new2cruising2014 Posted December 31, 2013 #1 Share Posted December 31, 2013 First time cruising. Which is better? We are staying at a hotel no matter what. -Staying at a hotel with the cruise and park package (parking for duration of cruise plus shuttle to cruise terminal) OR -Parking at the cruise ship terminal and paying the fee. Which is the less stressful option? :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted December 31, 2013 #2 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Probably a push, but for me I'd rather take the shuttle to the cruise terminal and not have to worry about driving and parking with all the traffic there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remm1024 Posted December 31, 2013 #3 Share Posted December 31, 2013 We have chosen to park across the street from the terminal. Fenced property with option for indoor parking - can drive up to drop off area and unload people and luggage, drive across the street and park, then on the return day - no waiting for a hotel shuttle the will probably have many others waiting to crowd in with you. You will only have to load and unload your luggage 1 time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2cruising2014 Posted December 31, 2013 Author #4 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travlin Posted December 31, 2013 #5 Share Posted December 31, 2013 We cruised out of Galveston last year with Princess. I believe there are two terminals. I don't know how to find out ahead of time which terminal will be used. Terminal 1 did have lots of lots nearby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rraider1961 Posted December 31, 2013 #6 Share Posted December 31, 2013 First time cruising. Which is better? We are staying at a hotel no matter what. -Staying at a hotel with the cruise and park package (parking for duration of cruise plus shuttle to cruise terminal) OR -Parking at the cruise ship terminal and paying the fee. Which is the less stressful option? :) Definitely take the hotel shuttle. We love the service and convenience of Moody Gardens, but almost all hotels on the island provide the service. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted December 31, 2013 #7 Share Posted December 31, 2013 We cruised out of Galveston last year with Princess. I believe there are two terminals. I don't know how to find out ahead of time which terminal will be used. Terminal 1 did have lots of lots nearby. It's been our experience that Royal uses terminal 2. Here's the terminal schedule: http://www.portofgalveston.com/DocumentCenter/View/570 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denamo Posted December 31, 2013 #8 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Have cruised out of Galveston a bunch and done about every imaginable parking situation. 1. Have parked at the cruise lot. Have to drop cruisers and luggage off at the pier and driver only goes to park the car and ride shuttle back. They only want one person minus luggage on the shuttle to take back to the pier. 2. Utilized this one a couple of times. Have parked at one of the lots a block or so away and taken their bus to the pier with our luggage. A bit cumbersome. Have taken our luggage first also and then gone to park. 3. Have utilized one of the cruise and park options. Due to work circumstances, we arrived around 9 P.M. at the hotel. By that time, cruisers had signed up for all of the earlier shuttles. The hotel did not allow sign up until check in. We ended up taking a cab to the pier. Caught the shuttle back to the hotel once we arrived to get our car. This option took us the longest to retrieve our car upon disembarcation. 4. Our favorite option and the most utilized - to park at inside parking across the street from the pier. We go through and drop off our luggage and then go and park the car. We then only have our carry on to cross the street with. Once we're back, I stay at the pier with the luggage while hubby retrieves the car and swings by get luggage loaded, then off we go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travlin Posted December 31, 2013 #9 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Thanks for the schedule for the terminals! That helps so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevesan Posted December 31, 2013 #10 Share Posted December 31, 2013 (edited) Have cruised out of Galveston a bunch and done about every imaginable parking situation. 1. Have parked at the cruise lot. Have to drop cruisers and luggage off at the pier and driver only goes to park the car and ride shuttle back. They only want one person minus luggage on the shuttle to take back to the pier. 2. Utilized this one a couple of times. Have parked at one of the lots a block or so away and taken their bus to the pier with our luggage. A bit cumbersome. Have taken our luggage first also and then gone to park. 3. Have utilized one of the cruise and park options. Due to work circumstances, we arrived around 9 P.M. at the hotel. By that time, cruisers had signed up for all of the earlier shuttles. The hotel did not allow sign up until check in. We ended up taking a cab to the pier. Caught the shuttle back to the hotel once we arrived to get our car. This option took us the longest to retrieve our car upon disembarcation. 4. Our favorite option and the most utilized - to park at inside parking across the street from the pier. We go through and drop off our luggage and then go and park the car. We then only have our carry on to cross the street with. Once we're back, I stay at the pier with the luggage while hubby retrieves the car and swings by get luggage loaded, then off we go. [/quote] Ditto, except my luggage has wheels so I walked it across the street to/from Park N Cruise. Unfortunately CC doesn't allow a link. Just enter www galvestonparkncruise com Edited December 31, 2013 by Stevesan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistshar Posted December 31, 2013 #11 Share Posted December 31, 2013 We prefer to use Park N Cruise right across the street. We just go and park there and then cross the street with our luggage. We don't carry much luggage. Using this method you can go whenever you want to and we do self-disembarkation. So as soon as we get off the ship, we go across the street and are on our way. It is so much easier for us. Whichever you decide to do, have a great cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munchkin4 Posted January 3, 2014 #12 Share Posted January 3, 2014 I guess I'm the odd one out. We like to park at Lighthouse Parking. They are far enough away that you don't have to fight traffic but close enough that the shuttle ride is not bad. They have covered parking with 24 hour security. And we've never had to wait to get to the port or for them to pick us up. Just what we prefer. We don't use the hotel option because the cars are not watched. You park at your own risk and if the car is stolen, more than likely no one will know until you get home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistshar Posted January 3, 2014 #13 Share Posted January 3, 2014 I guess I'm the odd one out. We like to park at Lighthouse Parking. They are far enough away that you don't have to fight traffic but close enough that the shuttle ride is not bad. They have covered parking with 24 hour security. And we've never had to wait to get to the port or for them to pick us up. Just what we prefer. We don't use the hotel option because the cars are not watched. You park at your own risk and if the car is stolen, more than likely no one will know until you get home. That's why it is good that there are different options available because different people like different things. It is good that everyone doesn't want to park in the same lot. Hope you have a great cruise on the Triumph! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TY22 Posted January 4, 2014 #14 Share Posted January 4, 2014 There is an indoor lot right across the street. You can walk off the boat and right across the street, fast and hassle free! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistshar Posted January 4, 2014 #15 Share Posted January 4, 2014 There is an indoor lot right across the street. You can walk off the boat and right across the street, fast and hassle free! That's where we park at Park N Cruise and we really like the convenience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agreenway6 Posted January 5, 2014 #16 Share Posted January 5, 2014 We used the indoor parking at Park N Cruise in May... They loaded us (4 guys) on a golf cart and brought us to the street for a short walk to the terminal. I think we only spent like $60 for the whole week. Great deal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golfpccc Posted January 11, 2014 #17 Share Posted January 11, 2014 (edited) We have sailed out of Galveston about 35 times and have always used EZ Cruise Parking located on Santa Fe Place. Until 1/31/14 you can book on line and in promotion code area type in ANYSAIL and receive $10 off. So, for a week, the price is $48.71, 5 day cruise is $37.89 and 4 day cruise is $32.48. This is the system we use: EZ Cruise is about 2 block from the terminals. DH always drops me off at the pier with the luggage, DH drives and parks the car at EZ Cruise and walks back to the pier. However, they do have a shuttle, he just prefers to walk, but if raining takes the shuttle, a very easy walk. After debarkation, we pull our luggage (if cruising on RCCL) the entire length of the RCCL terminal down the side walk thru the Carnival terminal to the cross walk at 25th St. We then walk across the street, I stand on the corner with the luggage while DH gets the car. Within 10 min. we are in our car and heading home. The EZ Cruise parking lot is secured with a very tall fence and has 24/7 security. They also claim they are the highest lot on this side of the island. Of course during Hurricane Ike this didn't help! Edited January 11, 2014 by golfpccc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now