Regal Princess Deck 14 and Hobby Airport transportation to/from Regal ship

[beshears]

If you have been on the Regal Princess deck 14, was there anything good, or not so good that you found when having that deck for your room? In other words, were you able to get to another floor or activity better or not?

 

I did get information from my PVP of the transportation cost pp, to/from the Hobby Airport. I'm just curious (if you remember) how much you paid for an Umber or Lift driver to the ship from Hobby Airport, and see which might be the best way for cost of transportation for us.

[reedprincess]

9 minutes ago, beshears said:

If you have been on the Regal Princess deck 14, was there anything good, or not so good that you found when having that deck for your room? In other words, were you able to get to another floor or activity better or not?

 

I did get information from my PVP of the transportation cost pp, to/from the Hobby Airport. I'm just curious (if you remember) how much you paid for an Umber or Lift driver to the ship from Hobby Airport, and see which might be the best way for cost of transportation for us.

Same as any other deck. 2 flights up to Lido for pool and buffet, 3 up to Sanctuary and Retreat Pool, but 7 down to Promenade and Crooners, , and more to MDR, Vines, casino, Club, International Cafe, theater, etc.   So, tradeoff for whether you're closer or not to what you want to be near.  

Cabins above and below, so quiet in that respect..

 

[atakkat]

If you look at the Gulf coast departures forum, I think there is a business called Galveston Moms that will do transportation. It might be an option and I hav3 heard good things about them. Good luck.

[brovol]

We are on the Regal in November, and have had similar questions.  We booked a mini-suite on Aloha deck, which is one below 14, but I don't think much difference in decks.  I have no insight, because we haven't done it yet, but for what its worth, after researching, we decided to uber from the airport to Galveston (coming in the day before), but booked a Princess transfer to the airport after departing the ship.  We have a 3PM flight home, so I wasn't in a rush, and the transfer seemed reasonably priced.  If we had a morning flight home I would have ubered both ways.

 

My wife and I have approximately 40 cruises over the years, but this will be first out of Galveston.  The airport proximity makes it different from all other home ports, and certainly adds to the logistical challenge and expense.

[beshears]

Thank you ALL for your responses. I was surprised that the "buffet" was UP above our deck. Actually with all the cruises I have been on, I think the highest deck I have been on is 8 or 9, so this will really be different, and the Promenade was generally on deck 5. Actually I NEED to look at the deck plans, and just see where everything is located before we leave.

Brovol, you mentioned of using an Umber from the airport to the ship. Do you remember what the cost was per person? Just curious?

[Bgwest]

I see what you have done. 

 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by Bgwest

[cruisinsince75]

16 hours ago, beshears said:

 

I did get information from my PVP of the transportation cost pp, to/from the Hobby Airport. I'm just curious (if you remember) how much you paid for an Umber or Lift driver to the ship from Hobby Airport, and see which might be the best way for cost of transportation for us.

• uberX: $44-58 (~3 min away)  
• uberXL: $84-111 (~3 min away)  
• UberBLACK: $153-202 (~3 min away)  
• uberSELECT: $107-141 (~3 min away)  
• UberSUV: $185-243 (~3 min away)  

[beshears]

Crusinsince75, thank you for your response with the prices. My main problem as I have never used an Umber/Lift, I have no idea with these 5 that you have listed, how many people they carry? There will be 7 or 8 of us, and that is why I ask.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Contact Galveston Express and see if they’ll reserve an entire van for you. Is Galveston a port where ride shares can’t get close to the terminal for pick ups or drop offs?  I don’t know the answer to that, but I thought I recalled hearing that there was an issue about having to walk to/from a more distant pick up or drop off point. 

[SCBarker]

5 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

Contact Galveston Express and see if they’ll reserve an entire van for you. Is Galveston a port where ride shares can’t get close to the terminal for pick ups or drop offs?  I don’t know the answer to that, but I thought I recalled hearing that there was an issue about having to walk to/from a more distant pick up or drop off point. 

For many years Uber refused to pay for a permit to pickup on Port property. People would have to pick the Starbucks across the street and then walk over. That has all been resolved. Uber is allowed for pickup and drop-off at the port now.

 

As for the OP, uber is not going to have anything big enough to carry 7-8 people. You'll either need to book the Princess transfer bus or a private bus like mentioned above if you all want to ride together. Hobby Airport to Galveston is not much different than Orlando Airport to Port Canaveral.

[beshears]

OK, thank you for your reply.

[Steelers36]

29 minutes ago, beshears said:

OK, thank you for your reply.

I'd check into the private van option mentioned.  I bet it is way cheaper than 8X whatever PCL charges.

[mrmarklin]

If you are a Suite passenger, deck 14 contains the Concierge Lounge. 👍🏿

[rj59]

Don't don't don't do the Princess transfer! There are few flights and few passengers at Hobby, so they'll make you wait up to 2 hours until they have enough people to half-fill a bus. I got there at 9, and didn't leave the airport until 11:30, with a long walk and getting everyone, including the many who are mobility impaired  on the bus. With more Covid now, I'd also not want to wait with others in a seating area for hours, which also had passengers from Carnival and Royal. Then when we got to the ship a porter got on the bus and yelled out that they expect $5 a bag for their services. So a very awful and unpleasant start to a vacation, when there are much better options.

 

You'll find that for 2 people, an Uber or Lyft is  affordable and convenient, especially if you stay the night before in a hotel, but there are also several van services that pick up from the airport and cruise port that are quicker to leave and cheaper than Princess. Galveston Express and Island Breeze are the most affordable ones. A van or car is going to be quicker and more maneuverable on the freeway too, especially on a Sunday morning.  On the return trip, I'd actually do the Princess transfer, if your flight time is later, because the van service picked up people from the huge Royal ship first and was fairly full and delayed by the time it got to Princess. Or you can just get an Uber or Lyft and get to the airport much quicker. Download the Uber and Lyft apps and learn how to use them, and then do pretend bookings on a Sunday  morning to check fares each way.

[beshears]

Once again, thanks for the last postings I received. I WAS getting excited, as I thought to myself, YES this sounds like it will work out fine. I then checked into Island Breeze, and the way it read, the area it was in TX did not renew their contract. Then I checked on Galveston Express, and when I read 6 or more reviews from "this year," they were all BAD. Now I am really concerned as either one of these would have worked out in price, compared to Princess Transportation.

[jwattle]

Two Uber XL's 🙂

 

[PescadoAmarillo]

6 hours ago, beshears said:

Once again, thanks for the last postings I received. I WAS getting excited, as I thought to myself, YES this sounds like it will work out fine. I then checked into Island Breeze, and the way it read, the area it was in TX did not renew their contract. Then I checked on Galveston Express, and when I read 6 or more reviews from "this year," they were all BAD. Now I am really concerned as either one of these would have worked out in price, compared to Princess Transportation.

I’m sure Galveston Express provides a variety of service levels, depending on the weekend and traffic but DH used them at least five times last year and never had an issue. In fact, one time, he extended his stay on the ship, and I phoned GE a day in advance of his transfer and they allowed me to just move it to a later date, which they didn’t have to do. 
 

Hw also used the Princess transfer one time (to Hobby) and said never again. Apparently there was a lot of confusion about which airport the passengers needed, although they had been directed to the bus based on a Princess sticker. 
 

ETA:  I know there was a dust up on Facebook last year where a GE competitor was dissing them online and on reviews, and they were outed on at least one forum, but again, I’m sure some of the bad reviews you read were well deserved. 

Edited October 3, 2023 by PescadoAmarillo

[beshears]

OK, I went back again to check out Galveston Express, and Island Breeze, and this time for "some???" reason, things seemed to look a little better. So I thought I would go ahead and check them out "ahead" of time. I just emailed them and I'll see what kind of response I received.  Thank you for your input on this.

[beshears]

Matt266507, my thoughts as well when possibly doing the Uber (going in the day before) from the airport to the hotel (we don't know this as yet either). Also, once we know our flight schedule, we might do Princess, that is if we need to be at the airport in a short period of time. Other than that, we probably could do the Uber too. I'm curious also of the cost and how long it took?