Cruise out of Galvestion worth the trouble?

[talkorpi]

Galveston is one port I've not sailed out of. I'd really like to try the Breeze the end of this year and I was doing some research the other day. I saw some threads about Galveston and many of the complaints I was seeing had to deal with getting off the ship and the long waits going through customs.

 

Although I've only been on two cruises, I can give you some assurance on the wait times at the port. I found Galveston's embarkation and debarkation to be MUCH smoother than the way New Orleans handles things. Granted, I did have FTTF on my Galveston trip, but we didn't use it to debark and we were off the ship and in the car withing 15-20 minutes of leaving our stateroom. Unless things have changed since then, I found the logistics in Galveston far succeeded New Orleans (although, New Orleans has more to do pre- and post- cruise).

[2prettygirls]

We actually found it much cheaper to fly into Houston, stay at the Hampton Inn next to airport ($89) and then we booked Galveston Express shuttle service for $40/person roundtrip....they will pick us up at the hotel the morning of cruise, drop us off at the cruise terminal and pick us back up the day we disembark and take us back to the airport. Hotels in Galveston were $200! Then to top it off we still had to cover a shuttle service to pick us up from the airport and get us to Galveston.

 

We have sailed from Port Canaveral a few times and we usually do the same, reserve a shuttle service to pick us up at Orlando airport and take us into Cocoa Beach. I thought Galveston was just the same, not really a hassle for us considering it's all we really know.

[Kova15]

This is how we dealt with Galveston:

 

1. Rented a car for the full week we were on the Carnival Freedom

2. Flew in to Hobby via Southwest (I kid you not we paid $100 per person round trip from Chicago)

3. Picked up rental and drove to the port, without hassle.

4. Parked at the park & cruise

5. Cruised

6. Got back in rental and drove back to Hobby.

 

All of that was cheaper than Carnivals transfer for 5 people. The rental gave us flexibility with flight times.

 

I'd do it again and in fact I'm planning on it later this year.

 

We did this in July 2015. It was fairly painless and renting the car and parking it for the week was cheaper than the shuttles and gave us the freedom of having a car. Planning it was a little painful because I evaluated every option. I looked at every shuttle service and car service, but in the end this option worked best for us. We would sail out of Gavelston again. We are doing the Glory next and then the Vista in 2017. so maybe our 2018 cruise.

[luv2trvlnow]

Galveston is one port I've not sailed out of. I'd really like to try the Breeze the end of this year and I was doing some research the other day. I saw some threads about Galveston and many of the complaints I was seeing had to deal with getting off the ship and the long waits going through customs.

 

I have seen a lot of complaints on debarkation on the Gulf Departure board. Most of those have come from people sailing on RCCL. It seems that they have a lot of long waits to get through customs. We have not had long waits the 2 times we sailed from Galveston.

[marimojo]

We only cruise out of Galveston - next May I will be giving Jacksonville a try. I can say, in all of my cruises out of Galveston, we never had an issue with fog, never. It probably has to do with the time of year we cruise. One time we had an issue with a storm that delayed our cruise, but Carnival made it up to us with a half price future cruise and lots of OBC. The last time I flew into Hobby (on business, not cruising), I asked the cab driver how much it would be to take a cab to Galveston and he told me around $90 - I think that is very reasonable. Also, we never have had traffic issues driving from Hobby to Galveston. We always leave early. It takes about 45 minutes to drive from Hobby. If you are driving to Galveston, coming down I-45, there will be traffic before you get to Houston, there always is. Leaving Houston to Galveston is always a breeze in the mornings. Galveston is a great place, you can stay at the Harbor House, right next door to the pier, lots of seafood restaurants at the pier, you can walk to the Strand. Staying at the Galvez is a treat and they offer a shuttle to the pier. There is absolutely nothing wrong with cruising out of Galveston, you just have to do good planning beforehand.

[firemanbobswife]

fourkittys - were you one of my table mates on the Glory 5-12?

Edited January 4, 2016 by firemanbobswife

[BAV2005]

Galveston is one port I've not sailed out of. I'd really like to try the Breeze the end of this year and I was doing some research the other day. I saw some threads about Galveston and many of the complaints I was seeing had to deal with getting off the ship and the long waits going through customs.

 

 

This is heavily dependent on your itinerary apparently. If you go to Belize the customs always takes twice as long for whatever reason! We've done the grand Cayman and it was a breeze, my sister did the Bahamas and it was the same. Customs is stricter on the other itinerary for some reason

[2prettygirls]

I am not sure how renting a car is cheaper than paying for a shuttle and hotels in Galveston are crazy expensive! We couldn't find anything under $200 that was a decent hotel. To rent a car from Hobby airport for a week was $426 (there are 6 of us) and then we would have to pay for parking and fuel in addition to the rental. We are using Galveston Express shuttle service, $40 round trip and we found a hotel in Houston next to the airport for $89. This worked better for us.

[mumtopugs]

We flew in the day of to Hobby and shared an SUV service with another couple. It was very easy and about $60-70 a couple. If you want to be safe and fly in the night before, go for it. I don't think Galveston is any more difficult than any other port.

[evandbob]

I cruised out of Galveston on the Magic in Oct and then Nov of this past year. From NYC I flew into Houston International, just a long shuttle bus ride to the port.

 

In October we had a weather related delay getting back into port for debarkation. That turned into one of the most disorganized and frantic departure from a ship I have ever been a part of, and that's over 30 cruises. The pushing, shoving, cursing and hell bent on leather folk with too much luggage jamming the exits was intense.

 

In November, we landed again in Bush at 9 AM and didn't leave on the Carnival shuttle bus till almost noon, getting to the port around 2pm in the wrap up of biker weekend..

 

I'm glad I sailed the Magic, and would book that ship again from Miami or FLL. I tried Galveston, but I'm not eager to repeat. Port Canaveral isn't high on my preferred list of departure ports either.

[zdcatc12]

CCL already has 3 ships there — Magic, Freedom and Triumph which will change this year to Breeze, Freedom and Liberty.

 

Thanks for the correction, that makes this even less of an issue if they are already doing 3.

 

We usually fly into the Sanford airport instead of Orlando. It's a lot closer

 

A lot closer to where?? Jacksonville?? Because it is about 20 miles farther to Port Canaveral from there than from Orlando International.

[sg4crzn]

We love cruising out of Galveston. Very easy. We fly into Houston Hobby and stay the night before at LaQinta. There's a shuttle airport-hotel-port-airport. Very nice people. On their web is a stay n cruise offer. Worth it to me. They will get you to the ship early. If you have a foggy delay, drop luggage with cruise porters and walk next door for a drink and appetizer. You might see dolphins swimming.

[tkportersat]

I hear of this fog all the time but after 14 cruises out of Galveston I have never seen it.

 

 

Fog can be a real problem... We cruised out Houston and on the return I got up about 7:00 and looked out the windows and it really foggy but we were stop so I assumed we were in the port since our room was on the opposite side of the ship from the port. Got dressed and went to breakfast and purposely sat on the other side so we could see the port and realized that were out in the gulf and nowhere near the port. We didn't dock till noon and we didn't rush getting off since we drove we let others get off first that were trying to make flights. We didn't get to our car till almost 3:00PM. We heard the ship didn't leave Houston port till 10:00am the next morning. Lots of miss flights on that cruise!!!

[winddawn]

It sounds like quite a hassle to cruise out of Galvestion when you have to fly into Houston and don't rent a car but find other transportation. We are in our 70's and would love to cruise on the Breeze . Would stay:D in a hotel at lest one night before boarding. How do you guys manage who do not drive? Thanks!

I cruised out of Galveston last month. I flew in a day early to Houston Hobby and spent the night at the airport Doubletree (they have a free airport shuttle both ways), and then took the Carnival shuttle to the port the next day. It was a hassle because we sat in the airport and then on the bus for a couple hours before they would leave to go to the port. Out of my 35 cruises, this is the first time I've cruised out of Galveston. And it will be my last. It was the most inconvenient and frustrating experience I've had getting to a ship. I find New Orleans to be much easier. If you fly into MSY airport and take airport shuttle new Orleans dot com to a hotel close to the port, there are lots of fun things to do in the port area downtown for a pre-cruise stay. It's a lot less hassle than Galveston and there are no issues with the limited bar menu on embarkation day, long trip to the port, and taxes due if you purchase alcohol during your cruise to take home. Why not try Carnival Dream out of NOLA?

[nybumpkin]

We did one cruise out of Galveston. We actually booked it because we wanted an aft wrap cabin and the cruise out of Galveston had one available. We had a great time, but due to the available flight schedules between ALB and HOU I doubt we will sail from Galveston again. We booked the latest flight possible out of HOU for our return trip (3:20 p.m.), but since we were delayed in getting back to port due to fog we missed our flight. We ended up getting home the next day - not a big deal, but certainly inconvenient. If we could add time on either end of the cruise, or if the flight times were better, I'd consider it.

[Rudyard]

Not going to bash anyone that doesn't want to sail our of Galveston, but I figure with four ships sailing from there year round they must be doing something right.

[Rosethorn40]

I was going by my experiences, and the issues we had (Other than their transfers) were beyond CCL control. But the question wasn't if sailing Carnival was worth it (I would say yes), but if sailing out of Galveston was worth it. My two experiences would say no.

 

I had forgotten the mess that was customs on my return in 2011. It was very slow. Most of the issues seemed to be because people didn't understand that while the Feds may allow 2 liters of alcohol to be brought ashore duty free, Texas allows only one. Also, again it was the sailing I was on, most people seemed to be traveling with birth certificates rather than passports. The second time in 2013 we sailed through customs.

[shipty2]

We just used Galveston express shuttle for our Christmas cruise on the Magic. They were awesome! On time and friendly with a very comfortable vehicle. We string one day ahead so took the shuttle for $25 per person and they dropped us at out Galveston hotel that was very close to the port. The people in Galveston were very very nice and polite. We would actually prefer to sail from Galveston based on our overly positive experience and this was our 21 cruise but the first one out of Galveston.

[2prettygirls]

I cruised out of Galveston last month. I flew in a day early to Houston Hobby and spent the night at the airport Doubletree (they have a free airport shuttle both ways), and then took the Carnival shuttle to the port the next day. It was a hassle because we sat in the airport and then on the bus for a couple hours before they would leave to go to the port. Out of my 35 cruises, this is the first time I've cruised out of Galveston. And it will be my last. It was the most inconvenient and frustrating experience I've had getting to a ship. I find New Orleans to be much easier. If you fly into MSY airport and take airport shuttle new Orleans dot com to a hotel close to the port, there are lots of fun things to do in the port area downtown for a pre-cruise stay. It's a lot less hassle than Galveston and there are no issues with the limited bar menu on embarkation day, long trip to the port, and taxes due if you purchase alcohol during your cruise to take home. Why not try Carnival Dream out of

NOLA?

 

What do you mean by limited bar menu on embarkation day? And why do you have to pay taxes on alcohol you buy at ports while on cruise when you disembark? This is all new to me, please tell!

[tkportersat]

I almost always cruise out of Galveston (except once and my future cruise) but I have never noticed a limited bar menu on embarkation day. The only weird Texas rule there is not getting any alcohol delivered to your cabin the first day (fun shops); they deliver to your cabin the second day. Texas now charges a tax so you have to go in a separate line after customs and pay it...from what I have seen it is totally on an honor system. We haven't bought liquor last couple cruises though as I don't want to pick it up on debarkation morning.

 

What do you mean by limited bar menu on embarkation day? And why do you have to pay taxes on alcohol you buy at ports while on cruise when you disembark? This is all new to me, please tell!

[AngAndBoys]

There is a limited bar menu while in port. Once they are however many miles out, they convert to fill bar. I don't drink the hard stuff, so don't know which of those are not available, but I know the beer in port is 12 oz cans instead of the 16oz aluminium bottles. It costs less, at least. Anyhow, this has to do with Tx collecting tax on alcohol from Carnival. They have to pay it while docked, so they stock a limited amount for port. Or so they tell me.

[tkportersat]

Guess I am not drinking enough because I have never noticed this. I will say for the most part we are beer drinkers and go straight for buckets or the Red Frog beer. The only thing I have ever noticed (which might have changed now) is that Shiner could be sold while in port and then they used to pull it and you couldn't get it anymore.

 

There is a limited bar menu while in port. Once they are however many miles out, they convert to fill bar. I don't drink the hard stuff, so don't know which of those are not available, but I know the beer in port is 12 oz cans instead of the 16oz aluminium bottles. It costs less, at least. Anyhow, this has to do with Tx collecting tax on alcohol from Carnival. They have to pay it while docked, so they stock a limited amount for port. Or so they tell me.

[notyours75]

What do you mean by limited bar menu on embarkation day? And why do you have to pay taxes on alcohol you buy at ports while on cruise when you disembark? This is all new to me, please tell!

 

Texas law requires all liquor that is served on premises to have a tax stamp on it, meaning that the state has been paid their liquor tax. If you ever go into a bar in Texas look at the liquor bottles and you'll see it, its about the size of a postage stamp. Each stamp has a number and when the bottle is empty you'll normally see the bar tender scrape across the stamp before they throw the bottle out. Taxes are also paid on beer and wine but don't have stamps. This is the same reason why the Cheers program is not available on the first day of the cruise.

 

My assumption is carnival selects a particular group of spirits that they do pay taxes on to serve in port. I've never paid any attention to the bottles on the ship to see if they have the stamp. I doubt it. I'd assume Carnival has an agreement with TABC over it. Once the ship is international waters those laws no longer apply so the rest of the booze comes out. Also any drinks that you buy while in port would have appropriate Texas sales and liquor taxes applied, while once you leave they won't. So the cost of drinks does go down a bit because they no longer have to collect the state taxes. (Or carnival makes more money on them, either way.)

 

This is also the reason that you see the TABC (Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission) agents on debarkation day with their little booth. By law if you bought bottles of liquor/wine that you are taking home you should stop and pay the taxes. By practice I'm not sure people give it much thought. TABC does not have the ability to inspect your luggage like customs so everything is basically voluntary. Unless you walk by with a case of Crown under your arm then they might have a visit with you.

 

There are a number of other Texas laws about alcohol that people from other states would find amusing. Sunday times, wet/dry, etc. Fortunately most of them just don't apply to cruising. Texas has a strange relationship with alcohol, we like to regulate it almost as much as we like to drink it.

[kwbound]

This is heavily dependent on your itinerary apparently. If you go to Belize the customs always takes twice as long for whatever reason! We've done the grand Cayman and it was a breeze, my sister did the Bahamas and it was the same. Customs is stricter on the other itinerary for some reason

 

I have heard the same thing. In fact, the cruise director on the Navigator warned us that that would be the case.

Edited January 5, 2016 by kwbound

[dan4182]

Any decent hotels walkable to the port with near by restaurants? Or on the other side with shuttles to recommend?

 

 

The Tremont House and the Hotel Galvez are both top notch properties (Wyndham). The Tremont House is in Downtown Galveston and the Hotel Galvez is on Seawall Boulevard and offers free shuttle service to/from the ship docks plus free parking for your car, all for a one night stay.