Conquest Still In Port???

[arush5268d]

I would love to see more ships in the Galveston/Houston area.

 

Doug

 

We shall see the Magic soon!

[bkw67]

I would love to see more ships in the Galveston/Houston area.

 

Doug

 

They need to do one of two things for that to happen (in my mind). Build an airport close to Galveston or build an economical rail system (or other commuter system) between the airports in Houston and Galveston. I spent over $300 (with tips) for round trip to and from the port and the airport.

[arush5268d]

They need to do one of two things for that to happen (in my mind). Build an airport close to Galveston or build an economical rail system (or other commuter system) between the airports in Houston and Galveston. I spent over $300 (with tips) for round trip to and from the port and the airport.

 

Wow. You got taken. You can do limo transfers to the port for less, I believe.

[sbnuggie]

They need to do one of two things for that to happen (in my mind). Build an airport close to Galveston or build an economical rail system (or other commuter system) between the airports in Houston and Galveston. I spent over $300 (with tips) for round trip to and from the port and the airport.

 

Well said, for those that fly in, getting to Galveston is an extra expense that is a bit on the high side. Galveston, IMHO, is truly a drive to port, after our cruise this May I won't sail out of Galveston due to the cost of transfers etc. It's been an eye opener compared to the ease and affordability of Tampa.

[texas greeneyes]

They need to do one of two things for that to happen (in my mind). Build an airport close to Galveston or build an economical rail system (or other commuter system) between the airports in Houston and Galveston. I spent over $300 (with tips) for round trip to and from the port and the airport.

 

May I ask, for how many passengers did you pay that price?

[senorita frog]

I have to respond to all the comments about the 'mob' in the front lounge pushing themselves out before everyone else and not listening to the CD as he called specific decks to debark.

 

We stayed in our room on the 7th deck until around 2:00 when they asked us if we would move to a public area of the ship so they could start preparing our rooms. They said the Lido deck or the main lounge. We took our luggage down to the lounge and was very quickly jammed in there with lots of other people. With the luggage, you could not even move in any of the aisles.

 

When they finally started debarkation, there was no way that the people from decks 1 & 2 who were in there with the rest of us were going to be able to get out past everyone else. The Carnival employees at the doors of the lounge just started filing us out. The entire day, we did exactly what the ship's employees told us to and kept a good attitude about it.

 

We were off the ship and leaving Galveston by about 6:00. Unfortunately we had a 14 hour drive home and we all missed an extra day of school/work, but that's the way things go.

 

Just wanted to explain things from the perspective of part of the 'mob' in the front lounge.

[bkw67]

May I ask, for how many passengers did you pay that price?

 

7 passengers, $145 each way for the total fair... then add $20 some in tips.

 

I used Super Shuttle and they where one of the least expensive options I found.

 

As I recall the RCCL shuttle service was around $70pp each way.

 

That said.. I was EXTREMELY pleased with the service they provided. But at an hour and a half ride from George Bush to Galveston. It is just not a convenient port for people flying from out of state.

[StretchTTU]

 

That said.. I was EXTREMELY pleased with the service they provided. But at an hour and a half ride from George Bush to Galveston. It is just not a convenient port for people flying from out of state.

 

Try flying in to Hobby next time if you can.

[DFW Airwolf]

I have heard from quite a few people regarding this & comparing it to people stuck on Airplanes & such. Since the Govt seems to be in a regulatory mood, maybe they need to pass a law that a Cruise Ship cannot depart from port the same day as she docks in port. Force them to have more time to DEBARK & EMBARK the passengers & allow for all these unknowns that seem to be happening.

 

I know the cruiselines will fight this hard, but I know the 2 worst times on any cruise I have taken is Getting ON & OFF the ship. Getting on I have to fight long lines to get onboard & then lug my luggage around for a couple of hours until they open up the staterooms. Then getting off, I am kicked out of my stateroom & face the swarm of people all trying to be first & everything else.

 

If they werent kicking people out of rooms & we could stay until later in the day (More enjoyable meals, nice swim, visit with crew etc) people wouldnt swarm off all together. Better for customs, easier on crew (They could then spend the overnight preparing everything for the next batch.)

 

While I know this would add to the cost of the Cruise. I would gladly pay a little more to lose all the Stresses associated with Debarking & such. Plus if like last weekend, Fog happens, then there is plenty of time built in where people arent being stressed as much.

 

Plus no one has really talked about the people on the Conquest this week. They were stuck inside the Cruise Terminal all day or sitting outside. They lost what I consider 1 day of their cruise. This isnt fair to them either. All the way around the only people not losing is the cruiseline as they still got paid the same. We as the Passengers are the ones who pay for all the problems in the end.

 

Cruises are supposed to be relaxing & enjoyable. When things like this happen they are not. Build some time into the schedules to allow for these problems as well as make it easier on the staff onboard who is the people who make it all happen GOOD or BAD.

[sbnuggie]

7 passengers, $145 each way for the total fair... then add $20 some in tips.

 

I used Super Shuttle and they where one of the least expensive options I found.

 

As I recall the RCCL shuttle service was around $70pp each way.

 

That said.. I was EXTREMELY pleased with the service they provided. But at an hour and a half ride from George Bush to Galveston. It is just not a convenient port for people flying from out of state.

 

bkw67,

 

If I might ask, or maybe you could email me so we don't hijack this thread, how was your experience with Supershuttle on Debark day, fog issues aside, we are booked with them for Debark Day and there are only a couple of reviews here on CC, 1/2 are good and 1/2 are bad and nothing from the past year. If you could email me at: barryfamily (at) live dot com and tell me about your experience I would appreciate it.

[dlbaqua]

I keep reading comments here and on John's blog where people were off the ship by 6 ish and there's even a review posted by someone who was through customs and in their car by 4:30. I am starting to feel like the unluckiest cruiser in the world (except that I know there were still several hundred people in line behind us when we were through customs at 10:30 pm)

I guess self-assist would have gotten me off the ship several hours sooner. I've been sort of obsessing over this, I need to let it go. It was such a horrible day that it's colored my opinion of the whole cruise

[aggie1]

This also happened to us on the New Years cruise of 08-09. This was a family cruise with kids and grandkids. Because of fog we finally docked about 2:00 pm. They called first the people with flights that they could still make. After that by deck. We were allowed to stay in our rooms until about 3 which was great because I had never seen the trip up the channel (always asleep). Carnival was great, buffet was opened for lunch and we were in our car going over the causeway about 5:30. The only problem was traffic, people trying to leave and people trying to embark, they had no place to park!

We also were on the VOS transatlantic the first time it came to Galveston. There was nothing weather related but disembarking was a nightmare. Galveston was not ready for 6,000 px getting off at the same time.

We love sailing out of Galveston.

[parrotthead]

Well said, for those that fly in, getting to Galveston is an extra expense that is a bit on the high side. Galveston, IMHO, is truly a drive to port, after our cruise this May I won't sail out of Galveston due to the cost of transfers etc. It's been an eye opener compared to the ease and affordability of Tampa.

you can get a shuttle for (like) 30 bucks...or so

[sbnuggie]

you can get a shuttle for (like) 30 bucks...or so

 

one way but is more like $35 per person on up, our group of 6, $420 plus tip round trip. Trust me I've researched this issue for months now, one lady is so fed up with the cost of transfers/inability to find more economical choices etc she is writing a paper on it for her MBA, she even started a poll on CC (wierd I know, another poll) over on the Galveston board. Anyway, I'm not the most cruise savy person, but my opinion stands, I still feel that Galveston is more of a drive to port versus other ports for ease/cost of transfers from Houston.

[parrotthead]

, I still feel that Galveston is more of a drive to port versus other ports for ease/cost of transfers from Houston.

Could be. (its our homeport, so we always drive anyway..and there are always a LOT of Texans on board.---may have just proved your point) ;)

Another one is Seattle...OMG, SEATAC is Far away from the port...I was looking at that for our Alaska cruise...that was really confusing too.