Carnival's biggest Texas-based ship has finally tied up at the line's own Bahamian playground. The Carnival Jubilee made its maiden call at Celebration Key, the cruise line's private resort development on Grand Bahama, on 22 September 2026, marking the occasion from the bridge with Captain Andrea Catalani, senior officers and local Bahamian pilots alongside.
The visit formed part of Jubilee's first Bahamas cruise, an eight-night sailing from Galveston that packs in three stops in the country: Celebration Key, the capital Nassau, and RelaxAway at Half Moon Cay, Carnival's quiet, beach-fringed private island. The ship is splitting its schedule from here, alternating those eight-night Bahamas itineraries with six-night runs to the Western Caribbean.
There's more Texas-to-Bahamas capacity on the way, too. Carnival has confirmed that the Carnival Tropicale, a 183,900-ton Excel-class ship currently being built at the Meyer Werft yard in Germany, will homeport in Galveston for its maiden season from April 2028. It's slated for four- to eight-night cruises, with the longer sailings calling at Celebration Key, RelaxAway at Half Moon Cay and Nassau. Once Tropicale takes over the weeklong duty, Jubilee will pivot to shorter cruises from Texas for the first time, mixing four- to eight-night trips to Mexico and the Western Caribbean with stops such as Progreso.
For anyone in the middle of the US who doesn't live near a Florida port, this matters. Galveston has quietly become a serious alternative homeport, and these itineraries let travellers from Texas and surrounding states reach the Bahamas without flying to Miami or Port Canaveral first. Celebration Key, meanwhile, is Carnival's purpose-built answer to the private-destination race — a full beach day built around a huge lagoon, and a genuinely easy day ashore if you want sun, food and water activities without negotiating a strange port town.
A practical note for planners: the eight-night Bahamas sailings give you three very different days — a build-it-yourself beach day at Celebration Key, a proper city stop in Nassau, and a laid-back island day at Half Moon Cay. Booking shore experiences at the private destinations in advance is worth doing, as the most popular lagoon and beach add-ons sell out. And with Tropicale joining in 2028, expect Galveston sailings to book up fast once itineraries open for sale.
