Underwhelmed by the Mardi Gras

[notscb]

On 5/16/2023 at 8:37 AM, Illbcruzn4life said:

Yeah the embarkation port has me concerned. 39 cruises and I have never sailed from there before. From reading it doesn’t seem to be the easiest port to get to.

Eh, it's easy enough if you fly into HOU. Even IAH isn't that much further.

From HOU airport, it's a straight shot down a six lane highway for about 30-40 minutes depending on traffic. It's no different (in my mind) than trying to get from orlando airport to port canaveral.

 

Galveston is a really fun city, fwiw, and the cruise terminal is small and very easy to get to and through. Don't miss out 🙂

[jsglow]

I just read this thread for the first time.  I'll be more interested in the new Excel Class when the ports are more interesting (to me) and the price drops. I absolutely understand the niche they are meant to serve and they make perfect sense for that. They look like beautiful ships.

[jsglow]

 

The one thing that I'll add is that the extremes can be seen at two ends of cruising. On one hand, there's RCCL's Oasis Class (and soon to be Icon Class). At the other end, in mass market cruising at least, exists the Signature Class ships over at Holland America. Even their respective web sites are diametrically opposed.  Look at RCCL and the pictures of the ships.  It's even hard to figure out where they go.  Nobody cares.  On Holland America, you've got to dig to find ship descriptions while worldwide destinations adorn the website.

In many ways, it's not even the same product. I know which way I personally lean.  As long as everyone goes in fully informed it's all good! 👍

Edited May 19, 2023 by jsglow

[Illbcruzn4life]

1 hour ago, notscb said:

Eh, it's easy enough if you fly into HOU. Even IAH isn't that much further.

From HOU airport, it's a straight shot down a six lane highway for about 30-40 minutes depending on traffic. It's no different (in my mind) than trying to get from orlando airport to port canaveral.

 

Galveston is a really fun city, fwiw, and the cruise terminal is small and very easy to get to and through. Don't miss out 🙂

And just how does one get to the pier from the airport coming in a day early? I have read that it is not easy to rent a car and return it at the port like it is in Florida ports. 

[weezal]

17 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

And just how does one get to the pier from the airport coming in a day early? I have read that it is not easy to rent a car and return it at the port like it is in Florida ports. 

rideshare or shuttle service
https://www.cruzely.com/how-to-get-from-the-houston-airport-to-the-galveston-cruise-port/

[jsglow]

23 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

And just how does one get to the pier from the airport coming in a day early? I have read that it is not easy to rent a car and return it at the port like it is in Florida ports. 

You stay that one night adjacent to the airport and then take a cruise port shuttle. Totally analogous to Port Canaveral. But this is all a subject of a different thead.

Edited May 19, 2023 by jsglow

[Illbcruzn4life]

1 hour ago, weezal said:

rideshare or shuttle service
https://www.cruzely.com/how-to-get-from-the-houston-airport-to-the-galveston-cruise-port/

thanks for that link. I wish I would have looked into this before I made a deposit.

[notscb]

4 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

And just how does one get to the pier from the airport coming in a day early? I have read that it is not easy to rent a car and return it at the port like it is in Florida ports. 

 

We came in a day early and had a pre-booked shuttle that was much, much cheaper than any rental car would have been $100/RT/2 people. I just googled and found an enterprise on Galveston Island as well, so that's definitely an option.

 

I'm a bit confused on what you're really asking I guess.

 

 

[Illbcruzn4life]

1 minute ago, notscb said:

 

We came in a day early and had a pre-booked shuttle that was much, much cheaper than any rental car would have been $100/RT/2 people. I just googled and found an enterprise on Galveston Island as well, so that's definitely an option.

 

I'm a bit confused on what you're really asking I guess.

 

 

I was asking how to get to the pier because what i was reading it wasnt easy to do.

 

does the shuttle pick you up the day before and take you to a hotel near the pier or do you have to stay at a hotel near the airport if you cone in the day before?

 

sorry im all over the map with this. 

[notscb]

3 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

does the shuttle pick you up the day before and take you to a hotel near the pier or do you have to stay at a hotel near the airport if you cone in the day before?

 

I can't speak to the one you book with carnival, because we used a third party.

What i'm saying is that getting to the pier from either airport is relatively easy. Both require transportation of some sort, whatever you choose. It's a relatively short ride down a highway, like I said.

 

The pier itself (Carnival's berth, at least), is right next to the main downtown Galveston island shopping area. We walked from our airbnb up to it- it was simple. (see google maps link)

Edited May 19, 2023 by notscb
google maps links

[jsglow]

10 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

I was asking how to get to the pier because what i was reading it wasnt easy to do.

 

does the shuttle pick you up the day before and take you to a hotel near the pier or do you have to stay at a hotel near the airport if you cone in the day before?

 

sorry im all over the map with this. 

I'm going to suggest you go do some reading in the Gulf Coast Departures board.

[CruizinSusan70]

13 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

 

This excited me because i love love love the Mardi Gras... what is about Celebration that you preferred?

The little tweaks that were done with Emeril's as well as the adjacent bars we thought were just a notch better.  Plus it's easier to fly into MIA or FLL instead of MCO.  

[CruizinSusan70]

11 hours ago, notscb said:

Eh, it's easy enough if you fly into HOU. Even IAH isn't that much further.

From HOU airport, it's a straight shot down a six lane highway for about 30-40 minutes depending on traffic. It's no different (in my mind) than trying to get from orlando airport to port canaveral.

 

Galveston is a really fun city, fwiw, and the cruise terminal is small and very easy to get to and through. Don't miss out 🙂

There are only a handful of transfer opportunities from either of the airports to Galveston versus a plethora of choices from MCO to Port Canaveral.  Plus Uber/Lyft are cheaper in MCO.

[CruizinSusan70]

10 hours ago, jsglow said:

I just read this thread for the first time.  I'll be more interested in the new Excel Class when the ports are more interesting (to me) and the price drops. I absolutely understand the niche they are meant to serve and they make perfect sense for that. They look like beautiful ships.

What ports would be interesting to you that an Excel Class ship could visit that A) doesn't have to use a tender B) has access to LNG?  A ship with 6000 cruisers can't use a tender port.

[CruizinSusan70]

10 hours ago, jsglow said:

 

The one thing that I'll add is that the extremes can be seen at two ends of cruising. On one hand, there's RCCL's Oasis Class (and soon to be Icon Class). At the other end, in mass market cruising at least, exists the Signature Class ships over at Holland America. Even their respective web sites are diametrically opposed.  Look at RCCL and the pictures of the ships.  It's even hard to figure out where they go.  Nobody cares.  On Holland America, you've got to dig to find ship descriptions while worldwide destinations adorn the website.

In many ways, it's not even the same product. I know which way I personally lean.  As long as everyone goes in fully informed it's all good! 👍

You have 99.5 K ton ships that are port oriented versus 230-250 K ton ships that are ship oriented.  You also can't compare HA with RCI.  HA should be compared to Princess and Celebrity.  RCI compares to Carnival, MSC and NCL.

[CruizinSusan70]

5 hours ago, notscb said:

What i'm saying is that getting to the pier from either airport is relatively easy. 

You can't be stating that it's easier to get to the Galveston port from either Bush or Hobby compared to MIA, FLL or MCO?  Time wise it's longer to Galveston and number of private shuttles can be counted on fingers versus a plethora of options in Florida.

[Illbcruzn4life]

6 hours ago, jsglow said:

I'm going to suggest you go do some reading in the Gulf Coast Departures board.

Thnx i did just that. 👍🏻😊

[notscb]

13 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

You can't be stating that it's easier to get to the Galveston port from either Bush or Hobby compared to MIA, FLL or MCO?

I'm saying that MCO and port Canaveral are similar distances with the same amount of options as Galveston, and that Galveston is extremely easy to get in and out of. Not to mention how much of a mess MCO often is due to Disney traffic.

 

MIA and FLL are unique to their respective ports, as the cities are all on the ocean anyway.

[notscb]

31 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

There are only a handful of transfer opportunities from either of the airports to Galveston versus a plethora of choices from MCO to Port Canaveral.  Plus Uber/Lyft are cheaper in MCO.

The poster had mentioned skipping out on cruising from Galveston because it seems harder. In my experience, it's just as easy as anywhere else I've cruised out of, even if it's a little bit longer of a car ride. I think they should consider Galveston, especially with the newer ships going there, and wanted to convey how simple it really is.

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, notscb said:

I'm saying that MCO and port Canaveral are similar distances with the same amount of options as Galveston, and that Galveston is extremely easy to get in and out of. Not to mention how much of a mess MCO often is due to Disney traffic.

 

MIA and FLL are unique to their respective ports, as the cities are all on the ocean anyway.

You stick to Galveston and we'll stick to MCO.  MCO is slightly closer to PC than Bush is to Galveston and has substantially more private shuttles at a much cheaper price. Plus there are more flights into MCO than Bush.

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, notscb said:

The poster had mentioned skipping out on cruising from Galveston because it seems harder. In my experience, it's just as easy as anywhere else I've cruised out of, even if it's a little bit longer of a car ride. I think they should consider Galveston, especially with the newer ships going there, and wanted to convey how simple it really is.

Have cruised out of Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa, Boston, Manhattan, Bayonne, Galveston, & San Pedro.  Since we can drive to Bayonne and Manhattan we flew in the day before to the other six embarkation ports.  We would rank Galveston at the bottom and no desire to go back there.  We use private shuttles or UberXL/LyftXL if reasonably priced.

[kwokpot]

6 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Have cruised out of Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa, Boston, Manhattan, Bayonne, Galveston, & San Pedro.  Since we can drive to Bayonne and Manhattan we flew in the day before to the other six embarkation ports.  We would rank Galveston at the bottom and no desire to go back there.  We use private shuttles or UberXL/LyftXL if reasonably priced.

Aligns with our experiences. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

14 hours ago, jsglow said:

I'm going to suggest you go do some reading in the Gulf Coast Departures board.

After doing more reading it looks pretty straightforward. I canget direct flights on American airlines where the prices are pretty good, use Galveston express to get us to the Harbor House hotel, and dinner at Willie G’s.

 

how does that game plan seem? Any flaws ?

[Paelos]

Put me in the camp that tried the Mardi Gras and didn't like it. The ship is fine, I'm not a fan of the layout or the Grand Central concept the way they try to make it work. The sightlines are frankly terrible and the seating options with the amount of people on board becomes a massive issue unless you want to stand in line an hour before things start. 

 

They made it almost 30,000 tons less than a RCL ship that carries approximately the same amount of passengers, so I feel like I'm not going on any new ships in the Carnival fleet for a while. I'll stick to the older models which don't feel overbooked and overcrowded in the common areas.

Edited May 20, 2023 by Paelos

[jsglow]

11 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

You have 99.5 K ton ships that are port oriented versus 230-250 K ton ships that are ship oriented.  You also can't compare HA with RCI.  HA should be compared to Princess and Celebrity.  RCI compares to Carnival, MSC and NCL.

My point for the 'comparison' is exactly as you describe it. They are two completely different kinds of cruising and I know which I personally prefer.  Now within the Carnival brand, the opposite ends would be a Mardi Gras cruise that visits Nassau, Grand Turk and Amber Cove versus a Carnival Pride 10 day European. Again, I know which I prefer.  And when I do enjoy a 'standard Bahamas' getaway, my preference is to do it on Sunrise or Horizon at a significantly lower price point.  See for me, the ship is simply not the destination. It's why I'll never be on one of the giant RCCL ships.  Like never. Other folks can see it 180 degrees different. More power to them. 

Edited May 20, 2023 by jsglow