Port of Galveston Considering Port Upgrades & A New Terminal

The Port of Galveston is quickly becoming a very popular departure ports for many cruise ships and passengers. Currently, she is home to both the Carnival Magic and Carnival Triumph. Later this year, Galveston will also be a homeport for the Disney Magic, Crown Princess, and the Mariner of the Seas. With all of these new ships sailing into the port, Galveston is now considering to sink some serious money into their port.

With all of these new arrivals, the Port of Galveston is considering spending $12 million dollars to put towards terminal renovations and possibly a new terminal. Later this year, the port will host three cruise ships at once on nine separate days. The Port of Galveston currently only has two cruise terminals. So as a temporary solution, the port has decided tos et up a large tent that passengers will be processed through. This “tent” is very similar to the one found at Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, Italy. The port is considering building a third terminal, but the only problem is getting those cruise ships to commit to long-term deals.

The third terminal is a great idea, but there is one problem with the plan. Roland Bassett, chairman of the Wharves Board of Trustees recently said, “The ships are not willing to make long-term commitments, which is a problem…It’s a problem in Fort Lauderdale, New York, Tampa Bay or wherever you look. They’ll commit for the next year or two, but that’s it.” If the port can’t get cruise lines to commit, then there would be no point in building a third terminal, it would be a huge financial loss. So currently, the port will go forward with the plan to upgrade the docks, but at the moment, the new terminal hangs in limbo until deals can be reached guaranteeing the port’s future as a homeport.

The Port of Galveston will host around 1.1 million cruise passengers by the end of this year. This huge increase from 2010 (700,000) obviously shows that Galveston is a feasible homeport for cruise ships and that cruise lines are willing to place their larger ships there. From here on out, it seems that the Port of Galveston has only one direction to sail, forward.

Have you cruised out of Galveston? What did you think about the port? Let me know in the comment section below.

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Header image: Wikipedia

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