Celebration eastern itinerary review

[irun5k]

I'll be putting together a little review of our spring break cruise for our family of 4 on the Celebration, eastern itinerary.  Our kids are 15 and 8.   Our last several cruises have been on Royal Caribbean- we haven't sailed Carnival since around 2010.  Would we enjoy Celebration as much as Oasis class?  Would we see any fights?  Stay tuned, all will be answered.

 

This is going to start off a bit rough but as a bit of a spoiler, the rest of the trip was fantastic once the port was behind us.

 

This was the first time we didn't travel to south FL from the Tampa area the night before.  For Port Everglades we have done a sleep & park option, but we didn't want to leave our car outside the port in Miami, we we thought it might simplify things to drive down the day of.

 

I almost freaked out the night before when I happened to see a headline that the Skyway bridge was going to be closed Sunday morning from 3 AM to 11 AM for the Skyway 10K run!  Luckily, the fine print indicated it would be the northbound lanes only.  We actually ended up seeing the race.  I felt a sense of pride as while they were out exercising for an hour or so, I was on my way to exercise my liver for 7 days!

 

 

Our assigned boarding time was 1:30 PM. The drive down was uneventful until we got to the port.  We were in the port area around 1PM.  The first of many issues was that I believe one lane on the bridge going over to the port was open.

 

The actual port area was absolute chaos.  Every lane was packed with barely moving vehicles.  I feel that the signage was not great and in multiple places it was necessary to quickly cross several lanes of non-budging shuttles, taxis, etc.  There was essentially nobody directing traffic or doing anything at all.  Eventually we made it to the drop off area at terminal F.

 

From here there was no guidance on where to park. The curbside baggage porter said he thought they were parking us at terminal "G".  As gridlocked as the port was, I feared that any wrong turn could easily cost me another 1/2 hour.  I never even saw "G" parking and resorted to rolling down my windows and and frantically asking people where they parked.  Finally someone mentioned garage "K" was the only one with spots left and luckily it was in visual range so at that point so I pointed the car in that direction.  

 

From this garage, it was an urban adventure to get to the terminal.  I wasn't going to board a shuttle even though there seemed to be a line forming... presumably for a shuttle going somewhere. I figured I was better off using my own two feet.  On the upshot, I roughly knew where the ship was.  On the downside, there are no sidewalks anywhere and I had to cross a couple busy roads with no crosswalks and other areas clearly not set up for pedestrian traffic.  Various areas such as this one (I took the photo on our return, so imagine it with honking taxis, shuttles, etc.)

 

 

Once our family was in the terminal, everything was really smooth.  Gone are the big check in counters- you literally just walk up to an agent that has a mobile device at a small round table.  There were no lines, delays, or anything of the sort.  Essentially we walked right on.

 

I heard it wasn't as bad earlier in the day so if we ever sail out of Miami again we'll basically have to get a hotel down there somewhere. That being said, the port wasn't exactly fantastic looking the morning we got back either but presumably the parking would be better.  I much prefer Fort Lauderdale or Port Canaveral so it will have to be a phenomenal ship, value or itinerary (maybe all three) to get me back there.

[irun5k]

My first impressions of the ship were very positive.  Virtually everything is styled very tastefully in my opinion.  Everything is very modern while still retaining character.  For example the buffet has shiplap (fake, but still) and shutters, dark wood, etc..giving it a nice coastal vibe.  It is truly a beautiful ship inside and out and aesthetically once of the nicest I've ever been on.

 

You have a great view of Miami from the pool deck.  For some reason I've never appreciated how much water is both around and throughout Miami but it is really a sight when you stop to take it in.

 

We enjoyed the sail away from our balcony.

 

 

 

 

We had been assigned late dining and our waitlist for any time was rejected so I wanted to see if we could at lease move to early dining.  By the time we did our self-muster, the maitre d' had already left so we were instructed to return at 5:30, which we did.  It was no problem to get changed over to early.

 

It was a fairly early night for us since we were all pretty worn out.  We had a room for four and it stayed in this configuration the entire time.  I suppose one disadvantage of once-a-day service is that they don't put the room back into "day" mode which limits the space during the day.  I did not actually try to put the bunk up myself but it looked like it might require a key?  Still, this was workable with two kids but I would not personally try it with four adults or even with two older teenagers.

 

 

 

[irun5k]

From here I'll talk about a few topics, the first being the bars onboard.

 

Most of the major bars have their own unique menus based around their theme.  I really like this approach- my favorite bars were Alchemy, Bar 820, and Latitudes.  I didn't have a bad drink from one of these bars the entire cruise.  

 

I particularly liked the theming in the gateway area and Latitudes area is a great place to grab a drink, people watch, and listen to some music (more on that later.)

 

Of a morning there was always a line at Java Blue for espresso drinks.  However there was rarely a line at Bar 820 or Emrils and both serve espresso drinks as well.  820 also offers a cafe con leche.  The modern touch screen coffee machines found all over the ship put out decent coffee as well.  From what I could tell they load them up with ground coffee so it seems to be real drip coffee vs. coffee syrup.

 

Did I mention this is a great looking ship?

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by irun5k

[louanne93]

Great start! We will be on the Celebration next month so I can't wait to hear the rest! We are diamond on Royal but still LOVE our Carnival!!

[mikaula]

Great so Far!  Looking forward to the rest of your review. 

[momof4girls]

Enjoy reading reviews from cruisers who usually cruise other lines. Thank you for doing this!

[BrotherCraig]

Loving this review so far.  I look forward to reading the rest.  Thank you for taking time to do this. 

[irun5k]

Food!  That was one of the things we were looking forward to the most.  On all previous Royal and Carnival cruises, we felt that the dining experience still revolved pretty strongly around the MDR and buffet.  We thought the Celebration might change this.

 

Largely, it did.  There are a lot of venues and they are spread across the ship which I am sure is an effort to spread out the crowds as well.  Several of the options are lunch/afternoon snack only, but they are still options!

 

The quick lunch options we tried included:

 

• Big Chicken: very good sandwich and tenders, honestly as good as any I've had
• Guy's Burgers: a solid burger, upper end fast food level (e.g. Five Guys, Culvers)
• Street Eats: loved this option and the daily changes!  Perfect for a snack and assembled/plated fresh which is a nice touch
• Blue Iguana: very good chicken and pork tacos

 

[irun5k]

For dinner we did the MDR the first and last night.  Got to try frog legs the last night- they weren't bad!  Both were good meals.  We also did breakfast in the MDR a few times.

 

Chibang was very good for dinner, albeit extremely slow.  We only ordered off the Asian side of the menu.  We also had lunch here one day, where bowls are offered on both sides of the menu.  The only bad drink I had the entire cruise was from Chibang unfortunately- a margarita that tasted like lightly flavored water.  Probably should have sent it back.  Good lychee martinis, however.

 

The only dining letdown of the cruise was Pig and Anchor.  If you were to stick with the pulled pork and chicken and perhaps the right sides you might come away thinking it was "OK" or maybe even good.  However the beef brisket was tough- pretty poor, and the baked beans were odd.  The collard greens were different than what I'm used to in the south (Florida) but they weren't bad.

 

OK, back to high points.  We ate at Emrils a few times- it was all excellent and affordably priced.  We liked that we could spend $30 for all 4 of us if we weren't starving.

 

We also really liked Bonsai and felt it was a good value and another good choice for when you wanted an elevated experience w/o dropping three figures at a full-on specialty restaurant.  The California roll actually had real crab.

 

Your opinion of the buffet will be tied exclusively to your expectations.  We had little need for it and just needed it to work for breakfast at times or a small snack and it was fine for those purposes.  If you expect to eat dinner there every night you could be disappointed but I do not think they really expect folks to do that, to be honest.  Oh, and it seemed like many days, if not every day, they had a couple of fresh made gelato choices at least during mid day hours (coffee, tiramisu, coconut, etc.). Nice!

 

 

 

Of course the soft serve machines are here- a few of them. The one in Pig and Anchor turned out to be pretty convenient for us most of the time.  (I think they could dramatically reduce their cleanup requirements if they offered napkins here.)

 

[irun5k]

Last thought on dining: while the ship succeeds in breaking the typical MDR and buffet complementary or low cost dining monopoly, you have to know what you are doing and plan ahead.

 

Chibang and the Italian place require reservations through the app and if you don't have Any Time Dining you have to wait until 7:30 to submit a request.  Pig and Anchor doesn't require a reservation- early in the cruise it seemed empty but after that it was totally packed and often had a wait time.

 

Bonsai may have gotten busy at times but there were also times when it seemed like you could walk in and get a table.

 

The buffet, as mentioned, perhaps should be a backup plan and not a primary dining choice.  Also keep in mind most of the fast options that are popular for lunch are not available for dinner.  It might be nice if at least Guy's Burgers would stay open a little later.

 

Miami Slice was pretty good pizza and I particularly enjoyed the 4 cheese white pizza but again this is for snack purposes only for most folks.

 

Lastly you could always stick with MDR for the whole cruise if you really wanted.  We had early dining and it was as early as 5 PM at least one night.  Normally we eat early at home so this is why we wanted early dining.  We found that when we got back from our ports we'd normally be hungry and eat something around 3:30 when we got back on board and thus wouldn't be hungry at 5.  This is where options like Emrils worked out great- we could have just the desired amount of food later at night at the time that was right for us.

 

 

 

 

[ninjacat123]

Great review and great pics!!  Thanks for posting!

[Buffalofirsttimer4]

Thank you for the great review. We board next month and your review helped to ramp up the excitement 😍

Edited March 22, 2023 by Buffalofirsttimer4
clarification

[irun5k]

1 hour ago, Buffalofirsttimer4 said:

Thank you for the great review. We board next month and your review helped to ramp up the excitement 😍

No problem!  Stay tuned, I'll be adding a bit more about onboard activities, entertainment and ports.  Which ports do you have on your itinerary?  

[Buffalofirsttimer4]

15 minutes ago, irun5k said:

No problem!  Stay tuned, I'll be adding a bit more about onboard activities, entertainment and ports.  Which ports do you have on your itinerary?  

We are actually sailing for a total of 14 days- both Eastern & Western- our first back to back.  

[tradewinds traveler]

I am enjoying your review. We sail in April on the Celebration. Great review, thank you!

[mdin]

Great review so far!

[jimbo5544]

Nice review so far.

[WhiteOptima]

We will be on deck 11 in Fwd balcony and told my DH he can go down to Havana Bar for my coffee but haven’t read any reviews of anyone saying they went there in the morning.  Did you by chance?

[Jamman54]

We are enjoying your review! We will also be on her next month. Can't wait! 

[irun5k]

2 hours ago, WhiteOptima said:

We will be on deck 11 in Fwd balcony and told my DH he can go down to Havana Bar for my coffee but haven’t read any reviews of anyone saying they went there in the morning.  Did you by chance?

No, I am not sure about the Havana Bar, but it is an enclosed bar area space so I would actually be a little surprised if it was open of a morning.  However, Bar 820 is open and has good coffee.

 

We were deck 11 mid balcony and really liked the deck because we could take the stairs to 16 or down to 6/7/8.  I do realize not everyone can take the stairs- but if you're able, this location works well.

[irun5k]

Entertainment.... lots happening on this ship at all times, but of course especially of an evening.

 

Comedy:  I have never seen this much comedy on a cruise ship.  It was non stop.  We did take in one matinee show (PG) in the Limelight theater.

 

Most Magnificent Circus: started a little slow but an entertaining show regardless.

 

 

We are One: we enjoyed this show a lot, and more than Circus, to be honest.  We actually ended up watching the second showing as well!  The early show was right after "The World Works Here" which highlighted the nationalities working onboard.  The later show was simply the show (no second "The World Works Here" showing.)

 

 

 

 

Family Feud: this was entertaining and we enjoyed it.  For some reason, the crowd really wasn't into it though.

 

Deal or no Deal: I don't actually care much for this gameshow in general, but if you like the TV show you may like the cruise version an/or want to buy a card to participate during the show.

 

 

Music; The Back Yard Band:  This is a 6 piece rock band that plays pretty much nightly at Pig and Anchor.  I enjoyed listening to them.

 

Music: Reggie, solo at Latitudes: Really enjoyed listening to this very talented young lady when enjoying a drink or two from Latitudes.  I love listening to live music, especially when it is good.  There was another solo performer, Travis I think, that was good also.

 

Other live music: there was also a 3 piece string band and also music by the pool.  I didn't hear much of these but the little I heard from the string band made me think they'd be worth checking out.

 

There were more shows but this was all we had time for.  There is alway something going on and time goes quickly.

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by irun5k

[irun5k]

A little about the venues.  

Center stage: OMG, I honestly don't know how this made it off the drawing board.  I see what they were trying to do but the execution is terrible.  In my opinion this is the only swing and a miss onboard but it is a big one.  (literally.)  It spans decks 6, 7, and 8.   8 is almost worthless and good portions of 6 and 7 are very poor with obstructions that range from the low ceiling to pillars to the A/V booth, and more.  It is also noisy from being in one of the busiest areas of the ship and people walk around constantly.  In one of my pictures above you can see that the top of the Deal or No Deal board wasn't even visible from our seats on 6, even if you ducked down.  It seems they realize this because there are TVs spread throughout this seating area to broadcast the shows.

 

I believe it was early on the first night, the center band performed a straight up music set just as a band (no theater/dancing/etc.) on Center Stage (they sounded really good.)  The venue actually works OK for that but that isn't how it is normally used.  There is no way to fix the venue but perhaps over time they'll adjust how it is used. 

 

Spectrum is your traditional (proper) theater and it may be underutilized?  If/when they roll off the Circus show in a few years perhaps they'll consider replacing it with a new headline show that can be held in Spectrum.

[RDDAILY]

Great review!  We are going on Celebration in July, and I'm looking forward to hearing more about your experience onboard the ship.  As an aside, my son has the same exact monkey that I saw on your top bunk!  I had it as a decoration in his nursery when he was born.  He is now 13 and it's still his favorite stuffed animal 🙂

[irun5k]

6 hours ago, RDDAILY said:

Great review!  We are going on Celebration in July, and I'm looking forward to hearing more about your experience onboard the ship.  As an aside, my son has the same exact monkey that I saw on your top bunk!  I had it as a decoration in his nursery when he was born.  He is now 13 and it's still his favorite stuffed animal 🙂

 

That is hilarious, my son is 15 and he was given his when he was born.  It has been on every vacation since then so I guess it is more tradition at this point than anything else 🙂

 

Stay tuned for my "activities on board" post, some of it will probably be of interest to your family.

[irun5k]

Pools.  There are three for the general population that you can use without qualifying based on age, stateroom class, etc.

 

The main pool is every bit as busy and crazy and you either long for, or dread. You also have Seafood Shack, Street Eats, Blue Iguana, and the tiki bar in this area along with plenty of poolside activities during the day.

 

If this isn't your cup of tea, there are two aft pools.  One is on deck 8 at Summer Landing behind Pig and Anchor.  There are two hot tubs in this area as well as some corn hole, the Watering Hole Bar (off the beaten path.) The only obvious way I could find to get here was through the Pig & Anchor.  This pool was busy during the day also but obviously a little less loud/crazy.  Late in the day it quieted down- the ledge loungers are a great place to watch a sail away, if you can snag one.

 

 

The other aft pool is on deck 6 behind the buffet and also has a couple hot tubs.  Big Chicken and an ice cream machine are here.

 

It seems pretty obvious that they were trying to spread the pool-seeking crowd out across the ship.  All these areas stay busy but each one sort of has its own vibe and amenities so you can find what works for you.  If you don't like crowds and you are flexible with your time, the pools seemed to be open fairly late with minimal  crowds. 

 

Having kids and being in a normal stateroom, I can't speak to any of the other "special access" areas.