Galveston - how do we get there?

Me and 5 friends are cruising out of Galveston March 2009. We have not booked our flight because we weren't sure what was the best airport to fly into, and how people get to the port. We will be flying out of Boston. We called RC about ground transportation and they quoted us $90/person from Houston. Is there a more economical way to get 6 people to the ship??? We hope to fly in the same day as we disembark. :confused:

First of all, you need to know that Houston has two airports. The larger, Bush Intercontinental (IAH), is located +/-20 miles north of downtown Houston and +/-60 miles north of Galveston. Hobby Airport (HOU) is located south of downtown and is +/-35 miles north of Galveston.

Obviously, Hobby is a better choice.

You might want to check which airport RC is quoting for ground transportation.

There are lots of threads here with information about rental cars, shuttles, limo services providing transportation from both airports. However, right now, with everyone recovering from Hurricane Ike, any previous information would need to be verified.

Me and 5 friends are cruising out of Galveston March 2009. We have not booked our flight because we weren't sure what was the best airport to fly into, and how people get to the port. We will be flying out of Boston. We called RC about ground transportation and they quoted us $90/person from Houston. Is there a more economical way to get 6 people to the ship??? We hope to fly in the same day as we disembark. :confused:

That sounds HIGH per person. I'm sure my husband and I didn't pay that much this past April when we took the RC shuttle to Galveston. On a cruise the year before, we took a taxi to Galveston. There were 4 of us and we were charged $140 total. I really think you could take a taxi that would be cheaper than $90 per person. (I know we did.) The one we took was a van taxi and had room for our luggage.

If you fly into Hobby Airport, which is closer and is used by Southwest Airlines, the fare to Galveston should be less because it is much closer to Galveston than Bush International is. I've never taken a shuttle from Hobby, but there are bound to be taxis and shuttles available. Go to their website. There should be information available. Good luck, and have a great cruise!!

Houston Hobby serves Southwest airlines. All other airlines land at Houston Intercontinental (IAH). Your choice of airports is related solely to the airline you will be flying. IAH is 68 miles from Galveston and Hobby is 40 miles. When traveling from IAH, you will go past Hobby on your way to Galveston. Hobby is the old airport and is very basic and not real nice. IAH is the newer airport and is really quite nice. There is limo service available from both airports to Galveston. The key is to shop around.

Houston Hobby serves Southwest airlines. All other airlines land at Houston Intercontinental (IAH).

Hobby also serves American, Jet Blue, Air Tran and Delta. Hobby is your best bet as it is closest to Galveston. Since there are five of you, check into rental cars from Enterprise. That might be the lease expensive. I don't know what a taxi is to Galveston but to the new terminal at Port of Houston it was about $65 for 2 of us. You might also check Galveston Limousine (do a search for their website). I heard they got all of there vehicles out before the hurricane hit and are up and operating. I thought they were reasonable when we where checking them out.