Flight home from Houston after Galveston cruise

[cruiseguy1016]

We have a cruise booked on Liberty out of Galveston next March. We have never cruised out of Galveston before. I am starting to look at flights home after the cruise. I realize there are still some uncertainties after Covid but, what is the earliest time you would recommend for a flight from Houston after we disembark in Galveston?

Edited July 17, 2021 by cruiseguy1016

[JBSteelerfan]

6 minutes ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

We have a cruise booked on Liberty out of Galveston next March. We have never cruised out of Galveston before. I am starting to look at flights home after the cruise. I realize there are still some uncertainties after Covid but, what is the earliest time you would recommend for a flight from Houston after we disembark in Galveston?

 

Depends on which airport you will be flying from.  If Hobby, which is closer to Galveston, you can probably do a little earlier, maybe 11, 1130 or so.  If from Bush airport which is north of Houston, definitely allow more time to get up there.  I think Royal usually recommends not booking flights till noon.

 

  Also, fog can sometimes be an issue at that time of the year getting ships back into Galveston.  One time we didn't dock till about 11am when they reopened the port.

[BecciBoo]

We've taken folks to their flights at Hobby several times, no problem with flight after 11:00am.  We drive but they had to fly.  We dropped them off in front and they had no problems making it.  YOu have to self disembark though.  WE do that all the time.  Always off by around 7:30-8:00 then give yourself an hour to get over to airport.  Shuttles are also available, might be better to just sign up for RCCL's shuttle, no worries.  I think I remember they send your bags right to your bus.

[cruisegus]

6 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

We've taken folks to their flights at Hobby several times, no problem with flight after 11:00am.  We drive but they had to fly.  We dropped them off in front and they had no problems making it.  YOu have to self disembark though.  WE do that all the time.  Always off by around 7:30-8:00 then give yourself an hour to get over to airport.  Shuttles are also available, might be better to just sign up for RCCL's shuttle, no worries.  I think I remember they send your bags right to your bus.

January to March are the prevalent months.  Average number of annual fog days is 14.  Some years more, some less and some years - none.

 

We have sailed from Galveston in Jan-Feb; 6 times now 3 have had fog delays worst was no walk offs till 10:30 am, we just barely made it through to our 1:30 flight from George Bush.

 

Just beware of what can happen

[cruiseguy1016]

We'll be flying out IAH. It looks like there is a flight at 3:30. If fog isn't an issue, I assume a 3:30 flight would be okay?

[Tippyton]

3 minutes ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

We'll be flying out IAH. It looks like there is a flight at 3:30. If fog isn't an issue, I assume a 3:30 flight would be okay?

You will have plenty of time.

[jcc1025]

Yes, we have gone out of IAH several times, always take the ships bus transportation and have never been to the airport later than 11:00. If you get in early they have some great places to eat in that airport. 

[PigsCanFly]

We cruised out of Galveston once 2-3 years ago.  We flew in and out of Hobby, but  we stayed overnight in Houston at both ends and booked and used a limo service to get to/from the ship to the hotel. The BW provided shuttle from/to the airport.  It all went well. I believe the limo was Groundlink.

[BecciBoo]

3 hours ago, cruisegus said:

January to March are the prevalent months.  Average number of annual fog days is 14.  Some years more, some less and some years - none.

 

We have sailed from Galveston in Jan-Feb; 6 times now 3 have had fog delays worst was no walk offs till 10:30 am, we just barely made it through to our 1:30 flight from George Bush.

 

Just beware of what can happen

Only had that bad fog one time in over 18 cruises out of G. I am well aware of what can happen.  We used to live in San ANtonio.  Fog is generally gone by March.

Edited July 18, 2021 by BecciBoo

[DCPIV]

4 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

We'll be flying out IAH. It looks like there is a flight at 3:30. If fog isn't an issue, I assume a 3:30 flight would be okay?

 

That should be no problem even if fog comes into play. 

[Ozark_Kid]

6 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

We'll be flying out IAH. It looks like there is a flight at 3:30. If fog isn't an issue, I assume a 3:30 flight would be okay?

Flying out of IAH after a Galveston cruise I book at 2:00 or later for an easy going stress free flight.  I have had plenty of time.  No need at all to be concerned for a 3:30 flight.

[Tapi]

On 7/17/2021 at 8:44 AM, JBSteelerfan said:

Also, fog can sometimes be an issue at that time of the year getting ships back into Galveston.  One time we didn't dock till about 11am when they reopened the port.

Yup. Gulf coast ports are prone to fog during that time of year. One time we didn’t dock until 5pm. The fog cleared around 11am but we had to wait in queue for hours for our turn in.
 

The cruise line quickly turned it into another “day at sea”, reopened bars, the buffet and the casino, and even distributed a list of activities. It was flawless, and definitely something they’d dealt with before.
 

But even though they allowed passengers to stay in their cabins until 4pm, many passengers vacated their cabins early and were just hanging out in public areas with their carry on luggage all day long, I guess hoping that we’d be cleared in early. Some people in our group did miss their flights and ended flying to ATL on an evening flight where they spent the night before continuing on to Columbus, OH the following morning. 

[Teeara]

What's it like in mid November?  We'll be coming into Galveston on the Allure TA.  Any fog then?

[Capt Stuebing]

26 minutes ago, Teeara said:

What's it like in mid November?  We'll be coming into Galveston on the Allure TA.  Any fog then?

 

November is typically fog free. Dec-April can be bad at times. It really just depends on how bad the winter is over North America. The cold air from Canada push through and down south to the Gulf of Mexico and eventualy to the East.  When they pass through the warm Gulf air moves back over land and this creates the fog.  The cold fronts can sometime make it all the down in November but the land is still relatively warm. You should be fine.