caribbean carnival cruise jubilee
Carnival Cruise

Carnival Cuts First Steel on Next Caribbean Cruise Ship 

By: Caribbean Journal Staff - March 21, 2022

Carnival Cruise Line has cut the first steel on its newest cruise ship: Carnival Jubilee. 

The new ship, which is being built at Meyer Werft in Papenberg, Germany, is slated to debut in November 2023 in Galveston, Tex. 

The news comes as Carnival marks the brand’s 50th anniversary this year. 

“It’s our birthday and with [the] steel cutting for Carnival Jubilee, this is a great way to honor the accomplishments of Carnival Cruise Line’s first 50 years and to celebrate the excitement ahead,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. 

The 182,800-ton ship is part of Carnival’s Excel class. 

“This is the first ship Meyer Werft is building for Carnival Cruise Line and the first time a ship design has been transferred from Meyer Turku to Meyer Werft, which shows our flexibility,” said Jan Meyer, Meyer Werft’s managing director.

Jubilee will be the sister ship to the recently-launched Mardi Gras, which sails out of Cape Canaveral, Fla. 

Like Mardi Gras and other Excel-class ships, Jubilee will run on liquefied natural gas. 

The ship’s first voyages will include seven-day itineraries to the Western Caribbean, including stops in Cozumel, Roatan and Mexico’s Costa Maya port. 

Popular Posts caribbean travel

The Caribbean Travel Awards 2025

More than 32 million people visited the Caribbean in 2023, and that number should be eclipsed by the end of this year. In other words, the Caribbean is more popular than ever — deepening its position not just as the world’s […]


Aruba’s New Adults-Only Resort Has Swim-Up Suites, a Rooftop Bar and One of the World’s Greatest Beaches 

eagle beach cj photo

Eagle Beach. If you know Aruba, you know it. That wide, white, shimmering stretch of sand in the northwestern corner of the island is one of our favorite beaches in the Caribbean — and inarguably among the best beaches, well, anywhere […]


Royalton Just Reopened These Punta Cana All-Inclusive Resorts After a $32 Million Upgrade 

punta cana all-inclusive royalton

One is family-friendly. The other is an adults-only escape. They’re both part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, both set on a beautiful stretch of beach in Punta Cana.  And they both just reopened after a sweeping $32 million upgrade.  The adjacent […]


Related Posts jamaica negril

Slight Decline for Caribbean Hotel Occupancy in Shoulder Season 

Caribbean hotel occupancy declined for the second straight month in November, according to new data from analytics from STR.  The region’s hotels were 66.8 percent full last month, a 1.4 percent reduction from the same month in 2023.  Average daily […]


Caribbean Moment: On the Beach on Stocking Island, Exuma 

exuma beach

If you’ve been to Exuma, you know. The water, the beach. It’s, well, it’s pure heaven. And one of our favorite corners of the Exuma chain is the little island of Stocking Island right off the coast of George Town.  […]


Caribbean Airlines Is Bringing Back Its Flights from Fort Lauderdale to Montego Bay, Jamaica 

caribbean airlines montego bay

For years, it was one of the most popular routes to the Caribbean island of Jamaica: Caribbean Airlines’ nonstop service between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood and Montego Bay’s Sangster International Airport.  But since before the pandemic, travelers looking to hop on Caribbean […]