Galveston - getting there

[strawberryduck2000]

Hi, me and DW are thinking of cruising from Galveston but are struggling with the logistic of how best to get there on cruise day which is a Sunday Please HELP!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[pspercy]

On cruise day Royal typically offers a bus transfer from Houston's airports.

[SamFritz]

What is it the old Mainer says? "Can't get theyah from heyah." The top reason I avoid sailing out of Galveston is that epic drive from the airport (They're not kidding when they say everything's bigger in Texas.) My best advice is to fly in a day or two early and enjoy the beach. Stay at a hotel that offers a shuttle to the ship. For going home you can take the Royal shuttle, but don't book an early flight.

 

Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk

Edited March 22, 2014 by SamFritz

[Galveston Cruiser]

I suggest you post this on Gulf Coast Departures and your Roll Call.

 

Will you be flying in from the UK on Sunday? I definitely would arrive a few days before the cruise, just to catch up on rest.

There is much to see and do in Galveston; spend a few days enjoying the island.

[A&L_Ont]

We have used Royal Limousine, out of Houston. Quick service and more private than a bus. Since our only cruise out of Galveston we have used then when in Houston on numerous other occasions.

[ssb]

We have used Royal Limousine, out of Houston. Quick service and more private than a bus. Since our only cruise out of Galveston we have used then when in Houston on numerous other occasions.

 

We agree!

[Alamogirl]

If you are driving use EZCruise parking, they are great. We use them every time. You can book on-line. They are so close to the port you can see the ships. You park board a shuttle and off you go and coming back look for the shuttle and back to your car.

[JYD Hawkeye]

If you are driving use EZCruise parking, they are great. We use them every time. You can book on-line. They are so close to the port you can see the ships. You park board a shuttle and off you go and coming back look for the shuttle and back to your car.

Don't really think they will be driving in from UK !!

[strawberryduck2000]

Thanks all for the advice, we are heading to Houston a week or so in advance so we could move to a hotel near the port.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Funbobby68]

We just arranged the same things for our sailing , in the long run it was cheaper to fly in the day before rent a hotel in Galveston ,and rent a car from the airport and just leave it at the hotel for the week while we sail , FYI can't rent a car on Sunday in Galveston ,hence why we are keeping ours

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Desertbelle]

We have taken the Royal Caribbean transfers from Houston to Galveston before and it was a very easy process.

 

The RCI person was holding up a sign in the luggage area of the airport....after we collected our luggage we took them to her, she took them from us and asked us to wait in the waiting area until a few more folks came to fill the bus arrived. We waited maybe 20 minutes, she came and got us and we loaded onto the bus and took off to Galveston. Never a hassle, they took care of our luggage, so no having to deal with the porters at the port, and it was fairly inexpensive. I would do it again without hesitation.

[cjdixon4]

We have taken the Royal Caribbean transfers from Houston to Galveston before and it was a very easy process.

 

The RCI person was holding up a sign in the luggage area of the airport....after we collected our luggage we took them to her, she took them from us and asked us to wait in the waiting area until a few more folks came to fill the bus arrived. We waited maybe 20 minutes, she came and got us and we loaded onto the bus and took off to Galveston. Never a hassle, they took care of our luggage, so no having to deal with the porters at the port, and it was fairly inexpensive. I would do it again without hesitation.

 

Did you fly in same day as the cruise or a day prior? A friend of mine flew into Houston the day before the cruise, stayed at a hotel overnight, then took the hotel shuttle back to the airport for the RCI bus. She said that it was quite easy to do, and worth the money spent.

[mil76]

Probably won't work for you since you would fly into IAH, but if you fly into Hobby the La Quinta hotel by Hobby has a deal where you pay an extra $100 to stay overnight and that includes round-trip shuttle transfers to the port in Galveston. It's a separate service from the hotel, but the hotel took care of everything for us last week. We took the hotel shuttle from the airport to the hotel, and then the next morning they picked us up from the hotel and took us to the port, and then on the return they dropped us off at Hobby.

 

I did a ton of research and this was by far the cheapest way to get to Galveston when flying.

[Desertbelle]

Did you fly in same day as the cruise or a day prior? A friend of mine flew into Houston the day before the cruise, stayed at a hotel overnight, then took the hotel shuttle back to the airport for the RCI bus. She said that it was quite easy to do, and worth the money spent.

Yes, we did fly in on the day of the cruise (it's a fairly short flight to Texas from Vegas...not our normal thing to do).

[cjdixon4]

FYI can't rent a car on Sunday in Galveston ,hence why we are keeping ours

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

 

Really?!? I didn't realize that! Although we won't need to utilize a car rental, I find that VERY unusual. In Chicago that wouldn't be a problem, but I wonder why that's so in Galveston? Hmmm...

[Clarea]

Really?!? I didn't realize that! Although we won't need to utilize a car rental, I find that VERY unusual. In Chicago that wouldn't be a problem, but I wonder why that's so in Galveston? Hmmm...

Not a problem in most other ports either.

 

I believe the closest car rental agency open on Sunday is in Texas City, I'm guessing a 10 mile drive from the port.

[BecciBoo]

I still think they should do a Doodlebug car on the train tracks. Could be fairly cheap to ride from Houston over the intercoastal and it would be fun as well.....and stop right at the terminal. Don't know why it was never tried before?:confused:

[Galveston Cruiser]

Really?!? I didn't realize that! Although we won't need to utilize a car rental, I find that VERY unusual. In Chicago that wouldn't be a problem, but I wonder why that's so in Galveston? Hmmm...

 

Chicago is slightly larger than Galveston:rolleyes:

The island has less than 50,000 and just can't support certain businesses on a full time basis.

[cjdixon4]

Chicago is slightly larger than Galveston:rolleyes:

The island has less than 50,000 and just can't support certain businesses on a full time basis.

 

That certainly makes sense. I guess in my mind, I was thinking that having auto rental services available on the weekends when ships are active in/out of port would be helpful to cruisers. :)

[Clarea]

Chicago is slightly larger than Galveston:rolleyes:

The island has less than 50,000 and just can't support certain businesses on a full time basis.

Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral total about 20,000. There are several rental car agencies with free shuttles open on Sundays in the area.

Edited April 14, 2014 by clarea

[TBone2K]

The other option is to fly into Hobby instead of Bush airport, but that limits your flight options.

[George C]

We are flying in day before have a limo.town car pick us up from Hobby ( taxi is about 90 from hobby, I am sure you are flying in from the internatinal airport which is 30 mins father away

[Galveston Cruiser]

Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral total about 20,000. There are several rental car agencies with free shuttles open on Sundays in the area.

 

Cocoa Beach and Port Canaveral have are near many tourist areas with lots of places to go.

This is an island, 32 miles long, 2 miles at its widest and 50 miles from Houston. The west end has mostly weekend owners. In between are bedroom communities.

It is also a low income city with serious problems caused by Federal and State governments.

The majority who come to Galveston drive. There are plenty of rental car businesses in Houston but do not want their cars dropped off in Galveston.

This is a rental car business issue that feel it costs more than it is worth to have offices here.

 

No different than Europe where car rental offices aren't open on Sunday, close at noon on Saturday.

[smoosh21]

Cocoa Beach and Port Canaveral have are near many tourist areas with lots of places to go.

This is an island, 32 miles long, 2 miles at its widest and 50 miles from Houston. The west end has mostly weekend owners. In between are bedroom communities.

It is also a low income city with serious problems caused by Federal and State governments.

The majority who come to Galveston drive. There are plenty of rental car businesses in Houston but do not want their cars dropped off in Galveston.

This is a rental car business issue that feel it costs more than it is worth to have offices here.

 

No different than Europe where car rental offices aren't open on Sunday, close at noon on Saturday.

Yep, if people dropped off the cars at noon on Sunday, they would probably stay there until the following Saturday when ships started to return. That would be a pretty big waste for them.

 

I do agree that Galveston is great for people that live within driving distance, but inconvenient for those flying in, especially compared to South Florida.

Thankfully, I have family in Houston that was able to drive me from airport to our hotel on the Island. The only thing to be aware of is limited Taxi service.

 

When I went down to the lobby to get a taxi on the morning that the ship left, I was told that there may be an hour wait as service was limited and backed up on Sunday mornings. It may not be true, but that was what hotel said to me.

 

Anyway, thankfully, it only took about 30 minutes for Cab to show up. but you may want to see about reserving a cab ahead of time if you are overnighting on the island and not staying by the pier. (we stayed over by the beach side)

[BillOh]

We have taken the Royal Caribbean transfers from Houston to Galveston before and it was a very easy process.

 

The RCI person was holding up a sign in the luggage area of the airport....after we collected our luggage we took them to her, she took them from us and asked us to wait in the waiting area until a few more folks came to fill the bus arrived. We waited maybe 20 minutes, she came and got us and we loaded onto the bus and took off to Galveston. Never a hassle, they took care of our luggage, so no having to deal with the porters at the port, and it was fairly inexpensive. I would do it again without hesitation.

 

 

 

I'll keep that in mind if we decide to cruise out of here in the future. My first cruise on Royal was the only one I used their transportation from the airport (MIA) to the cruise port. It took 2 hours to fill the bus enough to get us to leave the port. Lots of people jumped in front of us in line and it was very disorganized, Saw lots of other people just jump in cabs and beat us there. Maybe at Galveston it would be a better arrangement.