Galveston - What's the scoop?

[asamklove]

We are planning a Dec 2017 cruise on the Wonder out of Galveston, TX. We are completely unfamiliar with this departure port.

Any Galveston cruise veterans who can give us the details on the port - such as:

• What's the best airport to fly into?
• What hotels are recommended for the night prior stay (we like to arrive to the port area a day ahead)? Or is it better to stay near the airport so we can use hotel to port transportation?
• What transportation should we use if we stay local to the port?
• Any "must do" activities/restaurants to check out the night before our cruise?

We've got lots of time to plan, but we want to think about this stuff b/c if costs are too prohibitive (flights/hotels/transport), we may just switch it up to a Fantasy cruise out of PC. Thanks in advance!

 

[RedSox68]

We didn't fly in or stay there -- we were in fact the very first Disney ship to stop in Galveston -- the Magic in 2004. We were outrunning Hurricane Frances and stopped in Galveston to stock up. Luckily, they got permission to let us off at the port and we loved it -- it was a very cute town, they had a marching band to greet us and we enjoyed just walking around and visiting the shops and ice cream parlor. There was a CVS in town if you need anything. My husband went to the Texas Seaport Museum, and also visited the 1877 Tall Ship Elissa, which is right next to the cruise terminal. There is also the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig Museum, and Seawolf Park (when they were wiped out by a Tsunami). There are a lot of historical buildings in town that date back to 19th Century.

 

[TexasPrincess1]

We are planning a Dec 2017 cruise on the Wonder out of Galveston, TX. We are completely unfamiliar with this departure port.

Any Galveston cruise veterans who can give us the details on the port - such as:

• What's the best airport to fly into?
• What hotels are recommended for the night prior stay (we like to arrive to the port area a day ahead)? Or is it better to stay near the airport so we can use hotel to port transportation?
• What transportation should we use if we stay local to the port?
• Any "must do" activities/restaurants to check out the night before our cruise?

We've got lots of time to plan, but we want to think about this stuff b/c if costs are too prohibitive (flights/hotels/transport), we may just switch it up to a Fantasy cruise out of PC. Thanks in advance!

First, I want to say that I love Galveston. My favorite hotels are the Hotel Gálvez, Tremont House, and the San Luis.

I suggest visiting the strand and eating at Riondo's and getting ice cream at La King's.

There is a small Galveston airport. Hobby is the largest airport on the south side of Houston. Maybe 45 min. - 1 hr. Away.

 

[ukintheus]

• What's the best airport to fly into?

HOU is Houston Hobby and Southwest fly into it. IAH is Houston Intercontinental and "most" other airlines fly into it. DCL only offers transportation from IAH. Transportation is the biggest issue in getting to Galveston, so do your research on that if you have a choice of airports.

• What hotels are recommended for the night prior stay (we like to arrive to the port area a day ahead)? Or is it better to stay near the airport so we can use hotel to port transportation?

Hotel Galvez was/is the DCL preferred hotel. They provide transportation to it, and it has a shuttle to and from the port. There are many other hotels on Galveston Island, some have shuttles to the cruise port and some don't. Harbor House is a cruise favorite because it is at the pier next to the cruise ship pier so you can see the ship channel and watch the cruise ships come in (if you are up early enough. ) If you decide to stay at the airport, and are flying into IAH, there is a Marriott hotel that is within the airport itself, you can use the inter-terminal train at IAH to access it. There are other hotels around the airport. Neither IAH or HOU have great access to restaurants or shops if you choose to stay at a hotel close to the airport. My recommendation, if you have the time, is to get down to Galveston and spend the night in Galveston.

• What transportation should we use if we stay local to the port?

This is the biggest issue by far in dealing with cruising out of Galveston. There are transport options available via rental car, Supershuttle, private town car or through DCL. Rental car has been an issue from what I have seen/read, although I don't have personal experience. There is an Enterprise on Galveston island, but the last information I heard was that they aren't allowing one-way rentals, and the closest drop off is in Texas City, which means you have to take a cab from there to the terminal.

• Any "must do" activities/restaurants to check out the night before our cruise?

Galveston is a lovely island to spend the evening if you decide to go down ahead of time. Recommendations will really depend on your travel party. There are lots of restaurants and it has a "small beach town" type feel to it. The Strand district offers hotels, restaurants and bars and shopping. The seawall is the front to the gulf and has hotels, restaurants and bars. There is also the Pleasure Pier towards the east end of the island. The seawall area is much more spread out than the Strand area. If you are at the west end and want to get to the Pier it would mean a taxi or a rental car.

There is also a thread from a few years ago that was started when DCL first came to Galveston, most of the information is still pretty accurate.
http://www.disboards.com/threads/all-things-galveston-updated-5-21-14.2988332/

We have sailed out of Galveston 8 times on DCL, so I have a fair amount of experience but I don't have experience with transfers to the port as we are local. Any other questions, I'm happy to help.

 

[Wish I lived in Fl]

We flew Southwest into Hobby and picked up a taxi ride from airport to hotel next to port. There was a line of taxis and an organizer who asked where you were going and assigned taxis at airport. Taxi was $100 each way (about 3 years ago) but cruise fare was $999 for a veranda.
Harbor House at Pier 21 was where we stayed. Port area pretty deserted when we got in late at night so taxi driver walked me and my daughter into hotel, just so you know what to expect location wise. We passed trucks carrying molten sulfur on the taxi ride- never saw that before!

 

[TexasPrincess1]

Hotel Galvez and the Tremont House are sister properties. The Tremont is right next to the strand. If you stay at the Hotel Galvez, there is a shuttle, which will take you to the Tremont.

Both are Wyndham properties. I suggest signing up for their rewards program in order to be alerted about sales and specials. Also, I was easily upgraded at the Hotel Galvez, so one strategy is to book the lowest price room, and then wait to see what they will give you at check in for free or for a small charge. FYI: the rooms are "smaller" at the Hotel Galvez because it is a historic hotel, but they are luxurious.

Hotel Galvez has a cool little museum in the basement. Ask Bobby to give you a tour. He lived much of the history there!

 

[ukintheus]

Hotel Galvez and the Tremont House are sister properties. The Tremont is right next to the strand. If you stay at the Hotel Galvez, there is a shuttle, which will take you to the Tremont.

Both are Wyndham properties. I suggest signing up for their rewards program in order to be alerted about sales and specials. Also, I was easily upgraded at the Hotel Galvez, so one strategy is to book the lowest price room, and then wait to see what they will give you at check in for free or for a small charge. FYI: the rooms are "smaller" at the Hotel Galvez because it is a historic hotel, but they are luxurious.

Hotel Galvez has a cool little museum in the basement. Ask Bobby to give you a tour. He lived much of the history there!

Just to add: Although Harbor House isn't part of the Wyndham rewards program, they are also part of the Galvez & Tremont House sister properties and offer cruise parking at the Galvez with free shuttle to and from the port. They have cruise parking in their own parking lot but it's pricey compared to using the Galvez parking & shuttle. You can technically walk from Harbor House to the cruise terminal though it is about 200 yards and over rough pavement if you have a bunch of luggage.

 

[SnowWhiteCupcake]

I'm thinking about going on the Dec 2017 myself. I live in Houston, and I would recommend Moody Gardens as a fun excursion in Galveston. They do some magical Dickens inspired Christmas decorations and such - look up Dickens On The Strand. Hopefully I'll see y'all there!

 

[elphie101]

We are also booked for Dec 2017 (New Years Eve cruise!) Does anyone recommend a particular parking location for the duration of the cruise, either a hotel or a park n' cruise situation? I use rental cars often for work and thus will have enough rewards points for a free rental (even if it just sits in a parking lot for 7 nights), plus we have friends in the Houston area we'd like to visit pre-cruise, so a round trip airport rental is a very doable option for us if it comes out cheaper with port parking than a shuttle/car service.

 

[Huskiesrule]

The 2 locations I know of are the actual Port parking and Lighthouse Parking. Galveston.com has a list of different parking lots if that helps.

 

[ukintheus]

We have used Lighthouse Parking several times. They have covered parking and will take you plus your luggage to the terminal. We've used a couple of others too, but they no longer take DCL passengers (I think because of the DCL schedule) , so we stick with Lighthouse and haven't ever had any issues.

 

[asamklove]

Thanks for all of this fabulous information! Most appreciated

 

[Hundredacre]

Flights into houston tend to be more expensive than into Florida. (Continental merged with united a few years ago and then prices went up a lot). Southwest airlines tends to be cheapest option. It is a pain to get from Houston to Galveston. I am not a huge fan of Galveston but it is nice to see once (like most places!). As others have mentioned LaKing's is awesome. Once you are in Galveston it is very easy to get to the port. A lot of people swim in the water there, but I personally would not touch the water in Galveston.

 

[Hundredacre]

Hotel Galvez books very quickly.

 

[aggiedog]

Also be advised to give yourself PLENTY of time for airport transfers. Traffic is horrendous, and fog frequently delays docking that time of year. We drove in, so not an issue for us, but I'd stress if I was flying in with tight transfer windows. This is a good port to plan on arriving a day before and leaving a day after, or leaving much later in the afternoon.

 

[drnp]

We used EZ Cruise our last two times for parking. They almost always have online coupon codes, many of them posted here on DIS when they are active. If you sign up for their emails, they will email coupons regularly. They have a park and walk and park and shuttle option. Though it is somewhat close to the port, I always chose the shuttle option because I'm not sure the walk with all of our luggage would be very pleasant. Its not like it is attached to the terminal. Also, both times the shuttle has been there to pick us up without having to wait very long.

 

[DisMommyTX]

As native Texans, we have sailed out of Galveston a couple times, and it is a great place to spend a couple days! I recommend flying into Houston Hobby if possible and renting a car. There are some great attractions, but everything is spread out. My kids loved spending the day before at Moody gardens. They have several different attractions, including a huge Christmas light display. NASA is certainly worth a visit--it's about half way between Galveston and Houston, not far from the Keemah boardwalk. Another option is the 'indoor' Schlitterbahn waterpark, but it is solar heated so it gets chilly unless you've had a couple days of solid sunlight. When it is just my husband and I, we enjoy wandering down the strand, but the kids are not very impressed. I think the best attraction in Galveston is their beautiful Gulf beach. Regardless of the season, it is so peaceful to stroll along the lovely white sands and listen to the waves crash ashore.

 

[Hundredacre]

http://kfor.com/2015/06/23/families-discouraged-from-swimming-in-ocean-waters-by-galveston/
People not from the area might not know that Galveston water has high levels of bacteria that goes up and down. Just an fyi. Everyone interprets information differently.

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

My Dad and I went on the Wonder from Galveston in December, 2015. Loved the port. It was very easy. I would advise to look into airfare and the price of Disney transportation to and from the airport. I think it was $70 per person if I am correct each way for Disney transportation (I can be wrong). Disney will only transport from Bush (at least that is how it was like when we went). Doing some research for flights, my Dad and I elected to fly Southwest into Hobby because it was cheaper. Then from there we booked a private transportation from there to the cruise terminal. That actually saved us with airfare and transportation close to $500. Southwest does not go into Bush and all of the flights going into Bush were about $400 a person from where we live. Good luck and hope you have fun!

 

[DisMommyTX]

http://kfor.com/2015/06/23/families-discouraged-from-swimming-in-ocean-waters-by-galveston/

I'm not really sure the point of posting an article from a year ago. I guess a reminder that all natural bodies of water have bacteria, and levels fluctuate, duh. More importantly, the OP should NOT be planning to swim in December because the water will be COLD!! Beach season there is April-Sept, maybe March and Oct for the dedicated.