Galveston Itineraries for 2024-2026

[Pinballs83]

8 & 7days with the solo hammer. I

[SPacificbound]

I would love to see a Galveston to Bermuda, and 12-15 days.

[firefly333]

2 hours ago, SPacificbound said:

I would love to see a Galveston to Bermuda, and 12-15 days.

Lol I'd love a Bermuda from even florida. None of the new releases go to Bermuda. Not even from florida. There is a thread complaining. I was looking for Bermuda myself. Someone posted ncl has the berths tied up idk. Big disappointment for me too. Royal cost cutting imo. 

[Texas_Traveler.]

I'm not a fan of itineraries where Costa Maya is the final port of call before returning to Galveston.

 

Galveston-based ships have to leave Costa Maya at 1:00pm in order to make it back to Galveston on time after one sea day. That's way too early for me...

[The Fun Researcher]

Yeah, if you like Western Caribbean cruises, Galveston is great.  Even then, it's repeat, repeat, repeat...

 

It's unfortunate, but comes with being so far into the gulf.  Florida owns the Eastern and Southern itineraries.

[Galveston Cruiser]

On 11/15/2023 at 10:51 AM, pspercy said:

My beef for years. Hopefully the arrival of some more competition may spur RCL into using some imagination and offering a few > 7dys.

 

MSC wants to build a terminal on Pelican Island but that will be a longer term project.

The MSC terminal will be built at Pier 16; scheduled for completion in 2025.   They never had any intention of building on Pelican Island.

 

There will not be a cruise terminal on Pelican Island.in the near future and probably never:  A) Port of Houston owns the majority of the island; b) there is little infrastructure to support a terminal, C) the bridge and road to and on Pelican Island will not sustain large amounts of traffic and 18 wheelers. E) the bridge desperately needs replacing and, when completed, will be a draw bridge as it is now which would be a traffic nightmare,

[GJustice]

On 11/15/2023 at 3:28 PM, amindu said:

 

Maybe Icon, LOL

Well, the "new" ones are available now and all that's "new" is Allure replacing Harmony in March 2026 with a couple of additional itineraries to the same old destinations.

 

Guess I'll have to surrender and start flying to FL since the 4th busiest port in the US (Galveston) won't see more destinations next year. Or I guess I can defect to one of the other TX based lines 😞 

[LooneyCruzer]

Other than maybe their own island, they all hit the same boring ports 😞

[amindu]

5 hours ago, GJustice said:

Well, the "new" ones are available now and all that's "new" is Allure replacing Harmony in March 2026 with a couple of additional itineraries to the same old destinations.

 

Guess I'll have to surrender and start flying to FL since the 4th busiest port in the US (Galveston) won't see more destinations next year. Or I guess I can defect to one of the other TX based lines 😞 

 

Really? that is very disappointing, I would much rather have Harmony or Symphony over Allure. I wonder if they start losing market share if changes will be made now that NCL is also sailing from that port.  I had friends that went on the Prima and they loved the ship and all. 

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, amindu said:

 

Really? that is very disappointing, I would much rather have Harmony or Symphony over Allure. I wonder if they start losing market share if changes will be made now that NCL is also sailing from that port.  I had friends that went on the Prima and they loved the ship and all. 

My friend does all lines out of Galveston. He loved jubilee. He also did prima and princess. He just books them all. Prices are less on royal out of texas I think is the issue. That port seems like carnivals bread and butter per john heald. Jubilee is their newest ship and has more specialty included food than previous classes. 

[EmmasNana]

On 11/15/2023 at 1:38 PM, firefly333 said:

I feel like a get a lot of sneering when I say I booked carnival. 

 

My jan stops are Panama, costa rico , columbia, aruba and curacao plus jamaica. 5 nice ports out of Galveston. Not my first choice but I wanted new ports. 

I am doing a similar cruise (except no Jamaica and leaving from Miami), March 2025 on Royal. I too am tired of all the same ports from Galveston. I don't even look anymore.

[wreckem2013]

3 hours ago, amindu said:

 

Really? that is very disappointing, I would much rather have Harmony or Symphony over Allure. I wonder if they start losing market share if changes will be made now that NCL is also sailing from that port.  I had friends that went on the Prima and they loved the ship and all. 

Allure is going in for a massive Amplification in 2025. But that also the loss of one of the better crown lounges. Then again Harmony goes off dry dock and a likely amplification once it leaves Galveston. With the year round revenue they make out of Galveston, they should always get a better ship than New York. But we don’t.

 

I guess this puts to bed rumors of Wonder coming to Galveston once Star starts sailing. 

Edited February 15 by wreckem2013

[amindu]

Just now, wreckem2013 said:

Allure is going in for a massive Amplification in 2025.

Yup we sail her from Rome a month after her amplification, looking forward to it.  

Edited February 15 by amindu

[wreckem2013]

8 hours ago, GJustice said:

Well, the "new" ones are available now and all that's "new" is Allure replacing Harmony in March 2026 with a couple of additional itineraries to the same old destinations.

 

Guess I'll have to surrender and start flying to FL since the 4th busiest port in the US (Galveston) won't see more destinations next year. Or I guess I can defect to one of the other TX based lines 😞 

Yeah ever since they brought Oasis class it’s been 98% of the time the same three ports. I remember when we were able to do Grand Cayman and Jamaica out of Galveston.

[MichaelCMTX]

On 11/17/2023 at 12:24 PM, The Fun Researcher said:

Yeah, if you like Western Caribbean cruises, Galveston is great.  Even then, it's repeat, repeat, repeat...

 

It's unfortunate, but comes with being so far into the gulf.  Florida owns the Eastern and Southern itineraries.

It's a little weirder now.  Adding an Oasis-class ship essentially means no tender ports, but also not many tender ports for the non-Oasis G-Town ships.  DW loves GC but wasn't happening on Voyager or Mariner.  

Not sure where you're originating from @GJustice, we drive from Dallas and decided to try the Serenade out of New Orleans a few years back.  It was the only way for us to get to Key West and Coco Cay without a plane ride or an overnight drive - thought it was 8 hours on the road vs 3.  RC's sailing from NoLA again so it might be worth a look.

[OSUZorba]

8 hours ago, wreckem2013 said:

Yeah ever since they brought Oasis class it’s been 98% of the time the same three ports. I remember when we were able to do Grand Cayman and Jamaica out of Galveston.

Yeah, it was widely discussed prior to Oasis class going to Galveston that this would be the problem. I for one am quite sick of Roatan, Costa Maya, Cozumel. They should really bring a Freedom class (or have Mariner) to do 7-day GC, Jamaica, and Cozumel, cruises.

 

I did Princess last year for Spring Break, and of course that week they also did Roatan, Costa Maya, and Cozumel.

[firefly333]

8 minutes ago, OSUZorba said:

Yeah, it was widely discussed prior to Oasis class going to Galveston that this would be the problem. I for one am quite sick of Roatan, Costa Maya, Cozumel. They should really bring a Freedom class (or have Mariner) to do 7-day GC, Jamaica, and Cozumel, cruises.

 

I did Princess last year for Spring Break, and of course that week they also did Roatan, Costa Maya, and Cozumel.

Mariner is coming in may and her maiden voyage is 7 days. Lol but no exciting ports. I'm booked on mariner. 7 days.