Galveston sailings

[rxmurphy]

you can rent one-way from Hobby (or IAH) to Galveston from Enterprise. We are doing that, and one-way on the back end. works out cheaper as we have 5 people.

[Host Kat]

... Is there a hotel that has a great view, so you can sit on your balcony and watch the ships pull in...

 

No balconies but for a inn-style hotel which is just about next door to the Galveston cruise pier, you might be interested in the Harbor House. Click here: http://www.harborhousepier21.com/

 

The Galveston cruise pier web cam is located there. Click here for the web cam: http://www.galveston.com/webcams/

 

Kat

 

P. S. I may live in Houston, but I'm a proud "Galveston B. O. I." (born on island)!!

[cece067]

thanks rx. I am renting from Enterprise so I will place a call and find out about their one-way rentals.

[watcher_62]

Hi cece067 - we are renting from Enterprise - their one-way rate was cheaper than Hertz (the other agency with an office in Galveston). We had to call it in as you can't book one-way online.

 

We just booked our pre night thru Hotwire. Hulagirl helped us out by pointing out Princess's pricing on Hotel Galvez (per person:eek: ). We were quite surprised/happy to get booked into the San Luis, as it was rated ***1/2 stars on Hotwire and **** stars on Expedia. It's also the third top rated hotel on Tripadvisor (no, really, I hardly surf the web at all:o !).

 

I also read a good tip from another poster who just boarded the Grand on Saturday. He used his rental to drop his luggage first, then dropped the car and took their shuttle back. Save a bit of effort lugging luggage;) .

 

Everything is now booked - if I copuld only speed up the clock!:mad:

[houstoncruisers2001]

houstoncruisers2001 - I noticed on another post that you drive a limo, part-time in Houston, will definitely keep that in mind too. From one cruiser to another is always nice and to have a port so handy. I am always jealous of those people who don't have to pay as much for the flight as they do for the cruise.

 

and is there a Victoria Secrets in Galveston (not kidding, it's probably one of only a few stores we don't have in Canada).

 

Yes, I do drive a limo and I know limos aren't for everyone, but we do take groups of all sizes to the cruise ships(18 people from Colorado on Saturday....2 limos & a town car full of luggage).

 

My wife & I love cruising out of Galveston. She packs so much that I'm glad we can drive to the port. It's even better when someone drops us off.

 

I believe that there are NO Victoria Secrets on Galveston Island. Sorry.

[houstoncruisers2001]

We were quite surprised/happy to get booked into the San Luis

 

In my opinion, the San Luis Resort is the best hotel along the seawall in Galveston.

 

You made a good choice.

[Hulagirl]

Watcher 62: So glad I could help you with the hotel decision. Had a feeling that when you were looking at the Princess prices you hadn't doubled the price for two. When you first look at their prices you don't realize it is only a per person rate. Would hate to think you would have paid more than what you really needed to do. There have been times we have gone with Princess for their hotels, but that was in Europe a couple of times when we really needed the transfers connected with the price.

 

The San Luis looks like a very nice hotel and don't think you could go wrong there. Glad Houstoncruiser made that comment also. It is nice when we get such excellent advice from those that live in the area.

 

Houstoncruiser: So glad you have commented about the limo situations and lots of people with luggage. That was our problem when we were looking for companies to take us with luggage. Hopefully we made a good choice for our transportation. It is hard to know when you are looking at web sites and not having an idea who is good or not. Thanks for all your information.

 

Cruises are getting closer!!!

 

Hulagirl

[runner1909]

In response to a query on the previous page, we have stayed several times at the Hotel Galvez and it is very nice. Their prices flucuate, however, so we're staying at the San Luis in 3 weeks (glad to see a previous post that said it was nice) and have booked the Tremont in March. Seems like in March (spring break) many hotels have a 2 night minimum. The Galvez does and suggested we try the Tremont. It sounds like it is nice, too.

[watcher_62]

Just FYI, our Hotwire booking of the San Luis went through at $78 plus tax. With Hotwire, you can't see what you get until it's all done, but they described it as a best value 3 1/2 star with pool, fitness, restaurant, etc. Seems like a pretty good price.

[nancyjw]

Joanne1... I have lost Therese's email addy, can you have her email me please.

 

You will love visiting Texas, it is the best state. Can you tell I grew up there?

[joanne1]

Hey Nancy, I just talked to Therese and she said that she has your e-mail address and that she will write you in the next day or two. Are you busy planning your Alaskan trip?

 

Haven't been reading great things about the Grand so I am a little nervous. Really, how bad can any cruise be . . . but we are going with hopefully 2 couples - one of the couples has only done a short 3 day coastal so we would like to give them the entire experience and not have to worry about tendering.

 

Good luck planning your trip.

[houstoncruisers2001]

Haven't been reading great things about the Grand so I am a little nervous.

 

I just got off the ship on 12/10 and my wife & I had a great time on the Grand. Contrary to poplar belief not everyone will "NEVER SAIL PRINCESS AGAIN". In fact, we booked her for next December.

[Hulagirl]

Houstoncruiser! So glad you had a good time. We leave in 28 hours for the airport here in Seattle to fly to Houston. Looking forward to our time in Galveston and to the cruise. Hoping the tender issue is better on our cruise next week, but it certainly won't spoil the cruise if it isn't.

 

Looked and there are 7 ships in Grand Cayman the day we are there. Four of them are large, so I'm sure it will be slow going. Glad we don't have a lot on our minds for there just to walk around and then head back to the ship.

 

Joanne: I'll report when we get back how our week was.

 

Susan

[houstoncruisers2001]

Houstoncruiser! So glad you had a good time. We leave in 28 hours for the airport here in Seattle to fly to Houston. Looking forward to our time in Galveston and to the cruise. Susan

 

Hulagirl...Godspeed on your flight & your cruise. My wife & I did indeed have a great time not only onboard the GP, but with each other. I'll be interested in comparing notes with you when you return.

 

Tip #1 - Dory from Hungary in the Da Vinci is awesome. So is her boyfriend Rafael. Both gave us great service & we found out later they were boyfriend/girlfriend.

 

Tip #2 - If tendering, get to the Explorers Lounge EARLY(like the week before) and get in line for a tender ticket long before they make the announcement.

 

Tip #3 - HAVE A GREAT CRUISE!!!! .....and have a Texas Tea for me.

[Hulagirl]

Houstoncruiser!! Thank you so much for the kind thoughts and good wishes. It is hard to believe the cruise is almost here. Today is packing day and I can't wait to get it done. We have the 6:20 AM flight out of Seattle in the morning, so that means leaving in the middle of the night from home. So looking forward to being there.

 

Appreciate the information on Dory in the DaVinci dining room. Will try and see if we can get her table. A good waitstaff does make the dining experience very enjoyable. We have been quite lucky over the years and only had a couple that weren't great.

 

The tendering tickets are easy for us this time. We are in a suite so we will have priority tender tickets. Hopefully we won't get too many looks as we will get in line with the rest and not push our way through.

 

Will definitely let you know our experience when we get home. Fly home on Christmas Eve, so that will be interesting in itself. Thanks again for all the information you passed on and for the positive outlook on it all. That also makes for a good cruise no matter what. I'm thinking positive thoughts.

 

Hulagirl

[klugh]

To Watcher 62-

am also sailing out of Galveston on 2/4/06-would like to rent a car too. Where did you get that great rate on the car rental??

Any info is appreciated

Deb