Port of Houston to open more cruise options
November 29, 2012 | By Collette Peck
For clients in Salt Lake City, cruising the Caribbean usually meant one thing: flying to Florida, paying high airfare and having to stay overnight before your cruise departure. The Port of Galveston in Texas currently offers Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess and Disney Cruises. But now, some 50 miles further inland, the Port of Houston will gain a Princess Cruises ship in late 2013 and a Norwegian Cruise Line vessel in 2014. So starting next year, passengers and travel agents will again have a choice of homeports in the Lone Star State. The Port of Houston deployment, which has been chiefly used for hurricane emergency response and for cargo ship dockage since it was finished in 2008, will now welcome luxury cruise liners.
Flying to Houston from Salt Lake City on one of the many non-stop flights with an early enough departure time can get you to the cruise ship the same day. And with the Port of Houston 50 miles closer to town than the Port of Galveston, the transfer from the airport to the ship will take less than 1 hour. Less expensive, non-stop flights with no hotel stay and being able to sail the Caribbean will be a new vacation option that most Salt Lakers thought was out of their reach.