Carnival Jubilee Adds New Spaces and Events for Younger Cruisers

Carnival Jubilee‘s inaugural sailing is just weeks away, yet we’re still learning more about this new ship. While the Jubilee will mostly be like its sister ships, Mardi Gras and Celebration, it’ll have some unique aspects. Today, Carnival provided insight into some of the new family fun that will be onboard. 

Bring your own sea creatures to life in the Currents Zone

In the Currents Zone of the Jubilee, kids will be able to draw their own undersea creatures and watch them come to life. Using LED technology, these virtual portholes will show a peek deep into the ocean to see the unique sea life they’ve created. This area will be where the Carnival historical porthole dioramas are located on the Carnival Celebration. 

Night Owls Camp Out

While there are plenty of activities to keep adults entertained at night on a Carnival ship, kid-friendly programming is a bit light. On Jubilee, they’re adding a new Night Owls Camp Out program. This program will challenge kids with outdoor-themed challenges like cornhole, horseshoes, fort building, and even an obstacle course. The event will also have dance parties, giveaways, and crafts, according to the Carnival release. 

Virtual Space Capsule and expanded Space Cruises Program

Carnival worked with the Kennedy Space Center to bring a new high-tech piece into Camp Ocean. They developed a control console for a space capsule where young explorers can pilot their way through space. The vibrant LED screens and realistic controls make this attraction look like something out of Disney World. Cruisers 2 – 11 will also get to do activities like building and racing Marcs Rovers, designing and testing bridges, and playing space-themed bingo.

New toddler playground in the Ultimate Playground

The Ultimate Playground on the Jubilee has a lot of fun stuff to keep kids entertained: a ropes course, minigolf, large waterslides, a splash park, and even a roller coaster, but not much of it is suitable for younger cruisers. To fix that, Carnival is introducing a new dry playground for toddlers in the Ultimate Playground area. 

This space-themed playground is based on Planet Play, the fully immersive play experience located at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. This area will allow kids to run around and explore “space.” The playground will be added after launch, and it is not yet shown on the Jubilee deck plans. 

New and supersized Dr. Seuss Events

Carnival is known for its popular Dr Seuss Breakfast, where the dining room comes to life with characters from Dr Seuss booked, and guests can enjoy food like green eggs and ham. 

Starting on January 6th, 2024, Carnival will be changing this event up a bit. The event will become a birthday party led by Thing 1 and Thing 2. This reimagined event will bring new menus, activities, and music. This new breakfast will debut on the Jubilee before rolling out fleetwide. 

Starting on the February 17th sailing, the Seuss-a-palooza Parade will get a new character, Fox in Socks. The parade will flow through the Currents zone, where the giant LED screens will immerse the guests in the underwater world of Dr Seuss. 

Lastly, Seuss-a-palooza Story Time will feature the classic book Green Eggs & Ham, which the ship’s Cruise Director will host. Carnival describes this event as an “interactive and immersive story time, where scenes from the book come to life, it will engage the whole family like never before.”

Our take: Carnival is really upping the game for young cruisers

While Carnival has long been known as one of the best family cruise lines, Royal Caribbean has been pushing their new ship, Icon of the Seas, as the “ultimate family vacation.” These refreshes and additions continue Carnival’s tradition of exciting entertainment for young cruisers.

It’s also great to see Carnival add a dry play area for younger cruisers. These cruisers are often too young for many of the more exciting activities on the ship, and they just want somewhere to run around and get their energy out. We saw Royal Caribbean do something similar with the Playscape area on Wonder of the Seas and Utopia of the Seas.