Port of Galveston in the 1990s, port officials attempted to lure modern cruise ships to Galveston. Their efforts paid off in 2000. On September 30, the Carnival Cruise Lines ship "Celebration" debarked from the port of Galveston. The long "Celebration", and other ships based in Galveston in the first few years, were small and older. Over the next 16 years, the port invested more than $85 million to build and improve facilities to accommodate these ships. Princess declined to sail from Galveston after the 2007 season. Hurricane Ike hit the Texas Gulf Coast in 2008, causing major damage to the port. The cruise
Port of Galveston and two Royal Caribbean ships call the port home year-round, while Disney operates one ship for limited sailings. An estimated 946,000 cruise passengers will sail from the port in 2017, a ten percent increase over 2016. A 2015 economic analysis estimated that cruise passengers injected $56 million per year into the local Galveston economy, an average of $62 per passenger. There are two dedicated cruise terminals. Unlike many other ports, the cruise terminals are not used for other activities, such as conferences or corporate events. Terminal 1 was expanded and improved in 2010, as a condition of Carnival placing their