Celebration Review 8/27 - 9/1 (Long)

[Silverscreencruiser]

My wife and I recently returned from our first ever cruise, the Celebration on 8/27, and this is my first ever post on this board. Overall, it was a great experience with a couple of minor irritations along the way, about an 8.5 on a 1-10 scale.

 

First, I wanted to thank everyone here who gave us some great advice prior to the cruise. I lurked on the board for about six months gathering info, but I didn't feel I had anything to contribute. Hopefully, now, I can return the favor.

 

Second, we feel extremely grateful that our cruise experience was fortunately not marred by the weather (we had considered cruising out of Mobile about the same time, but my wife said she would rather see Nassau than Mexico) and our thoughts and prayers go out to those who have suffered. The overall experience was bittersweet because we knew that while we were having so much fun, others were in a life and death struggle.

 

The Celebration is an older, smaller ship, but it has been maintained quite well. We only saw a few instances of wear and tear, and the smaller size made for a more intimate feel in lounges and on deck. While at sea, we always saw crew memebers scraping and painting and doing other touch up work. Surprisingly (to us), there were only a couple of instances where there were substantial lines.

 

My biggest beef came right at the start, when the cruise was delayed nearly two hours with no explanation given. We did not sail until almost 6:00 and communication regarding this was very poor. We had the 5:45 dinner seating so we had to choose between seeing the ship leave Jacksonville or the dinner. I chose to get the view from the ship's bow on the Verandah deck, and it was well worth it. It's a long way up the St. John's River to the open sea with a lot of good scenery along the way (including some friendly dolphins keeping us company).

 

Dinner in the Horizon dining room was quite good the four nights we ate there. I don't know if Carnival planned it, but we were seated at a table for ten with four couples our approximate age (50's). Our waiter, Elbert, was most friendly and helpful, posing with us for pictures the last night. I usually had the beef dishes and my wife the fish, and the quality was better than most restaurants we eat at. One night I asked for a steak and they brought it without any questions and only minimal delay. The only small problem was one night when my wife and another woman at the table ordered turkey tenderloins with pasta, under the impression it would be a decent amount of turkey. Instead, it was a pasta dish with a couple of tiny pieces of turkey. When they saw this, both women asked for alternative dishes and they were quickly brought out. The waiters put on a brief song and dance show each night, hokey but entertaining.

 

Our room steward was Monica, and she was invisible in the best sense of the word. The rooms were always kept made up with fresh ice buckets. No one said anything about the liquor bottles we brought aboard. When we got in our stateroom shortly before sailing, we noticed one of the overhead lights was flickering on and off. We told Monica and the next time we went into the room, it was fixed.

 

Our breakfasts and lunches (plus dinner the first day) were in the buffet at the Lido Deck. Breakfast was always the same, but there were usually about two hot selections, a carvable meat (turkey, roast beef) and a pasta dish available at lunch, along with hamburgers, hot dogs, a salad bar, the pizzaria and a sandwich bar with deli sandwiches. I tried to sample most of the hot dishes and was not disappointed.

 

There was a grand midnight buffet, with extensive cold cut and desert selections, the third night of the cruise. Unfortunately, there was also a midnight show for one of the comedians that night and many people (including us) went directly from the show to the buffet line, which was the longest wait we had the entire cruise. A lot of people took several plates back to their rooms with them, so there were lengthy delays for the crew to get each plate boxed up.

 

The night we were in Nassau, the house band played on the Lido Deck during the Mexican midnight buffet. There was a very big crowd on deck and the partying was going strong when we went to bed about 1:00. Being up on the top deck while the ship pulled out about the same time as the RCL ship next to us was the most romantic moment of the trip.

 

We went to most of the shows in the main lounge. There were two large scale production numbers, one a Broadway song and dance and the other country music. Quality was considerably above night club and local dinner theater standards, the shows lasting about an hour each. There were also three different comedians (two of whom gave an early night, PG-rated show and a midnight R-rated show; the third only did the R-rated show). The middle comic was first rate and other two were not quite top notch but still good.

 

We also listened and danced to the house band, Blackjack, the other nights they played in the main lounge. They played a mix of oldies, easy pop and country to usually small, older crowds but there were a lot of songs to dance to. While we didn't go there, the karaoke lounge seemed quite crowded when we went by.

 

I frequented the casino a good bit, usually in 15-30 minute increments between various other events. The slots were usually in moderate to heavy play, but there was rarely much of a crowd at the other tables. I played blackjack and only once or twice were there more than about three other players at the table. The dealers realized many of the players were novices, so they were very patient and were actively rooting for the players to win. This was far from the mechanical fast paced environment I have often seen in Vegas and other land based casinos.

 

The entire crew was genuinely friendly, hard working and enthusiastic. No one ever seemed tired or irritable, and they were very attentive to our needs. I did think the emphasis on the "competition" between red and blue teams to be very silly, but most of the people onboard seemed to like it. The biggest problem we had was during one of the comedy shows in the main lounge when a couple of obnoxious drunks persisted in making a loud nuisance of themselves and no one on the crew seemed to know how to deal with them. About half way into the show, the woman left and the man quieted down after that.

 

In Key West, we eschewed the shore trips (although we did attend the informational meeting the first day) and did a bit of walking tour of our own to the Hemingway house and Mel Fisher's museum. Hemingway's house is a bit of a disappointment (although my wife got to make friends with one of the many cats on the property), but Mel Fisher's museum is a fascinating look at the artifacts his divers brought up from the various wrecks. We had lunch at Pepe's and got a slice of Key Lime Pie at Kermit's, did a bit of shopping and got back to the ship.

 

In Nassau, we walked along the dock and decided to take the Yellow Bird Cruise. It goes to Pearl Island, along with some of the other outing boats. I had been to Nassau over twenty years earlier and went on an all-day outing to another, larger island, and this was somewhat of a disappointment. Pearl Island is a bit of a tourist ripoff, with not much of a stingray lagoon. There were about a dozen or so stingrays in very murky water. At least, the rum punches were plentiful on the trip to and from Pearl Island, but if there is a next time to Nassau, we will do something else.

 

Since we hadn't been on a cruise before and we seldom go out to really fancy night spots, restaurants or shows, I didn't have much to compare this too, but we were thoroughly entertained and dined in a manner that will be well above most of what we will do the rest of the year. This was definitely a middle class, mostly young crowd, but we had just as good a time as everyone else. The Celebration offers five-day cruises for a price comparable or better to most four-day cruises so we feel we had excellent value.

 

A couple of parting tips: bring soft drinks on board if you have an itch for them; it's lot cheaper than buying them one at a time. If you want the drink of the day (which is the best booze buy on board), keep an eye out for someone's discarded glass. Turn that in to the waiter and you get the drink at the refill price, saving a couple of bucks. Take a power strip with you since there is only one 110-volt outlet per cabin. Sports junkies should be prepared; the TV has network channels and CNN, but no ESPN.

 

We will probably try a different itinerary the next time, but we are already thinking about another cruise for next summer's vacation.

[danyelle]

sounds like a great first cruise to me!

[suseg]

What a great review, thank you so much. We'll be on the old girl in less than a month.....I can't wait! We're in cabin V-10 which were you in? Sounds like you were also on the Verandah deck, if so what did you think? We're also in our 50's so I have a feeling we'll feel much the same as you did.

[cathyoo]

very nice review. Glad you had a wonderful time. Thanks for sharing.

[Silverscreencruiser]

We were in Cabin U-110, interior but close to one of the elevator banks. It definitely pays to be on one of the higher up decks since there are only a few very small elevators, and you will probably want to walk up or down rather than wait on one of them during busy times.

 

Most of the people on the cruise were younger, and everyone seemed to be having a good time, but it was not an overly rowdy crowd. There was almost no obnoxious or obviously drunk behavior that I witnessed and Carnival managed to keep the children (about 400 of them) out of the way most of the time.

 

We managed to find plenty to keep us entertained until midnight or beyond every single night of the cruise.

[reileyj]

Thanks for your wonderfully written review! I am taking my entire family (me, husband and 5 young kids) on the same cruise in November and look forward to it although, having cruised many times before, have the feeling this cruise won't be quite as relaxing as the ones we did as a couple. We chose Carnival because of for the kids - we heard Carnival takes good care of them with many activities while once in a while my husband and I can have a meal alone together!

 

About Nassau, being that you weren't copletely satisfied with your choice of day excursion, can you recommend what would be an appropriate activity for a family? I heard snorkeling is good. Also, on this cruise I want to avoid planned excursions. One you get off the ship in Nassau can you walk to the ocean/beaches/places of interes? Same for Key West, can we easlity plan a nice day without joining a tour? What other spots whould you recommend for either place for a family? Thanks so much. -Susan

[Silverscreencruiser]

The boat we went on went to Pearl Island, which is very tiny, with a small swimming area. We were not very impressed by it, and I really would not recommend spending another $25 a person to spend a few minutes wading around and petting the stingrays in murky water. The main attraction of the Yellow Bird Cruise was that it offered a fair amount of booze along the way, which is probably not something that would appeal to a family with five young ones.

 

There are several other islands within a half hour boat ride which are bigger and offer a wider variety of activities, including the one I visited twenty years ago (which I can't remember the name of). I'd suggest following the Bahamas and Key West boards to get their recommendations on the various islands and tours. If you don't go out on one of the boats, two things to consider would be going to the Atlantis Hotel to tour their aquarium area (called the Digs). It's pricy but the kids would probably enjoy it. Something a bit more reasonable would be to go to the Ardastra Gardens and zoo.

 

Key West offers a number of museums and historic sites which are within an easy walk of the cruise ship, but most of them would probably be a bit boring for young ones. The Butterfly Conservancy might be a better bet, but it is on the southern end of the island (the ship docks on the northern end) and probably too far to walk with youngsters in tow. The aquarium is right next to the dock but it is fairly small and touring it wouldn't take more than an hour or so. One of the excursions they offered was a tour of a new pirate museum that was within a block of the dock. From the description they gave us, it seemed to put the emphasis on show and spectacle with audio visual presentations (including one where you seem to be in the middle of an actual sea battle). It wasn't our type of entertainment, but it would probably be something kids would enjoy. You could easily walk to it, the aquarium and/or the Ripley Museum (again, not our cup of tea but something that might appeal) and a number of places to eat and shop from the ship.

 

Hope you enjoy the cruise.

[Tater1800]

...5 young kids) ... I heard snorkeling is good. Also, on this cruise I want to avoid planned excursions. One you get off the ship in Nassau can you walk to the ocean/beaches/places of interes? Same for Key West, can we easlity plan a nice day without joining a tour? What other spots whould you recommend for either place for a family? Thanks so much. -Susan

 

The snorleling tours we have been on had a minimum age limit of 8. Even if this doesn't apply, snorkeling with small kids in deep water will not work. Snorkeling is a skill that requires one on one instruction. There is an ecception.

 

A long beach break excursion could become a snorlel adventure. If your kids have their own mask, snorkel and practice ahead of time this may be a wonderful experience. I suggest staying in very shallow water and no fins.

[homeofthedogs]

Wonderful review!!!! WOW, you hit on everything I was wondering about. Don't have any questions, as you answered them all. Thanks! Sounds like you enjoyed your trip and I know we will too. We head out Sept 24th. Thanks again for your great review!

[crookedhalo]

Hi! We sailed on Celebration in March!! Loved it! We were in U155 and yes the elevators are small!! Did lots of stair climbing :)

 

As for Nassau, we did the Blue Lagoon trip - had water toys, snorkeling and all sorts of hammocks. Saw lots of families there with kids. There are various snorkeling and swimming areas, so you should be able to find something to suit. We were there during spring break (I think), so we did have a large number of kids who went just to drink (legal age is lower there).

 

Overall we loved the excursion!:)