familycruzinnewbie

5234-5248 are available but they are under gym. And 5440-5458 are available but I think they are under Carnivale Restaurant. Not sure what is quieter. I also thought it was suggested being in the front because you get more spray on your balcony

Thanks. I keep changing my mind on what I want. I wouldn't do a spa or Havana balcony, but I might try a Cove balcony. If we did a spa or havana interior, I'd need to make sure I would use the Havana or spa area enough. We were in an interior on deck 7 of Horizon, but I felt like we were always having to go up or down. And I felt like we didn't really check out much on deck 5. Can you get free coffee on the lower levels of the Celebration, I know they try to spread out the eating options?

I am looking at cruises for next February on the Celebration and may go with an inside cabin for hubby and me. But I'm trying to figure out the best location where things have been spread out so much on the ship. There are no premium interior left, but there are regular, spa and Havana. I'm not sure if spa or havana are worth the additional cost. We've also considered other cabin types - ocean view, balcony options etc., Im just not sure we will spend a lot of time in our cabin. We've never cruised on Celebration or Mardi Gras before. We tend to go to serenity deck on sea days, though many other options on Celebration, I check out the gym a few times, will take advantage of the eating options, go to comedy club and other entertainment in the evening etc. I'm looking for suggestions for cabins or cabin locations. Thanks

I know Greenland is the big draw here but make sure you have things planned for St Anthony and Corner Brook. And if you plan to rent a car, do it way earlier than you think you do. Have a great time, lots of things to see and do. I live in St John's, so the opposite side of Newfoundland.

hi @jam19872016 thanks for the review. Just wondering which cabins you stayed in. Also you mentioned no drinks/food at the VIPF party, I thought that was the whole point of that party. The program keeps changing, so figured by the time I reach platinum, the party would be gone. I sailed in February, the week drink prices went up, so our free drinks the final night were no longer fully free,

Thanks @sid_9169 for the great review. We sailed Horizon in February and I came here to check out some Celebration reviews, as I think we may try her next year. Read through all of @Saint Greg and your reviews. We are considering your itinerary,we seem to stick to southern and eastern cruises. No new ports for us, but you gave us some new places to explore. Did you need to take the ferry to get to the area where Juggies is located? Do you know if your sideways cabin, turned out to be any bigger than a traditional inside. So hard to tell from the ship map, if the bigger or smaller cabins are actually that. Thanks

@Saint Gregthanks for the great review.Wondering what cabin locations you find convenient for this ship, with so many things on 8 and such a large ship. Lido insides sell fast, particularly the middle one you had. booking super early may not be in the cards for us. We were recently deck 7 inside on Horizon, our largest ship so far and found it not the most convenient. We tend to like serenity deck on sea days, though we will have more pools on celebration, the comedy club was our go to for entertainment. i really need to convince my hubby to try Western as we've only done southern and eastern - he's not a fan to visiting Mexico.

We missed Tracey arm due to fog and cloud as well. But Juneau was great and the we had perfect time at Hubbard glacier

We cruised on RCI last month in Alaska. There were lots of huge family groups on board. I find some people who often cruise on $$ lines, will book a more affordable line with family and friends but want to be able to have better cabin options. Carnival has been increasing the amount of balcony and above cabins for years. My first cruise was in 2012 and my family outside cabin became a balcony in dry dock after I booked but before the cruise.

I enjoyed your review - interested in what you would do for part two. We didn’t take kiddos 19 and 22 this time but I think they would enjoy Alaska. I had looked at one way options in the past. They can be sold at a cheaper price at times cause hard to get airfare cheap to Alaska particularly with short notice. However I’ve heard you need to give lots of time for Denali particularly if DIY. Glacier bay for sure on that list if we go to Alaska again. I believe the homeless situation in Vancouver became worse during covid as people felt unsafe in shelters. Also I think Vancouver is a bit of a dumping ground for homeless people from other provinces, due to its better climate. We visited china town etc but our two scariest encounters were a guy pulling a knife down as we were gathered near steam clock and we had a very uncomfortable situation on the Canada. Line from our hotel near airport to cruise ( all precruise - we spent 2 nights at Hampton inn, close to Bridgeport stop, so airport shuttle to hotel but then sky train Saturday to sightsee and Sunday to get to port) We stayed downtown post cruise and it was different vibe with the huge crowds for pride parade and our hotel (Sheraton wall center) had a pride event on their lawn with loud music until 9pm or so. We did Stanley park after we dropped luggage and were back to parade when it started. We actually walked from cruise to hotel and one thing neat about Vancouver is that while you may run into stairs connecting side streets, everyone is accessible with ramps (unlike the backwards city I live in)

I have made my way through your review and probably have some things to add but one left finger typing sucks. in Vancouver the pic was not a abortion ruling protest, it was a Residential school memorial. It was originally 215 pairs of children’s shoes for the possible 215 sets of children’s remains found at the site of a former residential school (2021) More unmarked graves kept being found at others sites (ground penetrating radar). Originally our flags on federal buildings were set half mast for so many minutes per child from first site and then they were down over 6 months until we came to a resolution/path forward. There are displays or some sort all across Canada

Thanks - our Aruba stop is 8am-4pm, so need to see if we want to avail of all inclusive or just do $25 day pass for Eagle Beach resort/casino without food

Doing this cruise (with Bonaire not curaçao) in February. I was too late to get pool cabin in amber cove, are the loungers around the pool at no charge. We may just lie out and drink a bucket of beer. laRomana - is that shopping area outside the port. We didn’t get off the ship there last time, trying to decide what I feel safe doing. Aruba - been twice so just going back to beach or resort, trying to figure out options. So open to suggestions. Have you been to Bonaire ?

I look at the price for specialty restaurants like an up charge. This was our first cruise in Royal and didn’t see point in paying extra. I’m sure I may try one eventually.

Where do you find out if this is offered or do you book on ship?

Our cruise was amazing. We did the $10 shuttle in Sitka to fortress of the bear and raptor center. We had the option to return on our own so came back through the totem park and other sites. We did not make it to Tracey arm. The time was confusing as they said 5am but calendar said 5:30 then 6. So we checked ch 24, empty at 5am, peeps at 5:20 so hubby got up and then 5:24 announcement came on saying too cloudy or foggy. Longer day in Juneau so we bumped up whale tour and had longer at Mendenhall glacier. Hubbard glacier was amazing. We got in quite close, we didn’t excursion on small boat. Ketchikan - not sure if we chose wisely but we were planning to do it on our own but checked with the excursions on dock and there were 3 that did wildlife and totems. We went with the $75 one that included tickets to dollys house. The wildlife was mainly a trip to Herring cove - which unfortunately had no bears that day. Curious if the others had better luck. showers - try showering with your arm stuck out between the shower doors. Hubby got in to wash my hair at hotels but not possible on the boat.

Rodney - I try many things but the only way I’ve eaten seal was my grandmother’s flipper pie. Which I’m sure is an acquired taste like kidney pie but I was not a fan. We now have talented chefs who know how to make tasty things, I just haven’t been to many high end restaurants, and haven’t tried seal there. The cruises that stop here are more expensive lines or itineraries. There are US chefs who would love to offer it in restaurants if allowed.

We are back from our July 24-31 cruise on this route. I’ll have to catch up on your trip report.

We just returned from our cruise. I wish we could still see it in the app and look at menus. I ate a lot - MDR every night and two lunch and one breakfast. They switched all the brunches to breakfast and lunch. And then one lunch, they switched to an all new menu different than app. Chose lobster roll on that one which wasn’t a great choice. Roll was massive and lobster was mixed with potato. I had beef tenderloin on night two. So funny because my right hand is in a cast and the head waiter or maître d cut it up for me into tiny child size pieces. Table waiters had a chuckle. I didn’t like the upsell to specialty dining. Even my Waiter in MDR tried to book us into specialty restaurants my husband is a picky eater and my son (not on this trip) is highly selective and has sensory issues. We had MDR meals where he ate toast and chocolate milk. weird food - I live in St. John’s Newfoundland which is a cruise port. Come visit and try moose, caribou, Cod tongues and seal. We have a huge seal overpopulation and an ethical and sustainable seal hunt. Visitors may have to settle for a meal because you can’t bring seal products into the US

just so you are not the only one with crazy precruise stress - my hand has still been causing me pain so i managed to get squeezed in to see my surgeon today and lucky me, i now need another surgery. So surgery tomorrow at 1pm and as of now still good to fly Friday at 12pm. Debating cancelling, just not sure what to do. And not sure what $ i can get back if i did. on the other hand maybe i need a week of meals, room service. great scenery and mediocre entertainment.

Was that non standard WOS fare included? I do love seafood, lots of choices, unfortunately hubby doesn’t eat it so we can’t share. If anyone has pics to share go ahead - is the battered fish and seafood or fish and chips good or am I better with baked or pan fried. Hubby will probably try chicken, turkey, pork etc to break up the beef options.

we leave in a week so I have lots of questions. Trying to figure how much time we will be up on deck and what kind of clothes are needed for that. We have a window no balcony. Inside passage- what times are there good things to view. Same with Tracey arm - it says 5am-9am so not sure what times there will be good viewing. Is there a naturalist or anything on board. I’m really worried about clothes cause fitting warm things over my massive cast is difficult. And I can’t get it wet.

Trying to figure out which steak and beef is better as there is prime rib, New York strip, beef tenderloin, steak Diane, beef stroganoff, beef short rib. I think the tenderloin is day 2 and 6 and lobster just day 6. are burgers in MDR better than windjammer. Hubby will miss his free Guys burgers from carnival. Not sure how often MDR will be open for brunch or lunch as app has mostly just breakfast and dinner. I don’t see Duck or beef Wellington in the app. Just to make life fun, I broke my right hand and it will be in a cast. My left sucks(as I type with one left finger) so hope I don’t need knife skills.

We are taking our first Royal cruise on serenade next Sunday. I’ve heard service has declined a bit. Just looking for some recent food reviews or recommendations. I am the more adventurous one and will try new things, eat seafood, etc. Hubby is a meat and potatoes guy - no fish or cheesy things. We do not have an ungraded dining plan and are hoping to mostly just eat what is included - unless there is a specific thing we should not miss.

If you are leaving the airport you have to take baggage with you. And then you can’t check it until 4hrs before your flight. The worst is we often have really long layovers, so we had Red eye Vegas to Toronto and it was almost 8 hrs before flight to NL. We were going to spend in one of those fancy airport lounges. But they made us collect baggage I. Toronto and then we had to wait hours before we could check it in and go through security - where the lounge was. I’m really considering just going with carryons with the current mess.