Limo or car rental to Galveston?

[coffeegirl23]

Seems I booked my air transportation (from Philadelphia to IAH) before I researched thoroughly and now am in the situation where I have to get from Galveston on a Sunday morning for an 11:40 flight out of IAH. (I chose an early flight because we have a four hour drive home from the airport and even with the early flight we don't get to Philadelphia until 6:00 p.m. - and we both have to work the next day!) Anyway, I originally booked transfers through Galveston Limo but after reading more on this board, know that that will NOT work! Since the Galveston car rental offices don't open on Sunday until 9 am and I don't want to wait that long to get going, I am down to two choices: either rent a car for the whole week, picking it up at IAH when we get there, parking it in the hotel lot for the week (which I think will cost us $10 - we plan to stay at Harbor House) and then grabbing it when we get off the ship and returning it at IAH, or booking a limo. There are only two of us so anything like this is quite expensive - now I see why my travel agent balked when I said I wanted to sail out of Galveston - but I wanted what I wanted and she didn't elaborate. So - any thoughts on this? Are there factors I am not considering? The limo would be about $50 more than the rental car (I am thinking of using Gulf Coast Limo and Hertz through AAA - $310 compared with $250 plus $10 for parking) and I am worried about it not showing up on the Sunday we get back, but on the other hand, I am wondering about the time to drop off the rental car and get to the terminal. Help!

[texreno]

I'm not sure when your booked or with what airline but Continental & Southwest give you the most options to Houston. Is your ticket refundable? If not, will your airline issue a credit that you can use at a later date & will you be able to use it at a later date? The reason I ask is that Continental currently has a low fare on a non-stop flight out of IAH on Sundays that departs at 12:35 & arrives at 5:11 PM which will give you a little extra time. Southwest has a non-stop out of Hobby at 3:20 PM but you won't get to Philadelphia until 7:40.

 

If everything with docking on time and customs goes smooth you should be able to make the 11:40 flight but the 12:35 Cont. gives you a little more margin for errors. You can also pack light and use the express walk-off option the cruise lines are now offering. No matter which port you choose to cruise from, 11:40 AM flights mean everything must run smooth. I can however understand your 4 hour drive & work the next day. The DW & I have faced the same problem and vowed to always take an extra vacation day upon our return home.