All Things Galveston (Updated - 5/21/14)

[RodNicPena]

Enterprise is right at 61st & I45/Broaday. Not far from the terminal, but...

Bike week is a traffic nightmare. I would budget more than an hour to get the 30 blocks. Try & arrange the cab to be at the Enterprise at a certain time?

What day/time is the departure?

Are you driving in that day?


PS- bike week or The Lone Star Rally, is lots of fun & brings a diverse crowd to the island, but we take our bicycles everywhere for the really busy days & stock up on all groceries, drinks & whatever else well before hand.

PPS-Last year it had 500,000 attendees. It used to take over the whole island, but the last few years has been concentrated downtown.

PPPS-The cruise terminal is downtown.

What week is bike week?

 

[sissy_ib]

What week is bike week?

Looks like November 1-4. My cruise is the 3rd, we'll just leave a little early.

 

[kristinfly2]

We will plan at least an hour and a half! Eggroll/teddy was kind enough to give me lots of info so we are planning on shopping and eating dinner before we get to Galveston the night before our cruise! . Not thrilled about wrestling our 4 kids at the cruise terminal while DH returns the car. Think I will need a large adult beverage by the time I get on board! LOL

 

[dolphingirl47]

We love Bubbas. We plan vacations on Bubba locations (joke)

You'll enjoy it. Love that it's right on the water. Try the I'm Stuffed Shrimp.

This will be our first time. I have plans to go a few times before, but for one reason or the other it never happened. The funny thing is that I don't eat fish or most seafood, but I love shrimp. The Stuffed Shrimp is out because of the crab meet, but I love the idea of the 4 different kind of fried shrimp.

I can always let you know how my trip goes too

I would appreciate it

Corinna

 

[Tinkerbell2B]

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll add it to the lodging list!

Looks like it's available through VRBO. The pictures look wonderful!

Hi Gina. Here is a link to the condo I rented with a view of the harbor and gulf. The owner of the condo is very easy to work with too!
http://www.vrbo.com/330692

 

[Gina]

Hi Gina. Here is a link to the condo I rented with a view of the harbor and gulf. The owner of the condo is very easy to work with too!
http://www.vrbo.com/330692

It looks so nice... and such a great option for bigger families and those coming in for a few days who'd like a kitchen and such. And more room! Thanks again for telling us about it!

 

[Gina]

Updated the first page to include the Lost Bayou Guesthouse, and the new Pleasure Pier weekend pass!

 

[ekatiel]

We don't have either an aquarium or a zoo anywhere near so this will be a treat. We are planning to have dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.



This is where we are booked at the moment, but the reviews about it being noisy scare me. Did your friend have any issues with noise?



Thanks. I have to say the aquarium, the Rainforest Pyramid and the Paddlewheel Boat are all major draws for us.

Corinna

You will love Moody Gardens. We are members there and go all the time. The last time we were there, there were two monkeys wrestling and hanging out o n the boardwalk that you walk on through the pyramid! There was a keeper there to keep an eye on them, but we were probably 3 or 4 feet away from them. It was really neat to see them so up close!

Edited b/c I was wrong about Bubba Gumps! --Katie

 

[sissy_ib]

You don't have to pay for the pier to eat at Bubba Gump. It is at the begining of the pier before the entrance.

 

[tajz90]

You don't have to pay for Pier to eat at Bubbas. You can also ride the carousel without paying for the pier even though I have no clue how much a ride costs

 

[ekatiel]

You don't have to pay for the pier to eat at Bubba Gump. It is at the begining of the pier before the entrance.

You don't have to pay for Pier to eat at Bubbas. You can also ride the carousel without paying for the pier even though I have no clue how much a ride costs

I stand corrected! Thanks for the info . I may have to try it out now! I'm going to go back and edit my original post so people don't get confused. --Katie

 

[tajz90]

I stand corrected! Thanks for the info . I may have to try it out now! I'm going to go back and edit my original post so people don't get confused. --Katie

There is also a parking discount if you spend $25 ( I think) at Bubbas, parking is free if you choose to park in the lot. We have found free parking each time we have visited.

 

[cruisemaniac2011]

I saw in an earlier post that the Hilton offers free cruise parking and shuttle but I didn't see anything on their website or my confirmation. Anyone have info on whether all rooms are eligible or is it a special package? Thanks!

 

[Kimmiebr80]

I saw in an earlier post that the Hilton offers free cruise parking and shuttle but I didn't see anything on their website or my confirmation. Anyone have info on whether all rooms are eligible or is it a special package? Thanks!

I called them and confirmed that they do have parking and a shuttle. I don't know if it's every weekend, but our cruise weekend, it was a minimum 2 night stay in order to book a room. I kept checking for check in Friday and check out Saturday and it shows no rooms available. But If I searched 2 days, rooms were available. Luckily, last month my dh did a work trip that sent us over into Hilton Diamond status and they waived the 2 night for us because of that.

 

[dato63]

It was for the 2012 Thanksgiving cruise which did not have an itinerary change.

I went back to the website and checked CCL and RCCL ships and it shows those are indeed available during the Thanksgiving week.

Maybe it has something to do with how the departure days line up and they can maximize their profits. The other lines depart on the Sunday while DCL departs on Saturday.

I had booked our parking back in July - prepaid. Mine was cancelled. The email stated that they were not going to be able to accomodate Disney cruises for certain dates. I was on cruise critic gulf ports board to get other ideas of what to do - and some people on the Princess cruises were posting that they had been cancelled after the fact too.

One person claimed to ask Galveston Park N Cruise about it - and were told it had to do with overlapping dates, and demand with 5 ships now sailing out of there. They would not be accepting Disney or Princess Cruise bookings starting November due to the increased demand. Again, this is 2nd hand information that was shared - I didn't get it directly from the parking lot.

We decided to just drive down the night before -and booked a cruise package at the Galvez.

My DDs love Moody Gardens. And we all enjoy Bubba Gumps, haven't been to the one in Galveston yet - but we are planning dinner there the night before our cruise. It looks like Pleasure Pier is within walking distance of our hotel.

 

[tajz90]

I had booked our parking back in July - prepaid. Mine was cancelled. The email stated that they were not going to be able to accomodate Disney cruises for certain dates. I was on cruise critic gulf ports board to get other ideas of what to do - and some people on the Princess cruises were posting that they had been cancelled after the fact too.

One person claimed to ask Galveston Park N Cruise about it - and were told it had to do with overlapping dates, and demand with 5 ships now sailing out of there. They would not be accepting Disney or Princess Cruise bookings starting November due to the increased demand. Again, this is 2nd hand information that was shared - I didn't get it directly from the parking lot.

We decided to just drive down the night before -and booked a cruise package at the Galvez.

My DDs love Moody Gardens. And we all enjoy Bubba Gumps, haven't been to the one in Galveston yet - but we are planning dinner there the night before our cruise. It looks like Pleasure Pier is within walking distance of our hotel.

Bubbas in Galveston is yummy. It's a neat one too.

 

[Gina]

One person claimed to ask Galveston Park N Cruise about it - and were told it had to do with overlapping dates, and demand with 5 ships now sailing out of there. They would not be accepting Disney or Princess Cruise bookings starting November due to the increased demand. Again, this is 2nd hand information that was shared - I didn't get it directly from the parking lot.

That was me, and I got the info directly from Galveston Park & Cruise. In what has to be the most bone-headed business move ever, they have not only said flat-out that they will only be parking for Carnival and Royal Caribbean and not Disney or Princess. And instead of honoring the reservations that people were already holding - prepaid, mind you! - they just canceled them.

There are so many other places to park... I used to love them, but wouldn't touch them with a 10-foot pole now even if I were sailing on Carnival or RCI.

I spoke with the manager, Tom, at Discount Cruise Parking, and he said they absolutely were accepting reservations for any and every cruise line. He was very nice, and pretty shocked himself that Park & Cruise was doing that. I haven't used them before, but they sound very nice. Bathrooms, a deli, a convenience store, indoor seating. He also gave me a code for an additional $5 off -- I just spoke with him again now to ask him if it was alright if I shared the code, and he said "Absolutely!" The promo code is 8115. Really nice guy, I feel comfortable with my reservation there.



-gina-

 

[dato63]

That was me, and I got the info directly from Galveston Park & Cruise. In what has to be the most bone-headed business move ever, they have not only said flat-out that they will only be parking for Carnival and Royal Caribbean and not Disney or Princess. And instead of honoring the reservations that people were already holding - prepaid, mind you! - they just canceled them.

There are so many other places to park... I used to love them, but wouldn't touch them with a 10-foot pole now even if I were sailing on Carnival or RCI.

I spoke with the manager, Tom, at Discount Cruise Parking, and he said they absolutely were accepting reservations for any and every cruise line. He was very nice, and pretty shocked himself that Park & Cruise was doing that. I haven't used them before, but they sound very nice. Bathrooms, a deli, a convenience store, indoor seating. He also gave me a code for an additional $5 off -- I just spoke with him again now to ask him if it was alright if I shared the code, and he said "Absolutely!" The promo code is 8115. Really nice guy, I feel comfortable with my reservation there.



-gina-

Good to see you here too.

We have a CCL Cruise out of Galveston next year - and I have to say I am not planning on parking there. It may be convenient, but there are too many choices to take a chance. I'll have to look up Discount Cruise Parking for next year - thank you for sharing the information. For now - we'll enjoy The Galvez and exploring Pleasure Pier.

 

[Chee Chick]

A panicked a bit when I read that Galveston Cruise and Park was canceling reservations and booked at EZ Cruise N' Park. They were gladly taking reservations. A few days later DH and I decided to drive in the night before. I ended up booking a room at the Holiday Inn on the Beach which offers free shuttle and parking. I called and cancelled my parking reservation with no problems (just a $5 penalty which I knew about beforehand).

I probably would have booked the Hotel Galvez if we were spending more time in Galveston before the cruise. But we will get in late the night before the cruise, so I couldn't justify the cost difference.

 

[cruisemaniac2011]

I called them and confirmed that they do have parking and a shuttle. I don't know if it's every weekend, but our cruise weekend, it was a minimum 2 night stay in order to book a room. I kept checking for check in Friday and check out Saturday and it shows no rooms available. But If I searched 2 days, rooms were available. Luckily, last month my dh did a work trip that sent us over into Hilton Diamond status and they waived the 2 night for us because of that.

Thanks! I was able to book a room through a travel agency but it didn't say anything about free parking or a shuttle.