CARNIVAL CELEBRATION REVIEW ~ April 23 Sailing

[vadersprincess12]

DH and I just got off the Carnival Celebration's April 23 sailing.

 

There were pluses and minuses about this cruise.

 

EMBARKATION

Embarkation was very smooth. Everything seemed to be very organized. They did have a drug dog inspecting all the bags.

The ship itself is beautiful and the layout isn’t too difficult to navigate. The hallways in the cabin areas are wider than most ships which was nice.

 

CABIN

We booked an oceanview cabin on deck 4. It was very spacious with the exception of the bathroom. I think this was one of the smallest cruise ship bathrooms ever! DH would say “I turn around and run into myself”. Our cabin steward Kariyasa was very friendly and kept our cabin very clean and stocked. There was a small built-in bench in front of the window which was great ~ I could sit and read and look at the ocean. Our safe didn’t work when we first boarded and it was a simple and quick fix by maintenance replacing the battery.

 

DINING

We don’t usually book specialty dining and didn’t on this cruise as well. What was a nice surprise is that Chibang (Asian and Mexican), Cucina del Capitano, and the Pig and Anchor (at lunch) were included options, as was Big Chicken.

 

I’m not a huge fan of Asian food but we tried Chibang and I loved it so much we went back again. I had the Mandarin Honey Crunch Salad and the Sweet and Sour Shrimp both times! DH had the Kung Pao Chicken and Hakka Noodles and really enjoyed those.

 

The food at Pig and Anchor during lunch was fantastic. We enjoyed the brisket and the pulled pork. Their mac and cheese was just like Mom’s.

 

Cucina del Capitano was okay. DH is Italian so we are used to real Italian cooking. He ordered Nonna’s meatballs as his appetizer ~ he got one, count ‘em ONE, golf ball sized meatball!!!!! He ordered penne with sauce and his serving looked like a child’s size serving, while I ordered the Chicken Parm and it was huge.

 

Big Chicken was really delicious; the fries are thin and crispy and the chicken strips were very crunchy, flavorful, and tender.

Guy’s Burgers is fantastic as usual.

 

Main dining varied depending on the night. We had “Your Time” dining and if we went right when they opened the service was quick and efficient, but if we went even 20 minutes later the service seemed to drag. It took forever just to get drinks served. For the most part we enjoyed our choices.

 

The choices on the Lido buffet seemed more limited than usual. The stations were small and spaced out. They did offer two flavors of gelato each day which were included so that was a nice touch. We had trouble in the morning with the coffee machines constantly being out of coffee which was a bummer. And they are still serving bacon only every other day. On the plus side, the ambience of the seating area was very nice.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

The casino is nicely laid out and the non-smoking area is actually larger than the smoking area. While there is nothing specific separating them, we didn’t get the smoky smell we usually get on the smaller ships coming over into the non-smoking area. They had a nice variety of machines, but they were very tight. Seemed like there were lots of “jackpot” winners on the first night but after that it was very limited. It was always crowded.

 

I’m not sure what to think of their “Center Stage” area. It’s open to everything around it and as some others have said the viewing areas are limited. Not sure why they chose to have Playlist Productions shows in this area. The noise from the surrounding areas especially when they have photographers set up nearby can be annoying.

 

We saw the show Celestial Strings. The violin players were fabulous. Once the Playlist Productions cast joined the show, while their voices were great and it seemed like a step up from the talent on other Carnival ships, the actual “show” part of it lacked something. I think it’s because of the very limited area in which they have to work. Very little of the show takes place on the actual (small) stage area ~ most of it was on the level below the stage where people actually sat.

 

We went to the Most Magnificent Circus show there but left after 30 minutes. During that time there was plenty of “circus” music but the cast pretty much just pranced around and posed in different areas. They rolled one member of the cast in a large banner and rolled out another (like magic) and they put a cast member in a basket and put swords through it, but it was so slow and just dragged so we decided to leave.

Both shows seemed to lack creativity; personally I feel it was because of the limited area in which to perform.

 

There was one Playlist Production show in the theater ~ Amor Cubano. It was a show of Latin song and dance and was a very nice production.

 

The only other shows we saw in the theater were two comedians.

 

Speaking of comedians ~ most of them were really funny. We saw numerous shows between the theater, the Punchliner, and the Limelight lounge. There were 5 different comedians during the course of the cruise.

 

There were other musicians throughout the ship during the cruise but we didn’t see them.

 

PORTS OF CALL

This was our first visit to Amber Cove. While it was a very nice area, most of the seating was in the sun with no umbrellas. If you wanted to sit in an area with umbrellas they wanted to charge you $70 or $80 for two chairs with the umbrella. So sick of the nickel and dime-ing all the time. There was a “swim-up” bar even though the pool was not “swimmable”. It was not very deep but it was refreshing. The “lazy river” was actually just an area where people would walk around in the circular area ~ no tubes to relax in.

 

I did try the zip line ~ it was $28 for as many rides as you want, but being in my 60’s I only rode once for the experience. It was fun, but I don’t think I could take the harness for more than that one ride.

 

We have been to Puerto Rico before and enjoyed just walking around on our own. We visited Castillo San Cristobal on our first visit so we walked to Castillo San Felipe del Morro on this trip. We stopped for drinks in a local bar and enjoyed the sights along the cobblestone streets.

 

In St. Thomas, we took an island tour. What an adventure! The roads are very curvy and steep. We got to visit numerous sites along the way with a narrated history by our driver. We stopped at the “Mountain Top”, where they serve their World Famous Banana Daiquiris. The view from the top is spectacular.

 

OTHER

We found the photographers to be annoying. Personally we don’t like having photos taken while we are eating dinner. Also, there were so many areas on the ship where they were set up that sometimes it was hard to navigate your way around.

 

Public bathrooms were few and far between, and they were difficult to find, especially when the photographers were set up in front of them.

The Serenity adult area was very large and you could always find a chair, but for some reason the pool was no bigger than the pool on the small ships; it was always too crowded. I also found the pools (the tiny amount of time I spent there) to be too cold. On other cruises it would be a chill getting into the pool, but you would adjust to the temperature. Not so much on this ship.

 

Never got to ride the Bolt because we couldn’t get a reservation.

 

The most annoying part of the entire trip ~ the elevators!!!!!! There was a bank of 6 aft, 8 mid-ship, and 8 forward. No matter the time of day there was always an unusually long wait. People would get in an “up” elevator just be on it so they could then go down, and vice versa. We have never waited so long for an elevator as we did on this ship.

 

We have upcoming trips on the NCL Prima and the Carnival Horizon. We will see how they go ~ at this point in time, we seem to like the smaller and mid-size ships better.

 

Any questions ~ GO! 

[LatinaInTexas]

Thank you for the info. Won't be on Celebration until Sept but trying to get all the tips I can. Glad to hear there is plenty of comedy, we usually go twice every night. For the lunch at Pig and Anchor do you order from a menu or it's buffet like on other ships?

[vadersprincess12]

Lunch at Pig and Anchor is served outside along the deck.  It’s open on embarkation day.  It was open a couple of other days too; check the Carnival Hub App to be sure.  It’s a set menu and they plate it as you ask for what you want.  Make sure to try it, it’s great.  

[modernscarlett]

We were on the cruise right before yours. Agree completely with the Center Stage issues as well as the pool and elevators! The pools were ice cold, and the elevators a long wait. 

 

Enjoyed all the dining options and the additional comedy venue!