Luxury Cruising Editorial

Carnival Cruise Line sent out an update today about two of their cruise ships that are scheduled to leave out of Galveston, Texas tomorrow.

While both cruises will depart on time on their original schedules, Carnival Cruise Line gave cruisers on one of the ships a heads up about conditions that they can expect at one of the terminals.

Terminal 28 in Galveston has limited air conditioning after Hurricane Beryl passed through several days ago. Carnival is advising their guests that temperatures in the terminal may be in their words, “less than ideal”.

They are asking guests sailing on Carnival Dream to adhere to their pre-selected arrival times. Carnival Dream will be departing from Terminal 28.  Guests who arrive before their scheduled times will be turned away and asked to come back.

The two updates that Carnival Cruise Line sent out this evening about their cruises out of Galveston are as follows:

Carnival Dream 07/13/2024

“The ship will depart tomorrow as scheduled from Terminal 28. Areas of the terminal remain without air conditioning and the temperature may be less than ideal during check-in.”

“So, to ensure a smooth embarkation, please adhere to your pre-selected terminal arrival appointment. Guests who arrive earlier will be asked to return later. Remember you must be on board by the final boarding time printed on your boarding pass. See you soon!”

Carnival Dream is sailing an eight night cruise to Florida and The Bahamas with port stops in Key West, Freeport, Half Moon Cay, and Nassau.

Carnival Jubilee 07/13/2024

“The ship will depart tomorrow as scheduled from Terminal 25. To ensure a smooth embarkation, please adhere to your pre-selected terminal arrival appointment.”

“We must allow debarking guests to leave before we can accommodate your arrival. Guests who arrive earlier will be asked to return later. Remember you must be on board by the final boarding time printed on your boarding pass. See you soon!”

Carnival Jubilee is sailing a seven night cruise to the Western Caribbean with port stops in Cozumel, Costa Maya and Roatan.

Carnival Cruise Line currently has three cruise ships based in Galveston: Carnival Breeze, Carnival Dream, and Carnival Jubilee.

By now, you’ve probably heard of Guy’s Burgers Joint. Housed on every single Carnival Cruise Line ship, Guy’s Burger Joint is a staple for many.   But how good are these famous burgers?

In 2011, a genius partnership formed between celebrity chef Guy Fieri and Carnival Cruise Line. The Carnival Liberty was the first ship to house the burger joint, as a portion of Carnival’s Fun Ship 2.0 program. 

Throughout the years, Guy’s Burger Joints would be added to other ships during their periodic dry docks. Newer, bigger Carnival ships would be built housing the burger phenomenon. 

Who is Guy Fieri? 

Guy Fieri is a celebrity chef with highly recognizable spiky, blonde hair. Guy won the second season of the Food Network gameshow, The Next Food Network Star. Since that time, Guy has been a part of many television shows including, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. 

What is Guy’s Burger Joint? 

Guy’s Burger Joint is a casual eatery offered by Carnival Cruise Line. Cruisers flock to the lido deck, all in the name of Guy Fieri’s delicious creations. 

During lunch time hours, you are likely to observe a long line at the burger venue. Luckily, the line usually goes pretty fast. Before you know it, it’s your turn to choose your burger 

It’s hard to imagine a vacation without a freshly grilled hamburger on a toasty bun. You can get that at Guy’s Burger Joint for free. Yep. It’s included in your cruise vacation. In fact, you can have a Guy’s burger every single day if you please. 

Read more: 12 free dining options on Carnival Celebration

What does Guy’s Burger Joint serve? 

Guy’s Burger Joint serves absolutely delicious burgers!  There is a set menu but a certain amount of personalization can be done. Before reading the menu, familiarize yourself with a bit of Guy Fieri lingo: 

L.T.O.P – Lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle

S.M.C – Super melty cheese

Rojo Ring – Crispy spicy onion ring

Donkey Sauce – Jacked up secret sauce 

When you enter the line for a burger, you will see a menu featuring five basic burgers as follows: 

• Plain Jane: A perfectly grilled 80/20 ground beef patty on a grilled bun. With or without S.MC. 
• Straight Up: S.M.C, L.T.O.P and Donkey Sauce

• Pig Patty: A patty made of crispy bacon on top of a “Straight Up”. With S.M.C of course. 
• Chilius Maximus: A “Straight Up” burger, S.M.C., Rojo Ring, Chili and Donkey Sauce
• The Ringer: “Straight Up”, Guy’s special barbecue sauce, and a Rojo Ring

You can’t have a burger without fries, right? Handmade fries are always hot and ready, with a generous slathering of Guy’s special seasonings. Grab some dipping sauces from the toppings bar for the perfect pairing to the fries. 

Will I have a choice of toppings? 

You absolutely will! 

Each Guy’s Burger Joint features a separate toppings bar on the Lido Deck. A large variety of additional toppings are available so that you can create the perfect burger for YOU. 

Cruisers can choose from pickles, onions, lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, caramelized onions, and more. There are several sauces including chipotle mayo, ketchup, barbecue sauce, and ranch. Keep in mind, each ship is different and all toppings may not be offered on your cruise. 

Are Guy’s Burgers REALLY that good? 

While an incredibly subjective question, I believe Guy’s burgers are pretty great. I’ve never had a bad Guy’s burger. Each time I’ve ordered one, the S.M.C is spot-on and the patty is fresh. You will find no complaints from me. 

Are Guy’s burgers the best burgers I’ve ever had? Nope. 

I’m from the South and there are some wonderful barbecue joints that offer an amazing old-fashioned hamburger. My husband makes a mean smash burger on the Blackstone that is hard to beat. 

Are Guy’s burgers the best burgers at sea? You bet! 

Carnival has recently admitted they are seeing a growing number of mobility scooters on their cruise ships, a number above that of pre-shutdown levels. 

But not everyone is pleased with how people are using these scooters on board, in addition to the elevator issues they can sometimes present.

Scooters and elevators are often polarizing issues on cruise ships.  Just this year, Carnival released a statement mentioning that any scooter or wheelchair must fit inside the doorway of the cabin to be allowed on the ship.

Now, recent comments by Carnival Cruise Line’s Brand Ambassador John Heald during a Facebook Live video have brought the topic back into focus.

Heald read comments from two different passengers on the issue, adding his take to the complaints.

One passenger expressed frustration with the challenges of sharing elevator space with mobility scooter users.

“Why on the new ships can they not put a wheelchair mobility scooter elevator only for those people on mobility scooters or in wheelchairs,” the passenger wrote. “People do not automatically let us in and they jump on leaving no room for those on mobility scooters or who have walking challenges and in wheelchairs. This is really a must have.”

Heald acknowledged the passenger’s concerns but brought up the logistical nightmare of having dedicated elevators.

“The reason we cannot do this,” he explained, “They have a single elevator.  We would have to have a crew member to control it and that crew member would have to be on every floor and in every elevator bank and we just don’t have the manpower to take 20 crew members to do that because not everybody would adhere to it.”

Heald did express openness to exploring potential solutions.

“I will continue to speak to a wonderful young lady who has recently taken charge of our ADA policies and programs and I will send that to her, and perhaps in the future days it’s something we can look at,” he said.

Another passenger was more upset with who was using these mobility scooters, expressing concern about the perceived misuse and abuse.

 â€œThe amount of mobility scooters on your ships is ridiculously gross,” she wrote. “I saw so many on scooters, plugged them by the restaurants, and then walk through past all the tables. Carnival is empowering and enabling more people to be lazy and it’s plain wrong.”

Heald addressed this issue directly, confirming the increase in mobility scooter usage.

“You know right now, you’re right, we do see a huge increase in the number of people on mobility scooters compared to even pre COVID,” he admitted.

However, he dismissed the suggestion that the cruise line was encouraging laziness.

“And with the greatest respect, to say that we are empowering and enabling people to be lazy here is nonsense,” he stated.

The brand ambassador also touched on the practicality of verifying the need for a mobility scooter.

“There is nothing that says you have to tell us,” Heald said, explaining that requiring passengers to prove their need for a scooter would be impractical.

The debate over mobility scooters has many different perspectives.  As Heald has stated, 99% of the people on a cruise ship will make room for someone on a scooter in an elevator or will use a scooter only if it is necessary.

It’s often the ones abusing the system that receive most of the attention, so it’s important to point out that there are cruisers who very much need this mobility devices to enjoy a vacation.

As a side note, you can check out our article on cruise elevator etiquette to see some guidelines in being polite and respectful with elevator usage on a cruise.

As the number of scooter users continues to rise, it is likely that this issue will remain a topic of discussion for both passengers and cruise industry leaders.

While cruise lines strive to accommodate passengers with disabilities, they also face challenges in managing the increasing number of mobility scooters on board.

As someone who had his toe crushed by a mobility scooter in an elevator, I can say I still have the utmost respect for those who require mobility assistance on a cruise.  I just wish the elevators were a tad larger.

Royal Caribbean’s Utopia of the Seas, the world’s newest cruise ship, arrived in Florida for the first time this morning as the vessel prepares for its debut next week.

Utopia of the Seas is Royal Caribbean’s sixth Oasis class ship, the class that ushered in the era of mega cruise ships more than 15 years ago. It’s currently the second largest cruise ship in the world at just under 227,000 gross tons.

Utopia of the Seas can carry 5,668 guests (double occupancy) and 2,290 crew members.  There are 2,834 cabins onboard the 18 deck ship.

It is 1,188 feet long and 211 feet wide.

The cruise ship will sail its maiden voyage next Friday, a three day cruise to The Bahamas. For at least the next two years, Utopia of the Seas will homeport at the world’s busiest cruise port, Port Canaveral.

One of the game changing features of the ship is that it will sail three and four night cruises to The Bahamas. It’s unheard of for a cruise line to offer these sailings on a brand new cruise ship. New ships typically offer seven night or longer cruises.

But first, Utopia of the Seas will be officially christened on Monday and then sail a three day preview cruise for media, influencers, and travel professionals.

You can view the video of Utopia of the Seas arriving at Port Canaveral below.

Utopia of the Seas will have more than 20 dining options and a ton of activities that can be seen in the infographic below.

Utopia of the Seas will sail three and four night cruises to The Bahamas from Port Canaveral.

The three day cruises will leave every Friday with the four day cruises departing every Monday.

Cruise Fever will board Utopia of the Seas on Monday so stay tuned as we bring you everything you need to know about this new cruise ship.

You can also follow along on our cruise on Facebook, X, and Instagram (@CruiseFever).