The Port of Galveston’s newest cruise terminal is on schedule to open before the end of the year.

The port’s fourth terminal, Cruise Terminal 16, will serve as a homeport to MSC and Norwegian cruise ships.

During the opening celebration slated for November, the port will welcome MSC Cruises’ MSC Seascape for its first sailing from Galveston.

Led by port engineering staffers, architects Bermello Ajamil and contractors Hensel Phelps and Orion Marine Services, the $156 million project involves turning two existing cargo buildings into a 160,000-square-foot cruise terminal.

“A newly constructed two-story vertical core, with elevators, escalators, stairs, and a passenger ramp, will seamlessly connect the structures,” according to the press release.

The 25.5-acre cruise complex will also include a new seven-story parking garage with more than 1,600 spaces and a dedicated ground transportation area to accommodate buses, shuttles, rideshare vehicles, and taxis.

The project also features:

• New paved surface parking lots totaling 733 spaces
• Landscaping
• A public plaza
• Roadway upgrades

According to the press release, Orion Marine Services is also upgrading the port’s “marine infrastructure to support a 5,500-passenger cruise vessel, including new mooring foundations, bollards and fenders.”

Last year, the Port of Galveston, which is the fourth-largest cruise port in the country, broke records with more than 380 cruise ships sailing out of Galveston that carried more than 3.4 million passengers through one of the port’s three cruise terminals. Cruise passenger traffic was up nearly 10% in the first two months of this year compared with the same period in 2024.

Written by Norma Salcedo