Said no one on the Carnival Jubilee. The Jubilee is one of the biggest ships in the Carnival family of ships, holding over 6600 passengers when at maximum capacity. The ship is beautiful, the ship is big, the ship is not for me. Let me tell you why and you can decide if you would like to sail on the Jubliee.
Embarkation was a nightmare. We were fortunate to have priority embarkation because we had booked an excel suite. Priority didn’t alleviate the stress of embarkation. Long lines, disorganization, and once we got on the ship the wait for the elevators was long. Grade: F
Our cabin was very spacious. We had lots of storage space, a large shower, a wrap around balcony, and plenty of space to move around. If you are going to book this type of suite, try to get one at the back of the ship. The wind was so strong we never got to enjoy the large balcony. B+
The staff we encountered was amazing. Our waiter in the main dining room was fabulous and there was another team member that cleaned the smoking deck that I absolutely loved. They both addressed us by name, which is pretty impressive considering how many people they serve everyday. A+ for these two.
The food was a total letdown. We heard multiple times how great the food was onboard and were excited to try everything. Unfortunately we didn’t find anything that wowed us. The buffet breakfast was horrific. I felt like I was eating a continental breakfast at a hotel chain. Guy’s Burgers and Shaq’s Chicken were mediocre. Dinner in the main dining room was not good. I never finished a single course at any of the dinners and most of the time I would take a bite or two and push it aside. We did eat at the Italian restaurant one night and the arancini was delicious, but my pasta dish fell short. Overall the food selection was a D at best.
The pool on the lido deck was always busy, so we opted to go to Loft 19 to enjoy some peace and quiet. I highly recommend booking a room with this amenity. We chose not to book a cabana (they were very pricey), but found plenty of open chairs. The attendants were very friendly at Loft 19. A+
There are plenty of shows to see onboard. From Family Feud, to comedy shows, to music, the Jubilee has a little bit of everything. We did see a few shows which were average in my opinion. I can’t give a grade in this category because there were so many other show we didn’t see, I don’t think it’s fair based on the few shows we saw.
If you have cruised before, you know you have limited time in each port. We booked an excursion in Roatan, which was the first port. We got to interact with monkeys, sloths, iguanas, and parrots. I highly recommend this excursion. Our tour guide for the monkeys, sloths, and parrots was amazing. We booked this excursion through Carnival, so there was no worry that the ship would leave us if the excursion got back late. In Costa Maya we just shopped at the port. The food was disappointing. I feel like everything was Americanized and we never got any good Mexican food at any of the ports. Port 3 was Cozumel. Here we went to Mr. Sancho’s. Once again the food was a letdown and there were a ton of people here. There were two other Carnival ships in port that day, so there were thousands of people in port.
Needless to say we were glad to get home. Both of us decided a cruise is not for us. We would rather have more time at our destinations and the cost versus what we got didn’t weigh out for us to do it again. This being said, a cruise may be something you would love to do. If you decide to go, I suggest starting off on a smaller ship. Also, check out my “Cruise Must Haves” in my Amazon Favorites.
I’ve already starting looking for what to do on our next vacation. I think we will probably stay in the US. If anyone has any suggestions, please comment here. We do like beaches and the food options are very important to us.
Sweet Peas In Summer 