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Galveston, Texas
The fourth-busiest cruise port in North America, with four terminals, 8,800 parking spaces, and a fog problem it will text you about.
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| Operator | Galveston Wharves, trading as the Port of Galveston, a self-sustaining city entity. 123 Rosenberg Street, Galveston, TX 77550. |
|---|---|
| Parking questions | [email protected], 409-766-6163, 8am to 5pm daily |
| Scale | Four terminals, 715,000 square feet, 3.6 million passenger movements across 416 sailings in 2025 |
| Port parking | Over 8,800 port-operated spaces. Rates are quoted only in the reservation engine. |
| Sailing time to open water | 45 minutes |
The four terminals
| Terminal 10 | 1402 Harborside Drive. Royal Caribbean, plus MSC and Norwegian. Published as the first Net-Zero Energy cruise terminal in the world and the first LEED Gold-certified terminal in Texas, built for Oasis-class ships. |
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| Terminal 16 | 1602 Harborside Drive. Opened 7 November 2025, a $156 million, 165,000 square foot terminal with its own $55 million garage and two custom boarding bridges, built to homeport MSC and Norwegian. |
| Terminal 25 | 2502 Harborside Drive. Carnival, with Disney and Princess on select sailings. |
| Terminal 28 | 2702 Harborside Drive. Disney Cruise Line. |
Parking at the port
Galveston has the widest choice of any Gulf port, and the port publishes the inventory in detail even though it will not publish the prices.
| For Terminals 25 and 28 | Express Lot, 680 spaces, uncovered, park and walk · SMP Garage, 400 spaces, six levels, covered, park and walk, 6'8" clearance · Economy Lot A, 850 spaces, uncovered, free shuttle · Economy Lot B, 1,250 spaces, uncovered, free shuttle |
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| For Terminal 10 | North Premium Lot, 100 spaces, solar-covered, closest · North Lot, 550 spaces, uncovered, steps away · South Lot, 660 spaces, uncovered, free shuttle · Pier 10 and Pier 12 Lots, uncovered, short walk |
| For Terminal 16 | Terminal 16 Garage, covered, steps away, 6'8" clearance · VIP Indoor Garage, covered, closest · VIP Lot, uncovered, park and walk · Lot 1 and Lot 2, uncovered, short walk |
Rates. The port publishes no rate card at all. Prices appear only after you enter a sail date in the port's reservation engine, and they vary by lot and by availability. The only figures anywhere on the official site are on a marketing page that calls parking "around $25 for each full day" while also mentioning weekly parking "around $50," two numbers that cannot both be right. Book through the engine and read the total before you confirm.
Credit cards only, no cash. Reservations are recommended but walk-up is accepted if spaces remain. The port runs monthly promo codes through its Facebook page and a loyalty rewards programme. Shuttles, where a lot has one, run about every five to seven minutes.
RVs and long vehicles: accommodated in the economy lots, but depending on length you may have to buy two spaces. A standard space is 9 feet by 19 feet. Email [email protected] first.
Accessible parking
ADA spaces are available in every lot, and the port is clear about the catch: they are first-come, first-served and cannot be reserved in advance. The port also publishes that its shuttles include ADA-equipped vehicles for wheelchair and scooter transport, which is a real and unusual provision.
Parking off the port
Galveston is the one departure port where private operators publish genuine prices.
| Galveston Park N Cruise | 2514 New Strand St. The clearest price list in town: gated outdoor $80 for 4 days, $100 for 5, $120 for 6, $140 for 7, $160 for 8, $200 for 10, $280 for 14. Indoor secured runs $100, $125, $150, $175, $200, $250 and $350 for the same durations. Drive-up welcome, prepay recommended. No shuttle or accessibility detail published. |
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| EZ Cruise Parking | 2727 Santa Fe Place, two blocks from the terminal. Both lots elevated three and a half feet above street level, with a 10-foot enclosed covered area. Shuttle 9am to 2pm, last departure 2:30pm, luggage carried. They publish ADA handicap accessible buses and parking, the only Galveston lot that does. Cash and all major cards. Rates only in their booking system. |
| Lighthouse Parking | Publishes rates plainly: open-air $11 a day, covered $14, elevated covered $18. Free round-trip shuttle every 30 minutes or when full, five to ten minutes, with luggage help. They do not publish a street address, saying it comes in your booking confirmation. Their own two pages also disagree on hours: the rates page says drop-off 9am to 2pm with the last shuttle at 2:30pm, the FAQ says the facility is open 7am to 5:30pm on ship days. |
| Discount Cruise Parking | 433 33rd St. Uncovered, elevated to Galveston flood codes, fenced and gated, cameras, daily attendant who helps with luggage. Free shuttle roughly every 12 to 15 minutes with staff stationed at the terminals between runs. No rate published on the site, and no accessibility detail. |
Getting there
The port publishes five different distance figures across its own pages, which tells you how little to rely on any of them. Its news page gives Hobby at 40 miles and about an hour, and Bush Intercontinental at 70 miles and about an hour and a half. Another page says Hobby is 41 miles. Another says Galveston is 88 miles south of Houston. The brochure just says "2 major international airports within 1.5 hours." Plan for an hour from Hobby and 90 minutes from Bush and you will not be caught out.
No airport shuttle operator is named by the port or by Visit Galveston, and no shuttle fare is published anywhere official.
Arriving
Parking facilities open at 9am on most sailing days. You can drop your luggage at the terminal before you park, and the port offers luggage assistance at terminal entry and exit. For GPS, the port says to enter "22nd Street and Harborside Drive." Follow whatever arrival slot your cruise line assigned; the port publishes no terminal opening time and no all-aboard time of its own.
Fog, and the free text alert nobody signs up for
Galveston fogs in. Ships miss the tide, arrive late, and embarkation slides by hours. The port publishes no fog policy document, but it does run a free SMS alert service and it names fog specifically: text "POGNotices" to 409-978-8030 for alerts covering severe weather, fog delays, Coast Guard port status changes and other disruptions. If you are driving in on the morning of your cruise between December and March, sign up before you leave.
The Bolivar ferry
Run by TxDOT, not the port. It crosses 2.7 miles in about 18 to 20 minutes, runs 24 hours a day, and is free. One vessel runs continuously with a second launching at 6:30am and more added by demand. In peak season the wait to cross can be two hours or more; TxDOT points you to Houston TranStar for live wait times. Service may be reduced or stopped in severe weather. Vehicle limits are 80,000 lbs, 65 feet long, 13.5 feet high and 8.5 feet wide. There are wheelchair-accessible restrooms on both sides, and you can call operations on 409-795-2230 in advance about accommodation needs.
Accessibility
Published by the port: ADA spaces in all lots on a first-come basis and never reservable; ADA-equipped shuttles for wheelchair and scooter transport; wheelchair ramps, elevators and accessible restrooms in the terminals; wheelchairs and scooters available for rental; lounge areas and Wi-Fi. Terminal 16 has two custom-built boarding bridges.
Where these facts come from
- Port of Galveston, explore the port
- Port of Galveston, cruise parking
- Port of Galveston, parking reservations and lot inventory
- Port of Galveston, parking map
- Port of Galveston, parking FAQ
- Port of Galveston, fourth cruise terminal opens
- Port of Galveston, alerts and text notifications
- Port of Galveston, arrival and departure guide
- Port of Galveston, cruise FAQs
- TxDOT, Galveston-Port Bolivar Ferry
Ports change their rules and their prices. Check the official pages above before you sail.
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