Is it easy cruising out of Galveston?

[cruisinfly]

2 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Seems like most of you  use some sort of shuttle. Is there any reason not to just use uber (as long as you order a large enough one for your luggage situation)?  This assumes flying in the day before (IAH for us) and then needing transportation to a hotel (not sure at the moment if near the airport, near the port, or somewhere in the middle).A shuttle seems like a lot of coordination beforehand (but flights often change/delayed, etc...plus need to estimate time to wait for luggage, etc)

Uber and Lyft should work well. Not sure what the price difference are, though.

[Tree_skier]

3 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Seems like most of you  use some sort of shuttle. Is there any reason not to just use uber (as long as you order a large enough one for your luggage situation)?  This assumes flying in the day before (IAH for us) and then needing transportation to a hotel (not sure at the moment if near the airport, near the port, or somewhere in the middle).A shuttle seems like a lot of coordination beforehand (but flights often change/delayed, etc...plus need to estimate time to wait for luggage, etc)

No Uber has worked fine for us in the past and although we have used other services the last time it is probably what I would use in the future.

[LuCruise]

2 hours ago, cruisinfly said:

Uber and Lyft should work well. Not sure what the price difference are, though.

 

1 hour ago, Tree_skier said:

No Uber has worked fine for us in the past and although we have used other services the last time it is probably what I would use in the future.

Thank you both.  We have time to figure out Galveston as not until next December, but definitely paying attention to these posts and taking notes.  We are a family of 4 so perhaps for us, an uber would be better anyways.  Glad to hear uber is a reasonable option.  Will look closer in terms of cost though.

[MichaelCMTX]

We've done 5 round trips from Galveston (a 6th happening in September) as well as a repositioning departure. If we weren't driving from Fort Worth and relying on our own car it's unlikely we'd sail from there.  

 

If you're expecting the experience of flying into Ft. Lauderdale or Miami - not happening.  

 

[The Fun Researcher]

Even though Galveston has been the most difficult cruise port for us logistically, we had a great time spending 3 nights in a vacation condo and visiting the island before our cruise.  It's a wonderful downtown to walk the shops, there are some great places to eat, and fun walking the beach.  I do wish they would do longer sailings from there to get to the Eastern or Southern Caribbean.

[3red7s]

On 4/18/2024 at 2:52 PM, RobInMN said:

 

In the Gulf Coast Departures forum (I linked to earlier in this thread), there's many positive reviews for GSW, We used them in September. For those (like us), that don't do FB, there is a number you can text. I put it here:

 

how far out do you think I should book?

[RobInMN]

2 hours ago, 3red7s said:

how far out do you think I should book?

I'm not sure there's too far. If you've got your flights and hotel, try reaching out. I think I contacted them 5 or 6 months out?

[George C]

7 hours ago, MichaelCMTX said:

We've done 5 round trips from Galveston (a 6th happening in September) as well as a repositioning departure. If we weren't driving from Fort Worth and relying on our own car it's unlikely we'd sail from there.  

 

If you're expecting the experience of flying into Ft. Lauderdale or Miami - not happening.  

 

I have done about 8 cruises out of Galveston, much cheaper airfare than flying to Florida and we fly first class , if there is a problem we have the option of driving. Looking forward to MSC coming in November 2025 will definitely be booking that. 

[buncosquad]

13 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Seems like most of you  use some sort of shuttle. Is there any reason not to just use uber (as long as you order a large enough one for your luggage situation)?  This assumes flying in the day before (IAH for us) and then needing transportation to a hotel (not sure at the moment if near the airport, near the port, or somewhere in the middle).A shuttle seems like a lot of coordination beforehand (but flights often change/delayed, etc...plus need to estimate time to wait for luggage, etc)

We always use private shuttles, versus scheduled/public shuttles where you must be on their schedule and often picking up others.

 

Private shuttles pick us up on our schedule, and we wait for no one. Always point to point. They track our flights and revise accordingly. 

 

We always order airport to port area hotel for a day or two before cruise, hotel to port on embarkation day, then port back to airport on disembarkation.

 

Costs more, sure. However, the stress free travel is priceless.

[c-leg5]

5 minutes ago, buncosquad said:

We always use private shuttles, versus scheduled/public shuttles where you must be on their schedule and often picking up others.

 

Private shuttles pick us up on our schedule, and we wait for no one. Always point to point. They track our flights and revise accordingly. 

 

We always order airport to port area hotel for a day or two before cruise, hotel to port on embarkation day, then port back to airport on disembarkation.

 

Costs more, sure. However, the stress free travel is priceless.

Who are you using that will pre-book a private shuttle from the Tremont?

[buncosquad]

Just now, c-leg5 said:

Who are you using that will pre-book a private shuttle from the Tremont?

Galveston Limousine.

 

It's not a long distance to port, but for 10 people, I want zero concern about being picked up and arriving on our time.

 

Totally worth it.

[Carlos A.]

I want to make a parking reservation for Port of Galveston but the online form ask me for car year, Make and model. The problem is that it's going to be a rental and I won't know what I'm getting until the day I arrive. What can I do?
 

[RNCindy]

Since we live about 1 hour from Galveston, it's a breeze for us on embarkation day!!  For those flying in to Houston, I would highly recommend to try to fly into Hobby Airport which is much closer to Galveston than Bush Intercontinental and get an Uber or some sort of shuttle to Galveston.  I would NOT stay in a hotel near Hobby Airport - that is a very shady area with lots of shady people!  I would get a hotel, condo rental or AirBNB on Galveston island and start your vacation there. There are lots of great restaurants on the island and you're much closer to the port.

[RNCindy]

49 minutes ago, Carlos A. said:

I want to make a parking reservation for Port of Galveston but the online form ask me for car year, Make and model. The problem is that it's going to be a rental and I won't know what I'm getting until the day I arrive. What can I do?
 

I think you can modify your reservation up to the day before your arrival. If they say anything, just tell them you decided to rent a car instead of driving your Lamborghini to the port.  LOL!!!

[KEG21552]

6 hours ago, 3red7s said:

how far out do you think I should book?

We booked several months in advance.  Got it all set up and when it got closer, just reconfirmed.  They were great keeping track of our flights

[hucifer]

On 4/10/2024 at 8:58 PM, bgoff60 said:

Rent a modest car from the airport for the week and drive to Galveston.  We stayed at a B&B called Avenue O B&B.  Great place!!!  AND you get a 5 star breakfast the morning of your cruise, you get to park your car at their residence (in the back area) FOR FREE and, they shuttle you to the cruise port for free as well and pick you up when the cruise is over and take you to your car at their place.  They are about 5 minutes from the cruise port and is super fast to get there.    (They are also cruisers...)

Just booked Avenue O, based on your post. 😁

[3red7s]

On 4/20/2024 at 9:44 PM, RobInMN said:

I'm not sure there's too far. If you've got your flights and hotel, try reaching out. I think I contacted them 5 or 6 months out?

will do...thanks

[joepeka]

On 4/20/2024 at 8:12 PM, buncosquad said:

We always use private shuttles, versus scheduled/public shuttles where you must be on their schedule and often picking up others.

 

Private shuttles pick us up on our schedule, and we wait for no one. Always point to point. They track our flights and revise accordingly. 

 

We always order airport to port area hotel for a day or two before cruise, hotel to port on embarkation day, then port back to airport on disembarkation.

 

Costs more, sure. However, the stress free travel is priceless.

True on all points for us as well. Costs more but you have dedicated transportation and you're in control.... mostly. Mechanical problems can always occur even with private conveyance. 

[c-leg5]

3 minutes ago, joepeka said:

True on all points for us as well. Costs more but you have dedicated transportation and you're in control.... mostly. Mechanical problems can always occur even with private conveyance. 

+1 that is what concerns me especially with some of the smaller companies. I guess you fall back on Uber and hope.

[silentbob007]

As others have noted, it definitely takes some planning to make the logistics work out.  Uber/Lyft have not been an option for us because we were traveling with our young son and didn't want to bring the full car seat.  This meant taxis or shuttles.  We generally take the cruise line bus back to the airport after the cruise so we don't have to worry about getting off the ship by a certain time.  In January we stayed one night at Tremont.  My wife loved the hotel but we did not have anything arranged to get to the ship the next day and most we talked to agreed that taxis in Galveston did not have a great reputation for reliability.  Ended up vastly overpaying for the Tremont shuttle to take us a few miles but at least we knew we were taken care of

[3red7s]

22 hours ago, joepeka said:

True on all points for us as well. Costs more but you have dedicated transportation and you're in control.... mostly. Mechanical problems can always occur even with private conveyance. 

great info thx