Stay in Houston (IAH) or Galveston?

[fritolayNY]

Due to our limited vacation time together my family is flying in the night before my cruise to IAH BUSH International. (lower airfare by $1,000) However we will not arrive before 10:15PM, should we stay in Houston with a taxi or shuttle in the AM or try to get to Galveston by midnight. I am thinking of staying due to the late arrival with 3 teenagers and a taxi the next day.

 

Would love to explore Galveston but don't have much time. I still have to work the Saturday before the cruise and drive to the airport in Feb in Northern New York :eek:. Any advise would be appreciated. Thank you.

[Galveston Cruiser]

As much as I would love to have you visit Galveston, I strongly suggest you stay at Bush (IAH) then take the ship transfer to Galveston on Sunday.

Nothing will be open late at night, you will all be tired, need a good night's sleep and you still wouldn't have but a few hours to discover the island.

 

If the shuttle is early enough, you could still drop your bags at the pier and walk across the street (Harborside) to the Downtown Galveston Historic Strand area.

 

The area is usually full of cruisers walking around prior to boarding to see the shops, have ice cream at La Kings and enjoy the old Victorian buildings.

[Rudyard]

As much as I would love to have you visit Galveston, I strongly suggest you stay at Bush (IAH) then take the ship transfer to Galveston on Sunday.

Nothing will be open late at night, you will all be tired, need a good night's sleep and you still wouldn't have but a few hours to discover the island.

 

If the shuttle is early enough, you could still drop your bags at the pier and walk across the street (Harborside) to the Downtown Galveston Historic Strand area.

 

The area is usually full of cruisers walking around prior to boarding to see the shops, have ice cream at La Kings and enjoy the old Victorian buildings.

 

Totally agree.

[Stevesan]

In case you aren't aware, there is a Marriott in the airport grounds.

Probably a good choice for late arrival.

 

http://www.bing.com/local/details.aspx?lid=YN844x400951348&q=Houston+Airport+Marriott+at+George+Bush+Intercontinental+Houston+TX&FORM=LARE

[jonbgd]

Stay at Bush with that late of arrival

 

I like the Marriot airport hotel Idea real convenient but the rooms are pricey

 

Another option with 3 kids, I would check out some of the ChoiceHotels.com hotels (Quality or Comfort suites) that surround the airport.

It will be a lot cheaper and they have free internet and breakfast.

But need to call prior to booking, to make sure shuttle is still running, at that hour

[fritolayNY]

Thank you everyone. We looked into the Marriott but Priceline.com said they where booked for that date (But sometimes I found they don't want to book 5 in a room) Choice hotels are a good choice and we have a rewards card for them too. Looked into shuttles and at $45 per person each way for 5 is about the same amount as a rental car with gas and parking and may avoid worrying about timing of shuttles. I researched car rentals at the airport and they claim to be open until 11:59.

 

We can walk around Galveston after the cruise with our luggage in the car as we do not leave until 2:30.

 

How convenient is the airport? Not too worried have flown in and out of JFK New York, O'Hare Chicago, and Ronald Regan in D.C.

[Galveston Cruiser]

IAH is a little over 70 miles from Galveston, about 1-1/2 hours with no traffic.

There are no rental car agencies in Galveston other than Enterprise and they close at noon on Saturday and are closed on Sunday.

I believe there is a Hertz in Texas City, approx. 20 minutes away but do not know their hours.

You may be better off renting the car for the week as cruise parking is inexpensive and, if you stay in Galveston, most hotels have free cruise parking and shuttle to the port.

The port is no more than 10 minutes from any hotel on the island.

[zdcatc12]

I researched car rentals at the airport and they claim to be open until 11:59.

 

 

At IAH, they will all be 24 hour facilities. If you look, their hours should be 12:00 AM-11:59PM because they have no other way of listing 24 hours.

[fritolayNY]

IAH is a little over 70 miles from Galveston, about 1-1/2 hours with no traffic.

There are no rental car agencies in Galveston other than Enterprise and they close at noon on Saturday and are closed on Sunday.

I believe there is a Hertz in Texas City, approx. 20 minutes away but do not know their hours.

You may be better off renting the car for the week as cruise parking is inexpensive and, if you stay in Galveston, most hotels have free cruise parking and shuttle to the port.

The port is no more than 10 minutes from any hotel on the island.

 

My thought exactly but what a shame to rental a car and leave it but it's still cheaper than Carnival's shuttles. How's traffic on a late Saturday night? And what does the port change for parking..I heard $60.

[Galveston Cruiser]

Traffic won't be bad at all.

Don't know about the different parking rates as we live here, but you may try to google Galveston cruise parking for information.

I do know some give discounts when booking on line.

Or, just park at your hotel and they will shuttle you to the port, free.

[Stevesan]

My thought exactly but what a shame to rental a car and leave it but it's still cheaper than Carnival's shuttles. How's traffic on a late Saturday night? And what does the port change for parking..I heard $60.

 

I'm aware of three parking options.

 

The city lot. I have zero personal knowledge about this one:

http://www.portofgalveston.com/index.aspx?NID=91

 

Park N Cruise. Covered parking available. Located across the street from the "terminal".

http://galvestonparkncruise.com/

 

EZCruise. Not within walking distance, but frequent shuttles.

http://ezcruiseparking.com/

[jonbgd]

My thought exactly but what a shame to rental a car and leave it but it's still cheaper than Carnival's shuttles. How's traffic on a late Saturday night? And what does the port change for parking..I heard $60.

Traffic wont be an issue. We drive from near IAH to pier 21 in about an hour with no traffic.

Renting cars from Bush/IAH you will need to take the bus from baggage claim to the rental center.It is open 24hrs.

Renting cars from there can be expensive for they charge about $6 a day and $4.95 for a bus fee plus 26% tax on everything.

This on top of the weekly rate . So while it maybe an $80 a week rental it will cost about $150 in reality after all the fees and taxes

[fritolayNY]

Traffic wont be an issue. We drive from near IAH to pier 21 in about an hour with no traffic.

Renting cars from Bush/IAH you will need to take the bus from baggage claim to the rental center.It is open 24hrs.

Renting cars from there can be expensive for they charge about $6 a day and $4.95 for a bus fee plus 26% tax on everything.

This on top of the weekly rate . So while it maybe an $80 a week rental it will cost about $150 in reality after all the fees and taxes

 

Yes but carnival's transfers are $45 each person. Since I have 5 people I am paying for that is $225 each way or $450 total I am flying in a day before so I'd also have to pay for a hotel in Houston with either a hotel shuttle or taxi to the hotel and back to the airport for a transfer the next day of the cruise.

 

Or I could get a rental, drive to my choice of hotel either in Houston or Galveston on my time schedule. This also allows me to shop for items I can not take on the plane due to the restrictions.

[jonbgd]

Yes but carnival's transfers are $45 each person. Since I have 5 people I am paying for that is $225 each way or $450 total I am flying in a day before so I'd also have to pay for a hotel in Houston with either a hotel shuttle or taxi to the hotel and back to the airport for a transfer the next day of the cruise.

 

Or I could get a rental, drive to my choice of hotel either in Houston or Galveston on my time schedule. This also allows me to shop for items I can not take on the plane due to the restrictions.

Im not trying to talk you out of renting a car. I think it is a great Idea.

Most likely you will save a lot of money renting a car for the 8 days.

But it depends on what week you fly in

If it is next week or 2 it is $305 total BUT the following week is $543:eek: I do see it for as little as $150 total also, just depends on when you cruise

Since I commute for business, mostly SFO/IAH, I probably have more personal experience than most people concerning this area. I rent cars for a week or 2 at a time.

IAH is the worst for extra fees of the 6 airports I deal with on a normal basis.

 

If you cant find a decent price for car rental look at hotwire rates than bid lower on priceline

[seatdriver]

Partner and myself arriving into George Bush at 6.20pm on the evening before our cruise out of Galveston. Will have been a long day as we are flying in from the UK. My partner is keen to get to Galveston on the Saturday evening, would be nice to have a little wonder round in the evening and after breakfast on the Sunday.

We are hopefully going to get some other passengers arriving around the same time to share the shuttle bus down to Galveston, saving $$$ all round!

We cruise on 26th Jan on Carnival Magic!

[Galveston Cruiser]

Have you posted this on your roll call?

You will probably have more from your cruise seeing your question with a better chance of a response.

[seatdriver]

Have you posted this on your roll call?

You will probably have more from your cruise seeing your question with a better chance of a response.

Hi, yes I've also posted on there too. I'm guessing most will fly into Hobby as it seems this is more for local flights. We are flying USairways so our connection is Philadelphia to George Bush.

[fritolayNY]

Good plan. Wish we where cruising then and we are going on Feb 16.

 

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[seatdriver]

Stay near airport and get the shuttle in the morning or keep going and get Galveston. Flying from the UK via Philadelphia so not sure if immigration/passport control will be done in Philadelphia or Houston. Or both! Last time I flew to the states (Miami) took 2hrs to get out of the airport. If this happens in Houston that means trying to get down to Galveston at 8.30pm. We will be pretty exhausted by the time we get to Houston as our body clocks will be on after midnight. Any advice??

 

Extremely excited tho!! :D

[Galveston Cruiser]

Customs and Immigration will ALWAYS be at your port of entry from out of the country.

You will pass through these in Philadelphia. Flying to Houston is considered a domestic flight.

[seatdriver]

Customs and Immigration will ALWAYS be at your port of entry from out of the country.

You will pass through these in Philadelphia. Flying to Houston is considered a domestic flight.

 

That's great, thanks so much for the reply! My next dilema is how to get back to IAH on the tuesday after the cruise. Having a couple of days post cruise! Would prefer to use public transport, bus/train. Our flight is 3pm. :D

[Texas Tillie]

That's great, thanks so much for the reply! My next dilema is how to get back to IAH on the tuesday after the cruise. Having a couple of days post cruise! Would prefer to use public transport, bus/train. Our flight is 3pm. :D

 

Public transportation and Houston are pretty much mutually exclusive terms. :eek: Where will you be staying between the time you get off the ship and when you need to go to the airport? How do you plan to get around during that time. Houston is very spread out and nothing is "walking" distance. Taxis will become very expensive.

[seatdriver]

Public transportation and Houston are pretty much mutually exclusive terms. :eek: Where will you be staying between the time you get off the ship and when you need to go to the airport? How do you plan to get around during that time. Houston is very spread out and nothing is "walking" distance. Taxis will become very expensive.

 

Hi, we are going to stay in Galveston until the Tuesday morning and make our way up to the airport then. Our flight out is at 3pm.:)

[seatdriver]

Just bumping this thread up the list!

 

Still looking for any info re the arrival times of the Carnival shuttle from Bush Intercontinental! We have purchased FTTF and would like to be at the port by 10:30am. This is certainly do-able if we arrange our own transport but also considering going straight on to Galveston on the Saturday night after arriving into IAH at 6.20pm, although by this time we will have been travelling for around 18hrs! Is it worth just getting it over with and getting to Galveston?? Decisions, decisions!! :D

[fritolayNY]

Not traveling as far but I do have to work at 330am before I fly out at 230pm and will arrive in Houston by 830. Trying to decide the same thing as you are.

 

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