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Cruise from Galveston


bowen9475
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Our family of 5 (2A, 3C - 22, 20 and 16) are looking at booking a cruise out of Galveston in August. Lots of questions! We would likely fly into Houston Hobby a few days early. Where would you suggest we stay (area/hotel)? We'd like to explore the Galveston Island area as we've never been. Any favorite places to visit? Thinking it would make the most sense to rent a car at the airport. Are there any car rental returns close to port? Are there any shuttle services from the port to HH airport for after the cruise? Thanks for any help!

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Renting a car is probably the best way to go. More than enough things to do on the island for several days. Look at galveston.com. You might find that renting the car for the entire time and paying to park while you cruise (or staying at a hotel that allows you to leave the car) is cheaper than finding transportation for 5 and all the stuff that goes with that many people.

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The only car rental company on Galveston Island is Enterprise.  The best hotel on Galveston Island is the San Luis Resort.  Avoid the Hilton at all costs - it is horrible.  However, with kids, you might prefer to stay at the Schiltterbahn (fabulous waterpark) hotel or at the Moody Gardens (amusement park, aquarium) hotel.  There is a lot to do: Rainforest Cafe with a Rainforest boat ride, Pleasure Pier (amusement park over the water.), Bishop's Palace (historic house), Galveston Island state park (hiking), Texas Seaport Museum, Shell shop on the waterfront - you can usually sit on their porch in a rocker and watch dolphins jump out of the water while drinking a margarita!  Ocean Star Offstore drilling rig and museum, Grand opera house - still has live performances, Strand Historic District (shopping), The Bryan Museum - old west and Texas history, 61st street fishing pier - you can rent fishing equipment, Lone Star Flight Museum, Bolivar point lighthouse, Fort Travis Park (historic fort) and much more.

 

There are also a lot of good restaurants (make reservations) such as:

Landry's (seafood)

Mario's Seawall Italian Restaurant

Rudy & Paco Restaurant

Shark Shack beach bar and grill

The Steakhouse

Gaido's

Miller's Seawall Grill

Grotto Ristorante

Riondo's Ristorante

Gumbo Diner

Taquilo's Tex Mex Cantina

 

And many, many more!

 

If you want to spend time in Houston prior to going to Galveston Island, I would suggest the Galleria area and the best hotel there is the Hotel Grand Duca.  You can get a suite with a kitchen to save on food - there are many grocery stores nearby.  https://www.granducahouston.com/en/ and there are dozens of great restaurants in that area.  

 

 

Edited by SuiteTraveler
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2 hours ago, SuiteTraveler said:

The only car rental company on Galveston Island is Enterprise.  The best hotel on Galveston Island is the San Luis Resort.  Avoid the Hilton at all costs - it is horrible.  However, with kids, you might prefer to stay at the Schiltterbahn (fabulous waterpark) hotel or at the Moody Gardens (amusement park, aquarium) hotel.  There is a lot to do: Rainforest Cafe with a Rainforest boat ride, Pleasure Pier (amusement park over the water.), Bishop's Palace (historic house), Galveston Island state park (hiking), Texas Seaport Museum, Shell shop on the waterfront - you can usually sit on their porch in a rocker and watch dolphins jump out of the water while drinking a margarita!  Ocean Star Offstore drilling rig and museum, Grand opera house - still has live performances, Strand Historic District (shopping), The Bryan Museum - old west and Texas history, 61st street fishing pier - you can rent fishing equipment, Lone Star Flight Museum, Bolivar point lighthouse, Fort Travis Park (historic fort) and much more.

 

There are also a lot of good restaurants (make reservations) such as:

Landry's (seafood)

Mario's Seawall Italian Restaurant

Rudy & Paco Restaurant

Shark Shack beach bar and grill

The Steakhouse

Gaido's

Miller's Seawall Grill

Grotto Ristorante

Riondo's Ristorante

Gumbo Diner

Taquilo's Tex Mex Cantina

 

And many, many more!

 

If you want to spend time in Houston prior to going to Galveston Island, I would suggest the Galleria area and the best hotel there is the Hotel Grand Duca.  You can get a suite with a kitchen to save on food - there are many grocery stores nearby.  https://www.granducahouston.com/en/ and there are dozens of great restaurants in that area.  

 

 

 

I believe the San Luis Resort and the Hilton are owned by the same person - Tilman Fertitta. Interesting that you think one is the best on the Island and the other is awful. Just an observation.

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37 minutes ago, Texas Tillie said:

 

I believe the San Luis Resort and the Hilton are owned by the same person - Tilman Fertitta. Interesting that you think one is the best on the Island and the other is awful. Just an observation.

 

I've stayed at both.  I don't know if he owned the Hilton when we stayed there, but it was in a sorry state then and the photos on Trip Advisor look the same as they did - far better than the reality.  A lot of crazy things happened during our stay mainly due to the incompetence of the hotel staff.  For example my husband and 5 co-workers went to breakfast in the hotel and none of them got the breakfast they had ordered and the food took so long (well over 45 minutes) they all just ate whatever they got and then they got a bill for only 2 breakfasts neither of which they ordered or had received. A lot of the stuff in our room was broken/damaged.  That seemed to be the norm at that hotel.

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7 hours ago, SuiteTraveler said:

 

... Lone Star Flight Museum...

 

 

Due to damage from Hurricane Ike in 2008, the Lone Star Flight Museum is no longer in Galveston. In 2011 the decision was made to move to a new location at Houston's Ellington Airport. Ground was broken in late 2015 and the new $38 million 130,000-square-foot museum opened in Sept 2017.

 

Lone Star Flight Museum

11551 Aerospace Avenue

Houston, TX 77034

Tel: (346) 708-2517

Toll free: 1-888-FLY-LSFM (359-5736)

Email: info@lonestarflight.org

https://www.lonestarflight.org/

Edited by TxCityKat
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