Galveston vs Fort Lauderdale

[SugarStar00]

Every cruise I've taken has left from Florida with the exception of Baltimore which we drove to. ( we live in New England) I'm debating between the conquest out of Fort Lauderdale or the freedom out of Galveston next April 1st. Are there a lot of differences leaving from Texas? I know you can't buy cheers until second day but what about flight prices/ distance few airport to port etc. also if you've been on both ships is one better than the other? The trip from Texas is about $400 cheaper but not sure now much more it will cost to fly, hotel, shuttle etc.

thanks for any insight.

Jen

[poz222]

Take a look at the homeport sections for Galveston. It is a HUGE pain and $$$ to get there from Houston... Especially compared to FLL where you can practically walk to the port from the airport! You will eat into that $400 easily between transportation and hotel IMO

[Denversail]

We traveled out of Galveston last month cause we thought it would be cheaper. We were wrong. Transportation wasn't cheap and was a hassle. They don't allow uber. The closest airport to pier is about 45 minutes. U should carefully consider all these things before picking Galveston.

 

 

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[mistycruiser]

Galveston is more of a hassle to cruise from if you are flying in. There are 2 airports in Houston, IAH and HOU. The closest is HOU and mainly served by Southwest. It's about 45 minutes from HOU to Galveston. IAH serves most of the other airlines and is about 75 minutes to Galveston. Transfers to Galveston from Houston are pricier because of the distance to Galveston from the 2 different airports. I think we paid approximately $75 pp round trip.

We cruised from there in January on the Magic. We flew in the day before and stayed at a hotel by the HOU airport and then went back to the airport the morning of the cruise and took the cruiseline shuttle. They do have some private shuttles you can book that are cheaper than the cruiseline but it's best to book them in advance or they fill up. We found that the hotels in Houston were much cheaper than going to Galveston the previous night and many of the hotels in Galveston also wanted a 2 night minimum stay.

So yes it is not as easy as either Miami or Fort Lauderdale but if the price is enough of a difference it can still end up cheaper. JMHO

[misguidedangel]

The only reason I have cruised out of Galveston is because that is where the ship was ported out of.

 

Transportation--it took as long as two hours+ to go from Houston IAH to our hotel in Galveston the first time..second time, after a 2.5 hour wait, it took an hour and a half, so it took as long to get to the hotel as it did to fly to Houston. Hobby is closer, so the last cruise it took around an hour, but still took around 90 minutes to get to Galveston with the wait and drive. FLL your less than 30 minutes away from the airport. Personally, I like Florida ports, but if given an option, I would go out of New Orleans everytime...love cruising down river!

 

Hotel--wide choice, and price....so same as FLL...alas, I think some of the hotels in Florida handle guests better because they have more ships year round.

 

Trip to port--you'll need to get there by cab and cabs on Galveston are limited.

 

Debarkation nightmare--that is the only port I hate going through customs....hate hate hate...the "Non US" line isn't just for non US citizens, they'll put US citizens in that line too, and sometimes, like when the ship went to Belize, it takes longer to clear.....I stood in line for 90 minutes one cruise and there was only eight groups of four or less people ahead of me....90 minutes...the line to my left was BC/DL line and it was moving at least 100X faster than our line...felt sorry for the porter two groups behind me.....

 

Weather--Florida is nice year round....Galveston, uhm, perhaps in Spring it gets nicer, but in winter it can be iffy.....and FOG, ya, FOG......numerous times the ship is fogged in and can't leave or fogged out and can't get in...

[Elaine5715]

As stated above, Galveston is notorious for delays due to fog by hours and even days ( Tampa, also) during winter months.

[MMastell]

Galveston is not "Fly-In" friendly. You will need to budget $75 to $100 for transportation for either IAH or HOU airports to get there. It is advisable to book a hotel for the day before the cruise and that will add even more to any cost savings.

 

Galveston is a great drive-to port. We drove to Dallas, stayed at my brother's and then did the long drive to Galveston. It was easy but time consuming. We have flown into IAH and it took us over two hours from luggage pick up to arriving at our hotel in Galveston.

 

Port Everglades (FLL) is probably the easiest port if you fly into. Especially if you fly into FLL and not MIA.

 

Take care,

Mike

[SugarStar00]

Thank you so much everyone! You confirmed what I thought would be true! Conquest it is!!! [emoji3]

[Beach_gal]

^^^ What everyone above said!

 

While our Galveston cruise was by far one of our favorites because of the awesome Texans we met (and have remained friends with <3) it was a pain in the arse to fly in and get to port.

 

Then when we were actually in Galveston the night before, we weren't in walking distance to any grocery or drug stores -- we had to cab to the market.

[Beach_gal]

Thank you so much everyone! You confirmed what I thought would be true! Conquest it is!!! [emoji3]

 

Oh we just got off the Conquest!!! You lucky duck!! That's an awesome itinerary :) Enjoy!

[chicacruiser]

That's so funny because G-ton is OUR home port and we've sailed out for there 6-7 times. We drive and park the car for the week, have never had weather issues sailing out and debarkation was moving along. We're flying to Ft L because it's much less than the rates we were getting for G-ton. Freedom was a nice ship but we're excited to be back on conquest as we've sailed on it from G-ton.