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Never cruised out of Galveston before.....help please....


august1963
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We have never sailed out of the Galveston Port before, despite having been on a dozen cruises. What we normally do is fly in a day early, rent a car, drive to a hotel near our port, buy some snacks, drinks, go out to dinner, etc., spend the night, return the rental car in the morning, check in to our cruise. On the return trip, we just rent a bus to the airport (we don't need the car for drink buying, going out to dinner, etc.)

 

What I am wondering....I need a reputable bus line to rent for the trip from the port back to the airport.

 

Are the grocery stores plentiful on/near Galveston Island/Beach?

 

My husband has Hilton points....has anyone stayed at the Hilton Galveston Island Resort? Is it nice enough for one night? We usually get there pretty late. Is it near the Port of Galveston?

 

Is there a rental car agency that would be convenient to drop our car off on the morning of our cruise in Galveston, somewhere near the port, that would also bring us to the port?

 

I am so familiar with Cocoa Beach/Port Canaveral area and could do my reservations blindfolded, but I am just not familiar with the Galveston area and feel kind of stumped.

 

Thanks for any and all help!

 

Deb

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Hilton is decent enough. Nothing special. The draw is its location, just across the street from the beach. I think you will have a hard time with the one way drop off on the island. To be honest, if you are just there for a night, you may do just as good to find a bit nicer Hilton in Houston and find a shuttle from there on cruise day. If you are flying into Bush, you could try a one-way rental with a drop off at Hobby Airport, which is south of downtown and thus closer to Galveston,

 

Just my two cents.

Edited by kbanowsky
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Last cruise out of Galveston we drove down 2 days early to visit our son in Houston. We didn't have to rent a car, but we did stay overnight in Galveston before the cruise. It is a small town type of place, a few tourist activities, restaurants. There is a nice Mexican place, Totugas?, and some shops. Not much else on the island. Don't expect big or flashy or exotic.

 

the Carnival bus back to the airport works really well, we used it our first cruise and will use it again next time to Galveston. No need to drive in that horrible Houston traffic nightmare.

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We sailed out of Galveston last September. We used Carnival's transfers to get from the port to the airport. We stayed at Drury Inn Hobby airport and they will pick up at the airport, and we used Ladybird Limo for transfers to the port. Great service!

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OP - we also had never sailed out of Galveston. Nor flown to a port before.

 

We flew into IAH - I pre-ordered a one way car rental from Enterprise (the only car rental company in Galveston - there are others but not IN Galveston :confused:), did our beverage shopping at the Galveston Walmart. We stayed the night at Country Inn and Suites so cannot comment on the Hilton. The morning of sail away we drove to the port, dropped off luggage, and then dropped off the car. A taxi cost less to take us back to the port than the shuttle from Enterprise, because the port charges fees to the shuttle companies (including from hotels). Even our hotel shuttle would have cost $25 p/p to take us to the port, only 5 miles away. The cab was under $15 including tip!

 

At the end of the trip we booked a shuttle with Galveston Express for the return to IAH.

 

Honestly, the "getting to/from Galveston" experience was the worst we've ever dealt with :eek:, but the cruise was amazing, so we're glad we did it. :p

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Galveston is not terribly tiny - circling it on a bicycle could easily take all day. Right in the middle is a Walmart, and just down the street a Specs (go there to get your carry-on wine). Highly recommended to get Llano wine - they have a great Reisling, Moscato, Red Moscato, and one I've not tried yet called Gewurtztraminer. It's grown/made in Lubbock.

 

Zoom in on Google's map to the point where you can see business names. There are literally hundreds of great places to eat - Cajun, seafood, Mexican, even Italian.

 

Take a look at galveston dot com - there should be a page of "best of" winners from 2015 with lots of ideas of where to eat, stay, play.

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We have never sailed out of the Galveston Port before, despite having been on a dozen cruises. What we normally do is fly in a day early, rent a car, drive to a hotel near our port, buy some snacks, drinks, go out to dinner, etc., spend the night, return the rental car in the morning, check in to our cruise. On the return trip, we just rent a bus to the airport (we don't need the car for drink buying, going out to dinner, etc.)

 

What I am wondering....I need a reputable bus line to rent for the trip from the port back to the airport.

 

Are the grocery stores plentiful on/near Galveston Island/Beach?

 

My husband has Hilton points....has anyone stayed at the Hilton Galveston Island Resort? Is it nice enough for one night? We usually get there pretty late. Is it near the Port of Galveston?

 

Is there a rental car agency that would be convenient to drop our car off on the morning of our cruise in Galveston, somewhere near the port, that would also bring us to the port?

 

I am so familiar with Cocoa Beach/Port Canaveral area and could do my reservations blindfolded, but I am just not familiar with the Galveston area and feel kind of stumped.

 

Thanks for any and all help!

 

Deb

I've only cruised out of Galveston once. I stayed at the Doubletree (Hilton product) which is the closest hotel to Hobby airport and they have a reliable, free airport shuttle. The shuttle dropped me back at the airport the next morning and then I took the Carnival shuttle to the port. The hotel is nice and has a great swimming pool area. There is Jack in the Box right next door for breakfast the next morning (easy walk). I ate in the hotel café for supper. It was an enjoyable visit and served the purpose of getting there a day early. With Galveston being so far from the airport, it is a little different than most other ports as far as options for going in early.

 

Hope you have a great cruise!

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We actually did the one way rental with Enterprise and were pleasantly surprised....twice! First, they ended up not charging the drop-off fee because they needed the cars for returning cruisers, and they also had a gentleman driving a shuttle to a block away from the port entrance, so we only had to tip. They don't profess to offer either, but it worked out for us!

 

We actually stayed midway between the airport and the port because we have grandkids in League City. You can stay at any chain hotel along 45 and do your shopping and expect a decent night's stay.

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I was just looking into Galveston hotels for our cruise in May. The Hilton Galveston Island Resort has a two night minimum which is a bummer. And it was quite pricey when I checked it out but Points would be a non-issue.

 

We booked the Holiday Inn Galveston Resort instead for one night at around $250ish.

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We've cruised out of Galveston several times recently...stayed at San Luis and Hilton. Both were great and by a local market to pick up last minute items. The market is within walking distance of the hotel. Loved the view from both hotels. Traveled to and from by way of Galveston Express. Inexpensive and has been reliable. Happy to help with more information by email at socaltangal@hotmail.com. Stacey

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I was just looking into Galveston hotels for our cruise in May. The Hilton Galveston Island Resort has a two night minimum which is a bummer. And it was quite pricey when I checked it out but Points would be a non-issue.

 

We booked the Holiday Inn Galveston Resort instead for one night at around $250ish.

 

Can't you get around the two-day minimum by booking with HH points? We have done this twice in Puerto Rico. We even avoided that crazy additional resort charge which is like $60. Our bill to stay one night was $0.

 

I'm hoping to do this in Galveston in 2017.

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We actually did the one way rental with Enterprise and were pleasantly surprised....twice! First, they ended up not charging the drop-off fee because they needed the cars for returning cruisers, and they also had a gentleman driving a shuttle to a block away from the port entrance, so we only had to tip. They don't profess to offer either, but it worked out for us!

 

.

 

WHen did you do this?

What day of the week was dropoff?

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Can't you get around the two-day minimum by booking with HH points? We have done this twice in Puerto Rico. We even avoided that crazy additional resort charge which is like $60. Our bill to stay one night was $0.

 

I'm hoping to do this in Galveston in 2017.

 

Sorry, don't know...we don't have any points...have not traveled much lately.

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The Hotel Galvez is a first rate, Wyndham property on Seawall Boulevard and, if you spend the night before your cruise with them they will store your car for free and offer free shuttle service to/from the cruise terminal.

Edited by dan4182
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Last week I checked with Enterprise for a one way rental from Hobby to Galveston for Sept 9, 2016. They said they weren't doing any one way rentals anymore. And just to fly from Dallas to Houston is $200 so I might just end up driving the 5 hours and parking at the pier. Did that years ago and it worked out fine.

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We stay at The Inn at the Waterpark , about 100 a night , but you get free breakfast , Free shuttle to and from the port , Park your car at the hotel free for the week , ,We have stayed here 2 times now ,

Plenty of things to do in Galveston !!

Shopping on The Strand , easy 1/2 day spent here , good food and free live bands along the way

Moody Gardens , That is the large glass pyramids you can see from spots around the town , Each 1 a different climate , Anartaic (sp) has animals you would find there , Tropical Rain Forest ,ect

You can ride the FREE ferry across Galveston Bay , There is an area to park ,walk onto the ferry , ride over and back , about an hour roundtrip , You will see ships , dolphins , wildlife , ect , May even have a cruise ship leave out while you are out there .

There is a historic trolly you can catch and ride the whole island for $1 !

Galveston is always fun

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In terms of parking, we found last cruise that there are THREE different cruise parking lots. Ours was right across the street from the terminal, while my sister in law ended up at a lot several blocks farther away and had to take a shuttle.

 

On all of them, you can reserve and pay in advance for a slight discount.

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We stay at the Hilton Galveston Island Resort. Use HH points for 1 night, parked the car for the week for free while on the cruise, took the Hilton shuttle to the terminal. Booked a standard room, got upgraded to the Presidential Suite in December'15. HH Diamond. Unexpected Christmas present! When we got back we used Uber (app) instead waiting for the shuttle. Picked up in five minutes, back to the hotel in 10 minutes. Great property and have stayed here many times before a cruise.

 

Safe travels!

 

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Edited by clhayes
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Highly recommended to get Llano wine - they have a great Reisling, Moscato, Red Moscato, and one I've not tried yet called Gewurtztraminer. It's grown/made in Lubbock.

 

.

 

 

The Gewurtztraminer is really good. I second the cab recommendation. Also, be aware if you are bringing booze back from the cruise Galveston does collect duties on it.

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We stay at The Inn at the Waterpark , about 100 a night , but you get free breakfast , Free shuttle to and from the port , Park your car at the hotel free for the week , ,We have stayed here 2 times now ,

Plenty of things to do in Galveston !!

Shopping on The Strand , easy 1/2 day spent here , good food and free live bands along the way

Moody Gardens , That is the large glass pyramids you can see from spots around the town , Each 1 a different climate , Anartaic (sp) has animals you would find there , Tropical Rain Forest ,ect

You can ride the FREE ferry across Galveston Bay , There is an area to park ,walk onto the ferry , ride over and back , about an hour roundtrip , You will see ships , dolphins , wildlife , ect , May even have a cruise ship leave out while you are out there .

There is a historic trolly you can catch and ride the whole island for $1 !

Galveston is always fun

 

Thanks for all that info! I'm looking for stuff to do before/after our cruise and this is very helpful.

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Hi,

 

This is our first time cruising out of Galveston also. We decided to rent a car at Hobby airport through Costco and stay in the Clear Lake area rather than in Galveston itself. WAY cheaper to rent the car via Costco than any other travel site. We also paid to park the car for a week at the cruise dock as we are staying an extra day after the cruise. We felt this gave us the most convenience and control over our transportation choices.

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Last week I checked with Enterprise for a one way rental from Hobby to Galveston for Sept 9, 2016. They said they weren't doing any one way rentals anymore.

 

Enterprise still does one way rentals between Hobby and Galveston but charges a $100 fee for it.

 

I really wish Galveston allowed Uber.

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Enterprise still does one way rentals between Hobby and Galveston but charges a $100 fee for it.

 

I really wish Galveston allowed Uber.[/quote

 

Well the rep from Enterprise just said that they are not doing one way rentals from Hobby to Galveston anymore. I did give her the date of 9/9/16 so maybe they will be discontinuing the one ways? Regardless if the airfare doesn't go below $200 they we will drive. There are three of us so that is a lot of money to save. I have to say that this will probably be the last time I take a cruise out of Galveston as the RT to MIA or FLL is around $250 and the hotels are around $125. And you don't have to spend money to get to the pier like you do in Galveston. Too much of a hassle!

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