My First Review, Celebration B2B May 5th to 18th

[LaRue1975]

Ok, again I am at a complete loss as to what we did this night. There are no pics to give me a clue. There was most likely dinner somewhere and martinis and bubble drinks in the mix. Here’s our Roxie Girl again, she keeps popping up in the vacay pics so she can replace all the pics I didn’t take.😜 The next two days are sea days so I will lump it all together in one day. Then we are moving on up to the Exel Aft Suite! 

[LaRue1975]

2 hours ago, Drazil65 said:

Your pix are great and bringing back some great memories for us as well!  Love Trunk Bay and its been a few years since our last trip but you are certainly giving off "gotta go" vibes with these pix.  Hmmmm...

You are not the only one that got the gotta go back vibes, we’re booked for our 50th! There is no place we’ve traveled that beats it. ❤️😎❤️

[Stallion]

6 hours ago, LaRue1975 said:

We arrived at the terminal at 7:45, the fare was $15 per person so I gave our driver $40, she was great! I thought there was a ferry at 8 but it was 7:30 and 8:30, then 9 and every hour on the hour after that. Because we were so early we decided to see if the bar was open and it was so we got our first Painkillers of the trip. Now are drinking before 8, yikes, I mean cheers! We rode over on the top deck. It was still overcast and I knew the sun would be out on the way back so I didn’t bother taking pics. When we got off the ferry there was another taxi wrangler. I obediently and silently walked to the taxi he directed us to, lol! 
 

They have large open air taxis in St. John and ours was almost full when we boarded so soon we were off to Trunk Bay. It felt like home as we passed the different beaches and zoomed up and down the hills and sharp turns. The driver was wasting no time getting us there so it was a bit like Mr. Toads wild ride, I loved it! It took 10 to 15 minutes, the fare was $9 per person so I gave him a $20. When we got to the gate they said it was $5 to get in but they only take credit cards and the power was off so just go in. If the power came back on before we left we could pay then. Trunk Bay was as spectacular as we remembered even without full sun. We swam and relaxed on the beach for an hour and a half before heading back to Cruz Bay. We wanted time to shop and eat lunch there and we also wanted to have some time in St. Thomas. Back on board was 3:30 so time was more precious than money today. 

The water looks incredible. Your camera seems to take much higher quality pictures than most on Cruise Critic. 

 

My grandfather was Danish born on Saba a huge Volcanic-Pirate , Danish island off St. Marteen, but grew up in St. Thomas-so I usually stay on St. Thomas, but have always wanted to visit St. John. I've seen Saba from the St. Marteen America's Cup sailing ships just a few miles off the coast but never actually gone ashore. Some day I need to take a trip without a cruise and mark Saba and St. John off my list.

Edited June 13 by Stallion

[LaRue1975]

Our priority the first sea day was to get some good deck time in. I was anxious to get out there and grab our favorite spot but hubby kept assuring me we didn’t need to rush. He was on deck for his early morning walk so had scoped it out. We got up there around 9 and almost all the loungers were still open. It is definitely easier to get a lounger on the Celebration than the other ships we have sailed. Because we are always on deck early we have to watch to the Morning Show.  We do not enjoy the morning show and the big screen and announcements are so loud on the Celebration which makes it worse. Plus we like the music, turn off the TV and bring out the DJ! Don’t they understand there are senior citizens on board that want party at 9 AM and be in bed by 9 PM? This is how I know I’m old, soon I’ll start yelling at kids to get off my lawn. 🤣🤣

 

It was a perfect sea day. It was warm with brilliant sunshine and a light breeze. We will not be running from the rain today, yay! We started with a mimosa and Bloody Mary from Arya at the Frog On Top. We got most of our drinks there but it does get super crowded and cramped so later I would go the Frog On Bottom. By the time the servers start roaming the decks we are usually ready for our afternoon nap, lol!  

 

 

[LaRue1975]

We took a break and walked around for a bit so I took some pics. Looks like this was also when we played miniature golf which was fun! 

[LaRue1975]

It was elegant night and went to Rudi’s Sea Grill for dinner. It was by far the best meal we’ve ever had on a cruise ship. I just looked at the menu so I remember what we ordered. Hubby had the scallops appetizer and I had the lobster mac & cheese, both were fabulous. The scallops were in a small bucket of cheesy goodness, it was OMG delicious! For our entrees I got the crab stuffed lobster and hubby the lobster tail. I could only eat half of mine so I gave the other half to hubby, he was a happy man! The desserts were not memorable, probably because we were too stuffed to eat them. I ordered a Santorini Martini and it was so good I had two, cheers! Hubby drinks Crown Royal with dinner, he’s a simple and happy man! 😜

 

I’m sure we would have gone to the Steakhouse Bar after dinner because I would have been on a Martini roll. Probably another bubble martini at Latitudes too. Looks we took a formal pic tonight so I have pic for this post. 

 

 

[LaRue1975]

Oh wait, evidently I didn’t got to bed early after all. I have pics from the Rock & Glow Party. I remember now although it’s fuzzy. I got to the Frog On Top just before it started. It was crowded and the tables were taken but I stood between two of them on the rail and there was a much needed pole behind me to lean on.😜 Lee Mason did a great job and the crowd was super into it but I don’t think anyone will ever top Deon for me. I hear he is moving to the East Coast next contract, not sure which ship. If you sail with him do not miss the parties, especially the Rock & Glow. 

[LaRue1975]

The last day was hangover recovery, packing and getting lots of rest. We need to be ready for our grueling travel day tomorrow from the 14th deck mid to the 15th deck aft. We had dinner at Teppanyaki, this was the first time we have had dinner there by ourselves. We have done it with groups of 5, 7 and 10 on the Panorama. We like it much better with a group so we’ll probably stick with that, it is a lot more fun. The chef was very entertaining but the food wasn’t quite as good. Also, they have cut back on the portion size. It was way too much before but if you could eat it all it might not be enough now. I am presuming it is fleet wide and I am sure there was a ton of waste before so I get it. Looks like after dinner is when we went to Alchemy. Our Frog On Top fav Arya is an alchemist in the evenings. This was the only time we found open seats and he made this lovely martini. 
 

Well, that’s all folks for the first chapter, fresh start tomorrow! 

[wrcjr98]

Loving your review!  I was also on the May 5-12 week of the cruise!  I loved the Celebration!  We agree that the announcements were way too loud on the Lido, (I guess we're old too - we even went inside to our balcony some mornings during the morning show!)  Didn't you love seeing all the service dogs that week?!  Carry on for week 2!  Can't wait to hear more!!  

[wrcjr98]

(Did I meet you in the Java Blue line?)  Do you order White Chocolate Caramel Lattes?!!  Your picture looks familiar!!

 

[LaRue1975]

4 hours ago, wrcjr98 said:

Loving your review!  I was also on the May 5-12 week of the cruise!  I loved the Celebration!  We agree that the announcements were way too loud on the Lido, (I guess we're old too - we even went inside to our balcony some mornings during the morning show!)  Didn't you love seeing all the service dogs that week?!  Carry on for week 2!  Can't wait to hear more!!  

Thank you for the reminder on the service dogs. I thought about it a few times but forgot to write about it. I don’t know why they have to make the announcements so loud if it is not something super important and it’s not good for the cruise directors. Lee Mason is super popular but we didn’t care for him because of his over the top enthusiasm and the tone of his voice. Every time we heard him it was like nails on a chalkboard and the volume made our ears hurt, lol! Poor Lee, he seems like a great guy, they just need to turn down the volume. 😜

 

No, that wasn’t me, I never went to Java Blue this cruise or the next but we probably ran into each other at some point. I thought the passengers on the Celebration were the best I’ve sailed with so far. Everyone was so nice and I didn’t see any of the rowdy out of control behavior you can see sometimes. Glad you are enjoying the review, I love reading ones that are cruises I sailed too.

[LaRue1975]

16 hours ago, Stallion said:

The water looks incredible. Your camera seems to take much higher quality pictures than most on Cruise Critic. 

 

My grandfather was Danish born on Saba a huge Volcanic-Pirate , Danish island off St. Marteen, but grew up in St. Thomas-so I usually stay on St. Thomas, but have always wanted to visit St. John. I've seen Saba from the St. Marteen America's Cup sailing ships just a few miles off the coast but never actually gone ashore. Some day I need to take a trip without a cruise and mark Saba and St. John off my list.

You must visit St. John next time, it’s so easy from St. Thomas. We stay on St. Thomas before or after our St. John trips and usually do a BVI all day boat trip. We have been to Tortola, Virgin Gorda and our favorite Jost Van Dyke a few times. There is nothing better than sipping a Painkiller at the Soggy Dollar bar or having lunch at Sydney’s Peace and Love. Take that trip, never put off until tomorrow what you can make happen today. The older you get the more true it becomes. 

[LaRue1975]

I forgot to mention we had a group of around 50 service dogs on the first cruise. I heard about it about a year ago when the man organizing it posted on our cruise Facebook page. It caused so much drama he disappeared pretty quick. I searched Facebook later and saw they had their own Facebook group so I knew they were still coming and I looked forward to seeing them onboard. About a month before the cruise Lee Mason posted on our page about the dogs and why Carnival was welcoming them onboard and how we’re not supposed to interact with them and all that. There was a bit more drama on the page and it continued during the cruise.

 

I saw no problems at all with the dogs and enjoyed seeing them around the ship. Some were obviously working and a few were in training with their trainers. I just don’t understand why some people get so upset over such trivial things. Special needs people have as much right to enjoy a cruise as they do. I would rather share an elevator with a dog than some of the people I’ve cruised with! 😜

 
Ok, I’ll be back later today to continue the review. Because I didn’t take a pic of the service dogs, here comes Roxie! 

[beshears]

I just discovered your review on the Carnival Celebration. My hesitation for ME is that it is a larger ship than I have ever been on, and there will be 7 or 8 of us that plan to do this cruise next year. I will look forward to reading your pros/cons of this ship. Happy Anniversary too.

[LaRue1975]

 

[LaRue1975]

It’s a Suite Life now! 

[LaRue1975]

I did take a video but had to mute myself. I must have been way too excited! 

[LaRue1975]

His and hers closets! 

[4hunters]

Wow!  What a great review so far!  Thanks for taking the time to put it together for us.  😁

[LaRue1975]

Sail away from this balcony was pure joy. I might have had to pinch myself a couple of times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. ❤️😎🛳️😎❤️

[Sexygrandma2013]

41 minutes ago, LaRue1975 said:

Sail away from this balcony was pure joy. I might have had to pinch myself a couple of times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. ❤️😎🛳️😎❤️

Why would you ever leave that balcony?  Oh my goodness!!! Looks amazing..

[LaRue1975]

It looks like we were meant for the suite life, now we just need to win the lottery to keep it going! I had a lot second thoughts about splurging for this suite but it was absolutely a good decision. It was an experience the hubby will always remember and 1,000% worth the cost. Memories are priceless and this week will probably rank at the top of the list. 

 

While we were settling in the phone rang. It was Zoey telling me she would be handling our dining reservations and we didn’t need to use the app. She would take care of it and we would get the best table in the house. Wow, we had planned to eat a lot of room service because it is free with an Exel Aft Suite. Plus the seating in the MDR and some of the specialty restaurants is so awkward for two people. The tables are ridiculously close together and why in the heck do they seat you right on top of someone when there is a whole row of open tables?!  This is a big issue for us and hubby would be very happy to eat in the buffet every night.🤮 I made a reservation for Chibang that night, what a great perk! After discussing it with hubby I called back and made a reservation for the Steakhouse the next night which was Elegant Night. 

 

I’m sure we stayed in the room until it was time to go to dinner. Room service had delivered sparkling wine and a fruit plate twice. I’m not sure if it was a mistake but now I had two bottles of bubbly. I opened one and enjoyed a few toasts on our amazing balcony. Hubby ate every bit of the fruit over the week too. When we checked in at Chibang I mentioned that Zoey had made our reservation for us. We were led to our table which probably the worst table in the house!  Instead of seating us on top of another table we were right next to one of the service stations fill with dirty dishes. We sat down and looked at each other and laughed. I guess it was too good to be true. Before our server showed up the hostess came running over saying she was so sorry she has seated us at  the wrong table and led us to a window table with a gorgeous sunset view. Now this will work, thank you! 

 

I can’t remember if this the first or second time we went to Chibang. The first time hubby got Beef and Broccoli for his entree and HATED it. I think this was the second time so he ordered sweet and sour shrimp and I knew he would like it. We both got that and I gave him half of my shrimp. Now he’s a happy camper, yay! We went to the Steakhouse Bar and Latitudes after dinner for watermelon and bubble martinis, not sure how many I had but I was floating as we headed back to the room to enjoy our balcony. I don’t have any pics from tonight so here is a video of our amazing shower in action. 

[wrcjr98]

We had an Ocean Suite, and I was super happy, and now, I feel ripped off!  lol

[LaRue1975]

We got back to the room and went straight to the balcony. We pushed the sun bed against the wall and laid on it looking up at the sky, it was amazing. Probably the best experience we’ve ever had on a cruise ship. The moon and stars were out, there was a light breeze, it wasn’t too warm or too cold. I told hubby you’ve always wanted to sleep on the balcony and now we can. The sun bed was unbelievably comfortable, we pretty much lived on it the rest of the week but enjoying our evening out there was perfection. Until it happened…

 

All of the sudden there was waterfall of water coming down on top of us. We looked up and it was like a fire hose above, it went over us and then past us towards the middle of the ship. We were stunned to say the least and here it comes back to drench our entire balcony again. Well, that was an unexpected and disappointing development. So much for sleeping on the balcony, everything was soaked! It was an ongoing situation so I am going to cover it now and be done with it. 

 

We went to bed after it happened but in the morning our balcony was still a giant puddle. The decks are very slippery when wet so I ran down our room steward before we went to breakfast. He looked at it and assured us he would take care of it and when we got back the puddles were gone. I went to guest services after breakfast  to report what happened and he just wanted to know if we were injured or had property damage which we didn’t. He also said there wasn’t much they could do because I didn’t report it when it happened. I told him I just didn’t want it to happen again so he said he would file a report. I was hopeful it was resolved but while we were enjoying the sun bed the second night it happened again. This time I called and one of the assistant stewards came to confirm our balcony was indeed soaking wet and water was still dripping from above. 

 

The guy from guest services called the next day and said they were investigating and I told him it was the crew cleaning the lido deck after the spa closed at 10. We had figured that out ourselves. That night before dinner the deck manager called and said we might get some mist on our deck while they were cleaning. Mist? More like Niagara Falls. I assured him it was more than a mist and he said well, just don’t use your balcony between 10 and 11 and I replied please ask your crew not to overshoot the railing so much. That night it was little better but we gave up and accepted it for what it is. I wish they would have just told us that from the beginning. So keep it mind when you book, I don’t think it was an issue on the decks below 15. We also loved being on the top deck so might even book it again if we could afford it. 

 

In the end the situation did not dampen our enjoyment of the suite or even the two days we were dealing with it. The first night after the shock wore off we couldn’t stop laughing, it was pretty funny! We loved every minute of our time in the suite and are so grateful we had the opportunity. Here is a pic of our lovely sun bed. The sun dried it every morning. 😎 

[beshears]

I just discovered your review on the Carnival Celebration. My hesitation for ME is that it is a larger ship than I have ever been on, and there will be 7 or 8 of us that plan to do this cruise next year. I will look forward to reading your pros/cons of this ship. Happy Anniversary too. I just seen the pictures of his/HERS closet, and I understand completely. I also wrote down (I have probably cruised around 20 or more times) checking out St. John from St. Thomas, as I don't believe I have ever been there before. My 3 sons like to snorkel, so hopefully the Trunk Bay (i believe that is what you called it) would be a good place to go to for that.