Galveston (Texas)

Galveston is a port city spread over Galveston Island and Pelican Island, in Texas USA. The city's land area is approx 208 mi2 (539 km2), with population around 50,000. The city is within the "Greater Houston" metro area (Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land) with total population over 6,5 million.

By annual cruise shipping traffic (~1 million embarking passengers), Port Galveston is currently ranked USA's 4th busiest cruise port - an increase of 126% since 2010, when the homeporting business started.

Port Galveston TX

Port Galveston (locode USGLS) is located on mainland Texas' upper coast and on the island's eastern end. The port is at approx 9 mi (15 km) from the open sea (Gulf of Mexico). The Port Authority company (Board of Trustees of the Galveston Wharves) is city-owned, self-sustaining and doesn't receive city property taxes.

In 2017, Galveston was ranked the USA's 4th largest cruise port. In 2016, it generated US$58,4M in local passenger spending, plus US$19,1M in port-provided services. Cruise ship operations created 1232 direct local jobs. According to the Port's statistical data, Texas receives from cruise ship operations ~USD 1,42 billion per year (direct spending). The industry generates 25166 state jobs and ~USD 1,62B in income.

In 2022, the Port's cruise activities supported ~3500 jobs and generated US$568 million (local business revenue) and US$73,5 million (local purchases by cruise tourists/passengers and crew).

Bayport Cruise Terminal (Houston) is located in Pasadena Texas. The driving distance between Galveston and Houston is approx 50 mi (80 km), or ~1-hour drive southeast.

Port Galveston was established in October 1825, making it the oldest on the Gulf of Mexico. During the late-19th century, the seaport was considered to be the USA's 2nd busiest - after NYC New York. It exported most of the USA's cotton, also cattle and rice. Unfortunately, on September 8, 1900, the port was devastated by the "1900 Galveston hurricane". The storm (Category 4) had strong winds of up to 145 mph (233 kph) and resulted in 6000-8000 dead - ranking it the USA's deadliest hurricane disaster ever. Although recovered, the seaport's market position was soon overtaken by Houston and other deepwater ports on the US Caribbean coast.

Major contributors to the Port's current successful cruise business are Carnival Corporation and RCG-Royal Caribbean Group. Both are currently ranked the world's largest passenger shipping companies and both homeport here large-capacity liners for year-round roundtrip departures. Today, Port Galveston is one of the most successful Caribbean USA homeports.

• On September 30, 2015, the port celebrated its 15th "cruise business" anniversary.
• On September 30, 2000, the Carnival ship MS Celebration started here its first homeport itinerary.
• In 2000-2015, the seaport handled a total of 2643 cruise ship calls (by 18 different vessels) and 7+ million passengers.
• During season 2017, were handled 33 ship calls (all turnarounds / roundtrips) and 113,488 passengers. Port's previous record year was 2005 (29 ship calls). In December 2017 was welcomed the port's 9 millionth passenger - since Sept 30, 2000, when its cruising business started.
• In 2018, CCL-Carnival Cruise Lines deployed in Galveston 3 boats (Freedom, Valor, Vista), with projected annual capacity 650,000+ pax. In 2018, here were also homeported RCI's boats Liberty OTS and Vision OTS.
• On December 5, 2018, the port authority company (Board of Trustees of the Galveston Wharves) signed with RCG an MoU agreement for the development and concession of a new (Royal Caribbean) "Cruise Terminal 3" at Pier 10. The US$125M project was officially approved on December 11, 2019. The long-term (20-year initial) lease deal could be extended (via 4 consecutive 10-year options) up to 60-year exclusive terminal concession rights. Between 2003-2018, RCI brought to Galveston 2,4+ million tourists (annual economic impact ~USD 65M). Terminal 3 was opened on Nov 9, 2022.

The port also has facilities to handle cargo ships (bulk freighters and container carriers) and dry dock facilities for marine vessel refurbishments and repairs. The port can handle all types of cargo - containers, dry bulk, liquid bulk, breakbulk, RO-RO (roll-on/roll-off) vessels. There is a terminal switching railroad to facilitate larger cargo movements by rail.

In August 2021, Galveston Wharves signed an MoU with Stabilis Solutions to build and supply LNG bunkering/shore-to-ship fueling facilities in 2021. The deal was signed by Rodger Rees (Galveston Port's Director and CEO) and Jim Reddinger (Stabilis' President and CEO). Galveston is the second (after Corpus Christi) LNG bunkering port served by Stabilis (2013-founded, Houston Texas-based turnkey LNG company, part of LNG Investment Company LLC).

Galveston cruise port

In the period 2000-2016, the port invested USD 85+ million in its cruise terminals.

In 2014, the Port served ~642,000 passengers, in 2015 were handled ~834,000 (28% increase). Galveston was one of the few in the USA with increased passenger shipping traffic in 2015 - the other being Miami, San Juan Puerto Rico, Seattle and San Francisco.

In January 2014, the port signed a 5-year agreement with Royal Caribbean, generating USD 1,86+ million in annual revenues. The agreement required improvements to be made to Cruise Terminal 2 (Terminal 28) to accommodate larger vessels and more tourists. Terminal 2's size was increased to 150,000 ft2 / 13,940 m2 (passenger capacity up to 1000) at the cost of USD 10M.

In February 2015, Carnival added the ship Freedom as its 3rd year-round boat (joining the fleetmates Magic and Triumph) which increased CCL's year capacity up to 600,000 passengers.

In 2016 were handled 875,000 passengers. In 2017 the number grew to 950,000 (economic impact USD 2,3 billion) supporting 13892 local jobs. Direct spendings are USD 1,2+ billion. Generated jobs are 20,000 (paying over USD 1,1 billion in total income). Cruise ship vacation-related spending in Texas is accounted for 6,3% of the industry's direct expenditures, and 5,6% of the industry's nationwide overall spending.

In 2016, Carnival homeported in Galveston 3 ships (Breeze, Freedom, Liberty). Royal Caribbean in 2016-2017 homeported year-round 2 ships (Liberty OTS, Vision OTS).

In August 2017 (25-27), the port was closed due to Hurricane Harvey's significant rains during the weekend. This affected the schedules of 4 liners (Carnival Breeze, Carnival Freedom, Carnival Valor, Liberty of the Seas). The port was shut down to all shipping traffic (cargo and passenger). Freedom and Valor were relocated to New Orleans, Breeze remained docked overnight in Cozumel, Liberty OTS was diverted to Miami.

In 2017 were handled a total of 258 ship calls and ~1,9 million passengers. In 2017, the port reported a record monthly cruise shipping volume (113,488 embarking passengers) on a total of 33 departures in December. The previous record was 29 turnarounds (December 2005). In Dec 2017, the port also celebrated its 9 millionth passenger.

For 2018, the cruise port had booked 308 ship calls, with estimated 2+ million passengers. In September 2018, Carnival repositioned here Vista - replacing Breeze and joining Valor and Freedom. Seasonally (2018-2019 / October - January) here were homeported 3 Carnival ships (Vista, Valor, Freedom), 2 RCI ships (Liberty OTS, Vision OTS) and 1 Disney ship (Wonder). The Disney ship offers roundtrips during autumn-winter months, then is relocated (through Panama Canal) to Alaska for the summer.

On December 9, 2018, Port Galveston welcomed its 10 millionth cruise tourist since 2000, when its cruising operations started. The lucky man was Yingtao Liu, who arrived from Norman Oklahoma together with his parents, wife and 3 kids. Upon checking before boarding Carnival Vista, the family (all first-time cruisers) was greeted by Rodger Rees (port's CEO) and Pavol Drimaj (ship's Hotel Director). All family members received gifts, including 3-night hotel package for Island Bay Resort, a basket with gourmet treats, CVB-logoed gift bag and Carnival-logoed beach bag with travel essentials. The cruise company also extended the family's standard onboard amenities with VIP services.

Port's current schedule has two liners leaving on Saturdays, two on Sundays, one on Mondays, one on Thursdays. The Disney ship leaves on Fridays. Every 2 years is conducted ship channel/waterfront dredging to maintain the port's required water depth of 45 ft (14 m). Port's shipping channel is also regularly deepened to maintain a 150-ft (46-m) wide waterfront marine zone that allows access to piers 10 and 41.

In mid-January 2019, Port Galveston signed an agreement with DCL-Disney Cruise Line extending the company's preferential berthing rights for additional 10 years (until November 1, 2028), with optional 2 renewals for additional 5-year periods. The deal also included building a new/shared cruise terminal with capacity to handle a vessel similarly-sized or bigger than Disney's Magic-Wonder boats.

In 2018, the Port's cruise shipping grew by 13%, resulting in USD 1,5 billion in direct expenditures and 26241 supported Texas jobs (with total wages USD 1,75 billion). Galveston is Texas State's only homeport and was accounted for 6,3% of the USA's cruise industry overall spending, 6,2% of the industry's total employment impact, 7,6% of its income impact. In 2018, the port's passenger+crew arrivals were ~1,4 million (estimated USD 115M in ashore spending/goods and services).

In mid-November 2022, Galveston Wharves announced an MoU with Carnival Corporation, RCG-Royal Caribbean Group, CenterPoint Energy Inc (USA electric transmission and natural gas services), Shell Trading (UK), and Texas A&M University (College Station City TX) for potential solutions to develop shoreside power connectivity.

The Port's 2022 cruise season supported 3500 jobs, and generated US$568M in local business revenue plus US$73,5M in purchases by cruise tourists (passengers and crew). For 2023 the cruise port recorded 362 ship calls (booked berthings). When completed, the newest/4th MSC Cruise Terminal is expected to generate additional 925 jobs, US$177M in revenues, US$21M in local purchases.

On December 4, 2019, Port Galveston welcomed its 1-millionth cruiser - Mark Martin (from Mission Viejo CA). He and his wife (Laurie Steele) were booked on Enchantment Of The Seas for a 5-day Western Caribbean itinerary to Mexico (Costa Maya, Cozumel).

As part of the Port Access Program 2019-2020, in mid-July 2020, TxDOT (Texas Department of Transportation) awarded USD 3,75M "Rider 38 Grant" for the USD 5M project for building a new internal roadway between 14th and 20th streets. The balance (USD 1,25M) will come from the cruise port's operating revenue. Works on the project are planned to start in August 2021 and to be completed in 2022-Q4. The new road is a section of an internal roadway running (through the port property) from 14th Street to 53rd Street. In 2018, Galveston Wharves received USD 1+ million from Rider 48 for repaving, widening and installing drainage on OPIR-Old Port Industrial Road (between 29th Str and 33rd Str) as well as for repaving and drainage on 33rd Str (between OPIR and Harborside Drive).

For FY2020 (fiscal year) Port Galveston reported USD 2 million in revenue (despite the Coronavirus crisis) mainly by reducing expenses.

• Grants and investments were USD 29M, expenses ~USD 27M ($11,3M in 2019). Seaport's operating income was USD 27,4M (40% from cargo shipping) including $7,2M from cruises (+parking).
• Revenues also included $6M (lay revenues), $1,9M (real estate leases), $0,8M (other).
• Projections for 2021 were for USD 37,5M (operating revenues) including $3M from cruise ships' lay dockage.
• Suspension of ex-Galveston cruises resulted in huge losses for the state's economy and the cruise shipping industry-related businesses. Based on annual economic statistics, statewide losses in 2020-2021 were estimated at USD 1,2 billion (direct spending), USD 1,6 billion (wages), ~23,000 jobs.

In August 2022 was announced a USD 33 million investment in cruise-related infrastructure improvements, including US$22M (pier repairs, site works, utilities, 1800-lots cruise parking) and US$11M (upgrades at Terminal 25 and Terminal 28). Terminal 28 now has 450 cruise parking lots.

In May 2023, Galveston Wharves announced an investment of US$53 million in Terminal 25's expansion in order to accommodate CCL'’s largest ship Carnival Jubilee (max capacity 6630 passengers) which homeporting was scheduled to start in December 2023. The project included adding two new gangways, a new ramp, two elevators, one escalator, new roofing, improvements of facilities (including Customs & Border Protection).

With 3x cruise terminals and increased passenger traffic (7+ million visitors annually), in 2022 Port Galveston started investing in infrastructure upgrades (expanding the interior roadway) to divert some of the traffic (away from Harborside Drive) and technologies like real-time traffic conditions and route updates (via mobile apps), more wayfinding electronic signboards, advance traffic notifications (for tourists with booked cruise parking), car license plate recognition (for automated cruise port parking entry and exit). The ~USD 20 million project also included the restoration and extension of the roads in the Old Port Industrial and Wharf. A direct road connection to highway I-45 can divert most of the cruise-related vehicle traffic directly to the Port.

Cruise itineraries from Galveston Texas

Follows a list of destinations visited by cruise ships leaving out of Galveston:

• Most departures from Galveston are operated by liners from the fleets of Carnival, RCI-Royal Caribbean and DCL-Disney.
• (Western Caribbean) 7-day to Honduras (Roatan island) and Mexico (Costa Maya and Cozumel).
• (Western Caribbean) 7-day to Jamaica (Montego Bay), Grand Cayman (George Town) and Mexico (Cozumel). Another port of call could be Belize City.
• (Eastern Caribbean) 7-day to Florida (Key West) and Bahamas (Freeport, and Nassau). Also can be visited the Bahamian private islands Half Moon Cay (Carnival), Castaway Cay (Disney) and CocoCay (Royal Caribbean).

(Western Caribbean) From Galveston are also offered Mexico-only roundtrips that visit Cozumel (4-days) and Cozumel with Progreso (5-days).

Galveston cruise terminal

Galveston tours, shore excursions, hotels

City Tours and Shore Excursions

During you stay, Galveston can offer plenty of activities for any age. You can enjoy tropical rainforest adventure or rest at the sunny beach. If you prefer, you can visit amusement places near the Galveston cruise port terminal like:

• Texas Seaport Museum
• the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum
• the Moody Gardens
• the Bishop’s Palace
• the Stewart Beach Park