PRIMA out of Galveston

[drumming cruisers]

Thinking of booking this cruise. if you have been on it, a few questions. 

I am understanding airport is about an hour away from port. What transportation did you use?

What hotel did you stay in? and does it have a restaurant?

Is there a shuttle from hotels to port?

 

Thank you. 

 

[BirdTravels]

The Prima has only been to Galveston once during it's inaugural tour. And has not home ported there yet. If you're flying into Huston, it is over an hour from the port. 

[Liljo22]

You will get the best Galveston info from the Gulf Homeport board.  Prima had one cruise out of Galveston back in October and doesn’t port there again until December.  
 

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

[Liljo22]

1 minute ago, BirdTravels said:

The Prima has only been to Galveston once during it's inaugural tour. And has not home ported there yet. If you're flying into Huston, it is over an hour from the port. 

Depends on the airport.  IAH is more than an hour but Hobby which is mainly Southwest is about 45 minutes.

[Sand and Seas]

If you are able to fly into Houston Hobby, you will be closer to the port than flying into Houston Bush. 

 After some research on the Gulf coast departures board (see post #3), we booked with Galveston Saltwater Moms for transportation.  They were great and we have already scheduled them again for our next Prima from Galveston.   

 

We absolutely loved Galveston.  If you can, suggest you go in a day or two early and enjoy the island.   

[Girr]

I’ll second going over to the Gulf Homeport page. It’s been a couple of years since I sailed out of Galveston, but I know a lot of hotels require a minimum two night stay. As mentioned IAH is 66 miles away and often bumper to bumper. Hobby is closer at about 45 miles, but also has traffic issues. 

[Host Kat]

3 hours ago, drumming cruisers said:

Thinking of booking this cruise. if you have been on it, a few questions. 

I am understanding airport is about an hour away from port. What transportation did you use?

What hotel did you stay in? and does it have a restaurant?

Is there a shuttle from hotels to port?

 

Thank you. 

 

@drumming cruisers

 

To help you out your new thread has been moved to the Gulf Coast Departures forum. It will be on topic there. The forum is for hotel, transportation, dining and embarkation information.

 

Browse through the thread titles on this forum looking for threads of interest. You will probably find your fellow Cruise Critic members have already posted questions and received answers that may be of interest to you.

 

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Happy sails,

 

Host Kat

[Liljo22]

For Hotels, it really depends on what style of hotel and what your budget is.  There are only a couple of resort style hotels on the island and those will run you between $200-$300 a night.  The rest of the hotels will be your Holiday Inn/Best Western style hotels.  

 

The one most cruisers like to stay at is the Harbor House.  Its on the bay side of the island and close to the cruise terminals.  It is close to a bunch of restaurant along the wharf.  Its also close to the Strand which is Galveston downtown entertainment district with restaurants/bars/shops.  

 

If you are planning to come in a couple of days early and want the resort style hotels, I would stay at either the San Luis or the Grand Galvez.  If you have children, I would also look at Moody Gardens.  They have a ton to do for kids including an aquarium.  You can usually get a package that includes the stay and access to the attractions.  

 

For flights, Houston has two main airports.  IAH(Bush/Intercontinental) has all the major airlines but is one of United's hub cities.  Its about an hour and a half from Galveston.  The other is HOU(Hobby) and is 90% Southwest gates.  Its smaller but super easy to deal with.  

 

Can't help you on transportation since I live about 40 minutes from Galveston so I use my own car.  

Edited September 18, 2023 by Liljo22

[RocketMan275]

We're on Prima in Feb.  We've decided to fly in the day before and overnight at the IAH (Bush) airport Marriott.  We've done this before when on a Princess cruise and it worked quite well.  There is a tram outside each baggage claim. It's free and one of the stops is the Marriott.  Super easy.

 

There are many transportation options to the port.  I wish I could link to some sites describing those options but that is against CC rules.  Try googling "airport to galveston cruise ports" and you'll get a ton of options.  Almost all options will pick you up at either IAH Bush or HOU Hobby.  

 

Or,  you can arrange transportation with the cruise lines but they only do airport pickups the day of the cruise.

 

 

[Host Kat]

10 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

... I wish I could link to some sites describing those options but that is against CC rules...

 

@RocketMan275

 

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