Celebration Review - July 5, 2007

[dadofgage]

My wife and I just got off the Celebration this morning and I wanted to give a short (maybe) review of the ship, the ports of call and Carnival in general.

Note: this is my experience and my opinion, take it for what you will, but please keep your opinions about my opinions to yourself. :)

[B] Embarkation:[/B]

Simple and easy. Arrived at the port at about 10:30 am and passed our luggage onto a porter (and a tip) and was in line for security check within about 2 min. We were actually the first ones through security (besides the VIP's) and right over to the check-in area.

We moved through the check-in process within about 5 minutes and were the first in line to board the ship. Literally, they boarded a wedding party first, and then I was next.

Went right onto the ship after the customary photo and right to our room to meet our room steward and drop off our bags.

We moved up to the Lido deck (deck 10) and went right at our lunch. Nothing special on the food really here, but it was hot and tasted good.

Explored the ship and found out where the different bars, restaurants, lounges were and just took in the sights.

Back to our room by about 1 and found it ready for us and our first afternoon nap.

Up at 3 for another snack and to get ready for the muster drill.

The drill seemed like it took forever - well over 45 minutes, but at least our station was inside until we had to line up outside.

From there, we took in the ship leaving the port and going under the Dames Point bridge.


[CENTER][IMG]http://www.michaelbunton.com/cruise/Img_1053.jpg[/IMG]


[LEFT]The rest of the evening was spent at Dinner (8pm seating) and viewing the Welcome Aboard Show with the comedy of Phat Cat. The comedy was okay to start with and slowly just got worse as the 'show' went on. There are only so many fart jokes that you can do before it just becomes gross/stupid. So we got up and left.

[B]Other first day items:[/B]

[LIST]
[*]We smuggled (if that is what you want to call it) some vodka and rum on board along with some waters and diet cokes and had no problems at all.
[*]We were initially put at the 8:30 dining time when we had requested 6:00 pm, but were told that since we booked so late, it was already full. We were upset at first but once we met our table mates, we ended up having a great time for the rest of the cruise.
[*]Our cabin was a ocean view room on the Riviera deck. Clean and a nice size for what I paid.[/LIST]

[B]Freeport:[/B]

Got up at the normal time (10am) and ate breakfast and had time to just relax before our docking in Freeport at noon.

We had booked a snorkeling through the cruise line and were ready for a day of seeing some nice fish and enjoying the ocean. Unfortunately the weather was not going to cooperate very much. I guess a storm had passed through last night and it was very rough for the catamaran that we were on.

We snorkeled for about 45 minutes and just gave up trying to fight the waves. After our return back to docks, we just shopped and walked around the port area for a while before returning to the ship.

We did venture onto the property of a hotel (which I will not name) and just walked around the beach and took some pictures of the grounds.

One complaint was the return trip via the bus/shuttles that they had set up. When we got off the ship in the morning, we were handed a pass for the return trip and told where to wait for the bus. Of course, we started (along with at least another 100 or so people) for one last bus at 5pm. Of course the operators and taxi drivers know this and standing outside in the heat for at least 30 minutes waiting for that bus to arrive is just unbearable. So we paid the $5 a person for a tax with a number of other people and just gave up on the bus. It all seemed 'set up' to us.

This was our first trip to Freeport - not sure if I would want to go back or not. I felt like I saw everything that I needed to on this trip and that was about it.

[B]More Pics:[/B]

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[IMG]http://www.michaelbunton.com/cruise/Img_1077.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.michaelbunton.com/cruise/Img_1078.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.michaelbunton.com/cruise/Img_1081.jpg[/IMG]

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[B]Coming Up:[/B]

Reivews of Nassau, the day-at-sea and other Carnival items.







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[vafamily5]

Thanks for the review.....can't wait to hear about Nassau and the rest of the cruise.

[Retired Man]

Enjoyed your review. Will be on the Celebration Aug. 20. I agree about the crude jokes and comedy....can do without it. Look forward to your review of Nassau.

[cruisincajun]

Thank you. Looking forward to hearing more from your trip. Great pictures!

[Hottiemom]

Can anyone tell me how to get from port in Nassau to the Harley Davidson Dealership?

[Deuces R Wild]

[quote name='Hottiemom']Can anyone tell me how to get from port in Nassau to the Harley Davidson Dealership?[/quote]

Being a Harley girl myself.....here is the address.

[B]Harley-Davidson Nassau
[/B]Prince George Plaza
Woodes-Rogers Walk
Nassau, , BHS
242-356-2865
242-325-2423 (fax)
Visit our Web site
[URL="javascript:popDeal('http://www.harleydavidson-bahamas.com')"][COLOR=#0000ff]http://www.harleydavidson-bahamas.com[/COLOR][/URL]

[DqALEX]

Great review so far. I like the pictures. Did you hear anyrthing on your cruise about the ship being sold??