Celebration Review January 3-8, 2023

[DramaQueen22]

My husband and I set sail in the Celebration January 2-8.  Our ports were Amber Cove and Grand Turk.  Rather than a long, detailed review, I'll share some of our thoughts and impressions.

 

EMBARKATION:  The new Terminal F is huge and gorgeous.  We arrived about 10 minutes before our scheduled arrival time but were allowed to go right in.  Everything was a breeze!  It took less than 30 minutes from our arrival until we were on board.  

 

THE SHIP:  She is beautiful!  There is really so much to see and do.  5 days isn't enough to get the full experience.  Our only negative is that the layout of several venues is odd.  Celebration Central has a very weird seating pattern, and it is tough to see from every seat.  There are multiple crowd choke points on the ship. mostly by the popular venues like Alchemy or Punchliner.  It didn't help that lots of folks crowded near the dining venues waiting for tables rather than arriving after being notified in the app that a table was ready.  The main theater is small, so you have to get there early for seats.  The elevators are tiny!  Serenity was our favorite hang out spot, although it can get very windy up there.  Tons of seating...best we've seen so far.

 

DINING AND DRINKS:  We chose YTD and enjoyed the many options available.  We ate in the MDR twice.  Our favorite on this trip was Cucina.  We also tried Chibang, and while it was good, It didn't warrant another try for us.  Guys and Big Chicken were great.  Wasn't too impressed with Street Eats.  Lido was good, although the layout here is also odd.  We were really missing the cake buffet!  We did Seaday Brunch but were not impressed (it was way better on the Horizon).  Tea Time was lovely.  JavaBlue has lots of great Grab and Go options and delicious treats.  Pizza and deli were good and the long lines moved pretty fast.  

 

Celebration has is WAY over the rest of the fleet when it comes to bars.  We did Cheers for the first time on this trip and loved it.  The Golden Jubilee serves classic cocktails and has a great vibe.  Latitudes was out favorite spot with its twist on drinks from around the world.  Loved the Pimms Cup!

 

ENTERTAINMENT:  We enjoyed the comedy shows onboard.  We did see Color My World, but honestly it didn't impress me.  I've seen better Playlist productions on other ships.  We enjoyed the We are One show in Celebration Central.  The Backyard Band was very good, and we loved guitarist Paul.  CD Lee was hilarious at the Love and Marriage Show.  

 

CABIN:  We had an inside (10414) on Deck 10.  Spacious and well laid out.  Lots of storage.  Love the location near the midship elevators.  Our steward cleaned 1x per day, which suited us just fine.

 

SHOPPING:  Much of the standard gift shop options on board, nothing spectacular.  I disliked the Effy store.  The salespeople were incredibly pushy and most of the stuff was ridiculously overpriced.  For example, we got a great deal on a diamond band on Horizon with 50% off.  On Celebration there were no sales to speak of.  Skip it.  We got a better deal at Diamonds International in Amber Cove.

 

PORTS:  no excursions for us this trip.  We hung out at the pool in Amber Cove and on the beach in Grand Turk.  Nice relaxing days.

 

Feel free to ask any questions!  

 

 

[EngIceDave]

30 minutes ago, DramaQueen22 said:

EMBARKATION:  The new Terminal F is huge and gorgeous.  We arrived about 10 minutes before our scheduled arrival time but were allowed to go right in.  Everything was a breeze!  It took less than 30 minutes from our arrival until we were on board. 

Awesome, what was your scheduled time?

 

 

[DramaQueen22]

29 minutes ago, EngIceDave said:

Awesome, what was your scheduled time?

 

 

Our arrival window was 11:00-11:30.  We got to the terminal at 10:45 and were onboard by 11:20am.

[nicmhep]

Question about Amber Cove, we are set to cruise there in July 2023.  

The big pool area that you can see on google maps just south of the port: (Aqua Zone?)  

 

1) I'm assuming you have to pay to swim etc there, what is the cost per person?  

- Do you have to "pay for an excursion for that?" 

2) Can you do ziplining and other activities in that area?  (I'm not looking to book a ziplining excursion, but they advertise some kind of zip line and other things to do.  

3) How long is the walk to get there?  

 

Thanks 🙂  

Just trying to decide if we are going to do excursions there or not....  

[cruisin4Becky]

42 minutes ago, nicmhep said:

Question about Amber Cove, we are set to cruise there in July 2023.  

The big pool area that you can see on google maps just south of the port: (Aqua Zone?)  

 

1) I'm assuming you have to pay to swim etc there, what is the cost per person?  

- Do you have to "pay for an excursion for that?" 

2) Can you do ziplining and other activities in that area?  (I'm not looking to book a ziplining excursion, but they advertise some kind of zip line and other things to do.  

3) How long is the walk to get there?  

 

Thanks 🙂  

Just trying to decide if we are going to do excursions there or not....  

 

No,the pool is totally free to swim in. the cabanas are extra cost. they do have a zipline that goes across the pool area. when I was there last it was 20 dollars a person for unlimited trips. there are also two waterslides free of charge. they have a bar and a restaurant right there as well. No ou dont book an excursion to use the pool area. It is an easy walk to the pool.

 

[WIkittymomma]

Hi , thanks for the review, you mentioned tea time , where was this served? Thanks!

[DramaQueen22]

19 hours ago, WIkittymomma said:

Hi , thanks for the review, you mentioned tea time , where was this served? Thanks!

In the MDR on our final sea day.  It should appear on the Hub app under "Hungry for More"

[dollbanks]

Thanks for your review. Was this a 6 days sailing? If so, when was the second elegant night? Going in August and trying to plan for speciality dining. TIA

[Shaybear]

Is terminal F always the terminal used for the Celebration? We are sailing on her Feb 26th..

[DramaQueen22]

On 1/16/2023 at 2:19 AM, dollbanks said:

Thanks for your review. Was this a 6 days sailing? If so, when was the second elegant night? Going in August and trying to plan for speciality dining. TIA

Ours was a 5 day.  Elegant night was the first full sea day, with a second on the next6 to last evening.

[DramaQueen22]

On 1/16/2023 at 3:49 PM, Shaybear said:

Is terminal F always the terminal used for the Celebration? We are sailing on her Feb 26th..

Yes.  Carnival's other ships go out from Terminal C or D.

[DramaQueen22]

An additional comment on shopping on board...

 

Had a VERY negative experience with one of the Liquor store employees.  We stopped to buy some t shirts (the 2 for $30s/they were in the corridor just outside the store).  One of the guys from the shop literally pulled me by the arm to ring up my sale in the store.  Mind you, there was no line where I was and I didn't mind waiting.  As hubby had my S and S card, I needed to get it from him.  I didn't appreciate being manhandled and was very shocked by this behavior.