Galveston Steve

Harmony of the Seas from Galveston. Booked! Booked! And booked!

Here's a Cruise Terminal 10 update from yesterday's Port of Galveston Wharves Board meeting: Steel erection is going well and the next big step will be to lift the concrete tilt-up walls into place Royal Caribbean's portion of the project is on schedule and the new terminal is planned to be complete in early October (Allure arrives Nov 13) Parking lot construction will support the timing of the new terminal completion, but final completion of all aspects of parking and landscaping will be in early 2023 Road improvements are underway to support new traffic patterns and better traffic flow which will take some of the traffic off of Harborside Drive This is a complex project that involves coordination with Port of Galveston, Royal Caribbean, City of Galveston, University of Texas Medical Branch, various utility companies, US Army Corps of Engineers, other port tenants and many others. This coordination and cooperation seems to be going very well. Here is an aerial view of the new Cruise Terminal 10 construction site showing new building steel being erected (center-right), concrete tilt walls being formed flat on the ground (far right and other areas around the building), new piles being installed at Pier 10 to increase longevity and increase pier strength for larger ships. Below is a drawing of the new parking lot adjacent to the new Cruise Terminal 10. This is the "North Lot". There will also be a "South Lot" plus another lot at the Pier 14 area. The Port is also working to secure additional parking in the vicinity. This drone shot shows the activity to repair some of the deterioration on Pier 10 where Allure of the Seas will dock starting in November 2022. New piles are also being driven to support the larger ships and to replace deteriorated piles.

Also, if you happen to have "traditional" Medicare, it does not cover any costs incurred outside the USA. Many Medicare Advantage plans will reimburse costs outside the country as "out of network", but you still have the pitfalls/risks expressed by others above. At best, you would likely have to pay out of pocket (will they accept a credit card???) and then submit bills for reimbursement back home.

Oh, I think you will be able to book and reserve online since that lot will be owned and operated by Port of Galveston. They allow booking online for all of their other lots at https://www.portofgalveston.com/91/Cruise-Parking--General-Information

Thanks for that update. I've deleted the pricing in my original post because its hard to keep that information updated.

I would love to see Celebrity sail from Galveston, but sadly I have no rumors or insight to offer. Celebrity Millennium was in Galveston in May of last year to get her crew vaccinated. That was kind of exciting to see. And Celebrity Galaxy home ported in Galveston in the early 2000's.

The parking lot adjacent to the terminal will be owned and operated by the Port of Galveston. It is currently designed for 1,148 spaces. You have a good question with Allure at 5,484 passengers (double occupancy) plus at least one other ship doing 4-5 night cruises. It seems to me that the private parking companies will have to play a role with parking shuttles between their lots and the terminal. The Port of Galveston is also considering other options to add parking, such as acquiring other property along Harborside Drive.

Icon was my hope since the timing aligns with its debut. I also love the 6/8 option ever since Carnival began doing that. It would make a lot of sense because there are only a certain number of ports on the western route that an Oasis Class ship can get in to. One thing for sure, with the new Cruise Terminal 10 in Galveston we’re going to have much better ship options now.

It will be Carnival’s newest ship and the first LNG powered ship to be based in Galveston.

Here are the Diamond+ letters from Liberty of the Seas this month:

We have often placed magnetic signs on our door, and enjoy seeing how others decorate their doors. Last week I observed an unrelated safety issue onboard that led me to review the Guest Conduct Policy in detail. I was surprised to see that placing items on doors or in corridors is prohibited by the Guest Conduct Policy. So in the interest of being completely accurate in this post: decorating your stateroom door without permission is technically prohibited, but is probably never enforced. This would also apply to those ducks that people like to hide around the ship. Quote from the Guest Conduct Policy: Inappropriate or abusive behavior is not permitted. This includes: uninvited physical contact, solicitation, harassment, vandalism, theft, violence, use of fake/false identification, underage drinking (see Alcohol section below), providing alcohol to those under the allowed age (see Alcohol section below), possession of illegal substances/items, placing materials (including signs, banners, decorations, etc.) anywhere on the exterior of the ship, placing materials anywhere on the interior of the ship (including stateroom doors, along corridors, etc.) without the express permission of ship management or which may be deemed by ship management as inappropriate, or any other illegal or offensive conduct.

Liberty of the Seas typically sails at 5:00 pm Central Time from Galveston.

Here are some photos of the new Galveston cruise terminal construction, taken this afternoon from Liberty of the Seas. It looks like things are moving along nicely!

No separate suite area right now, but you will generally walk right onto the ship after checking in unless you have to wait on a Covid test. Junior Suites and all suites can check in one hour before or after your check in window. If you’re in the first check in window of the day they won’t open the doors until closer to the actual start of the checkin window.

Not on Independence or Liberty. We’ve had neighbors on all 4 of our cruises.

2nd and 3rd to board! Give me Liberty! (of the Seas) IMG_8164.MOV

Yes, after spending $125 million, I expect all RCG operations to be at Pier 10. Other than the new 10 acre surface lot that the Port is building adjacent to Pier 10, the next closest parking at the moment will be at 18th and Harborside. This lot is operated by Port Parking. It is a "park and walk" lot and is actually one of my favorites. It is an indoor lot with plenty of electric vehicle chargers and is elevated about 4 feet above the street for flood protection. It will be interesting to see if any other private lots pop up to support the new Terminal 10.

Looks like you already got some quick answers! Good answers too. Yes, fly into HOU (Hobby).

Haha, that ship has been there several weeks. For reference it is 900' long. Allure of the Seas is 1,187' long. Allure is going to fill up that dock space!

New Cruise Terminal 10 status update... Royal Caribbean continues to install the 800 auger cast piles for the new terminal building (see attached aerial photo). As the pile work completes in the next few weeks, Royal will move to the next phase of construction which involves the tilt-up wall installation. That is when we will begin to see visible progress on the site. The Port of Galveston is now targeting completion of their work (parking, roads, utilities, landscaping) by early October, 2022 to support the November, 2022 opening of the the new terminal.

Well, well, well.... looks like Norwegian's newest ship will homeport in Galveston for the winter, arriving about a year after Royal Caribbean moves to their new cruise terminal! Update: NCL made this announcement while still in negotiations with the Port of Galveston and without informing the Port that they were going to make this announcement. Thanks to @BugsyCruiser for the tip on this news.

We just stumbled on it! We booked a Grand Suite for a great price!

Allure of the Seas now has a repositioning cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Galveston with an 8 night cruise stopping in Aruba and Curaçao! Sailing November 5, 2022.

I submitted using the online form for 2 recent cruises. I never had any kind of response. The credit showed up on the onboard account for one cruise but not for the other. I'll try the next one using the old form and see what happens.

Last week I cancelled two water packages on Independence by going to Guest Services and requesting the cancellation on Day 1. The water had already been delivered but they simply called the beverage department and they came and took away the unopened cases of water. No questions asked. They applied a refundable onboard credit to our onboard account. I believe excursions require 48 hours notice and specialty dinners technically require a 24 hour notice to cancel but they can be cancelled onboard.