Time to Celebrate! Sailing 10/22/23 🛳🛳🛳

[lesters]

Here we go again.  Third cruise of 2023!! 
 

We sailed the Magic in February with my parents - Dad had a stroke 5 years ago and this was their first holiday since.  ❤️.And thus past June sailed the Luminosa to Alaska with our DD (20).   While I love these people with my everything I am so excited to have this one to just the two of us!!

 

We are travelling from Saskatoon SK to Miami the day before. It’s a long travel day and do love getting in the day before.  Time to pick up wine for the room and start the holiday a bit earlier! 
 

We are staying at the Element Miami Brickell on points which is a bonus!  Will do supper somewhere in the Brickell area.  Have reservations booked at the American Social if we don’t feel like exploring too far after the day.  We leave at 6:30 am and land in Fort Lauderdale around 5:30 local time.   Last time we landed here it took forever for bags and then had a long wait after a mix up with our Uber driver.  Hoping for less of that this round but we shall see. 
 

This will be our first time in this size of ship.   Very excited for all the options - bars & food!  We’ve learned it’s an Elite (or is it Ultra) cruise so the casino will be BUSY.   That is disappointing as we have replaced our typical 2-3 trips to Vegas a year now with cruising.  We will spend most evenings in the casino as our entertainment…. This one may be different! 
 

I will be doing my best to post along the way and share any insights or answer any questions!  
 

Now to get through the final days of work quickly lol 

 

[nydney1]

Did I miss it, What ship are you sailing on?

[surfjock27]

I’m assuming you’re on the Celebration, based on the post title. If so, see you there! 🛳️☀️🌴🍹

[KarmaCruisers]

We were just on the celebration two weeks on an elite cruise, and we were always able to find a machine in the casino.

hit a couple good solid $500-$1100 hits and came home $100 to the good 

[lesters]

Lol - oops - yes we are on the Celebration!

 

Since I’m back clarifying that let’s do a proper introduction! 
 

Chris & Jen both in our final years of our 40s lol - love to travel. We try to get somewhere every 4 months or so. Used to be a mix of Vegas and All Inclusives with an annual cruise or every couple years but lately with the casino offers (sorry) it has done what they intended and we have been cruising more than anything!

 

We have been loyal to Carnival due to price points after our first one which as on Disney.  We are branching off next year with Virgin - a European itinerary in May. 
 

I can’t wait to fly out on Saturday. My bags are starting to get packed.  One day of work left - took Friday off to finish all the odds and ends of preparation.  
 

[hurricane0226]

48 minutes ago, lesters said:

Lol - oops - yes we are on the Celebration!

 

Since I’m back clarifying that let’s do a proper introduction! 
 

Chris & Jen both in our final years of our 40s lol - love to travel. We try to get somewhere every 4 months or so. Used to be a mix of Vegas and All Inclusives with an annual cruise or every couple years but lately with the casino offers (sorry) it has done what they intended and we have been cruising more than anything!

 

We have been loyal to Carnival due to price points after our first one which as on Disney.  We are branching off next year with Virgin - a European itinerary in May. 
 

I can’t wait to fly out on Saturday. My bags are starting to get packed.  One day of work left - took Friday off to finish all the odds and ends of preparation.  
 

Have a fun cruise.

[lesters]

Hooray it’s here!  Last day of work!!!  I need to be super productive …here’s hoping I don’t have too much cruise brain and spend my day here reading reviews and port descriptions lol

 

Speaking of ports we are not booking any excursions - we rarely do - and will be adventuring on our own! 

[surfjock27]

9 minutes ago, lesters said:

Hooray it’s here!  Last day of work!!!  I need to be super productive …here’s hoping I don’t have too much cruise brain and spend my day here reading reviews and port descriptions lol

 

Speaking of ports we are not booking any excursions - we rarely do - and will be adventuring on our own! 

Today is my last day also and it’s going to draaaaaaaaag! We are driving down from Tampa Bay tomorrow to spend a few days down there prior to the cruise. Safe travels. 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

15 hours ago, surfjock27 said:

I’m assuming you’re on the Celebration, based on the post title. If so, see you there! 🛳️☀️🌴🍹

 

12 hours ago, lesters said:

Lol - oops - yes we are on the Celebration!

...

 

 

We'll be there too! Stop in to the CC roll call and say HELLO (granted, not a great deal of activity there, but...)

 

Yes, I recall that there was a casino sailing too (is that what you booked with @surfjock27?). It was much better for us going with one of the standard casino booking promos though - getting an aft-Excel for something like $2,600. It would have been a couple grand more to book the Ultra/Elite (can't recall).

 

Tom

[havanadaydreaming]

good luck on the uber, i have had hit or miss experiences flying into FLL.  last trip it was a $100 ride, for two of us.  dagnabit. 

 

 

[lesters]

2 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

 

We'll be there too! Stop in to the CC roll call and say HELLO (granted, not a great deal of activity there, but...)

 

Yes, I recall that there was a casino sailing too (is that what you booked with @surfjock27?). It was much better for us going with one of the standard casino booking promos though - getting an aft-Excel for something like $2,600. It would have been a couple grand more to book the Ultra/Elite (can't recall).

 

Tom

Agreed - we could have booked that too for big time $$ more than what we paid under a general casino offer - the standard $100 per person balcony and $200 OBC.  

Safe travels to the port and hoping  Tropical Storm Tammy doesnt turn into too much and we still have some sunshine! 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

12 minutes ago, lesters said:

Agreed - we could have booked that too for big time $$ more than what we paid under a general casino offer - the standard $100 per person balcony and $200 OBC.  

Safe travels to the port and hoping  Tropical Storm Tammy doesnt turn into too much and we still have some sunshine! 

 

HERE'S what I keep an eye on when heading out on cruises, to give me an idea of the sea conditions.  🙂

 

Tom

[illinoisfive]

We will be on Celebration in December and are looking forward to your thoughts on the ship.  Could you please find out the minimum on the craps table please? Thank you in advance!

Have a great trip!

[surfjock27]

38 minutes ago, illinoisfive said:

We will be on Celebration in December and are looking forward to your thoughts on the ship.  Could you please find out the minimum on the craps table please? Thank you in advance!

Have a great trip!

I was on 2 months ago and the craps minimum was $10, with only one table in the casino. It was a madhouse around that table, all 7 days. 

Edited October 19, 2023 by surfjock27

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

55 minutes ago, surfjock27 said:

I was on 2 months ago and the craps minimum was $10, with only one table in the casino. It was a madhouse around that table, all 7 days. 

What's your game of choice?

 

I can be found mid-evenings at the non-smoking $25 BJ table.

 

Tom

[Colorado Beach Bum]

We will be on this cruise as well.  Looking forward to it. 

[dmet0225]

On 10/18/2023 at 7:52 AM, lesters said:

Have reservations booked at the American Social if we don’t feel like exploring too far after the day.  

 

If you haven't previously eaten at American Social, beware of the possibility of the place sounding like a rock concert throughout the meal.  We ate there before our cruise out of Miami in 2018, and won't go back.  You can NOT hear the other people at your own table talk due to the loud music.  Maybe they've changed that, but it's something to ask about if it would bother you.

[lesters]

@dmet0225 Thanks for the heads up!  We have not.  Depending on how we are feeling that may be exactly what we are in the mood for - or the exact opposite LOL with a place like that there is typically no in between.  Will flag that for the hubby ahead of flying out on Saturday and will see how we feel and may adjust accordingly.

 

Thanks again!
 

1.5 hours of work... and about 8 hours of stuff to actually do... will see what bright and shiny thing actually gets my attention and finished LOL

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Oh --- HERE'S the link to the roll call if anyone else is interested 🙂

 

Tom

[surfjock27]

4 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

What's your game of choice?

 

I can be found mid-evenings at the non-smoking $25 BJ table.

 

Tom

 BJ and Roulette! My name is Steven, if I see you, I’ll introduce myself. 🙂

[princess76021]

Thanks for taking us along!

hugs from Texas!

[lesters]

3 hours ago, surfjock27 said:

 BJ and Roulette! My name is Steven, if I see you, I’ll introduce myself. 🙂

Hubby is all about craps, mixed in with BJ and some Let It Ride.  
 

i can be found are Let it Ride or the slots😆

[lesters]

All checked in for flights - hooray!!  That alway makes the the whole thing more of a reality when those boarding passes are loaded up!

 

Now to finish packing and getting ready to leave - 4 am tomorrow is going to be here quickly!

[marci4tony]

We are on Celebration Nov 12 so I am looking forward to your trip!  BonVoyage!

[Colorado Beach Bum]

11 hours ago, lesters said:

All checked in for flights - hooray!!  That alway makes the the whole thing more of a reality when those boarding passes are loaded up!

 

Now to finish packing and getting ready to leave - 4 am tomorrow is going to be here quickly!

Yeah, 4am is early.  Our flight is 1pm so no early wake up call.  But it’s 8:30 so I should start packing 😀