GALVESTON — The Port of Galveston recently completed improvements at Cruise Terminal No. 1 in anticipation of Carnival Cruise Line’s newest and biggest ship.
The Carnival Vista, a 1,055-foot vessel, will arrive in September, complete with it’s own SkyRide and IMAX theater. It's replacing the Carnival Breeze.
Crews over the summer completed a $2.9 million project at the Port of Galveston to accommodate its arrival.
“When I think about the Vista coming in, it’s the first stage of the expansion of the cruise business in Galveston,” Director Rodger Rees said. “Coupled with the Oasis-class ship coming in, it shows the market can sustain the passenger counts we need and it will allow the port to really start looking forward.”
PHOTOS: The Carnival Vista
Carnival Vista, which debuted in Miami in 2017, has room for about 4,000 passengers.
It's 50 feet longer than the Breeze, so the port had to make some room.
“We had to expand the upper floor, luckily we can use the same gangway we had before," Rees said.
The port also added an extra entrance to their terminal and a longer dock, just to fit the sheer size of the ship.
The ship will offer two seven-day Caribbean trips, departing each Sunday. The first includes calls at Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. The other trip includes stops at Mahogany Bay, Belize and Cozumel.
The port is hoping this new ship helps sets them up to welcome more cruise lines in the future.
“We’re fourth in the United States, and 12th in the world, and growing. We have another cruise terminal on the horizon," Rees said.