Galveston, Texas, has a new ship in town as one of the fastest-growing ports in the U.S. welcomed MSC Seascape, making the Lone Star State a home port for MSC Cruises.
Launched three years ago, MSC Seascape holds more than 5,000 passengers, offers 11 dining venues and 19 bars and lounges, and features attractions from a spa room that snows to an adults-only infinity pool, multiple family waterslides and a Robotron ride that can flip riders up to 174 feet above the water. I sailed on MSC Seascape with my kids from Miami and can attest Texans are in for a lot of fun — though you might skip Robotron on its wildest setting right after lunch unless you’re fearless, like my teen.
Now based in Texas, the ship has added Texan touches including smoked beef brisket with jalapeño barbecue sauce, line-dancing classes, Texas sports on the screens, a “Big Texas” sailaway party, spicy margaritas and an included breakfast option at Hola! Tacos & Cantina. From Galveston, MSC Seascape will sail seven-night Western Caribbean itineraries calling on Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico, and Roatán, Honduras.
Pricing from Galveston starts under $400 per person for the weeklong sailings, and with kids-sail-free promotions a family of four can find weeklong vacations for just over $1,000 after taxes and fees on some weeks. For a more premium experience, MSC Seascape also offers the Yacht Club ship-within-a-ship option.
The ship’s arrival coincided with the official opening of Galveston’s Terminal 16, the port’s fourth terminal. Terminal 16 is new, sleek, and notably includes the port’s first dedicated adjacent parking garage, making embarkation and debarkation more convenient without long walks or off-site shuttles.
Growth at Galveston will continue: next month the port will welcome Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Viva, a newer ship that debuted in 2023 and features stylish cabins, escape rooms and onboard shows like Beetlejuice. Norwegian Viva will also operate from Terminal 16 when it arrives in December.
At the ribbon-cutting, Port Director Richard Rees said Galveston will serve around 2 million cruise passengers annually, about half of whom are from Texas, and noted that roughly 46 million potential cruisers live within a day’s drive of the port. He highlighted that 25 years ago Galveston was a very small cruise port and has since grown into one of the country’s largest and fastest-growing cruise gateways, with lines including Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Disney, Norwegian and now MSC.
Galveston is part of a broader U.S. expansion for MSC Cruises. As recently as 2017, MSC had only one ship based in North America. This winter the line will have seven vessels based in the U.S. across four home ports: Miami; Port Canaveral, Florida; New York City; and Galveston. That U.S. fleet includes MSC World America, one of the world’s largest ships, which began sailing in 2025 from the new MSC Terminal in PortMiami — the world’s largest cruise terminal.
Lynn Torrent, president of MSC Cruises North America, said the line aims to become a household name in the U.S. With world-class ships, new terminals and a Texas expansion that opens access to millions of travelers, MSC may be on its way to reaching that goal.
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