Houston / Galveston - Car Rental and Hotel (Sept 2017 cruises) - Post Harvey

[salinator]

With Carnival and Royal Caribbean not cancelling cruises out of Port Galveston for Sept (2nd and onward), does anyone know the hotel and car rental situation in the city and what (if anything) they are saying on local news ?

 

My wife and I are scheduled to go out on the Breeze Sept10th cruise, and we are seriously considering changing our flight to go into San Antonio rather than Houston because we just do not know if our Hotel and Car Rental would be honored.

 

If we fly into Houston and have a Hotel ... that is not an issue. I do not need a car for that. But if we fly into houston and the hotel does not have our reserved room due to the housing situation in the city, and we cannot get a car because they too are all rented out ... we, and probably thousands of other cruisers are in deep trouble for a night.

 

Has anyone in the area heard about Hotel availability and Car Rental availability? I am really not trying to sound petty with the human toll Harvey has taken ... I just do not want to be temporarily hotel-less for an evening if i can prevent it.

[stressedmomof3]

Hi there from Houston ;)

 

The best answer I can give is for the car rental situation. On the local news station in Houston yesterday, they stated that most of the car rental agencies here in our area are giving most of their inventory to the people here impacted by Harvey as rentals. In my opinion if anyone has a car rental from IAH or HOU airports in the near future, I would triple check with your car rental agency that your rental will still be available and still have a back up plan just in case. Right now many places in Houston are still underwater or people can not get into their place of business or they are displaced. You may not get answers right away as some people are still trying to make it day by day here.

 

But go in knowing: When will the ships' shuttle depart the airport? What is the number for a local taxi or car service? Have a back up plan for your back up plan. Many, Many, people have lost their cars, so relying just on a taxi that "might be there" might not be good enough.

 

It's just too early to give definitive answers, I am sorry. But you should be fine going on your cruise, just go in knowing there could be potential delays and prepare for them.

[Debe7ing]

Please contact me by dm! We are on the same cruise, live in san antonio, and if you decide to do this we will help out! While we can offer you free transport from SA to the ship, we will be staying in the Houston area to help a elderly aunt for 3 days AFTERWARDS, so please be advised this is a ONE WAY offer!

[IndyDenise]

Please contact me by dm! We are on the same cruise, live in san antonio, and if you decide to do this we will help out! While we can offer you free transport from SA to the ship, we will be staying in the Houston area to help a elderly aunt for 3 days AFTERWARDS, so please be advised this is a ONE WAY offer!

 

 

 

This is incredibly kind of you. What a nice offer! I hope you have a wonderful cruise and much happiness to you and yours

 

 

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[salinator]

Please contact me by dm! We are on the same cruise, live in san antonio, and if you decide to do this we will help out! While we can offer you free transport from SA to the ship, we will be staying in the Houston area to help a elderly aunt for 3 days AFTERWARDS, so please be advised this is a ONE WAY offer!

 

That is incredibly generous offer in a very trying time for everyone. I truly appreciate the offer, but i do have a larger party (not simply my wife and I - i was trying to generalize for the post) :-)

 

God Bless you for the offer ... we will make it part of our vacation experience, and drag all along for the ride !!!

 

A.

[az_tchr]

Simply put you cannot count on either accommodation or cars in Houston. Hotels in Galveston had rooms available. If I had a cruise I would take a shuttle to Galveston. By the 10th things should be better. I also would definitely arrive a day ahead!

[melsblue]

With Carnival and Royal Caribbean not cancelling cruises out of Port Galveston for Sept (2nd and onward), does anyone know the hotel and car rental situation in the city and what (if anything) they are saying on local news ?

 

 

 

My wife and I are scheduled to go out on the Breeze Sept10th cruise, and we are seriously considering changing our flight to go into San Antonio rather than Houston because we just do not know if our Hotel and Car Rental would be honored.

 

 

 

If we fly into Houston and have a Hotel ... that is not an issue. I do not need a car for that. But if we fly into houston and the hotel does not have our reserved room due to the housing situation in the city, and we cannot get a car because they too are all rented out ... we, and probably thousands of other cruisers are in deep trouble for a night.

 

 

 

Has anyone in the area heard about Hotel availability and Car Rental availability? I am really not trying to sound petty with the human toll Harvey has taken ... I just do not want to be temporarily hotel-less for an evening if i can prevent it.

 

 

 

You're better off calling the hotel & rental company directly, to inquire if they have any availability. Even if they have some, I think you're safer flying into SA and doing the same when you return from your cruise.

 

 

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[melsblue]

You're better off calling the hotel & rental company directly, to inquire if they have any availability. Even if they have some, I think you're safer flying into SA and doing the same when you return from your cruise.

 

 

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Not to mention, with the amount of volunteers coming into the city between now & then and other travelers like yourself. SA sounds like the better choice. Don't want to miss your cruise.

 

 

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[Bruner1]

With so many of the vehicles in Houston being flooded out, there will be a high demand for rental cars. I agree with the others that flying into SA would probably be a better choice. That way you can get a rental car and drive to Galveston. I'd drive in the day before and stay in a Galveston hotel with a shuttle.

[cruisinmeme]

After the great flood of August 2016 in Louisiana rentals was gone before the water receded. Many got flooded and people started renting them immediately. Everyone lost their car to the flood. No hotels to be had. Full of people that flooded. FEMA came in and took over the rentals and hotels also.

It is a mystery when roads will open. I know there is closed intrastate between Louisiana and Texas so sure there will be the same all over Texas for awhile.

Good luck

I am just in shock cruise lines can fill a ship during peak hurricane season. Just not worth the grief.

[riclop]

Watch the weather channel, everything looks good.

[easyboy]

Hi there from Houston ;)

 

The best answer I can give is for the car rental situation. On the local news station in Houston yesterday, they stated that most of the car rental agencies here in our area are giving most of their inventory to the people here impacted by Harvey as rentals. In my opinion if anyone has a car rental from IAH or HOU airports in the near future, I would triple check with your car rental agency that your rental will still be available and still have a back up plan just in case. Right now many places in Houston are still underwater or people can not get into their place of business or they are displaced. You may not get answers right away as some people are still trying to make it day by day here.

 

But go in knowing: When will the ships' shuttle depart the airport? What is the number for a local taxi or car service? Have a back up plan for your back up plan. Many, Many, people have lost their cars, so relying just on a taxi that "might be there" might not be good enough.

 

It's just too early to give definitive answers, I am sorry. But you should be fine going on your cruise, just go in knowing there could be potential delays and prepare for them.

Very sound advice.

[LaShelle2]

Would you be able to use uber or a taxi service?

[JuliaMS]

I don't usually book hotel or transfers thru the ship but in this case it may be worth the higher cost to know a bus will be there to take you to the ship.

[galimeyer]

We cruised on the Carnival Freedom on the August 19th sailing. We are from CLT so I was really anxious how we were going to get to the port. My husband was leaning towards Uber/Lyft. I ended up booking Carnival transfers. We had a really good experience on the way there. We flew into IAH on the 19th and arrived at 7:40am. A Carnival rep was at baggage and he waited for us to collect our bags and then took us to the waiting area. The coach bus arrived at 10:30am. The times of the transfers day of is from 10am-1pm. It was $47 per person from IAH to Galveston.

 

I can't imagine that there will be many Uber/Lyft drivers since the Houston area flooded.

 

We booked transfers back from Galveston to IAH but weren't able to use them because of Harvey. We got a free ride from NOLA to the airport on the 26th.