Celebration 12/27-1/3 Review

[zzmmmommy]

Hi, we just got off the Celebration and I wanted to give a quick review (sorry, it won't be as detailed as others), but you have all been so helpful to me that I wanted to return the favor.

We traveled with our 4 kids...19, 17, 15, and 14.  My 14 year old has autism - so some of this might help those of you traveling with special kids :).

 

Getting on was quick - no issues.  Our rooms were on the same side as the smoking and I was very nervous after reading some posts on facebook.  I tried to change our rooms because I knew my daughter would not be happy if she couldn't use the balcony, and she isn't comfortable being around smokers.  Our rooms were extended balconies on deck 9, right above the Havanna club.  Absolutely not one whiff of smoke from the smoking section down the ship.  Our extended balconies were amazing.  Our rooms didn't connect inside, but the door between the balconies was opened and it worked just as well for us.  My kids like to be able to go back forth between our 2 rooms.

The extended balcony was not expected, I didn't realize it when I booked it. We spend a lot of time hanging out and my kids had friends on the ship and they really enjoyed the extra space.  One room had the lounger and the other didn't.  I asked for a lounge chair for both decks.  I didn't realize they should both have a lounge chair- so make sure to ask if you don't get one!

 

The dining room food was gross (late dining). Sorry!  We have cruised tons and tons of times, and we always find the dining room food kind of yuck, so we took advantage of all the restaurants, and it was great. We ate at chibangs three times, the pig and anchor once and the Italian restaurant twice.  We were nervous that the waits would be long and my daughter would have a hard time waiting but guest services helped me and was able to give us a set time to sit at each restaurant.  Our dining time was 7:45, so this varied depending on the night (somewhere between 7:30 and 8:30).  But they were great at accommodating her needs.  I can't say this enough...guest services and each restaurant really helped us.  If we couldn't get it to work then we would just eat the main dining, but they were all wonderful. The food was good- but it took us about 2 hours at each restaurant so be prepared!  I also think they are still working the kinks out so some of the food would come out cold and some really hot.  It is what it is.  We still enjoyed it.

If your kids (or older teenagers...ha ha), don't want the food at the restaurants they can still get some of the classics- one of my kids ate salad and the steak at every restaurant.  

 

The lunch was good but having it all over the place was challenging for us.  Everyone wants something different and then having to bring it up or down to meet somewhere was annoying for us.  Again, some families might not mind but this was definitely annoying for us.

 

The soda machines are good in theory but they NEVER work.  

 

The shows were good but celebration center is just awful.  We tried to see the big circus but couldn't get seats, people lined up hours before and I just wasn't.  I found the location so distracting with the coffee place and casino right there, it was just awkward.  During NYE we couldn't see the dancers and DJ on the center stage...for us it was a big fail.  We did enjoy the piano bar and the shows in the Grand Theatre.  

 

I also thought the pool outside needed a live camera.  They did some games and other things with the DJ but the big screen didn't show anything.  The screen just ran the carnival ad over and over.  I feel like I remember other cruises showing us on the big screen what was going on during the pool games, etc.  

 

We used the gym every day and really enjoyed it.  I was disappointed that I couldn't pay for a day use of the steam room area.  It was either pay for the whole cruise or not at all.  I would have liked to just pay for the days I wanted it.  Not the end of the world.

 

My older kids said there were a lot of fights at night in the casino and dance club.  I never saw one, but I go to bed early with my youngest.  My older kids said some of the fights were bad - like blood and people attacking each other but they would see the same people the next day by the pool drinking again.  My oldest son even laughed and said that I am bigger than some of the security officers (I am 5 feet and on the tiny side).  But again, I never saw any of this.

 

The beds are the smallest things ever.  My kids and husband are not tiny, about 5'10-5'11 and weight between 180-250 and the beds were like doll houses.  No way are those beds twins. For me it was fine, but for my husband and older boys they were miserable.  

 

A few side notes - they cleaned our balconies while we were at sea and left all the balcony partitions open...all along deck 9.  We let my youngest daughter nap and didn't realize it at first.  Thankfully one of my boys noticed this.  I immediately called guest services and it took a few hours for them to come back up and lock all the doors.  You could basically walk into all the rooms on deck 9.  It was neat to see the fancier balcony next door to us!

 

We never do excursions, so I have nothing to add about that- we usually just get off in the morning and walk around the port then take advantage of an empty ship in the afternoon.

I don't think Lee is that great.  We barely heard from him or saw him around the ship.  We've cruised a few times with Jake Miller and find him to always be out and about.  

 

Overall, the ship is amazing.  My younger two went on bolt multiple times and the ropes course over and over.  We have been on tons of cruises with my kids, and none have ever been so accommodating to my daughter with special needs.  They would let her do the ropes course over and over since she loved it so much.  There was something for all my kids, they were all kept busy and had fun.  I made sure to tell guest services how appreciative I was of all their assistance.

 

I hope this helps anyone with anything!

 

 

 

 

[TravelE]

Very helpful information thank you!

[edspec]

We cruised with 32 year old autistic DS on Panorama last July and I'll echo what you said...CCL staff is amazing with the autistic population.  I really want to take DS on Celebration as he dearly loved Barnum and Bailey circus when it came around each year.  If we cruised at an off time perhaps we'd have better luck w/ getting good seats.  Thank-you for sharing, it is so helpful in planning.  We have a Princess cruise booked in June and I haven't been able to find any first person accounts so very nervous about embarkation, debarkation, and table in the mdr.

[Illbcruzn4life]

thanks for taking the time to post this. We may only do the dining room 1 night now after reading about the food. We already have the steakhouse, Rudi's, and Teppanyaki.

 

Can't wait til April.

[SunshineGal2022]

Thank you for the review!!

 

I didn't even realize there was a smoking side.  :O

 

I have been searching posts on CC for 30 min and I assume you mean the starboard side.  

 

I need to book on the port side if that is the case....

 

I appreciate the review about the autism help.  Did your 14yo go to the kid's club area by herself? 

 

It's good to know they will help accomodate food needs too.  

[zzmmmommy]

On 1/3/2023 at 11:59 PM, SunshineGal2022 said:

Thank you for the review!!

 

I didn't even realize there was a smoking side.  😮

 

I have been searching posts on CC for 30 min and I assume you mean the starboard side.  

 

I need to book on the port side if that is the case....

 

I appreciate the review about the autism help.  Did your 14yo go to the kid's club area by herself? 

 

It's good to know they will help accomodate food needs too.  

Sorry, I forgot to respond!  My kids never go to the club area so I can't help you there.  Now that they are older they can wander around themselves.  They did go when they were much younger, but all 4 always went together so they always stuck together. 

The smoking was right outside Bar 820 (if you are on the celebration).  It never crossed my mind to look, and I never would have noticed it until I saw someone mention it in the facebook group.  However, it was a non-issue for us.  But I will keep my eye on it for our next booking.

 

Sorry it took me so long to respond!

[zzmmmommy]

On 1/3/2023 at 4:17 PM, edspec said:

We cruised with 32 year old autistic DS on Panorama last July and I'll echo what you said...CCL staff is amazing with the autistic population.  I really want to take DS on Celebration as he dearly loved Barnum and Bailey circus when it came around each year.  If we cruised at an off time perhaps we'd have better luck w/ getting good seats.  Thank-you for sharing, it is so helpful in planning.  We have a Princess cruise booked in June and I haven't been able to find any first person accounts so very nervous about embarkation, debarkation, and table in the mdr.

They only issue we had was the waiting during embarkation and debarkation.  She sometimes has a difficult time with all the lines and waiting.  The Celebration was the easiest and quickest we have ever had- both getting on and getting off.

[pe4all]

Here is a link on where you can smoke on each specific CCL ship.  When we book our balcony cabins we always check where the "smoking side" is:

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3490/~/locations-where-you-can-smoke

[Drazil65]

they cleaned our balconies while we were at sea and left all the balcony partitions open...all along deck 9.  

 

This has been been standard practice in balcony and suite cabins, they typically leave a mailer at the door or as they did a couple weeks ago on MG they leave a "balcony cleaning day card" inside on the counter in the cabin.  We have always had a heads up the day/evening before.  

[teknoge3k]

Since several people have commented on this thread about autistic children, I'd like to point out that Carnival participates in KultureCity, if you didn't know that. This may, or may not apply to your situation but a lot of people aren't aware that Carnival is KultureCity Certified. 

 

https://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/special-needs/kulturecity-sensory-certified

Edited January 9, 2023 by teknoge3k
Fixed a typo

[zzmmmommy]

1 hour ago, Drazil65 said:

they cleaned our balconies while we were at sea and left all the balcony partitions open...all along deck 9.  

 

This has been been standard practice in balcony and suite cabins, they typically leave a mailer at the door or as they did a couple weeks ago on MG they leave a "balcony cleaning day card" inside on the counter in the cabin.  We have always had a heads up the day/evening before.  

We didn't have an issue with the cleaning - we knew this was happening.  We didn't realize all the balcony partition doors would be open all along the deck, hours after the cleaning had been over.  Since the balcony doors don't lock on the outside, anyone could enter our rooms and move about the balconies along the entire deck.  I just wanted to point this out in case anyone has younger kids and leaves them in the room to nap, or leaves valuables out...it is a safety issue.  I was just making people aware.