Need help - Grand out of Galveston

[BJS]

Can anyone tell me what airport Princess is going to use for their air or what airport their transfers are from for the Grand cruises out of Galveston?

[Coral]

Good question.

 

I am assuming they will have shuttles to both airports. Hopefully someone will know.

[jimneycrkit]

They have transfers to the airport. we only needed one way to the Robby airport. The cost was 29.00 each. We are flying in and out on Southwest on our own. Great prices.

[Lady L]

I believe Princess uses Houston Intercontinental (IAH) for their gateway. Maybe you'll be lucky and they will use Houston Hobby (HOU) as it is closer to Galveston!

[BJS]

They have transfers to the airport. we only needed one way to the Robby airport. The cost was 29.00 each. We are flying in and out on Southwest on our own. Great prices.

Why did you only need transfers one way? We can get cheaper flights to IAH (George Bush Intercontinental) so was wondering if their transfers also are from there.

 

Princess first said they were from Houston but could not tell me which airport. I called back and they said Galveston which I found hard to believe because that airport doesn't even have a tower.

 

They quoted us $66 round trip/pp for Princess transfers.

 

Galveston Limo wants $90 from IAH and $75 from HOU.

[mom2three]

BJS, Hobby is closer, for sure. I don't know which airport Princess uses. I know it's not Galveston.:)

 

Are you going to come in a day before? We have a good thread on Hotels runnimg for Galveston on the pre-cruise/ hotel site...:cool:

[BJS]

Yes going day before but not sure if will stay in Houston or Galveston. Saw the thread about pre-cruise hotels in Galveston but need to find out the air first. Just booked today for 12/18/04.

[tdf799]

I am also on the 12/18 Grand cruise and have booked round trip shuttle transportation which I was told leaves from Bush. I have run into something however that I have not experienced before. My internet TA informed me that Princess would not accept shuttle booking unless I was flying in on the day of the trip. Since I am flying in the day before in order to avoid any possible weather problems, we do get snow in Chicago in December once in a while, I was forced to get them a phony fight for the 18th. Has anyone experienced this before from Princess or is my TA feeding me a line? I didn't need to go through this deception when I went on the Diamond out of LA in March.

[Coral]

Princess does provide shuttles only the day off from the airport to the ship.

 

If you are doing a pre-cruise through the cruise line, you will have shuttles.

 

If you are doing hotel on your own - if you want a shuttle, you can (if close by), take a taxi from your hotel back to the airport and then catch the shuttle to the ship.

[spongerob]

We've run into the shuttles problem before when flying in early. Princess provided a transfer through a local company but did not have a rep. at the airport to meet us.

 

Hobby is a smaller airport used primarily by Southwest. Other airlines fly into it, but most use Bush Intercontinental. Hobby is located on the southeast side of Houston, just off I-45. It's about a 45 minute drive to Galveston from Hobby. ICH (Bush) is located up on the northeast side. It's about 30 minutes longer driving time, and it takes longer to go through baggage claim, etc. than Hobby. I'd plan on about 3 hours total from landing at ICH before finally arriving in Galveston, if that is where you are staying. Going through Hobby will cut that time in half.

 

We're fortunate that we can drive to our cruise on the 28th. We can wave at each other at the pier, I guess.

[jajohnson]

We are flying in a day early using FF miles and have a hotel near the airport which has a free shuttle.

[jimneycrkit]

We are flying in 2 days before our cruise on the Dec 28th and staying at a hotel right next to the dock. We were told we could walk to the ship . Staying at the Tremont I believe the name was . My mom made that reservation.They don't have a shuttle from Hobby but there are shuttle services and since its not far its not too bad with the Galveston shuttle service. We only needed the transfers from the ship to the airport, Hobby and when I called Princess they said no problem and just added them on. We live in Ca and are actually going to San Antonio before the cruise on the 22nd, staying there a few days and then flying to Houston on Southwest the flight was only 34.00 each way from san Antonio, Then when we leave we go from Houston , back to San Antonio, only half hour flight, get on our return flight on United back home to Sacramento. our United flight was only 183.00 RT per person.

[Baxter]

We have Galveston Limo booked from IAH to the cruise port for $60 round trip.

[BJS]

I am also on the 12/18 Grand cruise and have booked round trip shuttle transportation which I was told leaves from Bush. I have run into something however that I have not experienced before. My internet TA informed me that Princess would not accept shuttle booking unless I was flying in on the day of the trip. Since I am flying in the day before in order to avoid any possible weather problems, we do get snow in Chicago in December once in a while, I was forced to get them a phony fight for the 18th. Has anyone experienced this before from Princess or is my TA feeding me a line? I didn't need to go through this deception when I went on the Diamond out of LA in March.

I asked Princess today this question for you (from the only one on this weekend who seemed to know any answers). If you purchase Princess transfers and fly in the day before they do NOT need to have your flight number you just have to return to the baggage area for your transfer. I was also told the shuttle runs from both IAH and HOU so either airport is fine. Our flight arrives at 9:41 AM so we should be fine even if it takes 3 hours should be there by 2 PM. Hopefully Sat. traffic will be lighter and we'll make it in less time.

[tdf799]

Thanks BJS for asking Princess that question, that is what I would have thought. I called Princess to ask about the shuttle but they didn't seem to want to talk to me about the transfers since I had booked the cruise through the internet TA. They steered me back to the TA. There seems to be some specific lines drawn about whose customer you are once the booking is made.

We are staying at a hotel a mile away from the airport and are taking their shuttle from and to the airport, just as I have done before. I explained all that to the TA but they insisted that Princess wanted flight information for a flight on the day of arrival. That sounded bizzare to me but I humored them with a bogus flight. I guess all that matters is getting to the ship and doing something we all love. Have a great trip.

[crazy4themouse]

If anyone is ever given a choice, I would choose Hobby over IAH every time. In fact, I'm pretty sure I would stay away from IAH even if they paid me to go there. :p It's just a hundred times more difficult to get in and out of there, especially these days. As with any major hub, it's always crowded. And all the international flights go in and out of IAH, not Hobby, so the security takes way longer.

 

And it's just.... ugh. Hobby is just SO much easier, and most of the airlines fly out of there also. And it's so much closer to Galveston, not only in miles, but in traffic headaches. On weekdays, you'll have work traffic, and on weekends you'll have going-to-the-beach traffic, so no time is a good time on Houston highways. As anyone who lives in Houston can attest, it only takes one major accident to very quickly destroy that 3 hour buffer zone you had planned on; and unfortunately, it's not a rare event. At least with Hobby, you're already a good hour closer just in case of a problem.

 

And don't even get me started on how much it costs to park your car at a lot near IAH compared to Hobby... :p

 

-gina-

[lindnet]

We're flying into Hobby and catching the Galveston Limo shuttle for $50 roundtrip per person. I believe it's $60 if you're coming from IAH. Since it's cheaper than what my TA told me Princess shuttle would be, I didn't even look into any other options.