Why is the 7-day Galveston to Western Caribbean & Mexico cruise so much cheaper than all the other 7-day cruises?

[1412p0oi]

Specifically I'm just really curious why this cruise in particular is significantly cheaper than all the other 7-day Caribbean cruises I've seen. The Galveston Regal Princess cruise can be booked for $325-$600 total (depending on your website and when you check), but all the other Caribbean 7-day cruises seem to be over $1000 for the displayed price of an interior room. 

 

The price was actually the reason I booked this cruise, but I'm seeing such a price difference for the 2025 cruises too so this made me curious. Destination-wise, all these Caribbean beach ports seem to be similar enough that it doesn't matter that much which one you go to. If anyone has a hypothesis, please do share. 

[satxdiver]

Partly due to competition.  Carnival and RCL both have the same cruises to the same ports out of Galveston.  PCL left the area 6 or so years ago and are now trying to return and build up a clientele so lower prices! 

[PacnGoNow]

6 hours ago, 1412p0oi said:

Specifically I'm just really curious why this cruise in particular is significantly cheaper than all the other 7-day Caribbean cruises I've seen. The Galveston Regal Princess cruise can be booked for $325-$600 total (depending on your website and when you check), but all the other Caribbean 7-day cruises seem to be over $1000 for the displayed price of an interior room. 

 

The price was actually the reason I booked this cruise, but I'm seeing such a price difference for the 2025 cruises too so this made me curious. Destination-wise, all these Caribbean beach ports seem to be similar enough that it doesn't matter that much which one you go to. If anyone has a hypothesis, please do share. 

A business move. Attract new cruisers. Get them hooked.

[avonlady6390]

From what I understand is the closest airport is a ways away which means getting to the port longer time and more planing along with flying home the same day of course it's good for those not to far from the port and can drive.  For those of us in Florida it would not make sense to take a cruise out of Galveston even with cheaper fares.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Also (possibly) it could be due to Galveston being much closer to the itinerary stops...less fuel required.  IDK

[memoak]

Supply and demand ?  Are they taking longer to fill ?

[cjpj]

Why is it cheaper? Have you ever cruised out of Galvestan? Far from the airport and mainly Mexican ports of call = cheap.

Edited December 16, 2023 by cjpj

[Shippy]

BECAUSE IT IS GALVESTON !

   Did our first & probably last Galveston cruise a little over a month ago.

We fly out of San Francisco & I thought this would be a lot easier than going to Florida.

    WRONG

Horrible port...etc.

[satxdiver]

On 12/16/2023 at 10:35 AM, avonlady6390 said:

From what I understand is the closest airport is a ways away which means getting to the port longer time and more planing along with flying home the same day of course it's good for those not to far from the port and can drive.  For those of us in Florida it would not make sense to take a cruise out of Galveston even with cheaper fares.

HOU is about 40 miles and IAH is 70 miles.  IAH is located on the far north side of Houston requiring a drive through the center of Houston and commonly called Intercontinental or Bush..  HOU is on the near south side in a not too nice of an area and is mainly used by SWA  and named Hobby.  Hobby is the original Houston airport before Intercontinental was built..  

[TravelPhotoGeek]

I'd say it's simple supply and demand at this point.  I'm looking to sail over spring break in 2024, and there is ample cabin availability.  This is less than 90 days out at this point.  For two cabins, I can book two mini-suite balconies for $5k without any extras.  For the Harmony of the Seas on the same dates, two ocean view balconies will run $12k if booked now.

 

I think much of it has to do with target audience.  Royal is pulling in the families along with Disney.  Princess does not have the same amenities for that age group.  Overall familiarity in Texas itself will play a role as well as Royal has the brand recognition, especially for those with families.

 

[cdrmer]

Agree about the port of Galveston. A pit(as well as the airport-flew home from IAH).

[nazpaz]

Just a quick and very unscientific look at cruise prices, once you get past last minute prices, the lowest prices out of Galveston are about he same as those out of Ft Lauderdale.  

[Cruise Raider]

17 hours ago, Shippy said:

BECAUSE IT IS GALVESTON !

   Did our first & probably last Galveston cruise a little over a month ago.

We fly out of San Francisco & I thought this would be a lot easier than going to Florida.

    WRONG

Horrible port...etc.

 Good to know.  

 

[startedwithamouse]

Western always has the least desirable ports. 

 

Galveston isn't convenient to Hobby or Bush.

Edited December 18, 2023 by startedwithamouse

[Shippy]

6 hours ago, satxdiver said:

HOU is about 40 miles and IAH is 70 miles.  IAH is located on the far north side of Houston requiring a drive through the center of Houston and commonly called Intercontinental or Bush..  HOU is on the near south side in a not too nice of an area and is mainly used by SWA  and named Hobby.  Hobby is the original Houston airport before Intercontinental was built..  

   We did Hobby because it was closer...horrible. 95 % Southwest. Probably not bad if you were flying on them.

We were on American. ONE checkin counter were the lady was absolutely horrible & we had no one else to talk to. I think Delta also had only counter checkin.

 I found the airport confusing...I am old. & had tsa precheck. There was the TSA (?) person before you got to the xray machines. I was confused & asked him which line was for precheck. He acted like I was putting him out & nastily said...all lines end at the same place. So ,of course, I got in a wrong line In had to take my shoes off, etc.

[Roberto256]

18 hours ago, Shippy said:

BECAUSE IT IS GALVESTON !

But ... it's got to be better than when princess was sailing from houston.

Where fog would close the ship channel, and the ship would arrive hours late.

 

The second cruise I was on, round-tip houston ... rather than the ship arriving around 0600,

we anchored in fog for a few hours, and actually arrived around 1100.   Lots of people missed their flights.

 

At the beginning of the cruise, we left from houston, and had to divert to galveston to disembark a sick passenger.

Must be one of the shortest princess cruises ever for that guy!

[satxdiver]

Back in the early 90's I used to fly into Hobby on Southwest (aka cattle car) and the airport was small and grungy but it was close to South Houston where I was working.  IAH was way far north although I later had assignments more in the center of Houston and used IAH.  Only in recent years that AA and Delta started having a few flights into Hobby but their major flights went into IAH.  IAH was mostly a Continental airport later United when they merged.  I drive to Galveston the day before staying in the NASA area and driving the short distance to the port.  It makes it nice that I do not have to fly.  I do wonder why those who live in far away ports pick Galveston.  I have found that the vast majority of pax are from TX, LA or OK who drive to the port.  .  

[satxdiver]

10 minutes ago, Roberto256 said:

But ... it's got to be better than when princess was sailing from houston.

Where fog would close the ship channel, and the ship would arrive hours late.

 

The second cruise I was on, round-tip houston ... rather than the ship arriving around 0600,

we anchored in fog for a few hours, and actually arrived around 1100.   Lots of people missed their flights.

 

At the beginning of the cruise, we left from houston, and had to divert to galveston to disembark a sick passenger.

Must be one of the shortest princess cruises ever for that guy!

Houston built a multi-million dollar cruise port to attract cruise lines from Galveston but no one wanted to take the offer.  So after 5+ years and growing unhappiness by the voters they contracted with PCL and NCL for practically nothing to use their new port.  The city had the cruise lines sign a 5 year almost no cost contract thinking that would get cruise lines interested in the port.  Both cruise lines did not like the port for the reasons mentioned above and left after the contract was finished.  Houston has since converted the port into commercial uses. 

 

We were on the first Princess cruise out of the port and were greeted by TV helicopters overhead and fireboats shooting their water cannons.  There was a big todo on the TV and newspapers. It certainly was convenient for us but it was a complete disaster.  One cruise we did not leave port until the next afternoon.  We did not cry when they closed the port. 

[Nebr.cruiser]

I agree with most of the above.  Terrible commute from the airport to Galveston.  Less desirable ports--or at least ports many people have already visited more than once.  Often very cool in Houston/Galveston and quite cool the first and last day. - at least in winter.

 

We've done it twice, the first time not realizing the downsides, last winter because we either had to spend a week elsewhere in South Texas, like Padre island, due to waiting for dental bridges, or spend the same time on a ship for actually less money in a balcony than a week in a hotel plus meals, etc.

 

Big pain getting to and from the port, cool as mentioned above, we've been to Coz and Roatan many times and Belize once before.  We still enjoyed the cruise and ports, but maybe not again.

[kruisin_kt]

Galveston is great if you’re driving your own car to the port. Way cheaper and easier than flying to FLL from Oklahoma. But if you have to fly anyway, I don’t understand what would possess you to fly into Houston rather than just going to Florida - so many more choices out of there. 

[Nebr.cruiser]

We flew to Houston from Florida where we had been celebrating a family birthday because we had dental work done in Mexico, not too far from Brownsville, and had to go back for the work to be completed.  So, rather than sit around in a hotel, we opted for a cruise.

 

We have also driven from McAllen TX to Galveston. It's quite a drive!  I do love Galveston, so historic, but the two times we have been there, before cruises, it was very cold and windy.  This was in December and January, so understandable.

 

Edited December 19, 2023 by Nebr.cruiser

[Roberto256]

15 hours ago, satxdiver said:

One cruise we did not leave port until the next afternoon. 

Wow!

There must have been lots of crying over being limited to texas-sourced liquor...

[t18c97]

On 12/16/2023 at 10:35 AM, avonlady6390 said:

From what I understand is the closest airport is a ways away which means getting to the port longer time and more planing along with flying home the same day of course it's good for those not to far from the port and can drive.  For those of us in Florida it would not make sense to take a cruise out of Galveston even with cheaper fares.

MCO to Port Canaveral is about 50 miles. IAH, the furthest from Galveston, is about 65 miles. So IMHO the distance from an airport can't be that much of a factor since Port Canaveral at times is the busiest cruise port in the US. 

[sunsetme]

2 hours ago, t18c97 said:

MCO to Port Canaveral is about 50 miles. IAH, the furthest from Galveston, is about 65 miles. So IMHO the distance from an airport can't be that much of a factor since Port Canaveral at times is the busiest cruise port in the US. 

getting to either of these ports is a nuisance compared to FLL and MIA, LAX is no fun either.

[eclue]

On 12/18/2023 at 3:10 PM, Roberto256 said:

But ... it's got to be better than when princess was sailing from houston.

Where fog would close the ship channel, and the ship would arrive hours late.

 

The second cruise I was on, round-tip houston ... rather than the ship arriving around 0600,

we anchored in fog for a few hours, and actually arrived around 1100.   Lots of people missed their flights.

 

At the beginning of the cruise, we left from houston, and had to divert to galveston to disembark a sick passenger.

Must be one of the shortest princess cruises ever for that guy!

Yes anything is better than cruising from the port of Houston....there are many cruise lines in Galveston - Royal, Carnival, NCL, Disney - now Princess and MSC coming soon.

Not the greatest ports but still a great cruise!