When Carnival Cruise Line moves the Carnival Freedom to Galveston in 2015, it will mark the first time a cruise line will have 3 cruise ships sailing year round from Texas. The cruise line will carry more than 600,000 cruise passengers a year from the Texan port.
The Freedom will head to Galveston after the cruise ship goes into drydock and has the Funship 2.0 upgrades added to the ship. The Fun Ship 2.0 upgrades include Guy’s Burger Joint, The Punchliner Comedy Club presented by George Lopez, EA Sports Bar, Blue Iguana Cantina, and the RedFrog Pub.
The Freedom will join the Carnival Magic and the Carnival Triumph, two ships that currently sail out of Galveston, Texas. The Magic sails 7 night cruises to the Caribbean and the Triumph sails 4 and 5 night cruises to Mexico.
The first voyage for the Carnival Freedom out of Galveston will be on February 21, 2015 when the ship departs on a 6 night cruise to Costa Maya, Mexico; Belize; and Cozumel, Mexico. The ship will then sail 7 night cruises on 3 different itineraries that will stop in ports in the Caribbean, Bahamas, Florida, and Mexico.
- Eastern Caribbean: Key West, Florida; Freeport, Bahamas; Nassau, Bahamas
- Western Caribbean: Montego Bay, Jamaica; George Town, Grand Cayman; Cozumel, Mexico
- Exotic Western Caribbean: Cozumel, Mexico; Belize; Mahogany Bay, Roatan
There will be a series of shorter 4 and 5 night cruises in the fall of 2015 and in early 2016 that will visit Cozumel and Progreso, Mexico. These shorter itineraries along with the 3 different week long sailings will provide great options for passengers wishing to sail out of Galveston.
Gerry Cahill, Carnival’s president and CEO, released the following statement:
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. 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.
The Carnival Conquest will move from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale on January 18, 2015 and take over the 6 and 8 night itineraries that the Carnival Freedom is currently sailing.
