All Things Galveston (Updated parking - 4/7)

[Sparrow78]

We are flying into Houston on Thursday for our Friday Cruise. WHat's the best way to get to Galveston? When I first looked at super shuttle I swear it said $170!

Any hotels have shuttles to pick up in Houston? Or anyone know of a cheaper shuttle? Train? Bus?

Our flight comes in at 6pm and my TA hasn't gotten back to us on what hotel Disney *must* have a deal with in Houston which would then allow us to take the disney shuttle.

[cruisemaniac2011]

Originally Posted by Sparrow78

We are flying into Houston on Thursday for our Friday Cruise. WHat's the best way to get to Galveston? When I first looked at super shuttle I swear it said $170!

Any hotels have shuttles to pick up in Houston? Or anyone know of a cheaper shuttle? Train? Bus?

Our flight comes in at 6pm and my TA hasn't gotten back to us on what hotel Disney *must* have a deal with in Houston which would then allow us to take the disney shuttle.

We are flying into IAH and Disney offered rooms at the Marriott hotel and then said we could add Disney transfers for $30 each way per person. I've checked several other options (one-way car rental, Super Shuttle, taxis, limos, etc.) and couldn't find anything better.

[Sparrow78]

Do you recall the price of the rooms? When I looked online they were $250 a night. For that price I'd rather pay the $170 super shuttle to Galveston!

[alaskanabbott]

Originally Posted by Sparrow78

Do you recall the price of the rooms? When I looked online they were $250 a night. For that price I'd rather pay the $170 super shuttle to Galveston!

I did an online quote and got $170 also, but it was round trip. Thats for all 8 of us, the towncar at super shuttle was only $135, but only fit 3. Look again and see if its round trip.

[cruisemaniac2011]

Originally Posted by Sparrow78

Do you recall the price of the rooms? When I looked online they were $250 a night. For that price I'd rather pay the $170 super shuttle to Galveston!

The Marriott at IAH was $118. Also, I just checked Super Shuttle again and it is $170 one-way or $338 round-trip before tax and tip.

[Golden Rose]

Originally Posted by Sparrow78

We are flying into Houston on Thursday for our Friday Cruise. WHat's the best way to get to Galveston? When I first looked at super shuttle I swear it said $170!

I really hate to be a bearer of bad tidings, but we've had terrible luck with Super Shuttle in Houston. We had a rude driver who played loud, obnoxious music and angrily turned it down only a small amount when we mentioned that it was loud. He took a very strange route to the airport during the middle of rush hour, that added something like an hour to the drive. Seriously, the man detoured to go straight through downtown on surface streets during rush hour. (We were trying to catch an international flight, so we'd allowed extra time, but we were pretty panicked by the end of the drive.) He was not just unfriendly, but rude.

It was such an awful and stressful experience that my mom canceled our prepaid super shuttle return and hired two towncars from a service she has used often for work, since the whole reason we decided to try super shuttle was that our favorite towncar service couldn't handle our group in a single car. I don't recommend our local super shuttle to anyone after that.

[Sparrow78]

Originally Posted by cruisemaniac2011

The Marriott at IAH was $118. Also, I just checked Super Shuttle again and it is $170 one-way or $338 round-trip before tax and tip.

So that must have been the rate Disney secured then? I'll have my TA look because again this morning I checked and the rate was $259!

[Candy Apple]

Originally Posted by Golden Rose

I really hate to be a bearer of bad tidings, but we've had terrible luck with Super Shuttle in Houston. We had a rude driver who played loud, obnoxious music and angrily turned it down only a small amount when we mentioned that it was loud. He took a very strange route to the airport during the middle of rush hour, that added something like an hour to the drive. Seriously, the man detoured to go straight through downtown on surface streets during rush hour. (We were trying to catch an international flight, so we'd allowed extra time, but we were pretty panicked by the end of the drive.) He was not just unfriendly, but rude.

It was such an awful and stressful experience that my mom canceled our prepaid super shuttle return and hired two towncars from a service she has used often for work, since the whole reason we decided to try super shuttle was that our favorite towncar service couldn't handle our group in a single car. I don't recommend our local super shuttle to anyone after that.

Which towncar service did you use?

[1DCL11]

Originally Posted by ksucats

Does anybody have a experience with the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort? I have that booked mainly because I was able to get it on points.

My sister stays there EVERY time she is in Galveston. I have never stayed there, but she LOVES it !!!

[peachygreen]

We drove down Saturday to welcome the Magic to Texas. The girls had a great time around Galveston Saturday and I got some nice pictures of the Magic in Galveston to add to my collection of Magic pictures.

The weather was perfect, the water was warm and everyone was super friendly.

We drove down to the pier and parked near the Strand. We walked around the Strand where they were having a shrimp festival. We took a harbor cruise and toured the maritime museum. The dolphins were our in full on our cruise so we got to see the dolphins and take great pictures of the Magic. We had lunch on the Strand and then went to the beach for a bit before heading down to wave at the Magic as she left.


IMG_5729 by peachygreen2010, on Flickr

Due to the dresses the girls had on, I think everyone we passed in Galveston asked if we were going on the Disney cruise? I responded "No, we are just here to Welcome her to Texas."

When we were in Galveston last March we spent a lot of time on the Strand. The Railroad museum was excellent. The Pirate museum was fun but a little pricey for what you get. The Elissa was very cool (unfortunately she wasn't there this weekend, I think some of that had to do with the ceremony for the Navy Ship (the Fort Worth I think))

I loved the cowboy hat that the Mickey on the smokestack was sporting when we pulled in. Unfortunately they took it down before we could get a picture of it. I was hoping they would leave it up at least for her to pull out of Galveston, but I think it was down before they even started boarding.

[1DCL11]

Originally Posted by eggroll

When I cruised from galveston, the doors opened at 1030-1045 am. This is rather consistent.
There are only two cruise terminals here, and they have the same entrance. We don't know if it's terminal one or two.

We were in Galveston this weekend and watched the Disney Magic sail out for the first time. They are sailing from terminal 2. Terminal 1 is the Carnival terminal.

[Golden Rose]

Originally Posted by Candy Apple

Which towncar service did you use?

We used Ralph's Town Car and Limo. They aren't cheap, but my mom has used them for years when she traveled for work, and they have always been professional, polite, and on time. (I think she's used them occasionally for more than 20 years now.) I have no idea if they do from the airport to Galveston, though; we've just used them from the airport to central Houston. When I've had dealings with them, I've always been impressed.

[Luv2Diz]

Are Disney shuttles not available from Hobby? I'm trying to decide what to do. We are looking at a flight that gets into Hobby at 8 pm the night before the cruise. Not sure how we would get to Galveston that late in the evening so it seems we would stay near the airport then catch a shuttle Saturday morning to the pier. Any ideas on what options we have?

[ljknecht570]

Originally Posted by Gina

All of the above is based on "normal" conditions -- if it's raining, if anyone is playing smash-'em-up on the freeway, anything not optimal, add a bunch more time.

I'm not trying to be a downer, but hubby really needs to finagle his way out of that conference thing if y'all want to make this cruise.

Thanks for the advice! You are not being a downer! I love the REAL TIME advice! It works on paper from google maps, but when does anything really translate into reality!

No way to get out of the seminar--he is the presenter! But I did get him to shorten the time. We should be done by about 12:30 now.

Did they email you to let you know when all aboard time was? I haven't heard anything for ours yet.

[cruisemaniac2011]

Originally Posted by Sparrow78

So that must have been the rate Disney secured then? I'll have my TA look because again this morning I checked and the rate was $259!

Yes that rate is for Disney guests. Disney said you needed to book the room through your travel agent unless you booked direct with Disney.