Dallas woman one millionth passenger to set sail from Port of Galveston in 2022: 'This is our sixth cruise this year'

The Port of Galveston recorded its one millionth cruise passenger of 2022 late last month, per a press release. 

Kathy Wade’s Christmastime cruise with her family became memorable before they set sail Dec. 22, 2022, when they made their way through the port’s new Royal Caribbean cruise terminal, the port said. 

“This is our sixth cruise this year,” Wade, who hails from Dallas, said in the release. “We love to cruise and we love Royal! We’ve been on the Adventure of the Seas several times.”

The release said Wade and her family were given presents to commemorate the milestone. 

As it was a four-day cruise that included Christmas Day, they brought along an inflatable tree and a couple of bags full of presents. 

Representatives with the port, Ceres Terminals Inc., and Adventure of the Seas were on hand to congratulate the family and see them off, according to the release.

Port director and chief executive officer (CEO) Rodger Rees expressed happiness for the Wades. 

“We’re also happy to mark this milestone for the port and our cruise partners,” Rees said in the release. “It shows that cruising from Galveston is back and moving full steam ahead!” 

In another port-issued press release, Rees said that more than one million cruise passengers passed through Galveston in 2022.

According to Rees, the Wades’ milestone is an example of the port’s recovery from the COVID-related 15-month suspension that ceased in July 2021. 

“This is the first time we’ve exceeded 1 million cruise passengers since 2019,” he said, per the port. 

The port said that Carnival, Disney, Norwegian, Princess and Royal Caribbean cruise lines are expected to sail more than 12 ships from Galveston this year.