Galveston

[ktravis]

Why are there very few good deals out of Galveston on Carnival?

[jetskier]

Why are there very few good deals out of Galveston on Carnival?

 

Supply and demand........The demand is high out of Galveston thusly they have no reason to discount. Some have found it cheaper to drive to New Orleans to sail.

Dave

[Don Haynes]

In the past there was too much supply in Galveston/Houston. Both RCCL and NCL were operating ships year round as well. NCL has departed, and RCCL no longer sails year round out of Galveston. Also Celebrity and Princess have had ships sailing from Galveston. Appears Carnival won the Texas cruise market....

 

The winner gets the spoils. Now there is too little supply and too much demand.

[Pegs222]

Deal or no Deal, I am just glad that Carnival is in Galveston. Although I did get a deal on my upcoming cruise in January with the group I am in.

[salty dingo]

Because they know a lot of people would rather drive there than pay to fly somewhere.

 

Price flights to other port cities and add that to the deals you get, subtract car travel expenses, and then see what the deal is. Galveston may look a lot better!

[DBKK]

We are flying out of Phoenix and looked at many ports of departure, prices of cruises and flight prices. The best deal was Phoenix to Hobby on Southwest, stay overnight, cruise Western Caribbean out of Galveston, suprisingly. We are cruising on the Conquest on Oct 11th. Yippee!!

[barbmac]

'cause everybody loves Texas:D:p

[karenh1127]

'cause everybody loves Texas:D:p

 

 

You said it!!!!:D

[Pegs222]

'cause everybody loves Texas:D:p

 

I so agree. I am originally from San Antonio and every winter my DH and I go to Port Aransas TX for the winter. There is nothing more special than Texas :D

[DragonMouse]

Texas is the big center of things. I've lived here all my life. Drive here it's usually an easy straight drive...Yes we did have Ike come through last year but "devastating" hurricanes don't hit nearly as frequently as they do in Florida. When I was there last month they were quite amazingly repaired from Ike.

 

If you choose to FLY...Houston is a MAJOR hub. Whenever you fly into a large hub the flights are often a bit cheaper.

 

I have to agree...it's a convenient port and Texas wasn't as devastated by the economy as a lot of the US. It's just overall a good port. I just wish they'd get more ships than just the Conquest and the Ecastasy. I also wish they'd get more of a water park like the Royal Carribean.

[Sdallnct]

Living in Dallas we have driven down to cruise out of Galveston. Couple times.

 

Couple of things that may or may not be an issue,

 

The vast majority of people are from Texas and the crew does play that up.

I don't find the food as good. It "seems" they push a lot more meat and potatoes. Oh I'm not saying it bad. I just find a lot more diversity on ships out of Florida and California.

 

I'm not saying I would never sail out of Galveston again. But I'd think long and hard about it. I travel a lot for work, so usually have the air miles to get a free ticket or two.

 

But I will say, being 5 hours away by car from door to port is nice...LOL

[Mrsg324]

I love living here.

 

We got a heck of a deal on a group cruise on Conquest. Paid 1155 with port charges for 2 in an ocean view with 100 OBC.

 

We got a balcony on RCI for 699 per person plus got 200 OBC & 125 C&A coupon applied.

 

Just depends on when you want to go. Holidays and mid March along with summers are the peak time here.

[Chacooe]

'cause everybody loves Texas:D:p

 

I don't like Texas for the simple matter, when they say things are big in Texas, they are not kidding. Has anyone noticed how big the insects are there, they are HUGE!! :eek: :eek:

 

Now I like the people, scenery and especially the history, but they can keep the big BUGS!! :eek: :eek:

[CJHAN]

Why are there very few good deals out of Galveston on Carnival?

The ships are always full so we get higher prices. More reason for the Magic to go to Galviston!!!

[Tx Sunshine]

Home sweet Home! Texan and proud of it, accent and all! Welcome ya'll!:D

[Sdallnct]

Another reason why I think they keep the prices high is that they are marketing to Texans. So While they are higher for the cruise based on a similar itinerary, it is still cheaper than flying to Florida.

 

DW and I have literally hopped in the car and drove straight to the dock and had lunch on the ship. So the only expense outside the ship is gas and parking.

 

On our cruise in November we will be flying the day before to Miami (2 airline tickets) and staying on South Beach (one night hotel). We will need a taxi's round trip to and from the airport/cruise ships and meals while in S. Beach.

 

Now we are using air miles for free airfare and hotel points for the hotel. So in our particular case the added expense is the meals in Miami and taxi's. So I imagine at the end of the day, for us, this trip it will be about a wash for expenses. But I'm really looking forward to the Valor and think that is a better deal this time around.

 

But if you didn't have points and miles, if the cruise in Texas cost $150-$300 more pp, you would still come out ahead.

[T. Advisor King]

Why are there very few good deals out of Galveston on Carnival?

 

"Supply and demand" is correct. People forget that Houston is the 4th largest city in the US.

 

For us it is great because it gives us access to the Caribbean but is still within the relatively cheap zone from the PNW using our air travel points.