Royal Caribbean Galveston, best transfer service to airport?

[TwoMonsters]

Guys first cruise of my life and I need some info. We are going on RC and headed out of Galveston. There are so many car service transfers from the airport to the port. Which one is the best? I don’t want to get stranded out there. Would it be better to do a UberX?

Thank you!

[Sarastep]

We used Galveston Limo (www.GalvestonLimo.com) when we did a Disney cruise out in 2016. It was a private pickup from IAH. I’m sure prices have gone up, but at that time it was $148 + tip. We were really happy with the service and had a great driver.

[WAYNO]

From the ship back to the airport, we book the shuttle bus on the ship itself.  We do it that way now on every cruise.

[Pattycruise]

17 minutes ago, WAYNO said:

From the ship back to the airport, we book the shuttle bus on the ship itself.  We do it that way now on every cruise.

Is there one for each airport? Is it “book onboard only”? 

[WAYNO]

2 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

Is there one for each airport? Is it “book onboard only”? 

All I know is we bought the shuttle from the ship to Hobby.  If they sell a shuttle to other airports, it's beyond my knowledge. 

I don't see it on the cruise planner, so I buy such shuttles while onboard.  And my wife has bought similar shuttles  via the app.  I am not app savvy, so I leave app business to her.  I cannot understand why it's available to her on the app, and available for purchase on the ship, but not available on the cruise planner. 

[ChessE4]

5 hours ago, WAYNO said:

All I know is we bought the shuttle from the ship to Hobby.  If they sell a shuttle to other airports, it's beyond my knowledge. 

I don't see it on the cruise planner, so I buy such shuttles while onboard.  And my wife has bought similar shuttles  via the app.  I am not app savvy, so I leave app business to her.  I cannot understand why it's available to her on the app, and available for purchase on the ship, but not available on the cruise planner. 

One bus goes to Bush, one to Hobby. We took it last month. It was 39 each to Bush IAH. Our Island Breeze driver, private car, was 105 plus tip for 2 of us. We arrived early, so we couldn't use Royal.

[TexanTwoStep]

https://www.islandbreezeshuttle.com/rates/

I see this one on the island all the time.  They seem pretty reliable and have great reviews.  They service IAH and HOU.

That's one complaint that I see about Galveston, is that the airports are so far from the port.  Glad it's a 4 hour drive for me!

[Pattycruise]

4 hours ago, ChessE4 said:

One bus goes to Bush, one to Hobby. We took it last month. It was 39 each to Bush IAH. Our Island Breeze driver, private car, was 105 plus tip for 2 of us. We arrived early, so we couldn't use Royal.

Royal does pick up from the airport? If so, do you happen to know the time of the first shuttle?

[teddy]

We used Galveston Express. 
 

They brought us from George Bush International to our hotel on Galveston Island and then when our cruise was over brought us from the port to Hobby.

They were prompt and professional.  If we ever cruise out of Galveston again, we will use them. 
 

We took a taxi from our hotel to the port.  It was cheap. 

[tjcruisers]

16 hours ago, WAYNO said:

All I know is we bought the shuttle from the ship to Hobby.  If they sell a shuttle to other airports, it's beyond my knowledge. 

I don't see it on the cruise planner, so I buy such shuttles while onboard.  And my wife has bought similar shuttles  via the app.  I am not app savvy, so I leave app business to her.  I cannot understand why it's available to her on the app, and available for purchase on the ship, but not available on the cruise planner. 

Not sure why they don't have it in the cruise planner, but we got of TA to call and add it or he might did it when booked (I let the wife work with the TA).

[Cactus527]

My TA books the shuttle with Royal Caribbean if that's what I want. I think he quoted me at somewhere between $60-65 per person round trip from Houston Hobby to the Galveston pier. We worked it out so that way we arrive the day before, stay in a hotel near the airport, then go to the airport that morning and hop on the first shuttle with Royal Caribbean. Even he has said that Royal Caribbean won't tell them what time the first shuttle will leave until super super close to the sailing date because they don't know how many people are going to be using the shuttle. 

[steverk]

16 hours ago, WAYNO said:

All I know is we bought the shuttle from the ship to Hobby.  If they sell a shuttle to other airports, it's beyond my knowledge. 

I don't see it on the cruise planner, so I buy such shuttles while onboard.  And my wife has bought similar shuttles  via the app.  I am not app savvy, so I leave app business to her.  I cannot understand why it's available to her on the app, and available for purchase on the ship, but not available on the cruise planner. 

In my experience, the airport shuttles are available by calling air2sea. 844-278-9745  I've had mixed success booking the shuttle in advance if I didn't have an air2sea flight on the same day.  

Good luck to you!

[Suzanne Elise]

They all seemed pretty expensive, we just ended up renting a car. We are doing 2 nights in Galveston first. It seemed about the same price to rent the car and park it for 5 days plus we can do some exploring.

[ChessE4]

On 1/18/2023 at 10:57 AM, Pattycruise said:

Royal does pick up from the airport? If so, do you happen to know the time of the first shuttle?

No, I don't know.  We didn't book Royal's IAH to port (round trip) because that only works if you fly in on debarkation day, which you probably wouldn't do.  If you fly in a day or two early, they won't pick up at the airport.  Hence our booking with Island Breeze, although others were mentioned here.