Live from the Celebration 1/22/23 cruise

[Guest BasicSailor]

Another fine review Jimbo. But looking at your photos some people just don't like you taking pictures.🤪

Edited February 4, 2023 by BasicSailor

[Moz]

7 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Next up final thoughts. 

Anxiously awaiting your review of this ship it has not shown up yet on this site,  Were the crowds excessive and the lines super long?

[jimbo5544]

On 2/4/2023 at 2:26 PM, Moz said:

Anxiously awaiting your review of this ship it has not shown up yet on this site,  Were the crowds excessive and the lines super long?

Ummmm, this is page 20, try going to page1.  The ship was def the most crowded as we have felt on Excel class.

[jimbo5544]

We loved our three cruises on the Mardi Gras and were excited for cruising on the Celebration.  She did not disappoint.  The first thing I would mention is that the terminal in Miami seemed a whole heck lot more organized than the one in Port Canaveral.  Maybe it was the lack of Covid checking, but the process just seemed to flow much better.  I think from the time we arrived to boarding ws 20minutes and we were on time.  We went right on the ship.  

[May1cruiser]

We were on same cruise. the place we felt the most crowded was casino, which was hosting an ultra. It was excessive and not enjoyable in casino. Other venues seemed okay to us. 

[jimbo5544]

Aft  Excel suite.  My favorite cabin on the fleet.  Our third time in one and I have almost nothing bad to say.  It is a fantastic room(s). The one issue we had was that the wire side in and out trays in the walk in closet opened up during fairly choppy evening and when I tried open the door the next morning (pushing the door in to open) it hit the drawer.  We went for our normal walk in the morning and stopped by GS and within 10 minutes a main guy looked over the situation, disappeared and returned 5 minutes later with a bartbhat he slid through the slots in the bottom of the door and after 20 minutes, he fixed the situation.  

 

Later, when talking to Randy our Room Steward, he said it happens semi regularly during active seas.  He further said it was design flaw, the drawers (that opened out) should have been in the second vertical within the closet and not the one closet to the door.  Later I looked and while I understand why they did it the way they did, I agree with his assessment.  

[jimbo5544]

9 minutes ago, May1cruiser said:

We were on same cruise. the place we felt the most crowded was casino, which was hosting an ultra. It was excessive and not enjoyable in casino. Other venues seemed okay to us. 

Not casino people here, but you are correct, some nights when we went through it was packed.  This was our 4th excel class ship cruise and def was the most crowded.  Other than a Journey cruise, I have never been close to this many diamonds on a ship.

[jimbo5544]

There are some changes to the ship from the Mardi Gras, some I caught when we were on her for the naming ceremony and some we did not.  This was a different cruise for us in that we were cruising with some people that were much more intend to what we like when cruising  The result was I did not get as much time listening to music talent as we normally do on our cruises (long reason why, but it is not important to the discussion).  One example of this is on the Mardi Gras, we LOVED the Brass Magnolia and the band that played in there.  On the Celebration the Jubilee Bard was super classy, but never heard the music (located differently in the lounge).     

[jimbo5544]

Another example is we LOVED the Fortune Tellers bar on the Mardi Gras and were disappointed in it not being on the Celebration.  That said, Latitudes def made up for it and the tech add-on (time travel) was just short of being am opening for a Disney ride.  Another example was that Emeril's was packed on the Celebration, maybe it has taken hold on the MG since we have sailed on her.  

 

Carnival Kitchen had added smoked glass from the hallway, I assume to give a little more privacy to the class takers.

[jimbo5544]

Entertainment  I thought the main shows were the best we have experienced on a Carnival Ship.  The one show we were so so with was Colour my Word (thought it was going to be Chicago Songs .....lol 

Edited February 6, 2023 by jimbo5544

[jimbo5544]

Loft 19  Far more crowded than any of our past sailings and the cabanas were sold out all but one day.  This is something I did not have high hopes for when on our first sailing on the MG.  Still LOVE Summer Landing.

[jimbo5544]

The Celebration is a wonderful ship, a continuation of a wonderful class of ships.  Not sure we will get out to the Hubilee, but we will see.  Intil then, we will sail the two of them as often as I can.

[momof4girls]

Excellent review, as always! Your wife is a gem! The time she takes for picture taking and editing is amazing! Kudos to the both of you!

 

We are on the Vista shortly before you next year, so I’ll be curious what your take is after we get off. 

[Megan_Strick]

On 1/28/2023 at 7:33 PM, jimbo5544 said:

Well, first off, thanks for following along.   There certainly is no doubt I am a fan of Carnival and cruising on their ships.  I will leave the cheerleader comment alone.   All my reviews are honest, no reason not to be.  This cruise has been calm from a clientele  perspective.   I have met John several times, but would not call him a special friend.  
 

That said, I do have some Carnival employees that I consider to be good friends in various levels within the company. Even with those, my reviews would not be jaded, good or bad.  We have had a wonderful cruise, nothing short of that.  There is something  strange going on now, more on that later.  

I will never, for the life of me, understand that comment. Do people not get loud or drunk on ANY other cruise line than Carnival? I find that hard to believe.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

19 minutes ago, Megan_Strick said:

I will never, for the life of me, understand that comment. Do people not get loud or drunk on ANY other cruise line than Carnival? I find that hard to believe.

 

From what I've been reading over on the MSC boards, we should be prepared for quite the rowdy crowd for our first MSC sailing a couple months from now (3 nighter!!). Someone there even said they make the Carnival crowds look like monks... so... should be interesting if nothing else!

 

Tom

[Danny61231]

On 2/10/2023 at 3:46 PM, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

From what I've been reading over on the MSC boards, we should be prepared for quite the rowdy crowd for our first MSC sailing a couple months from now (3 nighter!!). Someone there even said they make the Carnival crowds look like monks... so... should be interesting if nothing else!

 

Tom

 

Things must have changed on MSC then since I sailed on the SeaSide shortly after she arrived in Miami. On our cruise, I really don't remember anyone appearing to be overly drunk and definitely nobody being loud or rowdy....

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

51 minutes ago, Danny61231 said:

 

Things must have changed on MSC then since I sailed on the SeaSide shortly after she arrived in Miami. On our cruise, I really don't remember anyone appearing to be overly drunk and definitely nobody being loud or rowdy....

 

Of course, what I've read on the boards --- those with the less than stellar experiences tend to be the most vocal! 

 

Tom

[jimbo5544]

On 1/30/2023 at 12:52 PM, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

The only aft corner left when I booked our MG sailing for next month was on deck 9 port (larger balcony, though that extended part definitely puts you out in the open). At least it's not on starboard, where we'd also have to contend with the noise/antics in the hot tubs. When we were on her last (deck 12 aft corner) I said "higher is better". That still goes, but beggars can't be choosers, lol !

 

Tom

We are on the MG with a small group NEXT Feb and the only aft excel available was on 9, I passed and took an OS

Edited February 15, 2023 by jimbo5544

[jimbo5544]

On 1/30/2023 at 1:30 PM, mdin said:

Great review, thanks for posting!

Thanks for following along

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

8 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

We are on teh MG with a small group NEXT Feb and the only afy excel available was in 9, I passed and took an OS

 

I had previously said to Cheryl that I would not book deck 9... until it was the only one available (and it was an offer I couldn't possibly refuse 😉 ) 

 

At least this one is on port (not hot tub) side!

 

Tom

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

I had previously said to Cheryl that I would not book deck 9... until it was the only one available (and it was an offer I couldn't possibly refuse 😉 ) 

 

At least this one is on port (not hot tub) side!

 

Tom

Enjoy it let me know how it goes

 

[jimbo5544]

So I have a little post cruise story.  I do not wear a ton of jewelry, but when cruising on formal )excuse me, casual elegant nights), I carry a couple of rings I keep in my toiletries bag, which when staying in the excel aft suites went on the upper shelf in hte Bathroom.  

 

Fast forward to about 10 days ago, we got a call from Carnival saying the person that occupied our cabin gad turned in….my rings which must have been next to toiletry bag.  My wife is considering signing me up for memory testing…..  These rings have more sentimental value than cash value.  Carnival gave us the contact info and we contacted the people (they deiced to take  the rings vs leave them on board), and they forwarded to me.  We sent them back the cost of the forwarding and an additional amount as a sign of thanks for them to enjoy on their next cruise.  

 

My faith in my fellow cruisers continues to be impress me. 

Edited February 22, 2023 by jimbo5544

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

10 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

So I have a little post cruise story.  I do not wear a ton of jewelry, but when cruising on formal )excuse me, casual elegant nights), I carry a couple of rings I keep in my toiletries bag, which when staying in the excel aft suites went on the upper shelf in hte Bathroom.  

 

Fast forward to about 10 days ago, we got a call from Carnival saying the person that occupied our cabin gad turned in….my rings which must have been next to toiletry bag.  My wife is considering signing me up for memory testing…..  These rings have more sentimental value than cash value.  Carnival gave us the contact info and we contacted the people (they deiced to take  the rings vs leave them on board), and they forwarded to me.  We sent them back the cost of the forwarding and an additional amount as a sign of thanks for them to enjoy on their next cruise.  

 

My faith in my fellow cruisers continues to be impress me. 

 

Good to hear this!

 

I suppose it's best that you didn't know they were missing, until you were informed they were found. 🙂

 

Cheryl thought she had lost a John Hardy bracelet once - and she liked it so much, we purchased a replacement on a subsequent cruise. Fast forward a year or two, and guess what we found? !

 

Tom

[Guest BasicSailor]

2 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

 My wife is considering signing me up for memory testing…..

Hey Jimbo that was a nice story 👍. Hope you remember me, I'm your cousin Earl from another mothers brother. We went to different schools together. 😉 Don't forget you offered to pay for our suite on or upcoming Celebration cruise😁

[SenatorsFan]

I'm glad to hear you got your rings back, @jimbo5544. Even if their value is mostly sentimental, you would have still missed them, I'm sure.