Flying into Houston and going out of Galveston

[Ajproctor]

We are flying into Houston and cruising out of Galveston. I’m Looking for best place to stay and best transportation options for the best value. 

[CruiserBruce]

Take a look at the Gulf Departures board. Lots of info there.

[wineforhealth]

Not sure which cruise line but on Princess You can stay at the airport hotel and the cruise line bus will take you to the port the next morning

[Texas Tillie]

3 hours ago, wineforhealth said:

Not sure which cruise line but on Princess You can stay at the airport hotel and the cruise line bus will take you to the port the next morning

 

Princess does not cruise out of Galveston, just Carnival and Royal Caribbean and Disney a few months a year.

[Jimnbigd]

There are two commercial Houston airports. Hobby airport is south of downtown and is closer to Galveston than the Bush airport. Southwest usually flies to Hobby and has no luggage fees. Regardless, the ground transportation is not cheap. Even Hobby is about an hour away, and the Bush airport is about 90 minutes away -- longer if there are any major problems on I-45 (the highway to Galveston).

 

If you want to use the ship's shuttle, I know that Royal Caribbean would pick you up only on sailing departure date. I'm not sure about Carnival or other lines. On our last cruise, my wife's brother and family flew into the Bush airport the day before departure (Saturday), and stayed at one of the many hotels with a free airport shuttle. On the morning of the cruise departure (Sunday), they took the hotel shuttle back to the airport and then took a pre-booked cruise shuttle to the ship. On debarkation the following Sunday, they had a somewhat early flight (around 12:30pm -- yes, that is early trying to make it from Galveston), so they used the self-assist for luggage and got off the ship around 8:30am, and took the ship's shuttle back to the Bush airport.

 

Now some question:  How many people? If more than 2, you might save money booking private shuttle like Uber or Lyft, or even a taxi. There are also private limo services. And there is Supershuttle, but we've used them 3 times, and all 3 times they were very late picking us up after the cruise -- no issues taking us to the cruise, but always at least an hour late after the cruise.

 

Also...Have a "plan B" for the return flight. Sometimes there is fog in Galveston, delaying debarkation after the cruise.

 

Edited May 31, 2019 by Jimnbigd

[Ajproctor]

We are going on a Carnival cruise. We will be flying into Houston Hobby on Southwest. Our flight back would not be until 2:30 in the afternoon. We thought about Uber going to the port as we fly in the day before we leave and see that staying in Houston is much cheaper than staying in Galveston. But I have read where Uber isn’t allowed to come into the port? Idk if that’s true or not as we have never used Uber and we have never went out of Galveston. We usually use Port Canaveral. Do you know how much supershuttle cost for round trip I saw a price of $156 but wasn’t sure if that was round trip or one way. Thanks. 

[TruckerDave]

Again, as CruiserBruce said go to the "Gulf coast" section of this message board and just start reading. These exact questions have been asked and answered more times than you can count.  Just start reading the various threads, you will probably end up with information overload. 

[SuiteTraveler]

On 5/31/2019 at 8:27 PM, Ajproctor said:

We are going on a Carnival cruise. We will be flying into Houston Hobby on Southwest. Our flight back would not be until 2:30 in the afternoon. We thought about Uber going to the port as we fly in the day before we leave and see that staying in Houston is much cheaper than staying in Galveston. But I have read where Uber isn’t allowed to come into the port? Idk if that’s true or not as we have never used Uber and we have never went out of Galveston. We usually use Port Canaveral. Do you know how much supershuttle cost for round trip I saw a price of $156 but wasn’t sure if that was round trip or one way. Thanks. 

 

In 2015 Uber and Lyft got banned from the port by the city of Galveston.  State laws were changed in 2018 no longer allowing cities to make independent decisions like that so now they CAN go to the port,

There are a lot of cheaper options:

RT from HOU:

Uber $90 for the vehicle, not pp for up to 4 people in the car

Lyft $90 for the vehicle, not pp for up to 4 people in the car

Galveston Limosine $40pp

Galveston Flyer $60pp

Galveston Express $65pp

Carnival Transfer $75pp

RCCL Transfer $65pp

Edited June 8, 2019 by SuiteTraveler

[MoCowBell]

On 6/8/2019 at 2:02 PM, SuiteTraveler said:

 

In 2015 Uber and Lyft got banned from the port by the city of Galveston.  State laws were changed in 2018 no longer allowing cities to make independent decisions like that so now they CAN go to the port,

There are a lot of cheaper options:

RT from HOU:

Uber $90 for the vehicle, not pp for up to 4 people in the car

Lyft $90 for the vehicle, not pp for up to 4 people in the car

Galveston Limosine $40pp

Galveston Flyer $60pp

Galveston Express $65pp

Carnival Transfer $75pp

RCCL Transfer $65pp

You have made a comparison between one-way transportation on Uber/Lyft and round-trip transportation for the shuttles. Additionally, they may be able to fit four people in a $90 ride but not with any luggage.

Edited August 28, 2019 by MoCowBell

[joejenna1]

I have a party of 5, flying into IAH the day before my cruise and sailing out of Galveston. I’m looking at about 300+ for an Uber XL return. I’ve decided to rent a mid size SUV for a week for roughly the same cost as the Uber’s. Galveston port parking is reasonable and I will be able to travel to any hotel I choose and eat anywhere I choose. After the cruise, hop in the car and head back to the airport. Zero deductible insurance included.