Galveston To Houston-Bush Airport Timing

[Jazzfan]

Hi everyone.   We are on Liberty of the Seas from Galveston in March.   We are planning to fly in and out of Houston - Bush International airport (the best options on Delta).   We disembark on a Sunday morning.  Given a "usual" disembarkation time, would a 12:30 PM flight from Bush be pushing it too tight?  We don't mind getting up early, but don't want to push the limits of missing a flight home.   Any feedback from anyone with some experience out of Galveston is appreciated!  

Thanks!!

[twangster]

What are you planning to use to reach the airport?  Are you using self-assist or do you prefer to put your luggage out the night before and pick it up in the terminal?

On my last Liberty sailing I was picked up in an Uber at 7:50am and dropped at Hobby airport at 8:33am ( just looked at my receipt).    Bush is a little further, add 30 minutes for planning purposes.  That would still be a 9am-ish airport drop off.  

I did self-assist and I was up early to be near the front of the line getting off the ship.    

The usual rules and caveats apply.  The stars aligned for me.  I wouldn't count on that experience.  Galveston can be fog prone at times.

[Jazzfan]

23 minutes ago, twangster said:

What are you planning to use to reach the airport?  Are you using self-assist or do you prefer to put your luggage out the night before and pick it up in the terminal?

On my last Liberty sailing I was picked up in an Uber at 7:50am and dropped at Hobby airport at 8:33am ( just looked at my receipt).    Bush is a little further, add 30 minutes for planning purposes.  That would still be a 9am-ish airport drop off.  

I did self-assist and I was up early to be near the front of the line getting off the ship.    

The usual rules and caveats apply.  The stars aligned for me.  I wouldn't count on that experience.  Galveston can be fog prone at times.

Thanks for the response!  We have never done the self-assist but are not opposed to it.  Is that a faster option to disembarking?  Would you suggest that alternative?  

[Momof4crazytocruise]

I think it would probably be tight. But because it's Sunday, you hopefully won't have to deal with much traffic. IAH is probably about 1.5-2 hours drive (I live about 35 minutes from the port, in between the port and IAH. It takes me about 60-65 minutes to get to IAH. If you want to adhere to the "be there 2 hours in advance" you need to be off the boat and enroute no later than 9:00. That is probably doable with self-carry, as long as you have reliable transportation arranged. 

[twangster]

41 minutes ago, Jazzfan said:

Thanks for the response!  We have never done the self-assist but are not opposed to it.  Is that a faster option to disembarking?  Would you suggest that alternative?  

When doing the luggage tag approach you are at the mercy of the process.  It could be fast, it could be slow.  Depending on your luggage tag number you might not debark until after 9am on a normal day.  Then you still still have to find your bag and queue to be processed by customs.  I was already at the airport when middle luggage tag numbers were being called on the ship.  

The disadvantage of self-assist is that you have to carry or drag your bags everywhere - cabin to the curb.  You will get no assistance.  Fortunately it's downhill leaving the ship but for people with mobility challenges or small children it can a lot trying to manage several suitcases, carry on, purses, etc.