Now that Carnival Cruise Line’s latest ship, Carnival Jubilee, is sailing from Galveston, Texas, the brand is upping the ante for 2024 with several product enhancements.
“This is the start of a new era for us here in Galveston,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “This stunning ship not only brings together our best offerings, from thrilling entertainment — like the Bolt roller coaster — to delicious dining options like Emeril’s Bistro, it also expands our capacity, allowing us to deliver the quintessential Carnival fun to more people sailing from Texas.”
In fact, Jubilee marks the line’s fifth of six vessels to join the Carnival fleet in a period of less than three years. Carnival Firenze will be the sixth when it transfers from corporate cousin Costa Cruises for departures from Long Beach, Calif., in May 2024.
This is the start of a new era for us here in Galveston.
Culinary Updates
Onboard Jubilee specifically, as part of the line’s signature Carnival Kitchen offerings, the dedicated Carnival Culinary Center showcases a cooking course curated by celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse, chief culinary officer for the line. The prepared three-course meal includes recipes such as his New-New Orleans pasta, shrimp and okra gumbo with file, and strawberries Romanoff.
Carnival Kitchen can also be found onboard Carnival Celebration, Carnival Panorama and Mardi Gras, in addition to Jubilee.
What’s more, the fleet-wide Chef’s Table experience — Carnival’s VIP culinary event and multi-course dinner hosted by the onboard executive chef — has been upgraded to Chef’s Table 2.0, with new menu items and wine selections. Only 14 guests at a time are treated to cocktails and hors d’oeuvres before a special galley tour during operation and a dinner full of mouthwatering appetizers, entrees and desserts.
Pre-Book Behind-the-Scenes Ship Tours
Speaking of tours, Carnival’s “Behind The Fun” tours give cruisers a look at behind-the-scenes happenings onboard the line’s ships, and are now available to book online before embarkation. (Previously, such events could only be reserved once onboard.)
Additionally, clients will have the ability to book the tour as a shore excursion under each ship’s homeport, which will be conducted on a Fun Day at Sea. An abbreviated accessible version is an option for guests with disabilities.
Easier Disembarkation
Last but not least, Carnival has enhanced its mobile Hub App to ease debarkation. Rather than manually picking up zone tags to place on passenger luggage, guests can instead indicate a disembarkation window and the quantity of bags to be put outside their cabin, so that tags can be conveniently delivered directly.
Or, for passengers wishing to carry off their own luggage, they can select a time to do so via the app. VIFP (very important fun person) members and suite guests will continue to receive priority disembarkation tags. And, of course, should passengers prefer not to use the app, they can debark traditionally after picking up tags on their own.
The new app-based feature is currently available on Carnival Conquest, Carnival Dream, Carnival Elation, Carnival Sunrise and Mardi Gras; the remainder of the fleet should have it up and running by February 2024.
