Key Aspects:
- Two cruisers found their car infested with baby spiders at the Port of Galveston after debarking a Royal Caribbean cruise recently.
- The incident was shared by the Uber driver who took the guests to Walmart for pesticide so they could eliminate the spiders before driving home.
- September can be spider season in Texas, with spiderlings hatching by the hundreds, much to the dismay of those with arachnophobia.
The end of a cruise can be a chaotic time, what with ensuring one has packed up everything appropriately, leaving the ship at the right time, and preparing for a drive home.
For several guests debarking a Royal Caribbean ship at the Port of Galveston recently, one more part of the chaos was most unwelcome: baby spiders.
According to Uber driver Donnie L. Broussard, the spider infestation involved several cars and caused an extra complication as guests were leaving their cruise.
“So I pick up two guys at the cruise parking lot for Royal cruise line,” Broussard shared on the Galveston Talk Facebook group on Sunday, September 20, 2026. “They get in and tell me they went to get in their car and it is infested with spiders, they showed me pictures and it was crazy, little spiders everywhere and a few other people in the lot had the same thing in their cars.”
Broussard noted that he’s been driving cruise guests from the same parking lot for seven years and has never seen this type of infestation before. He took the guests to a local Walmart so they could purchase pesticide to be able to drive their own car again.
The closest Walmart to Royal Caribbean’s Cruise Terminal 10 at the Port of Galveston is just five miles away, so hopefully the trip was a quick option to combat the infestation of baby spiders.
Broussard did not disclose which ship the guests had debarked, but he mentioned to Chron that the incident occurred a few weeks ago. The only Royal Caribbean ships currently homeported at Galveston are Mariner of the Seas and Symphony of the Seas.
Mariner of the Seas has been offering 4- and 5-night itineraries visiting Costa Maya and Cozumel, while Symphony of the Seas is currently offering 6- and 8-night sailings to ports such as Perfect Day CocoCay, Nassau, Roatan, Costa Maya, and Cozumel depending on sailing date and cruise length.
To be clear, the spider infestation was not onboard a cruise ship nor in the Royal Caribbean terminal, which first opened in 2022. Cruise lines typically do not have any operational control over parking areas, which would instead be operated by the port facilities.
According to USA Spiders, there are nearly 1,100 species of spiders found in Texas. The exact species enjoying vehicle habitats at the Port of Galveston has not been identified, but fortunately, only black widows and brown recluses can be seriously venomous in the Lone Star State.
September Can Be Spider Season
Spiders are a common sight in Texas in September and October as eggs hatch and spiderlings spin silk balloons to float away to new areas. Baby spiders, also called spiderlings, hatch en masse and there may be hundreds of young spiders emerging from a single egg sack once hatching begins.
The exact time from when the egg sack is produced to when the spiderlings hatch can vary from just a few weeks to several months, depending on the spider species, moisture levels, and weather conditions.
Other posters commenting on Broussard’s story confirm that these unusual incidents can happen.
“September is a prime time for spiderlings,” one poster noted, while another described a similar incident they experienced.
“I was parked in my grandparent’s back yard overnight. Under a tree. The next morning I open the door and thousands of, it seemed, tiny spiders were everywhere!” they said.
Fear of spiders, or arachnophobia, is common for many people. This incident at the Port of Galveston even has some cruisers reconsidering their parking plans.
“Which parking lot, we [are] going on a cruise [and] don’t want park there, [sic]” one guest noted.
Fortunately, baby spiders quickly disperse after hatching, so while it can be disconcerting to have so many appear at once, they aren’t likely to stay nearby.
