Pirate's LIVE Celebration Review...February 26-March 5, 2023

[pirate4me2]

Who is sitting at home, chomping at the bit to get on a ship, but still has months left before their sail date? Well, I can’t pack you in my suitcase to join me onboard the Celebration, but how about the next best thing….you can sail along vicariously with this LIVE review!

 

I booked this sailing around the same time I booked our MG sailing last fall, right after Carnival lifted their vaccine and testing requirements. I was apprehensive about sailing such a big ship leading up to our MG sailing, but I have to admit…I actually really, really like the Excel class! I love all the included dining options, the variety of bars to choose from, and I was impressed with how they designed the ship to spread out the crowds. I am really, really hoping that Celebration is just as awesome!

 

Now, I will admit….DH and I splurged on this sailing. Since I hadn’t sailed MG before booking this, and I was worried about feeling crowded, I wanted access to Loft 19 to be able to escape. So, to gain that access, we booked our first ever suite aboard a ship….an Excel Corner suite at the front of the ship.  I will admit, I am stoked to have that big huge balcony, but looking back now after sailing MG we could have done without such an expensive room….the Serenity deck on MG was amazing, I loved it, and if Celebration is the same then I have a feeling that may be where I spend a lot of time! I have also heard not so favorable things about Loft 19, how the “pool” isn’t really that  great, but we shall see. If nothing else, I will enjoy my big balcony and room!

 

This will also be one of my milestone cruises, so that has me pretty excited. I know I don’t get anything special other than a different sail and sign card, but I am still stoked about it. I am saving the OBC for our 14 day Greenland cruise next September.

 

As far as the ports and excursions go on this sailing, y’all may be disappointed with me. We are visiting San Juan, St Thomas, and Amber Cove, and I honestly think I won’t make it off the ship this cruise. I am not a fan of Amber Cove, we have been to St Thomas numerous times, and although I love San Juan, I really just want to relax. Life has really been taking some good swings at me lately, and I just need to rejuvenate. DH will be scuba diving in San Juan and St Thomas, hopefully I can get some of his dive pics to add in here, but don’t expect any great port adventures this time around. If I am feeling frisky I may get off the ship in San Juan to just walk downtown, but my plan is really to camp out in Serenity and make BFFs with the bartenders there. I wanna max out my Cheers package at least one day this cruise!

[pirate4me2]

Our itinerary 

[Jamman54]

We're on board! Looking forward to sailing with you to Greenland. 😎

[pirate4me2]

Good to have you along Jeff! Yes, I can't wait for Greenland, that is going to be AWESOME! 

[Hogladyrider]

All signed up and ready to follow.....I am right there with you regarding staying on the ship.  There is a LOT to be said for just enjoying the journey on the ship!

[pirate4me2]

@Hogladyrider Glad to have you along! I have never done a cruise where I stayed on the ship and didn't have something planned for the ports, so this will be a new experience for me.

[Hogladyrider]

7 minutes ago, pirate4me2 said:

@Hogladyrider Glad to have you along! I have never done a cruise where I stayed on the ship and didn't have something planned for the ports, so this will be a new experience for me.

Before we retired in 2015, we were Florida residents and we did a LOT of cruising.  Now we are full time RVers living out west, cruising out of San Diego.

We are platinum on Carnival but have moved over to HAL, up we are now "old" and we LOVE HAL..

We did a 7-day cruise pre Covid to Mexico and we never got off the ship.  We met so many wonderful folks, sitting enjoying adult beverages chatting.  We saw whales right from the ship.  We truly enjoyed just being on the ship!  We spent hours in the Crow's nest and hours in BB Kings lounge enjoying live entertainment.

There is a lot to be said for the serenity of an empty ship on port days.....hope you ENJOY and get the R&R you desire.

[pirate4me2]

@Hogladyrider, small world.....right now we are full time RV dwellers too! We sold our house in Nov 2021, and we were going to build a new one right away (we own 2 acres to build on). However, when building prices skyrocketed, we put that off. I actually like the RV life....its so much simpler, less to clean, and our Montana 5th wheel has enough space that I really don't mind it. My biggest issue is space for my clothes...I'll admit, I have a clothes problem, and when the seasons change and it comes time to swap wardrobes I get grouchy. In the house I had a huge closet that was able to house them all, so no hour or so spent swapping clothes from storage containers to the closet. But hey, right now we are living debt free and I can't complain! 

[mom2tcdx2]

My group of 9 will literally be onboard the cruise with you.  We are so super excited and this will be my grandson's first ever cruise (he is 3).  I really need to get to packing my clothes.  We will begin our drive on Saturday morning to make our way to Miami.  So excited, though we only have inside cabins, I would have loved to have been able to splurge on a suite.  

[Hogladyrider]

6 minutes ago, pirate4me2 said:

@Hogladyrider, small world.....right now we are full time RV dwellers too! We sold our house in Nov 2021, and we were going to build a new one right away (we own 2 acres to build on). However, when building prices skyrocketed, we put that off. I actually like the RV life....its so much simpler, less to clean, and our Montana 5th wheel has enough space that I really don't mind it. My biggest issue is space for my clothes...I'll admit, I have a clothes problem, and when the seasons change and it comes time to swap wardrobes I get grouchy. In the house I had a huge closet that was able to house them all, so no hour or so spent swapping clothes from storage containers to the closet. But hey, right now we are living debt free and I can't complain! 

OMG small world indeed!

 

We started out as part timers, weekenders, our social activity was following along many fulltimers.

We have been fulltime since 2015.  We sold our stix n brix and bought an RV lot in Florida.  We would return each winter, but we departed in 2019 and have not returned.  We currently rent out the lot to snowbirds.  We like it out west much better than east coast.  We love the winter weather in Yuma and we travel to South Dakota or Utah area in the summer and we workamp for 6 months to stay active.  We have a side by side we ride for our enjoyment.

 

I absolutely LOVE the minimalistic lifestyle.  It is amazing how happy one can be living with less "stuff".  I can understand the clothing part, but I am not a clothing horse, I am more into cooking and I manage with what pots and pans we have.

 

Best thing we did was get out of a stationary lifestyle.

 

We know we will need to settle down one day but for now we are loving our lifestyle.  Living debt free is amazing and we actually don't ever foresee living in a large home ever again.  I am 70 and DH is 68.  Our next cruise is 18 day to Hawaii.  After than looking at a cruise from San Diego to Vancouver, then Vancouver to Alaska and back to San Diego!  Life is GOOD.

[pirate4me2]

2 minutes ago, mom2tcdx2 said:

My group of 9 will literally be onboard the cruise with you.  We are so super excited and this will be my grandson's first ever cruise (he is 3).  I really need to get to packing my clothes.  We will begin our drive on Saturday morning to make our way to Miami.  So excited, though we only have inside cabins, I would have loved to have been able to splurge on a suite.  

See you onboard! I am all packed and ready to go....although I have not done my usual pre-cruise "unpack and repack to make sure I didn't forget anything/make sure I didn't overpack" routine yet. That'll most likely happen Friday night. 

We will also be driving down Saturday, we plan to start our bright (not really) and early at 5 a.m. Safe travels to you and your group! 

[mom2tcdx2]

1 minute ago, pirate4me2 said:

See you onboard! I am all packed and ready to go....although I have not done my usual pre-cruise "unpack and repack to make sure I didn't forget anything/make sure I didn't overpack" routine yet. That'll most likely happen Friday night. 

We will also be driving down Saturday, we plan to start our bright (not really) and early at 5 a.m. Safe travels to you and your group! 

Our goal is to be on the road by 5 am as well, though coming from Virginia.  Hoping that we can get past St. Augustine at least before we stop on Saturday.  We will have two three year olds so we shall see how they do with the car ride.  I have a work dinner tonight, and then hoping I get to packing a little this evening and tomorrow and then finish up by Thursday.  Doing our nails on Friday and hopefully all luggage will be packed into the cars that night, with just our carryon bags left.  Only thing I have actually done is to tag my ducks that we will be hiding, printed my luggage tags.  

[lazydayz]

4 hours ago, pirate4me2 said:

If I am feeling frisky I may get off the ship in San Juan to just walk downtown, but my plan is really to camp out in Serenity and make BFFs with the bartenders there. I wanna max out my Cheers package at least one day this cruise!

 If you make your way up to Loft 19, they will bring your drinks to you! 

[hapytobehr]

Celebration is awesome!  Beautiful ship!

 

Went on the NYE cruise-going again end of March.  Can't wait to see & do what we couldn't do on the last one.

 

Have a great cruise!!

[pirate4me2]

36 minutes ago, lazydayz said:

 If you make your way up to Loft 19, they will bring your drinks to you! 

I don't have a cabana booked, will they still do that??

[lazydayz]

1 hour ago, pirate4me2 said:

I don't have a cabana booked, will they still do that??

 

Yes, it is the entire area - not just the cabanas.  Once they get to know you, they don't even need your room key.  

[pirate4me2]

Oh boy....that could be dangerous!!!

[MeganGC1983]

Present, packed and waiting to board! Thanks for taking us along.  

[ninjacat123]

1 hour ago, lazydayz said:

 

Yes, it is the entire area - not just the cabanas.  Once they get to know you, they don't even need your room key.  

I found that our Serenity waiter didn't need our card after the first day on Magic.  Guess we were in the system🍸

[nybumpkin]

7 hours ago, pirate4me2 said:

@Hogladyrider Glad to have you along! I have never done a cruise where I stayed on the ship and didn't have something planned for the ports, so this will be a new experience for me.

Looking forward to this! Last year we stayed aboard at HMC - as much as I love it, we were late and missed out on a cabana, so we decided to take advantage of our Cheers package and stay on board. It turned out to be a good decision - one of the tenders broke down, so everything ran late. And we liked our day aboard - we just hung out near the aft bar with our favorite server, and were never lacking.😃

[Michelle236]

Looking forward to your review.  We have to wait until December, so your review will help get me through 🙂

[WhiteOptima]

8 hours ago, pirate4me2 said:

@Hogladyrider Glad to have you along! I have never done a cruise where I stayed on the ship and didn't have something planned for the ports, so this will be a new experience for me.

We are on Celebration 4/9 doing a B2B and did not book any excursions either.  We have been to all the ports many times before and I booked to experience the ship.  Our second leg has Mahogany Bay and if the weather cooperates we will book the clamshell and rafts.  Last time I did it it was cloudy and drizzled so we just went back to the boat.  We may get off and wander at other ports like San Juan but there is so much to do on this boat we want to experience as much as we can.
How ready am I you ask?  I went to @Saint Greg’s website and went through all the bar menus.  I have my list ready of what drinks I want at each bar!

[1st]

My friend and I are going on Celebration beginning of April. Looking forward to following you with helpful insights.

Thanks,

 

[pirate4me2]

5 hours ago, hapytobehr said:

Celebration is awesome!  Beautiful ship!

 

Went on the NYE cruise-going again end of March.  Can't wait to see & do what we couldn't do on the last one.

 

Have a great cruise!!

Thank you! The pics I have seen look beautiful! 

2 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Present, packed and waiting to board! Thanks for taking us along.  

Welcome aboard! 

1 hour ago, nybumpkin said:

Looking forward to this! Last year we stayed aboard at HMC - as much as I love it, we were late and missed out on a cabana, so we decided to take advantage of our Cheers package and stay on board. It turned out to be a good decision - one of the tenders broke down, so everything ran late. And we liked our day aboard - we just hung out near the aft bar with our favorite server, and were never lacking.😃

This sounds like how I want y port days to be! 

1 hour ago, Michelle236 said:

Looking forward to your review.  We have to wait until December, so your review will help get me through 🙂

I hope I can help the time (or at least the next week) pass quickly! 

1 hour ago, WhiteOptima said:

We are on Celebration 4/9 doing a B2B and did not book any excursions either.  We have been to all the ports many times before and I booked to experience the ship.  Our second leg has Mahogany Bay and if the weather cooperates we will book the clamshell and rafts.  Last time I did it it was cloudy and drizzled so we just went back to the boat.  We may get off and wander at other ports like San Juan but there is so much to do on this boat we want to experience as much as we can.
How ready am I you ask?  I went to @Saint Greg’s website and went through all the bar menus.  I have my list ready of what drinks I want at each bar!

I did the same thing! 😂 

51 minutes ago, 1st said:

My friend and I are going on Celebration beginning of April. Looking forward to following you with helpful insights.

Thanks,

 

Friends cruises are the best!!! I hope y’all have a great time onboard! 

[tradewinds traveler]

Have fun for all of us. Following your cruise, we sail on the Celebration in April.