George Bush Houston Airport to Galveston

[ILOVESHIPS]

What is best  way to get to and from  Galveston from George Bush Houston Airport  Not uber.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Didn't feel like repeating myself... 

There's a list with links of transportation company's I found.  We're a party of eight, so if you have less, you might be able to find others.

 

We booked with liveryhouston. 

 

 

[ILOVESHIPS]

I would like to go on a from Houston George Bush and not a car or van.  

[ILOVESHIPS]

Just now, ILOVESHIPS said:

I would like to go on a  bus from Houston George Bush and not a car or van.  

 

[S.A.M.J.R.]

What do you want?  Bus? Plane? Train? Helicopter? 

[S.A.M.J.R.]

So like Greyhound? Doesn't look like they service Galveston.

 

Or private bus? Contact one of the companies.

[xpcdoojk]

Uber is the easy and likely the easiest

Edited March 9 by xpcdoojk

[Tree_skier]

I've used Galveston Express as well as Uber... It'll always be Uber going forward.  It's very easy and just as cheap.

[xpcdoojk]

I meant to say the cheapest…..  I am a maroon.😂

[c-leg5]

1 hour ago, Tree_skier said:

I've used Galveston Express as well as Uber... It'll always be Uber going forward.  It's very easy and just as cheap.

That probably depends on number in your party?

 

Difficult to generalize with transportation and I don’t believe Uber is a fixed price, which maybe important for some sailings.

 

Also depending on time of day I have had an 50 minute wait quoted for Uber from IAH unless you pre-book.

Edited March 9 by c-leg5

[RobInMN]

We had a great experience using Galveston Saltwater Moms from IAH to out hotel in Galveston pre-cruise.4 of us in a minivan

[BrendaJ]

We are going on a cruise out of Galveston soon and this issue caused me a lot of stress. I just can’t believe that Viator doesn’t have a bus of some sort running back and forth on days there are ships in port. There are quite a few ships that leave from Galveston, but I didn’t find any reasonable options - all of the private van rentals were a fortune. Our travel agent suggested Uber, but as there are 7 of us, and half the group are inexperienced travellers, I didn’t want to risk getting separated. Our other issue is that we were arriving the day before the cruise.

 

We ended up booking a hotel at the airport, and will take an RCCL transfer from the airport the following day (and we’ve booked an excursion to the space center on the return trip). Certainly not the cheapest option but the only one that gave me peace of mind.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

1 hour ago, BrendaJ said:

We are going on a cruise out of Galveston soon and this issue caused me a lot of stress. I just can’t believe that Viator doesn’t have a bus of some sort running back and forth on days there are ships in port. There are quite a few ships that leave from Galveston, but I didn’t find any reasonable options - all of the private van rentals were a fortune. Our travel agent suggested Uber, but as there are 7 of us, and half the group are inexperienced travellers, I didn’t want to risk getting separated. Our other issue is that we were arriving the day before the cruise.

 

We ended up booking a hotel at the airport, and will take an RCCL transfer from the airport the following day (and we’ve booked an excursion to the space center on the return trip). Certainly not the cheapest option but the only one that gave me peace of mind.

Same thing we ran into, we just went with private shuttle vs RCCL transfer.  I agree it seems VERY expensive.  We've done shuttles from WDW to PC for about 60% of the cost and not much difference distance wise.  

[nelblu]

17 hours ago, ILOVESHIPS said:

What is best  way to get to and from  Galveston from George Bush Houston Airport  Not uber.

I used Galveston Express @$35 pp each way.  Run on the hour.

[CorbinCatFan]

We did a couple of days pre-cruise in Galveston so we booked a private shuttle with Island Breeze.  The price was $105 for two people.  The shuttle was waiting for us as we left baggage claim in Houston.

 

The return we booked with Galveston Shuttle for 9:00 AM.  We got off the ship early and was lucky that the 8:00 AM shuttle had room for us. 

 

Overall, both were excellent choices. 

[neverbeenhere]

If you aren’t going until September this might be available. 

[silentbob007]

I have cruised out of Galveston twice in the past year and it is definitely a bit of an extra pain to get from the airport to the cruise port.  Port Canaveral has much more competition, especially when the rental car companies are in the game (unfortunately they are closed on Sunday in Galveston, which is when Harmony leaves and I'm not paying to leave it another day unsecured and hoping it is checked in in the condition I left it).  I've taken an Uber/Lyft from a Hobby hotel to the port and I've taken Galveston Express from Hobby (after we dropped the rental car at Hobby).  The Uber was easiest though we couldn't normally choose that option because our son needs a car seat.  The shuttle was just what you'd expect from a shared-ride shuttle.  It picks up at Bush first so we had whatever seats were left by the time it got to Hobby and then we had the tour of Galveston as everyone went to different places the night before the cruise. Both times we've just taken the cruiseline transfer back to the airport so I didn't have to worry about meeting a shuttle at a certain time and hoping the process of going through customs and claiming bags goes as expected.

[c-leg5]

1 hour ago, silentbob007 said:

The shuttle was just what you'd expect from a shared-ride shuttle.  It picks up at Bush first so we had whatever seats were left by the time it got to Hobby and then we had the tour of Galveston as everyone went to different places the night before the cruise. Both times we've just taken the cruiseline transfer back to the airport so I didn't have to worry about meeting a shuttle at a certain time and hoping the process of going through customs and claiming bags goes as expected.

We have only taken the Express once when we were doing a one-way from Galveston and we left our car parked at IAH for our return.
 

It worked well for us except my husband didn’t like that the driver was always checking something on his phone - schedule, route??
 

I agree those at Hobby were left with whatever seats were left over so might be something to consider. There also seemed to be some confusion as to how many had booked. We didn’t get a tour of Galveston hotels and it was before new Royal port was open so the two terminals were close together.

 

I think the hotel people were dropped off after and I am surprised this isn’t routinely the case but may depend on time of day and day of the week.

[Texas Tillie]

All the people saying how expensive it is - you are aware that IAH to the port is a little over 70 miles, way different than from MIA or FLL to their respective ports.

 

If it's an option - flying into HOU is better, it's only 40 miles to the port.

[rozen]

where do you pick up Uber at Bush airport?

[Galveston Cruiser]

13 minutes ago, rozen said:

where do you pick up Uber at Bush airport?

When you book provide your flight info as that defines the arrival terminal.  There is no stopping and waiting at terminal. Communication between driver and passenger required.

[BrendaJ]

I’m not sure if anyone else’s experience will be different, but we landed on Saturday at Bush, stayed at a hotel on Saturday night, and went to the airport on Sunday morning. We had read that the shuttles start running to Galveston around 10:30, but the first RCCL shuttle did not leave until noon. I think there was some type of weather hold-up with the shuttles coming from the cruise port. It was a very uncomfortable wait. Two hours of standing with what felt like 1,000 people, and about 40 seats in the baggage claim area total, and not even a place to buy a coffee.

 

As our ship was leaving at 4, we didn’t want to arrive back at the airport too late, but in hindsight, I think arriving around noon would have been a bit better. The ship left on time so they somehow managed to get all those people to the port before the gangway was lifted. If you’re landing the day of your cruise, I guess you probably don’t have a lot of choice on when your wait starts.

[c-leg5]

3 hours ago, BrendaJ said:

I’m not sure if anyone else’s experience will be different, but we landed on Saturday at Bush, stayed at a hotel on Saturday night, and went to the airport on Sunday morning. We had read that the shuttles start running to Galveston around 10:30, but the first RCCL shuttle did not leave until noon. I think there was some type of weather hold-up with the shuttles coming from the cruise port. It was a very uncomfortable wait. Two hours of standing with what felt like 1,000 people, and about 40 seats in the baggage claim area total, and not even a place to buy a coffee.

 

As our ship was leaving at 4, we didn’t want to arrive back at the airport too late, but in hindsight, I think arriving around noon would have been a bit better. The ship left on time so they somehow managed to get all those people to the port before the gangway was lifted. If you’re landing the day of your cruise, I guess you probably don’t have a lot of choice on when your wait starts.

We saw big crowds of people waiting for the Royal shuttle when we had booked Galveston express and there didn’t seem to be much seating. At least we had a timed departure. I think they ran every hour.

Edited March 18 by c-leg5

[LuCruise]

Am looking into options for a Royal cruise (Harmony of the Seas).  Is the shuttle option in the cruise planner?  Or you book it separately?  (Not seeing it in cruise planner if it shows up there).  Sounds like uber is better but looking from cost perspective.

[TeamCan]

 

16 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Am looking into options for a Royal cruise (Harmony of the Seas).  Is the shuttle option in the cruise planner?  Or you book it separately?  (Not seeing it in cruise planner if it shows up there).  Sounds like uber is better but looking from cost perspective.

Also looking into options IAH to Galveston Cruise port…Uber, Galveston Shuttle, Galveston Express or any other shuttle services(besides RC shuttle)? Uber seems the most convenient..how is Uber cost wise for 2 people? Has anyone used Uber IAH to Galveston return? I read Ubers are in short supply on disembarkation day at the port and Uber drivers have cancelled reservations + surge pricing, so leary of using Uber to IAH.  TIA