Carnival Celebration Cruise Review with Photos Jan. 15-22

[Jamman54]

Great review! Thanks for sharing! Can't wait for our turn on the Celebration in April. 😎

[jimbri]

Great pictures!

[loohoo1]

Thanks for the great review. We board her tomorrow 🙂

 

[lovestocruise19]

10 hours ago, atticusthegreat said:

I'm loving the review, and also, your outfits. 😍

Aw, thanks, that's so sweet! The past couple years I lost some weight and I've been buying a whole new wardrobe. I love dressing up a little at night on a cruise even on non elegant nights. 

[lovestocruise19]

10 hours ago, EngIceDave said:

She's for sale

 

 

https://www.moranyachts.com/luxury-yachts/kismet/?yacht-type=luxury-yachts-for-sale

 

and there's ample dockage and provisioning for her at your new Fisher Island place.

 

BTW, had I won that billion, I'd get a place there too.....

OMG, I have to show this to hubby! 🤣

[lovestocruise19]

The last two days of the cruise were Sea Days. We wanted to do the Sea Day brunch again, but the Hub app said it was a 40 minute wait, so we decided to just head up to Lido instead. After breakfast, we walked around a bit to give our room steward time to clean our room. We stumbled upon the Military Appreciation event. It was very moving. Even hubby said his "allergies" were acting up at the event. 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

I decided to give Chibang a try for lunch. I had a chicken stir fry noodle bowl which was good, but it didn't have tons of flavor. She also gave me a tortilla chip and wonton chip bowl. I loved the sauce that came with it. Hubby got Big Chicken again and I met him back in the room after getting mango gelato and cookies. I took a shower after lunch and then read my book for awhile while hubby listened to his sports radio and ultimately napped. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

It was second elegant night that night. I wanted to make it through dinner quickly because we wanted to watch Top Gun: Maverick on the big screen on Lido which started at 7 p.m. Luckily, check in for dinner started early that night at 5 p.m. instead of 5:30 p.m. We made it to the movie with plenty of time to spare. I've never seen the original Top Gun (hubby had), but I really enjoyed the movie.

 

 

I played around with the self timer and color pop features of my phone for this shot:

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

 

Spaghetti carbonara

 

 

No good desserts on the menu tonight, so we each had some strawberry ice cream

 

[lovestocruise19]

After the movie, hubby didn't feel very well so we called it a night. He had trouble sleeping so we both ended up sleeping in until almost 10 a.m. We then went to the Sea Day brunch as it wasn't a long wait. I got my free drink at brunch as part of the platinum benefits: a mimosa. Brunch really filled us up and we went late, so we ended up skipping lunch. I wanted to try the burrito bowl at Chibang, but I really wasn't that hungry. 

 

 

 

We were seated at a four top in the aft of the dining room which made for a nice view

 

 

 

They definitely don't skimp on the cheese in their omelettes! 

[lovestocruise19]

We had gotten an invite to the Platinum/Diamond party which we had been to before, but this invite was different. It said each person gets a free glass of wine. We don't drink wine and we really didn't feel like going. It did state that you could get a drink ($11) starting one hour before the event with a voucher. Well, I never saw a voucher. I was planning on getting a mocha chocolate getaway. But with no voucher, a late brunch making me full and the pie class coming up, I never got my drink. 😢

 

 

I did, however, make sure to grab a bowl of cookies during lunchtime to save for later. We have always enjoyed Carnival's chocolate chip cookies, but on this cruise they tasted better than they ever have! Hubby made fun of me the other day saying he never saw me without a cookie in my hand.

 

We went to our pie class at 2:30 pm. Hubby was still not feeling the greatest and I told him I could do it by myself, but he insisted as he knew I was really looking forward to it.

 

The pie class was fun and different, but I felt like it went way too fast. The chef would say, everybody good? Everybody would chorus "YES" and he'd move on to the next step. Meanwhile, I was like, NO! Lol! I still had fun and can say that I have made an apple pie from scratch. At the end we got free spatulas. Then we left our pies for them to bake and deliver to us at dinnertime. 

 

 

Hubby's pie

 

My pie

[EngIceDave]

4 minutes ago, lovestocruise19 said:

We had gotten an invite to the Platinum/Diamond party which we had been to before, but this invite was different. It said each person gets a free glass of wine. We don't drink wine and we really didn't feel like going. It did state that you could get a drink ($11) starting one hour before the event with a voucher. Well, I never saw a voucher. I was planning on getting a mocha chocolate getaway. But with no voucher, a late brunch making me full and the pie class coming up, I never got my drink. 😢

 

 

I did, however, make sure to grab a bowl of cookies during lunchtime to save for later. We have always enjoyed Carnival's chocolate chip cookies, but on this cruise they tasted better than they ever have! Hubby made fun of me the other day saying he never saw me without a cookie in my hand.

 

We went to our pie class at 2:30 pm. Hubby was still not feeling the greatest and I told him I could do it by myself, but he insisted as he knew I was really looking forward to it.

 

The pie class was fun and different, but I felt like it went way too fast. The chef would say, everybody good? Everybody would chorus "YES" and he'd move on to the next step. Meanwhile, I was like, NO! Lol! I still had fun and can say that I have made an apple pie from scratch. At the end we got free spatulas. Then we left our pies for them to bake and deliver to us at dinnertime. 

 

 

Hubby's pie

 

My pie

Nice work

[lovestocruise19]

After the pie class, hubby went right back to the room to rest and I listened to the string trio. I was looking forward to dinner, not only to see how our pies turned out, but because the last night they have my favorite appetizer and dessert. Hubby attempted to go to dinner with me, but he was feeling so crappy that I ended up going by myself. 

 

Beautiful pink sky

 

 

My table was ready at 6:34 p.m., but as soon as I was seated, my waiter told me that he'd take my order right after "Showtime." Showtime consisted of the goodbye song and a dance so I didn't place my order until 6:55 p.m. by which time I was starving since we had skipped lunch. It was worth the wait, though, because everything was absolutely delicious. It was sad not having hubby's face across from me at the table for two. 😢

 

 

[pcvtmom]

I've followed your reviews for years. You look AMAZING! Great review, too. 😉 Congratulations on your work achievement and your weight loss!

[pcvtmom]

I've followed your reviews for years. You look AMAZING! Great review, too. 😉 Congratulations on your work achievement and your weight loss!

 

Darn phone! Sorry for the double post.

Edited January 28, 2023 by pcvtmom
Double post

[lovestocruise19]

Peach soup

 

The absolute best appetizer EVER and I hope they never get rid of it. Chicken tenders in sweet Thai chili sauce. 😋

 

 

Enchilada

 

My favorite dessert: Baked Alaska

 

I asked for my pies to take back to the room to hubby and after awhile I finally got them after confirming my room number twice and giving them hubby's name. 

 

My pie

 

Hubby's pie

[lovestocruise19]

4 minutes ago, pcvtmom said:

I've followed your reviews for years. You look AMAZING! Great review, too. 😉 Congratulations on your work achievement and your weight loss!

Thank you so much! That is very sweet of you to say. 

[lovestocruise19]

I carried the heavy, warm pies (they were each in their own ceramic dish) all the way back to the room (the dining room is in the aft and our room was in the forward). I then popped up to Lido to get something for hubby to eat. We had a "pie off" and determined that hubby's crust was just a bit better than mine. It was a bummer that we couldn't bring the pies with us. Felt like such a waste, but we couldn't steal their ceramic dishes. When I signed up for the class I had assumed it was making one pie together.

 

[lovestocruise19]

I set my alarm for the morning. We had another restless sleep since hubby was still not feeling well. Our instructions for platinum self assist were to meet in the Grand Spectrum theater at 7:30 a.m. for priority debark. They must have been ahead of schedule because at 7 a.m. Lee was calling general self assist. We hauled our suitcases and said goodbye to the Carnival Celebration, hands down my favorite ship of the fleet. Customs consisted of just a facial recognition. We didn't even have to show our passports.

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

We got a ride share to the Miami Rental Car Center and then drove to Manatee Lagoon in West Palm. Didn't see any manatees, but it was a nice pit stop and it was free. 

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

Right after that hubby saw a Walgreens and ran in to get a COVID test. And...it was positive. Remember how in the beginning I said this was a memorable cruise? Yup. Memorable ship, memorable because of my work achievement and memorable because of this VIFP "gift" at the end. I tested too and was negative. I ran back inside to get masks and Tylenol for hubby. Once back home, I took a test since I was slated to go to work the next day. I saw the FAINTEST line for positive, but I guess that doesn't matter. UGH. Both of us went almost three years without having COVID, but our luck ran out. Last year we even took two cruises (one in February and one in May) and were fine both times. That was also back when they required a negative COVID test to board...

 

Anyway, once I figure out how to post videos, I might pop back on and put a couple up. And now you know the reason why I was able to complete this review so quickly. I have been home for five days. FINALLY go back to work Monday. Hubby had it worse than me and my case is very, very mild. I've had colds worse than this. So I do feel a bit guilty, but what are you going to do? 

 

I asked hubby if this would deter him from cruising again and he said a resounding NO! Whew! 

[lovestocruise19]

This is me ziplining in Amber Cove. I'm on the right hand side in the white shorts (and pink helmet!). You can hear my subtle cry as I'm spinning around near the end. Lol!

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

This is the hilarious video that hubby had the idea of. Makes me giggle every time I watch it! 

 

[lovestocruise19]

A scene from the Night of Enchantment Show with the amazing string trio

[lovestocruise19]