DramaQueen22

In the MDR on our final sea day. It should appear on the Hub app under "Hungry for More"

Our arrival window was 11:00-11:30. We got to the terminal at 10:45 and were onboard by 11:20am.

My husband and I set sail in the Celebration January 2-8. Our ports were Amber Cove and Grand Turk. Rather than a long, detailed review, I'll share some of our thoughts and impressions. EMBARKATION: The new Terminal F is huge and gorgeous. We arrived about 10 minutes before our scheduled arrival time but were allowed to go right in. Everything was a breeze! It took less than 30 minutes from our arrival until we were on board. THE SHIP: She is beautiful! There is really so much to see and do. 5 days isn't enough to get the full experience. Our only negative is that the layout of several venues is odd. Celebration Central has a very weird seating pattern, and it is tough to see from every seat. There are multiple crowd choke points on the ship. mostly by the popular venues like Alchemy or Punchliner. It didn't help that lots of folks crowded near the dining venues waiting for tables rather than arriving after being notified in the app that a table was ready. The main theater is small, so you have to get there early for seats. The elevators are tiny! Serenity was our favorite hang out spot, although it can get very windy up there. Tons of seating...best we've seen so far. DINING AND DRINKS: We chose YTD and enjoyed the many options available. We ate in the MDR twice. Our favorite on this trip was Cucina. We also tried Chibang, and while it was good, It didn't warrant another try for us. Guys and Big Chicken were great. Wasn't too impressed with Street Eats. Lido was good, although the layout here is also odd. We were really missing the cake buffet! We did Seaday Brunch but were not impressed (it was way better on the Horizon). Tea Time was lovely. JavaBlue has lots of great Grab and Go options and delicious treats. Pizza and deli were good and the long lines moved pretty fast. Celebration has is WAY over the rest of the fleet when it comes to bars. We did Cheers for the first time on this trip and loved it. The Golden Jubilee serves classic cocktails and has a great vibe. Latitudes was out favorite spot with its twist on drinks from around the world. Loved the Pimms Cup! ENTERTAINMENT: We enjoyed the comedy shows onboard. We did see Color My World, but honestly it didn't impress me. I've seen better Playlist productions on other ships. We enjoyed the We are One show in Celebration Central. The Backyard Band was very good, and we loved guitarist Paul. CD Lee was hilarious at the Love and Marriage Show. CABIN: We had an inside (10414) on Deck 10. Spacious and well laid out. Lots of storage. Love the location near the midship elevators. Our steward cleaned 1x per day, which suited us just fine. SHOPPING: Much of the standard gift shop options on board, nothing spectacular. I disliked the Effy store. The salespeople were incredibly pushy and most of the stuff was ridiculously overpriced. For example, we got a great deal on a diamond band on Horizon with 50% off. On Celebration there were no sales to speak of. Skip it. We got a better deal at Diamonds International in Amber Cove. PORTS: no excursions for us this trip. We hung out at the pool in Amber Cove and on the beach in Grand Turk. Nice relaxing days. Feel free to ask any questions!

You could wait until near the end of your arrival window, then your friends could go in near the start of theirs. It won't be exact, but you should end up within 5-10 minutes of one another. Then simply board with the D group all at the same time.

Southwest isn't going to pay for your missed cruise. This is EXACTLY why you should always purchase travel insurance (not through your cruise line). Southwest must compensate your for the missed flight, in its full original cost. Any expenses in addition to that are, sadly, your responsibility, or you turn them into insurance for reimbursement.

We board when you return! Cannot wait!

You're on a cruise...skip the internet! 😉

There is music in the bar until midnight. We've stayed in Havana Interiors that are close to the bar area, and never found the noise to be too bad.

Yes, that will be the case for Celebration as well.

Sailing on the Celebration January 3. I keep checking for offers to upgrade, but none so far. Thinking it's not going to happen this trip.

Havana on the Vista Class is well worth it. The area at the back of the ship is fantastic. On Excel Class, the area was moved to the side and is much smaller. Not sure I'd trade a balcony for it in that case.

We love the Havana insides. Yes, depending on your specific location, you may hear some noise from the band. It's not terrible, and stops just about midnight. We've never found it to be bad.

The Spaghetti Carbonara in MDR. Grand Marnier Soufflé Cake buffet at lunch Amazing salads on the buffet not the ones you make, but the premade ones Margherita Pizza Guy's Ringer burger

We purchased a diamond eternity ring on the Horizon last year. Git it on night one when all diamonds were 50% off. Great deal!

We are booked for the Jan. 3 sailing. Total cost for an inside on Deck 10 was just over $600. It's actually costing us more to fly to MIA than the cruise itself. I'm now watching for upgrade offers...none yet!

It's a total pain when stuff is contradictory. I'd say just do the test. That way you are covered if there is a need. The BiNax proctored tests are super easy and convenient. Bermuda is gorgeous!

You may want to shop while onboard. That of course is strictly up to you, but your account would cover that as well. You may decide to take an excursion. In your case, I'd think s $300 buffer would cover anything unrelated to what you've already paid, and if it's a cash account you can always add additional funds if you find you need them.

There typically aren't exceptions on that. But you will most definitely save money not getting it for one person who cannot drink. Simply pay "out of pocket" for your drinks.

You'd have to choose My Time for your only option. If they've assigned you to late, My Time slots may be filled, or waitlisted You can always log in to your planner and see if you are able to switch from there.

If you sail from anywhere in the US, the tax only gets charged on your embarkation day I believe.

If you can walk to the Lido to get hot water, then you can get coffee. Problem solved.

Ummm. I DID read your post and you mention NOTHING about Carnival, only TSA.

Someone posted to John Heald (perhaps the OP's spouse?) and utterly flamed him for NOT allowing the blender onboard. Ridiculous entitlement.

TSA rules and Carnival's are two very different things.

Solo cruising is great. You can do whatever you want without having to worry about someone else's preferences. And as others have said, you can do regular dining, where they will assign you to a table, or YTD where you can dine alone. I've done both. The one time I did regular dining, our table was full of other solo cruisers and we had a great time. Don't be afraid to do excursions. There are always other folks you can hang with. I once did a Key West walking tour, and the group was so much fun we ended up hanging out after the excursion finished. Take lots of books to read and enjoy yourself!