Consumer
Why Two Million Tourists Are Boarding Cruise Ships on a Texas Island
Galveston is the fastest growing cruise port in the country, but the flood of tourists are generating backlash.
Much of the historic Strand District in Galveston, Texas, is about as tacky as it comes. The 19th-century buildings that line its streets are packed with tequila-shot bars, beach shops and souvenir stands.
On a recent visit during a dreary spring day, they were all doing brisk business, filled with cruise passengers checking out t-shirts that read “I Don’t Get Drunk I Get Awesome!” and “Shut Up Liver You’re Fine.” Just a few hundred feet away were two Carnival Corp. ships, the Dream and Jubilee, looming over the port that they’ve helped to revitalize into a regional economic force.