Celebration Cruise of 4/10

[daflabear]

First of all let me preface my remarks by stating that both my wife and I are Diamond PLUS Crown and Anchor members.
And I am writing this @ 9:39 A.M., AFTER stopping in for a quick breakfast at our local Golf Course in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
I can say that I have NEVER been more surprised by a cruise than the one we just ended a couple of hours ago having stepped off the Celebration at 7:20 A. M. this morning.
Every bad thing mentioned on this board defies logic.
EVERYTHING went perfect on this cruise.
The ship was sparkling clean and the staff was terrific.
Even the entertainment was GREAT. There were NO plate spinners or jugglers.
Just a GREAT, and I mean GREAT comic by the name of Steve Zimmerman and another gentleman (I cannot remember his name) who mimiced everyone from Sammy Davis to Dean Martin to Jerry Lewis. Royal Caribbean eat your heart out, these two fellas were better than any entertainers on RCL (except for the ocassional "name"headliners).
Boarding was quick and VIP like. We were greeted on ship by a gentleman who took our bags and brought us directly to our cabin.
The cabin was an inside with two beds (not bunk) and had a flat screen tv.
We then went to the Pub where a very good piano player/singer was performing.
They have a wine package where if you by 2 bottles you get a 10% discount, 3 bottl;es a 15% discount and 4 or more a 20% discount. The base price for a bottle of Kendall Jackson Chard was $29 to BEGIN with. The discount made the price even better.
Had dinner in the Cove for an extra $25 each. It was a GREAT dinner. The Filet was surrounded by TWO types of potatos AND brown rice and carrots.
Our anniversary was on the 6th so they brought us a small cake at NO CHARGE.
The casino was pretty good size for a small ship. They offered a Players Club card, but only upon request.
Freeport was also great. we ate at the "Prop Club" on the waterfront at "My Lucaya Resort". Shared a cab/van over there
for $5 each (plus tip).
The casino there is now operated by the Treasue Bay casino group out of Biloxi and was clean/modern and offered $10 in free play for signiing up for a players club card.
As I said, we were off the shp by 7:20 this morning.
DO NOT BELIEVE the absurd horror stories on this board.
It was one of the best cruises I ever had.
I am going to book again and try to get on within the next four to six weeks.
I only paid for port taxes plus $9 a day for fuel surcharge and $10 a day for tips.
My cruise was free!
Questions?

[TracyESQ]

Did you have to go to Ft. Lauderdale for your cruise vouchers?

[daflabear]

Good queston.
In a word, no.
I had called the "welcome center" the week before and spoke to a gentleman by the name of Luis.
I told him (ok, I fibbed) that I was flying in to West Palm Beach and had no way to get to Ft. Lauderdale.
He said that I should meet him on the second floor check in and he would have our boarding passes.
We didn't get to the port until 3:30 and he was gone.
The lady at the desk said no problem, just go up to the counter and check in, so we did.
I gave her my reservation number, our completed embarkcation forms (odd because they are no longer required in Nassau), credit card form (by the way, the credit card orm on line is no longer used, I had to fillout a different one, go figure) and credit card, passports and we were good to go.
Three minutes at the most.

[kgteach]

First of all let me preface my remarks by stating that both my wife and I are Diamond PLUS Crown and Anchor members.
And I am writing this @ 9:39 A.M., AFTER stopping in for a quick breakfast at our local Golf Course in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
I can say that I have NEVER been more surprised by a cruise than the one we just ended a couple of hours ago having stepped off the Celebration at 7:20 A. M. this morning.
Every bad thing mentioned on this board defies logic.
EVERYTHING went perfect on this cruise.
The ship was sparkling clean and the staff was terrific.
Even the entertainment was GREAT. There were NO plate spinners or jugglers.
Just a GREAT, and I mean GREAT comic by the name of Steve Zimmerman and another gentleman (I cannot remember his name) who mimiced everyone from Sammy Davis to Dean Martin to Jerry Lewis. Royal Caribbean eat your heart out, these two fellas were better than any entertainers on RCL (except for the ocassional "name"headliners).
Boarding was quick and VIP like. We were greeted on ship by a gentleman who took our bags and brought us directly to our cabin.
The cabin was an inside with two beds (not bunk) and had a flat screen tv.
We then went to the Pub where a very good piano player/singer was performing.
They have a wine package where if you by 2 bottles you get a 10% discount, 3 bottl;es a 15% discount and 4 or more a 20% discount. The base price for a bottle of Kendall Jackson Chard was $29 to BEGIN with. The discount made the price even better.
Had dinner in the Cove for an extra $25 each. It was a GREAT dinner. The Filet was surrounded by TWO types of potatos AND brown rice and carrots.
Our anniversary was on the 6th so they brought us a small cake at NO CHARGE.
The casino was pretty good size for a small ship. They offered a Players Club card, but only upon request.
Freeport was also great. we ate at the "Prop Club" on the waterfront at "My Lucaya Resort". Shared a cab/van over there
for $5 each (plus tip).
The casino there is now operated by the Treasue Bay casino group out of Biloxi and was clean/modern and offered $10 in free play for signiing up for a players club card.
As I said, we were off the shp by 7:20 this morning.
DO NOT BELIEVE the absurd horror stories on this board.
It was one of the best cruises I ever had.
I am going to book again and try to get on within the next four to six weeks.
I only paid for port taxes plus $9 a day for fuel surcharge and $10 a day for tips.
My cruise was free!
Questions?

Thanks for the complete review. It is so informative that I think it would be great if you put it in the members review section so that others can know how it went. We were also told to find Luis, as we are driving from North of West Palm. Thanks again.

[mattt6511]

Thanks for the great review i also agree with you i have been on a total of 18 cruises and i went on this ship about 7 months ago and i had a GREAT time, the italian restaurant was my fav it was awsome!!! One question i booked it with the just paying port taxes thing but i cant find the place i booked it through again and i want to go again, do you have the timeshare info the number or the website where i can call about the free cruise the 59 a person cruise! Thank you!!! Ps this ship offered lots of little extras that the mainstream ships didn't and the free ice cream on the top deck was great its real ice cream not the crappy cheap machine type.. Anyways i'm excited to try this ship again we should all consider picking a date and doing a cruise critic cruise on this ship.

[mattt6511]

Also i have a ton a videos of this ship i posted a few of them on youtube but ill post the rest soon, i put a video of two different room types in case anyone wanted too see!

[daflabear]

I have to dig up the telephone number (I hope I still have it) I got it off of a television commercial offering a "free" cruise to the first 500 callers.
It's on around here (South Florida) on a constant basis.
Freeport REALLY needs this to work.
In talking to the bartenders at the "Prop Club" they said occupancy at the resort was down to only 15% fronm nearly 90% before the market crash.

[daflabear]

Matt,
What type of cabin did they give you fr your freebie?
I ended up on deck six with a decent inside with two douuble beds.
I WAS worried they would stick us in steerage on deck 3 with bunk beds.

[mattt6511]

Awsome if you can find the number for me that would be GREAT i have been to nassau about 5 times but never freeport how is there? Are the new excursions even worth it are the decent?

[mattt6511]

Hahaa i was on the bottom deck deck 3 it was TINY my sister got the same free cruise i did and paid the same price but she was on i think deck 6 or deck 7 both of our rooms i have videos of on youtube just go on youtube and type in bahamas celebration and you should find them!!!

[daflabear]

Didn't take any excursions.
They wanted $49 for use of the pool/beach/lunch/transport at the Lucayan (Westin/Sheraton).
So that's like $98 a couple.
We spent $20 round trip on a communal air conditioned van plus $55 for lunch/drinks at the Prop Club. I think I got a better deal for my $75 because I don't care about the pool or beach.
Then we got FREE drinks at the Casino. :-)

[mattt6511]

Haha sounds good i normally do the excursions on my own the cruise lines mark it up soo much, unless your a noob to cruising i find it better doing most on your own the only reason im hesitant to doing it this time is i have never been to freeport and im not sure if its anything like nassau where cabs are everywhere as well as places to see and stop at..

[arkycruisers]

check out cruises 4 free .com

[daflabear]

Plenty of Cabs/vans.
Not as crazy as Nassau but plenty.
Plus pretty much everything is centered around the "My Lucaya" resort.
Across the street is the Marketplace which is huge and would take a day to go thru.
We didn't even make it there.