7 Nights Eastern Caribbean From Miami, FL Cruise

FULL REVIEW: CARNIVAL CELEBRATION 2/2/25

CRUISE REVIEW: CARNIVAL CELEBRATION 02/2/25 We cruised on the beautiful Carnival Celebration and we were very happy with the entire experience! Background: we have been on 10 Carnival cruises over the past 20 years. Here are the highlights: Embarkation on the Celebration was the fastest and most trouble-free experience of all our cruises. We literally did not stop walking from the time we entered the facility until we were on the ship! Carnival has mastered the process, with our passports in hand we got on so fast we were actually onboard a half-hour before our scheduled arrival time! This allowed us to walk around the ship and become familiar with it the first day, drinks in hand. Also the muster “check in” was painless and smooth, took less than 5 minutes. Our balcony room on deck 12 was spotless, comfortable, and beautiful. Modern décor, a decent mattress, and while cabins on all cruise ships are always relatively small, there was plenty of room for our suitcases and belongings. Enough closet and drawer space even for my wife! The bathrooms are a bit smaller that other Carnival ships but with the addition of a pivoting glass door on the shower, taking a shower no longer splashes water all over the floor which is a nice improvement (no more soaked towels all over the floor) and there is still enough room to do everything one needs to do. Our room steward, Margarita, was a model of efficiency and exceptionally polite and attentive. She called us both by name from day 1, did immaculate work, and made us feel like we were the only people on the boat. Anyone who is fortunate enough to have her taking care of you will love her friendly, professional service. Margarita made our cruise even more special! The Celebration is an amazing ship, far newer and literally spotless compared to previous ships we have sailed on (though we loved them, too, but there literally wasn’t a single spot of rust anywhere on this ship). The layout of the decks, the positioning of the amenities like restaurants and bars, was very user-friendly. The sheer variety of things to see and do was beyond belief. We are in our mid-60’s and enjoy walking so the sheer size of the vessel wasn’t a problem for us. We take the stairs a fair amount of the time but the elevators were very efficient and we almost never had to wait more than a minute for a ride. Another great touch is all elevators have glass doors, allowing you to see how full the car is before it even opens. This made everyone’s coordination easier. Other passengers we asked also shared our amazement that the elevators were so efficient, especially since there were just over 5,300 passengers on the boat. This was a BIG improvement over previous cruises. The main buffets were excellent. Expectations are often a part of how satisfied people are with things, and our expectations of the food variety and quality at the buffets are reasonable, but we were frankly very impressed with the quality of the offerings across the board. Everything was well prepared, actually delicious, and boy did they keep it coming! Lines at both buffets (they have 2 which mirror each other) were never what we would consider too long, and actually far shorter on average than any ship we have previously sailed. This is especially impressive considering the massive number of passengers. We never felt like we were waiting too long for anything. Service in the buffets was very efficient, and tables were cleaned and reset almost the second you got up from one. Kudos to the staff in those areas. The Festivale dining room was beautiful, with the efficient and attentive service we have come to expect from Carnival. Friendly wait staff, efficient seating, and food consistent with what we have had on other boats. The variety each night was excellent, the portions reasonable, and the atmosphere was everything fine cruise dining should be. We did Anytime dining, and found the Carnival Hub app to be an efficient way to book a table for dinner. This allowed us to have a different waiter, etc., four different evenings and two breakfasts, and every one of them was a pro. The professional and entertaining staff on both “formal” nights was especially fun. Attitude was noticeably good, we felt the love from these people who work 8 months at a time, nobody exhibited “burnout” or an attitude, which frankly we have noticed occasionally on other cruises. Not on Celebration! Everyone in the dining rooms is a true pro. Whomever trains these folks does a great job. Thank you all. We couldn’t use all of the specialty restaurants in one week, there are simply too many. However, here is what we experienced: Lunch: Guy’s Burger Joint is a great smashburger. Very popular place, but a 40-person line moved through in under 5 minutes. They serve those burgers so fast it’s a blur. Had it twice, yum! The Seafood Shack offers a half-dozen items and they are fresh and good. Got the shrimp/clam platter and for 8 bucks that was a satisfying winner. Guy’s Pig and Anchor Smokehouse is in the rear of the ship, a large area with great ambience and a live band most nights, a very nice touch. The wings were excellent. Recommend getting the ribs earlier in the day, a little dry at 9 pm but most restaurants on land also have that issue due to the extended nature of cooking ribs. Great place to eat for sure. Dinner: We did not go to the steakhouse, because the same exact steak is available for a $23 up charge in the main dining room. I ordered it there and it was everything the same dish in the steakhouse would be, a good quality cut and perfectly prepared. Sides also perfect. Not sure why you would spend more than twice that much in the actual steakhouse unless you just want the ambience, which was quite beautiful. The Teppanyaki restaurant was that absolute highlight of all our meals! We frequently experience the “show” at places like this in our city and it’s always entertaining and fun, but honestly this experience was the best we have ever had. The chef was great at the presentation, but the quality of the food he prepared before us was amazing, there is no other way to rate it. Perfect, marshmallow-like filet, awesome shrimp and the salmon was to die for. It’s $59 each for this meal but that’s a bargain for what you get, three different appetizers and a really big portion of food, rare on a cruise. The whole 90-minute experience was fantastic. So full we skipped dessert! Room Service: Got room service a couple times, a late-night pizza which was actually hot, fresh, and perfectly New York with drippy cheese and a foldable crust. We also ordered coffee for two each morning which arrived almost instantly and was very high-quality coffee, delicious and fresh. There’s no charge for this service which we absolutely look forward to each morning on our balcony. The servers who run this to your room are as friendly and efficient as everyone else on the ship. Bars: We don’t drink enough to justify getting the drink package but every drink we got exceeded our expectations. Our favorite bar was the Alchemy, with mixologists in lab coats who took up to a dozen drink orders at a time then perfectly mixed and served every one, from memory, with amazing efficiency. They don’t short you on the pours, either. My go-to Whisky Sours were always perfect, and my wife’s various specialty Martinis were in her opinion excellent. It’s a great bar to have that drink right before dinner, just down the hall from the Festivale dining room. I must mention Marius and Manuela were top pros and we truly loved them. The Red Frog bar is a two-story affair and where we spent a lot of our pool time. Great bartenders who seemed to get your order in no time despite crowds of patrons were the rule, not the exception. Great view of the pool area and met a lot of new friends sitting there. Shows: Celebration not only has a big theater at one end like other ships, but the central area also has a big stage where they presented some truly great entertainment including a circus-themed show that was amazing! Carnival performers are always top notch but this show broke the record for choreography, 3-D aerialists, and singing/dancing talent. What a great show that is! Saw it twice and can’t forget it. Additionally, there were other shows both on this stage and in the main theater, all fantastically produced and fun to watch. Carnival has simply the best entertainment on the sea and Celebration was the best yet. A trio of electric violinists were marvelous, and they appeared at several different venues. Even the solo guitarist who played the lounge by the Celebration scale model (an amazing thing) was very talented and we watched and listened to him for hours. Great guy. Fun stuff: From the water park (impressive) to the mini golf (a better-than-average little feature) to the BOLT roller coaster, there was lots to do. BOLT is a ride that would really thrill those up to maybe 16 years old, a bit tame for an adult but we had to do it once and it was fun. From ambient games/game tables, to cornhole and basketball, we were never bored. Well done, Carnival. Debarkation was just as easy as getting on, no waiting and literally never stopped. We have experienced some really lengthy debarkations on other ships but not Celebration. Carnival has truly mastered this process and for that we thank them. Nothing is worse than a three-hour debarkation process. This was more like 15 minutes. We even had breakfast before getting off the ship, a wonderful final touch that we really appreciated. Special mention to the staff at Guest Services. We are used to a HUGE line there at all times but the only time there was a significant line was the final night which makes sense. Shout out to Jacob Job who helped us and showed us how to use the app in a couple functions. BTW, the app is a bit spotty sometimes but worked fine for the basics like texting each other and making dinner reservations. Like other things, you need to understand that 5,300 people with many using one app at peak times can take a bit of time but it never actually slowed us down. This free service is more than adequate. Overall, this experience was a 10. We will cruise Celebration again the next time we cruise, a first for us but well deserved. Carnival, thank you for a truly great time!

Wonderful trip on the Carnival Celebration

This was our first cruise experience. We travelled with our kids ages 3, 8, and 11 as well as extended family and senior in laws. Our ages ranged from 3- 74. Though the sheer amount of people getting on the ship on day 1 was very overwhelming, once we left port and guests spread out, we were blown away by every detail. The staff and service got an 11/10. We were all so impressed at their desire to please, kindness, and friendliness at all times- night or day. We checked out Kulture City bags for our sensory kids- the headphones were very helpful as they adjusted to the amount of people and noise the first couple days. Very clean boat. Staff was on top of every mess the moment they saw it. The hot tubs were busy during the day but at the right time they were great. We were able to find quiet places on the ship when we needed. We will definitely be cruising again.

Our first cruise ever was awesome!

This was me and my families first cruise ever. We had a great time! The destinations were awesome! Would definitely recommend 100%. We went to Nassau and did some shopping along with the beach. The laundry was perfect. It was nice and blue and clear next we went to Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic. The people there were very welcoming and nice. We did some shopping and we went to the pool with the slide. My kids had a great time on the slides! Our last stop was Grand turks. It was nice there. We only did some shopping because it rained most the time. My daughter and fiancé did an excursion where they got to swim with the stingrays. They had aGrand turks. It was nice there. We only did some shopping because it rained most the time. My daughter and fiancé did an excursion when they got to swim with the stingrays. They had a great time. It was a great experience for them. The food on the ship was pretty good and the shows were awesome! We are going on a Mexican Riviera next June on Carnival!!!