It's official: Another major cruise line is starting sailings from Galveston, Texas

11.01.2024 - 22:47 / thepointsguy.com / Royal Caribbean

Get ready for a major new option when it comes to cruises from Galveston, Texas.

Fast-growing MSC Cruises announced Thursday that its long-awaited expansion into the middle part of America would kick off in late 2025 with its first sailings from the port town — a move that would put it head-to-head with such established players in the Texas cruise market as Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Line.

The world's third-largest cruise brand said it would move a single ship, the 4,560-passenger MSC Seascape, from Miami to Galveston in November 2025 to operate seven-night voyages to the Western Caribbean.

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It'll be the first time the 22-ship brand has sailed from any U.S. cruise port west of the Mississippi River.

The new sailings will open for bookings Thursday.

The announcement marks a significant milestone for MSC Cruises, a Europe-based brand that, until now, has only offered sailings in North America from the East Coast — specifically, from the ports of Miami; Port Canaveral, Florida; and New York City.

"Expanding to Galveston with the magnificent MSC Seascape is a pivotal moment for us at MSC Cruises and for our guests," Rubén Rodríguez, MSC Cruises USA president, said in a statement accompanying the announcement.

The expansion "makes our unique cruise experience more accessible to travelers in the central and western parts of the country and it illustrates our commitment to providing families in the region with unparalleled vacation options," Rodríguez said.

MSC Cruises USA is the U.S. division of MSC Cruises, which is based in Switzerland.

The new MSC Cruises itineraries out of Galveston will bring calls at Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico, and Roatan, Honduras.

MSC Cruises is adding the sailings out of Galveston amid a boom in cruising from the port. A record 1.3 million people took cruises from Galveston in 2023, up 25% from the year before, according to the port. Even higher numbers are expected for 2024.

The boom is taking place as cruise lines add new and bigger ships to Galveston, which is the fourth-busiest cruise port in the U.S. after PortMiami, Port Canaveral and Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades.

Thursday's deployment announcement from MSC Cruises comes just over a year after Princess Cruises added its first sailings out of Galveston in years, and Carnival revealed plans for a major expansion of Galveston cruises to kick off later this year.

Carnival's expansion will bring "Texas-size" long voyages of nine to 12 nights out of the port on the 2,124-passenger Carnival Miracle as the line broadens its Texas deployment from three to four ships. Carnival also just deployed its newest and biggest ship, the