dctravel

The only choice when we booked was AI, either alcoholic or non-alcoholic. It wasn't cheap, but it also wasn't over the top, especially because our first two choices were already sold out. We didn't notice a lot of crew, it felt more like we were surrounded by families, many not from a cruise ship. At least one family set on the edge of the club with their own chairs and started to play music. The staff came over unprompted to ask them to lower the volume. It didn't bother us, honestly. I'm used to the beach in NJ (where I grew up) and folks bringing music with them. We talked a bit with folks from the NCL Joy, but there seemed to be very few cruise passengers, comparatively (at least based on towels 🙂).

Thanks. That was my gut. We were in San Juan on Christmas Eve in 2001 and almost nothing was open (except the casino!). Figured it might be similar. Ship excursion it is, if we decide to get off the ship!

We were just in Costa Maya and went to Pez Quadro (we tried to get in at Jamie's Blue Reef first, but they were sold out. Pez Quadro is at the 40 Cannons Hotel. They are AI for alcohol and other drinks and each person gets to order once off their beach club lunch menu (different than the hotel lunch menu). We found it to be a great place. Sure there were vendors walking around, but we just said "no thank you" and they moved on without any bother. The beach was clean, the beer kept coming (or sodas for the kids), and the portions for lunch were big and tasty. I would go again.

Book early when you have made your decision. Several places were sold out when I inquired in early February for our late March cruise (we booked very late for us).

Sorry for the break! Busy weekend prevented me from spending a few minutes to continue my review. Our third port was Cozumel. Anyone who has cruised in the Caribbean has probably been to Cozumel before, and we are no exception. We did Chankanaab with the kids when they were little (4 and 7). It was fun, but we already snorkeled and went to the beach on this cruise. This time, we were looking for something different. Nothing with Carnival was hitting the spot (pun intended, as you will see). In doing research, I read about a Cozumel food tour with Cozumel Chef. After inquiring if our allergies could be handled (they could!), we booked it. What a great tour. We paid online in advance ($90 adult, $80 teen, and $40 child (6-12) and got information from the company about where to meet and when. Just as a note, the tour runs on Cozumel time. For our cruise, Cozumel time and US Central time were the same, so no issues, but if you visit during US standard time, make sure you keep a device on ship time! We met at the Mega Soriana supermarket. This is a short cab ride from Carnival's pier. We had not trouble getting there. We went a bit early so we could explore the grocery store. Glad we did, as I do love grocery stores and see the types of things that are available. Our group had a total of 6 people--the four of us and one other couple who was staying at a resort on the island. Our guide Erin had rented a taxi for the day and off we went into Cozumel. We made a total of 5 stops--two taco shops (first was pork, second was shrimp), the local market, a fish restaurant where we had fried whole snapper and ceviche, and a bakery for dessert. At each stop, we were offered a beverage (soda, locally made drinks, or beer). I drank mostly a local beer that isn't sold in the US (Indio). So good. All of the restaurants we visited were family businesses, often located in the front of a building that also served as the family house. The tour was about 3 hours long, and when we got back to the grocery store, I was able to arrange with the taxi driver to take us back to the port. We then had time to shop before getting back on the ship. We had reservations for Bolt (which hadn't been running all week because of high winds), so we didn't want to miss that!

Our second stop was Costa Maya. This port baffled me at first. The family didn't find any of the Carnival excursions appealing and we were at a loss of what to do. Additionally, because we booked late, several potential activities were sold out. This included renting a golf car. The Red Shirt guys were sold out, as was another company recommended by them when we emailed. Ok, so we weren't renting a golf car. Reading through Cruise Critic and other places, it sounded like a beach day would be a good choice. Resortforaday.com doesn't have any affiliated resorts in Costa Maya, so we started looking into beach clubs in Mahahual, which is a $4pp cab ride from the cruise pier. We first contacted Jamie's Blue Reef--Sold Out. They recommended Maya Chan (farther cab ride), but they were sold out too. Finally, we found Pez Quadro Beach Club at the 40 Cannons Hotel. This was a winner! I emailed them and Francisco got back to me right away. Pez Quadro is all you can drink and a single order off a menu per person. We reserved two Pez Quadro Packs ($95US) and two teen packs ($45US). The difference is that the teen packs do not come with alcohol. All packages come with a lounger and access to the bathrooms at the hotel. You have to bring your own towels from the ship. The total was $280. You pay a 30% deposit by credit card. I asked them to charge me in Pesos, so the bill came to ~$72 on the credit card (with no foreign transaction fee) instead of $80 (savings for me!). You pay the balance ($196US) in case upon arrival. When we got off the ship, the hardest part of the excursion was finding a taxi. Pez Quadro gave us instructions to exist the port area and keep going, but it also looked like the sidewalk ended, so we ended up in the cab line for the port. This was a mistake. We were ignored in the hot sun for about 10 minutes before I listened to my son who saw people walking out of the port and getting cabs farther up. We did that, and were quickly on our way. Took about 15 minutes to get to the hotel. Once we arrived, we asked for Luis, and he showed us to our loungers, showed us the drink menu, how to order food (through him), and took our first drink order. Such a beautiful place. Shallow water, clean. Yes, there are hawkers on the beach, but we just kept saying "no thank you" and they left us alone. Frequent, but not aggressive. After swimming, reading, throwing a ball we brought, it was time for lunch. We flagged down Luis and ordered. My son (dairy free) got chicken tacos, my daughter a chicken quesadilla, and my wife and I each got a nacho/taco combo. The food was quite good. Wish I had grabbed a picture of the menu. This is a different menu than what is available in the hotel restaurant (the food might be the same, but the beach club menu doesn't have prices, one item off the menu is included in the price. Luis kept the drinks flowing the rest of the afternoon. It was easy to order and I enjoyed the Mexican beers! When we were ready to leave, we used the bathrooms to change (not ideal, but workable), the foot shower to wash off the sand, and then the front desk told us to walk half a block to the right to get a taxi. Found one right away (they wait there), and off to the port we went for $4pp. I meant to say this before, but I have never seen such big speed bumps. I cannot image riding over them with a golf cart! Walked through the port shopping for t-shirts, checked out the duty free, and then got back on the ship. It was a really good and relaxing day!

Now I will focus on our ports of call. First, each port morning, we ate in the main dining room. It is our preference for a sit down meal. We checked in on the Hub App and were able to get tables each morning within about 10 minutes. Generally the perfect amount of time to leave our cabin on deck 10 and get down to deck 6 aft to the Pacific Dining Room just as our table was ready! The Jubilee is only doing one itinerary right now--Roatan (Mahogany Bay), Costa Maya, and Cozumel. First time for us to Roatan and Costa Maya. I will each day in a separate post, as I want to include pictures. Roatan We did a Carnival excursion to Maya Key for beach, snorkeling, and lunch. Tickets were delivered to our cabin on the first sea day with a 9:45 meeting time on shore. We got up, had breakfast, collected our stuff (had to bring towels with us) and got off the ship. Was easy to find the signs for Maya Key, we were checked in by the staff, given bracelets, and then led to the boat that would take us to the little island. Maya Key is part of a Honduran national park and was about a 20 minute boat ride from Mahogany Bay (right next to the Coxen Hole cruise port were NCL and RCCL ships were docked). Since we had booked the excursion with snorkeling, we got that equipment for free. You pick up in the gift shop area. Seemed to be in good working order and was clean. We then went down to the beach to find chairs (lots of them all around). There guests from the Jubilee, NCL, and RCCL, but it was not crowded at all. We headed to snorkel first, which is a walk down a long pier. They have tour guides to snorkel, so we follow one of the guides. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see much as my son had a problem with his mask. Before you get in the water, they spray it with a cleaner, and we didn't rinse it enough. He got some in his eyes and it burned a bunch. My wife and daughter did the tour and saw all kinds of fish. They took my son back out later and he borrowed the mask I was given. He ended up having a great time. The island has a protected beach area, a cash bar, and then a buffet lunch. Our tickets got us one pass through the buffet line. It was BBQ chicken, fried fish, salad, and rice and beans. It was fine. Nothing outstanding, but it did the job. Local beers are $4, sodas are $3, other drinks are more. I got two of the three local beers to try. While the family went snorkeling again after lunch, I took the tour of the replica Mayan ruins and the rescue zoo they have on the island (monkeys, a sloth, birds, a panther). These animals were all either confiscated at the airport or donated to the park because the owners couldn't take care of them anymore. It was a bit hokey, but also informative. After snorkeling and handing out a bit more, it was time to go back to the ship. Easy ride back and a great view of the Jubilee from the water. We shopped a bit and then got back on the ship!

First time cruising to the Mexican Rivera. We are scheduled to be in Ensenada on Christmas Day. Strikes me as a potentially difficult day to visit, especially if thinking about a non-cruise line (Carnival for us) excursion. Does anyone have experience visiting Ensenada on Christmas Day and have thoughts on ship v. private tour? I'm leaning toward cruise line for ease based on the holiday, but would love to know what other people have experienced! Thanks, dctravel

Assuming there is availability, you can wait until you are on the ship to ask to change, but no guarantees at that point.

You are correct. You place yourself in the virtual queue on the Hub App. Very easy. The App also tells you how long the wait is at that point in time. We used it each morning for breakfast and dinner in the Main Dining Room. Never had more than a 15-20 minute wait on the app, which was almost always shorter. When you check in, you tell the app who from your party is dining and whether you want a table for just you or with others. When your table is ready, you get an alert on the Hub app that gives you your table number. You show that to the restaurant host, and someone will walk you to your table.

The night we went, there wasn't specific dancing, probably because of the Lone Star Tailgate Challenge thing. There is a small space where people could dance (where the metal long horn is in my picture). It is between the band, the picnic tables in the aft of the space, and the buffet (used for breakfast and for servers who serve for the Pig & Anchor dinner).

They are free for anyone (at least the first time on MG and Celebration, right now for any number of visits on Jubilee), but if you have fixed dining, you cannot go till after 7:30 or 7:45 (like mz-s stated). If you have YTD, you can go anytime by making a reservation on the Hub App. 2nd visit is charged, unless you are on Jubilee during its inaugural season (again, unsure when that ends).

New to Celebrity and sailing Solstice in July. I see now that I can make dining reservations, but how do we know what time shows might be when choosing? Seems like it’s a bit of a guess when booking without knowing the event schedules. Am I missing something?

You were not charged for the second Cucuina visit in Jubilee bc it is currently free for all visits. That is scheduled to change once the inaugural season is over (not sure when that is) to the same policy as on Mardi Gras and Celebration—first visit is complementary, second or more visits are charged.

A few more notes from the first couple of sea days: 1. We saw Dear Future Husband the first night. It was very good. Really enjoyed the mixture of a basic story (wedding on a cruise ship) with pop music. Didn't love having to line up to get into the theater (which seats 900 Cruise Director Louie told us on the last sea day), especially because the main entrances are only on desk 7, which means lining up in the casino. Two shows are offered, and the show was offered later in the week too. 2. Don't sleep on the performances in the Center Stage area (midship on 6, 7, and 8). On the second evening we caught Viva Variety! with Michael Wordly. He is a former Fun Squad member and quite talented. Enjoyed hearing his story through song. Also saw PG comedy in the limelight lounge. You have to line up for that too, but at least there is no casino smoke! 3. On the second sea day evening, we ended up in the Pig & Anchor (see a theme developing here) to see the Backyard Band. They are really quite good and play a mix of rock and roll and pop music. While they took a break, we ended up watching/participating in the third and fourth quarters of the Lone Star Tailgate, run by the fun squad. The third quarter was a funny "throw the rings on a long horn cow (made of metal)'s horns" and the fourth quarter was a hot wing eating contest (watched that one, didn't participate). The exact kind of goofy fun we love about Carnival!

Glad you had a great time! I found Galveston so easy. We will definitely consider it again :).

My 16 year old just slept in one on the Carnival Jubilee. She had no complaints, other than her brother taking away the ladder once as a joke while she was up there (dad to the rescue on that one!).

Since I posted about food onboard yesterday, for this post, I want to focus on activities, especially during the sea days. As I noted above, my son is an early riser, so most mornings I will get up with him (Although not as early as he is up!) and explore the ship. The first sea day, we instructed him to wake me up no earlier than 8:30, so that's what he did. I'm fine with that! We got up, went up to Lido for coffee (for me, juice for him), and then hit the links. This mini-golf course is very nice and challenging. There are some wacky holes that will return your ball to you, etc... It was fun!. The course is nine holes at the very back of deck 17. The golf balls and clubs are right there and you can choose from various colors and sizes. Keep in mind that the golf balls are very light, so don't hit them too hard! After that first round of golf, we went to find food, or as we called it "First Breakfast" (we had instructions not to wake up mom and sister before 10 am for the Sea Day Brunch). We wandered the ship a bit and found ourselves at the breakfast buffet in the Pig & Anchor. There were eggs, breakfast potatoes, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and other stuff (cereal, yogurt). It was a good spread. Got some eggs, potatoes, and bacon (bacon was served by a staff member), but not too much. We didn't want to spoil our second breakfast in the dining room! All was tasty, except the eggs. We both found them a bit runny and sorta tasteless. Oh well! No loss, we weren't hungry anymore 🙂. Sea Day Brunch remains one of my favorite meals on a ship. It's so relaxing. We checked in on the Hub app and had a table just about 10 minutes later. Super easy. Sea Day Brunch is in the Pacific Dining Room 6 Aft. Honestly, I had the same thing every day for breakfast (veggie omelet, no cheese, hash browns, bacon), but others in the family mixed it up. After lunch, we kept exploring on sea day 1 and on sea day 2 the family went to play games with the fun squad and I took the brewery tour. The brewery tour is $30 and you sign up at the Pig & Anchor bar. The tour was with the head Brew master for all of Carnival, Mike, who is also the current brew master on the Jubilee. We tasted 5 different beers (liberal pours), got a tour of the brewhouse (which is behind the Pig & Anchor Bar), got a souvenir glass (was supposed to be a pint glass, but they were out, so we got cool Red Frog Tiki rocks glasses) and coupon for a free beer redeemable at the Pig & Anchor bar. All in all, it was a lot of fun and I thought a good deal. Each afternoon, we found chairs on deck 17 (mostly on the sides), rode the water slides, talked, and read, with more snacks in between (see food post above). We also had reservations for Bolt on the second sea day, but it was too windy. Once Carnival cancelled the ride, we were refunded immediately and then made reservations for sail away time in Cozumel (all through the HUB app). Ropes were also closed this day because of the wind. It was really howling. Looked on the cabin TV once and it showed 50 knot winds. Yikes! Considering the winds, the ship wasn't moving very much. Remarkable job by the Captian!

That's great! If you choose her, you will have a great time. There is really something for everyone. It is a big ship, but didn't always feel big, at least to us. We have been in Harmony of the Seas, and this felt way more compact than that!

As of the March 23 sailing, yes. The Jubilee merchandise was in the fun shop between the Guest Services desk and the Pig & Anchor brewery/restaurant on deck 8 aft.

Any hotel you are comfortable with in the French Quarter, Central Business District (CBD), or Warehouse District is a good location to get to the cruise terminals (assuming Julia Street or Erato Street. The City of New Orleans has a flat fare to and from the cruise terminals. The fare is TO OR FROM CRUISE SHIP INCLUDING ALL LUGGAGE $14.00-ONE PASSENGER, 2 OR MORE PASSENGERS-$8.00 PER PERSON OR THE METER FARE (whichever greater) https://nola.gov/next/ground-transportation-bureau/topics/new-orleans-taxicab-rates/

I tend to agree with Ashland. Recent years have shown that prices when the schedule release tend to be a bit better than prices later. Flying to Orlando can be expensive at anytime of year, but especially during school breaks. I had to fly my daughter to Orlando over President's Day weekend for a convention and paid nearly $750 round trip on SW. I was shocked how expensive it was. I'm in a similar boat (pun intended) for Christmas break this year. We are going to do a ship out of Long Beach and go to Disneyland afterwards. Prices to fly from the east coast to LA are very high right now. Trying to decide if I'm comfortable with these prices or wait a bit and see what happens. Don't know what I will do! dctravel

The itinerary of the Jubilee is currently the same every week--two sea days, Roatan, Costa Maya, Cozumel, and then one sea day back to Galveston. I will use this post to talk about the first two sea days. First, WOW! This ship is gigantic. We got a sense of size on the first day as we were wandering around in awe. The last ship we sailed was the Carnival Magic (and the biggest for my kids). This is so much bigger. As a result, there is always something going on that is interesting and there are so many places to eat! Eating first (isn't that what everyone does on a cruise!). We had Guys on embarkation day, so we worked to try some of the other venues. I don't remember the exact order we ate things, but we had: - Shaq's Big Chicken (deck 16 aft). So impressive. This was my daughters favorite. I loved it too, especially when I discovered that they had grilled chicken as an option (just ask for it. They keep it in a hot box under the counter). So good, loved the fires! We also saw that there are land-based locations, including in Baltimore. Might need to take a road trip to compare 🙂. --Shawarma (Lido Marketplace). So excited when I read this was on the ship. Tried it one of the first two sea days. Got the mix of chicken and lamb/beef. So flavorful with the garlic mayo sauce and the spicy sauce. Small portions, get two. -Street Eats (desk 16 mid, near the pool). Such a cool concept. Not everything here was a hit with my crew. Depended on the ingredients. We really liked the dumplings, tater tots with shredded pork (and other things), sweet potato fries, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. - Costal Slice (Pizza deck 8). Unlike past ships, this pizza kept up with demand. They were constantly cooking and serving. Tried the BBQ Chicken, while, and regular cheese. Liked all three! --Beach Buns (sandwiches Deck 8 )- Good looking sandwiches! I've not been a fan of the Carnival deli in the past, so this was a big step up. My son had turkey on the pretzel bun. He really liked it. It comes with potato chips, a rarity on cruise ships! -- Cucina del Capitano (8 mid) - We tried this for lunch. Custom bowls of pasta, pizzas, and appetizers. We split two pizzas and each got a pasta bowl. This was a miss for my family. First, the pizza at Coastal slice is better, second the completely screwed up my sons pasta (put cheese on it) and when they tried to correct it, they overcorrected by giving him gluten free pasta without cheese. They staff just didn't understand how to handle his allergy. He got safe food, but certainly not what he thought he was going to get. BlueIguana Cantina (deck 16 mid). Still a classic. They do such a good job with these burritos and tacos. Guys Pig & Anchor (8 aft). Buffett is outside during the day. Kept meaning to eat lunch there, only to be distracted by other options. My son had the beans (with burnt ends) one day as a snack and loved them. Activity wise, my son is an early riser, so he had I played mini-golf each sea day morning before waking up the girls for breakfast. We then generally did activities in the morning (trivia, games with the fun squad) before lunch and then sitting out around the ship (often on deck 17 on the side of the ship) and riding the water slides (LOVED the blue slide with the mat to lay on).

More on embarkation day: The boys in my family have allergies, so we had emailed with Carnival's Guest Access team prior to our cruise. Unfortunately, we don't have the same allergies, so it can get a bit complicated. Thankfully, neither one of us is anaphylactic or affected by cross-contamination, so we have some flexibility as to where we can eat and the questions we ask. I am allergic to beans and soy flour (but not to other forms of soy) and my son is dairy free. We like to eat breakfast in the dining room each day, lunch out and about on the ship, and dinner in the main dining room. We find this meets our needs of flexibility for lunch (since cross-contamination isn't an issue) and ordering ahead for diner, which gives us access to dessert, which is hard elsewhere around the ship. When we got onboard and had lunch, we went to the Pacific dining room to talk with them about the allergies, our anytime dining, and to order for that nights dinner. They took our allergy information and had us order for the first nights dinner. This turned out to be both good and bad. It was good because my son was able to get exactly what he wanted for dinner, including dessert (started with dairy free chocolate melting cake!), but not great for me. It turns out that the woman who took down our information wrote down that I was allergic to all soy, so it meant that anything that had soy sauce or soy oil was deemed off limits for me. As a result, I had ordered the Emeril's salmon for the first night, and it came completely different that what was on the menu. It was still tasty, but not what I had expected. I shrugged it off to the first day, as it often takes time to adjust to different allergy needs, but the same thing happened the next night too, as I got steak with no sauce. At that point, I was frustrated, but also had figured out what was happening. We were able to talk with the assistant Maitre'd (Ram) and the Maitre D' (Bernard) and they re-coded my allergy correctly. For the rest of the cruise, I got my food as it appeared on the menu, with very limited substitutions. My issues the first two evenings also resulted in us getting a reserved table (#800) with Yoga and his wonderful service team. We were in the very aft of the ship by the window and each of our remaining diners was great as a result of the consistency. No matter when we showed up for dinner, that table was ours and Yoga and his team knew exactly how to help us :). For breakfast, we did not order ahead, but rather just checked in on the app like everyone else for Sea Day brunch or port day breakfast. We sat with a variety of server teams, but were also assisted by Dusan (a manager for special food needs) and his friend Maid ("Big Daddy"). They stopped by each day to check on us and often took our orders. They were both outstanding. I was very happy with the quality of food in the main dining room (as was everyone else in my family), although the variety appears to be a little less (choice wise) than before the pandemic.

It was our first time too. We always have done either Florida (love Ft. Lauderdale) or New Orleans. When we booked for this trip (after having to cancel an oversees, non-cruise related adventure), it was late January. Prices out of Florida were nuts, both for cruise fares and for flights. Flying to Houston was about half the price of flying to Florida!!! Plus, the cruise fare on the Jubilee was more reasonable than ships out of Florida. Our travel agent (who is based in Florida) double checked my research and confirmed what I was seeing. She was surprised by the "deal" especially so close to the sail date. Of course, this meant we had to pay in full right away, but it also meant we were locked in and ready to go! I was initially intimidated by having to get from Hobby to Galveston. In Orlando, I just rent a car one way, but that seemed hard in Galveston. Shuttle was a good choice for us. As I'll talk about at the end, we also had trouble finding the Galveston Limo shuttle back to Hobby, but that was a misunderstanding on my part as one driver told me to look for a small mini-bus, but it was actually a full size coach that went to Hobby first and the to Bush-Intercontinental (IAH). One note on Galveston Limo, they also run the shuttles for Carnival (and Royal Caribbean), so you hire them independently, you need to make sure find the right vehicle. That was why I got confused, but the drivers have the list of their passengers, so they can verify you are in the right place!