Cruise out of Galveston & Car Rental??

I was reading old posts from 2011 regarding renting a car from Houston Airport and wanting to return it in Galveston the day of the cruise. I have not booked the cruise yet.

My original plan: Flying from LAX to Houston on Wednesday. Sightseeing, golf etc before our Sunday cruise departure in Galveston.

I had assumed we could easily rent car at Hobby and return it in Galveston. Am I correct in assuming this? OR are the major car rental places in Galveston closed on Sunday?

I'm hoping things have changed since '11. Any advice for me?

Thank you,

Bobbi

Hate to tell you this, but unless something has changed, there's only one car

rental place in Galveston, and that's Enterprise. And they're closed on Sunday. But I believe you can leave the car on the lot and drop the key in a box. There's a sign on the box giving the number of a taxi. And, to add insult to injury - the drop off charges can be pretty high.

Might be best to return the car to the airport, and catch a cruise ship shuttle on down to Galveston.

Zuggie, thank you for helping me out. I guess we're just going to have to add on a couple hundred or more to our vacation budget.:(

We did this several years ago and had no problem. It was 2007 so things may have changed. We did not have a drop off fee as it was considered part of the Houston Area. Yes it was Enterprise. Several people were doing the same when we were there. Took a few pics to CYA, dropped the keys and paperwork through the door, called a cab and was at the dock in twenty minutes. Just ask the rental people about it.

We are cruising next month - I booked the cruise and air before finding out the ridiculousness of the car situation.

First - there are HUGE taxes on rentals from George Bush airport - I do not know if they are the same at Hobby but worth checking on.

Second - enterprise only accepts a certain number of drop offs/one way rentals and we were too late to get one

We arrive on Thursday for our Sunday departure. I looked into a few different options (one person returns to Houston and takes a shuttle, etc), but settled on us just renting the car for the duration of the cruise and park if it - then we can use it on our return day (we fly on Monday incase there is a fog delay). Our national emerald aisle rental is thru our work code and will cost us 488$ with taxes/fees before cashing in free nights.

I have since learned of others dropping their cars off in Texas City. Not sure what rental company that was but it may be worth checking out!

Good Luck!!!

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the Texas City option is Avis/Budget. their office is inside Sears in the <safe but declining> Mall of Mainland. I used them this month. picked up car at Bush, enjoyed Houston, stayed at hotel in Texas City, and returned car to Avis on Sunday morning. For a $50 fee, they drove us and our luggage in our freshly- returned rental car to the port in Galveston and dropped us off. They charge the same $50 for those using the service after the cruise. Overall, it worked fine. In our case the rental car fee plus the port drop off fee was less than a shuttle service, and we got to use the car to enjoy the area.

you likely won't find the port drop info on the Avis or Budget website, so call the Texas City office directly for questions or to reserve a drop time.

We cruised out of Galveston last year and rented a car. I did the math and it was about same price to rent the car for a week and park it at the terminal in closed parking as it would have been to hire transportation to and from the airport and to the ship the next morning. And it was a lot less stressful not be dependent on transportation or stuck at the hotel.

Just an option.

If it helps - parking at the port is between 50-75$ if you pay in advance for the week.

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We cruised out of Galveston last year and rented a car. I did the math and it was about same price to rent the car for a week and park it at the terminal in closed parking as it would have been to hire transportation to and from the airport and to the ship the next morning. And it was a lot less stressful not be dependent on transportation or stuck at the hotel.

 

Just an option.

I priced ours that way also. It probably depends upon length of cruise and prevailing rental car rates. since we were doing two week b2b, leaving the rental car in a Galveston parking lot for the duration was way more than a one or two day rental plus $50 drop off fee plus cruise line transfers to airport upon return. we used Avis Texas Coty as Enterprise would not do a one way rental or an inexpensive two week rental on our dates.

In general, compared to some other ports, Glaveston transportation seems to merit more time investigating one's options. I'll price it multiple ways again next time, and see which makes sense.

Alrighty, you guys gave me plenty if nformation and options. I'll have to sit down tomorrow and do "the math". Dreaming here of the good 'ol days when Royal sailed out of Long Beach/ San Pedro! Sure was easy :D

We rented ours out of Hobby and parked it at the Hotel for the week. Drove it back to Hobby when we flew out. Hotel charged us $ 40 to park and drove us to the cruise pier and picked us up after.

Easy !