Carnival to Add Third Year-Round Ship in Galveston
Carnival Cruise Lines – Texas’ number one cruise line – will add a third year-round ship in Galveston when Carnival Freedom launches a seven-day cruise schedule in February 2015, marking the first time that a cruise line has deployed three year-round ships in Texas.
Carnival’s repositioning of Carnival Freedom represents a 38% capacity increase for the line in Galveston, carrying more than 600,000 guests a year from that port.
Prior to its arrival in Galveston, Carnival Freedom will undergo a previously announced makeover that will add an array of innovative new features that are part of the line’s fleetwide Fun Ship 2.0 product enhancement initiative.
Freedom will join Carnival Magic, which offers seven-day Caribbean cruises, and Carnival Triumph sailing four- and five-day departures to Mexico. Together, these three ships will operate nearly 200 four- to seven-day voyages annually from Galveston.
“Galveston is already one of our most popular embarkation ports and with Carnival Freedom we’re not only dramatically expanding capacity in the market, but also providing consumers with yet another exciting opportunity to experience our spectacular Fun Ship 2.0 innovations on a Texas-based ship,” said Gerry Cahill, Carnival president and CEO. “In partnership with the Port of Galveston and the local community we have been able to increase our passenger counts five-fold since we first launched service from Galveston in 2000. Additionally, we are extremely grateful for the support of our travel agent partners who have played a key role in the growth of our Texas cruise program.”
Carnival Freedom will kick off its new schedule from Galveston with a special six-day Caribbean voyage to Costa Maya, Mexico; Belize; and Cozumel departing Feb. 15, 2015.
Following the six-day voyage, Freedom will launch year-round seven-day departures from Galveston Feb. 21, 2015, encompassing three different itinerary choices that visit ports throughout Mexico, the Caribbean, Bahamas and Florida.
The week-long itineraries from Galveston include: Exotic western Caribbean voyages departing Saturdays to Cozumel, Belize and Mahogany Bay, Roatan; Western Caribbean voyages departing Saturdays with stops at Montego Bay, Jamaica, George Town, Grand Cayman and Cozumel; Eastern Caribbean sailings departing Saturdays visiting Key West, Fla., nd Freeport and Nassau, The Bahamas.
Freedom will also offer a series of four- and five-day cruises from Oct. 24 through Nov. 21, 2015; and Jan. 16, 2016 through Feb. 13, 2016. Four-day cruises visit Cozumel, while five-day cruises call at Cozumel and Progreso, Mexico.
Reservations are currently being accepted for Carnival Freedom’s new Galveston-based program.
