Forget Florida: Your favorite cruise lines are betting on Texas

• Cruise lines are increasingly sailing out of Texas' only cruise port, the Port of Galveston.
• Galveston saw a record 384 cruises and 1.7 million guests in 2024 — half a million more than in 2023.
• The port is located near Royal Caribbean's next two private resorts in Mexico.

Texas — known for chili, cowboys, and increasingly, cruises.

America's cruising culture is irrevocably intertwined with Florida. No other state has seven cruise ports, including the three busiest in the world, and an established grip on the nearby leviathan Caribbean cruise market.

What the Sunshine State doesn't have, however, is Galveston.

The historic and unassuming Texas island is home to the state's only cruise port. Yet, it's quickly become a crucial battleground as vacation-at-sea companies compete for travelers' hearts and wallets.

The Galveston boom

In 2022, Royal Caribbean opened a $125 million cruise terminal in the Galveston. A year later, the port invested $53 million in expanding Carnival's terminal, which now serves as the homeport for Carnival Jubilee, one of the cruise line's largest ships built specifically for the Texas market.

In 2024, the port saw a record 384 cruises and 1.7 million guests — half a million more travelers than the year prior.

Not much compared to the world's busiest Port of Miami, which saw 8.23 million passengers in 2024. However, while Florida's ports are near max capacity, Galveston's market is still quickly growing.

The Texas port plans to open a fourth $156 million terminal in November, which MSC and Norwegian will share. The launch would also mark the start of MSC's Galveston itineraries.

"Florida doesn't have many more terminals," Rodger Rees, the port's director and CEO, told Business Insider. "The market has been somewhat saturated."

Galveston does, however, have more space to expand — and with it, aspirations to someday surpass Florida's Port of Everglades as America's third most popular cruise port.

"These ships are going out of here full every Saturday and Sunday," Rees said — a significant accomplishment, given that Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Princess, and MSC would all have some of their largest or newest ships sailing out of the Lone Star State this year.

For the port of Galveston, the local cruise boom has meant survival. The company almost declared bankruptcy 15 years ago, unable to generate profit from its aging cargo infrastructure, Rees said.

Now, the future is bright — in 2025, it expects to rake in $84 million, a 6.4% growth from the year prior, thanks to the growing vacation-at-sea business.

Bigger, better, and more convenient in Texas

Travelers in cities like Dallas, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City are a day's drive from Galveston. Houston and its two airports are only about an hour away — strategic, given that it's a shorter flight there than to Miami from metropolitans like Las Vegas, Chicago, and Phoenix.

Compared to Florida, "Texas is a similar-sized market that has half the penetration with a very similar propensity to cruise," Jason Liberty, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, told analysts in late October 2024.

As important, Galveston is also close to popular ports of call in east Mexico, eastern Caribbean, and Central America, including Norwegian's private island in Belize.

The location is similarly crucial for Royal Caribbean, which has two private resorts — Perfect Day Mexico and Royal Beach Club Cozumel — scheduled to open in Mexico in 2026 and 2027.

"Having assets like the Royal Beach Club will allow us to drive more of the Gulf Coast markets that can have an easier fly-cruise experience and lower cost," Liberty added.

Royal Caribbean's resorts — in conjunction with its Symphony of the Seas, one of the world's largest cruise ships, sailing out of Galveston in 2026 — could continue to catapult its popularity.

"We're getting bigger and nicer ships here," the port's CEO said. "Why go all the way to Florida?"

Read the original article on Business Insider

Source: View source