Galveston

Although Galveston Island has been occupied since the early 1500s, the city was not created until 1836, when Canadian Michel Menard purchased a league and labor of land for $50,000 from the Austin Colony. Because of the need for more money to promote the town, Menard took on nine partners, forming the Galveston City Company. The first buildings were prefabricated houses from Maine, one of which still stands today. The Republic of Texas quickly made the fledgling city a port of entry, and the Strand area filled with wholesalers, cotton agents and merchants. The city flourished.

Galveston holds many firsts for the state of Texas: first post office, naval base, and bakery, first chapter of the Masonic Order, first cotton compress, insurance company, gas lights, electric lights, opera house, orphanage, telephone, medical college and school for nurses. One of Galveston s newspapers, the Galveston News, is the oldest daily newspaper in the state (now known as the Galveston County Daily News). Then disaster struck. On September 8, 1900, the deadliest hurricane in US history swept across the island, killing more than 6,000 people and destroying the majority of buildings in its path. Most people probably would have given up and left, but not the determined Galvestonians. They decided to rebuild, but to do so in a way to reduce the likelihood of such a disaster being repeated. Their answer was to build a seawall  seven miles long and 17 feet high and to raise the grade of the entire town. The grade-raising took eight years to complete and involved jacking up homes and pouring four to six feet of sand beneath them. Residents used elevated wooden sidewalks to navigate the town during this process. The seawall project was not completed until 1962, and is a noted feat of engineering  an example of how a city should respond after disaster. During the rebuilding period, Galveston lost most of its port business to Houston, but the resilient little city quickly recovered from that setback also. It turned its attention to tourism and made a name for itself as a playground for the wealthy. Tourists continue to flock to this marvelously inspirational seaside community, the city that almost wasn t. It will inspire you, too.


4 Night Western Caribbean Cruise
Carnival Cruise Line - Ecstasy
Destination To: Caribbean - Western
Departing from: Galveston
Ports: Galveston, Texas, Cozumel, Mexico, Galveston, Texas


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$659 USD
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$599 USD
$629 USD
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$599 USD
$679 USD
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$629 USD
$679 USD
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$629 USD
$709 USD
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$629 USD
$689 USD
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$629 USD
$679 USD
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$449 USD
$529 USD
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$849 USD
$449 USD
$459 USD
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$429 USD
$459 USD
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5 Night Western Caribbean Cruise
Carnival Cruise Line - Ecstasy
Destination To: Caribbean - Western
Departing from: Galveston
Ports: Galveston, Texas, Cozumel, Mexico, Galveston, Texas


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Inside
Outside
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$679 USD
$709 USD
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$649 USD
$689 USD
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$1129 USD
$699 USD
$759 USD
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$679 USD
$729 USD
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$649 USD
$739 USD
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$629 USD
$709 USD
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$699 USD
$789 USD
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$1199 USD
$729 USD
$789 USD
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$1399 USD
$729 USD
$789 USD
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$729 USD
$789 USD
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7 Night Western Caribbean Cruise
Royal Caribbean - Voyager of the Seas
Destination To: Caribbean - Western
Departing from: Galveston
Ports: Galveston, Texas, Cozumel, Mexico, Roatan, Honduras, Costa Maya, Mexico, Yucatan (progreso), Mexico, Galveston, Texas


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$749 USD
$949 USD
$1019 USD
$1449 USD
$1249 USD
$1549 USD
$1849 USD
$3499 USD
$1399 USD
$1949 USD
$2189 USD
$3749 USD
$709 USD
$949 USD
$1069 USD
$1799 USD
$699 USD
$899 USD
$1049 USD
$1599 USD
$699 USD
$899 USD
$1149 USD
$1599 USD
$699 USD
$949 USD
$1089 USD
$1449 USD
$699 USD
$949 USD
$1089 USD
$1449 USD
$709 USD
$949 USD
$1089 USD
$1499 USD
$749 USD
$949 USD
$1099 USD
$1449 USD

 
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