Galveston Shuttle - Cool Tours

[cjdixon4]

I'd like to hear from anyone here who has used Cool Tours as a shuttle service. I am aware that they are well-known for their tours of Galveston, but I want an idea of what they're like as a shuttle service to/from Houston Hobby and Galveston. Any experiences to share?

 

As an add-on, I'll be sailing with my family in May on RCI's Navigator of the Seas and will fly into Houston the day before.

[cruise.freak]

I have them booked for our cruise next week. Very easy to book and I even changed drop of location with no problem. I had some friends use them but for a tour and they really liked them.

[blomo]

We used Cool tours last April both for a shuttle from Hobby and for their day tours. They were excellent, friendly and efficient. Steve arrived at the airport on time and everything went as it should. The day tour drivers were humorous and knowledgeable about their island. Great tours. Highly recommended.

Enjoy! :)

[cjdixon4]

I have them booked for our cruise next week. Very easy to book and I even changed drop of location with no problem. I had some friends use them but for a tour and they really liked them.

 

Please let me know when you return what your experience with Cool Tours was like!

Edited March 4, 2014 by cjdixon4

[ctrinco]

Interested in review as well :)!

[hillbillycruisers]

We used Cool tours last April both for a shuttle from Hobby and for their day tours. They were excellent, friendly and efficient. Steve arrived at the airport on time and everything went as it should. The day tour drivers were humorous and knowledgeable about their island. Great tours. Highly recommended.

Enjoy! :)

We've been wanting to do one of their day tours for some time now...just havent done it. Can you give us any info...such as how long it lasted...how much it cost...what all did you see, etc? Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks..Doug :)

[blomo]

We've been wanting to do one of their day tours for some time now...just havent done it. Can you give us any info...such as how long it lasted...how much it cost...what all did you see, etc? Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks..Doug :)

 

We were in Galveston a year ago. Their day tours are hop on hop off. They had a small bus, only. It picked up at the Pleasure Pier on Seawall Blvd. We were charged $22 for a 2 day pass. The tour went around the major points of interest and was very informative about the history of the beautiful old homes, flood damage, history of the island, all given with a sense of humor. We jumped off at a number of points of interest -sorry I don't remember the exact number but Google their website. I was impressed that they kept track of when everyone returned and even made a special trip to pick up some people who had missed the last bus pick up.

 

We used Cool tours as a pick up from the airport. 2 day hop on, hop off and as a shuttle to the cruiseport. Very friendly, personal service. Highly recommended. Have fun!

[cruise.freak]

Just got back yesterday from our cruise and we used cool tours. Emailed Cool Tours to set up shuttle service and the owner emailed back very quickly. I changed locations for drop off and emailed him again which he emailed quickly with no problem at the change of drop of location. When our plan landed I received the text of meeting location and found them very quickly.

 

When we got of the cruise ship I called them after we had our luggage and through customs and there were there to pick up within 5 minutes. I would recommend them highly as it was also a private shuttle so we did not have to wait on anyone.

[cjdixon4]

Just got back yesterday from our cruise and we used cool tours. Emailed Cool Tours to set up shuttle service and the owner emailed back very quickly. I changed locations for drop off and emailed him again which he emailed quickly with no problem at the change of drop of location. When our plan landed I received the text of meeting location and found them very quickly.

 

When we got of the cruise ship I called them after we had our luggage and through customs and there were there to pick up within 5 minutes. I would recommend them highly as it was also a private shuttle so we did not have to wait on anyone.

 

Thanks for the update! My group is now officially booked with Steve of Cool Tours, so we're all squared away. Hope your cruise was fun!

[first time cruiser pat]

If you use Cool Tours- be sure you have a private shuttle from pier. If you do not, you will be waiting for others to get off ship. They won't leave until all parties are there. Steve isn't clear about this. We along with another family waited on a bus for a family to get off ship for over an hour and a half before they finally took us to the pier. We couldn't do the whole tour due to sitting on the bus so long. Both of us that were on the bus waiting thought we had a private shuttle....

[cjdixon4]

If you use Cool Tours- be sure you have a private shuttle from pier. If you do not, you will be waiting for others to get off ship. They won't leave until all parties are there. Steve isn't clear about this. We along with another family waited on a bus for a family to get off ship for over an hour and a half before they finally took us to the pier. We couldn't do the whole tour due to sitting on the bus so long. Both of us that were on the bus waiting thought we had a private shuttle....

 

Appreciate the heads-up. I will e-mail Steve right now, to confirm that my party of 6 are doing a private shuttle. Good information.

[LostAgain]

We were the other family with first time cruiser pat. I agree totally with her. Steve seems nice and responsive but doesn't necessarily come through. Cool Tours was also late taking us to the airport.

[LostAgain]

Today I received a reply from Steve regarding my complaints about waiting on the "private" shuttle for 1.5 hours for another family to show up off the ship and departing late on our "private" shuttle to the airport. Also, I let Steve know in a direct phone call to him after waiting about 1 hour how unhappy I was. And I also told him I'd be voicing my displeasure here on CC.

 

Let me start by saying that I am very sorry for the inconvenience caused by the delays in debarkation from the Royal Caribbean Cruise line. It put every one of our customers and several thousand other cruise line guests in a very difficult situation.

 

As a little background, we used to provide shared rides from the airport to the cruise terminal and other local destinations but we found that there were frequent issues with flights and luggage being delay. This created no-win situations for our customers - we either had our on-time customers waiting for the delayed customers or we left the delayed customers stranded at the airport, potentially missing their cruise ships.

 

As a result, I abandoned our shared ride services to/from the airports in favor of private transfers.

 

We have now begun to experience similar problems when providing our complimentary transfers from the cruise terminal to our public tours. As a result of the unfortunate problems that occurred on your travel date, I have decided to also abandon the shared ride transportation services to our tours, effectively eliminating a service that many cruise passengers valued, at least they were valued when debarkation goes in a timely manner.

 

I hope that these changes will ensure that no one else experiences the same frustration that you did. Thank you for your understanding and for taking time to share your thoughts with me.

[cjdixon4]

I just received my response from Steve of Cool Tours this morning regarding whether we have "private" shuttle service or "shared". My party and I are comfortable with his response at this point. Dialogue is below:

 

MESSAGE

Hi Steve,

It’s Judi (Reservation dates 5/17, 5/18, and 5/25), with the cruise party of 6… JUST 18 MORE DAYS!!!

I just want to confirm with you that our reservation is for a private shuttle pick-up, and that we won’t have to wait on other

parties to proceed with our scheduled pick-ups/drop-offs. Is this the case?

Regards,

Judi

 

RESPONSE

Hi Judi,

You are absolutely correct. You have private transfers scheduled for each leg of your trip. Hope you have a wonderful vacation!

Thanks,

Steve Smith

Owner/Operator

Cool Tours LLC

409-539-5374

www.CoolToursGalveston.com

[cjdixon4]

Today I received a reply from Steve regarding my complaints about waiting on the "private" shuttle for 1.5 hours for another family to show up off the ship and departing late on our "private" shuttle to the airport. Also, I let Steve know in a direct phone call to him after waiting about 1 hour how unhappy I was. And I also told him I'd be voicing my displeasure here on CC.

 

Let me start by saying that I am very sorry for the inconvenience caused by the delays in debarkation from the Royal Caribbean Cruise line. It put every one of our customers and several thousand other cruise line guests in a very difficult situation.

 

As a little background, we used to provide shared rides from the airport to the cruise terminal and other local destinations but we found that there were frequent issues with flights and luggage being delay. This created no-win situations for our customers - we either had our on-time customers waiting for the delayed customers or we left the delayed customers stranded at the airport, potentially missing their cruise ships.

 

As a result, I abandoned our shared ride services to/from the airports in favor of private transfers.

 

We have now begun to experience similar problems when providing our complimentary transfers from the cruise terminal to our public tours. As a result of the unfortunate problems that occurred on your travel date, I have decided to also abandon the shared ride transportation services to our tours, effectively eliminating a service that many cruise passengers valued, at least they were valued when debarkation goes in a timely manner.

 

I hope that these changes will ensure that no one else experiences the same frustration that you did. Thank you for your understanding and for taking time to share your thoughts with me.

 

I appreciate you sharing your communication with Steve. The fact that they have done away with the "shared ride" service gives me far less to be concerned about on my vacation. I've got enough stuff to deal with, without the transportation issue...LOL Again, thanks for sharing.

[LostAgain]

Travel to and from is never fun to begin with so who needs added stress and disappointment. I hope all works out for you. I heard from Steve again today offering me a refund on our hop on hop off portion of our day which I have gladly accepted.

[DonnaK]

How much did the shuttle to and from Hobby cost?

[cjdixon4]

How much did the shuttle to and from Hobby cost?

 

Hi Donna-

 

My group of 6 is paying $258 rndtrp total. We don't think that's bad, considering we're getting a private pick-up from Hobby to the hotel in Galveston, a pick-up the next a.m. traveling to the port, and finally pickup from the Port back to Hobby when we return from the cruise. ;)

 

Judi

[LostAgain]

We paid $265 for 5 people. That was for (1) private pickup from hotel near Hobby Airport and ride to the ship; (2) private pickup from the ship to Cool Tours' office, and to the hop on/hop off starting point (tour price to be extra); and (3) private trip to Hobby Airport. #1 was exactly as promised, #2 and #3 were not. Steve has sent me a check to reimburse me for the hop on/hop off tour. We had no problem with that portion of our day, but that is the compensation he offered.

Edited May 8, 2014 by LostAgain

[DonnaK]

Hi Donna-

 

My group of 6 is paying $258 rndtrp total. We don't think that's bad, considering we're getting a private pick-up from Hobby to the hotel in Galveston, a pick-up the next a.m. traveling to the port, and finally pickup from the Port back to Hobby when we return from the cruise. ;)

 

Judi

 

That sounds great. What hotel did you choose?

 

We are a party of 4 considering Navigator for the end of August (cruisefare is much less expensive than cruises leaving from Florida, like half, but I am not at all familiar with this port)

[Loves_Dogs]

Did Steve require anyone here to put down 25% deposit? When I emailed him for a quote he gave me what I thought was a fair price but wanted a 25% deposit. Said I could give him my credit card over the phone which I was leery of. Has anyone else been asked to do this?

[maitaiguy]

I booked Navigator out of Galveston and just returned three days ago. Upon doing my research I wasn't too happy about how much it was going to cost to get to Galveston and back to the airport. My DW and I have never sailed out of Texas before.

 

After quite a bit of research I decided to try Cool Tours. They specialize in tours of Galveston Island but also do airport shuttles. I couldn't have been more pleased with their service. I was told to call when I got off the plane and the van should be there. We got off the plane at 2:00 and had our bags at 2:10 or so. Very nice. The Cool Tours van was already there waiting for us when we got off the plane at 2:00. We loaded up the van and were off the airport property by 2:15. Great!

 

Our driver Steve, could not have been more pleasant. It was Memorial Day weekend and it took two hours to cover the 40 miles to our hotel because much of the way was bumper to bumper traffic. Steve told us about the history of the area and pointed out landmarks along the way. Essentially, Steve gave us a tour while we paid for a shuttle.

 

When we disembarked Navigator this past Sunday, I called and our driver was there in about three minutes. She was in some sort of holding area waiting for us. We were even off the ship twenty minutes earlier than agreed and our van was waiting.

 

The vans were new, very clean, and the drivers were great. We couldn't have been happier. I sound like a commercial but I'm not one. I just like to compliment people when they do a great job and feel it is my responsibility to let the Cruise Critic community know when someone is providing a great service for us.

 

Shortly I will do a post about our hotel experience in Galveston. No, that will NOT sound like a commercial.

 

Thank you to all the Texans who made me feel so welcome on my first visit to their state. The people at Cool Tours, several restaurants and members of hotel staff, and many, many, many new friends that I spoke with on Navigator of the Seas were really terrific. Thanks for helping me enjoy my vacation so much. I am grateful.

 

Maitaiguy

[Clarea]

Thanks for the report. Would you mind posting the cost of the Cool Tours transfer service?

[JLDMED]

Great to hear you were happy with Cool Tours. We just booked them for November's cruise!

[Loves_Dogs]

We used Cool Tours last week (5/25 cruise). They were great. Would definitely book with them again.