Royal Caribbean’s 7,600-Passenger Mega Ship ...

One of many world’s largest cruise ships is formally headed to the Lone Star State. Royal Caribbean introduced that Icon of the Seas (technically tied with Star of the Seas by way of measurement) will rotate from Miami to Galveston, Texas, beginning in August 2027.

Galveston, Texas is on a roll proper now.  The cruise port is rising by leaps and bounds, signaling a powerful demand for cruising out of the Texas port.  And with this information, native residents have much more choices for cruising.

This deployment is a large strategic transfer. Introduced simply days after a competitor (MSC Cruises) debuted its new vessel in Texas, Royal Caribbean is making the transfer as nicely.   Many had been anticipating or a minimum of speculating this might occur, however now it’s official.

Royal Caribbean already has a pair Oasis-class vessels crusing out of the Texas port with Concord of the Seas there now, and Symphony of the Seas coming in Could 2026.   Attract of the Seas can even be coming to Galveston within the spring of 2026 for a handful of sailings.

Icon of the Seas would be the largest ship in port at 250,800 in gross tonnage and a most capability of seven,600 passengers (5,610 at double capability).  

Itineraries and Worth

Icon will sail from Galveston on cruises of both 6- or 8-nights in period.

Itinerary stops will embody well-liked Western Caribbean ports like Roatan and Cozumel. Itineraries can even function a cease at Royal Caribbean’s personal vacation spot, Excellent Day at CocoCay within the Bahamas.

The cruises can even name on the future Royal Seaside Membership Cozumel in Mexico, scheduled to debut in 2026.  The placement for this new personal vacation spot is an ideal match for cruising out of Texas, so it seems to be like this has been within the works for some time.

Port of Galveston

The Port of Galveston has been making ready for this transfer for some time now. The zero-energy Royal Caribbean terminal at Pier 10, which opened in November 2022, was particularly designed with the broader berth and lodging wanted to deal with Icon-class ships.  So, it’s not an enormous shock this transfer was introduced.

When the brand new terminal partnership was introduced, Royal Caribbean anticipated the ability would generate a $100 million financial impression and enhance visitor site visitors by 50% throughout the first 12 months of operation.

Given the premium value and measurement of Icon of the Seas, the precise financial profit generated for the Galveston space may very well be even increased.

To deal with the site visitors from 6,000 to 7,000+ passengers per crusing, town is updating its 20-12 months Strategic Grasp Plan with issues like including extra lanes at terminals and leveraging site visitors knowledge from Waze to handle congestion on cruise days.

Different Ships in Galveston

Simply final week MSC Cruises held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for his or her newly arrived ship on the model new 165,000 sq. foot Terminal 16.  MSC Seascape is a ship inbuilt 2022, and it’s at present providing 7-night, year-round voyages out of the port.

Earlier than this announcement from Royal Caribbean, the biggest ship crusing from Texas was Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Jubilee, which is a183,521 gross ton vessel and accommodates a most capability of 6,631 passengers.

By comparability, Icon of the Seas (almost 250,000 gross tons and seven,600 max company) is roughly 36% bigger and may carry 41% extra passengers than Carnival Jubilee.

Different ships at present crusing out of Galveston embody Concord of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas, Carnival Breeze, Carnival Legend, Carnival Dream, Regal Princess, and Disney Magic.

Norwegian Viva can be coming to the port at Terminal 16 in December 2025.