We were onboard by 11 AM and we went all the way to the top: Deck 18. Angie was going to film while areas weren't yet too busy. We've been on sister ships Mardi Gras and Celebration, so the layout of the ship is similar. But there are always tweaks you see. Especially with the third ship in a class. One big difference is we noticed a lot of different furniture that made venues either look smaller or larger. For example, Emeril's quick service restaurant had a series of large booths for seating. Those are gone and replaced by relatively simple tables, greatly expanding the seating capacity for this popular restaurant.
We also had some lunch!! A great chicken shawarma with a deliciously spicy sauce!!
As we were touring we also found one of our favorite bartenders we had met on the Venezia in July 2023. Ivana was working at the Pig & Anchor Brewhouse on this ship. We went back to our cabin to rest and unpack. And do some laundry!!
Angie had booked a massage appointment for 3 PM so while she did that, I checked out the pizza!! For science, of course!! Mardia Gras had a New Orleans theme. Celebration was a tribute to Carnival's 50th anniversary so it had a Miami theme having some slices with a Cuban twist. Jubilee's theme is a little bit of Texas with a smidgen of the ocean. The specialty pies are a TexMex and BBQ Chicken. I asked for a slice of each but they didn't have any ready so I went with my old staple the Four Cheese!! I'll definitely try the new ones sometime during the cruise.
Angie and I met back at the cabin for sailaway and then got ready for dinner. We headed to Pig & Anchor to chat with Ivana. There are some Texas laws that prevent the sale of any liquor or beer that isn't provided by a local distributor. So for about the first couple of hours until you leave Texas water, the brands sold are limited. All the other spirits are locked up and only a small lineup is presented for what you can choose. Thankfully we could get a Bombay and Tonic. We chatted with Ivana for a while. She isn't a fan of these big ships. The bar she works at is all the way aft on Deck 8. Her cabin is all the way forward. When she gets her hour break she has to account for the twenty minute round trip walk. She much prefers the smaller ships for that reason. She also told us her next contract will be her last one. We remembered her telling us she has some young children. It is a hard life that the crew chooses. And I think it used to be that some of them had these jobs for "life". I remember chatting with many older crew over the years. And you still see that. But more recently I've seen crew that have decided they only need to do these jobs for a few years, get enough money saved up and then spend quality time with their families.
Carnival has a fantastic HUB app where you can do a virtual check-in for dinner. You enter that you're ready to eat and then are given an approximate wait time. When your table is ready, there is a notification in the app with the table number and you head to the restaurant. We had checked in while chatting with Ivana and headed to the restaurant. Quickly sat down and ordered. Had a delicious tomato soup, vegetable Wellington and pappardelle with braised lamb. Angie had the same soup and a BBQ salmon that was a recipe from Emeril Lagasse.
All very good. Especially impressed with the vegetable Wellington. A nice flaky crust filled with flavorful veggies including peppers, zucchini and eggplant. It was a playful twist on a vegetable lasagna. No dessert.
After dinner we headed to Grand Central which is a midship stage the ship uses for some shows. They had the ship's orchestra playing some crowd favorites along with three singers. They had a very fun brass section who had their own dance moves.
We then headed to the main theater for a show called "Dear Future Husband". The theme was a couple was getting married on a cruise ship!! How convenient!! A really talented cast, especially the singers.
It was a collection of fun songs including an energetic finale of "Shut Up and Dance" by Walk Off The Moon. I really enjoyed it. What surprised me the most is that the theater was almost completely filled. Yet there were hardly any people clapping or singing or really doing anything except staring. And I thought this was supposed to be a FUN ship. Strange behavior. Maybe people were tired? But why show up for a 9:30 show? Maybe they'll regroup today.
Today we don't have much planned. We may just enjoy the cabin, order some room service and watch a few movies. Our big event tonight is Chef's Table. We've done that in several ships before and Carnival really does it the best. On Celebration the dinner takes place in a special dining room they built inside the galley. And it's the same on this ship. Looking forward to that again.
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