The cruise industry is an outlier right now. Even as US summer travel is down, cruise companies are setting sail with record numbers of passengers this year. But as the industry tries to keep up with this demand, it’s facing growing pains in the port cities it relies on most.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg reporter Redd Brown travels to Galveston, Texas — a port city that’s at the center of the industry’s ambitious expansion plans, and that is wrestling with the challenges that opportunity brings.

Read more: Why Two Million Tourists Are Boarding Cruise Ships on a Texas Island

The cruise industry is an outlier right now. Even as US summer travel is down, cruise companies are setting sail with record numbers of passengers this year. But as the industry tries to keep up with this demand, it&rsquo;s facing growing pains in the port cities it relies on most.
On today&rsquo;s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg reporter Redd Brown travels to Galveston, Texas &mdash; a port city that&rsquo;s at the center of the industry&rsquo;s ambitious expansion plans, and that is wrestling with the challenges that opportunity brings.
Read more: <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-06-05/cruises-from-galveston-texas-port-draw-millions-of-tourists?srnd=undefined">Why Two Million Tourists Are Boarding Cruise Ships on a Texas Island</a>

The Big Take from Bloomberg News brings you inside what’s shaping the world's economies with the smartest and most informed business reporters around the world. The context you need on the stories that can move markets. Every afternoon.

The Big Take from Bloomberg News brings you inside what’s shaping the world's economies with the smartest and most informed business reporters around the world. The context you need on the stories that can move markets. Every afternoon.

Big Take

Cruises Are So Back — And Straining Port Cities

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/1c0b7a74-50d9-4dae-bafc-b30c011ef7ed/transcript

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