Disney Leaving Galveston?

[cruiser21]

I looked into that- for us that's $180/roundtrip for a shuttle which I consider expensive and a $200 rental car that sits at a hotel doesn't make sense to me. We can get into PC for half that. Someone asked the question why people thought Galveston was hard to get into and That's why I consider it harder to get into Galveston than PC.

How much do you pay in PC? DCL transfers are 70 round trip. 200 for four people to get to port and back is not that much. So what if the car sits in the parking lot. Considering how much cheaper the Wonder is then the Fantasy spending an extra 50 dollars on transportation doesn't seem like that big a deal. It would cost my family 280.00 dollars to use DCL transfers in PC so if someone likes using shuttles Galveston is actually cheaper. Also Hotels are crazy cheap in Galveston that time of year. I consider the total cost of the vacation not just one little piece of it.

 

[LullabeeDisney]

How much do you pay in PC? DCL transfers are 70 round trip. 200 for four people to get to port and back is not that much. So what if the car sits in the parking lot. Considering how much cheaper the Wonder is then the Fantasy spending an extra 50 dollars on transportation doesn't seem like that big a deal. It would cost my family 280.00 dollars to use DCL transfers in PC so if someone likes using shuttles Galveston is actually cheaper. Also Hotels are crazy cheap in Galveston that time of year. I consider the total cost of the vacation not just one little piece of it.

Yeah I can get a room in Houston for like $49/night (SO's dad works for a hotel chain, so we get them super cheap). If we have to go out of Miami or PC, even with discounted rates, it's $90/night.

 

[Chuck S]

Hasn't Disney pulled out of Galveston before? I think it is a seasonal thing for them. Galveston has quite a bit of competition. Carnival has two to three ships in Galveston all the time, and Royal Caribbean has at least one ship. And while Galveston is a popular port for Texans, I think other ports are probably more popular and profitable for cruise lines. People here have gotten used to the comparatively lower prices of the Carnival ships. And for the money, they're pretty nice, not terribly luxurious and pretty dated in decor, but still a fairly nice cruise experience.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hasn't Disney pulled out of Galveston before? I think it is a seasonal thing for them. Galveston has quite a bit of competition. Carnival has two to three ships in Galveston all the time, and Royal Caribbean has at least one ship. And while Galveston is a popular port for Texans, I think other ports are probably more popular and profitable for cruise lines. People here have gotten used to the comparatively lower prices of the Carnival ships. And for the money, they're pretty nice, not terribly luxurious and pretty dated in decor, but still fairly nice cruise experience.

Sort of. I said before, after the first season in Galveston was less than stellar, DCL tried to break their contract with Galveston. It appears they were allowed to, with the proviso that they had to do "limited" sailings from Galveston for a period of time. Seems that they're satisfying that requirement with the pre/post Panama Canal cruises on the Wonder.

 

[cruiser21]

Fabulous.

If I had any interest in going to Houston.

No thank you. Texas is NOT on my "places to visit" list. I might have been born there, but my parents were only there because of my dad's job and we escaped when I was 2.

Escaped really? You may have just offended many people in Texas. I love our cruises out of Texas. People are so friendly. It might be a nice change for you from New York. Yes I've spent time in New York too. You sound like a typical New Yorker.

 

[cruiser21]

Hasn't Disney pulled out of Galveston before? I think it is a seasonal thing for them. Galveston has quite a bit of competition. Carnival has two to three ships in Galveston all the time, and Royal Caribbean has at least one ship. And while Galveston is a popular port for Texans, I think other ports are probably more popular and profitable for cruise lines. People here have gotten used to the comparatively lower prices of the Carnival ships. And for the money, they're pretty nice, not terribly luxurious and pretty dated in decor, but still a fairly nice cruise experience.

The Vista is moving to Galveston too. Brand new ship. better ports, and I'm sure half the price of the Wonder.

 

[cruiser21]

Aww... what's not to like about Texas! Very, very productive state. 2nd in the US for fortune 500 companies. Some of the most international cities in the world are in Texas. Half the state of New York and California has moved there, so it can't be that bad. Here's my Texas plug: no income tax . Well, and everything's bigger!

I agree. I'm a Californian relocated to Arizona 15 years ago. Texans are awesome. We've cruised out of Galveston twice, and the people are so nice and friendly. We have a lot of Californians, New Yorkers, and Chicago transplants here too. We moved to AZ for the better cost of living. Most people move here for the weather.

 

[anricat]

Fabulous.

If I had any interest in going to Houston.

No thank you. Texas is NOT on my "places to visit" list. I might have been born there, but my parents were only there because of my dad's job and we escaped when I was 2.

That's too bad. I live in Austin and it's a lovely city. I never, in a million years, thought I would live in Texas. In Boulder Colorado, where I grew up, we had a lot of fun at the expense of Texans who had relocated there. But I found myself here to go to graduate school and it's a great place. There's a lot of great things here in Texas - a lot of natural beauty, friendly people and fun things to do. Don't discount it out of hand.

 

[cruiser21]

That's too bad. I live in Austin and it's a lovely city. I never, in a million years, thought I would live in Texas. In Boulder Colorado, where I grew up, we had a lot of fun at the expense of Texans who had relocated there. But I found myself here to go to graduate school and it's a great place. There's a lot of great things here in Texas - a lot of natural beauty, friendly people and fun things to do. Don't discount it out of hand.

I have traveled to just about every state and they are all wonderful in their own way. I spent 2 hours on a Disney cruise talking to a college professor from New York. I walked away from that conversation thinking that man really lives in bubble. Actually he was pretty insulting about the rest of the country. If my kids weren't such PITA's in the car. I would do some road trips so they could see more of this great country.

 

[ukintheus]

I guess you are right.

This is the 2017 cruise calls that we know about which cruises they belong to:

View attachment 232645

The 11/7 cruise call is part of the EBPC. It's a Tuesday. Then 11/13 and 12/4 are Mondays. Seems like she is doing the same cruises in 2018 that include Grand Cayman as in 2017. To me this looks good for Galveston.

This is good sleuthing and gives me a glimmer of hope on Galveston in 2018. We have done a lot of sailings out of Galveston on DCL and would love to see them come back as it is so convenient. We have chosen to sail on the Fantasy in January next year as the weather in Galveston has typically not been that great. I believe that weather may also be involved in their decision on Galveston. We were one of the fog delayed cruises (on both ends) when they were here this past winter (we have only been fog delayed once before that), and although historically fog hasn't been a huge issue, it was this last season. The cost of fog delays plus the passenger inconvenience of the travel impact would have to be a factor I would think. But, I would book for the fall of 2018 if they come back.

 

[AquaDame]

Fabulous.

If I had any interest in going to Houston.

No thank you. Texas is NOT on my "places to visit" list. I might have been born there, but my parents were only there because of my dad's job and we escaped when I was 2.

Escaped really? You may have just offended many people in Texas. I love our cruises out of Texas. People are so friendly. It might be a nice change for you from New York. Yes I've spent time in New York too. You sound like a typical New Yorker.

Neither of these are very friendly... could we please stay away from blanket statements about entire states and using stereotypes about them as an insult?

 

[DIS_Ag]

Staying in Galveston for 2018

 

[ukintheus]

 

[laceltris3]

Yay!

 

[LullabeeDisney]

I saw!! So so excited!!

 

[anricat]

And the itineraries still stink and probably still cost a zillion dollars! Boo.

 

[LullabeeDisney]

And the itineraries still stink and probably still cost a zillion dollars! Boo.

Eh. They're going to Castaway Cay. Which is what I was after.

I doubt they can do too many 'exciting itineraries' all things considered.. it's not florida or San diego with open area that's easy/feasible to get too.
Also, DCL is pricy in general. There's other options if you don't want to pay DCL prices.

I'm just happy I don't have to drive 20+ hours to get to see the mouse. It's cheaper than going to Land or World. I believe I priced out just tickets/stay for DW and it was around $3900-4000, which is about what i'm paying for the cruise. But then I'd have to add another $1000 for just the flights, food... etc.

 

[AquaDame]

Eh. They're going to Castaway Cay. Which is what I was after.

I doubt they can do too many 'exciting itineraries' all things considered.. it's not florida or San diego with open area that's easy/feasible to get too.
Also, DCL is pricy in general. There's other options if you don't want to pay DCL prices.

I'm just happy I don't have to drive 20+ hours to get to see the mouse. It's cheaper than going to Land or World. I believe I priced out just tickets/stay for DW and it was around $3900-4000, which is about what i'm paying for the cruise. But then I'd have to add another $1000 for just the flights, food... etc.

Not having to fly is HUGE. The only one where it's possible for me is Alaska and those ones are spendy to start with, flights or no!

 

[LullabeeDisney]

Not having to fly is HUGE. The only one where it's possible for me is Alaska and those ones are spendy to start with, flights or no!

Yes! With family discounts, it's only gonna be like $700 there and back. Food and all.

 

[AquaDame]

Yes! With family discounts, it's only gonna be like $700 there and back. Food and all.

That is so great! When they went to Galveston I was so excited since its closer than Florida but there are zero nonstops there from Portland. Its just as expensive and almost as long to get to as MCO for us or I'd definitely go out of there! Since then Alaska has even added a nonstop to MCO for us.