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 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