to be on the ship by that time but if that's the best we can do, then so be it, but if anyone has any other suggestions for around the same price, I'd love to hear them. We are a party of two adults. One other thing we are staying at the Holiday Inn in Houston and arriving the day before our cruise so we will have to take the shuttle in the AM back to the airport from our hotel on the day of the cruise to catch the shuttle. This leads to question number TWO...As I said we are arriving the day before our cruise. We usually like to take a couple of bottles of wine, maybe some soda and water on board. Can anyone tell us where we could get these items if we are staying at the Holiday Inn, Houston Hobby Airport??

 

We are also a bit concerned but were reassured by Disney that we should be okay...our flights for disembarkation day are 1:50 from Hobby Airport. We are two adults in our 60's and will not be able to do the self disembarkation as we wouldn't be able to handle our luggage. Does anyone know, since we have earlier flights and are using the Disney ground transportation if we would be one of the first off the ship??

 

Again, we are really looking forward to our experience with Disney!!

[cruisermomo]

I too am taking my first Disney cruise (Oct 27th).....so looking forward to it.....We are about an hour from Galv & love having cruise ships going out of Galv.

You should not have any problems making your flt after the cruise...unless the ship is late getting into the port.....on any cruise I have been on before, the passengers with flts are the first to debark the ship....ones that do self debark are probably first....have to be able to carry ALL of your luggage....I have never been able to do that!!!!!!

As for getting some liquor, your hotel should be able to tell you where to get some....may have to take a cab if there is nothing very close....there are a lot of businesses & other hotels around the airport....soooo I am not much help on that.....

Hope you have a GREAT first Disney Cruise.....

[Shmoo here]

Hey Everyone, We are very excited to be taking our very first Disney Cruise in Oct. Currently we are booked with Disney Ground transportation for round trip transfers that are $60 per person, round trip. Although this is a great price the only problem we have is that we will not know what time our shuttle will be picking us up at the airport until approximately two days before our trip and were told it would probably be around noon. I usually like to be on the ship by that time but if that's the best we can do, then so be it, but if anyone has any other suggestions for around the same price, I'd love to hear them. We are a party of two adults. One other thing we are staying at the Holiday Inn in Houston and arriving the day before our cruise so we will have to take the shuttle in the AM back to the airport from our hotel on the day of the cruise to catch the shuttle. This leads to question number TWO...As I said we are arriving the day before our cruise. We usually like to take a couple of bottles of wine, maybe some soda and water on board. Can anyone tell us where we could get these items if we are staying at the Holiday Inn, Houston Hobby Airport??

 

We are also a bit concerned but were reassured by Disney that we should be okay...our flights for disembarkation day are 1:50 from Hobby Airport. We are two adults in our 60's and will not be able to do the self disembarkation as we wouldn't be able to handle our luggage. Does anyone know, since we have earlier flights and are using the Disney ground transportation if we would be one of the first off the ship??

 

Again, we are really looking forward to our experience with Disney!!

 

It's a bit difficult to answer most of these questions, as DCL has never sailed from Galveston before. Many of these things are the first time they've done them.

 

As to arriving earlier than 12:00, I will point out that at the other ports that DCL has sailed out of, the port doesn't open until 11:00, and boarding doesn't generally beging until 11:45. So, if Galveston operates the same, you won't be far behind the first people boarding (which would be the Concierge rooms and Platinum Castaway Club members).

 

As to the departure time off the ships, I don't know this one either, but if DCL says that you will make your flight, and you're using DCL transfers, I wouldn't worrry about it. If you miss your flight (highly unlikely), DCL has to get you on the next flight (at their cost).

 

:)

[Glamourgal]

Thanks so much for all of your feedback!!

 

 

If you miss your flight (highly unlikely), DCL has to get you on the next flight (at their cost).

 

We are not using DCL for our flights only for our ground transfers, so I'm not sure that Disney would be responsible if we miss our flights??

[Shmoo here]

Thanks so much for all of your feedback!!

 

 

 

 

We are not using DCL for our flights only for our ground transfers, so I'm not sure that Disney would be responsible if we miss our flights??

 

As long as you are complying with DCL's recommendation as to the earliest your flight should be, and are using DCL transfers, I believe they are responsible for getting you there.

 

If your flight is earlier than what DCL recommends, then, yes they won't be responsible.

 

I know at Port Canaveral, DCL recommends no flight prior to 11:30 am. But I don't know what the recommendation is for Galveston.

 

:)

[mrsfuzzmo]

No, they will not be responsible for your missed flights. We are in the same situation with our flights home. We need to be off the ship early-squirrly because we have a 1:25 pm flight out of IAH. We will do the self-dissembark and if the DCL shuttle seems like it's going to sit for a while before heading out, we will bite the bullet and grab a cab...essentially eating the $60 we paid for our shuttle, but it's better than missing our flight I guess. I have confidence that if we get right of the ship and get onto our DCL shuttle and let them know we have a 1:25 flight, we will do fine.

 

We are flying into IAH at 8:00 am on Saturday morning (day of the cruise) and the DCL rep told me that the shuttles will begin heading out from IAH at 10:00 AM to the port. We have an 11:30 am Port Arrival Time, so if all goes as planned that should work out well for us.

 

Considering the ship is coming into Galveston passenger-free, they shouldn't have much trouble turning it around and letting us board right away. Fingers-crossed!

[Mekamax]

Have you looked into SuperShuttle? They operate from the cruise ships to the airports and vice versa. We have not sailed Disney yet but have sailed out of Galveston a lot and have seen the Super Shuttle when we get off the ship.

 

If you can stay the night in Galveston I would highly recommend it over Houston. Houston is not near as nice and it will be less stressfull the day of the cruise. Super Shuttle should be able to get you there from the airport the day you arrive and Galveston has great hotels on the Seawall - overlooking the ocean or on Harborside over looking the cruise ship piers. On the Seawall side there is a Kroger Super Center and a Walmart both walking distance from 61st street with wine and such to buy for your cruise.

 

It is probably 45 minutes to/from Galveston from Hobby airport and 1 hr and 15 min to IAH airport.

 

Carnival ships are now coming in later around 8am so getting off the ship would be more like 9:30am - not sure about their shuttles to the airport but you should be able to get there by your flight. Disney should be around the same time. Main thing to know in Galveston is to get a porter when you get off the ship as you will get through customs a lot faster.

[Glamourgal]

Thanks so much Mekamax. I would LOVE to stay in Galveston the day before our cruise but we are using reward points from the Holiday Inn and those points are a lot higher. I think we are just going to stay with things as we have them booked as we spoke with someone from the HI in Houston and there is a liquor store there that we can use the free shuttle to get to for our beverages. I also spoke with someone from Disney and she told me that the shuttles start at 10 AM from the airport to the port so I'm hoping we can get on one of the first shuttles to the port. I like to have all my research done prior to a vacation so I don't have any work to do once the vaca starts...Thanks Again to CC and you for helping me to get all my ducks in a row.

[mistergq]

When I sailed out of Galveston in February 2009, we used a limo service that had a van. I do not remember the cost, but it was a cool option. The driver gave us a tour of Galveston when we arrived. When we came back, we had a late flight, so he gave us a tour of Houston and took us to a BBQ restaurant. Just an option to think about.

[Modern_Viking]

As for disembarking a DCL ship at the end of your cruise, I believe the general order that DCL suggests is

(1) self-disembarkation

(2) passengers with early seating dinner

(3) passengers with late seating dinner not choosing to eat breakfast in the dining room that morning

(4) passengers with late seating dinner eating breakfast in the dining room that morning.

 

The set of people with early seating dining (2) may also be split into two groups.

 

That said, other than actively keeping the self-disembarkation passengers separate, I don't think Disney actively controls people leaving the ship like other lines do. You kind of just aim for the gangway at your own pace, with randomness helping to keep the lines from getting too long.

 

Also, the suggestion for getting a porter in the terminal sounds good, as they often can take you through a shorter/faster customs line and get you to the buses faster.

 

I would think that, if the docking is on time and no major traffic snarls, you should be at Hobby airport by 10:30 or 11:00 am. And if you are flying Southwest, you may be able to buy the premium priced tickets that include access to the shorter security line at the airport.

 

As for arrival, you are welcome to buy sodas if you like (especially if you prefer Pepsi or Dr. Pepper), but remember that Coca-Cola products are free in the restaurants and at the pool-side dispenser (near the kids pool).

 

The area around Hobby airport is mostly, parking, hotels, rental cars, and ...ahem... adult businesses. It would not surprise me if there is a liquor store near-by as that would be keeping with the previous theme. But, I wouldn't say there is much of anything of interest in that area to keep you busy that night (other than dinner and sleep).

 

Hobby airport is certainly both smaller than Bush Intercontinental and also closer to the Galveston piers.

[Glamourgal]

Thanks so much Modern Viking for your input, it was very helpful. We are in early dining so that may help. It is also helpful to know that they are not as strict as other lines regarding getting off the ship. Normally I am in NO rush to get off and just take my good ole time but with our flight being at 1:50, that scares me a little.