Just off the Celebration yesterday

[Jonathan Quayle Higgins]

I just got off the Celebration yesterday. Had a great time. If anyone has any questions I will answer them the best I can.

[halos]

JQ...I am disappointed. :(

A man as common sensed, quick witted, sensible and well spoken as yourself, and THAT is your review????

I expected much more from you sir. But I am glad you had a good time. :)

[Jonathan Quayle Higgins]

I was going to post a full review, but I had to leave for a business trip 5 hours after I got back. I will post a detailed review in a few days. I just thought I would answer any questions for those who may be cruising the Celebration soon. I saw a lot of good and a lot of bad.

[halos]

I was going to post a full review, but I had to leave for a business trip 5 hours after I got back. I will post a detailed review in a few days. I just thought I would answer any questions for those who may be cruising the Celebration soon. I saw a lot of good and a lot of bad.

 

I look forward to it.

[MsRavenFan]

I really want to know and can't wait to see your review....we leave on the Celebration on Saturday.

[Lipz]

I'm not going until August, but of course I am CURIOUS!!!

 

Lipz

 

Very 1st (and only) Cruise ~IMAGINATION~ Aug 2004

[kdickers]

First of all . . . glad you enjoyed your cruise on the ol' girl!!!

 

I'm sailing the first week of June so I've got time to wait for your full review but . . . for now I do have a couple of questions. :rolleyes:

 

Did you see many ppl decorating their doors and if so . . . are the doors metal or what??

 

Did you notice the activities for the kids in the 14 yr old range?? What were they . . . were the kids participating . . . were they enjoying themselves (within reason of course).

 

Are cappuchino's available at any time during the day other than at dinner?? WHERE???

 

What was the menu for dinners in the dining room??

[crusingmom]

We (all ladies) are scheduled for the Celebration cruise in May. My 77 year old mother will be on there for her first cruise. How was the cruise (ex. rocky or smooth)?

 

Also, how was the entertainment shows?

:confused:

[Jonathan Quayle Higgins]

First of all . . . glad you enjoyed your cruise on the ol' girl!!!

 

I'm sailing the first week of June so I've got time to wait for your full review but . . . for now I do have a couple of questions. :rolleyes:

 

Did you see many ppl decorating their doors and if so . . . are the doors metal or what??

 

Did you notice the activities for the kids in the 14 yr old range?? What were they . . . were the kids participating . . . were they enjoying themselves (within reason of course).

 

Are cappuchino's available at any time during the day other than at dinner?? WHERE???

 

What was the menu for dinners in the dining room??

 

 

I am still out of town on business, so I won't be posting a review until tomorrow when I get back to Jacksonville. But to answer some of the questions:

 

I didn't see any door decorations, but I do think the doors were metal (not positive).

 

As for 14 year olds, I saw some kids but I really didn't notice what they were doing. The CD said there were about 800 kids on board, but it didn't seem like there were that many, so they must have been doing something somewhere. It did seem like the hot tubs were always full of kids.

 

I don't remember all the dinner selections, but I do remember that I had a fillet the first night, lobster and prime rib the second night, a steak the third night, and a pork chop the last night. The dinner selection usually had some sort of meat, fish, and pasta every night.

 

I had a cappuchino every night at dessert, but no other time. I did see them making cappuchinos at the bar next to the casino. This bar seemed to be open most of the day and into the night.

 

I didn't see the shows. I spent a few minutes at the late night comedy show, but the comedian was telling Bobbit jokes, so I figured his jokes were a little outdated, so I went to the Endless Summer bar to watch karaoke. I think one of the other shows was a country show.

 

The sailing was smooth except the last day. The ship was rocking fwd to aft and side to side. A lot of people were sick, some puking in the stairways. I took a dramamine in the morning, so I was fine for the day.

[kdickers]

JQH,

 

Thanks for your reply . . . I'll be SURE to hit that bar (probably first thing when I board) to ask the bartenders about those cappuchino's!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hey Suse . . . There's HOPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

[suseg]

JQH,

 

Thanks for your reply . . . I'll be SURE to hit that bar (probably first thing when I board) to ask the bartenders about those cappuchino's!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hey Suse . . . There's HOPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

 

 

*ROTFLMAO*....ahhhh....but do you like actual capuccino or the ones from the hot chocolate machines???? *ducking*:p

[kdickers]

*ROTFLMAO*....ahhhh....but do you like actual capuccino or the ones from the hot chocolate machines???? *ducking*:p

 

I sure wish we were sailing at the same time . . . you're SO FUNNY . . . I'm SURE we'd have a BLAST together!!! :D

[obx_fintoo]

JQH,

 

Thanks for your reply . . . I'll be SURE to hit that bar (probably first thing when I board) to ask the bartenders about those cappuchino's!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hey Suse . . . There's HOPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

 

You finally got the answer you were looking for! Thank you JQH for helping her out!! :D

 

This time a week from now, I'll be in the casino!! <<<jumping up and down>>>

[suseg]

obx...I'm sooooo jealous...this time, next week, I'll be in tears wondering if the week will ever end...I'm a tax accountant (need I say more:eek: )

 

 

Kim...yes, I think we would have fun!

[ernstbass]

and I sat at a table with several kids and parents. We had a 12 yr old at the table who was very active in Camp Carnival and he enjoyed it - during the day however, it was only him and the counselors. they had a large group in the disco early each night and they seemed to be having a blast. The 15 - 17 yr olds are seperated out into their own group. Overall we had a great time.

[ernstbass]

My 17 yr old neice and i enjoyed them. The have a broadway style review one night, country review one night, comedian and cruise staff one night and comedian/magician one night (we didn't see this one). I was on the golden Princess in October and the entertainment was better on this cruise!!

[Jonathan Quayle Higgins]

Sorry this review is a couple weeks past when I planned to post it. Between work, being sick, and PCD I am finally taking the time to write a review of the Celebration. This is not really a formal review. It is more like a description of my cruise experience for the March 31, 2005 sailing of the Celebration to Freeport and Nassau.

 

The Celebration is in great condition for her age. She was very clean and I did not see many signs of wear. Embarkation went smoothly. It took maybe 30 minutes from when we parked the car until we were on the ship. This was a 4-night cruise, and parking at the port was $40.

 

 

 

The ship is actually docked a mile or two into the St. Johns River. The ship passes under the Dames Point Bridge just after it leaves the port. After passing Blount Island the river is lined with houses on either side. Many residents came out of their houses with their children and waved to the ship as it passed by. Naval Station Mayport is at the entrance to the St. Johns River, so there was a great view of the Navy ships including the aircraft carrier JFK.

 

 

 

The crew was great. I did not have a single complaint about the crew the entire trip. Our luggage arrived at our room sometime while we were up on deck during sail away. I had packed three 750ml traveler bottles of rum and a couple bottles of wine in the suitcase. They arrived in the luggage without incident.

 

 

 

The room steward didn’t seem as personable as past stewards, but she was very efficient and kept everything clean and straight without intrusion. The first port was Freeport. This port is industrialized with a lot of cranes and shipping containers. We took the Tranquility Shores Beach Break excursion. This excursion included a bus ride across the island, lunch, and a few hours on the beach. The price of this excursion was approximately $50pp. The food consisted of a hamburger, fried chicken, beans and rice, French fries, and a hot dog. The food was fresh, hot, and very delicious. The beach is peaceful with white sand, blue water, and plenty of lounge chairs. This excursion was relaxing and didn’t feel overcrowded or overbooked.

 

 

 

We returned from this excursion with plenty of time to relax and have a few drinks before we got ready for dinner. The dining room service was excellent. It is too bad that the same could not be said for some diners at a nearby table. After dinner the maitre d’ lined up the dining room staff and gave a little speech. During the speech some idiot in the group at a nearby table kept yelling out his waiter’s name (at least 20 times). The waiter looked completely embarrassed and she kept her head down. I felt really bad for her. The room was almost quiet except for tables whispering among themselves, the maitre d’ talking, this moron yelling out his waiters name repeatedly, and the rest of his group giggling. This was not a group of teenagers; they were all probably in their late 20’s. After the maitre d’ was finished talking to the dining room, he walked over to the table where the yelling idiot was seated, and bent over and said something to him quietly. The next night the table was empty. I found out later that the maitre d’ had told the guy something to the affect of “I know you’re a nice guy, but if you can’t act properly in this dining room, please leave.” The table was full again the last night with half the people at the table wearing shorts and t-shirts with the sleeves cut off.

 

 

 

The next day was Nassau. If you take this cruise and you want to eat breakfast on the Lido deck before an excursion, get to the Lido deck at least 45 min to an hour before you have to leave the ship. **Here is Where I Vent** You would think a buffet line would be a simple thing, but some people are just clueless to the whole concept. Part of this is probably Carnival’s fault because they put an omelet station at the end of the buffet line. They placed stanchions on each side of the omelet station and a sign that said “Omelets Here” to indicate to people that there should be a separate line for the omelet station. Somehow people didn’t grasp this, and they continued the buffet line into the omelet station, effectively backing up the whole buffet line. I would say that about half of the people in the buffet line stayed in the line waiting for an omelet. Since the omelet takes about three minutes to make, the buffet line would stop moving for three minutes for the person at the front of the buffet line waiting for an omelet. So being about the 20th person in the buffet line, it took me 30 minutes to get some food, when it should have taken me less than 10 minutes.

 

 

 

In Nassau we took the Blue Lagoon Excursion. This excursion begins with a 45-minute boat ride to the island where the Blue Lagoon is located. The boat ride allows a decent view of Atlantis and a good look at all the waterfront houses. We knew from our last visit that when we arrived on the island we needed to grab a hammock quickly because there is more hammock saving going on than there are chair savers next to the pool on the ship. This is a very relaxing excursion, just laying in a hammock stretched between two palm trees or wading out into the clear blue water. I would recommend this excursion to anyone who wants to relax on a beautiful beach and just enjoy the atmosphere. They have some contests and games including a couple basketball shoot-outs and a relay type contest. You can also rent kayaks, paddleboats, snorkeling equipment, and tubes. The island has a dolphin adventure and a stingray area for an additional cost. The food from the only food stand on the island was again sub-par. We waited in line for 45 minutes for a small greasy hamburger, rice, and fries for about $10pp. Other food options were chicken or ribs that looked overcooked. Music is played constantly on the island, which I presume is from Bahamian pop artists. The music adds to the atmosphere, but they need to get some more CDs because they only play a maximum of 5 different songs over and over and they were the same 5 songs that they played over and over again last June when we were there.

 

 

 

The last full day of the cruise was a day at sea. It was extremely windy and the boat was rocking forward-to-aft and side-to-side. They closed the water slide, I assume because of all the ship movement, but they left the pools open. The kids in the pool looked like they were in a washing machine because the water was sloshing back and forth. A lot of people were getting sick and I saw Carnival personnel cleaning up puke in the stairways and hallways. I heard on the Lido deck complaining loudly that she didn’t understand why they just didn’t stop t he ship because it was so wavy.

 

 

 

I spent some time in the casino almost every day. The slots seemed to be extremely tight the whole cruise. I heard a lot of people complaining about the tight slots and I never saw anyone hit any sizeable amount or jackpot on the slots. I know that the odds are greatly in favor of the casino, but when I put $20 in a quarter machine and played all the way to bust without winning a quarter on three separate occasions, it tells me that they had the machines cranked down pretty tight.

 

 

 

All in all, the cruise was a wonderful experience. We over-ate and over-drank, if it is possible to do either. The Carnival people were great. We received our sign and sail bill on the last day and I saw that we had been charged for one of the bottles of Coke in the room that we didn’t drink. I just stopped by the purser’s desk and they removed it without question. Disembarking was smooth. We chose the standard disembark and we were in the car by 10 am.