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Yes! I agree 1000%! I’m done with Marriott. Thanks so much for reading along!

That’s great! I’ve never been there but I enjoy them in CLT. Thanks for reading along!

November 26th, 2023 – Embarkation Day Morning finally arrived as morning tends to do if you wait long enough. I didn’t sleep well but it was good enough and I was ready to go. The hotel offered a continental breakfast which wasn’t great but was sufficient. We ate, went back up to our room to get our belongings and finally get on our way. I was ready! Ron called an Uber and in just a few minutes, Brian pulled up in front of the hotel. We loaded luggage, hopped in and headed to the port. We had a 10:30 check in time and it was around 9:45 at that time. Brian was great! He loved to travel and told us about his trips and growing up in Columbia. We shared some of the interesting things we have gotten to do through the years and we really enjoyed the ride and the conversation. The trip to the port was supposed to take about 15 minutes. The first part of the journey was pretty quick but as we got closer to the port, the traffic was CRAZY! I don’t remember ever seeing such a tangle of traffic at the port. It seems that usually there is some method to the madness but that wasn’t the case today. We waited for long periods of time only to inch forward a bit and have to stop again. When we got to the point where we were supposed to get out, the people controlling the traffic flow waved him through and wouldn’t let him stop. He wasn’t able to stop until we got the side where people were debarking the ship and loading up to go home or to the airport. It was a total mess. Ron told Brian to please just let us out right there and we’d just walk back to the porters. Brian agreed that was the best course of action. We hopped out, grabbed our bags from the trunk and stated walking. The entire 15 minute Uber ride took around 45 minutes. I spy with my little eye a whale tail in the distance! The port traffic was insane! The dogs WERE sniffing! And there she is!! We walked to the porters and gave them our luggage, tipping them, of course. By the time that was done, it was right at 10:30 and time to check-in. All in all, it worked out pretty well. We had expected to be a little early but didn’t want to wait around that hotel any longer than necessary. Turned out we were right on time. We sailed through security with absolutely no problems. Hey, I’m getting good at this security thing! Again, my halo was super shiny! It only took a few minutes to get checked in and we were sent to the waiting area. After sitting around for maybe 10 minutes, our boarding group was called. Easy peasy! We walked onto Carnival Celebration! Successfully cleared security and we were on our way Waiting to board.... ...boarding... ...almost there... ...REALLY boarding..... My first step on Celebration!! The first order of business was to do our muster drill. Ours was in the Festivale Restaurant (F7). They scanned us in and we barely stepped inside the door when we were told that since we’d done this several times we could go ahead about our business. Well….that was unexpected but whatever. I hope they take a few more pains with the people who HAVEN’T sailed before. Muster completed. Check! It was time for me to begin touring the ship. We usually try to start at the top and work our way down. Celebration is, of course, the second Excel class ship and is very similar to Mardi Gras. We checked out the sports deck and Serenity first. One thing I did notice is that there were some new obstacles on the ropes course. We’ll get into that a little more later but I was already looking forward to checking it out. Serenity is beautiful, as always. I love the squishy padding on the loungers. There is a small pool in the central part of Serenity deck. It’s really a very nice area. We also visited the sports courts, water park, track, mini-golf, upper part of Red Frog and Guy’s burgers before we went down to Lido proper. Miami skyline...one of these days I'm going to try out that ferris wheel Mini-golf Water Works Jogging track with Bolt above Clamshell seating Ropes course Lots of choices! Upper Lido deck loungers You will never convince me that people just "fall off" cruise ships accidentally. Look at the height of that rail! Red Frog Lido pool Lido deck Beautiful view of Miami Serenity Serenity pool More Serenity... ...and even MORE Serenity. Hey, we saved you a seat!! When we got to the back of the Lido deck where the Tides pool is located, we decided to go ahead and get lunch a little early before the ship became more crowded. We hadn't eaten much for breakfast. We were at Big Chicken anyway. No time like the present! We both ordered a Big Aristotle. We have enjoyed Big Chicken. I think it has been a nice addition to the Lido offerings. I really like Time Fries, too. More about them later…. Before I leave the subject of lunch, I did notice one thing that I had forgotten from Mardi Gras. Maybe it wasn’t this way on the Mardi Gras, I honestly don’t remember. They don’t have the cake selections at lunch time like they do on many of the other ships. What gives? (I'll complain about this more as the story progresses. Fair warning!) They do have gelato. There are two choices each day. On embarkation day it was coffee and mango, neither of which I liked very much. They had precut cake pieces set out but not the whole cakes from which they slice a piece. No Funfetti cheesecake. No lemon meringue cake. Boo! Mad Sizzle Time Fries....I love this place! Steam Dreams Lido seating Shawarma anyone?? Part of Lido buffet Tides bar And finally Big Chicken and lunch Check out the Big Aristotle Blue Iguana After our early lunch it was time to get back to the tour. We’d covered the upper decks so we headed down to Decks 6, 7, and 8 to do a walk through. We checked out the various Christmas trees scattered throughout the ship. I really enjoyed those. They were decorated thematically. My favorite was the flamingo tree at 820 Biscayne. I thought the one in Rudi’s Sea Grill was really pretty with starfish and sea horses. There were pig decorations in Guy’s Pig and Anchor and various clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds in the casino. Latitudes was probably the largest and had various clocks with different cities in different time zones. There were trees everywhere. This was my first time being on a ship that was decorated for Christmas and I enjoyed that very much! Love the tile work at the Tropicale bar! Casino tree Rudi's Seagrill tree The starfish and sea horses are so cute! 820 Biscayne Havana Havana Celebration Central Artwork from Carnival Victory - I don't remember seeing it on Victory. Pixels Pixels 820 Biscayne 820 Biscayne Cucina del Capitano Pizza anyone?? Deco Deli Flamingo tree Of course I'm getting my picture with the flamingos! Rudi's Seagrill Rudi's Seagrill Guy's Pig and Anchor Guy's Pig and Anchor Hero's Tribute Bar Summer Landing pool Festivale Restaurant Shiny staircase! Above Latitudes and Emeril's Latitudes Limelight Limelight Casino Casino Java Blue Rolls Royce from Ecstasy......I don't remember it either!! Celebration model....very detailed Emeril's Piano bar Ship's coin Punchliner By the time we finished looking it over, it was 1:30 and our room was ready. This time I had booked a square interior on Deck 12. I really, really liked the square interior room. I know it wasn’t bigger, but it felt more spacious. I will be getting the square room again when I can. We hadn’t been in the room very long when our luggage arrived. We went ahead and unpacked before heading back out. When we went back up on deck, it was nearly time for sail away. I am always torn. Do I want to dance? Do I want to be on one of the uppermost decks? Do I want to be in the front? Decisions, decisions! In this case, I decided to do all three. Poor Ron just goes along with whatever I want. We were in the Lido area when the music started. We enjoyed that for a while and danced a little. After the silent sail away from Charleston in February, it was nice to have a REAL sail away party! After a little while, we went up to Serenity to the front of the ship to watch the progression out of the Port of Miami. As the party started to wind down, we went back to our room to get ready for dinner. Now THAT'S a sail away party! We were on Anytime Dining this cruise. Ron checked us into the Festivale Restaurant and our table was ready in about 10 minutes. The food was pretty much standard Carnival fare. Ron had the steak. I had Cornish game hen. Ron had cheesecake for dessert and I had the no sugar added naval orange cake. No complaints about service or food. Although there was a “showtime” it wasn’t too long and didn’t seem to interfere with service much. The waiters didn’t dance every night on this cruise. Several nights one of the waitstaff sang a song. After dinner we went to Celebration Central to catch Trop Rock. We’d seen it before and really enjoyed the music. The Celebration Central singers…..Playlist, too…..were fantastic. I think they were about the best we’ve seen. All of the musicians on this cruise were top notch. After Trop Rock finished up, Ron had the opportunity to snag a couple of chairs right in front of the stage. He waved to me. As I came over to him, Lee was getting started with his “Welcome Aboard/Activate the Fun” show. I asked Ron if he was sure he wanted to sit there. It seemed like we would be prime targets if audience participation was required. No sooner than I’d expressed that opinion, Lee brought him and another gentleman on stage to be the sacrificial lambs in getting the fun started. He took it like a champ and went along with the program. At the end they gave him a solid gold plastic ship on a stick. At least we wouldn’t have to worry about winning one this cruise! Ron...being a good sport Playlist singers during the Activate the Fun show Ron's winnings. We watched and enjoyed the show. It was kind of a sampling of a lot of the various entertainment options around the ship. They were all very good and we enjoyed them very much. There were a group of kids who were dancing and really enjoying the show on the main floor. They seemed so happy and really made me smile! When Lee finished his part and Playlist took over, he came down to sit with those kids and talk with him. Talk about classy! I had been sorry we weren't having Chris Williams again but after that, I knew Lee was not only an awesome Cruise Director but an awesome human. When Playlist finished singing, one of the singers came to introduce herself to the kids and talked with them for a minute. They were starstruck and I thought that was very classy of her, too. It was time to "active the fun" so Lee got the whole group of kids up front and they pushed the button. After the fun was successfully activated, we wandered into Limelight to catch Tim Young’s show. He was pretty funny. Not the best I’ve seen….not the best I’d see on this cruise….but not bad. We were having a fun evening. Tim Young in Limelight Lounge At the conclusion of the comedy show, we went out on Deck 8 for a little while. I love that whole Summer Landing area. We would truly find our “place” on deck 8 a day later. It was so nice to be back on another cruise. The weather was beautiful, the temperature was perfect…it just doesn’t get any better! We stopped by the Hero’s Tribute Lounge for an ice cream and decided to call it a night. We were tired after traveling all day the day before and not sleeping well the night before. I was looking forward to sleeping late on our first sea day.

Thank you so much for reading along and hugs back from WV! When we get further into the story, you'll see that I NEEDED a hug. LOL

Thanks for reading along! Yes, that excursion is so much fun. I can't wait to tell you how it went this time! I love the rockers. Thanks for sharing a little info about them! I think I'd like the blue ones. I was actually born in NC at Fort Bragg. I'm an Air Force brat. lol

Thanks for coming with me again! I appreciate you!

Thanks for reading along!

Thank you so much for reading along!

Celebration Nov 2023 (What follows is a tale of changed plans, going with the flow and a visit to the ship’s medical center. If you don’t want to read all of my “before the cruise” story then skip ahead to the section labeled “Embarkation Day”. However, if you want to read the entire story, then YOU ARE MY PEOPLE! Thanks for reading along!) Hi, everyone! Ron and I just got back from another adventure, and I am anxious to share it here with you! As always, I’ll start as we’re leaving the house (including a bit of back story!) and take you with us up to when we disembark. I guess all good stories should start “Once upon a time…..” You know what seemed like a good idea this year? A cruise for Thanksgiving! Not exactly ON Thanksgiving, per se, but immediately after Thanksgiving. I had hoped to figure out a way to actually fly on Thanksgiving, but I couldn’t make the time frames work. Instead, we would be flying on the busiest travel weekend of the year. Can I choose a time to travel or what?!?!?! We originally booked the Jubilee sailing right after Thanksgiving. That would have been the 3rd or 4th sailing of Jubilee. Alas, the delivery date for Jubilee was delayed and we, like many of you, received a sad note of apology and a compensation package. I really wasn’t upset. I will certainly sail on Jubilee in the future, and I appreciated the compensation package so we made a change to a Celebration sailing on the very same days. Ron joked that we need to start booking the inaugural sailings of every ship so that when they are delayed, we get a little extra for our trouble OR we get to go on the inaugural sailing of the ship. Either way it’s a win. Sounds like solid reasoning to me! He’s so smart! With the cruise selected, it was time for the planning to begin. We would be visiting three ports; Roatan (Mahogany Bay), Cozumel and Costa Maya. We had only been to Roatan once before. On that trip, we did a tour of the island. This time we decided to do a Discover Scuba excursion. Roatan is known for its gorgeous reefs and excellent snorkeling and scuba so we thought we should check it out. Ron has dived several times. This would only be my second time of actually DIVING (and two previous experiences of “almost” diving but either not being allowed or chickening out). We would also be visiting Cozumel. This is one of my favorite ports! We’ve done several really interesting things in Cozumel and it’s such an easy port in which to just wander. One of our favorite shore excursions ever was in Cozumel when we ran the Amazing Cozumel Race. It was a long time ago…..9 years to be exact. The reviews seemed to indicate some changes had been made so it should have different experiences from what we had in 2014. Let’s do it! (Side note: We won the last time. This time we are both 9 years older and have more arthritis than we did in 2012. Winning seemed unlikely, still, it’s too much fun to play the game to miss the experience worrying about winning.) Finally, we would also be visiting Costa Maya. We had never been to Costa Maya and didn’t really know what to expect. We booked a private tour through Costa Maya Excursions. This excursion was a private Catamaran Sailing/Snorkeling tour. According to the description, we would be the only two people on the excursion and the captain would teach us how to sail a catamaran. That sounded perfect! Sign me up! Friday and Saturday, November 24th and 25th – Time to travel! In the car headed south!! Our flight wasn’t until Saturday the 25th but Ron’s brother lives in Concord, NC so we took the opportunity to go down a day early and visit with him for a while. Andrew, our oldest son, also met us there. We enjoyed the visit and catching up on family. We took a little time to visit the cemetery and decorate Ron’s mother’s grave. We don’t get down there as often as we’d like, and we didn’t want to miss this opportunity. After dinner, we headed to our hotel, which was the Hampton Inn Lake Pointe near Charlotte Douglas airport. As always, it was reliably clean and well maintained. No problems whatsoever! We spent the night and had breakfast the next morning before heading out. We usually fly from Charlotte Douglas and this trip would be no exception. We were booked on Southwest (a first for us) and we were supposed to leave a little after noon. Since we didn’t know how long it would take us to get through security and what traffic we’d encounter, we left pretty early for the airport. As an aside, our two grown sons were also traveling that day. Andrew would also be flying from Charlotte later that evening and Ben was flying from Nashville. They were meeting in Los Angeles to see the Baltimore Ravens play football. They also planned to spend a few extra days and see some sights, including heading into Las Vegas and driving to the Grand Canyon. Andrew was telling Ron that he had reserved his parking at the airport. I wasn’t even aware that you could do that! Ron promptly got online and reserved a spot for us for the week. Turns out this was a very good thing! When we got to the airport, we learned that all the regular long term lots were by reservation only for the holiday weekend. I’m not sure what we would have done if Andrew hadn’t told us about the reserved parking. I’m sure there’s a plan in place, I just don’t know what. Whew! That was close! In the future I’ll keep a better check on the parking situation! Parking acquired, we boarded the shuttle to go to the terminal. When we got there it was somewhat more crowded than normal but nothing like I had expected. It probably only took about 45 minutes to get through the security process. This time my halo was super shiny and I sailed through without a hitch. I even did a little dance at the end. Ron told me if I didn’t put a lid on the dancing that the TSA agents would think I had gotten something by them and decide to take a closer look. I was in vacation mode at that point, and everything makes me sort of giddy! Since it turned out we had plenty of time, we snagged a couple of rocking chairs and sat around for a while. I love the rocking chairs at CLT. I think it’s a nice touch! I’ve never seen them at any other airport. After a while we found our gate and set up camp there. Like I said, this is the first time we had ever flown on Southwest. I was a little unsure about that whole “no assigned seats” thing. Also, this was the first time in a while that we had a connection. Our connection was in Baltimore, so we basically were flying north in order to go south. Weird. Love the rocking chairs at CLT Waiting for our flight Anyway…on this first leg of the journey we were in the last boarding group. As we waited at the end of the line with the rest of the peasants, we knew there was no way we were sitting together on this leg. Ron wound up in a middle seat about ¾ of the way back. I went almost to the back but had a window seat. That was a little better. It was a quiet ride. My seatmates were both very quiet, so I just read for that leg of the journey, not wanting to disturb anyone. It worked well for all of us. Leaving Charlotte Somewhere between Charlotte and Baltimore..solid cloud cover. Our time between the first flight landing and the second flight boarding was short….I mean SHORT! Like 15 minutes short! Since the airlines coordinated the connection and we didn’t have much to do with it, we figured it must be doable. We were a little late getting on the ground and, being at the back of the plane, I was still seated, waiting to get off, when it was time for the second flight to start boarding. Fortunately, the two gates were adjacent to each other and we walked in one gate and out the other. The second flight wasn’t full, so we got to sit together. Much better! Over Baltimore Getting to sit with my bestie is the best! Finally.....Florida!! We landed in Ft Lauderdale and went to get our bags. It was a proper summer temperature. Yay! I love that! As we stood by the carousel, we saw Ron’s bag slide down. It was immediately grabbed by a woman who was gathering luggage for several people. He went over to ask her about it and show her that the luggage tag had a photo of the both of us. She wasn’t very happy with him but surrendered the suitcase without a fight. Whew! That’s a relief. There was an Airtag inside but still, we didn’t want to have to chase it all over the airport. We got the other bag and headed out to find an Uber. Right outside the door there was a guy who was stopping people and asking if they wanted an Uber. We said we were going to be doing it through the app. He insisted that we didn’t need the app and was trying to talk us into getting into his car. We were sure he WASN’T an Uber driver, especially since he wasn’t anywhere near the ride share area. We politely declined, walked to the ride share area and used the app to get a REAL Uber. Jesus showed up in about 15 minutes…in a Tesla no less! The ride from Ft Lauderdale to Miami was about 40 minutes and cost $53. Very acceptable! Thank you, Jesus! I have now learned my lesson regarding hotels. I had booked a hotel in Miami called Towneplace Suites by Marriott. First time staying in one of those. It was $150+ per night so it was one of the cheaper options but wasn’t a Days Inn or Motel 8 type of hotel. At least, I didn't THINK so. Miami hotels were pretty expensive that weekend. All of the Hampton’s in the area were in the $190 range for that weekend. That SHOULD have tipped me off but I’m a cheapskate. But I digress….back to the Towneplace Suites. The sign and the name SAID Marriott. The reviews were acceptable. I mean, we’re only going to be there for 12 hours. It’s hard to justify spending any more than necessary for that short amount of time. Also, we don’t require a lot. Just a clean, relatively pleasant place to sleep and shower. I walked into the lobby and thought, “Am I in the right place?” I had called a few days before to ask for shuttle recommendations to the port. I was told by a lady who answered the phone that there was an independent shuttle company that came to their hotel and you made arrangements when you checked in. That would work! But…I’m getting sidetracked again….back to the shuttle in a minute. Focus, Michelle!! The lobby was dark and dated. Ugh. Not a good look. The gentleman was polite but not friendly. I checked in, gave him my info and told him I’d like to make arrangements for the shuttle the next morning. He had no idea what I meant. I explained about talking to the lady on the phone. He insisted that I must be mistaken because there was no such service. I asked him if I was at the right place. He assured me that he had my reservation. I knew he was right because he knew my name. I also knew my name so we were in agreement. I looked at Ron…he looked at me. We quickly had one of those silent conversations that you have when you’ve been married for 38 years. I asked, “Should we find someplace else?” and he was answered “It’s late and we’re very tired so let’s make the best of it and do better next time.” All of that occurred in a matter of seconds without saying a word. We accepted our room card and headed upstairs. The hallways and room weren’t any better. It wasn’t dirty…just dated, dingy and dark. Lots of “D” words. None of the good “D” words like “delightful”, “decorated” or “desirable”. We were starved. We hadn’t had a chance to eat since breakfast due to the flight times and connections and it was closing in on 9pm. Breakfast had long since worn off! We ordered a pizza from Dominos and called it a night…..a disappointing night (another “D” word)….but a night none the less. Tomorrow was cruise day and THAT would be DYNAMITE! (Final D word, I promise) The moral of this whole hotel story is don’t be cheap like me!

I was on Celebration last week and they definitely were. Maybe it varies from ship to ship?

Loved the review! We’re headed out on Celebration on Sunday. Thanks so much!

Definitely available on Celebration. We’re booked to do another one on Celebration in the end of November.

Yay! Another Jamman review!

At this time they’re only available on Panorama, Mardi Gras and Celebration. It will also be available on Jubilee, I think.

I’ve only been on one RC cruise, about a dozen on Carnival, and it was on one of the smaller RC ships so I may not be the best person to answer. We’re in our 50’s but very active and we enjoy lots of different things, like the ropes course, water slides, trivia, games, deck parties, etc. To us, it just seemed like Carnival had a younger, more casual vibe. One example was the dancing in the evenings. The dancing on RC tended to be things like Foxtrot, waltzes, etc. We certainly don’t mind that but for us personally, we like our dancing to be a bit livelier. For trivia, RC did a progressive version where you had to hit every one. Carnival was pretty much “stand alone”. Personally I thought the food was better on CCL but entertainment better on RC. Just my thoughts.

I did one on Mardi Gras and I’m scheduled to do another on Celebration next month. They’re usually listed on speciality dining. Keep checking back because they do fill up. My class for the end of November is already sold out.

Looking forward to following along. Thanks for doing this! My turn on Celebration in November…….

I should probably say a prayer tonight thanking God that Willdra survived the golf cart experience and made it back home to entertain us with her awesome (know it will be!) review. Amen.

Oh, thank Heaven! I was hoping Willdra would be on Celebration soon! Following!

We always take our important things…paperwork, meds and jewelry….in a backpack and check anything else. We never bring soda so I can’t speak to that instance. We also don’t go to our room until the doors are open, thus letting us know rooms are ready. The cabin stewards work far too hard to risk getting in their way and making things more difficult.

My favorite cruise EVER was from San Juan. Loved the itinerary!

Sorry, missed your post earlier. I was on Sunshine in February. She looks fine, as you’d expect an older ship to be. If you want pics from February I did a full review with pictures. It can be accessed on the ship name drop down. Hopefully the pictures will help you make a decision. Happy sailing!

Yay! I’ve been waiting for this review! Thanks so much for taking time to do it!

We had kind of a rough start with our PVP but we got used to each other and we’re doing just fine now. Is he new? Or new to you?

Thanks so much for doing this review! I’m looking forward to it as we are on Celebration this fall.