With its fourth cruise terminal opening less than a year ago, the Port of Galveston shows no signs of slowing down.
The port has announced it is in talks with Royal Caribbean to construct a fifth cruise terminal on the island. That comes after Royal Caribbean and the port already built a dedicated terminal for the cruise line at Pier 10 in 2022.
The new terminal would be next to the current Royal Caribbean terminal at Pier 14, allowing for two of the cruise line’s ships to dock next to each other at the eastern side of the port.
While the port makes it clear that these are only discussions and a finalized agreement is yet to be in place, having a new terminal has been in the port’s long-term plans.
The Port of Galveston’s Master Plan released last year shows a total of seven cruise berths over the long term into the 2040s. The plan has a fifth terminal anticipated for 2028 and then a sixth berth in the mid-2030s.
In other words, talks of another terminal are right in line with the port’s planning.
The Largest Cruise Port Outside of Florida
Already Galveston has grown into the largest port outside of Florida. The island expects nearly 2 million passengers in 2026.
As mentioned, Cruise Terminal 16 — the fourth cruise terminal on the island — opened less than a year ago. It serves as home to multiple lines, but primarily MSC Cruises, which sails 7-day trips to the western Caribbean.
Meanwhile, other lines like Disney, NCL, and Princess have come to sail from Galveston, giving passengers more options to cruise. Carnival has put their newest and biggest ship (Carnival Jubilee) sailing from the island. Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean plans to port one of its biggest ships — Icon of the Seas — starting next year.
The past growth in Galveston cruising during the past two decades has been nothing short of miraculous. And with this latest announcement, that growth shows no sign of slowing.
One Hurdle to Galveston Cruise Growth
If there is one issue with sailing from the Texas port, it’s that its location means there isn’t a lot of variation of itineraries. The port says that 92% of its cruises sail to the western Caribbean, which usually means some combination of Roatan, Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Progreso.
If Galveston cruising is set to continue growing, then we think more and varied itineraries will need to be part of the deal in order to keep repeat cruisers filling up ships.
Royal Caribbean had planned on building a new Perfect Day Mexico destination at Costa Maya, but this plan was scuttled by the Mexican government.
