how to get from Houston to Galveston?

[ajrs]

Family of four going on our first cruise in Feb. We fly into Houston, cruise leaves out of Glaveston. I know it's about 1 hr. away, what's the best way to get there? Taxi, bus, rental car? Does RC offer any type of transportation? Any infor would be great.

[Emi's Mom]

Family of four going on our first cruise in Feb. We fly into Houston, cruise leaves out of Glaveston. I know it's about 1 hr. away, what's the best way to get there? Taxi, bus, rental car? Does RC offer any type of transportation? Any infor would be great.

 

Not quite an hour away, depends on where in Houston you are coming from. All you have to do is go Hwy 45 south. You'll run right smack dab into the middle of Galveston. Signs will point you to the port. Taxi would be too much. Not sure about a bus, We always drive because we're from Houston. RC will be able to answer you questions about providing transportation.

[ajrs]

:) thanks, emi's mom, but i was kind of hoping for a suggestion on mode of transportation! i'm glad it's a failry easy route, but i'm trying to figure out the best way to get there, (limo service, taxi, bus, rental car,etc) we are staying at a hilton on houston, does anyone know if the hotels offer shuttles to the pier?

[tray]

You should be able to get a fairly cheap rental at the airport when you land. Are you flying into Houston Hobby or Houston IAH? This makes a big difference as to what I'd recommend. If you are flying into Hobby, I'd say to rethink your Houston stay and head towards Galveston. When in Feb. are you cruising? It is Mardis Gras from Jan. 25-Feb. 14th (I think that's the ending date), so that will make a difference of what I'd recommend as well. Let me know a little more and I'll try to help!

[Emi's Mom]

:) thanks, emi's mom, but i was kind of hoping for a suggestion on mode of transportation! i'm glad it's a failry easy route, but i'm trying to figure out the best way to get there, (limo service, taxi, bus, rental car,etc) we are staying at a hilton on houston, does anyone know if the hotels offer shuttles to the pier?

 

Contact the Hilton, they'll be able to tell you right away. RCI may be able to provide transportation from the airport. Did you contact them?

[Kevin's girl]

RCCI does offer transfers, the price isn't to bad and is cheaper than getting a private service to take you. The transfers would however be from the airport. I would also suggest calling the Hilton and seeing what they would suggest or if they could set you up with something.

[upwarduk]

We were transported from Galveston to Houston International airport, as we had the Celebrity air package, not just Cruise only.

That was £440 for Manchester to Rome + transfers to Civitavecchia, where Galaxy was moored, then Gaveston to Houston. I thought the price was excellent, a transatlantic flight alone would have cost double that.

 

However we have booked cruise only when we do Sydney to Auckland, the air fare was over the top + we wanted extra time in Australia.

 

You win some , you loose some.

[MakinGold]

Check out http://www.galveston.com They have information about transportation to Galveston from the Houston airports. Both have shuttles to the Port of Galveston. If you book round trip, the shuttles are about $70pp from IAH or $60pp from Hobby.

[seychelle]

RC has a shuttle from Houston International, but not Houston Hobby, as I remember, unless that has changed. They also will NOT pick you up if you haven't just arrived on an airplane. If you arrived the previous day on a flight, I'm not sure what they would say, just give them a call and ask.

 

I say this because we at one point were going to turn in our rental car at the airport and take the shuttle and RC said "No" -- they would not let us sign up.

 

Now we rent from Hertz which has an office in Galveston and another right at the pier. The one at the pier is to pick up rentals after cruises only -- you cannot leave a rental there. But you can leave your car at the main Galveston office, which is about 2-3 miles away, and then they have a free shuttle to transport you back to the ship.

[Annieeee]

We took a limo, not bad, think it was about $100.00. Nice ride, no worries. We were picked up at the airport and taken right to the pier.

 

Annieeee

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

I am from Houston and I agree with the poster who recommended staying in Galveston instead of Houston - as long as it isn't during Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras in Galveston is hectic and crowded and hotels / cars are expensive. But if not Mardi Gras, Galveston is a nice little town to visit. Just driving up and down the seawall is fun.

 

And if you can pick up a car at the airport and drop it very close by with shuttle service to the pier, that will probably be your cheapest option. If you are spending even one night in the area, you will want/need a car. This is NOT a mass transit kind of town - and it would be an expensive taxi ride.

Cat

[Don Pedro]

As someone pointed out it is wise to avoid Galveston during Mardi Gras as the hotels are very overpriced. If you fly into Houston Hobby you will be much closer to Galveston. Bush International is quite a bit farther. The Hilton Hobby is a nice hotel very near Hobby Airport.

 

Shuttles, whether the cruise lines or private, typically charge by the person so you should compare the total cost of the shuttle to what a limo or taxi would charge. You can Google Houston cabs and call a couple to get a fare quote for the trip. We haven't been this route recently but the $100 price someone suggested sounds about right.

 

As someone suggested a rental car could be the cheapest option if you don't mind the hassle of picking it up and dropping it off.

[Jeano222]

Cruise line transfer from IAH to port is a ridiculous 90.00 per person for roundtrip. If there is more than one person, We have our friends and family fly into Houston, get a hotel from Priceline or hotwire in the airport area and then get a town car service for pick up at the hotel or go back to the airport and get Galveston shuttle. If it doesn't bother you to drive then a rental car would be an option but seems like a lot of work trying to get hotel, drop off rental get a shuttle to port and then on the return do the same thing.

[jwlane]

recommended staying in Galveston instead of Houston

There are several good hotel choices near NASA that work well. And they're usually a lot cheaper than those in Galveston.

[muffin]

This was on a carnival cruise, but may help a bit. We got to houston the night before and stayed in a hotel with shuttle service. In the am, we took the hotel shuttle to the airport and found the Carnival hostess as we were told. They had no trouble taking our money even though we had arrived the day before.

We boadred our big bus..greyhound size. THEN, we spent 1.5 hours circling the airport travelling from one arrival gate to another to pick up poeple as they arrived. Made the circuit several times.Some folks were already on the bus when we got on, so they spent even longer gathering people.

Only when we were full did we leave for the port. The ride down was fine, and we were ltet off nice and close, but th were much later thatn we had thought we would be because of the wait to fill situation.

 

With your numbers, I bet it will be cheaper and a WHOLE lot nicer to get a limo and be picked up and start on your journey immediately.

[Rancher Dave]

I'd recommend a limo or car and driver service if you are not planning to visit Houston or Galveston but are purely looking to go from the airport to the hotel and then on to the port. However, if you plan to see Houston you will need a rental car as Houston is spread out and as folks have mentioned Galveston is worth visiting as well. To that end, if you have all day on Saturday after arrival and it is not during Mardi Gras I would suggest staying in Galveston to see the island. Although not a caribbean island it is definitely a nice island to visit.

[Grandma Dazzles]

It has been a couple of years ago, but we arrived in Houston on a Friday for a cruise departing on Saturday. Had hotel reservations in Galveston.

 

We used Galveston Limo Service - believe they are easy to find on he web. they were excellent - not an actual limo - it was an airport type van shuttle. Used it for both coming and going.

 

Cannot remember the price, but much cheaper than a taxi and we didn't need the hassle of renting a car, returning it, etc.

 

Check them out: Galveston Limo Service 1-800-640-4826. (I had kept their card.) Highly recommend them. For a long time lots of people on this board were recommending them.

[Aprille]

As you may have surmised by some of the replies, it is key to know which airport you are flying into, what weekend in February you are sailing, and which Hilton you are staying at in Houston.

 

Believe it or not, there is more than one airport and Hilton in the 4th largest city in the country. ;)

[B J]

There is a new service that transports from both airports in Houston that you can find at : http://www.ezcruiseconnection.com/home. They also pick up and transport from San Antonio, Dallas, Austin , and several places in Houston.There are several of us on the Roll Call site that will be using this service this Sunday, it sounds too good to be true. When they pick you up you never see your luggage again until it appears in your room.

[TPKeller]

If anyone is planning to drive in, check out my map of the Galveston cruise terminal.

 

If you click on the link or marker for the parking lot, you can get driving directions "to here". Just enter the airport code (HOU or IAH) and Google will pop up a page with the directions.

 

Theron

[Don Pedro]

There is a new service that transports from both airports in Houston that you can find at : www.ezcruiseconnection.com/home. They also pick up and transport from San Antonio, Dallas, Austin , and several places in Houston.There are several of us on the Roll Call site that will be using this service this Sunday, it sounds too good to be true. When they pick you up you never see your luggage again until it appears in your room.

 

We are older travelers and we gladly pay a little more to make our trips go as smoothly as possible. We gave up flying the red-eye specials long ago as the money we saved wasn't worth the toll they took on our minds and bodies.

 

We've found that a limo or taxi service usually works best for us. They are usually cheaper than the cruise lines transfers and they afford us the freedom to travel on our own schedule.

 

We took a look at the website, you posted, and it sure didn't appeal to us. While a little bit cheaper, this is similar to the service used by the cruise lines. We had a similar experience to muffins in that the bus took a couple hours picking up people before heading to the port. Also, according to their website, the after-cruise pickup is not until 10:15 to 11:00 AM which could mean a rather late trip home.

 

While relinguishing control of your luggage to the bus company seems convenient, we always make a point to watch the baggage handlers at the cruise ship terminal load our luggage on a cart that is headed for the ship. It makes us feel a little more secure that we will see our luggage again.

[baabtx]

As someone pointed out it is wise to avoid Galveston during Mardi Gras as the hotels are very overpriced. If you fly into Houston Hobby you will be much closer to Galveston. Bush International is quite a bit farther. The Hilton Hobby is a nice hotel very near Hobby Airport.

.

 

 

Assuming you will be renting a car another option insted of staying so close to Hobby Airport and assuming you have the time to explore a bit would be to stay at either the Clear Lake Hilton or the Boardwalk Inn at the Kemah Seafront. This way you can either explore the Kemah resteraunts and area or take in the Challenger Center and the Johnson Space Center, plus some very good resteraunts in the Clear Lake area! Just another thought.