Galveston Port

[joschwin]

I am considering taking the grand out of galveston my only drawback is how far the pier is from the airport. The best airfare I have seen is to get to IAH Airport. How easy is it for me to get to the pier and how much money are we talking we are a family of 4. I assume I would be better off getting in on a Friday and staying near the pier. Would I be ok with a 4pm return flight? I will be coming from the east coast. Also I am talking Thanksgiving week. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Shoalwater]

By all means, do it! Best way from IAH to G'ton is to rent a car from Enterprise or Hertz (both have drop-offs in the cruise terminal I believe). Taxi one-way is mucho-denaro ($200). Consider travelling Thanksgiving Day and staying one day pre-cruise to see a few sites. The Houston Space Center is a great visit for all, also considerMoody Gardens in G'ton (the Christmas light display is on by then). There is an all season water park there as well (Schlitterbahn), and if you are a WWII buff, the Lone Star flight museum has one of the best collections of vintage WWII aircraft you'll find anywhere. Then there is just cruising the Strand Historical district, one blocck off the docks. A throwback in time. Places to stay I would recommend are: Budget- The holiday Inn on the Seawall, or historical The Galvez (revamped recently). Pricey and elegant is the San Luis next to the HI. it has a GREAT steakhouse.

 

Don't know where on the East coast you are traveling from, but Hobby Airport is very conveniient, and southwest is okay if you are near MHT, PVD, ISP or PHL.

 

So, come on down to Texas and see what it has to offer!

[MSN-Travelers]

I am considering taking the grand out of galveston my only drawback is how far the pier is from the airport. The best airfare I have seen is to get to IAH Airport. How easy is it for me to get to the pier and how much money are we talking we are a family of 4. I assume I would be better off getting in on a Friday and staying near the pier. Would I be ok with a 4pm return flight? I will be coming from the east coast. Also I am talking Thanksgiving week. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

My family of three flew in the day before (IAH), got a one-way rental from Enterprise, stayed the night in Houston on the west side near the Galleria, easy drive down the next morning, dropped the family & bags at the dock, dropped the car at the Enterprise office and took their shuttle back to the dock. Did the reverse on the way back. Was the most cost effective for our group of three. 4 PM departure flight will be be easy to make.

 

You will find a whole host of information on the United States port of call forum. A good number of people hire a limo service for transport from Houston to Galveston and you will find cost info and web sites listed in that forum. Use the search feature and type in GALVESTON.

 

Enjoy!

[Nancyquilts]

We usually take the "Galveston Limo" (sounds good, but is really a van) which goes from both airports on a regular schedule. Our return flight is 1:00pm, and we should have no trouble -well, except for possible traffic problems. Nancy

[MercedMike]

We are working on this very situation right now. There are several options.

 

The easiest is just to take the cruise line transfers. They will meet you at the airport with a bus, gather up your luggage, and whisk you to Galveston. You get on board the ship and your bags show up in your cabin. Last time we checked that was about $28 per person, each way.

 

You can also rent a car, one way, and another one way back. We tried that once, and ran into a terrible jam of people all trying to do the same thing and all trying to get their cars at once. You can also just rent a car round trip and pay the $85 or so for parking it at the pier. A weekly rental is not much more than two single day rentals. That has a lot of appeal. Since we arrive in Houston very early in the morning, that gives us a chance to stop at one of the many famous breakfast spots in Galveston.

 

Yet another very attractive option is a limo! You can ride in comfort in a chauffered town car for about $125 each way. That is a lot of fun. We like to arrive at the ship "playing rich"!

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[MercedMike]

We are working on this very situation right now. There are several options.

 

The easiest is just to take the cruise line transfers. They will meet you at the airport with a bus, gather up your luggage, and whisk you to Galveston. You get on board the ship and your bags show up in your cabin. Last time we checked that was about $28 per person, each way.

 

You can also rent a car, one way, and another one way back. We tried that once, and ran into a terrible jam of people all trying to do the same thing and all trying to get their cars at once. You can also just rent a car round trip and pay the $85 or so for parking it at the pier. A weekly rental is not much more than two single day rentals. That has a lot of appeal. Since we arrive in Houston very early in the morning, that gives us a chance to stop at one of the many famous breakfast spots in Galveston.

 

Yet another very attractive option is a limo! You can ride in comfort in a chauffered town car for about $125 each way. That is a lot of fun. We like to arrive at the ship "playing rich"!

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[Cptnkirky]

My family is on the Nov 25th cruise out of Galveston and we decided to take the transfers. They are only about $30 pp. We have 6 people and if we rented a car, we would never get everyone and all of our luggage (we are heavy travelers) in the car/van. Plus it is nice to get off the plane, grab your luggage and hand it over to a princess rep and then not worry about it again until you are in your stateroom. If you are a heavy packer as well, just think about lugging it all around once at the pier.

As for the airport, I suggest flying southwest into houston hobby (hou). The travel time from airport to pier is much shorter (about 45 mins) versus IAH (about 1.5+ hours). Plus the airport is a little smaller, so not as crowded. We have 4 coming out of Baltimore and 2 out of Orlando, and all are traveling on SW as it is the cheapest into hobby since SW has a hub there. You can find a few cheaper flights into IAH, but that is because more airlines go into there. Just work with your time and the flight/transfer options. Remember that if you use the princess transfer, you cannot have a flight that arrives any later than 1pm on saturday. Also make sure you call Princess and tell them your flight information and which airport you are coming into. I am getting in at 12:10 and not worried. I like getting to the pier later as all the drivering passengers usually come in around noon and embarkation gets crowded. Getting there after 1 or so is usually quieter. As for coming in early, there are a lot of threads on here with great information on hotels near the pier that offer transfers to the pier. Do a quick search for them.

On the way home, the 4pm flight should be okay. Our baltimore group has a 3:30 flight. Princess said all should be off the ship by 11am at the latest, but to try not a book any flights before 1pm.

Hope this helps! Have a great cruise!!!

[chris2597]

Ok....I see all of you cruisers for the 11/25 Grand cruise....Come on over to the Roll Call and join us for the Meet and Greet that is being planned....

[deec]

we have a 12:10 flight home

 

how does princess work the disembarkation?

Can we stay in our room until called or do we have to go to public areas?

 

How do we get an early color to get off?

[LonghornKJK]

We did self-debarkation on our cruise last November and were off and crossing the causeway by 8:30 a.m. We had a noon football game in Houston and didn't want to take any chances. The rest of my family on the Dolphin deck did not cross the causeway until after noon -- we would have been late for the game had we waited with them.

 

I understand they waited in one of the public rooms until their color was called.

 

I'm not sure how you arrange an early debarkation if you don't plan to carry off your own bags. In our case, a notice went to all the staterooms about midweek and if you planned to do self-debarkation, you just filled out the form and dropped it off at the pursor's desk. I don't recall anything on that form about any other form of leaving early.

[balanceok]

We did self-debarkation on our cruise last November and were off and crossing the causeway by 8:30 a.m.

 

We have friends from Houston that plan to pick us up at the port so we can spend a few days with them after the cruise? What is the best way for us to meet up with them?

 

What is the best way for them to drive into the port and get us?

 

Thanks.

[LonghornKJK]

Most directions will tell you go take the first exit and go under the freeway to head east on Harborside. However, if this is what everyone else is doing, it can get backed up. I took some friends down once and had no trouble but we were pretty early. On our cruise, we took a different route to get to EZ-Cruise, where we parked and, again, we were early so there was no traffic.

 

To pick up after a cruise, your friends would be earlier than the new passengers so traffic shouldn't be too bad. However, they can avoid it if they stay on 45 until it turns into Broadway, then take a left on 25th and go all the way to the harbor and take a left on Harborside. Then they'd be approaching from the east when everyone else is approaching from the west.

 

I'll understand if someone more familiar with the area has a better idea! :)

[brn2crz]

Longhorn...Thats almost correct..But what you really want to go is go down to 21st street..Thats the one that pulls straight in to the pier...25th street..If I am thinking right will still put you on the same side of the turn in as everyone else...You have the absolute right idea,which is what we do...But the streets start at 61st street..and decrease..So I don't think 25th street is far enough..

21st will take you straight in,or 14th will take you from the other direction..Its great advice..Just the wrong street..Heres a map,which highlights Willy G's there at the pier...You can see where 21st street goes in...http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=internal&addtohistory=&latitude=J50ZMTR2GnA%3d&longitude=pybbRS8%2fzpQ%3d&name=Willie%20G%27s%20Seafood%20Steakhouse&country=US&address=2100%20Harborside%20Dr&city=Galveston&state=TX&zipcode=77550&phone=409%2d762%2d3030&spurl=0&&q=Willy%20G%27s&qc=%28All%29%20Restaurants

 

 

BTW...What are we gonna do with those "baby" QB's this year...I don't see us keeping a #5 ranking past week 1 :confused: