Earlier this week Almaco announced it will be outfitting the Carnival Elation with 30 new staterooms during the Carnival Elation's 2020 dry-dock. Almaco is the same company that was responsible for adding new staterooms during the Carnival Elation's last dry-dock to the Grand Deck.
            The 2020 dry-dock's stateroom addition will be taking place on Deck 9, which is the Carnival Elation's Promenade Deck. It is unclear at this time where on the Promenade Deck the new staterooms will be added. I reached out to Carnival Cruise Line's media department requesting more details and have not yet heard back. Furthermore, the booking engine has not yet been opened for these new staterooms. 
                The Carnival Elation's March 2020 dry-dock will take place at the Grand Bahama Shipyard in Freeport, Bahamas. The ship's time out of service is scheduled for 3/02/2020 until 3/25/2020. 
             I  will update this post if and when I learn more about the Carnival Elation's new staterooms. Please see my unofficial dry-dock schedule that I post known ship dry-dock updates: Click Here. 

The information in this post is from Almaco's press release regarding the Carnival Elation. Click Here to read the full press release on Almaco's website. Please note, clicking this link will take you away from RyG's Cruise Guide. 

         Carnival Cruise Line has posted their Thanksgiving Dinner menu online for Thanksgiving 2019. For dinner on Thanksgiving the ship's dining room will serve a special menu that contains several items not normally served in the dining room, but the menu also contains several of Carnival's typical dining room options. The menu was posted by Mr. John Heald, Carnival's Brand Ambassador, to his Facebook page. 

Carnival Cruise 2019 Thanksgiving Dining Room Dinner Menu
Below is a list of the items that are planned on Carnival's Thanksgiving Dinner dining room menu. I have excluded food item descriptions for the sake of space, but if you scroll down you can view a link to John Heald's Facebook post for the full menu (including descriptions). 

Appetizers
Cold
Shrimp Cocktail
Beef Tartare
Grilled Peach, Tomatoes, and Torn Mozzarella 

Hot
Pumpkin Leek Bisque
New England Oyster Stew
Smoked Brisket Slider
Mascarpone & Prosecco Arancini

Salad
Field Greens
Tomato Salad
​Caesar Salad

Main Courses
Seafood
Grilled Jumbo Shrimp
Roasted Bass
Salmon

Meat
Slow Roasted Tom Turkey
Pan Seared Steak
Smoked Pork Loin
​Braised Duck Legs

Vegetarian
Pappardelle
Roasted & Dressed Petite Eggplant
Chickpea Stew and Baby Carrot Pilaf 

Desserts
Melting Chocolate Cake
Bourbon Pumpkin Pie
Honey Plum Crisp
Southern Pecan Pie

Steakhouse Selections
​Carnival's menu states a surcharge of $20 applies per entree. 
Lobster Tail
Surf & Turf
Broiled Filet Mingion
​Grilled Lamp Chop

If you would like to view the actual menu and each food item's description I recommend you check out the embedded post below that is by John Heald on Facebook. Clicking into this post will take you away from RyG's Cruise Guide to John Heald's Facebook page. The menu items listed above were taken directly off this photo of the menu that was posted, but you can get better information on the food descriptions by looking at this post:

If you are cruising during Thanksgiving, have a great cruise and enjoy the food! Please note, I am not responsible for any changes that may occur to the menu as I am simply re-posting information Carnival released. Check with Carnival for the latest information!

         Today Carnival Cruise Line announced starting in January 2020 Pepsi products will be sold on Carnival's ships. A variety of PepsiCo products will be sold including Bubly, Pure Leaf, Naked Juice, Gatorade, Mountain Dew, Starbucks, Pepsi, Pepsi Zero Sugar, Sierra Mist, and Sierra Mist Zero Sugar. A full list of the PepsiCo products planned to be sold & served onboard can be found below.
                The full variety of PepsiCo beverages will be available as Carnival ships deplete inventories of Coca-Cola products and receive shipments of the PepsiCo beverages. Carnival's website states for some time ships may have a mix of Coca-Cola and Pepsi products onboard until the Coca-Cola inventory is sold out. 
                  Through this change in beverage suppliers, Carnival will be taking an additional step to reduce single use plastics on the ships. Carnival's website states more aluminum and glass bottling will be used, but soda dispensers will be used when space allows. It is unclear which ships or bar areas will receive soda dispensers. 
                 There will be an impact to Carnival's beverage package programs, Cheers and Bottomless Bubbles. Some of the newly offered beverages will be available under one program but not the other, both, or not included in the program for either. Carnival's website notes that the change to PepsiCo products is not changing the price of Cheers or Bottomless Bubbles. 

PepsiCo Beverages That Will Be Served On Carnival's Ships:
               Once the roll-out is complete the following PepsiCo beverages are expected to be on the menu for Carnival's ships (per Carnival's website). I have also included information about whether the PepsiCo beverage is eligible for consumption under Carnival's Cheers or Bottomless Bubbles beverage packages:

             If you are a beverage package user (Cheers or Bottomless Bubbles) I recommend checking onboard to make sure you desired drink is included in the package you selected. Please keep in mind beverage availability and inclusion in a beverage package is subject to change. I compiled this list using Carnival's website on 11/13/2019, but information could have changed since this time.

Carnival's Press Release:
Click Here To View -  will take you away from RyG's Cruise Guide to Carnival's News website. This webpage will open in another window. 
Carnival's Beverage FAQ Section Over The PepsiCo Product Change:
Click Here To View -  will take you away from RyG's Cruise Guide to Carnival's website. This webpage will open in another window. ​

        Carnival Cruise Line recently announced the Carnival Freedom will be re-deployed to sail Alaska cruises for summer 2021. With the deployment of the Carnival Freedom to sail Alaska, Carnival Cruise Line is increasing its Alaska cruise capacity. 

Overview Of The Ship's Alaska Itineraries:
              The Carnival Freedom's Alaska cruises will begin after a 17 night Panama Canal re-positioning cruise departing from Galveston. Starting on Tuesday, April 27, 2021, the Carnival Freedom will begin sailing seven night round-trip Alaska cruises departing from Seattle, Washington. These cruises are scheduled to visit Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, Victoria, and have a scenic cruise day in Tracy Arm Fjord. The port of call stop in Victoria is an evening stop.  The Carnival Freedom's Alaska cruise season will end with an 8 round-trip cruise from Seattle that visits Juneau, Skagway, Icy Straight Point, Ketchikan, Victoria, and has a scenic cruise day in Tracy Arm Fjord. This 8 night cruise will depart on Tuesday, September 14, 2021. For more details on both of these itineraries see the tables below:

Carnival Freedom's 7 Night Alaska Cruise Itinerary Departing From Seattle, Washington:
                 Carnival has the Carnival Freedom scheduled to sail this itinerary weekly starting April 27, 2021 and the last cruise on this itinerary beginning on September 7, 2021. Please note, this itinerary is subject to change!

Carnival Freedom's 8 Night Alaska Cruise Itinerary Departing From Seattle, Washington:
                    The Carnival Freedom will end its 2021 Alaska cruise season with an 8 night round-trip cruise from Seattle, Washington. This cruise departs on Tuesday, September 14, 2021. ​Please note, this itinerary is subject to change!

The Carnival Miracle will also be sailing a variety of 10 & 11 night Alaska cruises from San Francisco, but this will be topic of another post! 

For more Alaska cruise information, including some generic Alaska cruise tips, check out Alaska guide:
Click Here

​All information was compiled from Carnival Cruise Line's booking engine and press release. Please visit Carnival's website for more information. All information is subject to change at any time! Make sure you check Carnival's website or with your travel agent for any changes to the ship's itineraries.