Does Chaos still rule at the Port of Galveston?

[Sharkmedic]

In November 2005 we took a cruise out of Galveston and arrived via the cruise ship appointed bus service. We had never seen such a chaotic disorganized embarkation/debarkation scene ever. I'm talking about the very limited (two-lane) traffic flow for buses, taxis, personal vehicles and shuttles; and a grossly insufficient area for processing luggage, inside and outside the terminal (there wasn't enough room either place for people to move). Once in the hands of the cruise ship staff things got better.

 

Has anything improved since November 2005?:confused:

[texreno]

We live about 23 miles from the port and have cruised out of Galveston several times. We faced the same problems you described on our first cruise out of Galveston. Things have not changed much except they have added a few lanes where you can bypass terminal #1 to get to terminal #2 and they do a better job directing traffic. We have found that if we get to the terminal between 10:30 AM and 11:00 AM we are ahead of the mass of people arriving by bus from the airports. We zip right through the embarkation process and may have to wait 20 to 30 minutes before boarding. I would recommend arriving the day before your cruise, enjoying Galveston and get to the terminal before the crowds.

[DannyMac]

There has been a slight improvement in traffic flow and new lanes have been added, but it is still congested and somewhat chaotic. On our last cruise we did the early debarkation and there were no problems.

 

I have to agree with texreno about getting to the terminal area early, that is our S.O.P. The problem is with the large volume of driveup vehicles either unloading or picking up, until that problem is solved plan on congestion at the terminals.

[Sharkmedic]

We had kinda crossed cruises out of Galveston off the list, but we'll have to take the "early arrival in Galveston" idea in mind for our future planning. Thanks again! :D