Carnival Jubilee: A first look at Carnival Cruise Line's new Texas-based ship

Table Of Content

• BOLT: ULTIMATE SEA COASTER
• CCL's newest ship Carnival Jubilee unveils Texas-sized entertainment for inaugural cruise from...
• Carnival Jubilee Activities
• Gwen Stefani honored as Godmother for CCL's newest ship Carnival Jubilee in Galveston event
• Search Posts
• Location of Guy's Burger Joint
• Service on Carnival Jubilee is Overwhelmed, Inconsistent

We actually witnessed Norwegian Joy try to dock and ultimately decide to call off the port. Day 5 of this Carnival Jubilee review was our second port of call in Costa Maya, Mexico. Since we needed to finish collecting content around the ship, we decided to stay onboard today. We started with the marinated chicken tenders and the crab & shrimp cake. For entrees, I ordered the chicken roulade and Don the jambalaya pasta. We then finished the meal with a key lime pie and melting chocolate cake.

BOLT: ULTIMATE SEA COASTER

The decor is midcentury modern style meets '80s quirk, featuring a pink and teal color scheme, fun light fixtures and a bar with colored mirror accents. On the upper deck is the popular Guy's Burger Joint, which is oddly set a bit farther away from the action on Excel Class ships. Farther afield on Deck 16, passengers can check out Shaquille O'Neal's Big Chicken restaurant or venture to Lido Marketplace, the ship's complimentary buffet. Carnival Jubilee, the third of the line’s Excel-class ships after Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration, brings two new spaces to the fleet — Currents and Shores, both neighborhoods with ocean themes. The highly-anticipated Carnival Jubilee, now the cruise line’s flagship, embarked on her inaugural cruise on December 23, 2023, from her homeport of Galveston, Texas. The ship is sailing 7-night Western Caribbean cruises with calls at Roatan, Honduras, and Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico.

CCL's newest ship Carnival Jubilee unveils Texas-sized entertainment for inaugural cruise from...

The Behind the Fun tour occurs on a sea day, and guests can book this tour like a shore excursion. It features visits to the ship’s bridge, engine control room, main galley, staff dining areas, storeroom, laundry, and other spaces. With 22 dining options – plus room service – Carnival Jubilee has food for any appetite. The food on Carnival Jubilee is very good, with a couple of misses but mostly hits. Even better, most of the food options are included in the price of your fare.

Carnival Jubilee Activities

In November Carnival announced that Jubilee would be the fleet's first liner offering 5G connectivity/mobile phone service. The service is provided via partnership with WMS/Wireless Maritime Services LLC (2005-founded, Miramar Florida-based company) specializing in cellular networks for high-performance/fast connectivity at sea. Carnival Jubilee's itinerary program is based on year-round Caribbean roundtrips leaving from homeport Galveston (Texas USA). The inaugural cruise season was originally planned to start on October 30, 2023, with an 18-day Transatlantic crossing from Southampton to Texas (call ports Vigo, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Funchal Madeira, Grand Turk). In mid-January 2018, CCL announced 4 new craft beers that will be brewed onboard Carnival Horizon (and on the new XL-class ships/Mardi Gras, Celebration, Jubilee). They are offered at Guy's Pig and Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse (Brewhouse), The names of the new draft beers are inspired by the BBQ offerings at the Smokehouse/Brewhouse.

What was actually a bit annoying was how much the bar servers push ordering shots. For us, it’s quite a juxtaposition to a nice sit-down meal and something you don’t see on any other cruise line. Since we had already tried some drinks at Dr. Inks earlier in the cruise, we opted for something different tonight.

A special plaque was also cut from the same piece of steel in recognition of Carnival’s 50th birthday. The first steel was cut for the Carnival Jubilee on March 18, 2022 with festivities taking place in Papenberg, Germany. Carnival Cruise Line and Meyer Werft representatives attended the masked-up celebration and used the opportunity to highlight and celebrate Carnival’s 50th birthday. Sadly, in 2015, when HNA shut down its failing cruise operation, Henna was laid up and listed for sale.

14 things I loved and hated about Carnival Jubilee - Cruise Blog

14 things I loved and hated about Carnival Jubilee.

Posted: Mon, 18 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

In Carnival Jubilee's Grand Central zone, Center Stage takes ... The performance space isn't enclosed like a typical theater, so there's no way for it to be shielded from passengers' view during rehearsals. If you stick around during the day, you can watch some of the ship's performers practicing their blocking, their vocals and, occasionally, acrobatic routines before that night's show. I'm just back from the christening sailing on Carnival Jubilee, Carnival Cruise Line's newest ship.

Location of Guy's Burger Joint

Oddly, there were some discrepancies on board that I was surprised to see on a ship that's been sailing for several months. Coming in at second place in the Best New Cruise Ship category, Celebrity Ascent entered service after her December 1, 2023 christening at her homeport of Port Everglades, in Fort Lauderdale. Thankfully, our 2 PM flight was smooth sailing, and we returned to Boston without issue. Now, we are home for just over a week before heading back out once again. Next up is Princess Cruises’ brand-new Sun Princess followed by a Seine River cruise with Viking. From here, it was off to a nearby restaurant, Zacil, for some lunch consisting of tacos and tequila.

Service on Carnival Jubilee is Overwhelmed, Inconsistent

Guests can also book shore excursions that venture beyond the port area. While the beach is free, pretty much everything else will cost you extra money though. For lunch today, we decided to check Shaq’s Big Chicken off the list. Though, the lines here and at Guy’s Burgers can get quite long, so plan accordingly.

Because everyone is so busy exploring the ship (or port, if it's not a sea day), they're generally not thinking about the spa. In Currents, guests can experience life beneath the waves, both real and imagined, in a space that features six huge LED windows as portals to the sea, plus a wave-shaped LED ceiling. Bars and restaurants in Currents include Dr. Inks, Ph.D, serving cocktails inspired by an octopus.

I tried the newest ships from Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Norwegian. Here's how they compare - Cruise Blog

I tried the newest ships from Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Norwegian. Here's how they compare.

Posted: Wed, 17 Apr 2024 12:57:15 GMT [source]

Whenever somebody bought one, the waiter would demand that they yell "Shot, shot, shot!" before downing it. This was extremely disruptive and added to the already loud atmosphere. Even on port days, when most passengers are ashore, the public areas are filled with loud music that makes it hard to find a quiet escape. After all, Carnival vessels are known as the Fun Ships, but some of it seems unnecessary. However, the massively creative options on the menus at both the Golden Mermaid and Dr. Inks, Ph.D., bars are absolutely worth a shoutout. Surrounding the stage are tons of seating options, as well as JavaBlue Cafe, which serves coffee and snacks; Cherry on Top candy shop; the Center Stage and Grand View Bars; and Bonsai Sushi and Teppanyaki.

I happened to be sitting at a table in the area when the festivities kicked off. I decided to stay to see what it was all about, and I'm sorry I did. As costumed Dr. Seuss characters arrived, Carnival staff asked the children to scream solely for the sake of screaming. Ear-piercing shrieks reverberated throughout the space, which was also blocked off to passengers trying to pass through.

While in the area, we decided to try some sandwiches from Beach Buns too. I ordered the turkey sandwich and Don ordered an Italian sausage sandwich on a pretzel roll. Afterwards, we attempted to catch the last quarter of the tailgate in Summer Landing, but it had seemingly ended as there was just some live music when we arrived. There were some inconsistencies between the Fun Times paper daily and the HUB app, so we’d suggest checking both if there’s an activity that you can’t miss. While this option adds variety to the dining lineup, we are glad that it’s complimentary because we don’t see ourselves ever paying to dine here. Of note, all visits are free on Jubilee; only the first visit is free on Mardi Gras and Celebration, with subsequent visits $8 each.

The sizes of the performance venues are generally way too small for the number of passengers wishing to watch the shows. The 140,600-gross ton ship carries 3,260 guests in double occupancy, and is operating alternating 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries. Celebrity Ascent is the fourth vessel in the line’s Edge class, and features the popular Magic Carpet, a movable cantilevered deck that functions as a restaurant and bar.

Standard oceanview cabins are 243 square feet and include a large window as well as two twin beds that can convert into a king. They feature sofa beds that allow the space to accommodate up to four people. There are 175 standard oceanview cabins, located on decks 4 and 5.