It's Time for a CELEBRATION!!! (with pics) - April 16th 2023

Hogladyrider · May 20, 2023

@Jamman54......I am sorry to see this cruise reach its return....another outstanding review. Always enjoy ALL of your and Patti's travels and the outstanding pictures.

Susan

pcvtmom · May 20, 2023

Stellar job, as always, Jamman and Patti! You've kept me entertained while anxiously awaiting our Horizon cruise in 3 weeks!

Jamman54 · May 20, 2023

Day # 8 - (4/23/23) - Debarkation & Heading to Orlando.

All good things must come to an end. We were up at 5:30am, just as the Carnival Celebration was pulling into her berth at Terminal “F”. It’s going to be a beautiful sunny day. Here are some early morning Miami views…..

The Carnival Horizon is pulling into Terminal “D”…..

Here comes the LNG barge to refuel the Celebration…..

The sun is coming up over Miami Beach…..

To be continued…..

Jamman54 · May 20, 2023

Here is the General Debarkation information……

Here is the Diamond Debarkation information…..

We are supposed to meet at Center Stage at 8am for Priority Luggage Debarkation, but at 7am Cruise Director Lee said that in addition to all those doing Self Assist that could now leave, those with Priority Luggage could also leave. That’s us! So, we said goodbye to our room steward Gilbert, giving him an extra tip for a job well done, and then made our way downstairs. All elevators going down were packed, so we got into an up elevator then rode it back down to Deck 6. You got to do what you have to do!

In no time at all we were off the ship and heading to baggage claim. Patti took these shots of Terminal “F” as we walked by…..

Once in baggage claim it took a few minutes to locate all of our luggage, but once we had them getting a porter was no problem at all…..

Because we had passports, we were able to quickly get out of the building by going through facial recognition. Those without passports had to go through a long winding line to personally see an agent before they could leave. If there is any reason at all to get a passport, this is it!

Our porter took our luggage all the way to the second level of Parking Lot “G” and loaded up our car for us. You can bet that we tipped him well! We paid for our parking as we left ($154). Once out of the parking garage, we just followed the signs to the tunnel……

This was our last look at the Celebration until January…..

Here we are entering the tunnel. When we exited on the other side, we said goodbye to the Port of Miami……

By 8am we were getting on I-95 North to continue our journey……

This concludes the cruise portion of our review. As you know, our reviews run from door to door as we like to document our entire vacation. We will be heading up to Orlando for five days. After that is completed, we will give our final thoughts on the Carnival Celebration. Thanks for being a part of our journey!!

To be continued…..

ktmush2 · May 20, 2023

On 5/12/2023 at 5:56 PM, Jamman54 said:

I would have laid odds that you or Roscoe would be the first to comment! 😁

My money was on Saint Greg....

HeyJut · May 21, 2023

I know your review isn’t done (btw I love the long, extra detailed reviews-the “door to door” as you say-but just wanted to add my thanks and looking forward to meeting you in January.

Jamman54 · May 21, 2023

25 minutes ago, HeyJut said:

I know your review isn’t done (btw I love the long, extra detailed reviews-the “door to door” as you say-but just wanted to add my thanks and looking forward to meeting you in January.

Thanks! We are really looking forward to January's cruise. It will be great to finally meet so many of the Cruise Critic family! 😀

kelkel2 · May 21, 2023

Will you be reviewing your time in Orlando too? I love your reviews precisely because of all the extra stuff you add. It’s so helpful when we’re planning a trip and it’s somewhere I’ve never been but you have!

Jamman54 · May 21, 2023

4 hours ago, kelkel2 said:

Will you be reviewing your time in Orlando too? I love your reviews precisely because of all the extra stuff you add. It’s so helpful when we’re planning a trip and it’s somewhere I’ve never been but you have!

Yep! I'll be starting later today or tomorrow. Have to finish uploading those pictures to our hosting site. 😎

matt082600 · May 21, 2023

Hi Jeff, great review thus far. I can’t wait for the rest. Thanks to you and Patti for all your hard work.

Princess Cruiser27 · May 21, 2023

Another great review Jeff and Patti. I never tryed Susi before Might have to try it one day.

Jamman54 · May 21, 2023

2 hours ago, matt082600 said:

Hi Jeff, great review thus far. I can’t wait for the rest. Thanks to you and Patti for all your hard work.

Thanks for reading and for your kind words. 😎

28 minutes ago, Princess Cruiser27 said:

Another great review Jeff and Patti. I never tryed Susi before Might have to try it one day.

Thanks Barb! Not my favorite food but I enjoy it. 😎

ninjacat123 · May 21, 2023

Awesome review!! Thx!!

LatinaInTexas · May 21, 2023

On 5/8/2023 at 6:13 PM, Jamman54 said:

At 3pm I made my way to the Pig & Anchor for the ParchedPig Brewery Tour. It was hosted by Robert the brewmaster…..

There were plenty of free samples of four different types of beers…..

Robert took us into the brewery itself…..

This tour was well worth the $30 fee and included a souvenir glass and a free beer coupon.

To be continued…..

This will be perfect for my husband, get him out of the way for a while for some quiet me time😁

LatinaInTexas · May 21, 2023

On 5/12/2023 at 4:01 PM, Jamman54 said:

The Valiant Lady is docked right across from the Celebration…..

The Jewel OTS has joined us here in Costa Maya…..

In the distance we can see the Adventure OTS approaching Costa Maya…..

Here are views of the sterns of the Jewel OTS and the Valiant Lady…..

The Celebration and Valiant Lady are almost touching each other….

We head up the gangway and back onto the Celebration…..

To be continued…..

We were docked and about to get off for an excursion in Puerto Rico when they announced no one could get off for a few minutes for safety reasons because the MSC Seaside had just docked. It ended up being almost an hour before we could start getting off again. When we got off we saw how close we were to each other almost touching also. This was new to us we didn't know this could happen, so many people unhappy with missing and having excursions cut short because of the delay. Ours was cut short 30 minutes and I saw on our final accounting we got a statement credit of $7.50 each lol.

Jamman54 · May 21, 2023

5 minutes ago, LatinaInTexas said:

We were docked and about to get off for an excursion in Puerto Rico when they announced no one could get off for a few minutes for safety reasons because the MSC Seaside had just docked. It ended up being almost an hour before we could start getting off again. When we got off we saw how close we were to each other almost touching also. This was new to us we didn't know this could happen, so many people unhappy with missing and having excursions cut short because of the delay. Ours was cut short 30 minutes and I saw on our final accounting we got a statement credit of $7.50 each lol.

Lee our Cruise Director made the announcement that at 9:30am the Valiant Lady would be docking next to us, and that debarkation would be halted for about 45 minutes, so if you need to get off the ship, go now!

This also happens a lot in Grand Turk. When the second ship comes into dock, they stop letting the people on the first ship get off until the second ship is securely docked.

LatinaInTexas · May 21, 2023

I knew this review would cover any and all things Celebration thanks to your detailed and so very helpful commentary and Patti's perfect pictures!

Thanks to both of you I feel like I won't need to waste any time getting to know the ship, I will board and know just where I want to go and what to do.

By the time my Sept cruise finally comes out will be close to 2 years since I have sailed Carnival and I can't wait to be on this new and big ship. New food, new bars, new layout, new entertainment, I have a feeling it will be my favorite!

Jamman54 · May 21, 2023

51 minutes ago, LatinaInTexas said:

I knew this review would cover any and all things Celebration thanks to your detailed and so very helpful commentary and Patti's perfect pictures!

Thanks to both of you I feel like I won't need to waste any time getting to know the ship, I will board and know just where I want to go and what to do.

By the time my Sept cruise finally comes out will be close to 2 years since I have sailed Carnival and I can't wait to be on this new and big ship. New food, new bars, new layout, new entertainment, I have a feeling it will be my favorite!

Thanks for your kind words. We try to pass along as much information as we can with both words and pictures, along with keeping it fun and interesting. It's posts like yours that make it all worthwhile! 😎

Tennessee Rose · May 21, 2023

Jeff and Patti, thank you for the wonderful vicarious cruise on the Celebration! I'm sitting here a bit teary eyed and feeling down because my, I mean your, cruise is over, and I'm not ready to leave the ship! But I'll be reading your Orlando adventures also. Be safe!

bunnyette · May 22, 2023

Another fantastic review. Thank you @Jamman54

VIFP1987 · May 22, 2023

On 5/6/2023 at 3:48 PM, Jamman54 said:

Yes it was.

Thank you for another great review! Very much appreciate the work you and Patti put into these!

Jamman54 · May 22, 2023

After driving north on I-95 for about ten miles we merged onto the Florida Turnpike……

Three and a half hours later, which included a stop for gas, we were approaching Orlando…

We are almost there…..

We have arrived at Rosen Inn International on International Drive……

We normally like to stay at the Rosen Inn Pointe Orlando, but the price was $40 a night higher. They are both the same, room and amenity wise, but Pointe Orlando is in a quieter location near the Convention Center, while the International is located in a busy area by Sand Lake Road. These are 3 star hotels with outside entrances, but they serve our purposes nicely. We have arrived too early to check in so we head over to the Bahama Breeze for lunch…….

Here are some inside views of the Bahama Breeze……

Here are the menus……

To be continued…..

Jamman54 · May 22, 2023

Here are our drinks. I’m drinking the Aruba Red Lager, and Patti’s having a Bahama Mama…..

Patti is going to have the salmon…..

I’m going to have beef empanadas and the paella…..

Lunch was great. With our bellies full we head back to the Rosen Inn International to check in. We like being on the top floor of the towers, so we are given room # 3607 in the 3000 tower. Here is a map of the hotel grounds…..

Here is room # 3607…..

To be continued……

Jamman54 · May 23, 2023

Once we’re unpacked and settled in, Patti is going to start her picture tour of the property. Normally, we like to have a pool view, but they weren’t available this time. Our view looked out to International Drive. In the distance we can see Icon Park…..