Houston Airport to Galveston transportation?

[KimDHR]

Hello! I apologize in advance if this has already been asked--we are a little time strapped so I can't read through everything on the forums. We just booked a Disney Wonder cruise out of Galveston in October, on fairly short notice, but at a great rate, and we're super excited. The one piece I don't have lined up yet is how to get from Houston International Airport to the pier. We are coming in the day before the cruise so we don't have to worry as much about airline delays. There are 5 of us, so taking any kind of shuttle is cost prohibitive. Does anyone have the scoop on the best way to do rental cars, or some other option? I am wondering if it is cheaper to do one way rentals in both directions, or to rent for a week and leave the rental at the hotel (several hotels offer free cruise parking with an overnight stay). I am having trouble with the rental car websites and finding the Galveston port as a "location." Would love to hear any suggestions or best/most economical way to get to the port. Thanks in advance!

 

[Emichan21]

The problem is that there aren't any car rental locations on the island. You would have to drive back to the mainland and drop off the car. Probably in Texas City. Your best bet is to rent a limo/car service.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

Well, we are sailing on October 5th out of Galveston on the Wonder, and I have spent the last week doing a ton of research and slicing and dicing the costs. It appears cabs are about $95 each way, town cars like Execucar are about $130/140 each way. I haven't found a good option for one way rentals as the rep at Enterprise quoted me a $100 drop off fee for doing a one-way plus the cost of the rental which would come out to about $150 each way. It may cost the same to rent the car for the entire week and just park it. Totally ridiculous for about two hours driving time (approx. one hour each way, probably less).

Since we are trying to do this cruise as economically as possible, we have decided to rent the car for the week using our miles and points since we have quite a few. I know using them for the rental car isn't getting the most value out of them, but it will be no out of pocket cost to us and that is appealing for this trip.

We are not thrilled with the transportation options quite frankly. The whole thing seems ridiculous or ridiculously expensive! And, we don't have a high tolerance for "funky", so I don't have a large comfort level with some of the transportation companies with which I've spoken.

Good luck and have a great cruise!

 

[sullins5]

Hi! We sail in 9 Days! And yep, went through all the searching, asking on the forum, and inquiring all I could. We chose to rent a car, and park it free for the week. Did find a great rate a few weeks back, but that does require digging for codes. Prices did wind up coming out to about $100 each way. So, you can rent a taxi (and then won't have to worry about parking your car) for that price, or use a car service and pay tips (also on a taxi), or try Supershuttle (believe they have a van you can use if you get multiple people). Wish I could be more precise, but there really is no cheap option for getting from HOU to Galveston. Pm me if I can help you more.

 

[lilbuddy88]

Welcome to the "Galveston Transportation Headache" Club

Anyway we leave at the end of November and found Cool Tours Galveston.

They are picking us up from HOU the day before and dropping us at our Galveston Hotel and then picking us up from the terminal and dropping us (2 adults 2 Children) at the Airport for $140 round trip. They have great reviews on TripAdvisor.

 

[ukintheus]

I'm sure that you have already looked into this, but if you are flying into IAH (Intercontinental) (not HOU which is Hobby), then DCL do offer shuttles to and from the cruise terminal. I'm sure you've already looked into those, and for 5 people they are pricey, but given all the issues with transportation and the costs, they may not be a bad alternative to the stress and headache of trying to figure out another option.

Good luck. As others have posted, the great rate out of Galveston is wonderful , the transportation issues make it a bit of a logistical nightmare.

 

[jjje]

There's no good option, there's only a less bad option. I did a ton of research and worked out all the costs of all the possibilities and in the end (for our last cruise and for our upcoming one) to use the Disney transfers. It ends up being a bit more expensive than some other choices (although not much) but it's pretty no-hassle and guaranteed to get you to the ship on time.

 

[KimDHR]

Thank you for all the responses! I will look into some of those options. Yes, for 5 of us at $90 a pop, I know we can do better than the disney transport. I think a rental for the week or the "cool" option above may be our best bet. have fun everyone! It may be a pain to get to the ship but then it should be worry free for a week!

 

[sullins5]

Welcome to the "Galveston Transportation Headache" Club

Anyway we leave at the end of November and found Cool Tours Galveston.

They are picking us up from HOU the day before and dropping us at our Galveston Hotel and then picking us up from the terminal and dropping us (2 adults 2 Children) at the Airport for $140 round trip. They have great reviews on TripAdvisor.

Thanks for the heads up on this! I did call today, but for our family of 4, they had transportation on the 27th of Sept., but totally sold out the 5th of October. His words "Wow, sorry, but we have NO availability for the 5th! I wonder what's going on?" I told him, "More cruises?"
Anyway, didn't help us, but might help some!!

 

[Alexander]

Whatever you do, DO NOT USE SUPER SHUTTLE! I won't go into details, but at least 60 people were left stranded at the port on disembarkation day for over 2 hours.

 

[KimDHR]

Shoot, I was just coming over here to say I found a good rate with super shuttle. Our flight out of TX is not until 8pm, so we would probably stay in Galveston for the afternoon and just be beach bums, with a 4pm pick up time from a hotel near the pier, so maybe there wouldn't be such a crowd? I've had good experiences with Super Shuttle in the past (in different locations, never been to Galveston). I looked up rental cars and for the entire week they are kind of more than I want to spend. sigh.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Shoot, I was just coming over here to say I found a good rate with super shuttle. Our flight out of TX is not until 8pm, so we would probably stay in Galveston for the afternoon and just be beach bums, with a 4pm pick up time from a hotel near the pier, so maybe there wouldn't be such a crowd? I've had good experiences with Super Shuttle in the past (in different locations, never been to Galveston). I looked up rental cars and for the entire week they are kind of more than I want to spend. sigh.

We've used Super Shuttle in the LA area several times with no problems. Maybe it was a one time problem? Or maybe the Galveston area Super Shuttle has a problem? Have there been any other complaints against them?

 

[KimDHR]

I called a couple of other options that were recommended elsewhere--but with a car company and 5 people they were telling me it would be a stretch limo for 199 each way, and yellow cab is 180 each way. I left a message for the cool tours place and will cross my fingers. Otherwise we may need to take our chances on super shuttle, which looks like it would be 155 roundtrip for an SUV that fits 5 passengers. Clearly the cheapest option I've found so far.

 

[Alexander]

It is a Galveston problem. They won't come to the pier until they have a full van coming in from the airport. You call them when you are ready to disembark and they give you a pick up time. When said pick up time comes and goes, you call again to be told it will be at least 90 minutes more. There were desperate people grabbing cabs and trying to get on cruiseline shuttles at the last minute because they were going to miss flights. Definitely not an isolated event in Galveston, many people have reported major problems.

Now getting to the port was great, it was a fiasco trying to get back.

 

[BAIC03]

Why does no one seem to use the DCL transfers?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Why does no one seem to use the DCL transfers?

Do you mean generally? Or in Houston/Galveston?

DCL transfers in Houston/Galveston cost $90 per person and only go from IAH. Many people fly in to Houston Hobby, so no DCL transfer available. Others fly in the day before and wish to stay the night closer to port - no transfers the day before the cruise.

Could be any number of reason.

 

[KimDHR]

For 5 people, the transfers work out to be quite expensive, and we are flying in the day before the cruise just in case there are flight delays so it isn't offered. Wondering though if there is an excursion with a tour of houston and drop off at the airport after the cruise? I know a lot of cruise lines do things like that.

The super shuttle rate I was looking at was not for a van but for a private car, so I don't think we would have the same problem of waiting for a full bus. I will call super shuttle in the morning and see what I can find out.

 

[KimDHR]

I just read some reviews of super shuttle houston on Yelp. They are atrocious. Will have to keep looking.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

I just read some reviews of super shuttle houston on Yelp. They are atrocious. Will have to keep looking.

Do you think this means Execucar is awful as well? They are the town car portion of SuperShuttle.

 

[KimDHR]

Do you think this means Execucar is awful as well? They are the town car portion of SuperShuttle.

that's a good point... execucar is what I was looking at and where I found the best price so far. Looking further into renting a car and staying at a hotel which offers free parking is getting pricey (the hotels with free parking are more expensive), and I got a quote of 285 from the cool tours place.