Cruise industry publication, Seatrade Insider, is reporting that the Port of Galveston is rebounding from Hurricane Ike faster than expected. Seatrade Insider says the port exceeded the projected revenues for the month of December by $300,000, with revenues of $2 million. As a result, revenues for 2008 totaled $20.8 million — only $500,000 short of 2007’s record revenues.

Rapid recovery decisions in the wake of Hurricane Ike by the Board of Trustees of the Galveston Wharves was the key to recovery. Just seven weeks after the hurricane devistated the area, Cruise Terminal 1 reopened and the Carnival Ecstasy and Carnival Conquest were able to resume their previous schedules. Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas resumed operations in December.

A Galveston official stated that there are still “significant infrastructure challenges” to overcome, but the quick return to profitability will certainly help move along the work needed to get the port back to pre-Ike conditions.