Crown Princess to run out of Galveston 2012/13

[Tapi]

Wow, Galveston is going from 0-60mph in record time! Carnival Magic, Mariner of the Seas, Crown Princess. I hope that they don't "oversaturate" the market, reducing revenue to the point of having to pull out of that market...

[packedandready]

March 17th I think

 

Thanks

[ssbeagle]

Rita, will you be on it when it pulls into Galveston or will you get off in Fort Lauderdale? I am also looking at it going all the way to Texas.

[rdsqrl]

I may be missing something here but I see this being a boon for the folks in Texas. However are rest of the people in North America going to fly to Texas to have the choice of having one ship doing one 7 day itinerary, I know this would be tough sell in my household.:confused:

I'd try it once. I love to fly so don't really care about that part. But having the port be so far from a major airport is big-time unattractive -- I hate long ground transfers. And I'm sure that's going to be a turnoff for others who don't mind the flight but when combined with traveling over an hour once you get to Houston, decide it's all too much trouble. I don't expect this positioning to last very long as I can't see enough demand to sustain this itinerary for longer than maybe two seasons.

On the other hand, the itinerary does not include Jamaica, which is a major plus!

[piper28]

I'd try it once. I love to fly so don't really care about that part. But having the port be so far from a major airport is big-time unattractive -- I hate long ground transfers. And I'm sure that's going to be a turnoff for others who don't mind the flight but when combined with traveling over an hour once you get to Houston, decide it's all too much trouble. I don't expect this positioning to last very long as I can't see enough demand to sustain this itinerary for longer than maybe two seasons.

 

It's a pretty crummy port to get to from the airports. Traffic can back up pretty easily, and it doesn't take much for it to get completely screwed up. And it really is a long ways from the airport, meaning either an expensive transfer or a rental car. And then one to go back to the airport, with no guarantee that the rental companies will actually have enough cars to supply the number of reservations they had.

 

Galveston was also pretty notorious for slow customs processing, and god forbid they got 3 ships in port on a day, because they really couldn't handle that. I know when we were there the cruise staff freely acknowledged that it wasn't unusual for long delays getting off.

 

Wonder if the execs at Princess were as thrilled at this announcement as they would have been a few weeks ago before all the fog issues? :)

 

Obviously, for those where it's close enough to drive this could be good for them, but for people that have to fly in, well, for me it's definitely not a port that's high on my list of places I really want to sail out of again.

[FortWorthGuy]

First of all, the traffic issue is not much different than many ports I've left from. Los Angeles, Seattle and Miami have all had traffic issues when I've sailed. Hobby is a quick 40 minute drive in light traffic and 50 minutes during rush hour. Intercontinental is about an hour and 15 minutes from Galveston no matter the time of day. It is certainly not an issue that would keep me from sailing from Galveston. Southwest offers many flights to Hobby and Continental has a huge hub at Intercontinental. Both are great options. That being the case, most people using Galveston drive from Texas and the surrounding states.

 

As far as the fog goes, it does happen occasionally during the winter months. Again, it is rarely a problem and not a deal breaker for most people. The bigger problem is how the respective cruise lines handle the issues that arise from the weather.

 

Princess will share the terminal with Royal Caribbean at the Galveston port. Carnival uses a separate terminal next door. The varying schedules and separate facilities should present no additional problems at the port. I hope everyone considers Texas for a cruise without blindly discounting it as troublesome and problematic! Come on down! You'll be glad you did!

[ARcruisin2]

"However are rest of the people in North America going to fly to Texas..?"

People can...and do drive from outside of TX to the Gulf Coast. :rolleyes:

On our last (Carnival)cruise out of Galveston, there were people on our CC rollcall from all over the middle of the country that drove down..just like we did from northern AR.

It was a 10hr drive...and I admit a cruise shorter than a week would not be worth the drive. (hint Princess...can we get a 9 day?)

But we avoided airfare that would have nearly doubled our vacation cost ..not to mention I didnt have to limit my suitcases (poor hubby :p)

We also drove down to sail Princess out of New Orleans several years ago.

I'm up for another roadtrip to sail a Princess ship!

[bhopal21]

First of all, the traffic issue is not much different than many ports I've left from. Los Angeles, Seattle and Miami have all had traffic issues when I've sailed. Hobby is a quick 40 minute drive in light traffic and 50 minutes during rush hour. Intercontinental is about an hour and 15 minutes from Galveston no matter the time of day. It is certainly not an issue that would keep me from sailing from Galveston.

 

I agree with FortWorthGuy. The times we cruised on The Grand out of Galveston were no problem. We fly to Hobby and since there are 6 of us that travel together we can get a stretch limo from Gulf Coast Limo for less than the Princess transfers and travel in style. And with them furnishing a bottle of bubbly along the way it is a very quick 45 min or so.

 

Mike

:)

[hightownCO]

"However are rest of the people in North America going to fly to Texas..?"

 

People can...and do drive from outside of TX to the Gulf Coast. :rolleyes:

On our last (Carnival)cruise out of Galveston, there were people on our CC rollcall from all over the middle of the country that drove down..just like we did from northern AR.

 

It was a 10hr drive...and I admit a cruise shorter than a week would not be worth the drive. (hint Princess...can we get a 9 day?)

But we avoided airfare that would have nearly doubled our vacation cost ..not to mention I didnt have to limit my suitcases (poor hubby :p)

 

We also drove down to sail Princess out of New Orleans several years ago.

 

I'm up for another roadtrip to sail a Princess ship!

 

I'm in the middle but w/drive time of 15+ hours from here to Houston, I'd have to fly. I'd do the 11 hours to New Orleans but draw the line there.

Still I've checked before and airfare is almost always cheaper to Houston than any other port city I've checked. So that's a good thing.

I guess my main issue is that I just don't like the places visited on the 7 nighters from Galveston. That's why I've never cruised from there. Just my own preferences. I think Princess should have done something destinctive for the port of Galveston with 9 or 10 nighters. As it is, if I do ever cruise from there, it will be for a get away and at the best rate, not for the ports.

JMHO! No flames please.

[mnh]

First of all, the traffic issue is not much different than many ports I've left from. Los Angeles, Seattle and Miami have all had traffic issues when I've sailed. Hobby is a quick 40 minute drive in light traffic and 50 minutes during rush hour. Intercontinental is about an hour and 15 minutes from Galveston no matter the time of day. It is certainly not an issue that would keep me from sailing from Galveston. Southwest offers many flights to Hobby and Continental has a huge hub at Intercontinental. Both are great options. That being the case, most people using Galveston drive from Texas and the surrounding states.

 

As far as the fog goes, it does happen occasionally during the winter months. Again, it is rarely a problem and not a deal breaker for most people. The bigger problem is how the respective cruise lines handle the issues that arise from the weather.

 

Princess will share the terminal with Royal Caribbean at the Galveston port. Carnival uses a separate terminal next door. The varying schedules and separate facilities should present no additional problems at the port. I hope everyone considers Texas for a cruise without blindly discounting it as troublesome and problematic! Come on down! You'll be glad you did!

 

Totally agree....I live in Dallas and fly to Florida every year just so I can cruise on a differenct ship besides the only ship (7 days) available from Galveston during the summer...I am so excited to have Princess and also the new carnival ship...it is getting to be such a hassle to fly and the fares and extra charges keep going up and up, this really adds up for 3 people.

 

 

I have cruised 12 times out of Galvestion and the fog was present only once.

 

I only wish Galveston or Houston could attract year round ships other than Carnival.

 

I never seem to hear people complain about the distance or the shuttle cost between Orlando and Port Canaveral....it has to be at least the same.

[packedandready]

I'm soooooo happy Princess is coming to Galveston!!!!!! Will give us drivers another option. Now if only they will bring some new islands with them:p

[Texas_firefighter]

Great news!! It will give us a chance to have a new cruiseline experience with Princess without having to fly to Florida. As far as the "same" ports....We love the Western Caribbean....beautiful crystal clear water and relaxing beaches. Costa Maya is a new port for us. We love Cozumel and Roatan... awesome snorkleing. It doesn't matter how many times we've been there,we are blessed to be able to cruise and visit these places.With Crown, Magic, and Mariner coming, we have exciting new options ahead of us!

[jewopaho]

Great news!! It will give us a chance to have a new cruiseline experience with Princess without having to fly to Florida. As far as the "same" ports....We love the Western Caribbean....beautiful crystal clear water and relaxing beaches. Costa Maya is a new port for us. We love Cozumel and Roatan... awesome snorkleing. It doesn't matter how many times we've been there,we are blessed to be able to cruise and visit these places.With Crown, Magic, and Mariner coming, we have exciting new options ahead of us!

We've cruised often enough, and have been to these ports dozens of times. The ship is now our primary destination. It's simply a matter of logistics ... how much distance can be covered in 7 days ... so the options are limited. With three cruise lines, one would think that prices would be a bit more competitive. Since we're pretty much retired, and fly free on Southwest (all those points accumulated on our VISA) we can take advantage of those bargains out of Fort Lauderdale that pop up occasionally. We'd love to have that opportunity in Galveston.

[kzmama]

WOO HOO...So glad to see Princess returning to Galveston. Only 90 miles from us. We just returned from the Crown on January 22 and she is a wonderful ship. We had no problems with overcrowding.

 

After our 28-day scheduled in October, we will definitely be going on the Crown.

 

Costa Maya and Belize City will be new for us... We had never been to Roatan before and it was wonderful--some of the clearest snorkeling I have ever done.

[spiritkat090909]

I was so excited! :DReady to change my RCI 2012 cruise plans to Princess...DARN IT! :( It's only winter months. (Dec, Jan, Feb) March & APRIL will be nice sailing from Texas.

 

Just ONE month earlier & the Thanksgiving cruises would have done it. We have to cruise in the Fall.

 

Oh, well. They probably won't stick around anyway. Just one season, one hit wonders.

 

Hey CRUISE LINES... (Carnival excepted)...ever hear of YEAR ROUND? It's really cool, you make Texas your HOME & you stick around a while.

 

Grumble, hiss, boo, whine...oh yeah... and :p

[rdsqrl]

I agree with FortWorthGuy. The times we cruised on The Grand out of Galveston were no problem. We fly to Hobby and since there are 6 of us that travel together we can get a stretch limo from Gulf Coast Limo for less than the Princess transfers and travel in style. And with them furnishing a bottle of bubbly along the way it is a very quick 45 min or so.

 

Mike

:)

I wanna travel with you guys!

[bhopal21]

I wanna travel with you guys!

 

The more the merrier.

 

We don't vacation as often as we used to but when we do, we travel in style. After all, it is a vacation.:D

 

Mike:)

[satxdiver]

Wow, Galveston is going from 0-60mph in record time! Carnival Magic, Mariner of the Seas, Crown Princess. I hope that they don't "oversaturate" the market, reducing revenue to the point of having to pull out of that market...

 

The Mariner is simply a newer version of the Voyager so no increase in pax. The Magic is both a new ship and larger. With the Crown now in port it will increase the pax count above what the Magic is already doing.

 

It's a pretty crummy port to get to from the airports. Traffic can back up pretty easily, and it doesn't take much for it to get completely screwed up. And it really is a long ways from the airport, meaning either an expensive transfer or a rental car. And then one to go back to the airport, with no guarantee that the rental companies will actually have enough cars to supply the number of reservations they had.

 

Galveston was also pretty notorious for slow customs processing, and god forbid they got 3 ships in port on a day, because they really couldn't handle that. I know when we were there the cruise staff freely acknowledged that it wasn't unusual for long delays getting off.

 

Wonder if the execs at Princess were as thrilled at this announcement as they would have been a few weeks ago before all the fog issues? :)

 

Obviously, for those where it's close enough to drive this could be good for them, but for people that have to fly in, well, for me it's definitely not a port that's high on my list of places I really want to sail out of again.

 

Agreed that the trip from Intercontinental to Galveston through the heart of Houston is a crap shoot at best. Most rental car companies do not have a presence in Galveston since the demand is low so renting a car and leaving it in Galveston is hard to do. Galveston only has two pax terminals so only two ships at a time can be in there. Last time Princess was there it used Saturday for the turn around making the trip though the center of Houston even more interesting than on a Sunday.

 

Since I live within easy driving range of Galveston, I certainly will be on the ship as I much prefer Princess over RCI or Carnival. I hope that Princess keeps Galveston as a port and extends the time the ship is there. I always stay in Clear Lake when I go the day before.

[bjkTX]

For those of us in Texas it still beats flying to NY or Los Angeles!

[jewopaho]

Exactly ... the Houston infrastructure resembles a freshman civil engineering project. On a good day, the trip from Intercontinental is 90 minutes to two hours. So if you can't fly into Hobby (40 minute straight shot down I-45) or drive to the port, you're better off looking elsewhere. I'm certain that the Crown will depart on Saturdays, since it will be sharing the terminal with the Mariner of the Seas, which runs Sunday to Sunday. Fortunately, we're 45 minutes from Galveston ... not having to fly anywhere to cruise is huge. See you aboard.

[TexBear]

"Agreed that the trip from Intercontinental to Galveston through the heart of Houston is a crap shoot at best. Most rental car companies do not have a presence in Galveston since the demand is low so renting a car and leaving it in Galveston is hard to do. Galveston only has two pax terminals so only two ships at a time can be in there. Last time Princess was there it used Saturday for the turn around making the trip though the center of Houston even more interesting than on a Sunday. "

 

You can also take Beltway 8 east from IAH and it's free of charge until just south of I-10 when toll charges start. In that case, you can take Beltway 8 to I-10 going west, then, at I-610, turn left and head south and continue to the intersection with I-45 to avoid tolls. Another choice is to take Will Clayton Parkway east to US-59 and connect with Beltway 8 (as described above) or continue south to Loop 610 on toward I-45. I don't know what the driving distance is with either the tolled or free route, but there are a couple of options.

[clearlakecruisers]

WOW! Where did all these "Negative Nellies" come from???

 

Galveston may not be perfect for everyone but it has much to offer cruisers. Although transportation from the airports is admittedly a problem (but our experiences in Baltimore and Seattle weren't significantly better) and there is occasionally fog (not unique to this port), positives such as a great historical district, lodging in all price ranges conveniently located, and The Strand district within walking distance of the port are certainly positives.

 

Plan to fly into Hobby Airport (HOU/named one of the best small airports in the US) if at all possible, spend a day on your way to Galveston in the Clear Lake area at the Johnson Space Center and/or the Kemah Boardwalk. Then make the easy +/-30 minute drive down I-45 to Galveston and spend a day there.

 

If you need to fly into Bush International (IAH) allow some time and do your research. There are options for transportation and they aren't all budget busters.

 

Y'all come on down and enjoy the hospitality and friendliness for which Texas is known.

[aprilivy]

Excited for another option...Just wishing Carnival would ditch the Jamaica port in favor of something else - getting really tired of the same ports....will try Princess just for the variation in ports.

 

We drive down from the Dallas area

[Stevesan]

"Agreed that the trip from Intercontinental to Galveston through the heart of Houston is a crap shoot at best. Most rental car companies do not have a presence in Galveston since the demand is low so renting a car and leaving it in Galveston is hard to do. Galveston only has two pax terminals so only two ships at a time can be in there. Last time Princess was there it used Saturday for the turn around making the trip though the center of Houston even more interesting than on a Sunday. "

 

You can also take Beltway 8 east from IAH and it's free of charge until just south of I-10 when toll charges start. In that case, you can take Beltway 8 to I-10 going west, then, at I-610, turn left and head south and continue to the intersection with I-45 to avoid tolls. Another choice is to take Will Clayton Parkway east to US-59 and connect with Beltway 8 (as described above) or continue south to Loop 610 on toward I-45. I don't know what the driving distance is with either the tolled or free route, but there are a couple of options.

 

Not any more. The final segment was recently completed.

Sidebar: No toll booths. It's Ez Tag only.

 

Traffic from IAH or HOU to Galveston is relatively light weekends.

Rush hour on week days is a whole nuther subject. Take note, rush hour starts early Friday afternoons.

[Galveston Cruiser]

Double clicked - sorry