Carnival Jubilee’s current sailing just started with a bang – literally.
The 7-night Western Caribbean Cruise kicked off from the port of Galveston, Texas, on Saturday, March 1, 2025.
But while the newest ship in Carnival’s fleet was still docked, a small boat accidentally collided with the side of it – scratching the 182,800-gross ton vessel near her bow.
It’s unclear why the small boat hit the ship, but witnesses said that it seemed like the smaller vessel seemed to sail directly into the side of the largest Carnival Cruise ship.
“Honestly though, how do you hit that?” an onlooker asked in a video showing the aftermath of the collision.
“I don’t know. He went, like, straight into it…I think he went, like, curved, and went, like, straight into it,” someone else replied.
As local reports showed the forecast in Galveston to be sunny with low winds – and even the video showed sunshine with only small waves on the water’s surface – this likely wasn’t a situation where the conditions caused the sailors to lose control.
It’s more likely that something would have gone wrong onboard the smaller craft that led to the collision – such as a piece of equipment malfunctioning – but the reason is currently unknown.
After the crash, the smaller boat’s mast seemed to get temporarily stuck under Carnival Jubilee’s bow.
But with the help of experts onboard a pilot boat, the smaller vessel was able to maneuver away from the cruise ship. Thankfully, early reports indicate that no one was injured in the incident.
It’s unclear what damage the privately owned boat may have sustained – but it was still upright in the witness recorded videos and the collision seemed to occur at low speeds.
Cruise Hive reached out to Carnival Cruise Line for comment, and will update this article when we receive their statement.
Is the Itinerary Impacted?
Aside from a scratch – which appears to just be cosmetic – Carnival Jubilee seems to have made it back to sea mostly unscathed.
According to cruise tracking data, the 2023-launched ship departed the Galveston Cruise Port on time on March 1 – setting sail at approximately 4 p.m. CST.
At the time of this writing, she is sailing at standard speeds – of around 16 knots (or 18 miles per hour) – as she heads toward her first port of call.
For context, her average speed is 17 knots, but she can sail at speeds of up to 23 knots per hour. The sailing will first visit Roatan, Honduras, before calling on Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico.
Per posts from Cruise Director Kyndall “Fire” Magyar, who is onboard for her final sailing before going on break from March 8 – May 17, 2025, it’s business as usual for the up to 5,374 guests.
On the same day as the collision, she shared footage of her final sailaway party (for now) – which appeared just as lively and entertaining as ever.
While it may be a coincidence, the caption of the video might be a nod to the events of the day.
“It’s almost Vacation Time! One last cruise and we are gonna go out with a BANG!,” she wrote with the clip.
Read Also: From Mishaps to Maydays – Cruise Ship Accidents
At the end of the day, it’s good news that no people were injured and the damage is minimal – allowing the fun to continue onboard the Fun Ship without interruption. But while collisions like this are rare, they do happen from time to time.
Most recently, a small yacht crashed into Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas while the Oasis-class ship was docked in Nassau, Bahamas, in December of 2024.
According to guests who were onboard the 6,780-guest ship at the time, the unidentified yacht lost power and drifted into the ship’s stern – thankfully at a low speed.
While the mega-ship left the incident unharmed, the yacht couldn’t say the same – with the crash resulting in a broken mast.
