Margaritaville at Sea to Start Weekly Galveston Cruises in 2027

Margaritaville at Sea will begin weekly cruises from Galveston in October 2027 under an operating agreement unanimously approved by the Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees on August 25, 2026. Friday departures from Cruise Terminal 28 will serve destinations in the Caribbean and Central America.

The Texas program will be the cruise line’s first homeport operation outside Florida and will make Margaritaville at Sea the seventh cruise brand serving Galveston. The agreement guarantees the port at least 200,000 passenger movements during its initial term.

License sets passenger fees and traffic guarantees

The operating license runs from October 1, 2027, through October 31, 2028, with two five-year renewal options. Cruise Terminal 28 will be the primary facility, although the agreement also allows Margaritaville at Sea to use Cruise Terminal 25 at times.

At Terminal 28, the line will pay $18.61 per passenger movement in 2027 and $19.17 in 2028. The Terminal 25 charge is $20.17 per movement, while an additional city services wharfage fee will rise from 27 cents in 2027 to 28 cents in 2028. Annual increases during the renewal periods are capped at 3%.

The minimum passenger guarantee increases to 210,000 movements during the first five-year renewal and 220,000 during the second. Margaritaville at Sea has not published individual port calls, but said the itineraries will combine destinations new to the brand with ports already included in its programs.

“Galveston is an important and growing cruise gateway, and this agreement represents another significant step in the continued expansion of our brand,” Margaritaville at Sea Chief Executive Officer Christopher Ivy said.

Galveston ship remains undecided

The cruise line currently operates the 52,926-gross-ton Margaritaville at Sea Paradise from the Port of Palm Beach and the 85,619-gross-ton Margaritaville at Sea Islander from Port Tampa Bay. Paradise accommodates 1,680 passengers and Islander approximately 2,650 to 2,680 guests.

A third vessel, Margaritaville at Sea Beachcomber, is scheduled to start Caribbean cruises from PortMiami in January 2027. The 102,587-gross-ton former Costa Fortuna, built in 2003, has 1,358 passenger staterooms and is due to undergo a 12-week conversion at Harland & Wolff in Belfast.

Margaritaville at Sea has not identified which vessel will operate from Texas. It also has not connected the Galveston agreement to changes in the year-round Palm Beach and Tampa schedules or Beachcomber’s planned Miami deployment.

The brand began service in 2022 through a partnership between Margaritaville and the former Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line operation.

Port prepares for further cruise growth

Galveston forecasts 446 cruise sailings and a record 3.9 million passenger movements in 2026, placing it fourth among U.S. cruise ports by traffic. Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, Norwegian Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, MSC Cruises and Princess Cruises already sail from the port.

The port now operates four cruise terminals. Its newest facility, Terminal 16, opened in November 2025 and serves MSC Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line.

Galveston is separately discussing a fifth terminal with Royal Caribbean Group. The proposed Cruise Terminal 14 would be designed to accommodate Icon-class ships and approximately 2 million annual passenger movements. Under the proposed structure, the port would prepare the berth, pier and parking facilities, while Royal Caribbean would build the terminal.

No construction budget, schedule or completion date has been agreed for that project, and definitive agreements would not be required until December 31, 2027.

Margaritaville at Sea plans to identify its Galveston ship and release the first itinerary details at a special event at the port in September.