More cruise ships, please.
The city of Galveston, Texas, is proceeding with a plan to secure a $160 million bond to build a new cruise terminal.
It hopes to lure a fourth cruise line to the port. It is already in conversations with MSC to have the MSC Seascape homeport in Galveston. The ship can accommodate more than 5,600 passengers. It has 20 depths. After processing 1.5 million cruise passengers last year, Galveston is the fourth-largest port in the country.
In addition, city officials estimate that cruise passengers accounted for $1.3 billion
last year in shoulder spending away from the ships.
It is confident it can secure the bond.
“Last time we did this we did a $50 million bond offering and we had $250 million in orders,” Rodger Rees, Galveston Wharves port director and CEO, said. “We had five times as many buyers as we did papers, meaning the bonds.”
Clearly, it is growing. Later this year, the port will have a groundbreaking ceremony to convert the Del Monte Fresh Produce Co.’s building into a 165,000 square-foot cruise terminal.
After listening to presentations, a vote on the bond will come this week.
Carnival has already announced a slate of ships scheduled to sail from Galveston in 2025-26.
