Key Aspects:
- Carnival Jubilee will begin regularly sailing 4- and 5-night cruises from Galveston as part of Carnival’s newly opened 2028-29 Texas schedule.
- These shorter cruises mark a major shift for Carnival’s newest and largest ship, which has primarily operated weeklong voyages from Galveston.
- The move follows a wider trend of cruise lines deploying newer mega-ships on shorter itineraries, including Royal Caribbean’s Utopia of the Seas and Carnival’s own Mardi Gras.
Carnival Cruise Line’s newest and largest ship will soon be available for shorter getaways. The cruise line announced that Carnival Jubilee is set to begin regularly sailing 4- and 5-night cruises from Galveston in 2028.
Bookings for 2028-29 sailings from the Texas port were opened by Carnival on September 17, 2026. As part of this season, the cruise line has introduced two new shorter itinerary options for the 5,362-passenger Excel-class ship.
The ship will operate 4-night Western Caribbean sailings, visiting Cozumel, Mexico and featuring two sea days. The cruise line currently has 20 departure dates between April 27, 2028 and April 26, 2029 available for booking.
Meanwhile, 5-night Western Caribbean voyages will call at Cozumel and Progreso. Currently, 42 of these 5-night sailings are available for booking, with departure dates between April 17, 2028 and April 30, 2029.
Longer sailings on Jubilee aren’t going away entirely, but they will be greatly reduced. One 6-night sailing has also been made available, leaving Galveston on October 29, 2028. This sailing visits Cozumel and Isla Tropicale, Carnival’s private destination in Roatan (formerly Mahogany Bay), before returning to Galveston on November 4, 2028.
Two longer 8-night sailings have also hit the market. The first, departing April 1, 2028, visits Celebration Key, RelaxAway Half Moon Cay, and Nassau. The second, departing April 9, 2028, visits Cozumel, Isla Tropicale, and Montego Bay. There were no 7-night sailings in the released schedule.
Carnival Jubilee is Carnival’s newest ship and the third vessel in the Excel Class, following Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration. The 183,521-gross-ton ship has homeported in Galveston since it debuted in December 2023.
These new itineraries come just days after Carnival opened bookings for its upcoming fifth Excel-class ship, Carnival Tropicale, which will also homeport in Galveston. When the ship debuts in 2028, it will sail similar 4- to 8-night itineraries from the Texas port, visiting the Bahamas, Caribbean, and Mexico.
Mega-Ships Moving Toward Shorter Getaways
Carnival Jubilee won’t be the first Excel-class vessel to move into the short-cruise market, as Cruise Hive has previously reported. In August 2025, the cruise line announced that the 180,800-gross-ton Mardi Gras would begin 4- and 5-night cruises from Port Canaveral in May 2027.
At the time, Carnival noted that Mardi Gras was the largest ship in its fleet to sail short cruises. That distinction will pass to Carnival Jubilee when its shorter itineraries begin in 2028.
Other cruise lines have also been moving larger mega-ships into the short-cruise market. Royal Caribbean introduced the 236,473-gross-ton Utopia of the Seas in 2024 specifically with this market in mind.
The massive Oasis Class ship operates 3- and 4-night sailings from Port Canaveral, marketed around quick weekend getaways. Short cruises then expanded to other ships in the fleet for the 2026-27 season, including Utopia’s Oasis Class sisters, Wonder of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas, and Oasis of the Seas.
The addition of Carnival Jubilee continues this broad shift toward offering some of the industry’s largest ships on shorter itineraries. With both Mardi Gras and Jubilee moving into the market, Carnival is following Royal Caribbean’s lead in making its newest generation of mega-ships available on shorter getaways.
