Galveston Port - Park or drop off?

[cccory]

We have the opportunity to be dropped off at Galveston port. Should we do this or is it faster to just park for the week?

[amymoore]

We like to stay a night before the cruise. Harbor house is our favorite. A very easy walk to board the ship. They will let you park your car at the hotel. When the cruise is over, self assist...walk past all the hubbub...get in your car and go. So quick and easy.

[SnakeBitten]

We now use Park N Cruise and walking distance to cruise terminal. They don't have shuttles since they are across the street (~10 min walk). EZ Cruise and Lighthouse parking are other options, which have shuttles. We have used them in the past with no issues. SB

[TEXASMUNK]

Drive up, drop the bags, wife hops out...Handles the tip, waits for me.

We park at EZcruise...if a shuttle is sitting there, ready to go, I hop on. If not, I walk back....check in...hear the familiar ding and go find my next best friend bartender for the week.

[cccory]

Thank you, but I was wondering if drop off is crazy or pretty easy? I would hate to get stuck in a traffic jam, waiting to be dropped off, and thinking if we would have parked and we could have walked faster to the terminal.

[Cruiser 23218]

Thank you, but I was wondering if drop off is crazy or pretty easy? I would hate to get stuck in a traffic jam, waiting to be dropped off, and thinking if we would have parked and we could have walked faster to the terminal.

 

Drop off was not bad when we were there last year. We went to the drop off area and dropped our checked bags with a porter and then pulled across the street and parked at Galveston park n cruise, we like the indoor parking there, then walked back across to check in. We were there by about 10:30 or shortly after and pulled right up to a porter with no wait.

[mom4mom]

Drop off was not bad when we were there last year. We went to the drop off area and dropped our checked bags with a porter and then pulled across the street and parked at Galveston park n cruise, we like the indoor parking there, then walked back across to check in. We were there by about 10:30 or shortly after and pulled right up to a porter with no wait.

 

We usually use EZ Cruise parking and made a mistake one time of trying to drop off our luggage first and then head over to park thinking it might be easier. The traffic jam slowly crawling to do this made us re-think what we will do in the future. It's so easy to park, hop on the shuttle with your luggage and get to the port. And it's so easy to find them when we return.

[TEXASMUNK]

See! Two different responses to the exact same question!

I would wager it is a timing thing!

But, as you can see, both work!!!!!

[AustinCruise]

We do the drop off (wife/kids) with the bags. I park at Galveston park-n-cruise and walk back.

 

It can be crowded or totally empty at the drop off, depends on your timing.

[LeeW]

Whatever you do, do NOT use the terminal parking lots. On our B2B earlier this month the lines of folks wanting to get on the shuttles to those lots was an hour or more long on disembark. Pick the private lots across the street. Didn't matter if they had luggage or not - other folks did and it was taking 10 minutes to load the small buses.

 

If you do a walkoff in the early group the lines were shorter, but by 9:00 the lines were very long.

 

Also recommend you do a walk-off at this port (just ask at the desk two days before disembark for the early group). Took us an hour to get from the ship through immigration at 8:00 on a cruise returning from Roatan and about 25 minutes coming back from Jamaica. But the real problem is baggage handling. Small carts stacked high were dropping luggage all over the place, including into puddles. Walk-offs bypass the slow luggage handling, damage, and very small space where a lot of people look for their luggage. You do need to have one hand free for the escalator or take a small elevator with wheelchair folks.