Walk around Galveston for any length of time and you’ll peer into the past and the present. There’s the Tremont House, built in 1839 and now a modernized hotel. On Postoffice Street, you can tour the Victorian-era Grand 1894 Opera House, which still hosts shows and concerts. Under the arches of the Strand—called “The Wall Street of the South” in the island’s late-1800’s heyday—are restaurants and souvenir shops frequented by vacationers, day-trippers, and cruise passengers.
To visit this barrier island 50 miles southeast of Houston is to bear witness to the tenacity of Texans. Galveston has rebuilt and reinvented itself while embracing its history—even disasters like the Great Storm of 1900 that knocked this historic town off its perch as the South’s premier shipping port.
Today, the big ships are back in the deep-water port, catering not just to commercial ventures but also to vacationers. Galveston is the country’s fourth-busiest cruise port, bringing in a million passengers a year on lines like Carnival, Disney, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean.
Royal Caribbean is leading the way with its new cruise terminal on Pier 10. Opened in November 2022, the $126 million, 161,300-square-foot facility allows the port to serve some of the largest ships in the world, including Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class ships Allure of the Seas and Adventure of the Seas, with itineraries in the Caribbean. The high-tech terminal promises to simplify boarding and disembarkation with mobile check-in and facial recognition.
That leaves more time to explore this island that delights with a quiet Southern resort charm. You’ll find lots of reasons to linger and stay a few nights, including new and renovated hotels, top-rated restaurants, and many family-friendly leisure opportunities.