Celebration 3/11 The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

[HollyGoheavy]

First, there is no ugly. Not really even much "bad" on this ship. This was my 4th cruise and my 3rd with Carnival and I have to say, the crew on the Celebration is the friendliest I’ve ever met. There is a very comfortable and familial feeling aboard this ship. The small size invites a more intimate feeling amongst the passengers and crew, especially when you run into the same people in the elevators, by the pool, in line for portraits.

I’m sitting on the Lido deck waiting for debarkation and thought I’d get a head start on my review. We live literally across the Dames Point bridge from the port so we’ll be home within the hour of debarkation. With this in mind, we’re going to prolong our vacation as long as possible lol

The ship: Celebration is the oldest and one of the smallest ships in the fleet. You can see she’s wearing in some places-there were broken tiles surrounding the children’s pool, some wearing around the edges on the decks, however to me it’s not so much a ragged feeling as it is an aged patina, almost like the shabby chic lampshade you have in your bedroom.

We cruised during spring break, so we expected a full ship and lots of kids. This ship was packed to the gills, literally. Our first sea day there weren’t enough deck chairs or patio chairs for everyone. It wasn’t that chairs were being held, every chair had a body in it, there just weren’t enough for everyone that wanted to be outside. People were spreading their beach towels on the deck and lying on them. Nobody seemed frustrated or angry about the lack of seating, pax were very generous and offered chairs to others when they saw them hunting around for a place to sit. There was the same issue on our last sea day as well but again, nobody seemed upset by it.

Dining room: OK, I will go ahead and admit that my husband and son are some of THOSE people that wear jeans in the dining room to dinner <gasp>. The first night we all dressed up in our smart casual attire and it was fine. DS (who is 3) is apparently not as well trained as I had thought before and so sitting through courses with all sorts of tempting silverware just begging to be used as weaponry was more than he could stand. Our headwaiter and assistant wait were Ahmad and Ida and they were outstanding. They both played with Jason, made him small animals and shoes out of napkins and had him dancing almost every night.

We left Jason to eat dinner with Camp Carnival on formal night, DH rented a tux (80 dollars since he left a tip) and he, DD and I had a great dinner sans flying bread. The food was ok, nothing to really write home about but it was better than if I’d made Hamburger Helper at home so it was great! DH is very picky and had a hamburger and fries every night. I had the pumpkin soup and it was FABULOUS, it’s definitely a must on future cruises.

We were at the early (5:45) seating in the Horizon dining room with Joseph as our maitre’d. I was concerned about the Horizon dining room after reading someone post about vibration since it’s the aft DR, however Joseph totally made our cruise experience. This is the most animated and fun maitre’d and the only one to ever even speak to us in all our cruises. On our 3rd night, it was just DD and I in the DR, since DH and Jason didn’t feel well. Joseph was visiting every table, schmoozing and flirting which was a first for us! Every night around dessert time, you’d hear him fake whisper "Dining Room Staff, it’s a SHOWTIIIIMEEEE" and by the end of the cruise you could tell who had eaten in the Horizon because people used that phrase constantly. Even Jason was saying it by the last night. (Joseph just walked by and told me he’s going to be on the Sensation out of Port Canaveral beginning May 9th). I definitely think a booking on the Sensation is next for us.

 

Like I said, the food isn’t too terribly impressive, but there’s a lot of it (no, you absolutely CANNOT starve on a Carnival ship) and it’s fun to eat with heavy flatware and cloth napkins, especially when at home you’re always rushed and using paper towels. We tipped Joseph 20 dollars and Ahmad and Ida 50 dollars each on top of the gratuities already on our sail and sign account.

It’s about time for us to gather our things and think about slinking off our ship, I’ll have plenty more to add later.

[burtonsgigi]

Holly - Please keep adding more as you get time. I am taking a trip of 20 people on the Celebration over Labor Day weekend. Most are first time cruisers, and I've been a little concerned about the age and size of the ship. I've really heard great things on here about it, and I'd love to hear any other comments you have about the ship.

 

Thanks!

[HollyGoheavy]

Camp Carnival-this was probably the least impressive part of our cruise. For some reason, the staff seemed very reserved with the children. It was an all female staff (not that it mattered to us) and maybe we are used to his preschool teachers but we expected more of a warm feeling than what we got on our first night. Jason was in the 2-5 age group and he went the first sea day. The program was closed from 12-2 and again from 4-5. We dropped him off again at 5 (we picked up him at 11:30 that morning) for dinner and picked him back up at 7. He cried when we said we were taking him back after pictures. I don't think anything negative happened but I don't think he had much fun. The playroom is very small and below the Lido deck, behind the Horizon dining room. To get there you have to take the stairs from Deck 8 to 9 and go through the Islands in the Sky lounge then back down a small staircase to the playroom. It's about the size of 3 cabins end to end and has a small bathroom. Jason made a craft and colored 2 pages from a coloring book. Later in the week I did see smaller children with construction paper pirate hats. It wasn't a big deal to us, if he'd have liked it and wanted to go that was fine and it was fine that he didn't want to go. We did have a pager that we turned in the next day since it was apparent that we weren't going to use it.

 

Club 02 was a total wash for DD. The 2 events she went to, she was the only teenager there so she didn't go back. Personally and this is JUST MY OPINION, since I took my kids on vacation I wanted to spend the time with them, not away from them. I did appreciate them taking Jason to dinner on formal night though!

 

Shore excursions-we didn't utilize any of Carnival's excursions. We basically walked around ourselves. I did get sandals at Kinos in Key West and that was pretty cool-very comfy and cute shoes for only 10 bucks! I wish I'd had more time in the Shipwreck Historeum and the Pirate Soul museum both are definate musts in KW.

 

My sister snorkeling excursion in Nassau was a mess. The Fantasy was also there as well as the Majesty of the Seas. For the snorkeling excursion everyone was given blue armbands. When they got to the island they were told that they had about an hour free time to swim and explore. At the end of the hour they told everyone with blue armbands to get back on the ferry and they took them back to the pier. No snorkeling or anything. My sister went to the purser and told them what happened (no yelling, accusations or falling on the floor while frothing at the mouth), the purser asked her room number, said that they had heard something went wrong and promptly refunded her the fees. Later we found out that the tour operator wasn't clear and had rounded up all the passengers with blue armbands and took them back. The Fantasy pax had already done their snorkeling, but the Celebration pax hadn't. No harm, no foul-the money was refunded and my sister and her family rented scooters and ran around Nassau and were happy.

 

The shows were great-I have nothing but kudos for anyone that can dance, balance plates and sing while the ship is rocking from side to side. Jason loved the shows, he was well behaved and was entranced by the productions-well done!

 

I didn't bring capers home (I know, I know!) but I'll try to answer any questions you all have.

[Jabee]

I will cruise with you anytime...why don't you come back and join us next week!!

 

I have to agree with you about Joseph. He was our Matre d' also, but he was in the Vista Dining room. My DW let me hear about it when I requested the 5:45 in the Horizon. Now, we can enjoy the "Showtimmme in the Horizon!!!"

 

I love the Celebration. I was on her over New Years and chose her over (horrors) the Magic and a couple of other options we had for next week.

I know some people call us crazy for choosing a 20 year old ship over a two year old ship, but we love her for the same reasons you do....the crew.

 

On a smaller ship you feel you get more personal service. And besides, everything that is important to me is on the ship, and that is my wife.

 

I don't care what ship you are on...if it goes to sea, has some nice shore time (although I would also love a trip to nowhere,) has good food and plenty of it (hey, I consider a trip to Applebees as a big night out,) If I can get a little sun and maybe some time in a sauna, and sing Karaoke every night...I will be happy on the SS Minnow.

 

If you expect the newest, most fancy, and shiniest then the Celebration is not for you. If you want a nice ship, great crew, and they typical amenities of a ship, you will love her.

 

Oh....and don't forget Risa...the heart and soul of the Celebration.

 

JB

[HollyGoheavy]

I will cruise with you anytime...why don't you come back and join us next week!!

 

I have to agree with you about Joseph. He was our Matre d' also, but he was in the Vista Dining room. My DW let me hear about it when I requested the 5:45 in the Horizon. Now, we can enjoy the "Showtimmme in the Horizon!!!"

 

Oh....and don't forget Risa...the heart and soul of the Celebration.

 

JB

 

Jabee,

 

I would LOVE to be able to go with y'all next week! I think we're going to book the Celebration over New Years this year only without kids!!

 

Risa is fabulous-I just wish we'd had more time to talk with her. She has this uncanny ability to make you feel like you're her best friend from high school even though she sees thousands of people a week. LOVE her!

 

Be sure to talk with "Sexy Craig" who is the funniest social host I've ever met. DD hung out in the laundrette on the main deck with a German exchange student she'd met and Craig came in to iron his shirt. After he ironed it apparently it was even worse so Shelby offered to iron it for him. He was thrilled and spent about an hour just talking with them and laughing at the drunk people that came in and out. After that, Craig felt Shelby was his buddy for life lol

 

Pssst-if you play trivia the thing that grows 9 inches every time it goes to New York is the Concorde.

[Jennifer_Ellen]

We're going on the Carnival Celebration 4/17-4/22. My family has never been on a cruise, so this is a first for us. I have 2 teenage sons. I hope you don't mind a few questions!

 

1) We have an Oceanview Stateroom; do they have refrigerators in them?

2) Are there ice machines available for free use if we bring our own sodas?

3) What does DH and DW, etc. mean?

4) Was the soda card $11/day per/person?

5) What else did you find that you had to pay for that you weren't expecting to?

6) Was there a hairdryer in the room?

7) Is there anything you wished you had brought (in hind-sight)?

8) Are the rooms air conditioned?

9) I understand that there is a $10/day/person gratuity charge. Since there are 4 of us, that's $200 for 5 nights. Is that reasonable? Were there other options like tip-as-you-go? I just seems like a lot, but then again, I've never been on a cruise!

 

Any suggestions anyone has would be great!

 

Thanks!

[cruzeluver]

I can answer some of your questions.

 

No refrigerators.

 

No ice machines. but you do have an ice bucket, and your cabin steward can keep you supplied with ice.

 

DH stands for "dear husband" and DW stands for "dear wife".

 

No hair driers, bring your own. (No biggie, cruise ship hair driers are notoriously weak.)

 

Cabins are air conditioned. There is a control knob on the ceiling for it.

 

As for the tips, think about it. $10 per day takes care of your cabin steward, waiter and assistant waiter in the main dining rooms. How much would you shell out in tips just for eating in a restaurant three times a day? If you are unhappy with the service you recieve, you can go to the purser's desk and have your tips adjusted. I like the automatic gratuities. Much easier then the old stuffing of envelopes on the last night.

[BARBARA J.W.]

First, there is no ugly. Not really even much "bad" on this ship. This was my 4th cruise and my 3rd with Carnival and I have to say, the crew on the Celebration is the friendliest I’ve ever met. There is a very comfortable and familial feeling aboard this ship. The small size invites a more intimate feeling amongst the passengers and crew, especially when you run into the same people in the elevators, by the pool, in line for portraits.

I’m sitting on the Lido deck waiting for debarkation and thought I’d get a head start on my review. We live literally across the Dames Point bridge from the port so we’ll be home within the hour of debarkation. With this in mind, we’re going to prolong our vacation as long as possible lol

The ship: Celebration is the oldest and one of the smallest ships in the fleet. You can see she’s wearing in some places-there were broken tiles surrounding the children’s pool, some wearing around the edges on the decks, however to me it’s not so much a ragged feeling as it is an aged patina, almost like the shabby chic lampshade you have in your bedroom.

We cruised during spring break, so we expected a full ship and lots of kids. This ship was packed to the gills, literally. Our first sea day there weren’t enough deck chairs or patio chairs for everyone. It wasn’t that chairs were being held, every chair had a body in it, there just weren’t enough for everyone that wanted to be outside. People were spreading their beach towels on the deck and lying on them. Nobody seemed frustrated or angry about the lack of seating, pax were very generous and offered chairs to others when they saw them hunting around for a place to sit. There was the same issue on our last sea day as well but again, nobody seemed upset by it.

Dining room: OK, I will go ahead and admit that my husband and son are some of THOSE people that wear jeans in the dining room to dinner <gasp>. The first night we all dressed up in our smart casual attire and it was fine. DS (who is 3) is apparently not as well trained as I had thought before and so sitting through courses with all sorts of tempting silverware just begging to be used as weaponry was more than he could stand. Our headwaiter and assistant wait were Ahmad and Ida and they were outstanding. They both played with Jason, made him small animals and shoes out of napkins and had him dancing almost every night.

We left Jason to eat dinner with Camp Carnival on formal night, DH rented a tux (80 dollars since he left a tip) and he, DD and I had a great dinner sans flying bread. The food was ok, nothing to really write home about but it was better than if I’d made Hamburger Helper at home so it was great! DH is very picky and had a hamburger and fries every night. I had the pumpkin soup and it was FABULOUS, it’s definitely a must on future cruises.

We were at the early (5:45) seating in the Horizon dining room with Joseph as our maitre’d. I was concerned about the Horizon dining room after reading someone post about vibration since it’s the aft DR, however Joseph totally made our cruise experience. This is the most animated and fun maitre’d and the only one to ever even speak to us in all our cruises. On our 3rd night, it was just DD and I in the DR, since DH and Jason didn’t feel well. Joseph was visiting every table, schmoozing and flirting which was a first for us! Every night around dessert time, you’d hear him fake whisper "Dining Room Staff, it’s a SHOWTIIIIMEEEE" and by the end of the cruise you could tell who had eaten in the Horizon because people used that phrase constantly. Even Jason was saying it by the last night. (Joseph just walked by and told me he’s going to be on the Sensation out of Port Canaveral beginning May 9th). I definitely think a booking on the Sensation is next for us.

 

Like I said, the food isn’t too terribly impressive, but there’s a lot of it (no, you absolutely CANNOT starve on a Carnival ship) and it’s fun to eat with heavy flatware and cloth napkins, especially when at home you’re always rushed and using paper towels. We tipped Joseph 20 dollars and Ahmad and Ida 50 dollars each on top of the gratuities already on our sail and sign account.

It’s about time for us to gather our things and think about slinking off our ship, I’ll have plenty more to add later.

 

 

HELLO,

I liked JOSEPH TOO.......

I'll miss not seeing him on my Sept cruise...........

But who knows he could be back on the CELEBRATION BY SEPT....

WAS BRAD the other host still there???

He was my favorite...........

[BARBARA J.W.]

Holly - Please keep adding more as you get time. I am taking a trip of 20 people on the Celebration over Labor Day weekend. Most are first time cruisers, and I've been a little concerned about the age and size of the ship. I've really heard great things on here about it, and I'd love to hear any other comments you have about the ship.

 

Thanks!

 

BURTONSGIGI,

I SEE WE are going to be on the CELEBRATION

IN SEPT...........

I am doing a back to back cruise.........

9/4/06 & 9/9/06 this is my birthday cruise-9/10 is B-day......

The CELEBRATION IS A GREAT OLD SHIP.............

I LIKE it because it's small and easy to learn.......

And the staff is very friendly..........

If you have questions just ask.........

I need to go start a roll call.........

HAPPY CRUISING..................

[The4Cruisers]

Joseph just walked by and told me he’s going to be on the Sensation out of Port Canaveral beginning May 9th

 

Holy heck, you just made my night!!! :D

 

We are big Joseph fans and were quite disappointed when he was on vacation during our Celebration cruise last month.

 

We are booked on Sensation in September and now we can look forward to seeing Joseph again!

 

BTW, great review of your cruise. It's been cool to see Celebration getting the good press it deserves!

[bp traveler]

I am kind of bummed to hear the Camp Carnival was not too great!!

 

I have a 4 year old and we will be going on May 25th.....can you tell me if it was really cold in there for the kids?

 

Also - how was the piano bar and the night life??

 

Thanks

[hobbit81]

I'm thinking of booking the celebration for next year during our spring break. I'll be taking 2 20 year olds and a 14 year old. Do you think they will enjoy this? It'll be there first cruise.

[Jennifer_Ellen]

I just spoke to the Cruise line and it's $20 for all 5 days for a soda card for someone under 21 years old. It's $27.50 for someone over 21. That's not that bad at all for 5 days.

[HollyGoheavy]

Hi everyone

 

I'm so sorry I haven't responded yet-we went to Disney last minute the day after we got back and finally have some time to breathe!

 

Let me see if I can catch up-

 

No hair dryers but there was a complimentary box of Just for Men haircolor! It was part of the toiletries package which included toothpaste samples (enough for all of us for 5 days), a ladies razor and oil of olay shower moisturizer sample.

 

No fridge and no ice machines, we had our cabin steward refill our ice as often as we saw him.

 

Camp Carnival may be a totally different experience for someone else's child. My son is rather spoiled (he's my late in life baby and DHs only child) so he gets lots of attention and is really active. Coloring just wasn't his thing-he's used to lots of hugs and kisses and running around and we just didn't see that type of interaction or activity.

 

The AC in the cabin was ok, I tend to have hot flashes so nothing would have been cold enough for me. We had 4 people in our cabin, including our son sleeping in our bed with us and so a couple nights it was stuffy, but then other nights it wasn't so it wasn't terribly consistent.

 

The fountain cards are GREAT, they also cover juices for the kids.

[cruzeluver]

Hobbit81-

 

I think the Celebration would be a great first cruise for the kids. Plenty to do. (Beware-waterslide is addictive, and not just for the kids!! :p ).

 

Although not a "mega ship", it will look really big to them with nothing to compare it to. And the smaller size means more personal attention.

[bp traveler]

Keriann - how was the temp up in the Camp Carnival area??

 

Thanks for your review! Your little one sounds like our "only" one!!!

[yogimax]

The casino reeks of smoke on the Celebration. There is absolutely no ventilation. If you have any sort of sensitivity to cigarette smoke, stay away from the casino. (you'll probably save a few $$$ in the process).

[HollyGoheavy]

Keriann - how was the temp up in the Camp Carnival area??

 

Thanks for your review! Your little one sounds like our "only" one!!!

 

I can't really say about the temperature in the Camp Carnival area, it's below decks (no windows) and is a smaller room. I think only the 2-5s are in that room, I saw the other age groups in different areas around the ship like the Galax Z club. When we went down the stairs I didn't notice any obvious temp change though.

 

Have a great time! I wish we were going again!

[hobbit81]

Hobbit81-

 

I think the Celebration would be a great first cruise for the kids. Plenty to do. (Beware-waterslide is addictive, and not just for the kids!! :p ).

 

Although not a "mega ship", it will look really big to them with nothing to compare it to. And the smaller size means more personal attention.

 

I'm think about going in May this year now. I'll have the 2 19 yr olds and a 13 year old. The 13 year old is the one I'm worried the most about. Do you think he'll enjoy it?

[missliad]

The Fantasy pax had already done their snorkeling, but the Celebration pax hadn't. No harm, no foul-the money was refunded and my sister and her family rented scooters and ran around Nassau and were happy.

 

Do you have any information from your sister about where she rented scooters from and how much it cost? Any info would be appreciated!!! Thank you!!!