Tell me about galveston

[Disneybridewifemama]

Tell me about cruising out of Galveston. Do you have to fly in to houston and drive? Is the rental car situation easy? Is there a rental drop off near the port? Or is the disney shuttle the only way to go?

Thanks in advance. Not being able to fly in near the port has always deterred me from galveston cruise.

 

[2prettygirl]

We are cruising from Galveston this fall on Carnival line and we are finding this to be a very hard port to travel to and from. We are flying into Houston Hobby and have scheduled Galveston Express shuttle service to pick us up and take us into Galveston to our hotel. The next day we will have to get a taxi to take us to port. Galveston Express will pick us up the day we get off ship and take us back to airport. I have heard the rental car drop off is not an easy one, you have to drop off and get a shuttle to the port, which from my understanding, shuttle service is not the most convenient transportation either so I can't speak on a rental car but just share what I have been told. I have already told myself that I won't cruise from here again.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Bummer about the transportation issue. I heard the fog problem was the biggest obstacle.

 

[jburge12000]

We cruised out of Galveston last November over Thanksgiving. We found it cheaper to rent a car for the week and park at the Port then for a family of 4 on the shuttle services. Flew into Hobby the night before (we always fly in the night before regardless of departure port), no issues at all renting from Enterprise at the airport. We arrived into Hobby late in the evening so we stayed the night at one of the hotels near the airport and drove to Galveston in about an hour with out any traffic the morning of our cruise. We reserved parking in advance through the Port of Galveston website and the parking lot was just outside the cruise terminal. They have a shuttle that takes you from the parking lot to the terminal but we walked. Having the car after was great, we spent the afternoon and next day on the other side of Galveston. First time we cruised out of Galveston and we did not have any issues with getting to or from the port.

We have cruised out of Port Canaveral multiple times and I don't think Orlando Airport to Port Canaveral is that much different then traveling from Hobby to Galveston other then Disney has the bus service they provide in Orlando. I will add that the rental car we rented in Galveston was cheaper then the what we pay for the Disney transportation in Orlando.

 

[Disneybridewifemama]

We cruised out of Galveston last November over Thanksgiving. We found it cheaper to rent a car for the week and park at the Port then for a family of 4 on the shuttle services. Flew into Hobby the night before (we always fly in the night before regardless of departure port), no issues at all renting from Enterprise at the airport. We arrived into Hobby late in the evening so we stayed the night at one of the hotels near the airport and drove to Galveston in about an hour with out any traffic the morning of our cruise. We reserved parking in advance through the Port of Galveston website and the parking lot was just outside the cruise terminal. They have a shuttle that takes you from the parking lot to the terminal but we walked. Having the car after was great, we spent the afternoon and next day on the other side of Galveston. First time we cruised out of Galveston and we did not have any issues with getting to or from the port.

We have cruised out of Port Canaveral multiple times and I don't think Orlando Airport to Port Canaveral is that much different then traveling from Hobby to Galveston other then Disney has the bus service they provide in Orlando. I will add that the rental car we rented in Galveston was cheaper then the what we pay for the Disney transportation in Orlando.

Thank you, this is very helpful. I called Disney and asked how much their shuttle was and they said $45 per person, each way. So that would be $270 total for my family, That seemed like so much money to me! I will look into rental car prices and parking fees.

 

[Disneybridewifemama]

Do you happen to remember what it cost to park at the port for the week?

I was thinking of renting a car from airport to port only and then getting another one post cruise to drive to the airport. So I could save money on a week's rental and parking fees. Is that a crazy idea?

Also, do you recommend staying near the airport and driving morning of or staying near Galveston the night before?

I'm one of those crazy over-planners. So it makes me so nervous to not know anything about this port.

 

[Disneybridewifemama]

Never mind, I just looked on the site and found this info:
Length of Cruise Parking Rates at Lots Pre-paid Parking Rates at Lots
Four Days $45.00 $40.00
Five Days $50.00 $45.00
Six Days $60.00 $55.00
Seven Days $70.00 $65.00
Eight Days $75.00 $70.00

 

[phinz]

Bummer about the transportation issue. I heard the fog problem was the biggest obstacle.

Fog is more of a problem on the Houston Ship Channel. That's why all of their cruise lines are pulling out.

 

[2prettygirl]

We cruised out of Galveston last November over Thanksgiving. We found it cheaper to rent a car for the week and park at the Port then for a family of 4 on the shuttle services. Flew into Hobby the night before (we always fly in the night before regardless of departure port), no issues at all renting from Enterprise at the airport. We arrived into Hobby late in the evening so we stayed the night at one of the hotels near the airport and drove to Galveston in about an hour with out any traffic the morning of our cruise. We reserved parking in advance through the Port of Galveston website and the parking lot was just outside the cruise terminal. They have a shuttle that takes you from the parking lot to the terminal but we walked. Having the car after was great, we spent the afternoon and next day on the other side of Galveston. First time we cruised out of Galveston and we did not have any issues with getting to or from the port.

We have cruised out of Port Canaveral multiple times and I don't think Orlando Airport to Port Canaveral is that much different then traveling from Hobby to Galveston other then Disney has the bus service they provide in Orlando. I will add that the rental car we rented in Galveston was cheaper then the what we pay for the Disney transportation in Orlando.

Thank you, this is very helpful. I called Disney and asked how much their shuttle was and they said $45 per person, each way. So that would be $270 total for my family, That seemed like so much money to me! I will look into rental car prices and parking fees.

Galveston Express shuttle service is $45/adult roundtrip and $35/child and senior round trip, that's a pick up from the Hobby airport and drop off at Galveston hotel. I was thinking that would be much cheaper than a rental car but after reading your post, I am starting to question that. We have are a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 kids) but my in-laws are joining us and so it may be a better deal if we do rent a car. We fly in the day prior and were planning to get a taxi to take us to and from the port and possibly to dinner the day we arrive in Galveston but we may have to do some calculating again and refigure.

 

[Disneybridewifemama]

Yes, we have another family possibly joining us on our cruise and if they do, I think renting a bigger car would be cheaper for us. But if it's just the three of us, maybe the shuttle would be cheaper.

 

[jburge12000]

Do you happen to remember what it cost to park at the port for the week?

I was thinking of renting a car from airport to port only and then getting another one post cruise to drive to the airport. So I could save money on a week's rental and parking fees. Is that a crazy idea?

Also, do you recommend staying near the airport and driving morning of or staying near Galveston the night before?

I'm one of those crazy over-planners. So it makes me so nervous to not know anything about this port.

I found my rental email, and we paid just under $200 for our full size car rental for the week. We added 2 day rental to stay in Galveston after the cruise that brought up the cost. We also got $5 off for prebooking parking so it was $65. We arrived late at night, around 10:00 so we stayed next to Hobby. We had looked into staying in Galveston the night before, we just decided we did not want to drive it that late. No issued getting to the Port in the morning. My wife realized she left a pair of pants at home and we had time to stop at a shopping center on the way and still arrived at the Port with plenty of time to spare. Rental car companies are very limited in Galveston, I think only Enterprize has an office in Galveston. I had looked at the 2 one way rentals, but the extra charge for returning the cars at a different location then where you rented from made it more expensive then the week rental.

 

[Disneybridewifemama]

I found my rental email, and we paid just under $200 for our full size car rental for the week. We added 2 day rental to stay in Galveston after the cruise that brought up the cost. We also got $5 off for prebooking parking so it was $65. We arrived late at night, around 10:00 so we stayed next to Hobby. We had looked into staying in Galveston the night before, we just decided we did not want to drive it that late. No issued getting to the Port in the morning. My wife realized she left a pair of pants at home and we had time to stop at a shopping center on the way and still arrived at the Port with plenty of time to spare. Rental car companies are very limited in Galveston, I think only Enterprize has an office in Galveston. I had looked at the 2 one way rentals, but the extra charge for returning the cars at a different location then where you rented from made it more expensive then the week rental.

You have been so very helpful. Thank you SOOO much!

 

[Huskiesrule]

For those renting a car and coming in the day before there are hotels that offer parking and a shuttle to the port. This old thread http://www.disboards.com/threads/all-things-galveston-updated-5-21-14.2988332/ and Galveston.com has useful info also.

 

[2prettygirl]

Keep in mind that Enterprise looks to be the only car rental place in Galveston, if you plan to drop your car off there before your cruise, they charge an additional $100 fee for dropping off your car if you picked it up from the airport Enterprise. I didn't realize this until someone else mentioned it to me.

 

[CesD]

can anyone recommend a private car company they've used -- houston to galveston

 

[Quellman]

Fog is more of a problem on the Houston Ship Channel. That's why all of their cruise lines are pulling out.

Add in the oil slicks and barge crashes that seem to make the news more frequently than one would imagine, its a busy port and tough for a cruise schedule, but I would only use that information when making a decision to book flights, not to cruise or not.

 

[CesD]

Has anyone used the rental car companies in Texas City then taken a cab to port? is it a hassle? would u do it again?

 

[phinz]

I would think the biggest hassle is that Texas City isn't exactly a bustling metropolis (my family is from there, La Marque and Hitchcock) so getting a cab might be a bit of a wait.