Cruising from Galveston.....tips & opinions needed

[3red7s]

Happy Holidays CC people.  We reside in Cleveland OH & most of our cruises sail from Miami, Tampa, FLL, east coast.  We are looking at some cruises that sail from Galveston.  Can you tell me, how good are flights, both availability & pricing, getting into Galveston?  Once there, how far is the port from the airport?  Any suggestions on how to plan my trip?  Thank you and have a Merry Christmas 

[George C]

Closest airport is hobby which is about 45 mins from Galveston, Houston international is about 30 mins further. Rccl just opened a new dock and allure just started sailing from there , next November harmony will replace the allure . 

[MamaToMany]

Our family booked a spring break cruise on Allure this March. We found that for us, flights into IAH were quite a bit cheaper than into Hobby. The drive from IAH to Galveston has been stated to take anywhere between 60 and 90 minutes. We booked a hotel in Galveston the night before embarkation and have scheduled a ride service to pick us up at the airport on arrival day and also take us back to the airport to return home. For our family of 6, this is running us right about $400 round trip. Our hotel does not have a port shuttle, so we will need an Uber to get to the port on embarkation day as well. Because we need two rooms and are on a budget, our hotel choices were a touch limited. I think the logistics of having the port so far from the airport have made planning feel a little more complicated so far, but still quite doable. Hope some of that helps a bit? 

[LeeW]

Check the Gulf Coast Departure boards for more info, including hotels, transportation and lack of car rentals on the island (And the closest one on mainland is closed Sunday).  Galveston shuttle is pretty good.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/316-gulf-coast-departures/

[Anton]

I have a standard plan for cruising from Galveston.  It suits me but it's not for everyone.  I fly to IAH and stay at the Marriott at the airport the night before the cruise, and I book Galveston Express shuttle to take me to the port.  I don't care about seeing Galveston since I've been there a lot, so my plan is simple.  My plane lands.  I pick up my luggage.  I take the underground tram from baggage claim to the Marriott (the hotel is the only one at the airport with a connection to the tram), and then all I have to do is find dinner and sleep until I take the tram again in the morning to Terminal A where I walk out door A -114 and look for the black Mercedes van.  The hotel does have access to normal transportation like Uber and taxis so I could use those to go eat someplace. 

[George C]

I just booked the moody gardens hotel for about 250 for a upscale hotel I thought this was a good price .

[brillohead]

3 hours ago, MamaToMany said:

Because we need two rooms and are on a budget, our hotel choices were a touch limited.

Don't forget to look at Airbnbs.... nice to have room to spread out when you have a large group, and you can often get a whole apartment/condo cheaper than two hotel rooms. 

[mp988]

8 hours ago, 3red7s said:

Happy Holidays CC people.  We reside in Cleveland OH & most of our cruises sail from Miami, Tampa, FLL, east coast.  We are looking at some cruises that sail from Galveston.  Can you tell me, how good are flights, both availability & pricing, getting into Galveston?  Once there, how far is the port from the airport?  Any suggestions on how to plan my trip?  Thank you and have a Merry Christmas 

When are you wanting to go?Do you have kids?

Edited December 23, 2022 by mp988

[SG65CB]

We are Cleveland-area too, have sailed out of eastern Florida, San Juan, and Galveston. 

 

Galveston is easier than San Juan. Southwest has flights all day long from Cleveland to Houston Hobby, most are 1-stop flights, not nonstop. The prices seem decent, at least the dates I checked in March. Fly in the day before and stay at a hotel on Galveston island. Travel from the airport to Galveston by Uber/Lyft. About 45 minute drive. After the cruise take a shuttle bus from the ship back to Hobby. There are a couple of services that run private bus shuttles where you reserve a specific departure time. 

 

For more fun, plan your cruise date to align with Mardi Gras in Galveston (two weekends of celebrations and parades). Spend time at the parades or downtown at the Mardi Gras area. Leave room in your suitcase for beads. It turns out Galveston has the third-largest Mardi Gras celebration in the U.S. 

 

[little britain]

11 hours ago, LeeW said:

Check the Gulf Coast Departure boards for more info, including hotels, transportation and lack of car rentals on the island (And the closest one on mainland is closed Sunday).  Galveston shuttle is pretty good.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/316-gulf-coast-departures/

We have hired from Enterprise at IAH and will drop off at 5919 Broadway St, Galveston, TX, 77551

[lifes-a-beach]

Another consideration is that when flying on Southwest 2 bags are included.  At $30 each bag, each way, on United (economy), and considering the extra distance and cost of a shuttle, cost from Hobby can balance out or even be better. 

[ssb]

With 5 different Royal ships cruising out of Galveston and other lines Disney , Carnival , Norwegian, and Princess , there are many options . 

[Heckah]

We uber'd from IAH to Galveston the night before.  I thought about a car service, and I'm glad we just winged it with Uber because our flight was delayed two hours.

 

I don't believe Uber is allowed to go to the Galveston Terminal, so we took a Lyft from the hotel.  Took a Lyft from the port to a Denny's for breakfast than an Uber to the airport.

 

Probably about $350 all in, we had to take Uber and Lyft XL's with four people and luggage.  We are doing it again in April and starting with a couple of days in Houston, so we will Uber and Lyft again. 

[3red7s]

wow so many great ideas & options....thank you everyone

 

[Ret MP]

On 12/22/2022 at 6:00 PM, George C said:

Closest airport is hobby which is about 45 mins from Galveston, Houston international is about 30 mins further. Rccl just opened a new dock and allure just started sailing from there , next November harmony will replace the allure . 

Stole my exact thunder.  The new Terminal looks beautiful and the majority of reviews I've read are positive to very positive.

 

Galveston is one of my top 4 ports.  #1 - Port Everglades (because I retired from the Port and I grew up just a mile or two from there), #2 - Port of Miami, only because of the terminal, not the port or city.  #3 - Port of Canaveral, it's closer to home for us.  #4 - Galveston because we have friends that live in Seguin, TX and we stay there the night before the cruise, 3 - 4 hour drive to the port.  Only criticism, no parking garage attached to the terminal, only surface lots.  Yes, I've read that they are convenient, but nothing is as convenient as being attached to the terminal.  

[brillohead]

On 12/23/2022 at 10:23 AM, Heckah said:

I don't believe Uber is allowed to go to the Galveston Terminal, so we took a Lyft from the hotel. 

Yesterday, Lyft was quoting $48+ and Uber was quoting $10+.... I went with Uber and had no problems getting into the port.  

[jbrinkm]

34 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Yesterday, Lyft was quoting $48+ and Uber was quoting $10+.... I went with Uber and had no problems getting into the port.  

 

This is interesting because there have been rumors about Uber contracting to go into the port but I hadn't seen any confirmation that the deal had been confirmed. Most people have been saying they had to go about 3 blocks to get outside of the port to use Uber. I wonder how they know for sure that it is an Uber dropping off rather than a personal vehicle, unless they have the flashy dashboard light on. Could you say more about where you were dropped off?

[brillohead]

11 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

This is interesting because there have been rumors about Uber contracting to go into the port but I hadn't seen any confirmation that the deal had been confirmed. Most people have been saying they had to go about 3 blocks to get outside of the port to use Uber. I wonder how they know for sure that it is an Uber dropping off rather than a personal vehicle, unless they have the flashy dashboard light on. Could you say more about where you were dropped off?

I was dropped off right at the curb, with a porter and his luggage cart right there waiting for me.  Same place as a private vehicle or a taxi would drop off.  I don't know if it's different for being picked up, but there was nobody restricting anyone from entering the port area in general or the specific driveway to go to the Royal terminal.

There was a line of porters on the sidewalk, each with their own small cart.  It looked like they were taking turns, each porter emptying one vehicle and then taking those bags directly into the building (presumably to be loaded onto the larger carts that are taken onto the ship) and then getting back in line for their next turn.  It was much more organized than I'm used to in Miami or Fort Lauderdale, where there are big carts all around and porters milling about.  (It was also interesting to see the porters in matching floral/tropical orange shirts, kind of like what the waitstaff in the MDR wears on Caribbean night!)

[Lane Hog]

Yeah, I'm not sure how exclusive that Lyft deal can really be if there's nobody policing the entry to the lot.  We were just waved in.