Galveston itineraries

[WalkersMom]

Does anyone know why the sailings have stopped going from Texas to the Bahamas and Castaway?

Galveston is extremely convenient for our family and we enjoy the smaller ships, but having Mexico so close to us it’s more desirable to fly than cruise.

Just trying to see if there was some insight. Anyone know the possibility of the Merry time cruises going back to the Bahamas for 2025?

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

We were disappointed when the Galveston cruises stopped going to Castaway. I'm no expert but it seems to me like it's not going to change either. The Dream, Wish, and Treasure will all be mostly based out of Florida now, and they can all take care of those Bahamas locations.

 

[sparrow10_]

The only cruise I saw that stops at Castaway and the new place is basically a one way cruise, so yes that sucks!

 

[JM_97]

Bahamian cruises from Galveston make it a 7 night and Disney is having the Magic do a lot of shorter cruises now for some reason. She used to do at least 5 nights but now I don't think she does anything longer than 7.

Not sure if it's because of her age or what, but just a trend I noticed.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

It seems like dcl just does this. They do a season of cruises out of Galveston and then they skip Galveston for a year or two. Frustrating.

 

[Cheburashka]

I'm really missing this, too. We're Texans and my son can't fly or do multi-day drives for medical reasons. I would love to take him back to Castaways Cay, but that isn't possible now due to the current lack of round trip Bahamian 7 night cruises out of Galveston.

 

[auntlynne]

Based on 2024, I am guessing a ship will be back in Galveston after the European season is finished. Skip Galveston sailings during Hurricane season. So, Merrytime cruises until Spring. But to the Bahamas? If they have enough business to keep doing 4- and 5-night cruises, they and the port can make more money.

 

[dcassetta]

I wonder if it has anything to do with not being able to stop in Key West. I know that many ships cannot stop there now, and I think DCL is one of them. So if they were to go to the Bahamas, that would be a seven day trip with a stop in Nassau and CC. I’m just not sure how they would sell that with so many sea days. I don’t know if it would be possible for them to do CC, Nassau, and then Jamaica or Grand Cayman.

 

[Cheburashka]

I wonder if it has anything to do with not being able to stop in Key West. I know that many ships cannot stop there now, and I think DCL is one of them. So if they were to go to the Bahamas, that would be a seven day trip with a stop in Nassau and CC. I’m just not sure how they would sell that with so many sea days. I don’t know if it would be possible for them to do CC, Nassau, and then Jamaica or Grand Cayman.

I think any round trip Castaway Cay cruise would sell better than the current round trip cruises they're selling with no Castaway Cay.

 

[CharlotteStreet]

We LOVE to cruise out of Galveston, but we've had enough Cozumel/Costa Maya cruises to repeat that experience. DCL, if you're lurking, it would be awesome if you would go back to Bahamas cruises from Galveston!

My guess is that the Bahamas cruises from Galveston require at least a week, and they make more money on the shorter cruises. The shorter cruises certainly cost more per day.

 

[CarolynFH]

I agree - we've done RCL and DCL cruises from Galveston, which is very convenient to our home, but I really don't want to go back to any of those ports (except maybe Progreso, in hopes that we'll finally be able to visit Mayan ruins). I wouldn't mind a 7 or 8 night cruise from there eastward, especially if it included Lookout Cay!

 

[apathetic]

I read they signed a deal with Progreso and have to sail there so many times. I think Galveston is the main departure to Progreso. I wish they still did the 7 day to Bahamas. They used to be pretty full. But a lot of cruises now seem to be under 7 days. Must be the new model. I'm with you, Galveston is close and convenient but the cruises are pretty dull.

 

[beaglefan]

I read they signed a deal with Progreso and have to sail there so many times. I think Galveston is the main departure to Progreso. I wish they still did the 7 day to Bahamas. They used to be pretty full. But a lot of cruises now seem to be under 7 days. Must be the new model. I'm with you, Galveston is close and convenient but the cruises are pretty dull.

Having just returned from the Magic with the one stop in Progreso, I would say not worth it at all. The beach was nice, and full of local families and pushy hawkers. The 'free' shuttle from the boat took over an hour each way with a heavy sales pitch for a tour when they drop you off.

We decided not to do the ruins as there have been some issues with safety/gangs causing itinerary changes, and quite a lot of time on the bus to get to the site of the ruins.

Bring back some other destinations from Galveston!

 

[dcassetta]

Having just returned from the Magic with the one stop in Progreso,

Did you sail on March 10? If so we were on the Regal Princess docked next to you in Galveston. I'll admit, it was a little hard to be on the Princess ship when I could see the Magic.

 

[beaglefan]

Did you sail on March 10? If so we were on the Regal Princess docked next to you in Galveston. I'll admit, it was a little hard to be on the Princess ship when I could see the Magic.

We just returned this morning, sailing departed Galveston on Mar 14 and we were the only ship in port.

The water was great, had fun in the waves, but that is about the only positive thing I have to say about Progreso.