Tag Archives: Texas

Galveston Set to Break Ground on New Royal Caribbean Terminal

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Officials will break ground for the brand new $110 million cruise terminal at Galveston Wharves for Royal Caribbean International on Saturday at 10 a.m. local time. 

Galveston Wharves will be represented by Port Director and CEO Rodger Rees, who will be joined by Royal Caribbean Group Vice President of Destination Development Joshua Carroll and Ceres CEO Craig Mygatt.

Also expected are Craig Brown, Mayor, the City of Galveston and Albert Shannon, Chairperson, Board of Trustees of the Galveston Wharves.

The new cruise terminal will cover approximately 170,000 square feet on ten acres of land in the southeast section of the Port of Galveston known as Pier 10.

The facility, which is anticipated to open in fall 2022, will feature state-of-the-art technology to enable mobile check-in and facial recognition to create an expedited arrival experience for guests, according to a press release.

The terminal will be designed and developed sustainably to meet LEED certification standards.

The Newest Caribbean Cruise Port?

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South Padre Island, TexasPHOTO: South Padre Island, Texas might be developed into a Caribbean cruise port. (photo via Flickr/Vince Smith)South Padre Island, Texas may be a cruise port in the near future.

The local city council recently approved a proposal for the destination to receive western Caribbean itinerary calls.

“South Padre Island has been a hidden U.S. jewel for many years,” said Mayor Dennis Stahl, in a press release. “We are looking forward to sharing our unique ecotourism sites, like Sea Turtle Inc., a renowned sea turtle rescue centre, and the Birding and Nature Center, a world-class birdwatching destination, in addition to our pristine beaches and adventure activities.”

SPI Cruise Group—a collaboration of cruise port design, maritime operations and marketing professionals—put forth the proposal. It comes at a time when western Caribbean sailings from the Port of Galveston, Texas are increasingly popular. Meanwhile, there is a concern of abundant tourism in eastern and southern Caribbean ports as cruise lines seek out sustainable alternative destinations.

The lines are specifically looking for those with existing tourism infrastructure, and South Padre Island is primed with adventures on land, sea and sky, including beautiful local beaches.

SPI Cruise Group is comprised of MarketScope Global, IDEA, Cruise and Port Advisors and NewmanPR. The project’s first step of marketing and communicating the plan to raise cruise industry executive awareness of South Padre Island is anticipated to take four months.

Beyond that, getting potential passengers interested to visit might be even easier as travellers love fresh destinations, especially in the Caribbean.

Tried-and-true ports are favourites for a reason, but anytime something new can be added to the equation it drums up excitement. In the case of the cruise lines, it may give them a bit of a competitive advantage to offer something entirely different as well.

Carnival switching the Liberty and Valor

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Carnival Liberty

The Carnival Liberty’s propulsion problems persist, so Carnival Cruise Line said it will continue to operate modified cruises from Galveston, Texas, through the month of November to account for the ship’s inability to reach maximum speed.

The five-day cruise departing Nov. 26 will be the Liberty’s last from Galveston, as the ship will enter a previously scheduled drydock after that sailing and then be redeployed to Port Canaveral, Fla., to operate short Bahamas cruises starting Dec. 15. The Carnival Valor, meanwhile, will reposition to Galveston from Port Canaveral.

“This change is being made since Carnival Valor is better suited to operate at the higher speeds required for the four- and five-day Mexico itineraries from Galveston while Carnival Liberty is well equipped to handle shorter duration cruises from Central Florida,” Carnival said in a statement.

Carnival said its technical team, with the help of outside contractors, “continue to work to fully resolve” the Liberty’s propulsion problem.

Carnival canceled two Liberty cruises, the Oct. 31 and Nov. 5 departures, because of the technical issue, and it has modified the Nov. 10, 14, 19 and 26 departures.

For the four- and five-day cruises, Carnival is canceling calls at Progreso, Mexico. During the seven-day cruise departing Nov. 19, calls in Grand Cayman and Falmouth, Jamaica, have been scrubbed. All of the modified cruises’ departure and return times have been adjusted.

Guests sailing on these voyages will receive a $50-per-person credit to their shipboard accounts and a 25% discount on a future Carnival cruise. Guests also have the option of canceling and receiving a full refund.

To allow sufficient time for the Valor to reposition to Galveston, the ship’s four-day cruise departing Port Canaveral on Dec. 11 will be shortened to three days. Guests sailing on this voyage will receive a one-day, prorated refund of their cruise fare and a $25 per-person credit to their shipboard account. Guests also have the option of canceling and receiving a full refund.

Carnival will automatically transfer reservations for guests on the Liberty to the Valor and vice versa. Carnival noted that the Valor and Liberty are sister ships with similar accommodations and public venues, including Guy’s Burger Joint, the BlueIguana Cantina, the RedFrog Rum Bar and the BlueIguana Tequila Bar.