Carnival Adds Limited-Edition Bourbon Across the Fleet

Cruisers who are also connoisseurs of high-end bourbon will be glad to know that a new partnership between Carnival Cruise Line and Jack Daniel’s is bringing a special retail offer to three of the cruise line’s ships starting in May 2025.

Thanks to a collaboration between Harding+, the cruise retail company that operates most of Carnival Cruise Line’s onboard shops, and Brown-Forman, owner of the Jack Daniel’s brand, a special 4-bottle collection of bourbon has been added to the stores on Mardi Gras, Carnival Valor, and Carnival Breeze.

The Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Collection is an exclusive assortment that will showcase the Carnival logo on one of the bottles while the others will sport an engraving unique to each of the three ships participating in the project. Bottles with the Carnival logo will be available fleetwide.

For guests sailing on Mardi Gras, for instance, the four-bottle collection will provide them with one bottle showing the Carnival logo and three with a Mardi Gras engraving. Sales are rolling out this month across the cruise line.

An announcement on May 7, 2025 from Harding+ indicates that the partnership with Jack Daniel’s has been in the works for months.

“In October, our teams joined Carnival on a visit to the Jack Daniel’s distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, where together we handpicked a cask of Single Barrel bourbon. The chosen barrel was then used to fill four distinctively personalised bottles, created specifically for Carnival guests,” a statement from Harding explained.

To get the program off the ground, a brand ambassador from Jack Daniel’s is currently onboard Mardi Gras, offering bourbon tastings where guests can learn about how the liquor is made and what makes this curated collection special.

“It’s been a real pleasure working with Carnival and Jack Daniel’s to bring this idea to life. Our guest insight shows just how valued unique offerings like this are – they help guests connect more deeply with brands they already love and take home something they can treasure long after the cruise ends,” said Linzi Walker, Chief Commercial Officer at Harding.

Harding+ is the industry’s largest retail provider, operating some 300 shops on more than 80 cruise ships from 14 cruise lines. Its stores handle 6.6 million transactions annually, a number that demonstrates the financial muscle of shipboard sales.

The Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Collection is, at least for now, limited to three Carnival Cruise Line ships.

Mardi Gras is based at Port Canaveral and sails Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises, while Carnival Valor sails the Western Caribbean roundtrip from New Orleans, and Carnival Breeze operates from Galveston, Texas.

Are Liquor and Wine Collaborations a Growing Trend?

Marketing partnerships between cruise lines and liquor manufacturers, and winemakers are not widespread across the industry, but a few notable programs have debuted in recent years.

In 2024, Holland America Line, a sister brand to Carnival Cruise Line as both are part of Carnival Corporation, rolled out a collaboration with Buffalo Trace Distillery, a renowned Kentucky bourbon producer.

Under the program, the curated liquor was added to the line’s Ocean Bar onboard all 11 of its ships. The special bourbon was offered as long as supplies lasted since the line had just one barrel’s worth on hand.

Norwegian Cruise Line for several years, has offered its Meet the Winemakers program, where wine enthusiast cruisers can interact with top winemakers and attend wine-focused seminars.

And in 2023, Oceania Cruises introduced a rare wine collection on its ships, featuring 80 labels from top brands such as Moët & Chandon Cuvée Dom Pérignon and Château Mouton Rothschild, from France, and Ornellaia “Super Tuscan,” from Italy.