When it comes to new announcements Texas cruise, late cruise lines were as busy as a one-eyed dog in a smoker’s house, as a Texan might say.
Just a few months after Princess Cruises added first Texas itinerary in years and MSC Cruises hints that it will soon begin trips in Texas, Festival cruise line revealed major expansion plans in the Lone Star State.
The Miami-based carrier on Thursday announced that it will begin nine- to 12-night “Texas-sized” trips from Galveston, Texas, in the fall of 2024 as part of an expanded rollout at the port from three to four ships.
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Trips will take place aboard the 2,200-passenger Carnival Miracle, which will redeploy to Galveston from San Francisco.
“We have always offered a variety of cruises from Galveston, but by adding a fourth Carnival ship to our home port of Galveston and making these longer cruises, we are giving our customers more options. great new option, especially for those who want to experience more types of travel. Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy said in a statement accompanying the announcement.
The announcement comes just months before Carnival is scheduled to book one of its largest-ever ships, coming soon, 5,374 passengers Carnival, to Galveston for year-round trips. The Carnival Jubilee Festival Trip will be seven nights.
In addition to Carnival Jubilee, Carnival Miracle will join 3,690 Carnival Breeze passengers and 3,646 Carnival Dream passengers sailing from Texas.
Related: 8 types of Carnival ships, explained
The Miracle Festival rides out of Galveston will not be year-round but seasonal, lasting from fall to spring. There will be 19 voyages in all in the Galveston-based ship’s first season, including:
- The 9-night “Exotic Western Caribbean” cruise departs October 16, 2024, will stop at Montego Bay, Jamaica; Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; Mahogany Bay on the Honduran island of Roatan; Belize; and Cozumel, Mexico.
- The 10-night cruise through the Panama Canal departed 15 November 2024 with calls at Cozumel; Limon, Costa Rica; Colon, Panama (with Panama Canal Tours); and Mahogany Bay.
- The 11-night “Exotic Caribbean” cruise departs November 25, 2024, with visits to Montego Bay; Amber Bay, Dominican Republic; Grand Turks, Turks and Caicos; Princess Cays, a private island in the Bahamas; and Nassau in the Bahamas.
- The 12-night “South Caribbean Festival Journey” departs January 26, 2025, visiting Grand Cayman, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and Cozumel.
Long trips out of Galveston are unusual for Carnival, which typically offers four- to eight-night trips from the port.
Carnival Breeze is currently exclusive to four- and five-day excursions from Galveston. Carnival Dream is mostly six- and eight-day excursions from the port.
The Port of Galveston has recently seen a significant boom in the number of ships the port receives.
Related: 5 best places you can go on a Carnival ship
This year, the port is expected to have 362 cruise ship departures—the most in 22 years the port has welcomed cruise ships.
As noted above, Princess recently began her first voyages from Galveston in several years, offering a mix of five- to 11-night sailings in the Western Caribbean aboard the 3,080-passenger Ruby Princess.
Other routes with ships that have recently started sailing from the port include Royal Caribbeanwith Caribbean weekly departures on board the Allure of the Seas ship carrying 5,484 passengers.
The Allure of the Seas is one of the five largest cruise ships in the world and the largest ever to regularly sail out of Galveston.
Besides, Norwegian Cruise Linenewest ship of, Norwegian Primais also expected to make a series of week-long journeys from Galveston beginning in late 2023.
These new ships join Royal Caribbean Sea Adventures, which have departed from Galveston; three Carnival ships (currently Carnival Dream, Carnival Vista and Carnival Breeze; Carnival Vista will leave later this year when Carnival Jubilee arrives); And Disney Cruise LineDisney magic.
This is the number of no cruise ships based in Galveston in 1999.
Carnival was the first cruise line to operate regular sailings from Galveston in 2000.
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