Help with Galveston travel

Looking at booking a sailing out of Galveston this October. If matters, I would be flying in Friday, ship leaves Saturday, and returns on the following Thursday.

Never sailed out of this port and trying to figure out what makes the most sense, both logistically and financially.

Options I have in my head:

1. fly into IAH (not many flights from where I’m at into Hobby), get a hotel nearby that offers airport shuttles, and then on Saturday morning, take that shuttle back to the airport and take the RC shuttle to the cruise port.

2. Fly into IAH on Friday, book an uber or transport service of some kind, and find a hotel nearby the cruise port in Galveston. Get the traffic and stress out of the way the day before sailing, so on Saturday it would be a quick and easy uber ride to the cruise port.

Do any of these make more sense than the other? Playing around in the RC app with the “fake reservation” deal, I see they offer shuttles from the port back to the airport for about $40 per person, as long as your flight is after 12:30, which mine would be around 2pm. That’s likely what I would do after the cruise. Mostly concerned about what I’d do getting to the cruise. Does RC offer transport from airports to the cruise port? If yes, does anyone know the times they offer that? If I book this trip I’d be checking in within a week or two here, so I’d prefer to pick the earliest boarding time however I’m unsure on if/when RC offers transportation from IAH to the port on sailing day. If I stayed at a hotel in Galveston and got all the traffic and commuting out of the way on Friday, what would be the cheapest way to get there (traveling solo), and is there generally plenty of ride shares available in Galveston to get to the port?

Sorry for all the questions- I really want to make this trip work, but I just want to make sure I understand the best process here before I lock it in. Thanks!