Disney Cruise Line, Port of Galveston - Cruise Terminal 25 — Attraction in Galveston

The Port of Galveston Parking & Cruise Terminal is...by far...the WORST cruise parking and port terminal I've ever experienced. It is both operationally and aesthetically dysfunctional and broken. It was our first cruise from this port. We embarked from Terminal 1 for the Carnival Vista.

Port parking is scattered, rundown, random and simply horrific. We ended up being "directed" to a very long line for Lot B surface parking about 3/4 of a mile away from the terminal on the other side of the main boulevard. I tried making a reservation in advance and the website would repeatedly say I couldn't be "connected to the server." Therefore the seemingly 15-year-old lot attendant and her seemingly 16-year-old "supervisor" had no clue how to work the tablet without a reservation, after wondering aloud several times if they even had room to let us in. Apparently other passengers had the same issue because it took about 15 minutes to just enter the gate for the three cars in front of us. Once inside the lot, there is no signage or attendant direction on where to catch the shuttle once parked. We walked back to the entrance thinking it was there and were told by the same attendant "You have to go over there" while waving her hand in this wide arc that covered pretty much the entire parking lot. We eventually figured it out and caught a shuttle to the terminal.

And this is where things go from bad to just frustrating. The terminal itself hasn't had substantial and needed maintenance and renovation since the mid-20th century (a mirror reflection of the port's run-down, dirty industrial neighborhood). It's a dirty, poorly signed, haphazard, crowded dysfunctional mess. From arriving at the terminal after finishing the frustrating parking lot experience to finally boarding the ship was a total of (once again, no joke) 2.5 hours! No exaggeration. Mind you, part of that it seems was Carnival's fault for poorly managing arrival times (they're getting points deducted on their review) due to a one-hour weather delay, as all 4,800 passengers seemed to arrive at the same time. The line to enter almost fully wrapped twice in front of the building. It took 75 minutes standing in 38 degree temperatures just to get inside the building.

The best part of the terminal experience was during disembarking, the port's new facial scans at customs were an absolute breeze.

But now comes the parking lot experience from hell: Part II. For some reason arrivals and departures for the cruises seemed to be occurring at the same time (hundreds of people were approaching the terminal as we were trying to leave). Mind you, access to Terminal 1 is one small circle of ingress and egress with most passengers arriving from one direction and then leaving back the same direction. Traffic was atrocious and in complete gridlock in front of the terminal and down the main boulevard and more than 600 people (no exaggeration) and all their luggage were huddled and crammed around a small shelter waiting for parking shuttles that couldn't get through the massive traffic jam. It was a total circus. So we decided to walk the 3/4 mile back to the surface lot. But alas, there are NO SIDEWALKS (that's you City of Galveston!!) at all from the terminal to the parking lot. And no signage, of course. So we break out Google maps and drag our luggage down dirty and trash-laden back alleys and side streets, over several rail crossings with 3-4" ruts that eat heavy-laden luggage wheels for lunch, broken asphalt, grass and mud to finally sneak through the back gate of the parking lot, get in our car and drive away. Dozens and dozens of others ended up doing the same thing. My language in this review is much more respectful than the language many of them used when expressing their thoughts during our luggage-dragging journey to the lot.

Plan on an abundance of extra time, patience and Advil when embarking and disembarking from Galveston. Better yet, catch your cruise at...

Cruised on Regal Princess on 01/21/2024 arrived by private transfer from Houston. Drop off and entrance lanes clearly marked, and not overly huge/convoluted area...Once dropped off, gentlemen with cart as to take our luggage, did not have clear port uniform or ID, I confirmed with him it was for Princes as there were a couple other cruise lines there. The entrance was clearly marked, lots of people, a little chaotic, once inside terminal was super easy process, not a lot of guidance or direction, poor signage, but asking a few reps got us through terminal and in ship 15mins record time out of all terminals. I recommend with Princess if they state Embarkation is 1030 or 11am, you don't show up until 11-12noon...as it takes a while for them to clear ship and Customs to approve, which more times than not is delayed a bit. Once Customs clears it they can start boarding...though if you're there Early you are waiting in the large lines. Once they start boarding and clear the lines, it is literally walk on ready and super easy. Sleep in a little, have a nice breakfast and then arrive 11ish or 12, if your Embarkation starts at 1030-2pm. Debarkation was super easy with Princess, we left luggage outside of stateroom night before, expecting chaos to find luggage after, and literally walked off ship into warehouse with rows of luggage color coded by tags you are provided super easy to walk up grab your bags and go, no delay. Took us 15 min max to debark. {{ I question security of bags a little, would be super easy to walk into bldg grab someone's bags and walk away in my opinion}} but, didn't see any discourse. This port was smaller of the ports I've visited flowed easily, swift Embark and debark for Princess Cruise Lines in my opinion. I tipped $5 per bag to porters upon dropoff ($2-3 per bag is customary). Disclaimer: I am an active Travel Agent/Travel Agency Owner so my review is of my experience visiting many cruise ports in comparison. Hope this...

Once we got to the terminal. Some men were available to take our luggage on their trolley, so we didn't have to roll it all the way to the drop off area. We then headed to the terminal entrance. Several staff members stopped us and looked at our boarding time and said we have to wait in a line out here since it wasnt our time to board yet. However there were members right at the entrance telling us it's open boarding and we didn't have to wait at all. It was confusing why they have different staff members telling us different things. Nonetheless we saved an hour by not waiting outside in the hot terminal for our boarding call time. Other guest didn't know and were waiting out there for no reason. Next, we had to stand in line to check for Covid. If you're going with Carnival they will have you download VeriFly where you upload all your Covid info. The process was quick since all our info was submitted and approved. Next, we went thru the scanner and x-rays. If you do bring soft drinks they will check to make sure none of them are opened. Next, there will be another line to check your boarding passes and passport. Next, your picture will be taken. This is important because they will use your photo to identify you when you return to port and you don't have to show them your passport. It will save time when you return. Then we use the ramp to enter the cruise ship. The whole process from arrival to ship took about 45 min if you did everything online, like checking-in and VeriFly. Other guest who did not know had to do thier Covid test at the terminal and waited for the results to show up. We also brought our excursions and wifi packages online a week before the trip. The process was very efficient and quick. Do everything online ahead time is key. I also recommend the SMP covered parking lot. It's directly across the terminal and only a few minutes walk...