Choosing Liberty out of Galveston, worth the "hassle"?

[CanadaRob]

We were looking at Galveston for a family cruise in 2020 for our 50th Anniversary, but after my daughter sailed out of that port in February, she said she would never sail out of there again, even though it is cheaper for them to fly there from Minot, ND than to Florida. Their ship was delayed docking upon return until 3:30pm because of dense fog. They missed their 4pm flight, had to scramble to find a hotel, and ended up paying more than if they flew to Florida. So, our anniversary cruise is going to be out of Port Canaveral.

 

I also had a Feb fog cruise, missed my flight had a hotel overnight and flew out next day. Not a great experience as I'm sure your daughter can attest. Even with the cost of an extra night hotel and the hassle of rebooking we are booked for 2020 out of Galveston(before that will do Bayonne, PC and Boston)

[Laurin612]

We cruised out of Galveston a few years ago on Carnival. We flew into Houston, rented a car at the airport and drove to Galveston. We stayed one night in Galveston and really enjoyed it, and the hotel where we stayed allowed us to park our rental car for free while we were on on our cruise. We'd do it again.

[proggieus]

We had a great time on Liberty out of Galveston. I didnt view the process of getting to/from the port to be a hassle at all..just part of the trip. Each trip has it's hurdles and if the hardest thing I've got navigate is a hours drive thats not enough for me to view it as an issue.

 

 

How about 6 hours from the time you disembarked to the time you got back to Houston-

 

And that was with a car parked across the street at the pier parking.

 

That’s what our friends faced in February.

[internetwhiz]

How about 6 hours from the time you disembarked to the time you got back to Houston-

 

 

 

And that was with a car parked across the street at the pier parking.

 

 

 

That’s what our friends faced in February.

 

 

What were the unusual factors that day. Must have been some. In the 15 times I’ve sailed from there it has never taken that long.

[LeesSummitCruiser1]

Been looking at this one myself, just because it's only a few hours drive from home.

 

But I'm not so sure about a smaller ship, that might have less in the way of onboard activities...

 

Liberty is not a smaller ship.

[LeesSummitCruiser1]

I have been trolling the boards and there is a lot of not so great feedback regarding Galveston as a port. I love the Liberty itinerary that includes Honduras and Belize, but with an hour transportation minimum to and from the airport, it is seeming cumbersome and costly. Adding a rental car, and extra hotels on both ends can get quite costly.

 

I LOVE the Oasis class ships, but wanted to try something different. Thoughts?

We had a great time on Liberty in March 2017. We had over 50 people in our informal group. Some flew in and got a bus to the Island the day before. Some drove from the Kansas City area and stayed in Houston the day before and then parked at the port. Some used the stay and park at hotels on the island. Everyone had a great time and would do it again. We were on the Rotan, Belize, Cozumel route. Would do that again in a heartbeat.

[proggieus]

What were the unusual factors that day. Must have been some. In the 15 times I’ve sailed from there it has never taken that long.

 

 

what will be the unusual factors the day Op departs or returns?

 

and apparently nothing that happened that day was particularly unusual-

 

 

fog closed the port for a few hours and then traffic.

 

 

both are well known issues with the port

[sredish]

Wasn't a hassle for us, at all. I've sailed out of Galveston four times and never considered it a hassle, honestly. Flew in from PHX on Southwest the day before. We used Uber to get to the island, we stayed at Moody Gardens the night before, had dinner at The Spot, then met up with a great group from CC for after dinner drinks in the lobby bar, used Uber to get to the port at around 10:30 am, were on the ship around 11:00 am. Easy, peasy!

[CGBCruiser]

Port Canaveral is an hour or so away from the airport in Orlando.

Nobody really complains about that and calls it a hassle...

 

Civitavecchia is at least an hour from Rome and much more expensive to get to than from Houston to Galveston. Everybody still goes, including me. ;p;p;p

[Goodtime Cruizin]

We were looking at Galveston for a family cruise in 2020 for our 50th Anniversary, but after my daughter sailed out of that port in February, she said she would never sail out of there again, even though it is cheaper for them to fly there from Minot, ND than to Florida. Their ship was delayed docking upon return until 3:30pm because of dense fog. They missed their 4pm flight, had to scramble to find a hotel, and ended up paying more than if they flew to Florida. So, our anniversary cruise is going to be out of Port Canaveral.

 

Like the weather in ND, it also changes in Galveston based on the season. I don't think I'd enjoy flying into ND in the dead of winter either. My point is, unless your anniversary is in Jan/Feb/March, you won't have any issues w/ fog in Galveston. Come to think about it, I'm willing to bet there was more flight cancellations to ND this past winter/spring than there was late Cruise Ship arrivals or delays in Galveston.

[lkmcginnis]

We are sailing on the Liberty in July, so I am not concerned with fog. We do have an afternoon flight out of Hobby on the day we get back. Is it better to let them take your luggage or carry it off ourselves? We have booked transportation to the airport through RCI.

 

Thanks in advance.

[39august]

With an afternoon flight there is no need to carry off your luggage unless you just like to do it. You can get an earlier number to debark if you don't like what you are assigned. There is no luggage valet in Galveston if that is what you meant.

[George C]

With an afternoon flight there is no need to carry off your luggage unless you just like to do it. You can get an earlier number to debark if you don't like what you are assigned. There is no luggage valet in Galveston if that is what you meant.

 

Agree you are only 40 mins from hobby anything after noon should be fine

[lkmcginnis]

With an afternoon flight there is no need to carry off your luggage unless you just like to do it. You can get an earlier number to debark if you don't like what you are assigned. There is no luggage valet in Galveston if that is what you meant.

Thank you!

[lkmcginnis]

Agree you are only 40 mins from hobby anything after noon should be fine

Thank you!

[lbjen]

what will be the unusual factors the day Op departs or returns?

 

and apparently nothing that happened that day was particularly unusual-

 

 

fog closed the port for a few hours and then traffic.

 

 

 

both are well known issues with the port

 

I’ve not heard of the roads being closed for fog before and I’ve lived here for 5 years.

 

 

Other than there being an accident on I-45, I can’t really think of another reason for a person to be delayed for so long, and 6 hours delay for an accident just doesn’t add up.

[proggieus]

I’ve not heard of the roads being closed for fog before and I’ve lived here for 5 years.

 

 

Other than there being an accident on I-45, I can’t really think of another reason for a person to be delayed for so long, and 6 hours delay for an accident just doesn’t add up.

 

 

I never said the roads were closed due to fog-

 

the port was-

 

 

 

nor did i say they were delayed for an accident-

 

so not only did you have everybody trying to get off the ship at basically the exact same time but you also had the majority of the oncoming passengers coming in to get on at the same time.

 

 

they walked off the ship 1:45.

 

at 8:30 Pm they finally got north of Houston

 

some of that was waiting for customs, some was trying to get back into the port to pick up the rest of the family and get luggage. and some was traffic.

 

by the time they actually got on the road it was 4:30 PM on sunday night of mardi gras weekend. figure it out

[cruisinggrandma57]

I just went on LOS 4/22/18. I flew into Hobby airport on Friday 4/20/18 and used Txairportcar.com. Dwayne is the owner. I used to hotel Moody Gardens and back to airport after cruise. I had no problem and it was only $95 each way. I will use txairportcar again.

[catjohnsn2]

We've been sailing out of Galveston since RCCL first sailed from there. We sailed on the Rhapsody multiple times, Voyager, Navigator, and Liberty; going on Liberty again in October. We live in Texas and a 4 hour drive as opposed to flying, enables us to upgrade to a Grand Suite. We are older and not port intensive travelers because we've already been there. We LOVE the service we get on RCCL and the Suite Perks. Most of the time we only get off the ship in Cozumel where we go to Nachi Cocum, a private beach resort.

 

I've read tons of posts on this site complaining about the long waits in Customs but we've never had to wait that long. The issue in Galveston Customs always seems to be the folks that carry their own luggage off the ship. It backs up everything but once you get off the ship, into custom, and find your luggage, it's pretty smooth sailing.

 

In the 90's I sailed Holland America with my parents and loved it but we would have to fly to get to any of their departure ports and we just don't like to fly. I've sailed Carnival out of Galveston and RCCL is a much better fit for us. It all depends on what you are looking for and RCCL ticks all the boxes for us!

[JimAOk1945]

I agree. We love Royal Caribbean and are glad that it is available out of Galveston. We are looking forward to another cruise on Liberty of the Seas in December over Christmas week. I would like to see more of a choice of itineraries out of Galveston. We often fly to have a variety of itineraries, but for now Galveston is a good alternative.

 

I agree with the previous post that the carry off baggage causes the back up during disembarkation, but there isn't anything can be done about it.

 

In the meantime, let's all enjoy the opportunity to go and see the world. Happy Travels everyone wherever you go next.

 

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[dplusd]

I love the Liberty (ship and crew) and for us it's an easy drive from Dallas. But, if I were going to get on an airplane to cruise, I would choose a Florida port. I certainly would not fly to Houston for a winter (Dec - Mar) cruise for two reasons. 1) the risk of fog delay which can play havoc with flights, and 2) the weather will likely be too cool to enjoy the outdoor for the first and last day of the cruise.

 

We're moving from Dallas to Ohio later this year and will probably cancel our scheduled December B2B on Liberty and replace it with one out of Florida.

[jcc1025]

We live in CA so there is some hassle for us no matter what Royal ship we go on. But we love their ships and have never had a bad cruise, not that there were not issues here and there but not ones to get all worked up or act like, when we bought a ticket was bought the boat. So we are Loyal to Royal and have done lots of different ports. We are taking our third Galveston cruise in a couple of months and while its a little bit of a challenge getting out to the island we don't mind. Cruises out of here are lower priced and we really like Liberty, although Allure/Oasis is by far our favorite. As long as you remember, your on vacation, calm down and be prepared for a little drive, turn up the music and enjoy some of the sights. Some times I think people get more uptight on vaction than they do at home. I know you spent the money and you want it to all go right, but just enjoy the experience. So I would say Galveston is worth any hassle you get from taking a drive out to the island.

[nealstuber]

We live in CA so there is some hassle for us no matter what Royal ship we go on. But we love their ships and have never had a bad cruise, not that there were not issues here and there but not ones to get all worked up or act like, when we bought a ticket was bought the boat. So we are Loyal to Royal and have done lots of different ports. We are taking our third Galveston cruise in a couple of months and while its a little bit of a challenge getting out to the island we don't mind. Cruises out of here are lower priced and we really like Liberty, although Allure/Oasis is by far our favorite. As long as you remember, your on vacation, calm down and be prepared for a little drive, turn up the music and enjoy some of the sights. Some times I think people get more uptight on vaction than they do at home. I know you spent the money and you want it to all go right, but just enjoy the experience. So I would say Galveston is worth any hassle you get from taking a drive out to the island.

 

 

 

Good point. From the West Coast, “Hassle” is relative term. An extra 15-30 minutes getting from the airport to the ship Vs a couple extra hours on the plane and perhaps a connection, one hour less jet lag ta boot.

 

 

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[TEXASMUNK]

Just a few counterpoints. Porters: smiling friendly and courteous. Check-in, with new terminal a breeze. Passengers...smiling, friendly and courteous. Crew: absolutely great, they reflect the customers and enjoy their jobs! Ship: Perfect, never feels crowded. Even in a crowd, you can get thru. Entertainment: thought the ship , great. Better than competitors "high school" caliber shows on other lines. We have used Galveston since the port opened, and will continue to do so in the future.

[Atascocita Mom]

Houstonian here - obviously Galveston makes perfect sense for us since it's so close. But I live on the north side of Houston (near IAH) and unless there's been an accident, or it's a holiday weekend, it's no more than an hour drive to the pier, which is the first exit on the island. Like others have said, if the 2 night stay thing is an issue, I'd recommend staying in Clear Lake, Webster, or Pearland. It's not a long drive from there to the island.

 

We actually rent a party bus to pick us up at the house and drop us off at the pier. That was exceptional.

We found the port staff to be friendly and helpful, and I'll recommend getting a Jr. Suite or above - the expedited boarding was worth it alone.

 

Drinks - we didn't have any issues getting alcohol. Brands are limited, but it isn't really an issue. Once on board, snag a good view spot at the Windjammer and someone will be around with the Drink of the Day in minutes.