Galveston to Houston IAH

We are cruising on the Magic at the end of June. I booked our flights, thinking that 1:10 pm (flying home) would be a safe time. However, when I went to enter the flight on the Carnival website I got an error. I called and they said that they only accept flights out after 1:30. I had to cancel my transportation with Carnival and need to find another way to get to the airport.

I have a couple of questions:

We are flying in the night before our cruise, does anybody have a shuttle service that they recommend getting from IAH to a hotel at the port (Country Inn)?

When we get back from our cruise and need to leave the ship, can we show up at the exit at 7 am with our luggage? That's what we did for our Disney cruise and we were at the Orlando airport before 9:30.

What time should I tell transportation to meet us to take us to the airport? This seems like a tough one since I don't know how fast we will be able to get off of the ship.

Thanks! I thought that since I had been on a cruise before, everything would be the same. Different cruise line, different port, different rules.

It is a long haul from Galveston to IAH. You should have booked your flights into Houston Hobby, which is much closer. From Galveston to IAH is 72.5 miles. That airport is actually way north of Houston. A cab from IAH to Galveston would cost a huge amount.

I keep telling my hubby we need to start a shuttle business just for cruises!

I would try to fly into Hobby if you can.

The problem is that I already booked my tickets. I guess I just figured it would take the same amount of time to get from Galveston to IAH as it did from Port Canaveral to Orlando. We got off of the ship at 7:10 and were at the airport before 9:30. I definitely shouldn't assume.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with the other posters here. A 1:10 departure from IAH will be difficult to make. If cannot change your flights to Hobby, can you at least change to a later flight from IAH? I would opt for something no earlier than 3:00 pm. Here's a couple of good reasons why this would be best:

• Your ship arrives in Galveston at 8:00am, I believe. In our experience, the earliest debarkations usually don't begin until 830 at best. First off the ship will be Diamond, Platinum, FTTF, and Self-Assist passengers. After that, you are called by your pre-assigned zone number. Not knowing your situation, I can't tell you what time you can expect to be off the ship, but I feel that it's unlikely it will be before 9:30 or 10:00.
  
• Once you are off the ship, you will proceed into the terminal to collect luggage (if you did not carry it off yourself), and proceed through customs. Here's where it can get bogged down. The operations at the Galveston cruise terminal are unpredictable. Congestion builds up quickly and frequently. And the porters and dock workers are union. They do not work for Carnival. And as dock workers union members, they are subject to union guidelines and restrictions when it comes to working hours, breaks and lunches. They can be forced to take lunch breaks right in the height of the debarkation process, and Carnival cannot do anything about it. We experienced this on the Magic on March 2 of this year. The terminal backed up so far that we did not get off the ship until 1130.
  

Look at our history below, and you will see that we have sailed out of Galveston quite a number of times. More than once, we have experienced some stressful and uncomfortable debarkations. Experience has taught us to plan ahead for any possible situation at Galveston. Of course, we are close enough to the port that we can drive and don't have to worry about catching flights. But the principle is still the same: you have just wrapped up by what will have been an enjoyable and memorable cruise aboard a beautiful ship. Why put yourself in a situation where the last thing you remember about your cruise is the stress of worrying if you will catch your flight. I urge you to look at all of your options. Feel free to throw your questions out here . . . and on the Galveston page on the Home Ports threads. We will do our best to offer suggestions.

Wow, it sounds like it's hard to get off of a ship in that port. We cruised on Disney and we were off in less than 15 minutes. I guess Carnival self-disembarkment takes a lot longer!

What I ended up doing is calling Carnival back and talking to customer service. She said that they guarantee flights leaving after 1:30. Our flight leaves at 1:10. That's only a 20 minute difference, so I will take the risk. She said that if I removed the flight information, I can book the transportation with them. I need to show my itinerary to customer service at some point during my cruise. I figured this made a lot more sense than booking other transportation when I have no idea when I will get off of the ship. We will carry our luggage ourselves and disembark as soon as we can.

With Disney, they had buses waiting and loaded them up fast and then we were off to the airport. Maybe that experience isn't realistic on other cruise ships.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with the other posters here. A 1:10 departure from IAH will be difficult to make. If cannot change your flights to Hobby, can you at least change to a later flight from IAH? I would opt for something no earlier than 3:00 pm. Here's a couple of good reasons why this would be best:

 

• Your ship arrives in Galveston at 8:00am, I believe. In our experience, the earliest debarkations usually don't begin until 830 at best. First off the ship will be Diamond, Platinum, FTTF, and Self-Assist passengers. After that, you are called by your pre-assigned zone number. Not knowing your situation, I can't tell you what time you can expect to be off the ship, but I feel that it's unlikely it will be before 9:30 or 10:00.
  
• Once you are off the ship, you will proceed into the terminal to collect luggage (if you did not carry it off yourself), and proceed through customs. Here's where it can get bogged down. The operations at the Galveston cruise terminal are unpredictable. Congestion builds up quickly and frequently. And the porters and dock workers are union. They do not work for Carnival. And as dock workers union members, they are subject to union guidelines and restrictions when it comes to working hours, breaks and lunches. They can be forced to take lunch breaks right in the height of the debarkation process, and Carnival cannot do anything about it. We experienced this on the Magic on March 2 of this year. The terminal backed up so far that we did not get off the ship until 1130.
  

Look at our history below, and you will see that we have sailed out of Galveston quite a number of times. More than once, we have experienced some stressful and uncomfortable debarkations. Experience has taught us to plan ahead for any possible situation at Galveston. Of course, we are close enough to the port that we can drive and don't have to worry about catching flights. But the principle is still the same: you have just wrapped up by what will have been an enjoyable and memorable cruise aboard a beautiful ship. Why put yourself in a situation where the last thing you remember about your cruise is the stress of worrying if you will catch your flight. I urge you to look at all of your options. Feel free to throw your questions out here . . . and on the Galveston page on the Home Ports threads. We will do our best to offer suggestions.

We aren't going to put our suitcases outside of our room the night before. If Carnival is like Disney, you can keep your suitcases and take them yourself at 7 am to disembark early. We were literally on the Disney bus by 7:15.

The ships are typically docked by 6am, with disembarkation starting at 7:15am.

If you do self disembark, you will have no issue getting off.

We have not used the transportation to the airports as we live here. By self-disembarking we have been home by 7:30 (okay it is 20 blocks!).

The later you leave the ship, the longer it takes.

There is no traffic on Sunday morning so the airport can easily be made in 1-1/2 hours.

Travel time depends on what time the bus will leave the pier. You don't want them waiting for late disembarking passengers.

Enjoy your cruise:)

Wow, it sounds like it's hard to get off of a ship in that port. We cruised on Disney and we were off in less than 15 minutes. I guess Carnival self-disembarkment takes a lot longer!

 

What I ended up doing is calling Carnival back and talking to customer service. She said that they guarantee flights leaving after 1:30. Our flight leaves at 1:10. That's only a 20 minute difference, so I will take the risk. She said that if I removed the flight information, I can book the transportation with them. I need to show my itinerary to customer service at some point during my cruise. I figured this made a lot more sense than booking other transportation when I have no idea when I will get off of the ship. We will carry our luggage ourselves and disembark as soon as we can.

 

With Disney, they had buses waiting and loaded them up fast and then we were off to the airport. Maybe that experience isn't realistic on other cruise ships.

It may not be as much the ship or cruise line as it is the port and it's terminal operations. We sailed out of Port Canaveral one time, but also on Carnival. The one thing I remember about Port Canaveral is how smooth everything ran . . . on both ends of the cruise. They seemed to work well. It was very refreshing.

Hope all goes well for you!

Thanks everyone! Since I had already paid for non-refundable airline tickets I will just hope for the best.

We are flying in the night before the cruise leaves, so at least there is no stress for my arrival. We're excited about staying near the beach. Since we arrive early, we will be able to have plenty of time to explore the area.

I wanted to post an update about the transportation.

We used the hotel's shuttle to get from the airport to the hotel. That worked out well.

For our Carnival cruise we purchased Faster to the Fun Passes. The only perks that I noticed were boarding the ship before the general population, getting into a special line at guest services, getting off of the ship before the general population, and our room being ready as soon as we got on the ship. Those perks were worth it to our family. Our luggage did not get to our room any sooner though.

Since we had the Faster to the Fun Passes, we were able to meet in a dining room at 7:30 with all of our luggage. They let the frequent cruisers get off of the ship first and then the Faster to the Fun people. We were on the bus by 8:00 am, but it took almost 40 minutes for the bus to fill up. We headed to the airport at 8:40 and stopped at the other airport first.

We still made it in plenty of time for our flight with hours to spare. Self disembarking works well for people who have early flights.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with the other posters here. A 1:10 departure from IAH will be difficult to make. If cannot change your flights to Hobby, can you at least change to a later flight from IAH? I would opt for something no earlier than 3:00 pm. Here's a couple of good reasons why this would be best:

 

• Your ship arrives in Galveston at 8:00am, I believe. In our experience, the earliest debarkations usually don't begin until 830 at best. First off the ship will be Diamond, Platinum, FTTF, and Self-Assist passengers. After that, you are called by your pre-assigned zone number. Not knowing your situation, I can't tell you what time you can expect to be off the ship, but I feel that it's unlikely it will be before 9:30 or 10:00.
  
• Once you are off the ship, you will proceed into the terminal to collect luggage (if you did not carry it off yourself), and proceed through customs. Here's where it can get bogged down. The operations at the Galveston cruise terminal are unpredictable. Congestion builds up quickly and frequently. And the porters and dock workers are union. They do not work for Carnival. And as dock workers union members, they are subject to union guidelines and restrictions when it comes to working hours, breaks and lunches. They can be forced to take lunch breaks right in the height of the debarkation process, and Carnival cannot do anything about it. We experienced this on the Magic on March 2 of this year. The terminal backed up so far that we did not get off the ship until 1130.
  

Look at our history below, and you will see that we have sailed out of Galveston quite a number of times. More than once, we have experienced some stressful and uncomfortable debarkations. Experience has taught us to plan ahead for any possible situation at Galveston. Of course, we are close enough to the port that we can drive and don't have to worry about catching flights. But the principle is still the same: you have just wrapped up by what will have been an enjoyable and memorable cruise aboard a beautiful ship. Why put yourself in a situation where the last thing you remember about your cruise is the stress of worrying if you will catch your flight. I urge you to look at all of your options. Feel free to throw your questions out here . . . and on the Galveston page on the Home Ports threads. We will do our best to offer suggestions.

My one cruise on Magic disembarkation was like herding cats. No one paid any attention to their "schedule".