Princess shuttle from Hobby airport (Houston)

[top of the world]

We signed up to take the Princess shuttle from Hobby airport in Houston, Texas, to the pier in Galveston. We will be arriving 2 days earlier and Princess told us to go back to the airport for 11:30 AM on the departure day. Do you know if they have earlier shuttles? We were hoping to catch the shuttle around 10:30 or so to be on the ship before lunch.

When is the earliest shuttle from Hobby to Galveston?

Thanks.

[caribill]

Sure they have earlier shuttles, but I do not know when they would start.

 

I suggest being back at Hobby around 9 AM. Many flights with Princess passengers will have already arrived by then.

[Astro Flyer]

I don't know about HOU but in SEA the 1st Princess bus to the Seattle pier was at 1030 which arrived just in time to check-in before embarkation began.

 

I recently used Super Shuttle to get to HOU so you may want to check their prices & they could pick you up instead of having to go to HOU to get a Princess shuttle. In the American Way magazine on our AA flight Super Shuttle advertised & had a code to save 10% on a shuttle.

[Shoalwater]

We signed up to take the Princess shuttle from Hobby airport in Houston, Texas, to the pier in Galveston. We will be arriving 2 days earlier and Princess told us to go back to the airport for 11:30 AM on the departure day. Do you know if they have earlier shuttles? We were hoping to catch the shuttle around 10:30 or so to be on the ship before lunch.

When is the earliest shuttle from Hobby to Galveston?

Thanks.

 

Hobby is about 35 miles from Galveston and is not in a nice area for vacation stays. Where will you be staying on arrival? Will you be renting a vehicle? Does it make sense to return to Hobby for the Princess transport? Can you get your money refunded? If so, head to Galveston and stay there.

[top of the world]

Hobby is about 35 miles from Galveston and is not in a nice area for vacation stays. Where will you be staying on arrival? Will you be renting a vehicle? Does it make sense to return to Hobby for the Princess transport? Can you get your money refunded? If so, head to Galveston and stay there.

I agree that Galveston would be a much nicer place to stay, but we won't be spending much time around Hobby, only there to sleep. We want to go visit the Johnson Space Center on Friday. It just seemed easier to stay in Houston overnight, rent a van - there are 6 of us traveling together - go visit the Space center on Friday, and catch the shuttle on Saturday morning. We looked into returning the van in Galveston, but for some reason decided against it... I only have one vote out of 6 and this is what the majority of the people in our group wanted to do...

[ChiefBoats]

We just got our Crown itinerary for a March 23rd trip and Princess indicated that boarding will not start until 1:00 PM. The ship sails at 5:00 PM and everybody has to be on board by 4:00 PM. Getting there at 10:30 will not get you on board at noon more than likely.

[ChiefBoats]

We live just 5 minutes from Hobby and it is an typical airport area. Similar to many other city airports. But about 15 minutes south you get into the Clear Lake and NASA area with a number of nice hotels and things to do. Galveston has a number of nice resort type hotels you can stay at and they will get you to the ship terminal.

[rdsqrl]

I agree that Galveston would be a much nicer place to stay, but we won't be spending much time around Hobby, only there to sleep. We want to go visit the Johnson Space Center on Friday. It just seemed easier to stay in Houston overnight, rent a van - there are 6 of us traveling together - go visit the Space center on Friday, and catch the shuttle on Saturday morning. We looked into returning the van in Galveston, but for some reason decided against it... I only have one vote out of 6 and this is what the majority of the people in our group wanted to do...

Is it too late to find another group, because going back to the airport just to wait on a shared shuttle service sounds like torture to me. Seriously. You've already got a car; get on the highway to Galveston and head for the ship. Why get caught up in airport traffic and hassle when you don't have to?

 

 

We just got our Crown itinerary for a March 23rd trip and Princess indicated that boarding will not start until 1:00 PM. The ship sails at 5:00 PM and everybody has to be on board by 4:00 PM. Getting there at 10:30 will not get you on board at noon more than likely.

Princess material always says that. They try to discourage people from coming early on all their sailings. It doesn't mean that they won't begin boarding by noon as usual.

[caribill]

I recently used Super Shuttle to get to HOU so you may want to check their prices & they could pick you up instead of having to go to HOU to get a Princess shuttle.

To go to Galveston, SuperShuttle will charge the price of an exclusive van. However, for the group of six, it would probably be less expensive than the Princess xfers.

 

 

Hobby is about 35 miles from Galveston and is not in a nice area for vacation stays. Where will you be staying on arrival? Will you be renting a vehicle? Does it make sense to return to Hobby for the Princess transport? Can you get your money refunded? If so, head to Galveston and stay there.

 

Galveston has minimal car rental return facilities. If you do not have the right brand car rental, you cannot drop it off there.

 

As someone pointed out above, the ship will probably start embarkation around noon.

[1025cruise]

Another thing I have heard is that the timing of the departing shuttles is do to when they arrive from Galveston with returning passengers.

[Stevesan]

We signed up to take the Princess shuttle from Hobby airport in Houston, Texas, to the pier in Galveston. We will be arriving 2 days earlier and Princess told us to go back to the airport for 11:30 AM on the departure day. Do you know if they have earlier shuttles? We were hoping to catch the shuttle around 10:30 or so to be on the ship before lunch.

When is the earliest shuttle from Hobby to Galveston?

Thanks.

 

That's too muich back and forth. It's only @30 miles from Galveston to the space center. Cancel the transfers and have the van delivered to HOU. Drive it to Galveston and stay at a nice Galveston hotel. Visit the space center the next day.

 

http://www.spacecenter.org/Hours.html

 

http://www.galveston.com/default.asp

[mailmama]

this might help: we used Princess transfers last cruise. We had early flight and arrived @ 8 am. Found Princess reps who directed us to seating area @ airport. The bus was supposed to leave about 11 am but when more people arrived, they put us on bus and when full, it pulled out! This was about 9:20 am. I think it might depend on how many others are arriving early also!! They also checked us in early so when we arrived at pier, we were escorted right through.

[top of the world]

this might help: we used Princess transfers last cruise. We had early flight and arrived @ 8 am. Found Princess reps who directed us to seating area @ airport. The bus was supposed to leave about 11 am but when more people arrived, they put us on bus and when full, it pulled out! This was about 9:20 am. I think it might depend on how many others are arriving early also!! They also checked us in early so when we arrived at pier, we were escorted right through.

Thanks, mailmama. That is exactly the info I was looking for. I was hoping that they would have shuttles available earlier than 11:30 and from what you wrote, they do.

Thanks for your help.

[elpasomom]

We are trying to decide on our mode of transportation from Hobby to Galveston. What is Princess charging for their transfers?

[richrhon1]

We were told $34/pp, each way. We might rent a car using Priceline out of HOU. Parking at the port is $65.00 if prepaying. Or might look for a hotel in Galveston where I can park for free for the week.

[top of the world]

We are trying to decide on our mode of transportation from Hobby to Galveston. What is Princess charging for their transfers?

 

As richrhon1 said, Princess charges $34. per person each way. We looked into renting a car, but that was also quite expensive with the trouble of returning the car and finding a ride to the pier. Even though Enterprise says that "they will pick you up", when we called and asked, they told us they would not drive us to the pier after we return the car and I believe they are the only car rental company in Galveston. Keeping the car for the week may be another option, as richrhon1 said, but for us it seemed more expensive (and more trouble) then paying for 2 transfers. We are on vacation and like to take the easy route. We often use the Princess transfers and have always been happy with their service. You do have more flexibility with your own car.

[top of the world]

Hoping for more input...

Did any of you take a Princess shuttle from Hobby earlier than 11:30 AM?

How did it work out?