The Liberty of the Seas recently started sailing out of Galveston, Texas, to replace the Navigator of the Seas. Today, December 27, I had a chance to visit Galveston and see the Liberty of the Seas docked. The ship will receive a long dry-dock starting in January, but will return to Galveston in February with some renovated areas and new features.
        The Carnival Magic was also docked in Galveston today. The weather was cloudy and the rain managed to stay away during the time I was looking at the ships.

          Farther away from the cruise ships it was harder to get a good picture. This was because the weather was a little hazy and there was rain in the distance. You can still see the ships in the two pictures below, but both of these pictures would have turned out better if the weather was nice. 

     Although the 2016 Alaska cruise season has not come yet, cruise lines are beginning to open their bookings for the 2017 Alaska cruise season. Not all cruise lines have opened their 2017 bookings, but many will throughout the next few months.  This list is going to be updated as cruise lines post their 2017 itineraries, but for now only a few cruise lines have their 2017 itineraries available. All links on this page will open in a separate window away from RyG's Cruise Guide. Keep in mind that itineraries and ship deployments are subject to change. 



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Here Is What We Know So Far For 2017 (As Of 12/26/15):
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Carnival Cruise Line:
Carnival Legend

Norwegian Cruise Line:
Norwegian Pearl
Norwegian Sun
Norwegian Jewel

Princess Cruise Line:
Coral Princess
Emerald Princess
Grand Princess
Island Princess
Ruby Princess
Star Princess

Holland America Line:
ms Amsterdam
ms Eurodam
ms Nieuw Amsterdam
ms Noordam
ms Volendam
ms Zaandam

Celebrity Cruise Line:
Celebrity Infinity
Celebrity Millennium
Celebrity Solstice

     As you get ready to start your cruise vacation, long check in lines and waiting that feels like it lasts forever can be annoying. Carnival Cruise Line has started a pilot check in procedure that will be attempting to minimize wait times and make the entire embarkation process easier on cruisers. 
       A few days ago, I learned my Carnival Triumph cruise out of New Orleans in Summer 2016 will be a part of what Carnival is calling, "Staggered Check-In". This new style of check in makes cruisers select a check in time window. This window is the time that the cruiser will be allowed into the cruise terminal to begin the check in process. The check in time can be selected on a cruiser's online Carnival account through the online check in system. The time the cruiser selects will be printed on the boarding pass and will be shown to the cruise terminal staff. In order to keep the check in process efficient, cruisers will not be allowed in prior to their designated check in time. This means if you have an 11:00am - 11:30am window to check in, you would not be able to enter earlier than 11:00am. As long as this part of the program is enforced, the check in lines and boarding process should take less time. 
             Carnival's Galveston based ships (Carnival Magic, Carnival Triumph, & Carnival Freedom) already have this program going. Carnival's Frequently Asked Questions guide shows in 2016 the Carnival ships sailing from New Orleans (Carnival Dream & Carnival Elation) will get this new procedure. When the Carnival Triumph replaces the Carnival Elation out of New Orleans in April 2016, the Carnival Triumph will also offer staggered check in. (UPDATE FROM ORIGINAL: Carnival's Miami based ships will begin staggered check in soon too. The Carnival Fantasy (until the ship leaves for Mobile), Carnival Sensation, Carnival Breeze, Carnival Glory, and Carnival Splendor will begin this process in early March 2016.)  Currently, Carnival's website says this is a pilot program and no details are given if this program will be rolled out fleetwide.
                 After reading Carnival's information about this new procedure, I find two things interesting. The check in time selected will go for the entire stateroom. This means the guests staying in a stateroom will have the same time. For cruisers traveling in groups, it might be helpful to coordinate a time that works for all. If you have one person in a stateroom that wants to check in early, but another that wants to check in late this could create a problem since everyone's boarding pass will have to show the same time. In this situation, try compromising with a time that is somewhere in between. Another thing I find interesting with this procedure is priority guests and Faster to the Fun guests must still select a check in time, but can come whenever they want. My recommendation to Carnival is give all of the people that are priority or Faster to the Fun one large window and don't make these cruisers select a time. 
Important:   Carnival's website states the check in time windows can fill up. I recommend selecting a time well in advance before your cruise to ensure you get the time you want. When you go to the cruise terminal on embarkation day, make sure you have your boarding pass that shows your time as well as all of your other required documents.

​For more information on this Staggered Check In Process visit Carnival's FAQ page:  Click Here

***This article has been updated on 1/13/2016 to reflect new information about Carnival expanding this procedure to Miami based ships in early March 2016.

     As the year 2015 comes to a close, it is time to look towards 2016 which will bring a more changes to Texas' cruise industry. In 2016, Galveston will continue to have cruise ships year round and Houston will have cruise ships through the early spring months. Each of these ports offer different cruise lines, ships, and itinerary options. Here are the highlights of 2016 for Texas cruises:

Galveston Cruises
        The year will start with sailings from Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, and Disney Cruise Line. Disney will offer one 2016 sailing on the Disney Wonder before sending the ship to another homeport. Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas will sail from Galveston in early January and then spend a month in dry-dock. The ship is scheduled to depart for dry-dock on January 10, 2016 and is scheduled to return to Galveston on Sunday, February 7, 2016. This long dry-dock will give Royal Caribbean time to add new features and refresh areas of the ship. Following this dry-dock, Royal Caribbean will deploy the Liberty of the Seas from Galveston to sail weekly cruises to various parts of the Caribbean throughout the year. 
            Carnival Cruise Line will begin the year with the Carnival Triumph, Carnival Magic, and Carnival Freedom deployed from Galveston. In March, the Carnival Triumph will be redeployed and replaced with the Carnival Liberty. In April, the Carnival Magic will be redeployed and replaced with the Carnival Breeze. The Carnival Freedom will remain in Galveston all year. 
             While Carnival and Royal Caribbean will sail Galveston year round, Disney Cruise Line will sail from Galveston seasonally. After completing a 2015/2016 season, Disney Cruise Line will redeploy the Disney Wonder, but the Disney Wonder is scheduled to return to Galveston in November 2016 to sail seasonally again from Galveston. 

Houston Cruises
            Houston will begin the year with sailings from Princess Cruise Line and Norwegian Cruise Line. 
             Princess Cruise Line will have the Caribbean Princess sailing from Houston until mid-April 2016. The Caribbean Princess will mostly have seven day cruises departing on Sunday with a few exceptions. 
             Norwegian Cruise Line will have the Norwegian Jade sailing from Houston until early April 2016. The Norwegian Jade will mostly be sailing seven day cruises departing on Saturdays. Of course, there are a few scheduling exceptions, but the majority of departures from Houston are on Saturday. 
              Following the Spring 2016 deployments, Houston does not have any more cruise ship sailings for 2016. Both Princess and Norwegian decided to deploy ships elsewhere, but we can remain optimistic and hopeful cruise ships will return to Houston in the future!

            2016 is going to be an exciting year for the Texas' cruise industry! 
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Information Sources:   I have gathered information from each cruise line's website and verified the information against information on Galveston's port website and Houston's port website. Please keep in mind things are subject to change and in the event I made a mistake or typo please let me know!