Parking Lot price increases in Galveston

[nlktx49]

I've been using EZ Cruise parking in Galveston, and lately they've been increasing their charge. In September it was $121.79 for an 8 day cruise. Just booked for November 5 cruise and it's gone up to $136.40. Both higher than what they charged in April for an 8 day.

 

I've sent a message to them asking them why the price increases and if this is going to continue, haven't heard back. Someone had posted on FB saying that the Galveston Port Authority is now charging the parking lot shuttle vans $25 each time they enter the lot. I can see where that would add up.

 

Perhaps they are trying to get more business for their lot. They are now charging $110 for an 8 day cruise.

 

Does anyone have any info on this? Have other parking lots in Galveston increased their prices?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             EZ Cruise is very good, I'd like to continue to use them. The lot I previously used since 2008 had gone way downhill since the pandemic and is now permanently closed.

[Lane Hog]

If they're charging Lyft and Uber, the port chart for shuttles wouldn't surprise me, but I'd think they'd be on a fixed access rate vs. per visit.

Regardless, expenses for fuel are up.  Way up/  Do you need any more of a justification for passing that cost to customers?... I'm sure wages and other expenses are probably up as well.

 

At least Costco is holding firm on the hot dog combo.  They might be the last one standing on price increases.... 

[Host Carolyn]

It's

 

[Joebucks]

What kind of information are you trying to find? The cost of nearly everything has gone up. Do you expect to be grandfathered into some previous price just because?

 

13 hours ago, Lane Hog said:

At least Costco is holding firm on the hot dog combo.  They might be the last one standing on price increases.... 

 

It's amazing the amount of press one of the cheapest food items around gets. Let alone the decline of the quality and loss of condiment options. 

[Galveston Cruiser]

All commercial vehicles accessing the port must pay a fee.  As stated above, fuel and labor costs have increased exponentially.  In addition, property taxes on the island (all over) have increased dramatically. As in any entity, the consumer pays for the increased costs as an owner/operator cannot operate at a loss.

[txjim09]

I just paid $167 for a 10-day cruise in December for EZ Park.  Yes, it does seem a bit expensive for the area and we could stay at a hotel that offers free parking and even a shuttle.  My thoughts are that it will be very nice to walk off the ship and walk to the car rather that waiting for a Lyft or shuttle.  

 

Paying $168 for reservations at the new RC terminal parking for a 7 day cruise on the Allure.  It's not in the covered garage but still close to the new pier. Same thing, this gives me a bit more control over my destiny.

On 9/30/2022 at 6:55 PM, Host Carolyn said:

It's

 

You ok?????🙂

Edited October 2, 2022 by txjim09

[Lane Hog]

 

On 10/1/2022 at 7:18 AM, Joebucks said:

It's amazing the amount of press one of the cheapest food items around gets. Let alone the decline of the quality and loss of condiment options. 

Well, admittedly I'm a fan of the combo so I haven't noticed the press.  It's my cheat day go-to.  I haven't noticed a loss of either condiments or quality... they did disappear for a while during COVID but the self-serve catsup/mustard/relish have been back for the last six months.  Sam's still has only the drive-thru packets.

I just saw an article where the average grocery bill has gone up by 17%, not including meat.  Eggs and poultry are up 31%.  That's going to have to manifest itself in pricing for other products including cruises... 

[cruiselvr04]

Parking at the new pier if covered will be over $185 for a week.  Yikes!  However to put it in perspective flying to Florida is a lot more.  Our flights in December were almost $800 plus a overnight stay in Miami pushed the pre cost to over 1k rather then around $350 to drive, overnight and park in Galveston.  So yes it’s a lot but still cheaper to drive by far.  

[ssb]

There are privately owned parking lots with shuttles that charge a lot less .

 

 

[cynt]

We just pre-paid $97 for parking over Thanksgiving weekend for 4 nights North lot. I don't mind paying a hundred bucks to park and not have to full with holiday airline travel. I've been looking at the Port of Galveston webcam and it seems like the North lot to the terminal is walkable so we don't need to bother with shuttles. Time will tell I reckon. 

[SunSeekerEBS]

3 hours ago, cynt said:

We just pre-paid $97 for parking over Thanksgiving weekend for 4 nights North lot. I don't mind paying a hundred bucks to park and not have to full with holiday airline travel. I've been looking at the Port of Galveston webcam and it seems like the North lot to the terminal is walkable so we don't need to bother with shuttles. Time will tell I reckon. 

Hi Cynt, where is this lot? Can you send over the name (or is this part of the cruise lines lot)? We're new to parking so not sure where to go but we don't really want to shuttle and would rather be within walking distance. Thanks!

[cynt]

5 hours ago, SunSeekerEBS said:

Hi Cynt, where is this lot? Can you send over the name (or is this part of the cruise lines lot)? We're new to parking so not sure where to go but we don't really want to shuttle and would rather be within walking distance. Thanks!

 

Terminal/Pier 10 the new Royal terminal.

 

https://www.portofgalveston.com/91/Cruise-Parking--General-Information

[CruisingHogFan]

On 9/30/2022 at 4:49 PM, nlktx49 said:

I've been using EZ Cruise parking in Galveston, and lately they've been increasing their charge. In September it was $121.79 for an 8 day cruise. Just booked for November 5 cruise and it's gone up to $136.40. Both higher than what they charged in April for an 8 day.

 

I've sent a message to them asking them why the price increases and if this is going to continue, haven't heard back. Someone had posted on FB saying that the Galveston Port Authority is now charging the parking lot shuttle vans $25 each time they enter the lot. I can see where that would add up.

 

Perhaps they are trying to get more business for their lot. They are now charging $110 for an 8 day cruise.

 

Does anyone have any info on this? Have other parking lots in Galveston increased their prices?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             EZ Cruise is very good, I'd like to continue to use them. The lot I previously used since 2008 had gone way downhill since the pandemic and is now permanently closed.

Do you honestly not understand why the increase in price in todays economy?? They are small business owners just like a lot of us and have to do what they need to do. 

[cruisegus]

Most are not taking into account the Port of Galveston new lots at Terminal 10's new pricing (which rivals Miami & Bayonne now) has allowed the once competitive private lots to also raise their prices to match, well almost match, they are all slightly cheaper than the Port.

You can blame some on inflation, but 40-50 increase that I am seeing for next year compared to last month rate, reserved in spring, is All on Galveston Wharves pricing structure 

Edited October 31, 2022 by cruisegus

[Inconspicuous]

On 10/31/2022 at 4:50 PM, cruisegus said:

Most are not taking into account the Port of Galveston new lots at Terminal 10's new pricing (which rivals Miami & Bayonne now) has allowed the once competitive private lots to also raise their prices to match, well almost match, they are all slightly cheaper than the Port.

You can blame some on inflation, but 40-50 increase that I am seeing for next year compared to last month rate, reserved in spring, is All on Galveston Wharves pricing structure 

 

As I started searching for parking for an upcoming cruise I was wondering if your first point above was more of a driver of these increases than the inflation/property taxes/port access fees and such going up.  I paid $75 for 7 nights of covered parking in an enclosed warehouse type building at Port Parking for a cruise in March 2020, and now that same lot is wanting $175 for 7 nights in September 2024.  

 

I thought to myself "geesh, Port Parking went crazy over the past 4 years!  Gotta be better options out there."  So I go out searching and found most of the lots have dramatically increased their rates as well and there isn't much to be saved by going elsewhere and keeping covered (with access to EV charging that I would like to have as well).  Seems like they all saw that cruisers are willing to pay the higher rates and took advantage of that fact....and it seems like there isn't really a great mechanism of competition forcing them to lower their prices.

 

Anyway, with all that said, has anyone run across good covered parking options in Galveston recently?  EV charging access would be nice but not a necessity.  I see a lot of Google reviews for other private lots indicating slow pickup times at the port upon return; hoping to avoid that also.  I can walk it on my own if it's close enough to the port.  Thanks!

[kitten816]

Taking a 12 day cruise, can’t find a parking lot for that make days. Does anyone know where there’s extended parking? 

[Texas Tillie]

29 minutes ago, kitten816 said:

Taking a 12 day cruise, can’t find a parking lot for that make days. Does anyone know where there’s extended parking? 

 

Might have to pay for 14 days. Don't know why they wouldn't book a back to back.

[c-leg5]

17 hours ago, kitten816 said:

Taking a 12 day cruise, can’t find a parking lot for that make days. Does anyone know where there’s extended parking? 

Is this in the near future? 
 

We have used Lighthouse parking and they have had extended rates. For B2B you have to book two separate weeks/sailings but no discount.

[kitten816]

7 hours ago, c-leg5 said:

Is this in the near future? 
 

We have used Lighthouse parking and they have had extended rates. For B2B you have to book two separate weeks/sailings but no discount.

Thank you, I might just have to do that! This isn’t until January! 

[c-leg5]

2 hours ago, kitten816 said:

Thank you, I might just have to do that! This isn’t until January! 

That is probably your problem. I don’t think prices are released that far in advance.

 

I can’t speak for other parking lots as we have used lighthouse for years for the old terminal. The website isn’t the most user friendly but you can always phone and discuss. 

[ggTexasGal]

@kitten816 If you haven't already made your reservation for parking, have you checked https://www.patriotcruiseparking.com/?

We used their facility this past January.  We found the their services to be good, with friendly helpful employees, and will be using their facility again January 2025!

[Inconspicuous]

21 minutes ago, ggTexasGal said:

@kitten816 If you haven't already made your reservation for parking, have you checked https://www.patriotcruiseparking.com/?

We used their facility this past January.  We found the their services to be good, with friendly helpful employees, and will be using their facility again January 2025!

 

I took a look at Patriot/Falstaff previously and some of their Google reviews are really bad.  Sounds like if there is any rain at all you and your car will be trapped in the lot until the waters recede.  They also apparently have issues with keeping the pickup shuttles running in a timely manner.  I see their reviews over the past month look a lot better. 

[ggTexasGal]

4 minutes ago, Inconspicuous said:

 

I took a look at Patriot/Falstaff previously and some of their Google reviews are really bad.  Sounds like if there is any rain at all you and your car will be trapped in the lot until the waters recede.  They also apparently have issues with keeping the pickup shuttles running in a timely manner.  I see their reviews over the past month look a lot better. 

Interesting information.  (I suppose that could happen easily enough during heavy rains.)

I guess we were very lucky in January for our one week cruise, as we had no rain during our embarkation and disembarkation days.  Because of our experience this year, we will be using them again in January for a two week cruise.  Hopefully, we'll be lucky then also!

[GJustice]

13 hours ago, ggTexasGal said:

Interesting information.  (I suppose that could happen easily enough during heavy rains.)

I guess we were very lucky in January for our one week cruise, as we had no rain during our embarkation and disembarkation days.  Because of our experience this year, we will be using them again in January for a two week cruise.  Hopefully, we'll be lucky then also!

We've been using them since before Covid and while they HAVE had some issues, not the least of which is a sale/change of management and poor planning by the City of Galveston that ripped up all the streets around them for months to upgrade the storm drainage system. They let me rollover paid parking for 9 cruises during Covid without making me pay a cancel/rebook penalty. Been very happy with them and the website gets better every time I visit. Actually got a promo code email this week for 10% off if you book in April (APRIL10). As far as being trapped, at least their building is ABOVE the flood line, so you car might be trapped high and dry and NOT submerged like it can be in the garages closer to the terminals.