Disney Cruise Line, Port of Galveston - Cruise Terminal 28 — Local services in Galveston

Had great service from the nice man who brought me on board the ship in the wheel. Chair. Also it was very organized and went quickly going through security and the different points to get from arrival to the terminal to on ship. Every employee gave excellent service with a bug smile and really friendly! Well that is all except one lady who when I asked for her name she told me to go on in. As we are entering into the actual terminal from the walkway in front of the building it was 12:37 by my watch and she rudely asked what our time was on our boarding pass for me and my sister. She was about to stop us and move further up as she starts changing her sign with the 12 to 1 time period to an arrow pointing you further down the line even as one other lady mentioned to her that it was to early to do that yet. As she was pointing to tell me & my sister to move forward I said I was told to come here not just because of my boarding time that it isn't past yet but because also I need assistance boarding and showed her my cane and informed her that I had incurable cancer in my spine. She replied well I guess go ahead. I said Ma'am can I get your name please. That's when she turned to an angle so I could not see her badge or name and said for me to go ahead straight to the ladies at the stand ahead to sign up on the list for a wheelchair and closed the door soon as we were cleared of it. I realize people have bad days and are upset but to close your work station early and send folks to another one making the huge long and congested line worse, while being rude to passengers for no reason other than you are rude or in a bad mood and don't want to do your job. I doubt that is part of the plan Carnival worked so hard at developing to run smoothly and quickly to get passengers on board before departure of a cruise that is fun, relaxing, and perfect for guest while being safe for guest and Carnival employees as well as profitable for Carnival Cruise...

First things first and something I wish I would have known BEFOREHAND:

TEXAS TAXES CIGARETTES AND ALCOHOL WHEN YOU ARE LEAVING THE TERMINAL 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 So much for duty free...

We cruised Ruby Princess Mar 12-19 2023:

The terminal and staff are really great. They really know how to make you feel welcome and ready for your cruise. They are also great about getting everyone off the ship and through customs.

Downfall: 1 - once you leave the terminal it is quite confusing and there doesn't seem to be anything explaining what to do or where to go. For a first timer in Galveston, if other people didn't help when we asked we wouldn't have known where to go. We knew there would be a line for the shuttle to take us to the cars but that was a cluster if I ever saw one. When we left the terminal, we walked right through the shuttle bus line not even knowing it was the line we wanted. We walked a little bit before we asked and then turned around to get into line. We didn't even realize we could walk to our car until we were almost on the shuttle bus: we wouldn't have walked because we had 2 small kids (4&5) and it was a bit of a walk but it would have been nice to know we had the option. 2 - the shuttle driver drove right past our stop without even asking if anyone needed to get off there. It would have been nice if the shuttle busses had specific lots they went to so the diver didn't have to go to all the lots. I think the shuttle line would have moved faster also. We were able to stop him in time before we went to the other lot but then the time it took to get the different bags off the shuttle because of the different lots took more time than necessary in my opinion. 3 - I wish someone had informed me that TEXAS TAXES CIGARETTES AND ALCOHOL WHEN YOU GET OUT OF THE TERMINAL 🤬.

Needless to say I will go back to sailing out of anywhere other than Texas from now on. Nothing worse than paying taxes on your duty...

I highly recommend parking in the nearest parking lot. Galveston port offers 3 different lots. 1 with covered parking which is a little more pricey but is walking distance to the ship. 2 is walking distance but uncovered parking and 3 is uncovered but offers free shuttle. I waited until a month before sailing to reserve my parking and only 1 lot was open to reserve. I had to choose the uncovered parking with free shuttle which was safe and secure. They have 24 hr monitoring which puts your mind at ease. The only problem was debarking the ship has a long line for the shuttle. It took about an hour to hour and half to get on the shuttle. I advise you not wait until the last minute to book your parking reservation so you can get the nearest parking lot and avoid the long lines after your trip. The monetary fees between lots are not much different but they do...