Galveston hotels night before cruise?

[ChristyBey]

We (DH and I - first empty nest alone trip!!) will be driving to Galveston the night before our Very Merrytime Cruise in November - we hope!! Any suggestions for best hotels to stay at the night before and maybe the night after the cruise? Any suggestions about parking? This is our first cruise out of Galveston. TIA!

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

We (DH and I - first empty nest alone trip!!) will be driving to Galveston the night before our Very Merrytime Cruise in November - we hope!! Any suggestions for best hotels to stay at the night before and maybe the night after the cruise? Any suggestions about parking? This is our first cruise out of Galveston. TIA!

The Hotel Galvez and The San Luis will be the first two hotels that people will tell you to stay at and I will agree that they're nice. There are other hotels too though -- those first two are just the oldest and most "Galveston" type hotels.

The Moody Gardens Hotel is a convention center hotel and is nice (and convenient).
The Tremont House is nice.
I personally would love to stay at The Harbor House -- I almost booked a corporate room block there one year, but we decided against Galveston at the last minute.

If you look at TripAdvisor there are also a lot of other options in the area. Enjoy!!
Edited to add -- Lighthouse Parking is where we park when we cruise. Look them up online as they usually have some sort of online discount available.

 

[MillauFr]

We stayed in Houston for a few days before the cruise near the Medical Center District. There were many nice museums and things to do in the area.

 

[JM23457]

The above referenced Galveston hotels are nice. Staying at the Houston airport Marriott the night before the cruise is also an option, if you're flying into IAH.

If you'll have a morning arrival the day before your cruise, Moody Gardens is a familiy attraction worth visiting.

 

[gatordoc]

Harbor House is awesome. Rooms are nice, and they have a good breakfast in the morning. There are several nice restaurants right there for dinner the night before. And on the morning of the cruise, you can just walk right over to the port - it’s closer to the ship than the cruise parking lot!

 

[mrp4352]

We like the Sheraton on the sea wall. It's right across the street from the boardwalk and always has clean rooms and great service.

Gatordoc, were you able to leave your car at the Harbor House while cruising?

Harbor House is awesome. Rooms are nice, and they have a good breakfast in the morning. There are several nice restaurants right there for dinner the night before. And on the morning of the cruise, you can just walk right over to the port - it’s closer to the ship than the cruise parking lot!

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

We've done Hilton Galveston Island and taken their shuttle, which I believe is shared with Hotel Galvez. The hotel is decorated nicely for Christmas, and Mrs. Claus comes to the lobby to chat with kids in the evening, which is very cute. I think the Hilton does a park and cruise package, but we fly and don't rent a car, so I'm not totally sure.

 

[gatordoc]

We like the Sheraton on the sea wall. It's right across the street from the boardwalk and always has clean rooms and great service.

Gatordoc, were you able to leave your car at the Harbor House while cruising?

Sorry I can’t answer that question. We flew into Hobby and took an Uber to the hotel, so I’m not sure if they have parking or not. My comment was based on seeing where people who drove to the port had parked and the distance compared to the Harbor House.

 

[ChristyBey]

Harbor House is awesome. Rooms are nice, and they have a good breakfast in the morning. There are several nice restaurants right there for dinner the night before. And on the morning of the cruise, you can just walk right over to the port - it’s closer to the ship than the cruise parking lot!

Good to know!! Do they allow you to park and pay there??

 

[gatordoc]

Good to know!! Do they allow you to park and pay there??

Sorry I can’t answer that question. We flew into Hobby and took an Uber to the hotel, so I’m not sure if they have parking or not. My comment was based on seeing where people who drove to the port had parked and the distance compared to the Harbor House.

 

[undertheradar]

The Hilton, The Holiday Inn and The San Luis all share the same shuttle.

 

[mmouse37]

We've done Hilton Galveston Island and taken their shuttle, which I believe is shared with Hotel Galvez. The hotel is decorated nicely for Christmas, and Mrs. Claus comes to the lobby to chat with kids in the evening, which is very cute. I think the Hilton does a park and cruise package, but we fly and don't rent a car, so I'm not totally sure.

We stayed at the Hilton as well and enjoyed our stay. We were there for two nights before our cruise. We took their shuttle and it did also stop at Hotel Galvez. We had rented a car (picked it up at Enterprise in Galveston and then on the morning of the cruise Enterprise dropped me back at the Hilton after I returned the rental to their office and we hopped the hotel shuttle to the port. We had taken a car service from the airport.

BTW..be prepared that you might be delayed either embarking or debarking during winter months due to fog. Our flight home was at 6:00 pm and I thought we would be twiddling our thumbs for hours after we got off the ship....well we did not dock until after 2:00 pm due to fog and just barely made our flight. We could not dock due to the fog and I hear it happens pretty often. We were anchored off shore for hours before the ship was allowed to dock. Our cruise was in January.

MJ