Tag Archives: galveston texas

Carnival promotion rewards Galveston cruise bookings

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By Tom Stieghorst
Carnival Cruise Lines said travel agents can earn triple the normal amount of points in its rewards program by booking cruises from Galveston during July.

The line said the promotion, running through July 31, will give agents 450 points for new online bookings from Texas ports, up from the standard 150 points.

Beginning at the 2,500-point level, the points can be redeemed for Carnival logo items, $50 and $100 gift cards, iPads and other items.

Carnival will transfer a third ship, Carnival Freedom, to Galveston beginning in February.

Joni Rein, executive vice president of worldwide sales at Carnival, said the points boost was a thank you to agents that have helped Carnival build business from Galveston.

Carnival to sail 11-day cruises from Galveston

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By Tom Stieghorst
Carnival Cruise Lines said that it will offer the Texas market longer cruises for the first time, with four 10- and 11-day sailings between Galveston and San Juan.

A pair of 11-day cruises will also feature a first call for Carnival in Bonaire. Those sailings, scheduled for Oct. 24, 2015, and Jan. 16, 2016, will also stop in Grand Cayman, Aruba, Grenada, Martinique and St. Maarten before concluding in San Juan.

The 10-day departures from San Juan are scheduled for Nov. 4, 2015, and Jan. 27, 2016, and will stop at St. Thomas, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, Antigua, Grand Turk, and the private Bahamian island of Half Moon Cay.

Galveston cruises on Carnival currently depart on four- and five-day Mexican and seven-day Caribbean itineraries.

Carnival said a desire for longer, more varied itineraries was one of the themes that emerged from its series of Carnival Conversations meetings with travel agents.

Oil spill puts cruises on hold

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By Jerry Limone
An oil spill near the Houston Ship Channel has affected the schedules of cruise ships that sail out of Galveston and Houston, Texas.

On Saturday, a collision between a fuel barge and a cargo ship spilled as much as 170,000 gallons of tar-like oil into waters south of Houston.

The Carnival Magic and Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas pulled into the Port of Galveston about 10 hours late Sunday evening. The ships were ordered to slowly navigate into port so they would not create a large wake that could spread the spill.

The Carnival Triumph returned to port early Monday under the same conditions.

All three ships have not departed for their next cruise from Galveston, plus the Caribbean Princess has been stranded at Houston’s Bayport Cruise Terminal since Saturday, with passengers aboard.

It is not certain when the shipping channel will reopen.