Disney Cruise Line Makes a Major Move for Galveston, Texas
The Port of Galveston/Galveston Wharves has enjoyed the seasonal presence of a Disney Cruise Line ship for more than a decade, but will soon welcome one of the line’s ships on a year-round basis.
Currently, the 2,700-guest Disney Magic homeports at Galveston from November to April, sailing Western Caribbean cruises from the popular and growing Gulf Coast port.
In previous years, the 2,400-guest Disney Wonder was sometimes deployed seasonally to the Texas port instead of Disney Magic.
However, Disney Cruise Line has bigger plans in the works for Galveston Wharves starting in 2027, according to the port’s top official.
“Disney is expanding to full-time here in Galveston starting in 2027 [with] a bigger ship. That will tell you there’s a lot of interest in families,” Rodger Rees, port director and CEO, recently told the Galveston City Council.
The news was revealed during a joint meeting of the city council and the Galveston Wharves board of trustees on May 21, 2025.
Both Disney Magic and Disney Wonder are the cruise line’s smallest ships. The statement from Rees indicates that a larger ship, such as Disney Wish, Disney Dream, or Disney Fantasy, perhaps, will be deployed for year-round sailings. All three accommodate 4,000 guests.
Any of those ships would put the line’s capacity at Galveston closer to that of competitor lines such as Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean, both of which homeport larger ships at the Texas facility on a year-round basis.
Royal Caribbean, for example, deploys the 5,400-guest Harmony of the Seas and the 3,400-guest Mariner of the Seas at Galveston, while Carnival bases its Carnival Jubilee, accommodating 5,300 guests, and the 3,600-guest Carnival Dream at the port.
Disney Cruise Line has not officially confirmed a change in deployment to Galveston. Currently, Disney Magic is due to arrive at the port in November 2025 and remain there until April 2026, when she repositions to Vancouver, British Columbia, for a series of seasonal Alaska voyages.
The Port of Galveston is the fourth-busiest cruise port in North America, and in 2024 welcomed 3.4 million cruise arrivals. The facility is growing at a fast pace and in November 2025 will open Cruise Terminal 16, its fourth.
The new $156 million terminal is being built at Pier 16, a 160,000-square-foot space that formerly held cargo operations. The terminal will include a seven-story parking garage and serve as the new homeport for MSC Cruises’ MSC Seascape.
The terminal also will serve ships in the cruise brands owned by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.
Galveston to Mark 200th Anniversary in 2025
The joint meeting between Galveston Wharves and the city council addressed other issues besides the change in Disney Cruise Line’s capacity.
Port and city officials reviewed the port’s updated master plan and discussed the upcoming celebration of the port’s 200th anniversary.
The celebration was launched on May 22, 2025 as the port marked National Maritime Day with free public events such as vessel tours, information booths, and a special ceremony.
Other events are planned as part of the anniversary. On October 17, 2025, Galveston will host a Party on the Pier, a free public event presented by Royal Caribbean and featuring live music and a drone show at Pier 21.
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The next day, Carnival Cruise Line will sponsor a gala dinner at the Galveston Island Convention Center. Also in October, a book focused on the history of the port will be released.
The Port of Galveston was created as a provisional port and customs entry point by a proclamation issued by the Congress of Mexico on October 17, 1825, when the land known today as Texas still belonged to Mexico. The port has operated as the Galveston Wharves since 1940, when it became a city entity.