Cruise was great, feral youths are not

Carnival Celebration Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Halford2wo

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 11

Overall rating:

4.2 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 18, 2024

Ship: Carnival Celebration

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 5425

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 2 months ago

Review summary

Cruise itself was good. Ship was very clean and beautiful. Staff were great as usual. Before reading the opinion below, please know that we had a great time. The complaint below would be greatly remedied by better manners from the kids or parents watching closer. Carnival needs to have a more robust system regulating minors. I cannot stress the level of frustration we had EVERY SINGLE EVENING. We understand kids being kids and having fun during the day. It's after the 5:00pm or 6:00pm time frame that it got bad. "Children" (non-teenagers) were not the problem. The problem were teenagers roaming in packs with no respect for fellow passengers. We experienced numerous examples of: - running uncontrolled through crowds almost knocking people over - budging in front of people waiting for elevators. No care that others had been waiting much longer - Rudely speaking to others. I witnessed many instances of senior citizens being made to feel uncomfortable because of how they were talked to. - Lack of care of littering - throwing and slamming balls off stairways and walls - Throwing food off the balconies. We saw instances of pizza/food being tossed Carnival staff need look out for this behavior and stop it immediately. Also, Carnival needs to have a curfew of 10:00pm for minors. Having a 1:00am curfew is ridiculous. What we experienced is most likely experienced on other Carnival ships. If something isn't done as with other issues (ie: marijuana (which we still smelled often), fighting, personal speakers)....Carnival's reputation is at stake as this is what we had already heard online and from others prior to our recent cruise. What we had heard was simply confirmed.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Carnival has their act together. Very quick and smooth. From hotel to being onboard the Celebration was only an hour and fifteen minutes.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Main Lido Marketplace buffet has lost much of what cruise buffets used to be. Less variety and quality. However, staff are always great. Side restaurants (Guys, Big Chicken, Pig and Anchor, Deli, Pizza) were all good. The only problem were the lines. So many people. Main dining has maybe lost a bit of the variety of options but was still very good and staff were great. Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse was the only specialty restaurant and it was fantastic!

Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse

5 out of 5

Nothing short of phenomenal for us. The food was top notch and the service was fantastic. For $50 per person....it's a great value.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

We didn't bother with many of the onboard activities other than Serenity and Loft 19 which were great.

Loft 19 Cabanas & Pool

5 out of 5

I hate spending money. So when the others in my party wanted to reserve a cabana at Loft 19....I did not want to do it. After experiencing the quiet and relaxation offered by this part of the ship....it'll be a must for us the next time we go. We took advantage of a port day special where it was only $250. Staff were wonderful and not having to stand in line for food (they had a menu to choose from) or drinks along with the peace and quiet was very refreshing.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Performers did a great job with what they were tasked to do. Shows themselves were good (Family Feud, Love and Marriage, etc). The only truly terrible experience were the comedy shows. Unfunny and 18+ shows simply pushed swearing with jokes about private parts because it was expected. Don't get me wrong, I am "unoffendable". Everything is open for grabs as long as it's funny. This was simply terrible.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Wonderful as always

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Carnival Celebration was beautiful and very clean the entire time. However, my family and I are trying to decide if we liked the new design or not. We love the design of the older ships (Freedom, Liberty, etc). Maybe it's just the new design and layout. It did grow on us the second half of our cruise.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Loved this room! Purposely picked the Deck 5 Cove Balcony because I wanted to be closer to the water line. The added benefit are steel bulkhead walls for better privacy. The best part is because of the location. You're under the lifeboats so you can see so much better than the higher decks which are recessed into the ship.

Ship tip

If you get a balcony, get a Cove balcony on Deck 5. Better views than the higher balconies in my opinion, because you're under the lifeboats.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Cozumel, Mexico

4 out of 5

Very touristy, but that's not the fault of the port. Shopping area was nice and spaced apart. The beach resort excursion was nice. The beach was pretty rocky, but facilities/pool was nice.

Thumbs Up 0

Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

5 out of 5

Loved Roatan and the beach, snorkeling, chairlift, kayaking. Staff were great and ship was nice and close by.

Thumbs Up 0

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

2 out of 5

I'm sure the excursions to the ruins would be good. But the shopping area at the port was very cramped and high pressure.

Thumbs Up 0