Disney Cruise Line recently announced the Disney Wonder will return to Galveston in the late fall of 2017. Throughout the past several years, Disney has deployed a ship from Galveston to operate seasonal cruises. The Disney Wonder will begin its seasonal Galveston deployment in November 2017. 
        According to Disney's press release, the Disney Wonder will sail Western & Eastern Caribbean itineraries from Galveston. The Western Caribbean itineraries include ports such as Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Falmouth. The ship's Eastern Caribbean itineraries include ports such as Key West, Nassau, and Castaway Cay. 
         It is exciting seeing Disney will once again return to Galveston for a seasonal deployment! Bookings for the newly announced cruises will begin May 26, 2016. For more information regarding the Disney Wonder from Galveston and Disney's other newly announced deployments, please check out Disney Cruise's press release: click here. 

      The Carnival Valor has completed a two week long dry-dock that added several of Carnival's Fun Ship 2.0 features. The ship was out of service for dry-dock from April 23 until May 8, 2016. During this time the ship was sent to a dry-dock in Freeport, Bahamas. The ship is back in service with the following new enhancements and amenities:

Guy's Burger Joint -  This is a popular Fun Ship 2.0 feature that Carnival has been slowly expanding to its ships. Guy's Burger Joint serves free hamburgers and french fries at lunchtime. Prior to getting Guy's Burger Joint, the Carnival Valor had a generic hamburger grill on its Lido Deck. 

Blue Iguana Cantina -  The Blue Iguana Cantina is another feature Carnival will be adding to the Carnival Valor's Lido deck. The Blue Iguana Cantina serves burritos and tacos at lunch. Usually, the Blue Iguana Cantina also has some breakfast options too. To compliment tacos and burritos, Carnival's Blue Iguana Cantina also has a salsa bar. The salsa bar has a multitude of options available for cruisers. The Blue Iguana Cantina is complimentary!

​Red Frog Rum Bar -  The Red Frog Rum Bar serves frozen drinks and beer for cruisers to purchase. This new Caribbean themed bar is located on the Lido Deck near the pool. 

Blue Iguana Tequila Bar - The Blue Iguana Cantina Bar serves frozen drinks and beer for cruisers to purchase. This new Mexican themed bar is located on the Lido Deck near the pool. 

Alchemy Bar -  The Alchemy Bar was another feature that was added to the Carnival Valor during dry-dock.  The Alchemy Bar allows cruisers to purchase mixed drinks in a pharmacy themed bar setting. Cruisers are able to tell bartenders to mix ingredients to make a drink a certain way.

Red Frog Pub -   The Red Frog Pub was added to the Carnival Valor's Deck 5 area, where Club 02 used to be located. The Red Frog Pub is a Caribbean themed pub that serves rum and beer. Carnival has a signature drink called "Thirsty Frog Red" this is served in this bar area. 

Camp Ocean - The Carnival Valor recieved Carnival's new children's program, Camp Ocean. Camp Ocean is the official replacement to Camp Carnival. Camp Ocean is a youth program that consists of three age groups. Each age group has different activities and is represented by a different sea animal. Ages 2-5 are Penguins, ages 6-8 are Stingrays, and 9-11 are Sharks. Typically, as Carnival implements Camp Ocean the youth program lounges that were previously used by Camp Carnival are upgraded to reflect the this brand new youth program.

Skybox Sports Bar -  The Sky Box Sports Bar is a place for people to buy drinks and watch sports. The Carnival Valor recieved the Sky Box Sports Bar during its dry-dock. 

Cherry On Top -  The Carnival Valor recieved Cherry On Top, which is essentially a candy shop. This shop sells candy, gifts, and a few other things. 

Club 02 (Changed Location) -  GoCCL reports that the Carnival Valor's Club 02 youth program changed locations from Deck 5 to Deck 4. This is because the Red Frog Pub took the space Club 02 used to occupy. 

Internet Cafe (Changed Location) -  The Carnival Valor's internet cafe changed location from Deck 4 to Deck 5. 

Lido Buffet Food Line (Changing of Lines) -  GoCCL reports the Carnival Valor's Burrito Bar & Grill was removed. The ship now has a line called the Comfort Kitchen. Don't worry about missing burritos because burritos are still being made, but at the Blue Iguana Cantina! 

The Carnival Valor's children's pool was also removed, according to the ship's fact sheet on GoCCL. It is not clear what took the place of this. 

       For more information please visit Carnival's official press release:  Click Here

      The Port of Galveston has recieved its second new cruise ship of the year, the Carnival Breeze. The Carnival Breeze has repositioned to Galveston from Miami, and the ship will primarily be sailing 7 day cruises. The Carnival Breeze is the Carnival Magic's replacement. 
        Today, May 8, 2016, the Carnival Breeze docked in Galveston for the first time. However, the ship's first time docking in Galveston was not just any ordinary occasion. In mid-April, Carnival Cruise Line announced a partnership with the Houston Texas. A part of this announcement was a special event that was hosted today called, "Mom's Day to the Splash". Two Texans players, DeAndre Hopkins and  Brian Cushing, each led a team of mothers that were selected to participate in a waterslide race by winning a contest held in April. Carnival used this special event to donate money to local charities. The winning team's charity will receive $10,000 and the runner up team's charity would receive $5,000. Hopkins' team was competing for money to go to the Houston Food Bank and Cushing's team was competing for money to go to the Brian Cushing Foundation. No matter, the results each charity will receive money from Carnival.  Carnival treated the mothers that won the contest to an onboard brunch and a chance to win some prizes. This was not an ordinary cruise ship debut in Galveston! 
           The Carnival Breeze has joined the Carnival Freedom & Carnival Liberty out of Galveston. In addition to Carnival, cruisers can also sail Royal Caribbean International or Disney Cruise Lines (seasonally)  from Galveston in 2016. 

For more information about Carnival's partnership with the Houston Texans please click here.