5 night out of Galveston

[mexico5]

Hi, this will be our first 5 night cruise and our first cruise out of Galveston on the Liberty. Just wondering what the demographic is typically like. Is it a younger or older crowd? Is the cruise more casual than normal? We will be flying in from Calgary, Alberta.

 

Thanks!

[gfh77665]

We have cruised Carnival out of Galveston 3X, with our 4th coming up next week.

 

The demographics will be mixed, with a strong bias toward adults. That does not mean "elderly", but mostly adults due to high schools and colleges still being in session.

 

It will be very casual, almost too casual for some peoples tastes. Its an unpretentious, hang loose and party type crowd, but of course you can find quite areas to frequent if you wish.

 

You will enjoy what you will find most likely.

[BallFour4]

It's entirely dependent on when you cruise. If school is out these sailings are loaded with kids. Our December 5 nighter had 1200 kids aboard. In contrast our cruise on the Triumph last September had around 400 kids.

 

Shorter cruises have been labeled as ones that attract a more rowdy crowd, but Galveston sailings are sometimes anomalies. We've sailed from there over twenty times on two lines.

 

Our experience is the warmer the weather, the more rowdy the crowd. This is most evident around the lido deck pool. Summers around that area are not for young kids.

 

Have a great vacation!

 

.

Edited January 23, 2016 by BallFour4

[mexico5]

Thanks! School won't be out here in Canada...not sure about US. We are thinking of the April 9 sailing. I heard sailing out of Galveston is quite casual..why is that?

 

The airfare is so cheap from here and a short flight so we are thinking about it for sure! We don't like too formal but don't like too casual either...if that makes sense!

[notyours75]

Hi, this will be our first 5 night cruise and our first cruise out of Galveston on the Liberty. Just wondering what the demographic is typically like. Is it a younger or older crowd? Is the cruise more casual than normal? We will be flying in from Calgary, Alberta.

 

Thanks!

 

You did not advise when your cruise is. The demographics will vary depending on when you are traveling. If its during the summer then you will see more children and families. The 5 night cruise does tend to be cheaper than the 7s (and even than the 4s for that matter) so you will see more budget oriented people as well.

 

That being said we have done this itinerary twice with a third time coming up next week on the Freedom. We usually cruise in the winter Dec/Jan when its the fares are lower and the kids are fewer. (We leave our kids at home.) You will see a wide variety of people on Carnival, newlyweds, drunken college kids, families with kids, extended families (multi-generation), retirees, and some solos. Our last cruise we met a couple who were on their 45th cruise. There will probably be a couple of old men in speedos to round it out.

 

You will find that the different areas of the ship will tend to attract a particular demographic with different activity levels. Find the area that you are comfortable in and hang out there. People on cruises are happy, friendly, and people from Texas are generally easy to talk with. Chances are you will have some great memories and new friends when you leave.

[notyours75]

Thanks! School won't be out here in Canada...not sure about US. We are thinking of the April 9 sailing. I heard sailing out of Galveston is quite casual..why is that?

 

The airfare is so cheap from here and a short flight so we are thinking about it for sure! We don't like too formal but don't like too casual either...if that makes sense!

 

Houston has two main airports, Intercontinental in the north and Hobby in the south. IAH is 1.5 hours from Galveston with NO traffic (which is rare in Houston). Hobby is 45 minutes. IAH is by far the largest of the two so be sure to check your transfers to/from the airport so you have plenty of time. A 2pm flight from IAH on a weekday debarkation day could be a problem.

[mexico5]

We would fly into IAH. Our flight doesn't leave until 5PM on disembarkation day. The long transfer to the port is the only thing I am concerned with but we might fly in 2 days before so will be rested for the cruise.

[notyours75]

We would fly into IAH. Our flight doesn't leave until 5PM on disembarkation day. The long transfer to the port is the only thing I am concerned with but we might fly in 2 days before so will be rested for the cruise.

 

That is probably the biggest complaint about the port of Galveston for cruising is that its not really an airport friendly port because of the distance from the airports and Houston traffic issues. I think they originally started using Galveston because it's within easy driving distance of over 15M people in Texas. We live close to Dallas so its a 5 hour drive for us which keeps the costs down. I bet the vast majority of people on the ship will be from Texas.

 

They keep talking about starting commercial airline service back at Galveston airport but its just a little too close to Houston to be cost effective for the airlines. Probably not likely.

[rgmacm]

It should probably be noted that traveling during March or early April will almost always encounter "Spring Breakers". (By way of explanation for non-US people...spring break is a week long vacation from school for all students...public schools AND colleges) Every school has it's own 'schedule' for spring break which is why this week long holiday lasts for 6 weeks! ha!! That means you'll find a high number of families with school age children, and even more notably...college students on cruises then....especially 4 or 5 day cruises which work well for those with only a week off.

We choose to not cruise during that time...just a personal preference...as we prefer a more relaxed, restful atmosphere....but if you like the party scene, you'll love the hype and activity of spring break. :) :)

Edited January 23, 2016 by rgmacm

[Domergirl]

Our schools in the metro Atlanta area have spring break from April 4 - 8, so we are considering booking a cruise on the Magic out of Galveston from April 3 - 9 with our 3 kiddos, ages 12, 11, and 5. I'm not a fan of the transfer to the port, either...but we're thinking of just using Uber.

 

You will be at the tail end of spring break season on the 9th...but may still see an uptick in kids.

[jacksmycat]

I've cruised out of Galveston twice in early April. There were not a lot of kids. Most spring breaks around here are in March. I think April is a great time to cruise. Most of the population on board will be from Texas. I've only done 7 days though so I don't know if the 5 days are different. You might have issues with fog at this time. We did once and it delayed the ship getting into port for several hours. We are from Dallas so I've never flown in to Houston for a cruise before so I can't tell you about transportation.

[Jana60]

Hi, this will be our first 5 night cruise and our first cruise out of Galveston on the Liberty. Just wondering what the demographic is typically like. Is it a younger or older crowd? Is the cruise more casual than normal? We will be flying in from Calgary, Alberta.

 

Thanks!

 

They are all ages on Carnival ships. I have cruise - 20 times with Carnival on everything from 4 to 7 day cruises and I always have a good time. I am a 55 year old family physician who enjoys production shows, comedy club, karaoke, piano bar, serenity (adults only) area, and trivia. They do have a disco and lots of youth activities for the young people. Not sure what your demographic is but as you can tell from my description you should fit in no matter what your age. If you're looking for transportation directly from the airport you can book through Carnival or for a lower charge per person from Galveston Express shuttle. If you have a pretty large group you might get a better rate by booking a car or cab just for your group. If you are staying in Galveston the night before try to get a hotel near seawall that has free Airport & cruise port shuttle. Oh and about spring break... While it does occur at slightly different dates for some schools you can sort of tell when the greatest number of spring break you will be on board your ship by the price of your cruise. As you look down the list of prices for the various dates at the Carnival site you will notice the price is almost double during the week of March 12th through March 19th. This is the most common Spring Break week for most schools.

Edited January 23, 2016 by Jana60

[Jana60]

As an example of price difference during spring break a seven day cruise on Carnival magic costs $859 for inner cabin on the March 13th thru 20th sailing but costs only $579 to $609 per person for an inner cabin any other week during the month of March.

[thedispatcher]

If it helps any we are about 45 minutes from Galveston and our spring break is March 6th.. Most of the southeastern Texas schools will have their spring break over with by April. We went on our first cruise in November from Galveston and everything went so smoothly, I was highly impressed. I hope your experience is similar!

 

Welcome to Texas ;)

[Jana60]

If it helps any we are about 45 minutes from Galveston and our spring break is March 6th.. Most of the southeastern Texas schools will have their spring break over with by April. We went on our first cruise in November from Galveston and everything went so smoothly, I was highly impressed. I hope your experience is similar!

 

Welcome to Texas ;)

 

Boy are you lucky! Both my sisters are school teachers and we always have to pay an arm and a leg for cruises at spring break time which for Oklahoma is March 14th thru the 18th and the weekends preceding and following. I wish I could take my sisters on a cruise for the cruise price of March 6th!

Edited January 23, 2016 by Jana60

[GradUT]

I have cruised twice out of Galveston on Carnival--outside of Spring Break--and the demographics have been, as stated above, primarily adults of all ages.

You may find a smattering of kids, but Spring Break will be over for the schools in Texas and for most of the U.S. So no worries about hordes of kids. And I have always found that Carnival does a good job of entertaining kids AWAY from the adults. (At the end of one of the Galveston Carnival cruises, the cruise director announced that there had been around 200 kids on the ship and I was gob-smacked. I probably had seen about a dozen of them.)

 

The vast majority of people cruising on the ships out of Galveston are from Texas, so that's why it's particularly casual. We Texans are laid-back folks and I think you'll find we are very friendly too.

[mexico5]

Thanks so much for all your help. No doubt Texans are a nice bunch of people!

[freedomcruiser891]

Thanks so much for all your help. No doubt Texans are a nice bunch of people!

 

 

Being a Texan I can say that the reason there's such a wide demographic is because it's Texas. We have some of the most diverse people ever....(Austin is the complete opposite of everywhere else). We've done the five day from Galveston a few times on triumph and freedom and we're doing it on Liberty in May. Usually it's a calm crowd in April but like others have said one week it's elderly people and the next week it's a bunch of college kids. It's usually just random. I wouldn't worry about it being a party crowd however. Us Texans are pretty laid back and just want to relax [emoji41]