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 winter season in 2012-2013. From 2014 to 2015, the cruise business expanded substantially, adding an additional 400,000 passengers. In order to lure larger ships, carrying up to 5,000 passengers, the port renovated and expanded Terminal 2. A new building was constructed on the foundations of an 80-year-old silo and then connected to the original Terminal 2. The port's contract with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines specified that the work would be completed before the "Liberty of the Seas" was repositioned to Galveston. Both Royal Caribbean and Carnival expressed public displeasure when the project was delayed multiple times. One delay was due