Key Aspects:
- The Port of Galveston has received more than $8 million in federal, state, and local grants.
- Funds will be used to improve traffic and pedestrian safety at the Gulf Coast facility.
- Several major cruise line sails from Galveston either year-round or seasonally.
Galveston Wharves, the fast-growing cruise port on the Texas Gulf Coast, has been awarded more than $8 million in grants that will help it move forward with ambitious development plans for the future.
The six grants, from state and federal funding sources, total $8.178 million and will be invested in a series of pedestrian and traffic safety projects. Many of them are outlined in the port’s existing 20-year Strategic Master Plan.
As a cruise port, Galveston has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. Major cruise lines, including MSC Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, and Princess Cruises, base ships there either year-round or on a seasonal basis.
Galveston Wharves is ideally positioned as a departure port for Western Caribbean voyages.
In 2026, the port is forecasting 2 million passengers, or 4 million passenger transits (embarkations and debarkations), will pass through the facility on almost 450 sailings. Galveston is currently North America’s fourth-busiest port in terms of cruise arrivals, behind the three Florida ports — Port Canaveral, PortMiami, and Port Everglades.
“Continuing to improve mobility is a top priority for the Galveston Wharves,” said Rodger Rees, Galveston Wharves port director and CEO.
“We’re using funding from these six grants to plan and implement improvements to make it safer and easier for people to move around the port and to access the waterfront,” added Rees.
With two-thirds of its passenger arrivals driving to the port, traffic flow, pedestrian safety issues, and sufficient parking are top of mind in the strategic plan. Cruise guests driving to and from the port use Harborside Drive, an overcrowded roadway that connects to Interstate 45, the only main highway to and from the port.
Two of the biggest grants come from state and local sources and will be managed by the Texas Department of Transportation. One, for $2.83 million, will finance a set of traffic controls, lighting and signage, and accessibility ramps at several intersections along Harborside Drive.
The other, for $3 million, will be used to fund feasibility studies to determine whether a flyover, or bridge, from Interstate 45 directly into Galveston Wharves would reduce congestion.
Smaller grants, including one for $408,000, will be spent on evaluating the installation of bicycle lanes and sidewalks, and other intersection upgrades inside the port and on nearby access roads.
Which Cruise Lines Sail From Galveston Wharves?
Along with its longterm strategic goals, Galveston Wharves has made substantial upgrades to its cruise terminals, sometimes in partnership with cruise lines.
It spent, for instance, $53 million to renovate Carnival Cruise Line’s Cruise Terminal 25 so that it could accommodate Carnival Jubilee’s 5,228 guests when that ship entered service and began homeporting in Galveston in 2023.
More recently, the $156 million Cruise Terminal 16 was completed, and now accommodates MSC Cruises’ MSC Seascape, the cruise line’s first deployment to Texas. Opened in November 2025, the terminal features a dedicated lounge for MSC Yacht Club guests and a spacious check-in area.
Norwegian Cruise Line also uses Terminal 16. Royal Caribbean operates from Terminal 10, while multiple other lines use Terminal 28.
Ships currently sailing winter cruises to the Caribbean include Carnival Jubilee, Carnival Breeze, and Carnival Legend, Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Viva, and Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Magic.
