Leaving out of Galveston

[Chrisey]

So many questions lol

1) is Houston the closest airport?
2) is ther DCL buses to the port from there? Like at port canaveral?
3) is an 11:30 flight on debarkation day totally nuts?

 

[nflmom]

Houston has the closest airport, Hobby specifically.
It appears that Disney offers a transfer from the airport to the port, but it costs around $90 each, only on day of departure and return
An 11:30 flight on debarkation day is likely totally nuts. Even if you have a ride to the closest airport (Hobby), it will take about an hour to get there. You'd have to know you are leaving the ship right at 8:30, which may happen for concierge folks, but likely not most people, and you still would barely have time to get to the airport in time for security, etc.
Hobby airport is a pretty easy straight-shot from Galveston, though - not a lot of navigating to get there, and it's on the southern side of Houston, so you don't have to wade through a lot of traffic.
Traffic in all of Houston can be pretty awful, even on Sundays, so allow some extra time.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

2) is ther DCL buses to the port from there? Like at port canaveral?

When DCL first started cruises out of Galveston there were DCL transfers from both Hobby and George Bush airports. But, they stopped doing the transfers from Hobby. I don't know if the current series of cruises are scheduled to have transfers from George Bush or not, but I would think so.

 

[nflmom]

There is a private company called Galveston shuttle (just add a .com to the end of the name for the website) that definitely offers transfers from all Houston airports, and per the DCL site, transfers are available from Bush on DCL buses.

 

[wdrl]

There are two major airports that service Houston. Bush (IAH) is on the north side of the metro area and is about 70 miles (75 minutes) from the Galveston Cruise Pier. IAH is the airport used by many major domestic and international airlines. Hobby (HOU) is on the southeast side of Houston and is closer to Galveston. It is about 42 miles (50 minutes) from the Cruise Pier. Hobby is the home of Southwest Airlines; if you decide to use Southwest, then you will have to fly through Hobby.

Could you depart the ship and make it to an 11:30 AM flight at either airport? Well, yes. Will you make it 100% of the time? No. If you are returning to port on a weekday, the morning commute from Galveston could add several minutes to your commute time, especially if you are going all the way to IAH.

Keep in mind that in the winter months from November through February Galveston and the Houston Ship Channel is prone to fog. Ships can be delayed getting back into port anywhere from an hour or so to 24 hours. It doesn't happen frequently, but it will happen a handful of times during a season. Murphy's Law tells me that even if it only happened once next season, it would probably happen on my cruise.

Personally, for ease of mind and to avoid getting stressed out, I would not book a return flight until mid-afternoon, if not plan to spend an extra night in Galveston after the cruise.

I can't comment on what shuttle service DCL offers to passengers flying to or from IAH or HOU. But several companies, such as Super Shuttle and ExecuCar offer transfer services to the Galveston Cruise Pier from both airports.

 

[jburge12000]

I'm on the Wonder next week out of Galveston. I called DCL last week to inquire about the airport transfers and they are not running them out of Hobby.

 

[aggiedog]

Houston traffic can be brutal. There are any number of choke points that can seriously slow you down. Most flights go out of IAH, which is an hour north of Hobby, and getting there will either take you directly thru the worst traffic or you can take the toll roads around for moderate traffic and a much longer drive in mileage. Hobby would avoid most of that, but as was noted, is (almost?) exclusively Southwest.

I've seen awful traffic regularly on weekends, so assuming the weekend will be better for traveling quickly is not safe.

 

[TXTransplant]

I live just north of Bush Airport, and there is NO WAY I would plan for a 75 min trip from Bush to Galveston. Sometimes, it takes me 90 min just to get to Clear Lake, which is a good 30-40 min north of Galveston. I would plan for a 2 hour travel time, minimum. When we cruised out of Galveston two years ago, we were some of the first people off the ship. It was very early on a Saturday morning, and we were lucky that there was essentially no traffic...and it still took us more than 75 min to get home. There is also significant construction on I-45 just south of downtown, and it causes major traffic jams.

 

[Chrisey]

Thanks everyone! Looks like this cruise won't work out for us due to flight times and holidays . Fingers crossed for next time. Thanks again!