10/19/13 Wonder. Galveston to W Caribbean.

[61maris61]

A ventriloquist is doing his routine on a cruise ship. With his dummy on his knee, he's going through his usual dumb blonde jokes.


Suddenly a blonde woman in the 4th row stands on her chair and starts shouting, I've heard enough of your stupid blonde jokes! What makes you think you can stereotype women that way? What does the color of a person's hair have to do with her worth as a human being? It's guys like you who keep women like me from being respected at work and in the community. and from reaching their full potential as a person, because you and your kind continue to perpetuate discrimination against, not only blondes, but women in general, all in the name of humor!".


The embarrassed ventriloquist begins to apologize, when the blonde yells, "You stay out this mister! I'm talking to that little jerk on your knee!".

 

[BLTris]

I've been away for a while from this page as there wasn't much activity. Glad to see it has picked up. I prefer this over FB.

Booked a few excursions. Going tourist in Grand Cayman and playing with Stingrays, then Zip lining and kayaking in Jamaica.

Did get a GoPro camera for this trip so I am hoping for some great video in Jamaica and GC.

Probably just going to find a beach to get some rest and sun in Cozumel.


Side note--- 61 love the Maris tag in your signature.

 

[1025cruise]

Unfortunately, there isn't that much activity still....

 

[BLTris]

Unfortunately, there isn't that much activity still....

Nope there isn't much at all. would be nice if this thread was as deep as some of the others there are some that are 10-15 pages deep for cruises still a ways out.

But from the earlier posts looks like there is still lots of availability on the ship.

 

[ethanash1]

Hi Everyone, I just requested to join your FB group. I am literally on the fence about booking this, and just need to wait until Friday to grab a room. We were originally on the 10/20 Magic sailing, but DH dropped the ball on the PIF date and we lost our cabin. I was able to have my TA move our deposit so I avoided losing any money. The last month has been going back and forth looking for something to replace it. In the meantime, there have been many obstacles... but as long as I can find a great deal, we can still plan a getaway. It will be just me and DH and this will be our 4th Disney Cruise.....

I have some questions for you all.... where is everyone staying the night before, and what is the cheapest and easiest way to get to the port and back? Rental car or shuttle? Thanks for any help

 

[1025cruise]

Welcome.
We're flying in day of, so we have a car booked to get us to the port.

 

[ethanash1]

Welcome.
We're flying in day of, so we have a car booked to get us to the port.

What car rental
Company are you using? We would arrive on the day before as well, and would like to explore a little. Even if its just out to dinner and to pick up some water bottles for the ship.

 

[61maris61]

Hi Everyone, I just requested to join your FB group. I am literally on the fence about booking this, and just need to wait until Friday to grab a room. We were originally on the 10/20 Magic sailing, but DH dropped the ball on the PIF date and we lost our cabin. I was able to have my TA move our deposit so I avoided losing any money. The last month has been going back and forth looking for something to replace it. In the meantime, there have been many obstacles... but as long as I can find a great deal, we can still plan a getaway. It will be just me and DH and this will be our 4th Disney Cruise.....

I have some questions for you all.... where is everyone staying the night before, and what is the cheapest and easiest way to get to the port and back? Rental car or shuttle? Thanks for any help

Sounds like you're in the same boat (no pun intended) as us - we're traveling with our 4 yr old DGD. We would have preferred flying into Hobby (liked the airlines better), but Disney only offers transfers from Bush International. For 2 or 3 people, Dis transfers from Bush to port are the cheapest option.

Dis also offers only one hotel option (Hotel Galvez - we're staying there and cisobe on these boards is too) in Galveston (also one option near the airport). In the ten cruises we've done, Galveston is by far the port with the fewest options available for hotels and transfers.

There are some posts on these threads about cruisers who have rented a car for a week and left it at their hotel, but that would require working through someone like Priceline to try to get a reasonable price. I looked into it, but Dis transfers seemed to work best for us.

PS: the Hotel Galvez is nice, if somewhat overpriced.

 

[ethanash1]

Sounds like you're in the same boat (no pun intended) as us - we're traveling with our 4 yr old DGD. We would have preferred flying into Hobby (liked the airlines better), but Disney only offers transfers from Bush International. For 2 or 3 people, Dis transfers from Bush to port are the cheapest option.

Dis also offers only one hotel option (Hotel Galvez - we're staying there and cisobe on these boards is too) in Galveston (also one option near the airport). In the ten cruises we've done, Galveston is by far the port with the fewest options available for hotels and transfers.

There are some posts on these threads about cruisers who have rented a car for a week and left it at their hotel, but that would require working through someone like Priceline to try to get a reasonable price. I looked into it, but Dis transfers seemed to work best for us.

PS: the Hotel Galvez is nice, if somewhat overpriced.

Hi! The Hotel Galvez looks great, but a little more than I would like to Spend. I looked at the Marriott at the airport, and that was somewhat less expensive. I booked that one as a backup. As far as transfers, I'm assuming I have to let my travel agent know that I want her to book those through Disney?

 

[1025cruise]

What car rental
Company are you using? We would arrive on the day before as well, and would like to explore a little. Even if its just out to dinner and to pick up some water bottles for the ship.

We are flying in day of, not the day before, so no rental car. I booked a private car transfer to the port.

 

[61maris61]

Found this from Jewel Runaway Beach Resort while checking Falmouth excursions:

Nothing hits the spot quite like finger food. The Aquamarina Beach Grill serves up delicious sandwiches, burgers and wraps, perfect for snacking on while enjoying the beach and sun. No shirts? No shoes? No problem! Feel free to order up in your bear feet or bathing suit. That way, you can get back to the fun faster. Open all day starting at 10AM.

I don't have "bear feet" Wonder if regular feet will work?

 

[61maris61]

Hi! The Hotel Galvez looks great, but a little more than I would like to Spend. I looked at the Marriott at the airport, and that was somewhat less expensive. I booked that one as a backup. As far as transfers, I'm assuming I have to let my travel agent know that I want her to book those through Disney?

I'm not positive, but I think I read somewhere that Disney will only transfer you to the port on Sail-Away day unless you book the hotel stay through them which, if true, leaves the Galvez as the only hotel option.

There's a thread on the main Dis boards about transfers to Galveston; someone posted about renting a car from Budget for around $250 for 8 days.

Also, you could get a better price on Hotel Galvez through Priceline or other places, and a rental car would give you many more hotel options (have you ever checked Galveston.com?).

Again, if it wasn't or us traveling with our DGD, I would've considered a rental car and different hotels, but the Disney plan works best or us.

 

[cisobe]

You can book the Marriott at the airport yourself and use the DCL transfers for your precruise night. The DCL transfers pick up from the airport so you would need to walk over to the baggage area for the pickup. You'll probably need to call Disney to find out the pickup time.

We thought about doing this but decided to spend the extra $30-40 to stay at Hotel Galvez inGalveston the day before. We arrive in the morning the day before so we would have the chance to walk around and check out Galveston, plus we wouldn't have to worry about missing the shuttle/bus or worry about traffic and getting into Galveston and the port late, etc.

We are using DCL transfers back to the airport on debarkation day and booked the Marriott at the airport ourselves and saved $20 from what DCL was going to charge us...

We looked at renting a car but we were quoted something like $250 one way, we looked at keeping the car and parking it at a park and ride and it was still more expensive then DCL transfers. Its only my wife, son and I so it might be cheaper with a bigger party to do a private shuttle or rent a car.

 

[ethanash1]

I called DCL yesterday and was told much of what you are all saying. They give 1 options for booking through them. Hotel Galvez and the Airport Marriott. Transfer are $90 pp round trip. They also said I could arrive as late as 1 PM on embarkation day and still have DCL transfers take me to the port. I found that to be a little late, but was also wondering if that's safe since they would be assigning me that time..... Does that guarantee that they won't leave without us?

 

[aenan]

I haven't kept up with this much, but I noticed some talk about Hotel Galvez and thought I'd say what I noticed. We booked there for the night if the 18th back in June and the rate wasn't much more than a lot of the other Galveston Hotels. I go back and check to see if prices drop fairly regularly and have noticed that Hotel Galvez seems to really sway in pricing. If it's a hotel any of you are interested in then keep looking--it will never be the cheapest, but I am surprised at how the rates change!
I am very much looking forward to some pool time there before the cruise! And probably the only pool time my kids will have given what I have heard about the pools in the ship!

 

[61maris61]

I haven't kept up with this much, but I noticed some talk about Hotel Galvez and thought I'd say what I noticed. We booked there for the night if the 18th back in June and the rate wasn't much more than a lot of the other Galveston Hotels. I go back and check to see if prices drop fairly regularly and have noticed that Hotel Galvez seems to really sway in pricing. If it's a hotel any of you are interested in then keep looking--it will never be the cheapest, but I am surprised at how the rates change!
I am very much looking forward to some pool time there before the cruise! And probably the only pool time my kids will have given what I have heard about the pools in the ship!

There are at least 3 of us staying pre-cruise at Hotel Galvez: you, ourselves, cisobe. Anyone else??

 

[BLTris]

we are driving in that morning. Its a short 5 hour drive from Dallas so that is our option. I know several people that have stayed at the Galvez and loved it seems like a solid option.

Looking at lighthouseparking.org for parking.
$55 for covered parking

 

[61maris61]

we are driving in that morning. Its a short 5 hour drive from Dallas so that is our option. I know several people that have stayed at the Galvez and loved it seems like a solid option.

Looking at lighthouseparking.org for parking.
$55 for covered parking

Got our cruise documents in yesterday's mail - nothing special, but it makes it feel like the cruise is getting closer.

A "short" 5 hr drive? Doesn't sound short to me, but I'll be spending about 6 hrs in the air, so I guess that beats 5 hrs. Our last cruise was out of New Jersey (a 6 hr drive for us). We could have done it the morning of the cruise, but instead we drove 5 hrs, stayed overnight a hr out of NYC (much cheaper rates), and then had a leisurely 1 hr drive to the port. I would much prefer being able to drive to a port - you never know what can happen with airlines.

 

[F&A]

we are driving in that morning. Its a short 5 hour drive from Dallas so that is our option. I know several people that have stayed at the Galvez and loved it seems like a solid option.

Looking at lighthouseparking.org for parking.
$55 for covered parking

We are coming from Dallas too. It took us about 5 hours with three stops in May. Our son was only 6 months old on that trip and that was a long stretch for him. But he handled it like a champ. We didn't need the third stop but wanted him freshly changed and fed before going through embarkation process. Worked out well.

I posted earlier that the waiting area in the terminal really has not amenities so I wouldn't check in much before your boarding time. We left Dallas at 6:30 and was on the ship before 12:30 and didn't have to wait after checking in.

See everyone real soon.
Frank

 

[goldcruiser]

Hi My husband,my child Gwen (12) and I are going on this cruise. It will be our first cruise without Gwen's sisters joining us and she would like to see who will be in her age range (preferably 11-13) because she wants to have a friend on the boat.IF your child or if you know someone who will be going on this cruise and is 11-13 please tell me! thank you!