Longer cruises from Galveston?

[Peaseblossom36]

Do they only do the longer cruises from Galveston during Spring Break and Christmas time? That's what is looks like but wasn't sure if scheduling was still kind of abnormal?

 

[Lillebelle]

I am not an expert on this but it seems like what they do from year to year is a bit all over the place in general (outside of the standard Florida itineraries). For instance, this year there were San Diego cruises in both the spring and the fall, but in 2024 there's nothing out of San Diego in the fall at all. So, what you see is probably correct for the current year, but who knows what the following year might look like.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

There were more longer (7-night) sailings out of Galveston a few years ago - around 2016 and 2017. I don't think they sold particularly well. Factors likely included Galveston being a new market for DCL and people local to the area not wanting to spend the vacation time or money to take a long cruise for their first time, and Galveston not being a huge draw for experienced DCL families. (People seem to strongly prefer cruising out of Port Canaveral over anywhere else due to the proximity to WDW.)

I think that since those early years in Galveston, Disney has switched to mostly much shorter sailings, and very few if any of them go to Castaway Cay.

We did the 7-night Bahamas itinerary from Galveston in mid-December 2017 and it was great! I'd love to see that itinerary come back, but I don't think Disney was able to price it high enough for their liking.

 

[Peaseblossom36]

There were more longer (7-night) sailings out of Galveston a few years ago - around 2016 and 2017. I don't think they sold particularly well. Factors likely included Galveston being a new market for DCL and people local to the area not wanting to spend the vacation time or money to take a long cruise for their first time, and Galveston not being a huge draw for experienced DCL families. (People seem to strongly prefer cruising out of Port Canaveral over anywhere else due to the proximity to WDW.)

I think that since those early years in Galveston, Disney has switched to mostly much shorter sailings, and very few if any of them go to Castaway Cay.

We did the 7-night Bahamas itinerary from Galveston in mid-December 2017 and it was great! I'd love to see that itinerary come back, but I don't think Disney was able to price it high enough for their liking.

I thought I had remembered there being more options! That’s the itinerary I was hoping to see.

We did WDW this year so not really wanting to do a land and sea, so I’d rather not go all the way to Florida. I also have zero interest in the newer ships at this point and we had to cancel a sailing on the Magic so Galveston would have been great. Fingers crossed for something whenever they release new dates!

 

[llachance]

My favorite cruise out of Galveston was one that went to Key West and WDW. A one day park hopper was included in the price and we managed to hit all of them for a limited amount of time. Busses left Port Canaveral around 8:00 am and the last bus came back to the ship around midnight (as I recall). I would do that itinerary again in a second. Unfortunately limited to the 4 day this next year and will spend a couple of days in Galveston to complete the week (we live in the DFW area).

 

[BrandyMcD]

I agree with others that for whatever reason, they seem to have shifted to shorter cruises out of Galveston in recent years. In 2017 we did a 7-day NYE cruise to Nassau, Key West, and Castaway Cay that was awesome (although there were rough seas coming back). Now they hardly ever go to CC from Galveston, and that is really disappointing for us.

 

[dcassetta]

We sailed a Key West itinerary from Galveston also. I would guess that with Key West limiting ships, Disney does not see a 7-night with stops in CC and Nassau as marketable. But, perhaps if they did that with an additional stop at Lighthouse Point it would get more people to Galveston.

 

[BrandyMcD]

But, perhaps if they did that with an additional stop at Lighthouse Point it would get more people to Galveston.

Oohhh, from your mouth to the mouse's ears. I would love that!

 

[holula]

We sailed a Key West itinerary from Galveston also. I would guess that with Key West limiting ships, Disney does not see a 7-night with stops in CC and Nassau as marketable. But, perhaps if they did that with an additional stop at Lighthouse Point it would get more people to Galveston.

This is what I was thinking too, I just don’t think there are current enough ports to draw people as they no longer stop in KW.

Personally I’d go for the sea days on the cruise though!

 

[Peaseblossom36]

I agree with others that for whatever reason, they seem to have shifted to shorter cruises out of Galveston in recent years. In 2017 we did a 7-day NYE cruise to Nassau, Key West, and Castaway Cay that was awesome (although there were rough seas coming back). Now they hardly ever go to CC from Galveston, and that is really disappointing for us.

That would be great! We love sea days, honestly if we did one that just stopped in Mexico we wouldn't be getting off.