A Celebration Review 11-12-07

[jbhcw]

Since I knew that the Celebration would be leaving the Carnival fleet next April, making the decision to do this cruise for our anniversary was simple. We also got a great price and the drive to Jacksonville for us here in North Carolina was just a nice 7 or 8 hour drive. We were originally going to leave on Saturday morning and spend two nights in Jacksonville Beach but DH wanted to leave Friday am instead, so we ended up spending three nights pre-cruise. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn and Suites right across the street from the beach. It’s a fairly new hotel and I got a good government rate, with a Jacuzzi tub so I was happy!!

 

On Saturday we visited St. Augustine and toured the San Sebastian Winery which was great, also purchased a case of wine for Christmas presents! Sunday we went to the outlets in St. Augustine, and then headed back to the hotel and walked on the beach. It was cool, jacket weather Sunday.

 

Monday morning we headed out to Jaxport arriving right at 10:30 or a little before, it was 18 miles from the hotel. The gates were open so we headed right in dropped our luggage went to the parking area, paid, got our carry-ons out and walked to the terminal, it was a very short walk and there were very few cars in the parking lot when we got there. The terminal was not open yet as they were processing a wedding party but there were benches outside and we only waited approximately 10 minutes or so when we entered the terminal. We had to wait again about 10 minutes then we were led through security and into an office which served as the VIP check in. We were checked in and waited about 30 minutes before boarding.

 

I will have to say that the majority of the workers looked like they were retired folks, but they all were some of the nicest workers we’ve ever had!! I asked the lady who checked us in what they were going to do work wise between April and September when the Fascination comes to Jacksonville, and she said she did not know.

 

Boarding the ship you have to work up several ramps and if you’ve got a heavy carry-on or have mobility issues it might be a little difficult. Think it would be very difficult to roll a wheelchair up them. We among the first to board and the ship looked deserted!! We went into the Wheelhouse for lunch but ate outside by the pool. The Wheelhouse Grill is very old looking, small and crowded. I think there are only two tables for two in the whole area. This was one of the only down sides to this cruise, but as the days went by either we chose to eat at different times and were able to find a table or more people chose to go to the dining room for breakfast and lunch, as the congestion and crowds did get better. The lines were out the door the first few days and the last day!!

 

Leaving out of Jacksonville is very cool, especially going under the Danes Point Bridge. There were construction workers way, way high up on the bridge and they waved to everyone on the ship as we passed beneath them. There is not much room for this ship to make it underneath this bridge and the Carnival staff at the port said that the delay from April to September for the Fascination to come was so that the ship could be refitted so it would be able to go under the bridge.

 

We had a cabin on the upper deck U126, actually think it was a bit roomier than other OV rooms we’ve had with Carnival. The shower was bigger, I know and the bathroom sink and mirror looked new. I also think the carpet in our cabin was new and the carpet in the hall looked new but it also looked like it had been wet a one point in time. Our cabin steward was one of the best we’ve ever had, DH called him Twinkle Toes, and he was soooo fast and always made up the room perfectly. We gave him a little money the first day and asked for an extra ice bucket and some wine and champagne glasses, which he got for us.

 

After lunch we went to the dining room to check on our table. We had asked for a table for two and dinner at 6:15. Well we had the correct time but the table ended up being a booth for four. The Maitre’d was not supposed to be there as it was not 1:00 or 1:30 but there was someone there to talk to us. When I asked about getting a table for two or at least a booth for two, the waiter said, to wait a minute, he would go get the M’d. I asked him if it was Josef and when I said that, this really handsome man came out of the dining room with a big smile on his face. I immediately liked him and asked him if he was Josef of Cruise Critic fame? He laughed and said, yes and he did read the boards at times!!! I explained that it was our anniversary and our first cruise in a very long time with just the two of us and we would love a table or booth for two. He smiled and said of course but we would have to eat at 5:45, but he would put us right near him, and he knew our servers would be great!! Hubby tried to give him a little money but he would not take it!!

 

We were in the back dining room which is the Horizon which is the one Josef is in. He is the first Maitre’d in over 20 cruises that I can say was totally extraordinary!!! He will be staying with the ship until it leaves, then going home, then I think he goes to the Glory. He really does put on a show and does his job wonderfully!!! I would go out of my way to sail with him again. His Social Host Trisna was also fantastic as were our waiter, Romel and our Asst. Waiter Wesley. They did outstanding jobs, some of the best we’ve had.

 

Food was just okay, but after four cruises this year I may be getting tired of Carnival’s food. I do know and have seen this reported recently the lobster was really really small, like four little bites. So small that Romel just brought me another one, I didn’t ask him but it was appreciated!! After dh got his two bites I had exactly two bites of lobster, and the shrimp were almost as big!!

 

We had a fantastic fish one day at lunch in the dining room, it’s called King Klip and is some of the best fish I’ve ever had. One item they did not have on the Lido deck was boiled eggs but they did have the fake scrambled and the omelets and fried. Also we ate pizza a few times but it was not near as good as we had on the Elation.

 

We attended three shows, the two production numbers and the juggler and comedian. All the shows were great, we enjoyed the comedian, Dean Gaines so much we bought his cd, a very funny guy!! We didn’t do any of the clubs, piano bar etc.

 

Ports, We just walked to the Hemmingway House in Key West, then had lunch at a restaurant near the ship, we had been there in September, but it’s nice to walk around and see all the chickens and the cats at the HH were cool!!

 

Nassau, we again just walked around and visited a favorite store of mine The Blue Pearl in the International Bazaar, Bay Street. Everything in the store is made in the Bahamas, they have bath salts, soaps, pottery, candles, and prints. It’s a neat store and the lady there remembered us from January when we were on the Elation. She’s very nice and I was glad to be able to visit her again. After a few hours walking around we got back on the ship and enjoyed the almost empty Lido Deck.

 

The ship for us was a destination unto itself as we had never cruised on this class of ship and I’m very glad we got the chance to do this before she is gone from the Carnival fleet. The Library where the internet café is has lots of neat pictures of classic liners from years past, along with pieces of memorabilia form older liners. There is also several cases of awards and plaques presented to the Celebration over the years, they are located on deck 8 forward I think!!! The gift shops were huge and they had lots of stuff to buy!!! The photo area was a little crowded but they did a great job taking pictures, they were everywhere. They are also putting some stuff with the Celebration logo on sail. I got a neat wooden 5X& frame with Celebration carved into the bottom of the frame for about 8.00, wanted to have a few things with the ship’s name.

 

We did get our Celebration pins, but did not get the watercolor that they usually give out in the dining room on the last night as they have run out and did not order more as the ship has been sold.

 

Debarkation was fine, not a lot of crowds but it was delayed a little bit, I’ve been off ships in Port Canaveral much earlier but even with the delay we were leaving the parking lot at 9:30 and headed home on I-95 fifteen minutes later.

 

This was a good cruise for us, next up is Hal’s Zuiderdam in February. Any question I’ll be glad to answer. I did save the daily Capers, and will try to post some pictures in a few days.

[Vidimom]

Thank you very much for the wonderful review of the Celebration! We are sailing on her in 3 weeks!

 

We would love to see your capers and pictures of the cruise.

 

How was the condition of the ship in the public areas?

 

Who was the cruise director and what was your opinion of him/her.

 

Any information is appreciated!

[jbhcw]

The cruise director was Paul Santley,and older English(?) guy. He was actually quite good, low key, with a great singing voice. One of his sidekicks was Sexy Somebody, can't remember the name, but he was good too.

 

I think the ship considering it's age looked quite good, except for the Wheelhouse Grill, it's really showing some wear and tear. Also the elevators will take some getting used to, as they are very, very small:) but we actually never had to wait much for them, and they were always working. The seats in the Astoria Lounge need some more padding on them also:eek:

 

The promonade area just has tables and chairs with some elevated booths to the right, dh missed the nice chairs and benches that they have on the Fantasy class ships, but if you walk all the way back there is a very nice lounge, think is was called Islands in the Sky, and it's a great place to sit and read, comfortable seats,etc.

 

I don't have a scanner, so sorry about the Capers, but any specifics let me know. I am going to try and get the pictures up in the next few days.

[Vidimom]

Thank you very much for the information.

 

Can you check a couple of things in the capers for us.

 

When are they having the sign up for the guest talent show. My DD wants to perform.

 

Do they still have the Extreme Country show on board. We both love country music and hope they do.

 

Are there any great sales we should look out for? Our cruise is right before Christmas so we are wanting to do some Christmas shopping.

 

How was the casino and did you hear of any big winners?

 

We are just looking forward to getting away. We have sailed on the old Big Red Boat so we love the luxury style liners so we are not going to be shocked by the size.

 

I see you are going on the Zuiderdam next. We sailed on her 4 years ago and LOVED it! The ship is very elegant and there is art all over the ship. Our favorite place became the Crows Nest at the front of the ship. Love those lounge style chairs in there. The service was outstanding too. Hope you have a wonderful time on her!

[jbhcw]

The Guest Talent Show was on Thursday and I think the sign up was Wednesday, think they announced it as I could not find that in the Capers. The Xtreme Country show was Friday night, and both shows that we saw were great, I wasn't expecting so much talent on such a small ship:)

 

The shops had the inch of godl and silver and had the two watches for 49.95, and the frame I got is a nice one.

 

It's funny you should mention the casino, I won 90.00 on the nickel slots:eek: We're not big gamblers and this is only the second time in 20 cruises I can say I brought a little money home. Also heard in talking with someone at debarkation that someone won several thousand in the casino:D

 

Thanks for the postive feedback on the Zuiderdam, it's a family cruise and we chose this ship for the intinerary, HMC, Grand Turk, San Juan and St. Thomas, something to please everyone!!

 

We were also on the Big Red Boat, the Starship Majestic, many years ago it was our first cruise.

 

What time is your dining? Josef in the Horizon is not to be missed, he is a real showman:) I will try to post pictures in a few days, I'm sure you'll have a great time on the Celebration:)

[jmss1950]

:) Thank you for the review. It was great to hear that the Celebration is still going strong, and that you had an enjoyable cruise. We sail in 29 days and this will be our second Christmas cruise on the Celebration, and we are really looking forward to it. Josef was fantastic when we sailed Christmas 2005 and we are delighted to hear that he will be on the ship. We found him to be the most entertaining maitre'd we have ever come across with any cruise line, and we have sailed Celebrity, Disney, Holland America and Princess as well as Carnival.

This will be our 13th cruise and 5th with Carnival, and despite Celebration being an older ship, we really loved the atmosphere on her the last time. It felt like a large family gathering, and we loved the entertainment.

As we live in south Georgia, Jacksonville is very convenient being only about 2 hours drive away, and the port is also much less hectic than Fort Lauderdale having only one ship sailing.

We hope the Fascination will be as much of a success our of Jacksonville as the Celebration has been, although next Christmas is already spoken for on the Miracle.

Thank you again for the review.

Happy cruising.

[Vidimom]

We were on the BRB Oceanic in 2000. It was our kids first cruise and we also took other family members.

 

This cruise it will just be my 18 year old daughter and myself. We are doing a mother/daughter time cruise.

 

Glad to hear you won in the casino. I hope I fair as well! i love the nickel slots. It seems like you are not spending as much at one spin.

 

If you haven't been to HMC, you are really in for a treat. It's one of the nicest beaches you will see. We loved it there. You will most likely not have as many people there on a HAL cruise then we did last year when we went there for the 2nd time on Carnival. The older crowd didn't like it as much since there isn't a large shopping area. Most just walked around then went back to the ship (by tender).

 

I assume your cruise was Monday to Saturday. I will just adjust the days to figure out which night was.

 

Thanks again and I look forward to the pictures soon.

[travel girl23]

I loved reading your review of the Celebration. She was the very first ship DH and I ever sailed back in 1999 out of New Orleans and she is responsible for getting us addicted to cruising. We, too, had probably the best Maitre'd ever on the Celebration, George the Greek. This was when they used the chimes to call us to dinner and he would announce dinner over the PA system. I remember the watch sale, too, and bought a Seiko that I still wear today. Thanks for bringing back happy memories with your great review. :D Travelgirl

[travelgarn]

Could you tell me what other shows they had...other than the Extreme Country show?? I was on the Sensation in October with co-workers. They had an 80's review that was SUPERB!! I'd love for my family to see this show ...was just wondering if it might be on the Celebration? :confused:

 

Loved your review...we'll be on her in a little over a month! :p

 

DJ

[Vidimom]

They don't usually change the shows from one ship to another. From what I have heard, they are usually the same shows on board a ship for a year or two due to the work involved in changing the sets.

 

I know they will have another show on board, but don't know what it is. I get back on the 20th and will post my review with all the details. Hopefully the OP will answer your question.

[Browneyedhunni85]

The Celebration got us addicted to cruising as well. We just booked our third cruise for March. We really enjoyed the ship and it felt so cozy. I am kind of sad that its being sold. Does anyone know who bought the ship? Our wait staff in the dining room & our room steward were great. I guess we felt more laid back compared to when we sailed the Glory. We all were like, "We miss our Celebration Crew". It was a very special cruise especially since it was our first. I will miss the Celebration and look foward to the new ship at Jacksonville port. Will it be a 4 and 5 day cruise as well and does anyone know which ports it will visit? Thanks!

[travelgarn]

VidiMom - Thanks...I'll be looking forward to your review!

 

Browneyehunnies - The Fascination will be coming to Jacksonville in September. If you pull up the Fascination on CCL website, you can view her sail dates/ports starting in September. Looks like they'll be the same as the Celebration...Key West, Freeport, & Nassau.

[jbhcw]

Travelgarn, the shows on the Celebration were as follows: Monday - Welcome Aboard Show, Tuesday-Standing Room Only, starring the Celebration Dancers, it was good, Broadway type show. Wednesday-Comedy Juggling of Dana Tison and Comedy of Dean Gaines, who was soooo funny:D Thursday - Guest Talent Show, and Friday- Xtreme Country.

 

All of the entertainment was top-notch, she is just a great little ship, it's kind of a shame she is leaving the fleet.

[travelgarn]

Travelgarn, the shows on the Celebration were as follows: Monday - Welcome Aboard Show, Tuesday-Standing Room Only, starring the Celebration Dancers, it was good, Broadway type show. Wednesday-Comedy Juggling of Dana Tison and Comedy of Dean Gaines, who was soooo funny:D Thursday - Guest Talent Show, and Friday- Xtreme Country.

 

All of the entertainment was top-notch, she is just a great little ship, it's kind of a shame she is leaving the fleet.

 

 

Thanks for your info!!

 

DJ

[Browneyedhunni85]

Thanks!

[leedm]

Good to hear postive comments. We are scheduled on the Celebration's last cruise in Apr 2008 out of Jax before she is sold. I've enjoyed Carnival big ships Mircale, Legend and we are booked on Splendor Nov 2008. I still like Holiday, Celebration, Fantasy class ships.

 

Anyone scheduled on Celebration Apr 2008 or Splendor Nov 2008 ???

 

Leedm

[almapsy]

thanks for the great review! could you tell me what the weather was like in each port? We'll be heading out Dec 10!

[almapsy]

thanks for the great review! could you tell me what the weather/temperature was like in each port? We'll be heading out Dec 10!

[Vidimom]

Really looking forward to our cruise and your pictures. Let us know when you post them!

 

When you were in the casino, did you happen to notice if they had a Garfield machine? I love that one and had a blast playing it on the Fantasy last year! It's a nickel slot too.

 

Thanks again!

[lassie in Ga]

We have requested late seating on the Celebration 1/26/08, and was wondering if we will get out in time to see the shows???

 

Thanks:)

[jbhcw]

almapsy, the weather leaving Jacksonville was cool in the am but warmed up as the day went on. Key West and Nassau were both short and bathing suit weather, very nice. I always check accuweather or weather.com- you can get 15 day forecasts.

 

Vivimom, didn't notice Garfield as we were too busy with the "Jackpot Party" machine:rolleyes: They did have a lot of nickel slots and I think some penny ones too.

 

Lassie, they do two shows except for the Welcome Aboard show and the Talent Show, and those two are not until 10 or 10:30 so you shouldnt have a problem there.

 

Am going to try and post my pictures today, haven't done it before on this board so we'll see if I'm successful:)

[almapsy]

thanks for the info. I do hope we get the bathing suit weather you got. i'll check out weather.com...:cool:

[lassie in Ga]

Thanks for the review and info on the shows. Looking forward to your pics!:)

[obx_fintoo]

Good to hear postive comments. We are scheduled on the Celebration's last cruise in Apr 2008 out of Jax before she is sold. I've enjoyed Carnival big ships Mircale, Legend and we are booked on Splendor Nov 2008. I still like Holiday, Celebration, Fantasy class ships.

 

Anyone scheduled on Celebration Apr 2008 or Splendor Nov 2008 ???

 

Leedm

 

 

We are booked on the last Celebration cruise as well. Check out the roll call board as there are several of us Celebration fans planning on this one! We'll be on her again in just a week and I can't wait!:D

 

To the OP: glad you enjoyed your cruise!