Confession...

[LindseyButlerWilson]

I have been on a total of seven cruises over the last twelve years, and of those six have been out of Galveston. Being from Austin, I just can't beat the convenience of a few hours in the car and then on a ship! The other cruise left from New Orleans and was the one and only time I had a bad cruise- Not sure how much of that I can blame on the port however. I want my DH and I to try a different port but I don't know what the best one would be... I know we'll like almost ANY itinerary, so I'm wondering if the way to go would be to try one from Florida, give NOLA another try, or go somewhere even further away... Any advice??? What ports do you prefer?

[mrb1963]

San Juan is a great port to depart from.

 

 

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[champagne123]

Do you have to stick with Carnival?

Royal Caribbean leaves out of Galveston also....

Norwegian leaves out of Houston.....

and I am sure other cruise lines in Texas also.

 

Only suggesting this to save you tons of $$$ on airfare/hotel accommodations::o:):o

 

I have never been on a bad cruise and LOVE trying different ships and cruise lines. My bucket list is sooooo long. So many ships...too little time.:D

[pcl_cruiser]

Do you have to stick with Carnival?

Royal Caribbean leaves out of Galveston also....

Norwegian leaves out of Houston.....

and I am sure other cruise lines in Texas also.

 

Only suggesting this to save you tons of $$$ on airfare/hotel accommodations::o:):o

 

I have never been on a bad cruise and LOVE trying different ships and cruise lines. My bucket list is sooooo long. So many ships...too little time.:D

 

I completely agree! Princess goes out of Houston as well well for part of the year, same with Norwegian.

[ashley@cruisecritic]

I have been on a total of seven cruises over the last twelve years, and of those six have been out of Galveston. Being from Austin, I just can't beat the convenience of a few hours in the car and then on a ship! The other cruise left from New Orleans and was the one and only time I had a bad cruise- Not sure how much of that I can blame on the port however. I want my DH and I to try a different port but I don't know what the best one would be... I know we'll like almost ANY itinerary, so I'm wondering if the way to go would be to try one from Florida, give NOLA another try, or go somewhere even further away... Any advice??? What ports do you prefer?

 

Over the years, I've sailed from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, New York (Manhattan), Charleston, Baltimore and San Diego. My favorite is Charleston. There's only one ship in port, so you'll rarely experience delays, and the city is wonderful -- a great place to visit pre- or post-cruise. You could also try Houston. It's only an hour from Galveston, and the facilities are great. (I haven't cruised from Houston or Galveston, but I've been on visits to both port terminals.)

[gogetter]

FWIW the ports i like in order are:

 

Miami

Ft Lauderdale

Port Canaveral

Tampa

 

PC may move up in a week or 2 depending on my experience this Friday on the Liberty.

[sailor_jimc]

Or.. try an Alaskan cruise or how about one leaving from long Beach and doing the western Mexico ports?

 

We are in Dallas so we know what you mean by the convenience of Galveston, but you can only do those same ports so many times. Try Fort Lauderdale and do a southern or eastern Caribbean run if you don't like the Alaska idea.

[Chmie]

We've cruised out of San Diego and Galveston with no major issues. Looking forward to our next port of NO and plan on looking at Florida in the near future. :)

[PhoenixDawgCruising]

I've sailed from Los Angeles (San Pedro), Long Beach, San Diego, Galveston, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Port Canav. (I call it Orlando).

 

I like Pedro and LB because they are 20 minutes from home, but they are both pretty boring as far as ports go. San Diego is GREAT, I love it there, it's 2 hrs. from home, but sadly, there are very few crusies that leave from there, except for really long round-the-world types (I wish)!!:rolleyes:

 

I LOVE Galveston, sailed from there a few times.:D

 

Of the 3 FL ports, FLL is my fav., then Miami, with Orlando dead last because it is SUCH A PAIN to get to!

 

My next crusie, once again, is from FLL.:D

[toto6]

San Juan is a great port to depart from.

 

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YES! San Juan and southern route! :p.

[fla_momuv3]

Have gone out of Miami, Tampa & Port Canaveral. Have to say Port canaveral was the easiest of those three.

 

 

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[bdaddyiii]

We have been out of Seattle 1 time, New Orleans 5 times, Port Canveral 1 time and Jacksonville 1 time. All the ports have been easy and convienent except twice and that had to do with the port authority both times deciding to do inspections which held up boarding a little. I have not had a bad cruise out of any of the ports. I have had one with some bad weather but never a bad cruise.

[SMSACE6]

I have been on a total of seven cruises over the last twelve years, and of those six have been out of Galveston. Being from Austin, I just can't beat the convenience of a few hours in the car and then on a ship! The other cruise left from New Orleans and was the one and only time I had a bad cruise- Not sure how much of that I can blame on the port however. I want my DH and I to try a different port but I don't know what the best one would be... I know we'll like almost ANY itinerary, so I'm wondering if the way to go would be to try one from Florida, give NOLA another try, or go somewhere even further away... Any advice??? What ports do you prefer?

 

If you decide to give NOLA another try, the city of course is a vacation destination in itself IMHO, I love it, plus the Dream now sails out of there, and the reviews lately are awesome. It is fairly new ship with lots of bells and whistles. I would love to cruise out of NOLA but I live in Canada and for some weird and not so wonderful reason, the airfare from here to there is ridiculously high.

 

Also, Im not sure when you are planning to cruise, but the Freedom is going to be moving to Galveston next year, and it has just been in dry dock and got the 2.0 upgrades.

 

Personally my favorite port to sail out of is Pt Everglades, because I love to stay precruise and post cruise in ft lauderdale, visit with friends, and the airport and lots of hotels close to the cruise port. Also airfare is manageable from Canada to there for me, just barely. But this is just peculiar stuff to me, since I have to fly from here to my cruise departure port.

 

Question for you, since you live in Texas, Conquest used to sail from there and is taking the place of Freedom in Pt Everglades. If you have ever sailed on her, what can you tell me about that ship. thanks.

Edited May 6, 2014 by SMSACE6

[PhxRain]

I've sailed out of Long Beach, CA & Venice, Italy.

 

The Venice port was my favorite.

 

Getting a chance to see the Seattle port in Sept., can't wait.

[cruisinqt]

We are from Texas also and love sailing out of Galveston. We really miss the Conquest, one of our all time favorite cruise ships that was there. :) That being said, we have cruised out of numerous ports and agree with you about New Orleans. It's a very crowded, congested port that's hard to navigate. :( But we have fallen in love with sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale. The airfares from DFW to FLL are very good and there's lots to do and see there pre and post cruise. And the port itself is very new, well managed, and easy to navigate. A close second favorite is cruising out of Orlando. They have a newer nicer port too. Hope this helps.

[BallFour4]

I have been on a total of seven cruises over the last twelve years, and of those six have been out of Galveston. Being from Austin, I just can't beat the convenience of a few hours in the car and then on a ship!... Any advice??? What ports do you prefer?

 

Welcome to our world. I live off the Beltway south and I-45 and we can be aboard having lunch before the dishwasher shuts off. We've had over 100 nights of cruises from Galveston on two lines and all of their ships. Here's what we did recently:

 

Flew to Boston for a 7 night aboard the Glory to Canada. Tremendous vacation, great way to celebrate 30 year anniversary.

 

Booked the Glory from Miami for the Eastern Caribbean route in late summer. Both times I used Southwest Airlines miles and Marriott points to offset the cost.

 

We are closely watching the NCL prices, and so far I'd rather sail the Magic or Triumph. We booked one of the trips from San Juan to Galveston.

 

Now, the crack addict thinking has me booking three Triumph trips over the next year because my wife is retiring from teaching and my vacation is flexible. Whether you are platinum or not Galveston is breeze to drop off luggage, park and get aboard all in less than an hour. Compared to Miami and Boston recently this is a deal.

 

Hopelessly hooked...:)

 

.

Edited May 7, 2014 by BallFour4

[Frank12]

If you are going to fly to a port, go to Seattle and cruise Alaska. Best cruise I've been on out of 16. You will not regret it.

[JimAOk1945]

Alaska is a great option. We have been there twice on two different cruise lines. One was round trip from Seattle. The other was a southbound route from Seward to Vancouver. Fantastic experiences!

[BettyGiggles]

YES! San Juan and southern route! :p.

 

I totally agree, my favorite so far!

[evandbob]

I totally agree, my favorite so far!

 

After almost 20 Carnival cruises, I diversified by sailing on Princess for a 10 night Rome to Venice adventure, a southern Caribbean out of San Juan on Celebrity, and am now anticipating an Alaskan 2 week cruise tour. These have been my favorite cruises, and had I stuck to the comfortingly familiar, I would have missed out. And I'll never forget the Disney Dream cruise with my twins and 4 grand kids.

Edited May 7, 2014 by evandbob

[OCruisers]

Sort of depends on which cruise lines you are will to try and how far you are willing to fly.

LuLu

[mousey]

Do you have to stick with Carnival?

Royal Caribbean leaves out of Galveston also....

Norwegian leaves out of Houston.....

and I am sure other cruise lines in Texas also.

 

Only suggesting this to save you tons of $$$ on airfare/hotel accommodations::o:):o

 

I have never been on a bad cruise and LOVE trying different ships and cruise lines. My bucket list is sooooo long. So many ships...too little time.:D

 

I totally agree with this post! I'm from CA but we have sailed out of Houston before and had an amazing cruise. :D

[dorisis]

It's a big world with lots of ports. Try something other than the Caribbean. Alaska and hawaii would be a good start.

[tropicaledrink]

In terms of itinerary, I would look for one that goes to Half Moon Cay. I don't think you can get there from Texas? It's worth visiting!

 

We've sailed out of Tampa, Mobile (now defunct), Port Canaveral, and Miami. If you're flying, PC might be a little more challenging - simply because you'll have to fly in to Orlando and get to PC. Miami has by far been my favorite sail away point....we'll be adding Ft. Lauderdale in a couple of weeks and Jacksonville in a little over 6 months. :)

[BettyGiggles]

Living in KC makes any port feel far away LOL

 

We're in the middle of the country and no matter where we want to cruise, it is a plane trip away. I envy you who live close by port and can go on a whim if you choose too.

 

Though we did do a road trip to Galveston for our cruise on the Triumph in February and it was fun though I would rather fly to get there faster ;)