pretzellover

Looking through the current schedule, it seems there are a lot of new names. Very few experienced pre-Covid names. The Excel class ships seem to have popular names. Anybody know if there was a shake up or just burn out.

Was really looking forward to the return of beef Wellington but it seems it was removed again.

We will be on the Panorama in January. Trying to decide which night to make specialty restaurant reservations. Does anyone know which night it is served?

Day 6 & 7 i have a few closing observations about the Celebration. Comedy: There are 3 comedy ratings now. PG R18 and 18Explicit. I really appreciate this because while I Don mind some cussing and sex jokes, I dislike comedians who base their whole show on describing sex acts. Loved R18 shows. Game Shows: The Hasbro games were kind of boring for anyone not playing so I was not excited about watching Family Feud and Deal or No Deal. I have to say they were fun. Family Feud was hilarious. Event he clips from show made people laugh. Deal or No Deal was fun because the audience could play along with their own suitcase card. The odds of winning anything were slim, but it was fun. One nice thing is that if you win, they put the winnings automatically on the sail and sign card. Before Deal or No Deal, there was a short classic rock laser show. The center stage theater has floor to ceiling windows that are converted into a high tech screen for shows. The Visual Symphony show is a short demonstration of what all the technology can do. The pieces spin and then store away in the floor. The staff to run this apparatus must have tech engineering degrees. It’s really cool and Carnival did not skimp on this show hardware. I skipped the shows We Are One, Festival of Flags and Music Brings Us Together. They seemed to be short short individual shows. After the messages in Color My Word, I knew I’d have nothing but eye rolls for these shows. I happen to walk through the flag show and they we’re introducing each different flag. The cruise director yelled “JUST LOOK AT ALL THE DIVERSITY INCLUDED HERE!” Anyone who has taken a cruise knows that there is a very diverse staff and appreciates the hard work interesting backgrounds. I don’t need special virtue signaling shows. It really stinks of checking boxes on the woke business checklist. Just my opinion. Dining room food: The menus seemed to have changed. After 21 Carnival cruises I have never had a trouble finding something on the menu that sounded good. This time there were 3 nights. For one we went to Pig and Anchor and other 2 I order the broiled steak. I hope once things turn around for Carnival as a company, they upgrade on the dining room food again. Last thing! This is the best thing to be added to the ship. A little amiable bed light with a USB plug. No more charging over on the desk. Hope this review helps somebody! IMG_9265.MOV

New Years Eve The main dining room had “special” menu for NYE dinner. I was not impressed. In the past Carnival provided Chateaubriand or at least mediocre filet mignon. This year they had a poor ribeye or a few broiled shrimp or lamb. The top sirloin I had earlier in the week were better. Disappointing but probably another necessary cutback due to the Covid damage. New Years Eve at midnight on Lido is really impressive. Unfortunately we missed it this time because we were in the sports bar watching the Ohio State/Georgia football game. Disappointing but fun game with many enthusiastic fans on both sides. OSU list at midnight but we headed outside right after to experience the large NYE crowd. Happy Nee Year all!

Day 4 Roatan We purchased the ship beach/clamshell/floaty packages. You can do the Carnival beach for free if you want to walk down and back up the hill to the beach instead of using the ski lift. You also risk not getting a free lounger. I think the package is $48 and worth the piece of mind to have fun on the Roatan beach. Very disappointing to see mask required signs all the way port area. Apparently employees at the port are still being forced to wear the useless things in 85 degree heat outside. Many of their China were well protected but other did block their airways. Overall, nice day at the beach. Order some jerk chicken from the Shack. Tasty!

Day 3 continued We arrived back on the ship in time for a nap. Our usual. Not because we are tired, but more because we can and the beds are so comfortable. Mattresses, blankets and pillows are excellent on this ship. Nothing on the menu for the main dining room looked great so we tried out Pig and Anchor. It is not a buffet, you order from a server. The brisket was delicious! The Mac n cheese was ver good too but you only get a little. It’s way better than the max n cheese on the Lido buffet. Order 2. III get 3 meats and 2 sides. The sauces are on each table. Evening entertainment. It’s kind of surprising that it took a brand called Carnival to finally add a circus to the shows. Unfortunately, the excitement is dampened by the fight to get seats. The show is in the Center Stage Theater which like I said before is kind of like the atrium on earlier ships. People can walk through and there is a. Upper level overlook. People started saving large groups of seats almost 2 hours befor the show. Staff makes an announcement that seat saving is not allowed, but that does not stop the rules for thee crowd. We came in 44 minutes before the show and asked to use open seats but we were turned down. The pre show starts 10 minutes before the actual show. Some guy walked right through the cast. The cast uses the floor stage and ceiling space. Carnival really stepped it up in casting aerialists for this show. There were 4 that performed along with the regular playlist cast. Highly recommend seeing this show if you can get a seat from the entitled guests.

Day 3 Add - Costa Maya In the past, we were fans of Tropicante. I had read that it had changed ownership and was not as good but we didn’t know where else to tell the taxi driver to take us. They treated us at the taxi and too us to beach chairs. The beach was loaded with seaweed and it was smelly. We ordered drinks and plugged our noses. The restaurants on both sides had people hired people to start clearing the seaweed but not Tropicante. Eventually one waiter brought out a couple rakes and started raking. Another guest took a rake and started clearing. Then my husband started clearing. Got some exercise and a pathway to the water. Unfortunately the seaweed hills remained on the beach and were smelly. We eventually left and took a walk. A couple blocks down we found Krazy Lobster. I heard of it but wasn’t sure if a reservation was needed. Their seating area is massive. We got a table and some nachos. There was no beach, but they had steps into the water. Shallow enough for young kids to splash around. The table next to us ordered lobster tails and they looked amazing so we got them too. The small tail was plenty and they were delicious. That will be our place to go from now on. More ship experience in a bit.

Adding on for day 2 This was an at sea day. We had walked around and checked out the pool area and chose The Patio lounge chairs to get some sun. This pool area is outside of GuysPig and Anchor. On other ships, we spend sun time at the aft pools which on most ships, are adult only. There is an adult only Serenity area on Celebration. It is in a more central area of the ship and the pool is in a central more shaded area. It was just not sunny enough so we chose not to stay there. The Patio has very nice chairs that have a neck pillow and we were very comfortable. Side note: The loungers were all reserved by 9am and we saw one chair argument. We ate in the Festivale Main Dining room. We got a true table for 2. Some tables for 2 are 2 tables pulled 6 inches apart. With all of the divisive topics these days, I was happy to not have to filter my conversation. It was the first elegant night. I was able to order 2 lobster tails. I was glad they were able to put 2 on 1 plate instead of bring 2 full meals. Wild mushroom soup starter is a personal favorite. We saw another comedy show in the Limelight. Another good comic who had an ad lib style. I prefer this over raunchy story telling. Lee Mason hosted the Alice and Marriage show in the main theater. We have seen it many times but it’s still good for a giggle. It was strange to walk right through Celestial String which was being performed at the Center Stage Theater. Center Stage is sort of like the old style Atrium area but much larger. People are talking and walking through and going to the bar. It must incredibly distracting to the performers. Ended the night with a Miami Slice pizza again. To answer the replies, I think that our verbal vax status was entered by the Carnival rep on her iPhone device. I think this is asked since some islands are still requiring passengers be vaxxed, but nobody is asking for proof so it’s just silliness.

Going to try this ongoing review. Currently on the Celebration for the New Year sailing. After one day I am very impressed with some new additions. Check in and boarding at 10:30 was effortless. Check in required seeing a rep with an iPhone at a free standing table. She looked at passports and asked vaccination status. I said I was as fully vaccinated as I want to be. No questions or proof required. Let’s just say I couldn’t qualify to cruise until October 2022. Walked right on board and dropped our carryon in the room. We are Platinum. We Aw the Cabin steward and asked for a robe since I have a Thermal Suite pass. Requested evening room refresh. He pushed back saying he is off at 8pm. We said that was fine, we just wanted an evening service. He did not really want to commit to a time but eventually asked what time we would like the room serviced. We said 6pm and he said he could do that. We have early assigned dining and like to have the room done while at dinner. By the way, early dining has been changed to 5:30 instead of 6:00. It was a rainy afternoon in Miami so we explored a bit and ate lunch. Street eats is a fun addition to the buffet. I had a beef gyro from Shwarma and my husband had smoked sausage from the hot dog stand. No tziki on the gyros but the garlic sauce was very good. On other ships I have gone to Pig and Anchor to get Mac and cheese. No need, they had it on the main buffet. Also had veggie tempura which was crispy and good. New stuff for us. Returned to the room and our key cards were there. Took a short nap before dinner. Rooms are much colder and we had to kick the thermostat down a notch. Same comfy beds, blankets and pillows. We enjoyed the Fahrenheit 555 steakhouse for dinner. New stuff for us on the menu. My husband had smoked oysters with the glass smoke lid. Fun! Beef carpaccio and lobster bisque was delish as always. Surf and turf was also tasty and perfectly cooked. The steakhouse was full which was nice to see. On other ships it has been empty. Evening comedy was great in the Limelight Lounge. Loved the comedian who was more of an adlibber than a scripted show. Fun! We wanted to see the new Color My World show. Each song is about a color or mix of colors. (Purple Rain was featured) We found the show slow, sad and boring. Solo vocals featured over group vocals and dancing. Will not see it again. Missed the high energy of the Epic Rock genre. This show was ultra woke and definitely aimed at millennials and GenX cruisers. Big time pass. 10:30 pizza is my traditional bedtime snack. Haha. It was good to see about 8 chefs at Miami Slice instead of 2 trying to feed 200 people who just left the theater. More to come! IMG_9011.MOV

Currently on Valor. First tine since Covid. I had low expectations but surprisingly things are not too bad. We use to love the pampering of 2 cabin tidies daily. Evening tidy is fine with the cabin steward changing towels and making the bed while we are at dinner. I know Heald would gas light this but BACON EVERY OTHER DAY IS UNACCEPTABLE. After all the years if him denying bacon police, they only have bacon alternating with ham. Obvious cutback and as minor as it sounds, i will let them know in my review. Huge loss at breakfast.

We just received the email above. Glad Carnival is no longer requiring things that other lines are not. However, with this change, it is now obvious that testing needs to be dropped entirely. Have people sign a form saying that they don't have Noro or Covid and move on. Anything else is theater.

Celebrity and Royal are both accepting self (not proctored) tests for unvaxxed guests. This is so silly. The cdc recommends protocols should not differ from vaxxed to unvaxxed. The cdc also does not recommend testing people who have no symptoms. Why are the cruise lines testing the unvaxxed at all? It makes no sense and seems to be theater or a consolation prize for those followed orders. Hope testing is all dropped sooner than later.

Celebrity and Royal are both accepting self (not proctored) tests for unvaxxed guests. This is so silly. The cdc recommends protocols should not differ from vaxxed to unvaxxed. The cdc also does not recommend testing people who have no symptoms. Why are the cruise lines testing the unvaxxed at all? It makes no sense and seems to be theater or a consolation prize for those followed orders. Hope testing is all dropped sooner than later.

Royal is allowing home tests with no proctor. All the testing requirements are silly and mean nothing. Hope carnival drops the expense of a doctor or proctored test.