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Celebration Review 8-25-07

GreatBridge

By GreatBridge,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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GreatBridge

GreatBridge

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We were a group of 32, most of us on our first cruise. Sixteen were driving down and the other sixteen were flying. Well as everyone now knows we had some embarkation problems to say the least. The sixteen who were driving all made it on the ship. The sixteen of us, myself included, did not make it before they cleared the terminal. Now before anyone thinks that I am blaming Carnival, STOP, I do not hold Carnival responsible. In fact no one is responsible for what happened. That is what security is for and I appreciate all the effort it takes to make sure we are safe. Now, for the down side to this fiasco. Port a potty’s and water do not make for comfort when you are in the parking lot for seven hours. Yes seven hours. We got there at 12:22 and got onboard at 7:30. We had a ninety year old and 2 diabetics with us. They gave us air conditioned buses to sit on out of the heat, but no food. We heard rumor of some crackers floating around but alas as a lot of cruisers were there and we were told that they were very grabby, not everyone was able to partake of the little bit of food. We really did not understand why it took as long as it did to search everything and if there was such a major threat why the people were left on the ship but told to stay on the side away from the terminal. By means of cell phones we were able to keep in contact with our family onboard and fortunately for them it was cruise fun as normal. Food, dancing, and all kinds of activities were going on as normal. We finally set sail at about 10:30 in the evening.

Now onto the good points. Our luggage even got to us in about an hour. They did some fast work for sure. Our Captain made the announcement that we would be able to make up for lost time and that we would not lose any of our port time in Key West. He was right. I was able to be on deck at 6:00 a.m. and watched as we dock in Key West. In our group we had four children, ages from 5 to 10, 3 teens, 16,17 and 18 and the rest were adults from 29 to 90. When we got on we were told that dinner was open for everyone in the dining rooms and no dress code. We flew to the dining room as we were all starving. Dinner was wonderful. I had the filet mignon. My husband had the ribs. All were prepared beyond expectations. And of course the warm chocolate melting cake was to die for. My husband being one of the diabetics in our group raved about the sugar free orange cake they had that evening and all the others they served as well on the cruise.

Our stateroom and our room stewart, Nair, were great. We were lucky enough to ge on the upper deck and midship. I’m always going to try for that kind of location whenever I go again. When we got to Key West, 5 of us in our group braved the Pub Crawl. What a blast that was. My group is not usually big drinkers so it was a test for us and we passed with flying(high) colors. It was a fun way to see Key West and have some r&r at the same time. My mother in law and her companion went on the Butterfly conservatory and aquarium tour. They loved it.

So now off to Nassau. We had some extra passengers with us on this past. Coast Guard guys with guns. I don’t know if this is normal or not. It was a little unnerving. It might have been due to our scare in Jax. Then during our 6:15 dinner time we noticed some unusual shifting on the boat. Well now we are turning around to help a small boat in distress. We are staying with them until the Coast Guard can get there. Another hour delay. I know I wanted the cruise to last longer, but not this way. Well we get to Nassau again on time. We were cruising at high speed on most of this cruise. My husband and I did the Catamaran Snorkel tour and I fell in love with snorkeling. Now I want to scuba. Some of our group did the sting ray tour and also raved about it. The best one I think was the Dolphin Swim. My daughter and 8 year old grandson went on that one. They absolutely raved about it as well.

All in all even with all of our troubles, we all had a great time and would most certainly do it again. The cruise exceeded our expectations all around.:) :D :)

I will post pictures soon. I haven't downloaded my camera yet.

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GreatBridge

GreatBridge

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Thanks for a good review.

Was the ship clean? How were sea days?

 

Only 3 more weeks for me!!!

 

We found the ship to be very clean. All of our sea days were good except for the last night we had a good bit of rolling and a lot of green faces(LOL). It was just a gentle roll and I had no problem except for walking around. I wished that I had imbibed enough to have that feeling, but alas I was stone cold sober.(LOL) Same feeling though when trying to walk. Other than walking it was good.

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