My First Review, Celebration B2B May 5th to 18th

[LaRue1975]

This is not going to be a day to day trip report, the hubby and I are too old for our day to day exploits to be that entertaining, not to mention my ability to remember what we did.  I do want to contribute so will attempt to write a review of our recent back to back cruise on the Celebration May 5th to 18th. This was a special vacation, celebrating our 48th anniversary starting with a five day stay in Fort Lauderdale followed by 13 days on the Celebration visiting Amber Cove twice, St. Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk and Nassau. We were in a 14th deck extended balcony on the first cruise and a 15th deck Exel Aft Suite on the second. This was by far our best cruise since we started cruising again in 2022 after a 14 year break. I will break it down into sections so you can skip whatever doesn’t interest you and I’ll include pics. Ok, let’s see how this goes…

[LaRue1975]

Pre-cruise, Fort Lauderdale:
We flew from Burbank to Fort Lauderdale on Southwest via Nashville, flights were on time but it was still a long day coming from the West Coast. I booked with FF points as soon as the flights dropped. We stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn Intracoastal which I booked with Marriott points. This is a fabulous hotel for a stay in Fort Lauderdale and I could not have been happier with my choice. It sits on the Intracoastal Waterway, is adjacent to Bokampers and very close to Shooters which both have water taxi stops. For us the water taxis and waterway are the big attraction. We used to enjoy South Beach but have retired to Fort Lauderdale just like all the other old people.😜 It has been at least a decade since we last visited the area so I was super excited to return. Hubby doesn’t get excited, he tunes out all my pre vacation chatter and only wants to know what time we need to be at the airport. 

 

Check in was quick and easy. I had booked a one bedroom suite but we were upgraded to a larger one bedroom with an Intracoastal water view on the top floor. I am Marriott Lifetime Gold so am entitled to the best available upgrade and this was a good one, great start to the vacay! The room was huge, 850 square feet with a full kitchen, huge bathroom and giant balcony with a gorgeous view. There is a CVS very close by so we were able to pick up some supplies right away. The next morning we walked a half mile to a Winn Dixie to get everything else we needed. The hotel offers a good free breakfast plus we cooked one dinner the last night while we were doing laundry and repacking for the cruise. We also had an in suite washer and dryer. They have a nice pool that is shaded most of the day and a wonderful sun deck that we used almost daily. It was right on the waterway and a great place to sun, relax, enjoy a cocktail and watch the boat parade go by. 

 

There is a public beach a half mile walk away, we checked it out one morning and enjoyed a sunny and warm beach walk. We didn’t eat at the restaurant or have a drink at the bar.  When we were home we were either on the sun deck or enjoying our balcony. We loved watching the boats and yachts cruise by, maybe that’s why we like cruising so much! On arrival day we ate a late dinner at Bokampers, food, drinks and the view were excellent! Hubby ordered the fish and chips and I ordered the lobster mac and cheese but I was too exhausted from travel day to eat much. So I had awesome leftovers to start the week, score! I have quite a few hotel and suite pics so I’ll put them in a separate post. Here is a few from Bokampers:

[LaRue1975]

If I knew I was going to write a review I would have taken a lot more pics of the hotel and grounds, sorry!

[LaRue1975]

Balcony views.

[pcvtmom]

This hotel looks fantastic!  We always fly into FLL when cruising out of Miami, so I'll make note of it!

[LaRue1975]

43 minutes ago, pcvtmom said:

This hotel looks fantastic!  We always fly into FLL when cruising out of Miami, so I'll make note of it!

It’s wonderful! I included our pre cruise stay because so many here cruise out of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, it works well for both. I pre booked an Uber to the port, it worked out great and was reasonably priced. Here is the link for the hotel if anyone is interested, the pics are accurate:

Check out this amazing hotel in Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
Residence Inn Fort Lauderdale Intracoastal/Il Lugano

Sorry, link didn’t work but that’s the full name. 
 

 

Edited June 10 by LaRue1975

[LaRue1975]

I knew we would be using the water taxi daily so I bought 2 monthly passes that were the same price as three single day tickets. Fort Lauderdale has changed a lot since we were last there. There are so many new high rises and more under construction. We have stayed at the Beach Place and nearby Courtyard  but there is no longer a water taxi stop, a high rise is where it used to be. They have a whistle stop fairly close by in a residential area and also at the Swimming Hall of Fame on the other end. We hung out in this area a couple of times. We went to Happy Hour at Cafe Del Mar our first full day and sat outside on the patio where we could people watch. Their special was 2 for 1 for the large cocktails. Sounds great, we’ll have two Mai Tais please! When they came out I was thinking OMG, you mean giant cocktails, they were huge and pretty strong too. So we sat there enjoying our drinks and the beach view, getting happier by the minute. When we got the check I was surprised that the price of one drink was $48 but then I realized that those drinks were probably meant for two people to share, oops!  After wandering a bit down the street we realized going to dinner as planned was probably not a good idea, we were way too happy! Finding the water taxi was a pier too far so we grabbed an Uber back to the hotel. I was very happy by this time so I gave the driver a super sized tip so he could be happy too. 😜 Thank goodness we went to the Winn Dixie, we made sandwiches for dinner and enjoyed them on the balcony. 

 

We went back to the Beach Place our last day, getting off the water taxi at the Swimming Hall Of Fame. They were having a swim meet but it would be cool if it was a diving event. The diving platforms are super high so can be seen from the street and the water. We shopped and had lunch at LuLu’s Bait Shack. It’s been there a long time and is our kind of casual beach restaurant. Lunch was good, I think we had a big plate of nachos and the drinks were even better. We had Painkillers, our favorite drink. Oh, and we stopped in at the Drunken Taco for shots because who can pass up a Drunken Taco, right? Plus the hubby wanted a t-shirt and we have a rule, you can’t buy one from a bar or restaurant if you don’t have a drink there. We ordered Patron, definitely not on the $5 special list so it was a pretty pricey t-shirt, cheers!  

[pe4all]

Great start to your review.  I know exactly where you are in FLL, as we have a condo  (which we don't use nearly enough as dh still works here in NY) off of Las Olas Blvd on the New River near Cheesecake Factory.  We ate at Bokampers when we were down in FLL 3 weeks ago, and have also gotten "ripped off" for those 2 for 1 drinks at many of the restaurants across from FLL beach, though not for $48 - usually around $25.  

[LaRue1975]

Our best day we took a beach walk in the morning and did a full tour on the water taxi in the late afternoon/evening. We started at Shooters which is a short walk from the hotel. We got there at 4 for the start of Happy Hour and made a beeline for the outdoor bar. When we first started coming here 15 to 25 years ago the bar was small and more of a locals hangout. Now it is big and gorgeous with beautiful landscaping and lots of tables and seating areas between the bar and the water. It has beautiful water views and great people watching opportunities. We grabbed a two top at the edge of the bar overlooking the outdoor seating and waterway, perfect! 

 

Happy Hour specials were half off cocktails, wine, beer and appetizers. The cocktails only included the standard well drinks which doesn’t work for us. We are not into fine dining but are super picky about our cocktails so we had two each of the Signature Mai Tais, they were tasty and potent! We ordered coconut shrimp and calamari which were generous portions and delicious. It was the perfect  start to our evening but I only have a couple of pics, sorry! I had no idea I would try to do a review and we were having such a good time I didn’t think to take pics. 

 

After Happy Hour we walked down to to the taxi stop and waited for the next water taxi. I had looked on their website before we left the bar and could see there was one heading our way. We really lucked out because it was the big double decker with a full bar on board, yay! I was pretty toasty from the Mai Tais so didn’t get a drink but the hubby got something tropical that was not premium but sometimes you just have to make do.😜 While waiting for the taxi we made friends with a group of girls that had made good use of Shooters Happy Hour and were having fun. We all scooted up the stairs and grabbed seats on the upper deck. The tour guide was fantastic sharing a ton of history, good stories and inside info as we cruised along checking out the mega mansions and super yachts. After about an hour we started up the river which is really cool, it gets narrower the further you get up river and a lot of the homes are spectacular. 

 

The last stop on the river is Riverwalk where we got off and said goodbye to the girls, I am sure they had fun night! I was shocked how much it had changed, nothing looked familiar. The entire area was surrounded by high rises and it was very upscale. It is so different that I question my memory of what it used to be. We walked up river along the walkway. It is such a nice area with a lot going on and very clean, I loved it! I heard so many different languages as we strolled along and it appeared a lot of the people speaking a foreign language were residents. It was like that all over Fort Lauderdale but especially in the Riverwalk area. We were still full from Happy Hour so started looking for a bar because we are pretty much always looking for a bar. 🤦🏼‍♀️ The Rivertail restaurant had a nice looking Tiki Bar out front, bingo! The Mai Tais were fantastic and the bartender was friendly. In fact writing this I can pronounce that these were the best Mai Tais of the trip, Rivertail bartender for the win! 🏅🍹🏅 There was one local at the bar with his dog and us, that’s it. Good luck finding that on the Celebration! The menu looked wonderful but we still weren’t hungry so we just had the one round of drinks.

[LaRue1975]

Pics from the water taxi, I never thought to take a pic of the actual water taxis. I think I was just too excited to jump on board! 

[LaRue1975]

We walked back to taxi stop which is in a town square type area on the water. As we were waiting I realized the sun had gone down and it was getting dark so our entire cruise back to the hotel would be in the dark. Wow, it was a beautiful evening and seeing all the homes and yachts all lit up was a totally different experience than this afternoon. We were on one of the small water taxis but it also had a bar which was an ice chest with canned cocktails, beer and wine. Hubby had a beer and I had a plastic cup of wine for 6 bucks each, it must have been top shelf!😜 It was a super relaxing ride home under the moon and stars, I am so glad we started with Happy Hour and I highly recommend the same if you do a full tour. The last stop is Bokampers and we pulled up at 9:10, only 10 minutes behind schedule. We thought about going in for a night cap which we would have definitely done in our younger days but it was already 10 minutes past hubby’s bedtime. 🤣🤣 Bokampers is a great sports bar, it’s huge and has all the games on. Thank goodness we had leftovers and snacks in our fridge for a late dinner. This drinking dinner thing is saving $$ but we are starting to really look forward to all the meals we will be having on the ship with almost zero effort. 

[LaRue1975]

1 hour ago, pe4all said:

Great start to your review.  I know exactly where you are in FLL, as we have a condo  (which we don't use nearly enough as dh still works here in NY) off of Las Olas Blvd on the New River near Cheesecake Factory.  We ate at Bokampers when we were down in FLL 3 weeks ago, and have also gotten "ripped off" for those 2 for 1 drinks at many of the restaurants across from FLL beach, though not for $48 - usually around $25.  

I’m jealous! Our first retirement dream was to move to Fort Lauderdale, I think a boat was included in that dream too.😜 We were surprised that our two kids ended up settling in our small town and now with the grandkids there is no way this Mimi is going anywhere. The drinks were reasonably priced for what we got and had they said the drinks were $24 each we wouldn’t have hesitated anyway. Glad you are enjoying the review, now I have to figure out how to get the cruise portion organized.🤔

Edited June 10 by LaRue1975

[Jamman54]

We're really enjoying your review! We always stay in FLL when sailing out of Miami,  and we always make a point of visiting Bokampers. Looking forward to the rest of your review! 😎

[LaRue1975]

It’s Cruise Day and Cinco De Mayo, yippie! 🥳💃🛳️💃🥳

I pre-scheduled an Uber to take us to the port 2 or 3 weeks in advance. I had never done it before but will do it from now on. I booked an Uber XL because I may have overpacked, it was $74. I think it was a Ford Navigator and by far the nicest Uber I have ever been in. It was immaculate and the driver was first class too, it took around 45 minutes to get to the port. I tipped 15% on the app and gave him $20 cash. We are Platinum and were ushered into the terminal immediately which surprised me because we were 30 minutes or so ahead of our appointment time. The Miami terminal runs like clockwork compared to our experiences in Long Beach and Galveston and the Platinum and Diamond lounge is so much better. It’s spacious, comfortable and well designed. 

 

We were stopped at security because we had four bottles of wine. I had printed our boarding passes for the second cruise at home but couldn’t find them when we were repacking. Thankfully I thought to get a screenshot on my phone because they wanted proof we were on a B2B before they would let me take the two extra bottles on board. I must have gotten very distracted when I was handling the situation because I left my small carry on bag at the x-ray machine. No chance I would forget to grab the wine! 😜 About 20 minutes later as we’re relaxing hubby pointed behind me and said “Isn’t that your bag?” The lady from security was walking through the lounge carrying my bag, I hadn’t noticed I lost it! She asked me to identify some stuff in it but I so flustered I just said a bunch of crap and she laughed. 🤦🏼‍♀️ I think she could tell we were reliable so she gave me the bag and I was so grateful it didn’t end up in Lost & Found. Boarding was a snap and we on the ship right around 11.  After dropping our carry ons in the room we went to the Red Frog upper deck and were happy to see we were some of the first to arrive. We ordered 2 Patron margaritas and grabbed a two top table overlooking the Lido deck. It’s going to be a Cinco de Mayo sail away, salud! 

Edited June 10 by LaRue1975

[LaRue1975]

51 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

We're really enjoying your review! We always stay in FLL when sailing out of Miami,  and we always make a point of visiting Bokampers. Looking forward to the rest of your review! 😎

Oh man, thanks for the encouragement Jamman54! You and Patty wrote the book on how to do a review so I am going to try my best. I have gained so much from all the reviews on here and thought it was my turn to contribute. 

[jimbo5544]

3 hours ago, LaRue1975 said:

Pics from the water taxi, I never thought to take a pic of the actual water taxis. I think I was just too excited to jump on board! 

First off congrats on doing the first review.  Having it a B2B makes it a challenge.  Second, getting the water taxi of teh inter-coastal in FLL is a fantastic way to see the local sights.  You hooked me, I am along for the ride.

[LaRue1975]

After a couple more drinks we walked around I snapped some pics. It has been 25 years since we sailed out of Miami and I had forgotten how spectacular it is. Since landing in Florida we had been blessed with beautiful weather except for a sudden thunderstorm after we left the beach which I forgot to mention. You can see in the pics what a gorgeous day it was but as we were leaving the rain drops started falling and before we could make it the half mile back to the hotel it started to pour. We were drenched rats by the time we made it in the lobby and were laughing so hard we were crying. The memory still makes me smile. By the time we made it to our balcony the sun was coming back out, you gotta love the tropics! 
 

Ok, I got distracted again, where was I? Oh, on a walk about so I’ll add the pics I snapped Opening Day and there won’t be that many more of the ship. I wish I would have known about this review a few weeks earlier!  I do have pics of the cabin and a ton from the ports and the Exel Aft Suite. 

Edited June 10 by LaRue1975

[LaRue1975]

I originally booked the same cabin for the back to back. I got a free balcony casino offer in January 2023 and was shocked to learn it worked on the Celebration. It came to $515 with gratuities per week and included free drinks everywhere for me, winning!  About a week later I read a review from Jimbo when he was in a 15th deck Exel Aft Suite on the Celebration. I had looked at them but thought I would never be able to afford one. It got me thinking though so I checked and with my offer it was $3600 which about half price, hmmmm….I’m impulsive so it didn’t take long to pull the trigger, double down win! 
 

We loved our extended balcony cabin and will be very happy to book one again. It is definitely a bit smaller and narrower but so well designed we didn’t feel cramped. The extra USB plugs are a huge plus and so is the glass shower. The bathroom while small has some neat extra storage nooks and a small cupboard I really appreciated. We were in one that had the bed by the bathroom which we like much better than the traditional layout and I will look for that in the future. The stool/storage cube is the best junk drawer ever! And the balcony was heaven, so spacious, private and protected from the sun. The hubby practically lived out there when we were in the room and I spent way more time than normal. I loved the loungers and it was never too hot which it usually is for me. 

Edited June 11 by LaRue1975

[LaRue1975]

Sail away, absolutely breathtaking and the Horizon beat us out of the gate. Let the fun begin! 🥳🛳️🥳

[MEUB1112]

Outstanding Review, following. 

[Stallion]

5 hours ago, LaRue1975 said:

We walked back to taxi stop which is in a town square type area on the water. As we were waiting I realized the sun had gone down and it was getting dark so our entire cruise back to the hotel would be in the dark. Wow, it was a beautiful evening and seeing all the homes and yachts all lit up was a totally different experience than this afternoon. We were on one of the small water taxis but it also had a bar which was an ice chest with canned cocktails, beer and wine. Hubby had a beer and I had a plastic cup of wine for 6 bucks each, it must have been top shelf!😜 It was a super relaxing ride home under the moon and stars, I am so glad we started with Happy Hour and I highly recommend the same if you do a full tour. The last stop is Bokampers and we pulled up at 9:10, only 10 minutes behind schedule. We thought about going in for a night cap which we would have definitely done in our younger days but it was already 10 minutes past hubby’s bedtime. 🤣🤣 Bokampers is a great sports bar, it’s huge and has all the games on. Thank goodness we had leftovers and snacks in our fridge for a late dinner. This drinking dinner thing is saving $$ but we are starting to really look forward to all the meals we will be having on the ship with almost zero effort. 

Fabulous pictures

[Stallion]

1 hour ago, LaRue1975 said:

I originally booked the same cabin for the back to back. I got a free balcony casino offer in January 2023 and was shocked to learn it worked on the Celebration. It came to $515 with gratuities per week and included free drinks everywhere for me, winning!  About a week later I read a review from Jimbo when he was in a 15th deck Exel Aft Suite on the Celebration. I had looked at them but thought I would never be able to afford one. It got me thinking though so I checked and with my offer it was $3600 which about half price, hmmmm….I’m impulsive so it didn’t take long to pull the trigger, double down win! 
 

We loved our extended balcony cabin and will be very happy to book one again. It is definitely a bit smaller and narrower but so well designed we didn’t feel cramped. The extra USB plugs are a huge plus and so is the glass shower. The bathroom while small has some neat extra storage nooks and a small cupboard I really appreciated. We were in one that had the bed by the bathroom which we like much better than the traditional layout and I will look for that in the future. The stool/storage cube is the best junk drawer ever! And the balcony was heaven, so spacious, private and protected from the sun. The hubby practically lived out there when we were in the room and I spent way more time than normal. I loved the loungers and it was never too hot which it usually is for me. 

I've got a Deck 15 Aft Extended Balcony on the Jubilee coming up-so now even more interested 

Edited June 11 by Stallion

[d-train]

Looking forward to the rest of the story!

thanks for sharing your vacation with us!

[momof3cruisers]

Very nice review so far! What a wonderful trip and congrats on your 48th!

[LaRue1975]

2 hours ago, MEUB1112 said:

Outstanding Review, following. 

Thank you, I’m happy you are enjoying it! 😎