Galveston's Wave Season: Big cruise deals, new ships, and terminal upgrades
GALVESTON, Texas - It's Wave Season. If you're thinking of taking a cruise, big discounts are rolling in.
Plus, there is a tsunami of new ships and terminals coming to the Port of Galveston.
The Port has announced a $142 million overhaul of Terminal 16 and a new parking deck for MSC Cruises. MSC's ship Seaport, which will begin excursions from Galveston in 2025.
"As well as probably a couple of other cruise lines will make their home there. You know Norwegian has expressed a lot of interest in coming there. Princess is talking about expanding," said Roger Rees, CEO of the Port of Galveston.
Just two months ago, Carnival Cruise Lines replaced the Vista with the new and bigger Jubilee after a $50 million upgrade to Terminal 25. Plus, the Norwegian Prima began sailing from Galveston. And in late 2022, Royal Caribbean opened its $125 million solar-powered terminal.
"We increased our number of passengers by 42% in one year. We went from 1 million to almost 1.5 million passengers coming to Galveston," said Rees.
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Some cruise lines are offering deals up to 60% off this Wave Season.
"I was poking around and looking at Royal Caribbean this morning, and I saw that right now they're offering up to $600 off plus 60% off a second guest and kids are sailing free," said Julie Ramhold of DealNews. DealNews offers a roundup of cruise savings.
Norwegian's website says it is offering some cruises at 50% off, plus free unlimited open bar, wifi, and excursion credits.
Other ways to save on cruises are to be flexible on dates and cruise lines, and to pre-pay gratuities, drink packages, or excursions.
"If you're planning to do anything off the boat when there's a docking, it's worth seeing if there's a special discount on particular excursions that you might be interested in, or if you can get a group discount," said Ramhold.
The Port of Galveston parking also offers a discount for pre-paid parking reservations.
Carnival announced that singer Gwen Stefani will be honored as the godmother of the Jubilee in Galveston on Saturday, February 24. It's a private event, but it will be streamed on Carnival's Facebook page at 3:30 p.m.