Traveling on the Sea -- ??? about Houston

[ute_fan]

We're cruising on the Sea in May, flying into Houston on Friday night. We plan on renting a car from Enterprise, dropping it off at the pier on Saturday. My question is this: Is it better to stay near the airport (IAH) and drive to the pier on Saturday morning, or drive to the pier Friday night and stay closer to the pier.

 

Just wondering, for anyone who's done this, when is the traffic likely to be worse? It seems to me that doing the driving on Saturday morning would probably be better, but I'd like an opinion of someone who is used to Houston traffic.

 

TIA!

[Trigger69]

My wife and I are driving down on Friday and staying at a hotel near the port. There a few pretty close: Comfort Inn, La Quinta, and I believe Best Western. You can do a search on Yahoo for La Porte, Tx to be sure. I might worry too much, but I'd rather be close to the pier as early as possible just in case something happened like getting stuck in traffic Sat morning. That is my luck. I figure getting as close to the pier as I can on Friday gives me more time to resolve any issues. This is our first cruise and I won't allow anything to get in my way!:cool:

[andinp]

We are doing the texaribean cruise again in May after having just done it in October; last time we got to the airport in houston the day before and went to a local holiday in (the hotel has van service). In the morning we went back to the airport to buy the transfer offerred by Norwegian (they would not let us purchase it in advance since we were not flying in same day) We were on the first bus out and it worked out beautifully. We plan to do this again howver this time we will stay at the hotel attached to IAH (it's almost the same priice we paid last time at 109 for the night and seems more convenient. Itt is a long way from IAH to the pier. I had thought about renting a car to go around for the day but it seemed pretty barren.:D

[thunder_lin]

We flew into Houston on Friday afternoon and had reservations at the Comfort Suites in LaPorte. Figured it was better to stay near the pier the night before departure and we would be driving in the daylight. (had never been to Houston before)

Friends of ours flew in later Friday night and their plane was late getting in. They stayed at the Marriott near the airport and had pre-arranged bus transfer service from NCL. The Marriott has a shuttle to & from the airport. For the bus transfer from NCL they had to go back to the airport the next morning to pick up the bus transfer. This worked well for them as I said their plane was late coming in and they did not arrive Houston till almost midnight. It would have been a hassle for them had they planned to rent a car and then drive to LaPorte.

When we disembarked the ship, our friends again did the transfers through NCL back to the airport. They again stayed at the Marriott near the airport.

We had a rental car arranged through Enterprise which was waiting for us at the pier. We stayed at the Comfort Suites again but this time near the airport. The next morning we dropped the car at the airport and boarded our plane.

So I'd say, it would depend on what time your flight arrived Houston. That would be the deciding factor for me.

[crazidude1400]

we traveled in feb which is winter break for most schools...I stayed near the IAH airport and rented a car from enterprise...when I rented a car I dropped it off at an enterprise location in a town that started with an "s" and they had a shuttle that ran every 15 minutes which was complementary..

[ute_fan]

How was the traffic on Saturday morning -- that's basically what I'm trying to find out is when the traffic is least heavy. Our flight doesn't get in until almost 8:00 p.m., and I hate to drive somewhere unfamiliar in the dark.

[TravelWarrior]

You shouldn't have any trouble with traffic on Saturday, but there is a lot of construction here in Houston so you might want to allow an extra 30 minutes for peace of mind.

 

Have a great trip!

[jrchvatal]

ute_fan - like the last poster said, the traffic on Saturday morning should be no problem. I don't know what route you are planning on taking from IAH to the pier, but to avoid any construction, I would recommend taking Beltway 8 out towards La Porte. I live in La Porte and travel out to IAH on a monthly basis, and the Beltway is the best. You will have to cross the toll bridge, so you'll want to have $2.00 available for the toll. If you need specific directions, I'll be glad to help you with those.

[ute_fan]

I would really appreciate specific instructions. I'm going to go ahead and book the hotel closer to IAH, which would be my preference anyway -- driving on unfamiliar roads, with road construction, after dark doesn't sound like much fun.

 

I also have another kind of dumb question -- when I do an internet search to get the address for the pier, I'm coming up with 2 different addresses. One is in La Porte, the other one says Morgan's Point -- and the street addresses are different. We've been once before, but didn't drive, so if you could let me know where to exit the freeway, and where to go from their, I'd appreciate it. My email address (just take out the spaces) is:

ute_fan_79 @ yahoo.com

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

[jrchvatal]

I wanted to go ahead and post the info here for other's to find, so I hope you don't mind. First, in regards to your "dumb question", it's not so dumb after all. I have put together a guide to La Porte, and here's what I have about the address confusion:

 

ADDRESS & LOCATION:

The official address of the terminal is 820 North L, Morgan’s Point, TX, but this does not show up on Internet maps like Yahoo! and Map Quest. To see the actual location of the terminal, search for 1300 N Broadway St, La Porte, TX 77571. This will put you at the intersection of North L and N Broadway. Although the map shows that North L dead ends into N Broadway, it actually continues across N Broadway and dead ends at the terminal, which is right on the water (on the maps you’ll see a body of water labeled Barbours Cut).

 

DIRECTIONS:

Ask your hotel to direct you to the Sam Houston Tollway. You want to take the Tollway East. Continue around the Tollway quite a while and cross over the Toll Bridge ($2.00 toll). Once you've paid the toll, take the first exit off the Tollway to Deer Park/La Porte/Pasadena. Turn left at the 2nd red light, and feed onto Texas Highway 225. Continue on Texas Highway 225 East until you reach Texas Highway 146 South. From Texas Highway 146 South, take the first exit, Barbours Cut Boulevard, and turn left. Continue on Barbours Cut Boulevard to North Broadway (first stop sign). Turn left on North Broadway and travel to North L, which is located just before the railroad tracks. Turn right on North L. North L dead-ends into the cruise terminal. It is approximately 3 miles from Texas Highway 146 to the cruise terminal.

 

Also, I just re-read your initial post. I wanted to make sure you know there is no car drop off at the pier. You need to rent a car from Enterprise, and you have to drop it off at the Seabrook location. (Enterprise is the only car rental in the area). You can search the forum for the specifics, but I know you can drop off the car and they will shuttle you back to the pier, I just don't know what their hours are for that because their normal posted hours are that they close at noon on Saturday.

 

If you need any other information, I'll be glad to help!

[txracefan]

I Wouldn't Bet On Traffic Not Being Bad On Saturday.being From Dallas Houston Seems A Lot Worse.i Would Stay At A Motel That Would Take You There And Let You Park In There Parking Lot.

[ute_fan]

I still think we're going to stay by IAH -- I'd rather do the driving in daylight hours, especially if there's road construction. We'll have a rental car to return, so we don't need to worry about leaving it in the hotel parking lot.

 

We'll just plan on leaving the hotel by about 9:00 Saturday morning (may be hard to do with my teenage daughter who likes to sleep until noon, but she can have a nap on the ship), and even if it takes double the time, we should still be in La Porte by 10:30.

 

Thanks for all the information, everybody :) .

[Studly]

I'm curious as to how far it is from the airport to the pier? :confused:

 

Is is possible to just take a taxi between the two? Anyone ever done this? Is it expensive? We are sailing in a couple weeks and I'd rather avoid the hassles of the rental car or bus.

[ute_fan]

It's suposed to be about 45 minutes from IAH (Bush), or 30 minutes from Hobby. You can take a taxi, but the rates seem to be running about $75 one way. There are some transport services too -- if there were enough of us going I'd be doing one of those. Depending on when you're flying in, NCL also has a transfer. I forget what the price for the NCL transfer is, but we've got 4 of us, and renting a car is cheaper. We're also not flying out until late Saturday night, so we wanted to do a little sight-seeing on our own.

[kidfanz]

We rented a suv through Enterprise at Hobby ($54.00 incl tax) on Fri. night before and stayed at Comfort Suites in La Porte ($63.00) for 3 beds. (There were 6 of us). They also offer a full breakfast and it was good. It was around a 30 minute drive from the airport to the hote at 4:00 pm. Not a lot of traffic. We drove around and ended up at Kemah Boardwalk (Not that great if you've been to a boardwalk in San Diego or Long Beach). We returned the car at the Seabrook office after driving the area on Sat. morning. Also not much traffic. Beautiful houses on the water less than 500,000, which is really inexpensive if you live in California. We like to look at houses when away from home. Seabrook office closes at noon, and they offer a free ride to the ship. On the trip home we arranged in advance a ride from Kay's Transportation, (800) 265-5049 for $30.00 for the ride not each. They are a small company but very friendly. Other people found cabs for $40.00.

[Stanley]

I live about 20 minutes from IAH airport. I don't believe you will have any trouble getting from IAH to the pier. The bestway is a good idea. If you go on the highway then you will pass through downtown (on the freeway). Depending on how much time you have to board then you could get off and have a look around. We love downtown. The Marriott hotel is on the airport grounds, has transportation to and from the airport. Just outside the airport there are a few places for breakfast including a Waffle House. If you decide to rent a car to get to the pier then Enterprise will pick you up from the Marriott then get you to the pier when you return it in Seabrook. The ship channel where the pier is ugly and dull. Nothing much of interest there. It is a nice drive around the surrounding areas and like one poster mentioned, there are some beautiful houses to look at. A previous poster gave you good directions so if you are driving you'll do just fine and again, don't worry about the traffic. Rush hour during the week is another story.

[ute_fan]

Your instructions were great! I'm not sure if I would have found the pier without the turn by turn instructions. It was wonderful to know exactly where to head. We'd been once before, but weren't driving that time, and I used your instructions to get us right to the ship.

 

By the way, we were able to just leave the ship in the parking lot and Enterprise picked it up on Monday morning. We had talked with the employee in the Seabrooke office and asked about that, and they do let you do it for a small fee (it wasn't much, maybe $10 but probably less). Then they pick the vehicle up on Monday morning, knowing that you obviously returned it on Saturday since it's in the cruise ship parking lot, and credit your account with a Saturday return. We'd also arranged to have a mini-van waiting for us for the return trip. There was a little additional fee for that, too, but it was well worth the hassle.

[sowhynot]

We're taking the Sea in July. Question: Is it better to drop off two of us with luggage at the pier while the 3rd person returns the car to Seabrook? How long will it take for Enterprise to shuttle you back to the pier?

 

Thanks!

[ute_fan]

We had actually arranged to just leave the rental van parked at the pier. We talked with one of the agents at the Seabrooke office to arrange it -- there was a small charge, but I'm pretty sure it was under $10. You just leave the car in the parking lot, in the Enterprise section, and they pick it up on Monday morning and enter it was a Saturday return. It worked great! We did take a picture with the digital camera just to prove that we'd left it there (I worry about stuff like that), but had no trouble.

 

We pulled into the cruise lot and dropped our luggage off. My DS and I waited with the luggage, and my DH and DD took the van next door to the fenced in lot and walked back.

 

We'd also arranged to have a van waiting for us at the pier for the return trip on Saturday. Again, there was a small charge, but with the amount of luggage we had it was worth the hassle we avoided having to load the luggage to the shuttle and then transfer it to the rental vehicle.

 

We drove to the Johnson Space Center after the cruise, and went past the Seabrooke office for Enteprirse. I'd guess it's about a 10 or 15 minute drive from the pier, so make sure to factor that into your time calculations.

 

Also, make sure to have reservations for your return vehicle if you're also going to be driving back to the airport. The agent was helping someone else when we got there, and there were 2 other groups waiting in front of us in line. He asked if anyone had reservations, and when we said yes, we were the next ones helped. Don't know that the people in front of us were very happy with that, but he explained that he had to help customers with reservations first.

[ROCruiser]

I have a question about Enterprise rental. It seems like that most people arranged to drop their rental car off at the Seabrook Enterprise office. I believe they do have an office in La Porte, am I wrong? We are going on the Sea in July also and the car rental is the last thing I have to work on. On the internet, the rental fees are higher at Hobby. I am wondering since they do free one-way pick up, would the other office (Seabrook or La Porter) pick us up at the airport? We will need to rent 2 mini-vans. I am trying to think this through before calling them. The drop off at the pier parking lot is a great idea. Thank you!

[ute_fan]

When I looked on the Enterprise website, the LaPorte office was closed on Saturday, while the Seabrooke office was open in the morning from 8 or 9 until 12. I'd guess that's the reason -- seems a little silly to me, too, when the ship leaves from La Porte.

 

I have no idea about having one of the other offices pick you up at the airport -- my guess, though, is that their free pickup area is probably limited to certain geographical areas and it wouldn't work, but you could try.

 

Depending on what time you're flying in, and if you need transportation for a longer period or time or just to get to the pier, you might also be able to find one of the transportation services that would be cheaper than 2 mini vans. We had a large group on our first cruise, and used a bus service. The same gentleman who operated it is advertising a van service for 1 - 8 people which according to his website is $125 from Hobby to the LaPorte pier. It was a little more expensive than our rental van, but if you're needing 2 vans it would be cheaper if it would accomodate your party. The link to his website is: http://www.geocities.com/texascruiseshipshuttle/TexasCruiseShipShuttle2.html

[ROCruiser]

Thank you, ute fan, for the information. I have read many of your posts and I have learned so much to prepare ourselves for the cruise. Read your review and I am glad you had a good time.:)

 

We will be leaving the port on a Friday for the last re-po sailing out of Houston, I think I will try and call the La Porte office and see what they will say. Otherwise we will just do what you did. Seabrook will be OK also, since we will be staying at League City for the 2 nights before cruise. Plan to do some sight seeing also.

 

Last question, did you book the rental at Hobby and told them you would drop off at Seabrook or did you book through the Seabrook office?

 

Thanks again for your help.

[ute_fan]

We booked in advance through the 1-800 Enterprise number. We were flying into IAH instead of Hobby, but I don't think it makes any difference.

 

MY DH did call the Seabrooke office the week before to confirm the reservations, and that's when he arranged the drop-off and pick-up arrangements.

 

Hope you have as good as time as we did! By the way, if you're sightseeing first, we had a great time at the Johnson Space Center. I'd heard some reports that it really wasn't all that interesting, but we found it fascinating. Also, if you're traveling with kids at all, it had a great play area for kids.

After that, we went to the Kemah boardwalk area and had lunch. We didn't have much time to look around, unfortunately, but it looked like it would have been an intereting place to spend some time.

[ROCruiser]

Thanks so much for the info again. I was reading the roll call thread of your trip, it sounded you had fun with your group. You guys kept in contact even after the trip! How wonderful!

 

I am sure our group will want to go to the Space Center. My son and I want to dine at the Aquarium at Kemah, but DH thinks we are nuts to spend so much on food before we cruise. We'll see.

 

16 school days to go, I am ready!

[jrchvatal]

Just so you know, the La Porte office isn't really an office - it's a desk located inside of a car dealership, so Seabrook is going to be your only option. I wouldn't bet on the shuttle from Hobby - not with an Enterprise location at Hobby. I live in La Porte, so if you need any other information, just let me know.

 

Jana