Norwegian Cruise Line recently announced the first of its Prima Class ship, the Norwegian Prima, is scheduled to sail from Galveston in the Winter 2023 and Spring 2024 season. The Norwegian Prima is scheduled to enter service in 2022. 

Seven Night Round-Trip Cruises
            The Norwegian Prima is scheduled to sail seven night cruises from Galveston that depart on Fridays. These itineraries are scheduled for Winter 2023 and Spring 2024. Based on Norwegian Cruise Line's booking engine these cruises are scheduled to depart Galveston on Friday and will have a sea day on Saturday. On Sunday the ship will dock at Costa Maya, Mexico and then on Monday the ship will tender at Harvest Caye, Belize. On Tuesday the ship will tender again at Roatan Bay in Honduras and on Wednesday the ship will dock at Cozumel, Mexico. The cruise will end with a sea day on Thursday and then will dock again in Galveston on Friday. The exact itinerary of the Norwegian Prima's cruises could change due to a variety of factors so please keep in mind that scheduled itineraries can change! 

One Time Galveston Sailing In 2022: 11 Night Cruise
                 The Norwegian Prima is scheduled to sail an 11 night cruise in October 2022 from Galveston that will end in Miami, Florida. This is not a round-trip cruise! The 11 night cruise includes scheduled port of call stops at Cozumel, Mexico; Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacoa; Kralendijk, Bonair; and Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas. The itinerary is subject to change. 

For Additional Norwegian Prima Information
              I highly recommend taking a look at the Norwegian Prima's page on Norwegian Cruise Line's website. Here you can find information about the ship's amenities, dining, entertainment, and more. 
Click Here To View (link will take you away from RyG's Cruise Guide to Norwegian Cruise Line's website). 

      This morning I traveled to Galveston to see the Carnival Dream and Carnival Vista docked. The Carnival Vista was docked at Cruise Terminal 1 and the Carnival Dream was docked at Cruise Terminal 2.

Carnival Dream New Livery
       Today marked the end of the Carnival Dream's first cruise back in service after the long Coronavirus shutdown that began in March 2020. During the shutdown, the Carnival Dream received a dry-dock in France and the ship was given a new hull livery design. The new paint livery design is consistent with the Mardi Gras and changed the ship's front hull to a navy blue color. In my opinion, the new navy blue livery design looked great on the ship! Now that the Carnival Dream is back in-service it is scheduled to be sailing 6 & 8 night cruises from Galveston that depart on alternating Saturdays and Sundays. 

Crew Members Ashore
                 When cruises initially re-started the crew members were not allowed to debark the ship in Galveston, but today it looked like this rule might have changed. The Starbucks across from Cruise Terminal 1 was very busy and I saw crew members wearing Carnival badges walk across the street to the Starbucks. There appeared to be less crew members walking around today compared to my other times of visiting Galveston (pre-COVID) with cruise ships in, but it was great to see the crew being able to enjoy some time away from the ship. 

Check out some of my pictures from today of the Carnival Dream & Carnival Vista: 

      The fall is just around the corner and that means Halloween is coming up! The past couple of months of 2021 have seen several Carnival ships coming back into service after the long coronavirus shutdown and additional ships are scheduled to return to service as the year continues. Carnival recently released some of the 2021 Halloween activities and the sail-dates for ships that are hosting Halloween events & activities for 2021. This post contains some information about Carnival's planned Halloween events & activities as well as a list of Carnival ships and departure dates that are scheduled to have Halloween festivities onboard. 

2021 Planned Halloween Activities
Carnival has a variety of different Halloween events and activities planned for this year. These events & activities will take place in addition to the regular activities normally held during a cruise. Below is a list of activities that Carnival shows as being planned for the 2021 Halloween cruises: 

• Patch's Halloween Deck Party
• Costume Contest 
• Dive In Movies*
• Patch's Halloween Pumpkin Hunt
• Themed Trivia
• "Patch's Spook-tacular" Bingo
• "Frightfully Fun" Dance Class
• "Guess That Frightful Song Line-Up" 
• Pumpkin Carving Competition
• Halloween Photo Opportunities 

Note: Dive-In Movies is not on every ship. 

UPDATE (9/26/2021) -  The October 2021 Dive In Movies list has been announced which includes some Halloween themed movies/shows. Click Here for the list of Dive In Movies that Carnival ships with a Dive In Movie theater are scheduled to show throughout the month of October. 

Additionally, Carnival's website shows youth activities such as a family trick or treat, kids costume contest, and a teen Halloween party are scheduled to take place. 

How can I know when Halloween events are taking place during my cruise?
              You can check your Carnival Hub App which includes events and activities taking place onboard for each day of the cruise. The app typically shows the time and location of each event. Additionally, at your Carnival ship's Guest Services desk a one-pager Fun-Times activity is available that has all of the daily activities. 

Does Carnival have any rules for costumes?
            Carnival's website lists out costume types/items that are prohibited. Please refer to Carnival's website by clicking here for the full list of things that are prohibited. 

Ships and Dates Halloween Events Will Be Held Onboard
                  This year not all Carnival ships will be back in service to hold Halloween activities. Below is a table that shows ships and a range of departure dates that are scheduled to have Halloween festivities onboard: 

My source for this information is Carnival's website. Click here to go to Carnival's website (link will take you away from RyG's Cruise Guide). I highly recommend this page if you want further information. Also, please keep in mind things are subject to change.