Celebration Review - 05/20/2006 sailing

[SC-Cruiser]

Embarkation - We arrived at the port at about noon after breakfast at my brother’s house. I dropped the DW off with the luggage and went to park the car. Unfortunately, I dropped off the cash and credit cards with her as well. When I got over to the parking area, I had no way to pay the $60 parking fee ($12/day). So I circled around, picked up the credit card and gave it another try. Even with this delay, we were on the ship and in our room by 12:30.

 

Cabin – The cabin (E217 – extreme aft) measured about 185 sq. ft (10X18.5) so it is no bigger than the normal room listed in the brochure. There is a hallway that leads to steps to the children’s play area which is not shown on the deck plan. The window was positioned to the left instead of directly ahead allowing a nice view of the wake of the ship. There is plenty of storage – two closets and one cabinet with shelves. There was a slight vibration at all times and a hard shaking whenever we made a turn or docked. The hard shaking made for a 4am wake-up call when we arrived in Key West. DW and I both woke up but quickly went back to sleep. Since we docked in Nassau about 11am, we were up and out before we docked.

 

Dining – We had a table for six and ate dinner in the dining room each night. We requested 2nd main seating (6:15) but received 2nd late seating (8:30) which was in the Vista dining room. Our team waiters, Rajesh and Marlindee, were excellent. The food was excellent as well. I’m mostly a meat and potatoes kind of guy but I tried many meals which are out of my “comfort zone”. My DW was very impressed that I even tried the etouffee, much less liked it. The pizza on the Lido deck was pretty good but I can’t say the same for the burgers. We had lunch in the dining room once and I highly recommend the Chinese Pepper Steak and Gingerbread Cake.

 

Entertainment – We attended all the shows and enjoyed them all. They advertise them as Las Vegas style but think amusement park show quality. I can’t sing or dance so, in my eyes, they are extremely talented. The first comic (John Floyd) seemed to be telling jokes that I had heard before from other comics. The second comic (Dean Gaines) was original and very funny. The Newlywed-Not So Newlywed game and Greeting Show (with the spoon game) are not to be missed. Of course, if you miss the spoon game, it will play something like every 20 minutes on your TV as part of the Travelog. For anything that occurs in the Astoria Lounge, bring a sweater if you are cold-natured. It is quite cold in there.

 

Everything was wonderful but here come the gripe:

 

·There were a couple of 20-something guys who obviously thought we came on the cruise to see them. They made @sses of themselves at every opportunity including but not limited to: singing O Sole Mio with the waiters ala Ace Ventura, standing up and running around the Astoria Lounge while one of the shows (Xtreme Country) was being performed acting like cowboys with lassos. Nothing was said to them at any of these events until they started dancing on the table in the Astoria Lounge. I know that they paid their fare but that does not give them the right to negatively affect other people’s cruises in the name of their fun.

 

If anybody has questions about the Celebration, I’ll be glad to answer any that I can.

[The4Cruisers]

SC Cruiser, glad to hear you had a good time on Celebration. This is the only ship we've cruised on (2x). But while we're anxious to explore the newer and bigger ships, this one is definitely a great one to sail. As far as the attention seeking 20 year olds, oh well. Hopefully you were able to laugh at them and not with them. ;)

[Meliss503]

Hi, Thanks for the review. I am booked for the week of September 18th. How were the ports of call and what did you do at them?

[SC-Cruiser]

Hey Melissa-

 

At Key West, we were only the ship in port so it wasn't too crowded. We went to the visitor center and got a map. Then we headed to Ft. Zachary Taylor by foot. It is only a few miles away but it was very hot and humid so it seemed like 20 miles. :( After viewing the fort, we headed back across to Duval St. and shopped our way back to the boat. :) We stopped at the Wachova bank for $$ and the CVS store where we stocked up on film and Pepsi and then headed back to the boat. The boat seemed so empty and we spent some time on the empty decks.

 

In Nassau, we shopped until we dropped (again from the heat) and went back to a nearly deserted boat again. We had already been to Nassau before so we had done all the sightseeing we wanted to do.

 

Sorry I couldn't be more help on what to see in the ports.

[us2swingu]

Glad to hear you had a good time, we where on her in April and rebooked another for next April this time with the kids, that is there Christmas gift. Enjoy your next, and your next ,and your next, and so on...:cool:

[SC-Cruiser]

We're already planning our next one for Thanksgiving this year. Our 26th wedding anniversary is Nov. 22nd. We wanted to go last year for 25th but couldn't get away. It's either the Valor or Triumph - still trying to decide.

[SC-Cruiser]

Anybody with questions??