Celebration NYE Cruise Review 12/27-1/3 (short & sweet and maybe not so sweet)

[hapytobehr]

Happy New Year to all!

 

I will start by saying that the ship is absolutely beautiful!

 

Embarkation was quick and easy and the new terminal is really nice.

 

We had a balcony room and found it to be very nice with lots of storage.

The bathroom was a little smaller than usual but was fine for us and loved the shower door!

 

The shows were very entertaining.  However, the design of center stage as many people have commented is awful.  You cannot 

see unless you are sitting on deck 6.  If you are on any of the upper levels you cannot see over people's heads unless you are in the front row.  We were

able to get good seats on the second showing of the circus show I guess because a lot of people may have gone to the first or just gave up trying to get seats.  (although we did get there an hour before start time).

We loved the shows in the Spectrum theatre and the choreography was so well done.  All the performers were very talented.

It was easy to get into the comedy shows due to the way they have them scheduled. 

 

Now for the food:

We never stepped foot into the MDR except for the Sea Day brunch.  I found it to be very good as usual and had no issues with service.  They may have changed the menu but to me it was a non issue.

We ate at the Steakhouse the first night and it was great. 

Rudi's Seagrill was the next night and we like it so much, we went back for a second time. 

Bonsai Teppanyaki is a don't miss!   If you can, book it in advance otherwise you will have trouble getting in once on the ship.  

We ate at Emril's for lunch one day and it was delicious as well.

We went to Cucina one night and although the food was good, the service was awful besides waiting over an hour.

Chibang was good too and the service wasn't too bad.  

It seemed that all the pay restaurants had much better service than the ones that were free.

The only time we went to the buffet was for breakfast and the choices were the same each day.

 

My DH and I are Casino players and spend lots of time there.  We NEVER had a hard time getting a drink as my husband tips well and the servers came back to him consistently.  They also came over to me to ask if I needed anything every time he ordered.

 

We sat on the no smoking side of the Casino and it was a pleasure not having to stink from smoke every night!  I think there are more tables on the no smoking side as well.  The casino was very crowded but we usually never waited too long for a seat.

 

Embarkation went pretty smooth because of the facial recognition.

 

Overall we loved this ship and enjoyed ourselves even though I came home with a terrible cold. (at least it wasn't COVID this time).

 

We are ready to sail again on her March 26th!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Oceansaway17]

I remember the Vista had a strange layout for the theatre and sometimes was hard to see.

 

 

[Ilovesailaway]

OP ty for the review. I have a solo cruise on Celebration in a few weeks. I appreciate the info on the upcharge restaurants. I think I may be skipping the MDR this cruise as well.

A quick Q if you don't mind.. I like to try and board after the rush of people trying to be on asap. Do you have any advice about what time most of the rush should be over and the terminal should be less crowded?

[sallyb]

Does Celebration have the pull out clothesline in the shower like other Carnival ships?

[jakenzie32]

Which side would you recommend... port or starboard?

[Ellaleah]

2 hours ago, sallyb said:

Does Celebration have the pull out clothesline in the shower like other Carnival ships?

Yes

[hapytobehr]

20 hours ago, Ilovesailaway said:

OP ty for the review. I have a solo cruise on Celebration in a few weeks. I appreciate the info on the upcharge restaurants. I think I may be skipping the MDR this cruise as well.

A quick Q if you don't mind.. I like to try and board after the rush of people trying to be on asap. Do you have any advice about what time most of the rush should be over and the terminal should be less crowded?

To be honest it wasn't bad when we got there at 10:30ish.  But I believe if you get there after 1:30, it should be easy.

[hapytobehr]

17 hours ago, jakenzie32 said:

Which side would you recommend... port or starboard?

I heard that starboard side has the smoking, so if you have a balcony, you may want to avoid that side.

[hapytobehr]

21 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

I remember the Vista had a strange layout for the theatre and sometimes was hard to see.

 

 

This is completely different than the Vista

[kwokpot]

21 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

I remember the Vista had a strange layout for the theatre and sometimes was hard to see.

 

 

The OP is referring to shows that are in the atrium. On Excel Class ships the ship's atrium is also a space for shows and music. But the space isn't optimal for seeing the stage. Excel class ships also have a traditional theater which has sloped seating and no columns so no problems seeing the stage. 

On Vista Class ships the main theater is designed as a flexible space with moveable seating which isn't sloped, all combined to account for the problems of seeing the stage. 

Edited January 10, 2023 by kwokpot

[Oceansaway17]

7 hours ago, hapytobehr said:

This is completely different than the Vista

yes I know that I was trying to agree that the theatre was strange on Vista as well.

[Oceansaway17]

7 hours ago, kwokpot said:

The OP is referring to shows that are in the atrium. On Excel Class ships the ship's atrium is also a space for shows and music. But the space isn't optimal for seeing the stage. Excel class ships also have a traditional theater which has sloped seating and no columns so no problems seeing the stage. 

On Vista Class ships the main theater is designed as a flexible space with moveable seating which isn't sloped, all combined to account for the problems of seeing the stage. 

yes I know this too.

I think the Celebration will be one of the best ships in time.