irun5k

Thanks, good tips everyone. I did find my cabin number on the printable luggage tags! 11439, seems like a decent assignment. I'll go ahead and run through the check in process to get an arrival time. What times are available and what time I should pick is another story!!! We are driving from Tampa area to Miami, this is actually the first time we aren't going down the night before for a cruise out of South Florida. I've always been a little worried about having an issue on the drive down but it does also simplify things a bit. If I put down an early time but we arrive later is that a problem? I am assuming that is better than putting down a later time and arriving earlier?

Thank you. When do they normally assign guarantees, and is there a way to see the cabin? I'm not seeing anything in the cruise planner, but I'm not sure if it is because it just isn't something they show, or hasn't actually been assigned.

Online check in needs to know what documents you're traveling under. If our renewed passports show up at the last minute we'll use those, otherwise birth certs. So I am inclined to wait to check in. However, we are in a guarantee balcony cabin. Is there any benefit to checking in early? e.g. are the worst cabins (e.g. most obstructed views, worst decks, etc.) assigned last? Sorry for the stupid question but it has been a long time since we've sailed on Carnival.

Thanks, I was wondering about that option. It would be great if they had to-go boxes or covers for the plates to make transport easier but I can understand their primary goal isn't to operate a "grab-n-go" operation. Maybe we'll try it. I'm excited about all the dining options on Celebration but a lot of it seems like I'm going to need to balance the pizza, burgers, chicken sandwiches, BBQ, etc. with something healthy here and there or I'll be in bad shape by the end of the week!

I know there is normally a fairly basic salad bar in the buffet and I've heard there is one in Serenity. Are there any other options available specifically for a really nice salad? Is there anything like the Tutti salad at lunch in the MDR on RCCL? I've heard the Serenity salad bar is pretty good but with kids it isn't a feasible lunch option for us. Thanks!

Thanks for the info and it is helpful to know it is identical to Mardi Gras. I thought it might be but sometimes they change things within the same vessel class. There are some good YouTube tours, etc. on the thermal suite setup on Mardi Gras.

Has anyone used the thermal suite on Celebration? I understand there are at least a couple steam room and sauna options as well as the area with the heated loungers. Is there also a jacuzzi of some sort? I always used to enjoy the steam room when it was free on cruise ships so I was disappointed when Carnival and RCCL started charging. However if there is enough value I'm considering purchasing for our upcoming cruise. Appreciate any insight.

In about a month, we're going to have 2 adults and 2 kids in one of these generously sized rooms that you guys are talking about! I think we should stop feeding everyone now 🙂. It looks like the second bed will be in the form of a sofa sleeper setup. I'm not sweating it, we're usually not in room too much. A few years ago we spent a week in the Smokey Mountains in a NV 200-based camper van we rented so we can handle it. I will say on RCCL, odd as it sounds, we can normally get two cabins for the four of us for less than the price of one room. However demand is up and we didn't book this cruise until last month, so we're happy to be going anywhere. A single room with quad occupancy on the Celebration was in budget and it looks like a cool ship.

For most people and in most cases I would agree with you. Cash is king. We know we will always sun into Filipino crew members and my wife is Filipino, so in the past we have taken a few store bought goodies (e.g. polvoron) that are beloved by Filipinos abroad, difficult to find here and impossible to find in the Caribbean. These were extremely well received. 25 or so years ago we were on a cruise and took a blender (good old days!). Our room steward was fascinated by the "mixing machine" as he called it. He was the happiest guy on the ship when we gave him the blender at the end of the trip. Go figure. I should add that in none of those cases did this reduce the normal cash gratuity that we gave.

Thanks for taking the time to make all these posts. I followed along since we'll be on the Celebration next month. Appreciate your approach of just calling everything as you saw it with some rational commentary sprinkled in. Looking forward to any final thoughts you might have for future cruisers. Given the speciality dining lead time (reservation wait + usual time being seated, ordering, etc.) we will definitely take your advice and start thinking about dinner long before the first stomach growl. I am still not sure how we'll approach the shows, we are a family of four and everyone enjoys a good show but Celebration Central sounds like it has issues. We also enjoy live music so I'm sure we'll stay entertained.

I have not heard of this event, what is it?

We will be on the Celebration. I am not a coffee snob but figure we might as well get our morning coffee from the best place. Perhaps a more black and white version of this question- is there anywhere onboard that serves complementary drip coffee, vs. syrup coffee?

That is awesome! Any idea how they price a second guest in the stateroom, e.g. I wonder if they would have to pay a full solo fare.... or maybe the offer allows you to bring a guest?

What does "free" look like? e.g. the least possible definition I could imagine is, base cruise fare for a 3 nights on their oldest ship during the low of low season, inside cabin, one traveler. Perhaps sort of premium if you want to bring a guest and of course taxes, fees, tips not included. Of course it could only get better from there.... if you can bring a second person to occupy the stateroom and with fees and taxes and whatever else they want to add, it is still substantially less that what you'd pay with a normal booking, and it isn't necessarily on their oldest and worst, then it starts to become attractive pretty quickly.

For our cruise in March we're waitlisted for Anytime- when we booked a few weeks ago I could only get Late. In your experience, is it likely, or not likely that we'll get successfully switched? Perhaps there is someone I could see onboard? Early would also work for us but I'm not sure there is an option to put a second preference. With two kids we normally eat between 5-6 PM at home so late will not be good, especially since it sounds like your dining time also impacts other restaurants outside of the MDR. Thanks

Thank you for the review! We will be on her in March. Our last several cruises- 13 years or so- have been RCCL but this ship convinced me that it was worth sailing Carnival again. I am looking forward to the number of dining choices, spread across the ship. As much as I enjoy Oasis class ships, I feel like dining is still predominantly focused around MDR and buffet (and of course $pecialty dining.) The atrium seems like a mess for shows- I can even see it in the photos. I am wondering if it is even worth fussing with or if we should just skip the show(s) in that area altogether and stick with whatever is in the real theater? From the pictures it seems it must be like trying to watch a show from a parking garage under a large building that has the randomly placed support pillars everywhere that you have to dodge. I also really enjoy live music whether it be a full rock/pop band or just a guy or gal with a. guitar, etc. Anecdotally from what I've read so fare it is pretty common to run into this on the Celebration? Appreciate any other tips you might have!! Traveling with our kids, 8 and 15.