Galveston

[robindina]

For those of you who cruise from Galveston,  What is your favorite itenary?  We have only been on one carnival cruise and we went to Cozumel, which we loved and Progresso, which was not a good experience but we made the best of it.  So we are looking for suggestions for the next cruise!  

[Purvis1231]

The seven day cruises have a different ports of call. Enjoy researching. 

[panoramaofthepast]

Cozumel - Every cruise out of Galveston goes to Cozumel, I think! We have a favorite beach there [Nachi Cocom] so when we book the cruise, we automatically book Nachi as well. It's an all inclusive - $55/person for food and drink; grab a taxi for the 15 minute ride. 

Jamaica - We are not fond of Jamaica, so will either book a different itinerary or just stay on board and enjoy the ship. If depends a lot on where you dock, in terms of drive time to places like the Dunn River Falls. 

Grand Cayman - Rum Point is beautiful, but a bit of a ride. Sting Ray City is a must if you have never been there. We've done it several times and always enjoy the experience. Shopping is great, but expensive. 

Key West - not much in the way of beaches; we did the HOHO bus and found a Guy Fieri restaurant for lunch that was awesome and only two blocks from one of the bus stops. 

Progresso - I agree with you, though the Mayan ruins were pretty good.  

 

If you have never been to any of the ports, then there is a lot to do that you can choose from, either with a ship excursion, a private excursion or on your own [GC or Cozumel, not Jamaica]. Compare ShoreFox  or Island Marketing offerings to ship excursions. 

 

Hope this helps.

[LatinaInTexas]

Been to Cozumel a few times always something new to try, I personally like Roatan, beautiful beach, great snorkeling. In Sept we will be doing Cozumel, Roatan, and Belize which will be new for us. I picked this itinerary because I am obsessed with being able to see and hold a sloth in Roatan.

[Saint Greg]

The most common are Cozumel, Mahogany Bay, Belize  or Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Montego Bay. In general people tend to like Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Mahogany Bay and dislike Belize and Montego Bay. You may want to research Belize and Montego and see if there's one you would prefer over the other. I did Mayan ruins in Belize and Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica. Outside of that there isn't much else I want to do in those places. I hate the long tender/water shuttle ride in Belize. Grand Cayman has a much shorter one that isn't bad at all.

 

They do have a less common Key West, Nassau, Freeport. I liked Key West and Nassau but not Freeport. Then they have an even less common version of that cruise that adds an 8th day which is in Half Moon Cay. I haven't been to HMC yet but would like to go. That would be a nice cruise. Then they have an occasional 9 day partial panama canal I'd like to do but haven't done.

[CheersPkg4Us]

Thanks everyone, good info !

[NauticalNeophyte]

I know a lot of people don’t like Freeport, we really enjoyed our time there.  We went to Taino Beach and had a great time. It was beautiful, clean and affordable. There were water activities included, free wifi, and the bartenders were very generous with the alcohol.  The drive wasn’t bad, and gave us a chance to see the area.  

[picomullet]

The 8 day Bahama cruise is my favorite.  Key West, HMC, Nassau, Freeport

[Theosprey247]

I’m booked on the 8 day “Eastern Caribbean” but in July 2020 😭

[Stallion]

In the western Caribbean I prefer Cozumel and Roatan--I usually don't do much in Belize. The beaches on Roatan are extremely underrated. 

[watermelonqueen99]

Galveston is by far our least favorite port to sail out of, much prefer sailing out of Florida because once you see the water at Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk, nothing compares! (Oh, and because of Texas' stupid liquor laws.) 🤬But if we do have to go out of the Gulf, we like the Key West, Freeport, Nassau itinerary and the Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, Cozumel itinerary. MoBay is one of my favorite ports because of the Hilton Rose Hall resort! Personally we dislike Roatan and Belize and if we do that route, it's solely for the ship/cruise experience. Those are stay on the ship ports for us. Do you have specific things in mind you want to do? That might help us help you decide easier.

Edited June 3, 2019 by watermelonqueen99

[robindina]

2 hours ago, watermelonqueen99 said:

Galveston is by far our least favorite port to sail out of, much prefer sailing out of Florida because once you see the water at Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk, nothing compares! (Oh, and because of Texas' stupid liquor laws.) 🤬But if we do have to go out of the Gulf, we like the Key West, Freeport, Nassau itinerary and the Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, Cozumel itinerary. MoBay is one of my favorite ports because of the Hilton Rose Hall resort! Personally we dislike Roatan and Belize and if we do that route, it's solely for the ship/cruise experience. Those are stay on the ship ports for us. Do you have specific things in mind you want to do? That might help us help you decide easier.

We love snorkeling!   Galveston is driving distance for us so Galveston it is. 

[cruisinlover1414]

Galveston is our home port- we have driven to Florida quite a bit too, but enjoy the quick drive to Galveston. 

We just got back off the Vista in early May and visited Mahogany Bay, Belize and Cozumel (1st time with this itinerary) and LOVED it! Loved Mahogany Bay as it reminded us of Grand Turk with snorkeling & a nice beach right in the port. You MUST do an excursion in Belize because otherwise there is nothing to do (we did cave tubing and loved it!). 

We have also done the Grand Cayman & Jamaica itinerary and loved Grand Cayman and was not a fan of Jamaica. I think in the future we will do the Mahogany Bay, Belize and Cozumel itinerary again. 

 

Happy planning! Prior to cruising on the Vista I read many complaints, but we absolutely had a blast and it was our favorite Carnival cruise thus far. 

[Lottacruises]

They basically have 3 itineraries on the longer cruises, they are all good. Just pick one!

[Flytko]

We did all 3 runs out of Galveston and loved the Key West, Freeport, Nassau itinerary.  It was also our first and most memorable cruise. My wife and I did the Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel itinerary not long after.  It was fun, but not like the first cruise.  Jamaica was nice, but probably wouldn't return. I wished we got to do more in Grand Cayman. Cozumel is Cozumel.  We just completed the 3rd run a couple of months ago.  We will need to revisit that one due to missing out on Roatan. Belize was okay, but definitely have an excursion planned.  Costa Maya was beautiful, but didn't get to do much because it is geared for the active adult, or families with older children. We traveled with the really young and really old this last trip.

[Cafedumonde]

No Belize  itineraries.  We just went on the 8 night that goes to key west and the Bahamas.  Awesome.

Edited June 13, 2019 by Cafedumonde

[ABQrobin]

Our favorites are the Cozumel, Belize, Roatan routes.... we're doing it again in Sept.  Just love everything about Belize and Roatan.  Just make sure if you go there, you BOOK an excursion!  Staying on ship, or staying just at the port are a waste of time to us.  Get out and see these wonderful rustic countries with jungles and water activities.  Roatan has best snorkeling in Caribbean, Belize has amazing Mayan ruins and cave tubing...  

 

If you just want a pretty beach, then Grand Turk and Grand Cayman have it.  We are not "beach sitters" so they aren't high on our list for ports.

 

 

[pirateg11]

My first cruise was the Key West, Freeport, Nassau itinerary out of Galveston.  Absolutely loved it, got me hooked on cruising.  Key West was a bit of a let down, but I did have fun chasing the chickens.  In Freeport I did the brewery tour, this was a blast and the tour guide really made this a great experience.  In Nassau I just did a day pass at a resort that came with alcohol and dining credit.  It was some excellent relaxation time.  I have a Progresso & Cozumel cruise booked for September out of Galveston, will be my first time on this itinerary.  

 

I do hate the Texas liquor law thing, no cheers or drinks on us the first night which is highly annoying.  And Galveston cruises seem to be slightly more expensive for whatever reason, but if you live in Texas, you can't beat the convenience.  

[Petroplex]

On 6/1/2019 at 7:48 PM, robindina said:

For those of you who cruise from Galveston,  What is your favorite itenary?  We have only been on one carnival cruise and we went to Cozumel, which we loved and Progresso, which was not a good experience but we made the best of it.  So we are looking for suggestions for the next cruise!  

I will go out of my way to book an itinerary which includes Costa Maya so I can go to Maya Chan.

[Saint Greg]

My first choice would probably be the 8-day Key West, Nassau, Half Moon Cay, Freeport route. I saw a lot in Key West and Nassau without excursions. I haven't been to HMC yet but it looks nice with a free beach. There wasn't much to do in Freeport. I did the brewery tour which included about 45 mins of drinking whatever you want. 

 

 I think they only do that 8 day eastern on Freedom so if you want the newer ship, I'd do Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Montego on Vista. If you want a free beach right off of the ship you may switch that to Cozumel, Roatan, Belize. Belize and Montego are the stinkers where you really have to have an excursion and a lot of people don't like going there. At least Belize has a port area you can walk around, eat, drink, and shop. Montego had a few vendors set up and that was it.

 

Edited June 14, 2019 by Saint Greg