Galveston, Texas January 1990, and was demolished in 2006. The Strand plays host to a yearly Mardi Gras festival, Galveston Island Jazz & Blues Festival and a Victorian-themed Christmas festival called Dickens on the Strand (honoring the works of novelist Charles Dickens, especially "A Christmas Carol") in early December. Galveston is home to several historic ships: the tall ship "Elissa" (the official Tall Ship of Texas) at the Texas Seaport Museum and USS "Cavalla" and USS Stewart, both berthed at Seawolf Park on nearby Pelican Island. Galveston is ranked the number one cruise port on the Gulf Coast and fourth in the
Port of Galveston opened at the port. This was the result of a public-private partnership that the port entered into with Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Vehicle Services Americas. The new site has the capacity to import 32,500 cars per year, an inventory worth more than $1.3 billion. As of 2017, Galveston is the 4th-busiest cruise ship homeport in North America and one of the top 10 homeports in the world. Over the years, the port has welcomed ships from major cruise lines including Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Disney Cruise Lines, and Norwegian Cruise Lines. In 2017, three Carnival ships