My Celebration Cruise (Very Long Sorry)

[tigerdadky]

As promised I will let you know about my celebration cruise. I can start by saying that it was absolutely perfect. From the minute we arrived in Nashville for our flight to Jax to our embarktation until our return to Nashville today.

We boarded our flight to Jax on Friday in 38 degree weather, but I refused to wear anything but shorts and a t so I was probably the dumbest looking guy in the airport. We arrived in Jax to upper 50s to low 60s weather. Almost shorts weather. Saturday morning also brought cool weather for our embarktation. Took a hotel shuttle to the terminal. Arrived around 10:30 just minutes before the terminal opened. There were several already there but not bad. The lines moved well and we had to wait in the waiting area until around 11:30 until the ship was cleared to board. By 11:45 had first drink of the day in hand and eating in the wheelhouse bar and grill. After lunch we walked around the ship getting familar with her. I will admit after first cruising on the Elation, the shock of the Lido deck and pool on the celebration had me worried at first. Just couldnt get over here size. But after about 2 minutes I fell completely in love with her. She may be carnivals second oldest but she is showing her age well. Some of the carpets were a bit stained but what hotel that handles the quanity of guest the celebration handles wouldnt be. We were on the Empress deck and our rooms were just fine. Not sure if I'm spelling this right but our cabin steward was a prettly little girl named Janika. She was fun to mess with all week. I kept her laughing all the time. The sail away was a bit cool but going under the dames point bridge was worth it. It looks like there is no way the ship will fit under it. I will add that the muster drill was a lot less painless than it was on the Elation. We had early seating in the horizon dining room. Eugene was our server and Aguug was his helper. The maitre d (not sure I'm spelling that right), was Joseph from Canada. He was a lot of fun all week. All you critics of the shows in the dining wouldve loved Joseph I believe. He was very entertaining and very friendly. He made a point of coming to every table at least once thru the week. I had the filet migon the first night. It was good, wont say its the best one Ive eaten but still good. Then there was the chocolate melting cake. It is probably the most wonderful dessert Ive ever eaten. We went to the karoake bar the first night and had a blast. Sunday was a sea day and as far as I'm concerned the only negative thing about the cruise. Sea days are supposed to be days of sun and fun but the chair hogs ruined that for the ones who would not stoop low enough to reserve their chair at 8:00a.m for the day. After walking around for about 30 minutes we did manage to find loungers at the aft of the ship, far from the music and games. It wouldnt have been so hard to take if the loungers had been occupied but Id estimate about 40% of them were only occupied by towels or shoes and no bodies in sight of them. But I wasnt going to let them ruin my cruise so I just shrugged it off and said it was just their stupidity. Sunday was also formal nite and the captains welcome aboard party. Cant remember the captains name offhand it was Camillo something, he was very friendly but very hard to understand. Skip Lyons was the cruise director. Cant compare him to too many other CDs because the only other one I had was Jorge, but I will say that Skip was far superior to him. He was very accessible and very entertaining all week. Lobster was mainliner at dinner. I will say that mine was excellent. Had my first squid as an entree and I wont say that it was good. Basically tasteless. The funny thing was a lady at a table adjacent to ours who ordered squid and when the server set it down, she squealed and made him take it away. I had fun with her all week about her squid. Baked alaska has been taken off the formal night dinner dessert so another chocolate melting cake was enstore. Went to the show after dinner, It was a good show. Typical las vegas type entertainment but they did a good job with it. Monday brought beautiful Key West. I will say that Key West is the best place Ive ever visited. We got off early and walked to the southermost point first thing. It was about a two mile walk but it had yet to get real warm so it wasnt so bad. We did the pub crawl and it was a blast. Our guide T was a blast. She showed us a great time. Our first panic happened though when we were walking back from the southernmost point. We heard sirens all around and wondered what was going on. My wife heard someone say that one of the cruise ships was on fire. Then she heard someone else saw they thought it was the celebration. Sure enough when we got back to Mallory Square there were fire trucks at the celebration and they were squirting water inside a door on the lower part of the ship. You could see a little scorched spot around a port hole down low. Surprisingly there was never any mention about what happened. The crew nor the quest had much to say about it. Dont think many even knew what was going on. Apparently it wasnt much but can you imagine the shock when you see fire trucks outside your cruise ship. Enough about that I can say we thorougly enjoyed Key West. Monday was the past guest party and it was a lot of fun. We did YMCA on stage with one of the carnival dancers and that was a lot of fun. Had some kind of seafood trio for dinner and it was yummy also. The show was a sword swallower Dai Andrews. He was very amusing and amazing to watch. Then a very funny comic Dean Gaines entertained. He was really good too. His imitation of Barney Fife was very funny. Tuesday was Nassau. I wont be negative about Nassau but I will say it really wasnt my gig. We did have lunch at the Bahemian Cafe and had my first conch fritter and it was very good. I then decided to have the conch snack for my meal and it was basically tasteless. Was pretty much disappointed with it but the fritters made the meal worth the stop. Didnt have any excursion for Nassau just decided to do the walk around thing. I will say the straw market was disappointing to. Narrow isle, booth after booth of the same thing, with pushy vendors trying to get you to barter for their wares. Only made it down one isle and new that I had had enough of that. We had a strawberry daquiri at the Junkeroo Cafe and it was very good. Never saw one made the way they made it. They mixed the strawberry mix and the ice in the bleder and before putting it in the glass, poured rum in the glass and dumped the strawberry mix on top of it. Had to stir your own with your straw and the glass was so full it was a bit messy but very much worth it. After hitting a few shops we decided to take a water taxi to Atlantis. The guides on the boats were very entertaing going and coming. A word of caution, it is quite a walk from where the boats dock to the atlantis, not for the out of shape walker or someone that cant handle the heat. Atlantis was ok but I enjoyed the water taxi rides the most. Made a short stop at Senior Frogs. At three in the evening it wasnt much of a happening place but still a good place for a rest and drink before reboarding. For dinner I had tilapi and it was good too. Took a break from the chocolate melting cake and had the diet coconut cake. It was very good but not comparable to the melting cake at all. Was too embarrased to order it another night in a row. We just wandered around and shopped the shops a bit. Decided we didnt wanna stay up for the Grand Gala Buffet. Not taking anything from it, it is awesome to see at least once but we were tired from our day in Nassau and decided to call it an early night. Wednesday was our last sea day. Woke up with a very nasty cold so went to the infirmary and was given some cold tabs and tylenol to take. First time to visit the infirmary and was once again dealt with swiftly by a very friendly canadian nurse. After lunch we decided we would soak up a few rays for a while but after putting on our suits we went to the lido deck and was hit with a worse case of chair hogging than on sunday. Also the hot tubs were full of kids, the kids one and the adult one. If I have to say anything negative about the cruise it is carnivals lack of enforcing its rules about chair hogging and kids in the adult hot tub. But I still wasnt going to let this ruin my cruise at all. We went to the casino and contributed a little more money to Carnival. Will say I had a very entertaining afternoon on the nickel poker slot. Played a long time on my $5.00 contribution. Had a very fun experience prior to dinner. We had ordered 2 5 by 7 pictures of our formal night pics the night before and when we went to pic them up and cool little guy from the phillipines working there had fun mocking my hillbilly accent. My DW laughed and laughed because seldom does someone get the best of me. I really enjoyed it too. Had the chatribaun for dinner and it was very good. This was also the night for baked alaskan and it is always yummy. I had an end piece so it was more ice cream than cake but still very good. Wednesday was also the extreme county show. I will admit that I'm not a big fan of country music but this was still a very entertaining show. The cast did a really good job with. Then thursday brought the most painful part of the cruise. They told me I had to get off. They made the debarktation as painless as possible but the still made me get off. I cannot imagine any terminal being as painless as the jaxport terminal is. Was absolutely painless. Hope I didnt bore everyone too much but I cant say enough good things about the cruise. The staff and the fellow cruisers were absolutely wonderful and the cruise was absolutely wonderful. Dont know when the next cruise will be yet but there definitely will be another. Any specific questions about the Celebration I will try my best to answer them.

[cuted126]

Sounds like a overall good time!! I love the Celebration:D We stayed on the Empress deck as well,E56 to be exact!

 

Glad you had fun!

[tinmanswife]

Thanks so much for the review! We leave 5/19 on Celebration and we'll be on Empress deck too. Sorry to hear about the chair hogs...but I guess they're everywhere. Luckily, I don't need to be next to the pool....just give me a chair in the sun somewhere where I can read a book! Hopefully, they won't be hogging all the chairs!

[Iggipolka]

arugh! I would have loved to have read your review, but the lack of paragraphs made it very difficult. Could you please divide up your review into sections and paragraphs?

 

Thanks! :)

[Empress Bubbles]

Thanks for posting your review! My husband and I have chosen the Celebration for our first cruise in September and I'm really looking forward to it. We are also flying out of Nashville, so it's nice hearing from "neighbors.":)

[mydream]

Thanks for your detailed review. Just wondered if you played the tables in the casino and how busy was it in there. Do you have any idea of the hours the casino was open on sea days? Thanks.

[we2cruze]

tigerdadky, Hi. We're leaving for the Celebration in 45 minutes. I'm glad I checked, since the fire story is an interesting one. Glad you had a good time, we plan to do the same. we2cruiz3e

[Tigeress297]

Thanks for the review we will be on her in July!! So glad you had a great time!

[Djptcp]

Thanks so much for the great review! DH and I are sailing on the Celebration on May 19th for our 30th wedding anniversary. We sailed on her twice last year and had wonderful times. I agree that the Jax port is so easy and convenient. We live close to Jax and can leave home and be on board in a little over an hour. Our cabin is also on the Empress deck, midship. We are so looking forward to the May cruise and love hearing that others have had a good time.

 

Carnival - 1995, 1998, 2006, 2006, 2007, 2007

Holland America - 2004, 2006

NCL - 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003

Royal Caribbean - 2002

[poptart]

Thanks for the review. We are between the Celebration and the Holiday for our fall cruise in late Sept or mid October.

[elizablake]

Thanks, great review. We are considering booking the Celebration in January.

[elizablake]

Thanks for the review. We are between the Celebration and the Holiday for our fall cruise in late Sept or mid October.

 

We are leaving on the Holiday on Sept. 29th. The price is great. I'm a little nervous because I keep hearing rumors that the Holiday will be sold by next fall. If you want to be sure of your ship you might want to book the Celebration.

[poptart]

We are leaving on the Holiday on Sept. 29th. The price is great. I'm a little nervous because I keep hearing rumors that the Holiday will be sold by next fall. If you want to be sure of your ship you might want to book the Celebration.

 

I really don't care what ship. I would be thrilled if they put a Fantasy class ship in Mobile.

 

To the OP--did the chair hogs clear out any by noon or so???

 

I confess --on our 2nd sea day on the Holiday--(spring break and packed) I sent my hubby up at 7 to stake out my chair--top deck looking out to sea--I got up there around 9:30 and stayed until 5 ish.

I guess that makes me a chair hog--but the first sea day it was slim pickings. I wound up down by the pool almost in the aisle where people had to walk around me.

[aadams7]

I , as well, enjoyed your review! I have about a month before I get on here, but any advice or tips make it even better! Did you happen to take any soda or libations on with you? What about the kids... other than the hot tubs, were they out of hand/ unruly or was it ok for the most part? I appreciate the review and can't wait to post my own!

[EggDropErin]

Nice review. Glad you had a good time. :)

[trussman]

Thanks for the review! Glad to hear all went well. Can't wait for our cruise in May!!!

[tigerdadky]

I , as well, enjoyed your review! I have about a month before I get on here, but any advice or tips make it even better! Did you happen to take any soda or libations on with you? What about the kids... other than the hot tubs, were they out of hand/ unruly or was it ok for the most part? I appreciate the review and can't wait to post my own!

Yes i did take some booze on, was gonna take some sodas too but didnt wanna wag them around until our room was ready and no room in the checked in luggage for any.

For the most part the kids were under control. They actually acted better than the adults across the hall from us. Was a large group and stayed out till 230 every morning and very loud returning to their rooms.

[Breezybreeze]

This is mine and DH's first cruise. I have waited for 10 years for this. He seems to get sea sick easly, so he never wanted to go. So for our 15 year Anniversary, He booked us a cruise :) on Ms Celebration in June. So when I see any posts about her, I get so excited. This has been one of the best posts so far. Thank-you

[Frank12]

Thanks for the review. DW and I sail on her in 23 days and I'm a little worried about her size, but most of what I've read on this board tells me that "size doesn't matter"!:)