Galveston Cruise Parking

[JMG]

Just booked our first Disney Cruise for the family, leaving late next month. I'm investigating parking options, obviously preferring covered and secured. Galveston is pretty devoid of any public chargers (a handful of hotels and restaurants), and none of the paid parking lots have any chargers listed.

I've got a reservation at Lighthouse Parking that is covered. I've emailed to see if they have an outlet available anywhere and I'm waiting to hear back.

It's going to be about a 6-7 hour drive for us, and so I'm of course wanting to take the Model S instead of the ICE.

Anyone taken any cruises before out of Galveston? If so, any place you'd trust with your Model S for 7 days?

 

[brkaus]

We have parked at Galveston Park N Cruise | Indoor Covered Discount Galveston Cruise Parking many times. Not with a Model S, but it is enclosed and locked during the week.

No idea if an outlet is available. Let me know what you find out! BTW, I would suggest offering extra $$ for such service, it would be beneficial for both parties.

In any case, should be OK making the round trip from the Houston SpC, even with vampire drain.

 

[JMG]

Yeah they were my first call, because I loved the indoor option. But they were all booked up.

I told the Light House guy that if he did have an outlet available, he should put it on PlugShare and I promise it would bring in some business. Waiting to hear back.

And yeah, my plan is to hit Corsicana, N Houston and then charge to at least 200-215 miles. EVtripplanner has it as 140 rated miles from the N Houston SC, down to the parking lot in Galveston and then back. I figured very conservatively 30-35 miles of vampire drain, so a total of 175 RM miles needed, and then a buffer on top of that.

We'll see. I hope I don't chicken out and take the ICE at the last minute. Autosteer on the interstate will be nice!

 

[SW2Fiddler]

I liked Lighthouse for the cover (shade), the super-quick shuttle turnaround and friendliness. There aren't outlets out in the lot that I recall, and their shed may or may not have a 110 plug outside to use.
Turn on Energy Save mode. You won't have to worry about Vampire harm to the battery in one week, but you may need mileage after - or you may not - how about Galveston Island State Park for some 50A before you hit the road back? Buy some food (candy store by the terminal is awesome too) and picnic while you add range until you feel comfortable reaching N Houston.

 

[bollar]

If you can't charge at parking, perhaps visit Moody Gardens and enjoy their HPWC.

 

[JMG]

Well if I get back in the car and don't feel comfortable making it all the way to N Houston, looks like there is a CHAdeMO at a Cracker Barrel in League City that could give me a few miles to make it.

Fiddler, did you take your Model S? Did you feel the parking lot was safe/secure enough?

 

[SW2Fiddler]

Well if I get back in the car and don't feel comfortable making it all the way to N Houston, looks like there is a CHAdeMO at a Cracker Barrel in League City that could give me a few miles to make it.

Fiddler, did you take your Model S? Did you feel the parking lot was safe/secure enough?

That was in 2013, we were in a Saturn Relay that year. But there is a fence all around, it's not in a deserted area and overall I was pleased and did feel secure about leaving it there. Would use again in my S.

 

[Chris TX]

My 85 has sat at a body shop for 4 weeks without charging, and there were no issues. I think it had 220 miles on the battery when I dropped it off, and 170 or so when I picked it up. This was also with Visible Tesla running (which chews up more battery) so I could be notified if anyone took it out for a joy ride. I wouldn't worry about the charging situation. North Houston to Galveston and back is easy. Just top it off for peace of mind.

 

[brkaus]

Galveston Park'n Cruise is fully enclosed (old warehouse buildings). Con is no shuttle van. We dropped off our stuff, parked the car, and walked back. It's right across the street from terminal 1. Minimal dust/dirt on the car when we returned.

 

[JMG]

Galveston Park'n Cruise is fully enclosed (old warehouse buildings). Con is no shuttle van. We dropped off our stuff, parked the car, and walked back. It's right across the street from terminal 1. Minimal dust/dirt on the car when we returned.

Yeah I would have loved to go there, but they had no room. All booked up. I emailed to be put on a waitlist (if they even have one) but I haven't heard back.

 

[brkaus]

Cool. Do please let me know what you end up doing. I have a cruise booked next summer and plan on having a Model S by that time! The hauling capacity is a big part of the benefit to me. We don't fit in the BMW when we head out for a cruise, have to take the truck.

 

[reddy]

I spent a week in Galveston visiting my daughters a couple months ago. You have several options. Someone pointed out that there are a couple HPWC and a J1772 at Moody Gardens. I found that Plugshare had the GPS wrong, so I fixed that. However it is not very close to the Cruise Terminal and Galveston traffic is really a pain at times. Especially when the cruise ships are coming or going.

There are 2 Blink J1772 chargers in the Starbucks/Jimmy Johns parking lot just a block away from the Cruise Terminal. They were working in July. It is somewhat ambiguous if you have to pay for parking AND the Blink charge. Parking was $8 so I didn't stay there.

There is an RV park on the Seawall, called Sandpiper RV. Since I was staying at the Best Western across the street , this was ideal for me; they charged only $5 per day and it delivered 29 mph of range for me. I parked on their overflow RV sites that are actually on Seawall Blvd.

I also did use the Chademo charger at the Cracker Barrel in League City on I-45. At that point in time the Houston SC was not open, and I was driving in from the Columbus, TX SC. It worked fine with my EvGo card, and I got 151 mph of range when I plugged in.

 

[MyJoule]

FWIW, I can't make a decent recommendation for parking near the cruise terminal , but there are 4 Free Charge Point 1772 chargers at the Tanger Outlet mall in Texas City- We've used them with our Daughter's Volt a few times and they have worked each time.

 

[JMG]

Just a FYI, Lighthouse parking was just fine. Parked in covered area and came back with it just fine (albeit a little dusty). I shut off energy saving and always connected, and I think I only lost about 7-10 miles. We were in such a rush to leave (the shuttle full of people were waiting on us) that I didn't look at our exact mileage before hopping out. However, on the way down I charged to 200 miles at the N Houston supercharger, and after the drive to Galveston and sitting for 7 days, I still had 120 miles when we got back. It was more than enough to get us back to the N Houston SC and back on our way home.

Of course I'd rather have parked indoors with an outlet nearby, but that wasn't an option. The guy at Lighthouse said we were the third Tesla they've parked there. I told him that if he puts a few 110 outlets outside and listed them on Plugshare, he'd be guaranteed to pick up some EV driver business. He said he'd pass it along to the boss.

Anyway, no problems and the cruise was great.

 

[SW2Fiddler]

However, on the way down I charged to 200 miles at the N Houston supercharger, and after the drive to Galveston and sitting for 7 days, I still had 120 miles when we got back. It was more than enough to get us back to the N Houston SC and back on our way home.

Thanks for the report and round-trip (N HOU SC to Galveston) benchmark.

It'll be fun to watch the parking services become aware of the EV customer base, one by one. I think we'll just see more and more (L1 is so easy to provide), like how Wi-Fi is still rolling out everywhere.

 

[brkaus]

I know, old thread.

Anyone find new info on cruise parking that has 120v outlets available?

 

[Kcharwood]

Interested as well

 

[brkaus]

Looks like one of the parking spots is now part of the destination charging program!

Galveston Tesla Parking - Tesla Destination Charging Stations | Port Parking

 

[JMG]

Nice!

It's still a little over kill in my opinion though. On a 5 night cruise, you'r vehicle will be fully charged in just a couple of hours. I just don't know why places like this don't just spend a couple hundred bucks and install several standard outlets where you'll be parked for days at a time.

However, regardless this is very welcome and will come in handy for future cruisers!

 

[brkaus]

I agree. A handful of 15-20A outlets would be all they really need. But this way they do get their name on the destination charging page which is a plus.

With the new HPWC they could add more sharing the same capacity as an other, although quite expensive, option.