is Celebration tooooooooo big?

[hard_eight]

1 hour ago, shdixon said:

I also book the same sailing. One of the good things about sailing during that time is a lot of people have returned to work in school after the holiday so hopefully it is not at maximum capacity

That's kind of what we're banking on, with the fare prices though it's sure to be full! And it's a casino cruise... Have you signed up on the roll call post? See you aboard!

[shdixon]

1 hour ago, hard_eight said:

That's kind of what we're banking on, with the fare prices though it's sure to be full! And it's a casino cruise... Have you signed up on the roll call post? See you aboard!

I definitely need to do that. See you then

[UPNYGuy]

4 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

Tons per passenger only tells part of the story. A smaller ship like the Ecstasy may technically have more tons per guest, but only have two or three lounges for passengers to go to in the evening, whereas the Horizon may have three times that amount. So even though it holds more guests there are more choices for what the guests do so they are spread out more.

 

IMO better comparison would be fantasy class vs spirit class.

[UPNYGuy]

7 hours ago, shof515 said:

Royal Caribbean will never have their big mega ships tender. they will always dock

 

The biggest thing cruise lines can do to make getting off and on the ship in ports and on embarkation/debarkation quicker is using multiple gangways in different areas of the ship. I recently went on a NCL cruise and for embarkation and debarkation they had one gangway in the aft part of the ship and one in the forward part of the ship. it makes getting off and on the ship a big easier

 

NCL operates like that out of pier 88

[shof515]

8 minutes ago, UPNYGuy said:

 

NCL operates like that out of pier 88

and i also love how they separate the terminal in half. if your cabin is on an odd deck like deck 9,11, etc then you go to the check in area towards the back of the terminal and then if you cabin is an even deck like deck 8,10 then you go to the check in area towards the front of the terminal. Best way to spread out the crowds. its a much much better system what carnival does at the same terminal. 

 

I did 2 carnival cruises out of pier 88 on the magic and both times the checkin and embarkation process was unorganized crowded with very long lines and wait times and my 2 NCL cruises out of the same pier was much quicker with little to no crowds.

[Illbcruzn4life]

8 hours ago, craig01020 said:

Norwegian's newest ships, the Prime and Viva are only in the 3,000+ passenger range.

That got my attention as well. I'm not a NCL fan but i'd give it a shot.

[BrianMD]

I'm certainly going to find out. Being near Baltimore I've sailed the Spirit class ships several times and like the layout & capacity. I've enjoyed the Panorama & Horizon as well (both at partial & full capacity) and they didn't feel crowded and had more amenities. Although Celebration looks (and is) huge the only way to find out is to try it which is exactly what I'm going to do. As someone else stated it's a larger ship with more people so the concentration of people shouldn't be too bad for the most part.

[UPNYGuy]

6 hours ago, shof515 said:

and i also love how they separate the terminal in half. if your cabin is on an odd deck like deck 9,11, etc then you go to the check in area towards the back of the terminal and then if you cabin is an even deck like deck 8,10 then you go to the check in area towards the front of the terminal. Best way to spread out the crowds. its a much much better system what carnival does at the same terminal. 

 

I did 2 carnival cruises out of pier 88 on the magic and both times the checkin and embarkation process was unorganized crowded with very long lines and wait times and my 2 NCL cruises out of the same pier was much quicker with little to no crowds.

 

the most unorganized embarkation I have had was actually Oceania. It was at pier 90 before the inside was upgraded, and it was a disorganized mess. It took 2 hours to get 700 pax onboard. 

[jimbo5544]

On 11/8/2022 at 1:00 PM, UPNYGuy said:

 

like it or not, this is the modern cruise industry. Unless you go with Viking, Azamara, or Oceania, what you see is what you are now going to get. Even Holland America's new ships are almost twice the size as the smallest and oldest ones that were decommissioned in the last few years (99,000 GRT vs 50,000ish GRT) Hell, Princess has a 175,000 GRT ship on order, and several in the fleet right now that are the same size as a Breakaway or Voyager class.

Bingo

[jimbo5544]

we have sailed the Mardi Gras (sister ship) 3 times.  First cruise (it was her 2nd sailing) 2400 people, sailed like empty.  2nd cruise in January 4400 people seemed still ok.  Last was this past June (most people on the ship since the start, at least up till that time) 5400. Was crowded.

[Jamman54]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

we have sailed the Mardi Gras (sister ship) 3 times.  First cruise (it was her 2nd sailing) 2400 people, sailed like empty.  2nd cruise in January 4400 people seemed still ok.  Last was this past June (most people on the ship since the start, at least up till that time) 5400. Was crowded.

On our Mardi Gras B2B in April we had 5400 on the first leg, 5800 on the second leg. It was crowded,  but you learn to deal with it. Such as lining up 45 minutes ahead of time for the comedy club and theater. For Center Stage we got there an hour early to get good seats on the floor up front. Heck, there was a line for Build a Bear! 😁 Edited to add that we still booked a B2B on the Celebration next April! 😁

Edited November 12, 2022 by Jamman54

[staceyglow]

2 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

On our Mardi Gras B2B in April we had 5400 on the first leg, 5800 on the second leg. It was crowded,  but you learn to deal with it. Such as lining up 45 minutes ahead of time for the comedy club and theater. For Center Stage we got there an hour early to get good seats on the floor up front. Heck, there was a line for Build a Bear! 😁 Edited to add that we still booked a B2B on the Celebration next April! 😁

Yeah, I am not lining up 45 minutes ahead of time to watch a show on the MG when I can stroll straight into the venue 10 minutes before the start on a smaller ship. 

[jimbo5544]

6 hours ago, staceyglow said:

Yeah, I am not lining up 45 minutes ahead of time to watch a show on the MG when I can stroll straight into the venue 10 minutes before the start on a smaller ship. 

Options are always aa good thing

[Joebucks]

20 hours ago, staceyglow said:

Yeah, I am not lining up 45 minutes ahead of time to watch a show on the MG when I can stroll straight into the venue 10 minutes before the start on a smaller ship. 

 

Unfortunately, when you are on the MG, you do not have the option to jump to a small ship if you want to see a show. I really don't understand why Carnival can't get the comedy club size right. While I like the bigger ships better, comedy certainly was a much better experience in the smaller ships. Carnival just needs to move it to the main theater, and be done with it. 

[shof515]

2 hours ago, Joebucks said:

 

Unfortunately, when you are on the MG, you do not have the option to jump to a small ship if you want to see a show. I really don't understand why Carnival can't get the comedy club size right. While I like the bigger ships better, comedy certainly was a much better experience in the smaller ships. Carnival just needs to move it to the main theater, and be done with it. 

its not just carnival, other cruise lines also have very small tiny room for the comedy club. the new Norwegian prima has lots of mixed reviews about this

[jsglow]

2 hours ago, Joebucks said:

 

Unfortunately, when you are on the MG, you do not have the option to jump to a small ship if you want to see a show.

Nope, but you do have the option when choosing your ship.  I wonder if the whole 'mega ship' push will eventually run it's course.  Eventually the universe of Blue/Red (plus the folks that simply prefer max features) gets exhausted.

 

I've said in other places that you'll NEVER see me on a RCCL Oasis Class boat.  I'm perfectly comfortable on small and mid sized ships although the definition for that is clearly changing.  I suppose the good news is that in my remaining 'serviceable' years, those options will remain.

 

I do think we'll try one of the Excel Class boats at some point when the pricing gets the 'new' shine off.  Only way to decide for sure. Cruise on.

Edited November 13, 2022 by jsglow

[Jamman54]

3 hours ago, Joebucks said:

 

Unfortunately, when you are on the MG, you do not have the option to jump to a small ship if you want to see a show. I really don't understand why Carnival can't get the comedy club size right. While I like the bigger ships better, comedy certainly was a much better experience in the smaller ships. Carnival just needs to move it to the main theater, and be done with it. 

When we were on the Mardi Gras they had 3 Comedy Showcases in the main theater. You still had to line up 45 minutes before if you wanted a good seat. 😎

[pjhootch]

I haven't been in a hurry to sail on huge ships.  We have done Vista and Horizon and I am not really crazy about either one.  I feel a bit closed in on both of them- but assume that is just psychological and not objective.  

 

We were on Mardi Gras in October 2021.  It was a covid sailing so there was a passenger limit at about 2/3 capacity.  It still felt pretty crowded. I liked the ship and some of the venues and ideas they incorporated, but there were obvious issues with the dining venues simply not being able to accommodate everyone wanting to eat dinner.   Even with 1/3 capacity missing.   We aren't into the gimmicks like the roller coaster or sky rides so that stuff does nothing for us (except maybe keep some other people's kids occupied for a while. 🙃

 

We are booked on Celebration in January and April.  I am looking forward to it and hope to really explore the Celebration more than I did the Mardi Gras last year.

 

What I really liked about Mardi Gras was the variety of venues with music or shows.  There was a great band on board and multiple places to comfortably listen to great live music.   I don't like going into the main theater for a crammed in show, but loved the shorter shows on Mardi Gras in the open stage area that is the main lobby also.

[jimbo5544]

5 hours ago, jsglow said:

Nope, but you do have the option when choosing your ship.  I wonder if the whole 'mega ship' push will eventually run it's course.  Eventually the universe of Blue/Red (plus the folks that simply prefer max features) gets exhausted.

 

I've said in other places that you'll NEVER see me on a RCCL Oasis Class boat.  I'm perfectly comfortable on small and mid sized ships although the definition for that is clearly changing.  I suppose the good news is that in my remaining 'serviceable' years, those options will remain.

 

I do think we'll try one of the Excel Class boats at some point when the pricing gets the 'new' shine off.  Only way to decide for sure. Cruise on.

The economics say no. Huge demand and the best bang for the build buck by FAR.

[craig01020]

On 11/9/2022 at 6:49 AM, shof515 said:

Royal Caribbean will never have their big mega ships tender. they will always dock

How about when they go to an island like Santorini?

[Old Fart Cruisers]

is Celebration tooooooooo big?

 

NO

[UPNYGuy]

On 11/9/2022 at 6:49 AM, shof515 said:

Royal Caribbean will never have their big mega ships tender. they will always dock

 

not true. I tendered off of Liberty OTS to get to Grand Cayman. They tender the freedom class ships, which are definitely considered megaships. 

[Ilovesailaway]

Is Celebration Too Big?

Well considering how small the elevators and bathrooms are maybe it's not big enough?

[shof515]

4 hours ago, UPNYGuy said:

 

not true. I tendered off of Liberty OTS to get to Grand Cayman. They tender the freedom class ships, which are definitely considered megaships. 

Liberty is more like a mid size ship. The mega ships is the bigger ships in the Oasis and Quantum class ships like the Icon and Wonder 

[UPNYGuy]

3 hours ago, shof515 said:

Liberty is more like a mid size ship. The mega ships is the bigger ships in the Oasis and Quantum class ships like the Icon and Wonder 

 

Liberty is, by definition, a megaship. Quantum is only about 15,000 GRT larger and less than 400 pax more. If pax load is what you are using as a measure, Norwegian Breakaway (also considered a megaship) is more in line, but is  roughly 23,000 GRT smaller than quantum. midsize is falling around the 100,000 GRT mark.

 

Not to mention, Odyssey OTS (quantum class) tenders into Grand Cayman as well.