Cruise: Galveston, Panama Canal
Galveston Celebrates 15 Years of Cruise Business
September 30 marked the 15th anniversary of year-round cruising at the Port of Galveston. It began September 30, 2000, with the sailing of Carnival Lines’ Celebration from the port’s newly rededicated Texas Cruise Ship Terminal on Pelican Island (Advisory, November 6, 2000). Since then, Galveston has hosted 18 cruise ships, 2643 cruise ship calls and more than 7.0 million cruise passengers.
The port has invested more than $85 million in its cruise facilities since 2000 and is contemplate improvements that would enable it to accommodate three cruise ship sailings on the same day.
"Today we celebrate the positive impact the cruise industry has had on our community. It is important that we recognize that not only is this business great for Galveston, but also for the entire state of Texas," said Galveston Port Director Mike Mierzwa. "The port is dedicated to continuing to make improvements that will keep Galveston a top notch cruise port and keep the cruise business thriving for another successful 15 years."
In the near future, Carnival Cruise Line this April will be repositioning Carnival Breeze to replace Carnival Magic and Carnival Liberty to replace Carnival Triumph at the Texas port. They will join Carnival Freedom, which arrived last February, making Galveston homeport to three Carnival vessels and additional Caribbean cruise itineraries.
Disney Cruise Line will return to Galveston for the holiday season in 2015. From November 6 through January 2016, Disney Wonder will sail seven-night itineraries to the Bahamas, stopping in Key West, Nassau, and Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay.
Royal Caribbean will beef up its Galveston operation in November by replacing the 3,114-passenger capacity Navigator of the Seas with the 3,634-passenger Liberty of the Seas. With a length of 1,112 feet, Liberty of the Seas will be the largest cruise ship sailing from Galveston. It will offer seven-night Western Caribbean cruises, calling Isla Roatán (Honduras), Belize City (Belize), Cozumel (Mexico), Falmouth (Jamaica), Grand Cayman (Cayman Islands), Montego Bay (Jamaica), and Costa Maya (Mexico).
Galveston embarked approximately 640,000 passengers in 2014 and is expecting more than 824,000 in 2015, an approximately 28 percent increase.
With more than $1.2 billion in direct spending and almost 20,000 jobs paying nearly $1.1 billion in total income, cruise related spending, Texas in 2013 accounted for 6.3 percent of the cruise industry’s direct expenditures, and 5.6 percent of the industry' overall spending nationwide, according to an economic study sponsored by Cruise Lines International Association.
Cruise ship lineup on a busy day at the Port of Galveston – from left, Carnival Triumph, Carnival Magic and RCI Navigator of the Seas.
Photo/Port of Galveston
Panama Canal 2015-2016 Cruise Season Begins
The Panama Canal cruise ship season 2015-2016 officially began October 3 with the transit of Costa Luminosa, on a voyage from Italy around the world.
"Approximately 220 cruise ships are expected to transit through the Panama Canal during this season that spans from October 2015 to April 2016," said Albano G. Aguilar, an international trade specialist with the Panama Canal Authority. "The number of cruise ships transiting through the waterway is similar to past seasons."
Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruise Line and Norwegian Cruise Line will each offer itineraries of 10 or more days that include Panama Canal transits.
Smaller cruise ships will also transit through the waterway, including the National Geographic Sea Lion and Star Breeze, with shorter seven- and eight-day itineraries, respectively, along the west coast of Central America.
During this season, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises and Holland America Line will have ships offering new itineraries through the canal. Hapag-Lloyd's Pearl Mist will transit on January 16 and Holland America Line's Nieuw Amsterdam on April 14, 2016.
Celebrity Infinity transiting the Panama Canal in April 2015.
Photo/Panama Canal Authority