Jan. 2020 WWYD: Miami or Galveston?

[Narnia_girl]

We are currently booked for San Diego to Cabo in Oct. 2019 but need to switch because of a scheduling conflict. Looking at either the Five Night Western Caribbean from Miami or the Six Night Western from Galveston.





For our family (four adults) the six night is about $900 more than the five night.
A few other factors: we live in Illinois and fly out of St. Louis. Galveston would probably be a cheaper flight. Castaway Cay is kind of neutral for us, would enjoy it but don't have to do it again.

I'd appreciate input on pros/cons of these itineraries.
And also ports--what did you like/dislike about the port options? We have only sailed from Port Canaveral.
Thank you!

 

[pezgirlroy]

I would always go for the longer one.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

I would also go with the longer Galveston cruise because of the extra day at sea.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

Longer! I really enjoyed cruising out of Galveston but the logistics were a bit tricky with getting from the airport to the port. There are many threads here you can read about Galveston transportation. We flew SW in and out of Hobby. We ended up renting a car and parking it at the port all week. The cost of renting a car for 8 nights and parking it was still much cheaper than the shuttles we could have rented, but it was such a waste as we literally drove that rental car for about three hours the entire time.

It was our first cruise and there were dolphins jumping and spinning right outside our cabin window when we walked into it and all through our muster drill -- pure magic!

Good luck and have fun!!

 

[Narnia_girl]

Longer! I really enjoyed cruising out of Galveston but the logistics were a bit tricky with getting from the airport to the port. There are many threads here you can read about Galveston transportation. We flew SW in and out of Hobby. We ended up renting a car and parking it at the port all week. The cost of renting a car for 8 nights and parking it was still much cheaper than the shuttles we could have rented, but it was such a waste as we literally drove that rental car for about three hours the entire time.

It was our first cruise and there were dolphins jumping and spinning right outside our cabin window when we walked into it and all through our muster drill -- pure magic!

Good luck and have fun!!

Thanks for the info. Shuttles must have been pricey if you could rent a car and park for all that time for less money. I'll read up on the transportation if we decide on that cruise. Wondering if Uber/Lyft is an option now?

 

[mocodis]

we just did a cruise on the Wonder out of Galveston. There were 4 of us, we used Uber XL and Lyft XL to and from Hobby. They worked out great.

 

[jrabbit]

Liked your point about Castaway Cay. Have been there in January when it's been absolutely BEAUTIFUL, have been there when it's been OK and been there when we didn't get off of the ship because it was very windy and rainy and only 70 degrees (and therefore with the wind and rain - pretty cold).

We did a repo from Galveston to San Juan several years ago in January. On the sea days, it was chilly out on deck. Cozumel was a lovely day - we spent it onboard. We then went to Grand Cayman - and the waves were too dangerous for us to tender into the port. The captain got us close enough where we could see the waves going over the tender dock!! As we were sailing very slowly past, you could tell that it would have been a nice day on the island.

Galveston is notorious for having fog - which can cause issues for embarking and disembarking!! The cruise the week before ours was delayed by 8 hours arriving and was not allowed to depart until the following day. When it returned (our cruise) it was a few hours late and we were asked to delay our arrival at the port by two hours. Within the past two weeks the Wonder was "stuck at sea" because the port was closed (wind i think)
so yea, there can be weather issues where ever and whenever you go!!!

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Like others have said ... Longer is usually better.

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Flying to Houston then getting to Galveston can be spendy since the rental car places charge a huge drop off fee (still trying to recoup the cost of a ruined fleet of cars from the hurricane in 2008). DCL has transfers from/to IAH, but not Hobby. There are many towncar and shuttle services between Houston and Galveston. What you choose to do depends upon when you want to arrive (day before cruise - PREFERRED! or day of AND where do you want to stay if the day prior - Houston or Galveston).

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I've been to Coz and Grand Cayman enough times where I don't really care if i get off of the ship or not - especially if I need to get my "Ship Fix".

If you want a beach day, Grand Cayman has many a great beach. Snorkeling - yes several options, all pretty good - I've done 3 different snorkeling excursions through DCL.

Cozumel also has good beaches and "resorts" on the beach with many activities. I've been over to Playa del Carmen a couple of times and really enjoy XPLOR park (Zip Lines, Drive Jeeps, Swimming in caverns, lunch ...) but there have been some travel advisories regarding taking the ferry between Coz and Playa ... so I don't know if DCL is still offering excursions that go to the mainland.


Decisions, Decisions.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

 

[jrabbit]

we just did a cruise on the Wonder out of Galveston. There were 4 of us, we used Uber XL and Lyft XL to and from Hobby. They worked out great.

Several years ago, Uber / Lyft were able to drop off only in Galveston but not pick up ... that's a good change.

 

[dislvr75]

Usually I too would say, go for the longer one! We just did 4 night out of Galveston to Cozumel on the Wonder in November. Fortunately no issues in Galveston except that it was chilly and windy! We stayed at the Doubletree at the airport (Hobby). We flew SW from Midway. We booked a shuttle service to and from the port. We flew in early the day before and went to the Space Center for the day.

We leave on the 5 night Magic today out of Miami. We have truly enjoyed Miami!!! We went to a Miami Heat game, took an air boat tour of the Everglades and a golf cart tour of the Wynwood Art district. We also went to Miami Beach/South Beach and have eaten some good food. I would definitely cruise out of Miami again!
We have done Cozumel, Grand Cayman ... all of them have fun excursions, depends on what your family likes to do. We enjoyed the adventure parks on Cozumel. We are planning to do sting rays in a few days in Grand Cayman. Castaway Cay is fun for us, I like to do the 5k and ride bikes. I wasn’t too sad though that it wasn’t on our last itinerary. If you plan on spending ANY time pre-cruise I recommend Miami hands down over Galveston! Good luck making your decision!

 

[Dug720]

Normally I'm a longer is better girl when it comes to cruises, but...

I adore Miami and you would have to pay me to go to Galveston, so I vote for the 5-night from Miami 100%!!!

 

[quickcat]

Personally, much prefer Miami to Galveston. The ease of getting to port and the weather are my main reasons.
Always fun deciding though! Have a great cruise

 

[lorimay]

Being a Florida girl, I would say Miami, because 99% chance you will have better weather here than Galveston.
But the extra day out of Galveston is a plus too. I have seen several instances where there is trouble with getting into the port in Galveston due to weather related issues.
Have fun which ever you choose, its DCL, you can't go wrong!