Nice 14 day itinerary from Galveston on Escape

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Just booked a very nice 14 day southern Carib voyage on the Escape from Galveston in January of 2025.  It’s available three times, all in January.  It is so nice to have a longer cruise from Galveston that has an interesting itinerary, not just added to ports to the basic western Carib.

Edited July 10, 2023 by MagnoliaBlossom

[destar]

57 minutes ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

 It is so nice to have a longer cruise from Galveston that has an interesting itinerary

It is even nicer that you probably drive to the port.

[Sand and Seas]

We loved our first cruise out of Galveston last October.  I'm glad NCL is adding cruises from there. Absolutely loved staying two nights in Galveston prior to cruise.  Came home and booked another 11 day out of Galveston to the ABC islands.   

 

Toughest part for those of us flying in.....transportation to Galveston!  Found some help on the Gulfport departures board.

[GORDONCHICK]

Galveston is a great port to sail out of - as long as it's the off season or not spring break!  It's cool sailing out amongst the oil derricks.  The only better port (IMO) to sail out of in the Gulf or FL would be NOLA, down the Mississippi and then through the Gulf.

[cheersforbeers]

We booked this itinerary 11/22.  14 days aft balcony. Should be great. 

[LauraAnneC]

I’ve been looking at that itinerary too but also looking at the Encore out of Miami. Getting to and from Miami is so much easier that Galveston. 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

On 6/3/2023 at 2:58 PM, McFins said:

16 hours ago, GORDONCHICK said:

 

On 6/19/2023 at 1:44 PM, alwalaska said:

 

On 7/6/2023 at 9:18 AM, KKB said:

Airport to pier is an issue for Galveston cruisers.  We have a four hour drive so it’s not a problem for us, but I have researched it for friends.  There are several shuttle services that appear to have decent schedules, so if you’ve not found those you can search for them.  They operate from both airports.

 

one way car rental would be an option but no one does rentals to Galveston.  Boo.

 

I agree that Galveston is a great port from which to sail.  We are Louisianians who lived three hours from NOLA all our lives (until grandchildren “forced” us to move to Texas so we could properly spoil them) and it is mt favorite sailaway.  I only wish for a sailaway that would put you at the mouth of the Mississippi during daylight hours.  Not gonna happen but it would be most interesting.  Seeing those rigs as you come back into port is quite a sight.

 

Yes, summer time kid cruisers can be trying but I don’t think any port has a monopoly on that, it’s the nature of the beast if you choose to sail during school vacations.  And as NCL doesn’t sail the Caribbean during summer months it’s not an issue.

 

Im just tickled to see NCL return to the Texaribbean as they first branded it and do so with nice ships and wonderful itineraries.  Maybe a Panama Canal cruise will be an offering one day.  
 

happy sailing!

 

PS.  I do not know why links to random posts have popped up in this window, nor can I delete them.  Hopefully it is a one time craziness.

 

Edited July 11, 2023 by MagnoliaBlossom

[MagnoliaBlossom]

15 hours ago, LauraAnneC said:

I’ve been looking at that itinerary too but also looking at the Encore out of Miami. Getting to and from Miami is so much easier that Galveston. 

Oh, from Ireland I would think so!  What a beautiful country you live in.

[alwalaska]

Thanks for sharing.  I was looking at Galveston for Feb 2024, but now we're doing our Australia/NZ trip in 2024, so 2025 will have to be a cheap cruise of some sort. If we do Galveston, we'll probably drive, even though it is a long haul from Ohio, there are still places in Texas we want to visit and the weather is quite pleasant for us northerners in January and February. 🙂

[schmoopie17]

5 minutes ago, alwalaska said:

 If we do Galveston, we'll probably drive, even though it is a long haul from Ohio, there are still places in Texas we want to visit and the weather is quite pleasant for us northerners in January and February. 🙂

That's what we thought, as well. That was until we were driving through San Antonio a year ago February when the ice storm hit and shut down the town. We sat in the hotel for an extra couple of days.

[alwalaska]

Just now, schmoopie17 said:

That's what we thought, as well. That was until we were driving through San Antonio a year ago February when the ice storm hit and shut down the town. We sat in the hotel for an extra couple of days.

They definitely completely shut down in an ice storm, but you can hit bad weather anywhere.  I was in Houston one January when an ice storm came through, and they started shutting down before the temperatures even hit 32 degrees.  They are not regular occurrences though. 

[schmoopie17]

We're also looking at Galveston for 2025. We have a cruise out of New Orleans booked for March, 2, 2025...but afterward we realized that's Mardi Gras week. Probably not a good idea to deal with all of that stuff, so may cancel and look for something else out of New Orleans or Galveston. (Have never been either place).

[LauraAnneC]

28 minutes ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

Oh, from Ireland I would think so!  What a beautiful country you live in.

It is beautiful but so are many parts of the US too!

[GORDONCHICK]

45 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

That's what we thought, as well. That was until we were driving through San Antonio a year ago February when the ice storm hit and shut down the town. We sat in the hotel for an extra couple of days.

We got stuck in SA for an ice storm years ago.  It poured our entire drive from Galveston to SA but the temps were dropping like a rock.  We were kept up at night because of the sounds of the icy smash up derby going on the highway not far from our hotel!  The roads were deserted the next day but since we drive on ice a lot, off we went.