One of the world’s largest cruise ships is officially headed to the Lone Star State. Royal Caribbean announced that Icon of the Seas (technically tied with Star of the Seas in terms of size) will rotate from Miami to Galveston, Texas, starting in August 2027.
Galveston, Texas is on a roll right now. The cruise port is growing by leaps and bounds, signaling a strong demand for cruising out of the Texas port. And with this news, local residents have even more options for cruising.
This deployment is a massive strategic move. Announced just days after a competitor (MSC Cruises) debuted its new vessel in Texas, Royal Caribbean is making the move as well. Many had been anticipating or at least speculating this would happen, but now it’s official.
Royal Caribbean already has a couple Oasis-class vessels sailing out of the Texas port with Harmony of the Seas there now, and Symphony of the Seas coming in May 2026. Allure of the Seas will also be coming to Galveston in the spring of 2026 for a handful of sailings.
Icon of the Seas will be the largest ship in port at 250,800 in gross tonnage and a maximum capacity of 7,600 passengers (5,610 at double capacity).
Itineraries and Price
Icon will sail from Galveston on cruises of either 6- or 8-nights in duration.
Itinerary stops will include popular Western Caribbean ports like Roatan and Cozumel. Itineraries will also feature a stop at Royal Caribbean’s private destination, Perfect Day at CocoCay in the Bahamas.
The cruises will also call at the future Royal Beach Club Cozumel in Mexico, scheduled to debut in 2026. The location for this new private destination is a perfect fit for cruising out of Texas, so it looks like this has been in the works for a while.
Port of Galveston
The Port of Galveston has been preparing for this move for a while now. The zero-energy Royal Caribbean terminal at Pier 10, which opened in November 2022, was specifically designed with the wider berth and accommodations needed to handle Icon-class ships. So, it’s not a huge surprise this move was announced.
When the new terminal partnership was announced, Royal Caribbean anticipated the facility would generate a $100 million economic impact and increase guest traffic by 50% within the first year of operation.
Given the premium price and size of Icon of the Seas, the actual economic benefit generated for the Galveston area could be even higher.
To handle the traffic from 6,000 to 7,000+ passengers per sailing, the city is updating its 20-Year Strategic Master Plan with things like adding more lanes at terminals and leveraging traffic data from Waze to manage congestion on cruise days.
Other Ships in Galveston
Just last week MSC Cruises held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for their newly arrived ship at the brand new 165,000 square foot Terminal 16. MSC Seascape is a ship built in 2022, and it is currently offering 7-night, year-round voyages out of the port.
Before this announcement from Royal Caribbean, the largest ship sailing from Texas was Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Jubilee, which is a183,521 gross ton vessel and accommodates a maximum capacity of 6,631 passengers.
By comparison, Icon of the Seas (nearly 250,000 gross tons and 7,600 max guests) is approximately 36% larger and can carry 41% more passengers than Carnival Jubilee.
Other ships currently sailing out of Galveston include Harmony of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas, Carnival Breeze, Carnival Legend, Carnival Dream, Regal Princess, and Disney Magic.
Norwegian Viva is also coming to the port at Terminal 16 in December 2025.
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