Line of cruise passengers in Galveston stretches for blocks

[Carla in Texas 61]

Just saw this headline regarding passengers waiting to board the Breeze last weekend. 

 

Does anyone have info about this?

 

I'm hoping this isn't going to be the norm for cruising out of Galveston.  I do not want to wait outside in line for blocks. 

 

I wasn't able to read the full article without a paid subscription to the Galveston News. 

[cruizergal70]

This is most likely due to folks showing up at 10 am. I never understand why folks need to be on the ship so early. I never show up to the terminal until 1 pm or later. No crowds.

[cruisingguy007]

3 minutes ago, cruizergal70 said:

This is most likely due to folks showing up at 10 am. I never understand why folks need to be on the ship so early. I never show up to the terminal until 1 pm or later. No crowds.

 

Maybe they drive far and have to account for potential traffic. I know I do, so if I luck out and hit very little, I'm there early. If I crap out and hit traffic, I have extra time. Hard to judge traffic when you drive in from longer distances and don't have reliable time-frames like those closer or staying near ports.  

[KmomChicago]

38 minutes ago, Carla in Texas 61 said:

Just saw this headline regarding passengers waiting to board the Breeze last weekend. 

 

Does anyone have info about this?

 

I'm hoping this isn't going to be the norm for cruising out of Galveston.  I do not want to wait outside in line for blocks. 

 

I wasn't able to read the full article without a paid subscription to the Galveston News. 

It moves fast but yes it’s very long.

[Carla in Texas 61]

19 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

It moves fast but yes it’s very long.

So even if you show up at your scheduled time you will be in line for blocks? Doesn't make sense.

Kinda freaking me out. We've always been dropped off at the pier & entered the building.  We got right in, never long lines outside. Yikes. 

[BallFour4]

What you are referring to is the line to board the Breeze this past Sunday. This was a perfect storm as the Dream was in port that day for it's normal time and the Breeze was a day late from it's crossing. It should have been here on Saturday.

 Passengers were told well ahead of time to arrive later, and they were given some refund/credit options for the 5 day cruise that turned into a 4 day.

 The Breeze returns to it's 5-5-4 cycle, here in Galveston on alternate Thursdays, Saturdays and Mondays. She will be here in port at Terminal One early in the morning.

 The line was doubled back around the parking lot all the way to Harborside Drive. We were on a bike ride to Willie G's for lunch and saw the mayhem. It took about 45 min for it to go down.

 

.

Edited May 5, 2022 by BallFour4

[Eli_6]

On normal days, it doesn't look like that. I have never had to wait very long in Galveston for boarding.  

[TravelGirlinDallas]

I've sailed out of Galveston several times and never had to wait in a line that long. Sailing with Carnival out of Terminal 1, I've hardly had to wait at all. Sailing with Royal out of Terminal 2, the line inside was longer, but it was all indoors. 

[aggie182]

We had to wait outside in line on our Spring Break Vista cruise out of Galveston but it moved quickly and you were indoors before you knew it.  It was under the cover though, so while breeze was minimal, we were in the shade.

[BallFour4]

21 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

On normal days, it doesn't look like that. I have never had to wait very long in Galveston for boarding.  

This wasn't a normal day as two ships sailed from one terminal on Sunday. Check out my explanation above. They didn't look happy standing along the street!

 

.

[Saint Greg]

Blocks really? In December for Vista they had four separate lines. Early arrivals, on-time arrivals, diamond/platinum, and handicapped. The end of all of them was inside the building. At least when I was there which was 30mins or so after the first arrival window started.

[pc_load_letter]

13 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

Maybe they drive far and have to account for potential traffic. I know I do, so if I luck out and hit very little, I'm there early. If I crap out and hit traffic, I have extra time. Hard to judge traffic when you drive in from longer distances and don't have reliable time-frames like those closer or staying near ports.  

 

This! Going from San Diego to Long Beach can be a crap shoot. You never know what you're going to get. We've made it in 45 minutes and 1.5 hours.

 

But to @cruizergal70some people just want to get all they can out of their vacation (maybe their not retired) and get on board asap. For many, vacation days are precious, kids could be ancy, you might be hungry after long flights etc.

 

I don't fault the folks who want to get on as soon as possible.

Edited May 5, 2022 by pc_load_letter

[BallFour4]

59 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Blocks really? In December for Vista they had four separate lines. Early arrivals, on-time arrivals, diamond/platinum, and handicapped. The end of all of them was inside the building. At least when I was there which was 30mins or so after the first arrival window started.

Greg, not sure if you read the entire set of replies. If not, you are in good company. The line on Sunday was due to two things. The Breeze came here a day late. It was due in Galveston on Saturday. They had a delay in the crossing.

 Second, the Dream was here for the regular Sunday stop and they had the first debark/embark. Once she sailed the Breeze maneuvered into position. Terminal Two was occupied by the RCCL ship.

 The Breeze passengers then loaded up for a shortened cruise from a five day to a four day. They were going to make one port, Cozumel. Carnival offered refunds to those that wanted. They also contacted all the booked passengers the evening before to alert them to a later sailing. They turned the Breeze around in under five hours and they sailed around 8 PM.

 My wife and I rode our bikes all around the terminal and saw the line stretch from the covered area, back across the parking lot, then out on Harborside. For those that arrived later there was no line in the sun.

Glad the priority lines have returned. They weren't offered when we cruised on the Breeze in November. We arrived early for check in and were on the ship before noon, luggage arrived by 12:30 .

Edited May 5, 2022 by BallFour4

[LHARTWICK]

2 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

On normal days, it doesn't look like that. I have never had to wait very long in Galveston for boarding.  

Agreed.  The only time we've had to wait for a really long time to board  was when the previous sailing came in late - due to weather I believe, which can not be controlled.  Then everything, especially traffic, is a nightmare.  When that happens, CCL usually sends an e-mail/text to incoming passengers telling them not to arrive to the terminal prior to a specific time. Many choose to ignore the warnings, hence the crowds.  Just our observation and experience.  We've been very pleased with the Galveston terminal experiences.

[75Vette]

We sailed out of Galveston on April 23 on the Vista.  We arrived at 1:10 ( our arrival time of 1:00 to 1:30).  We were lined up half way down the terminal waiting to get inside the building, which took at least 30 minutes.  Then the cattle lines once inside the building.  Diamonds had a priority line once on the second floor of terminal for check-in.   Once on board went straight to Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que and they were already closed.  We usually sign up for the earliest boarding time, which we will do again next time out of Galveston. 

[Carla in Texas 61]

Thank you all so much for the helpful replies. I wasnt able to read the entire article regarding  the long lines unless I paid for a subscription to the newspaper. 

 

Im glad this was an isolated incident. 

[Lane Hog]

Shouldn't happen again once RCL's new terminal opens up.

[ProgRockCruiser]

19 hours ago, Carla in Texas 61 said:

Thank you all so much for the helpful replies. I wasnt able to read the entire article regarding  the long lines unless I paid for a subscription to the newspaper. 

 

Im glad this was an isolated incident. 

And that's how they try to reel you in: provide a slightly misleading and "exciting" headline to try to get you to subscribe, only to find out the incident was a one-off event unlikely to occur under normal circumstances.

[cmukid87]

I know the reason for this line BUT I'll add that my experience with Galveston is there is no enforcement of arrival times.  Extremely annoying that those that follow the rules end up waiting in line because of those that don't, but it is what it is.

[calakerfan00]

Galveston is my homeport and I hate it. The wait time is always a few hours but when I sail out of Port Canaveral or Everglades the wait is always less than 30 minutes. ☹️

[BlerkOne]

No lines or wait when we boarded Dream the other day. I-45 was something else, but we had driven in the night before.

 

{Vista was also boarding}

Edited May 9, 2022 by BlerkOne

[RockHoundTX]

5 hours ago, calakerfan00 said:

Galveston is my homeport and I hate it. The wait time is always a few hours but when I sail out of Port Canaveral or Everglades the wait is always less than 30 minutes. ☹️

Galveston if my homeport and I absolutely love it. Out of the last 20 cruises, I have only waited over 1 hour once (and that was when the computer system went down). Typically is 30-40 minutes from dropping off luggage until sitting in the WJ having lunch. Last three trips on RCL and Carnival (December and March) it was maybe 20 minutes. 

 

The other thing to love about Galveston is the super-cheap parking as compared to just about every other major port. Going on a Seattle cruise this summer and the parking is 4 times as much as we pay in Galveston. Ouch. 

Edited May 9, 2022 by RockHoundTX
Forgot what forum I was in

[firefly333]

Iv only done 3 carnival since restart, one I was almost right on, one I waited. Breeze the 2nd leg we did that sea rescue the night before and didnt dock until 10 am. They seemed to not be good at estimating when we would dock and kept changing the time so I wound up in the theater by 7 am and sat waiting as they changed the time at least 3 times to a later docking time. Carnival should have done a better job figuring out when we would dock. I'm sure that also made boarding for the next folks late. Things happen but carnival isnt always the best at dealing with changes from my experience.

 

I boarded grandeur OTS last Wednesday and best ever. I had a 1230 time as it was grandeurs first time out of usa so extra ship and crew inspections. My hotel check out was 11 am. I arrived 1130 expecting to wait, but they were already boarding when I arrived. About 5 minutes wait. We will see in the morning how things go. We have a letter to meet at 930 am to go over health and safety. No b2b covid tests onboard and health and safety was closed to b2b. No idea what letter means exactly but I'll know soon. 

 

Even for carnival I havent experienced very long lines. Agree with above parking is much cheaper than say new orleans. Also I'd say more than half of the hotels allow free cruise parking. No shuttle. It's often a toss up pay for uber or pay for closer cruise parking. I'm at a hotel free parking this time. 

[Kmedina]

I was there.  I was waiting to board.  Yes,  they told us to arrive later,  between 3:00 & 5:00pm. The reason for the ridiculous line was they thought they could squeeze all the passengers boarding into a 2 hour window.  It was an epic FAILURE!! Yes,  a prorated 1 day refund was to be credited, however no refunds have been issued.