Galveston Port - how long to disembark and go through customs?

[sappygirl]

We are sailing on Conquest in October. I was wanting to know about how long it takes to disembark and go through customs? Would it be quicker to do self disembark or general. We will be on the upper deck. Also Iwas told that since we have cruised with them recently and booked another that we should have gotten a discount when we booked? Just wanted to know if that is the norm and if I should call them on it. Thanks!

[GlendaleCruiser]

Disembarkation went very quickly and smoothly for us last October.

 

As for the discount, give them a call and explain it. If you've got a discount coming, you will get that or a shipboard credit.

[WestTxCruiser]

We have sailed the Conquest twice, last year we did self disembark, we were off by 8:30, this year we put our bags out on Sat night, when our Zone was called we got off the ship got a porter and were through customs and outside by 9am. So....from our experience it didn't matter either way.

We had a blast and I hope you do as well!!!

[BrendaB1]

We are sailing on Conquest in October. I was wanting to know about how long it takes to disembark and go through customs? Would it be quicker to do self disembark or general. We will be on the upper deck. Also Iwas told that since we have cruised with them recently and booked another that we should have gotten a discount when we booked? Just wanted to know if that is the norm and if I should call them on it. Thanks!

 

If you are flying allow extra time since Conquest does return late sometimes due to fog, etc.

 

Past guest discounts are not always available on all ships & all sailing dates. Check with whoever you booked with.

[allgeeteredup]

Good question. My husband and I are booked for a deep sea excursion in Galveston the day we disembark Sept 14. The boat leaves at 1:30. It departs from Pier 21. Does it matter which we do since the deep sea trip is just down the pier?

[firefly333]

We are sailing on Conquest in October. I was wanting to know about how long it takes to disembark and go through customs? Would it be quicker to do self disembark or general. We will be on the upper deck. Also Iwas told that since we have cruised with them recently and booked another that we should have gotten a discount when we booked? Just wanted to know if that is the norm and if I should call them on it. Thanks!

 

Carnival rarely gives a discount to past cruisers, they give you a couple of decks free upgrade ..... if there is a past guest special going on when you book. If you book way in advance like I do, then the past guest special wouldnt apply to bookings that far out.

 

Pretend to book your same cruise on the carnival site and try code dp3 and see what price you get and if you get upgraded a few decks. If the price is the same or less than you paid and gives you a higher deck, call whomever you booked thru. if you get an error than the code is not valid on your cruise.

 

We have had good and bad luck getting out of Galveston. We lucked out and got near the front of the line to disembark last time and were off in 20 minutes. The time before that, we hit it wrong, couldnt get a elevator up a deck with our suitcases, the elevators were full and people jamed in front of you if a elevator did come that wasnt full. Then by the time we hit Galveston Causeway, it had just closed for the scheduled dynomiting and instead of being closed the scheduled hour, it was closed 2 hours we sat on the bridge. luck

[Taxguy77]

The 1st time we sailed into G., everything went well. Last time our daughter picked us up at the pier, and she finally left and bought some sandwiches before we even left the ship. The holdup was U. S. Customs, who by the time we got off decided it was lunchtime and just waved us through!:eek: We loaned our cellphone to some folks so they could tell friends they wouldn't be there for dinner, but would eat on the way!:mad:

[SoonerOne]

We did the self-embark and we were on the road home to OK by 8:30 am. Just remember though, you have to cart all your luggage down the stairs and it can be quite chaotic at times. That was probably the worst part of the whole cruise, but this too will pass:D

[CGBCruiser]

We've sailed out of Galveston 4 times. This last March there were several international travelers and that took forever. It really slows down the process because they have to be fingerprinted. In the past we went through Customs very quickly.

[Guest carlogesualdo]

I seem to remember customs barely looking at us or our stuff. Customs can be a bit of a crap-shoot. My husband likes to tell this story when his family returned to the US from overseas, the family in front of them had all their stuff turned inside out, and who knows what customs was looking for. They didn't find it, whatever it was. They took one look at my husband's family (he was still a baby at the time, and probably screaming his lungs out by then) and waived them through.

[munchkin4]

We did not do the self assist last October and I know we weren't one of the first of the other group off because we did not have a flight to catch. I can't remember exactly how long it took but it seems as if we were on the road, after picking up our car, by at least 10:30 am. Maybe sooner. The key is to get in the porter line for a porter.

[Carolyn1950]

Munchkin is right on.. Grab a porter first thing.. As you descend the walk way towards baggage, to the right is the porter line.. Porters get you thru faster than on your own.. I get in the porter line and my dh finds the luggage and we are set to go..

[buckanear]

The last of the people are usually coming through customs at about 12:30.

[cruisingram1]

This is our first cruise out of Galveston and we will be catching a 2 pm flight out of Bush. Is there priority disembarkation for those with flights to catch? We will be renting a car in the terminal. Any suggestions for making this process go smoothly? Previous cruises were out of CA with no air travel. We're traveling with children. It's not as easy when you have to keep track of kids AND luggage.

[pla]

You can get "early flight" so early time to get off the ship. We have cruised on a Carnival ship 7 times out of Galveston. Most of the time we were pretty late. Last time we were trying to get to mass at 12 in Galveston, and barely made it. We have been pretty relaxed about getting off, as we are only about 45 minutes away. So we usually let those in a hurry get off before us. Then we also get to enjoy our vacation a few minutes more...:rolleyes:

 

If you self-assist, you can be off pretty early (usually before 10 unless the ship is late coming in). I know that can be tricky with kids. My kids are finally old enough to be able to do that, and we did that last cruise and it was a breeze.

 

Your best bet is to self assist, but if that doesn't work, go to the purser the night before disembarkation and show them your flight times. They should give you something that will let you off quicker.

 

Do get a porter as soon as you get down to customs. With kids it is such a blessing to know that at least your luggage is all in one place!

 

Have a great trip!

[lovebug33]

How exactly does self-assist go? Are we going to have to be able to lug our stuff up several flights of stairs? We want to go to the Houston space center. Our flight doesn't leave until 7:30, but I want to make sure we have enough time to warrant the admission price of the space center!