ABOARD THE CARNIVAL JUBILEE -- Cowboy hats. Custom-made cowboy boots in the red, white and blue colors of Carnival Cruise Line and Texas. A metal Texas star embossed on the bow.
The Texas vibes on the Carnival Jubilee are strong.
"Texas is her forever home," Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy said at the ship's naming ceremony Saturday. "Get ready, because we're fixing to be here a long, long time."
In a ceremony laced with plenty of "y'alls," and a few "fixins," Carnival celebrated homeporting its third Excel-class ship in Galveston, making it the first line to homeport its newest tonnage in the Lone Star State.
Grammy award-winning performer Gwen Stefani played the role of godmother, pulling a lever with a cowboy hat on it to trigger a bottle of champagne to crash against the bow. She performed afterword, signing her iconic song "Holla Back Girl" with the line "This ship is bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s."
The decision to dedicate the Jubilee to Galveston, the U.S.'s fourth-busiest cruise port, is one that is endearing to a pair of guests from Houston sailing their third Jubilee cruise since the ship launched in late December.
"Texas people are going to want to come because they love Texas," said Mary Miller from Houston. "They're giving us the honor that we feel we deserve. ... I think Carnival nailed it with this one. They need to recognize we're just as important as Miami."
Some of the Texas vibes were good and others awkward. Staff working in the terminal were dressed in stereotypical cowboy garb, many in plastic or red felt cowboy hats with red bandanas tied around their necks. They looked like Woody and Jesse from the "Toy Story" movie franchise.
During lunch, crew members performed a dance number to "Chattahoochee" by Alan Jackson, which is a song about a river in Georgia. Maybe a better selection would have been "Deep in the Heart of Texas" by Gene Autry or "All My Ex's Live in Texas" by George Strait.
What would have been Texan: men or women in big belt buckles or women wearing boots with flowing skirts or dresses; exotic animal skins, rhinestones and denim. All of these elements could be woven into this ship. Carnival denim jackets would have been a great touch.
However, other Texas elements work. One of them is cruise director Kyndall Magyar, a Fort Worth native with an authentic drawl and style that included black-and-white boots worn in a short video during the naming ceremony. I'm looking forward to seeing how her personality affects the rest of the experience during this seven-night sailing in the Western Caribbean.
The Texas hospitality mostly hit the spot. My room attendant was not only friendly but warm and inviting when he introduced himself. When my guest and I passed him in the hall sometime later, he remembered both of our names, which I would expect from a luxury or premium line, but not a contemporary one. Although I have only been on the ship a few hours, every crew member has been warm and friendly.
Texas luxury also hits well, with chic spaces like the Golden Mermaid bar feeling just as comfortable for people dressed in high heels as for those in flip-flops. The same went for Carnival's philanthropy, which included a $50,000 donation to St. Jude Children's Hospital at the naming ceremony, which one Texas woman on this sailing described as matching an important value in this state -- showing gratitude.
The metal-embossed Texas star on the bow is perhaps the most important inclusion. Texas is very territorial, and it's significant that the star is not a sticker or decal but instead a permanent structure on a ship that could homeport anywhere in the world.