Galveston Embark

[akparrothead]

We're going on the Grand Princess out of Galveston. Any logistic tips on transportation, hotels, etc?

[TinAngel]

I'd read the Grand Princess Roll Call thread to find out what is

the current situation.

 

Issues vary: Hobby airport closer, shuttles, and so on.

 

I like the local seafood places and such! Nice hotels that can do

parking, etc..

 

http://www.galveston.com/

 

http://www.galvestoncruises.com/

 

Joe

[Maine_girl]

We flew into Hobby (the closer of the 2 Houston airports) the day of the cruise and used the shuttle from Galveston Limo http://www.galvestonlimousineservice.com/ for our transfer, $50 round trip. The ride took about 45 minutes. They will also drop you off at a hotel in Galveston if you want. I think a lot of the hotels in Galveston have free shuttles to the port.

 

The shuttles out of Hobbly were on a schedule. They have a small booth by Southwest baggage claim where you check in and then wait for the next shuttle. We had made reservations ahead of time, so they were expecting us. We hopped onto our shuttle, which was a van, while the folks taking the Princess transfer were still standing around like cattle.

 

The shuttle from the port to the airports were large buses instead of a van. These don't run on a schedule. They wait for the buses to fill up and then proceed to Hobby, then on to IAH. We made it to the airport in plenty of time for our 1:00 flight.

 

We were very pleased with Galveston Limo. However, if you have a larger group (we were only 2), hiring a limo might be a better, and cheaper, alternative.

[MSN-Travelers]

We're going on the Grand Princess out of Galveston. Any logistic tips on transportation, hotels, etc?

 

A lot depends on how you are getting to the port. Are you flying into Houston or driving in from someplace in the region? Are you planning to arrive/depart on cruise day or spend time in the area pre/post cruise? How many people in your party?

 

There are quite a few options. Our travel plans were driven by cost and the desire to have reduced stress travel to and from the ship.

 

My family of three flew into IAH the day before, got a rental from Enterprise, played tourist on the west side & stayed the night in Houston. We drove to Galveston the next morning and went cruisin'.

 

We did the reverse on the return. There were a few "first time in the Houston/Galveston area" bumps along the way but I would likely do the same travel itinerary if we sail out of Galveston again.