NICE CARIBBEAN CRUISE
Carnival Celebration Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Third Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 4
Helpful Votes: 145
7 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: November 27, 2022
Ship: Carnival Celebration
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 10506
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 1 year ago
Review summary
Overall, this cruise was relaxing, enjoyable, and worth the cost. I would definitley consider cruising on this ship again. The weather was great. The days were sunny, bright, and warm. There was so much to discover and check out on the ship. By the way, some of the soft serve ice cream machines can get shut down due to passenger misuse. Maybe Carnival will keep the machines manned at all times...Something to consider.Embarkation
The newly renovated Terminal T was hot and stuffy, no AC!! A better process for moving passengers is needed. It was overcrowded. There was no announcement as to why there were substantial delays getting on board.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Specialty restaurants, namely Fanreheit 555 Steakhouse and Rudi's Seagrill were excellent. The Marketplace buffet had many delectable dishes for lunch and dinner. I can't say that for breakfast. The only breakfast meat for buffet breakfast is pork. I made do with chicken from Shaq's chicken whic was always delectable. The dining hall dinner entres were okay, I often was underwhelmed from the taste of certain dishes and had extra appetizers and looked for something later from the deli to feel full. Looking at the dining hall menu ahead of time helped me plan to eat a bit more at lunchtime or to be sure and get something more appetizing pre-dinner from the buffet or Guy's Burger and Street Eats. By the way, Street Eats beef and rice was so very tasty and delectable. I could eat that everyday if it were offered. Lenonade and iced tea are always available. I loved the guava juice in the mornings...The salad creations at serenity adult section are a healthy way to fill up your stomach on sea days.
Onboard Activities
For me the spa and the hot tubs were my thing. I found that there were plenty of loungers available at almost any time of the day, even on sea days.
Entertainment
There were several magnificient stage shows and performances. Getting a good seat for he central station area means getting there hours in advance which means not being able to do other things prior to a performance. The comedians were hilarious each day. Glad to see that there was ample seating at the comedy venues. The DJs kept the party atmosphere pumped.
Children's Programs
I had no children on this cruise.
Service and Staff
All ship personel was great! I want to give shout-outs and praise to a few particular personnel: Bagus - head steward on Deck 10, excellent care and concern, attentive to our needs, fast and efficient service each day of the cruise; Melinda - Guest Services, so helpful, understanding, and expertly took care of my requests and needs; Franciso - Lead Server at Festivale Aft Dining Hall, excellent dining service, attentive to customer tastes and desires, made sure we were completely satisfied with our dining experience; Lead server Corrado Festivale Aft Dining Hall, excellent dining service, attentive to customer tastes and desires, made sure we were completely satisfied with our dining experience; Egbert at Pixels - helped with a situation involving my photos from a previous cruise this summer. All of the staff involved with service at the specialty restaurants, stand-along eating spots, bars, towel spots, spa, fun shops....everyone...just fabulous!
Ship Quality
There are many fascinating aspects of this huge ship. I definitely got in my daily walking steps! I loved seeing artifacts from earlier Carnival ships. This ship is huge and quite beautiful. It took me a couple of days to get familiar with the layout and different locations of certain places of interest compared to other Carnival ships. For example, the spa is on decks 6 and 7 as opposed to upper decks on other ships. (The elevator at the spa was often not working requiring those of us with mobility issues to walk up the stairs after usage of spa treatments.) The ship was maintained wondefully. I always noticed staff cleaning and checking on even the smallest detail.
Cabin / Stateroom
The balcony here is quite large. I loved it. The view was awesome. I only wish that the balcony was equipeed with at least one lounger. There is more than enough space for two loungers actaully. What do you say Carnival? Place a lounger on all large balconies.
Ship tip
Wear your comfy walking shoes. Be prepared to walk between different venues and places to eat and be entertained. There is no way around this fact on any ship, but especially for one this size.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
I loved all of the ports. Miami port is beautiful and always a lot of traffic. This can't be helped being the largest cruiseport in the country.
I had been to Cozumel a few times in the past. I loved the improvements that I saw.
At all three ports we did the ATV excursions. Special shout out to Eduardo and Irving on the Cozumel ATV excursion. They were excellent guide travelling to the ATV camp, during the ATV rides, to the beach, and return to the cruiseport. As guides they were attentive, they made sure everyone stayed safe and enjoyed the ride. Their ATV camp was the best of the three ports we went to. Pablo was an excellent driver for our Cozumel excursion.
The port is beautiful. Costa Maya is another beautiful port. I liked the layout of things there. Our ATV excursion was fun. Be prepared for a bumpy ride. It rained the day before so there were plenty of muddy puddles to ride through. I felt that this camp had the best ATVs around by far. The open bar at the beach later was a great surprise. We werer able to place orders as we relaxed at the beach on the free chairs under the free umbrellas. Though we didn't appreciate the vendors that kept coming around to sell their wares.
Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
The port is beautiful. Mahogany Bay was wonderful. The beach there is nearly pristine. The chair lift from the port to the beach is great! Another beautiful port to cruise to. The ATV ride here was thrilling. There were many puddles, bumps, and quite a few hills to climb and descend with twists and turns. I felt this excursion had the best ATV paths. The beach resort afterwards was beautiful. I would definitely choose it as a beach excursion. Clean sand, many loungers, regularly cleaned restroom facilities. And the biggest plus.....no vendors hounding us to buy things.
Disembarkation
The experience was just okay. It went faster than when we were in Miami for a cruise a couple of months earlier. Only issue was, someone made off with one of my suitcases. The terminal staff and head supervisor were awesome in trying to locate my suitcase and in filing a claim. It turns out another cruiser had taken my bag to the airport on one of Carnival's airport transfer shuttle buses. Good thing I was staying the night at a local hotel and not flying out or I probably would never had been reunited with my suitcase. The cruiser called me and I had to get to the airport to retrieve my luggage before they flew off or worse yet handed my bag over to who knows at the airport. I wished they would have been more careful in picking up luggage from the terminal or at the least, left my bag on the shuttle bus so it could have been returned to the cruise terminal. SMH at how this couple of cruisers thought it was okay to take the bage from the bus because as they said, "It was the last bag left on the bus, so we took it when we didn't see ours!" it