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 immigration United States population. The quarantine center was based on the example set by Ellis Island, however, was not as large or efficient as the station in New York. Although known as “The Ellis Island of the West”, Galveston did not have as many immigrants enter the United States through this port as there had been through Ellis Island. At a time, Galveston was one of the largest immigration stations in the west. "Between 1906 and 1914 nearly 50,000 immigrants arrived at Galveston, including Bohemians, Moravians, Galicians, Australians, Romanians, Swiss, English, Poles Italians, Dutch, and some 10,000 Jews." Many immigrants entered