Highly Recommend Carnival Celebration

Embarkation was very smooth. There was no waiting around. We were curb to ship in 15-20 minutes. Showed up 10:55 for our 11-11:30am boarding time. One of the luggage we checked with the porters did not make it to our room. We went to guest services after dinner on embark day and we were easily able to recover it. They lost it because the paper luggage tag ripped off (from now on we will use the plastic insert that many others do).

We had the drink package and tried our best to try a drink at every bar. We are traditionally not into super sweet drinks so we didn’t have many of the blended cocktails. Here are our recommendations for cocktails at each bar: The watering hole - watermelon crush The Golden Jubilee - Smoked manhattan, Micky’s fave (martini with blue cheese olives), amaretto sour, negroni. Jesson and ralph were great! Guys pig and anchor - southern peach, light parched pig draft; heard great things about the smoked boulevardier Latitudes - the sakura Alchemy - the perfect storm (even great with hibiscus instead of strawberry) Serenity Bar - peach and serenity sangria Havana Bar - the nacionale was good but most of the menu was sweet drinks. They do have an espresso machine so you can get a proper espresso martini. For breakfast we tried the following venues: Shaqs - the chicken and biscuit with spicy honey was delicious. (Rated 9/10) Blue iquana - we split the chicken sausage and egg burrito. Was tasty and not super heavy! (Rated 7/10) Buffet - we are not buffet people and didn’t enjoy the buffet on this cruise. We were disappointed when we did go that there wasn’t more variety. The coffee was poor. Surprisingly the french toast was quite good. No bacon on the morning we went which is my favourite part of any breakfast buffet. (Rated 5.5/10) Bar 820 - this is the ship secret as they serve fantastic coffee in the morning! We had oat lattes multiple mornings which were great. Just be aware they only serve espresso and espresso based drinks to my understanding. Many people would wait to order frappes or cold brew and they weren’t available. We did not have breakfast in the MDR which we almost always do so we did not try Sea Day Brunch. We also did not go to Java Blue because there was minimal wait at Bar 820 in the morning for coffee. For lunch we tried the following venues: Shaqs - crispy flavourful large pieces of fried chicken. Chicken was slightly spicy but shaq sauce balanced it perfectly. You also have the option for tasty, sweet bbq sauce. Chicken strips were very good. The fries, potato salad, and coleslaw were okay. If they were great this rating would be near perfect. (rated 9/10) Guys - consistently good smash burger. Two straight up burgers with fries for two lunches. Great lunch option. Fries better than Shaqs. (Rated 8/10) Blue iquana - tacos were really good. You have the option between chicken, pork, or crispy fish. Many different fresh salsa options and freshly made tortillas. We did not try lunch burritos. (Rated 8/10) Pig and anchor Smokehouse Outside - was disappointed as we were expecting excellent barbecue. Pork butt and chicken were good but not great. Mac and cheese was underwhelming. Compared to other food on board it just didnt live up to the same standard. We did meet a couple who said they had fantastic food (especially the mac and cheese) so perhaps it was just when we went. (Rated 6.5/10) Street eats - we only tried Steam Dream and as an asian food and dumpling lover I was so disappointed!! The char siu pork dumpling and chicken and rice wrap were very mediocre. (Rated 6/10) Miami slice - thin crust italian style oven pizza which is our favourite. Pepperoni or cheese are made regularly but occasionally they will make blue cheese, hamburger, sausage for instant availability although you can ask for these toppings and wait for a fresh pizza. Had multiple times and was great everytime. (Rated 8/10) We did not have anything from deco deli (really wanted to try), fresh creations, or cucina/chibang for lunch. I do love that Carnival has a virtual waiting list for the sit down restaurants during dinner. It was usually quite accurate and allowed us to go for a cocktail while we waited instead of being in a line! For dinner we tried the following venues: Chibang! - the service was the best food service in a sit down setting. We ended up going here twice (first time free, second time $8 per person) and one night had Chinese and the second night had Mexican. The first night we split spring rolls, pot stickers, lettuce wraps and pork belly (all great). Spring roll and pot stickers were very good. Had beef and broccoli and pork for dinner with hakka noodles. The coconut tea tres leche was incredible! The second night we had a mix of tacos, the chicken mole and the fried fish. The Mexican food in our opinion was not as good as the Chinese. (Rated 8.5/10) Cucina del Capitano - the service here was slow. My husband is italian so we have quite high standards for italian food so we weren’t going in with higj expectations. Caprese salad and fritto misto were good. The grilled fish I had for my entree was fantastic. My husband had the pasta with clams and he was impressed as it was very flavourful. Best Italian my husband has had on any ship which says a lot since we went on MSC. Tiramisu was possibly the best we’ve ever had!! (Rated 8/10) MDR - the service was inconsistent but generally slow. We ate in the MDR three times (once on lobster night). The Caesar salad is always great. We had other meals such as Pappardelle with lamb, the short rib, and the coffee rubbed duck which were good. We were in the festivale restaurant because we chose Anytime Dining. The longest we waited was 1.5 hours on lobster night for our reservation. They do offer multiple menus so those who are vegan / gluten free had their own menu with available options. (Rated 7/10) Fahrenheit 555 - the service was good although slightly slow. Incredible oysters and lobster bisque as appetizers. My filet mignon was tender but slightly undercooked and under seasoned. My husband’s filet mignon was perfect. If my steak was slightly better, this could be 9/10. The cheesecake for dessert was underwhelming. (Rated 8/10) We did not do the buffet or Guys Pig and Anchor for dinner. As we enjoyed many late night entertainment options we also enjoyed late night food: Pig and anchor - offer a small buffet with pizza (not like miami slice), sandwiches, chicken tenders and nachos. Chilli for nachos was surprisingly good. Wasn’t wonderful but again, we aren’t buffet people. (Rated 6/10) Miami slice - the line moves fast at late night because they know people are coming. The crew passes out pizza to keep line moving along. Went everynight and always got pizza within 2-3 minutes! (Rated 8/10)

The entertainment on this ship was incredible. The 18+ comedians were always funny. The comedians offer both PG and 18+ shows and there are generally 3 repeat shows a night for each. We never hard a hard time getting into a venue (punchliner/ grand spectrum theatre) but were often there 15 minutes early. The Love and Marriage show is always a must see. We also really enjoyed the late night Family Feud. The only things we watched in Celebration Central were Deal or No Deal (we were there an hour early to play Trivia so got a prime seat) and the Evolution Party which we really enjoyed. We did not see any of the productions. We really enjoyed the euphonic (violin) trio and spent most nights in the Piano Bar with Keith (more adult focused at late night but hilarious and fun!)

We had an interior (4D) stateroom (5215). It honestly was your typical interior room. There was lots of storage and the bathroom was quite functional. No complaints.