My latest cruise adventure takes me onboard the brand-new Carnival Celebration. The ship, launched in December 2022, is the flagship of the fleet and one of the largest with a maximum capacity of 6,500 passengers.
The ship itself is huge and like her sister, Carnival Mardi Gras, is a far departure from the traditional interior design of Carnival ships which can range from fun to outright gaudy. Interior spaces are modern but not overdone with nods to the line’s 50-year history in several areas of the ship.
There are several “Easter eggs” throughout the ship, which I’ll point out in later reviews. Things like a brass telegraph from the bridge of the 1956-built Carnivale, are on display for guests to marvel at.
Many of these items would have never made it on board if it weren’t for maritime historian Peter Knego who buys relics of the past from shipbreaking yards where retired vessels are cut up and sold for scrap. Knego salvaged many pieces from Carnival ships and sold some back to the line so they can be displayed and appreciated by guests onboard Celebration.
Lots more of that to come in the following days, so be sure to stay tuned!
Now, this cruise is a 7-day Western Caribbean cruise leaving out of PortMiami. We’re going to be calling on Cozumel and Costa Maya in Mexico, and Mahagony Bay in Roatan. No, I’m not disappointed that Nassau isn’t on the list!
While one of the busiest cruise ports in the world, PortMiami is a complete and utter disaster. There are zero plans in place for traffic management, the roads leading in and out of the port are completely inadequate, and there is little to no police or port presence on hand to manage the flow of traffic to keep things moving.
In a nutshell, PortMiami… you suck.
What normally would have been a one-hour drive from my home in Delray Beach to PortMiami turned into a three-hour one mainly due to the tunnel that runs under the bay directly to the port being closed. This led to traffic being diverted downtown which caused miles-long backups.
After escaping death by almost being hit by a train, cab drivers who think Miami is NYC, a “Karen” in her pearl-white Escalade who tried cutting everyone off by driving over curbs all to get one car ahead of everyone else, I finally made it to the port, but the nightmare wasn’t over.
Carnival Celebration was leaving from Terminal F, which is at the far end of the port with one parking garage serving Terminals E, F, and V. As I moved inch-by-inch, slowly passing the terminals the parking garage was in sight.
But nobody was moving.
The designers of PortMiami, through the best way to put the entrance of the parking garage, was in the direct path of exiting traffic. Two lanes of traffic with a mix of people going to the garage or exiting the port made up an endless line of traffic that was going nowhere. You can see this in the photo below.
The arrow indicates the entrance to the parking garage. Everyone who wants to enter the garage has to sit in this non-moving, incredibly long line of traffic 95% of which is exiting the port.
Traffic was backup for one reason and one reason only – stupidy in design.
Once again, PortMiami… you suck.
FINALLY…. Three hours later… I parked and made my way to the ship. Embarkation was a breeze. With bags handed off to a porter, I showed my boarding pass and was immediately in the terminal where a young gentleman took a picture of my passport, stamped my boarding pass, and sent me on my way.
The next stop was security where first you stand in front of an iPad-type device where your smiling face is captured, a green checkmark is displayed and you’re off to security. Now there were plenty of signs warning about carrying marijuana on board and the fact that there are drug-sniffing dogs looking for the vile weed, but I didn’t see any of them. Others who I was traveling with said dogs were out and sniffed their carry-ons.
Once through security, I was onboard. That whole process took less than five minutes, so unlike PortMiami, Carnival certainly has the boarding process down to a science.
Normally when you enter a ship for the first time, you’re in the middle of a grand atrium that spans the ship’s decks and makes you stop for that first photo of the trip and you marvel in awe at what you’re going to be on for the next few days. In the case of the Carnival Celebration, you’re put into what is called Celebration Central.
Celebration Central is the ship’s atrium, but only spans three levels and features a performance area with multi-levels of seating. Floor-to-ceiling windows give an amazing look outside when there’s not a band playing or a show going on. When it’s showtime, giant LED screens come down and cover the windows to serve as a giant video wall. I would compare this area to Two70 on a few of Royal Caribbean’s ships.
It was a little past 1:30 pm when I boarded so staterooms were ready so I headed up to deck 12, where my balcony stateroom was waiting for me. On Carnival, your cruise card/room key is waiting for you at your door rather than handed to you at embarkation. Another way they save time getting thousands of people onboard quickly.
Keeping with the modern, clean design theme of the ship, the stateroom was devoid of the 90s colors that are common on Carnival ships and gone are the fluorescent lights that line the ceiling. Bright, LED lights make the white countertops, blue rugs and artwork, and light-colored furnishings pop.
Two closets provide plenty of storage, while more drawers are underneath the counter/work area and even the footstool is multi-purpose serving also as an additional storage bin and breakfast-in-bed tray. The bathroom was a bit small, but the shower was much larger than on other ships I’ve been on. There is plenty of additional storage located in the bathroom.
Let’s talk about the shower for a moment. The size is of it is a plus, however, the showerhead leaves a lot to be desired. It’s low-flow of course… so if you’re looking to get blasted with hot jets of water to get the sweat off after baking in the sun all day… forget it. There also isn’t any adjustment on it to turn it to pulsate, massage, or whatever… it’s rainshower and rainshower only.
The bed has two reading lights on each side of it complete with USB ports, a very welcome addition. There are also four additional USB ports on the counter and multiple power outlets, so finding a spot to plug in all your devices should not be an issue on this ship. If you need even more storage… the bed is designed to allow you to put your suitcases directly underneath.
My particular stateroom also has a pull-out sofa so the room could accommodate three or four people if needed. I’m not paying any attention to the wine stain on the sofa, we’ll pretend that’s not there, but it should have been caught.
The balcony has two chairs and a small table and is pretty roomy so that’s a huge plus for me. On my last Carnival cruise on the Carnival Spirit I was in a balcony stateroom and the balcony was very small to the point where you needed to sit sideways otherwise your knees would hit the glass wall in front of you.
I give this particular stateroom high marks for design, functionality, use of space, and of course the balcony.
Once settled in, I wandered around the ship for a bit, and with this being a full sailing… there were a LOT of people onboard. Plenty of families with kids, spring breakers, couples, and the Carnival regulars. A very mixed bag of guests for sure.
We sailed out shortly at 4 pm and the sail away on the Lido was packed with people. After a deliciously greasy Guy’s burger and fries, I did some more exploring and hit up The Ultimate Playground which is on the aft of the ship. This area features a mini golf course, basketball court, ropes course, and the Bolt roller coaster.
I tried to book a time to ride Bolt, but there were none available in the app. I asked the recreation crew member if they were allowing walk-ons and he was confused as they were open. After looking, he discovered the ride was listed as closed, which would explain why nobody was riding it.
The ride, built by Mauer Rides takes you on a very short ride twice around the track at speeds up to 40mph was “OK.” As a coaster guy, it wasn’t too thrilling, but good enough to be one of those “firsts” on a cruise ship. Actually, this would be a “second” as the first Bolt coaster is on sister-ship Carnival Mardi Gras.
For $15, I probably would not ride it again, but who knows!
Before heading back to get ready for the night ahead I did some more wandering around and yes…the ship is massive. With 18 decks there’s plenty to explore and a ton of walking to do. Be forewarned…. The elevators are tiny.
After fussing with the previously mentioned showerhead, I was ready to meet up with the rest of my traveling companions and see what the plan was for the evening. We stopped at the casino, which I have to talk about for a brief moment.
On Carnival Celebration, the casino has smoking and non-smoking areas, but within a shared environment, there is no real “non-smoking” area. Unlike a traditional casino, you don’t have a few inches between machines. These things are stacked right next to each other.
Literally.
The chairs they chose to put in front of a slot machine is a head-scratcher for me. They are also stacked right next to each other, so trying to get in and out of one is like trying to get an elephant out of a Fiat. I’m sure the tightness is to maximize every inch of space in the casino for the sake of revenue.
And there was plenty of revenue happening. During multiple visits all machines were taken and all tables were full. Plenty of people were winning jackpots, as would be expected on Day 1 so you’re sucked in for the remaining cruise. I threw $50 in a machine and walked out a few minutes later with $118. Others in my group were way luckier and looser with their cash than me.
After that “big win” I headed off for a pre-dinner cocktail. I headed to the Tropicale Bar located at 6 Mid which overlooks the previously mentioned Celebration Central. The multi-tiered space was packed with people as a band took center stage.
For those looking for some non-alcoholic beer options, this is one bar that serves two non-beer beers, including a pretty good Sam Adams IPA along with Coors Edge. Additional non-alcoholic cocktails have made it onboard Celebration and all Carnival ships at the Alchemy Bar. (The Tropicale Bar serves the standard drink menu.)
Another stop was at the Latitudes Bar, a golden-age-of-travel-themed watering hole that serves unique cocktails and beers from “around the globe.” There were no non-alcoholic beers available at this location but decided to enjoy a Peroni from Italy.
There are plenty of restaurants to eat dinner at on Carnival Celebration in addition to the ship’s main dining room. These include:
- Cucina del Capitano – Italian included at no charge although some items are additional
- Chibang! – Chinese and Mexican included at no charge although some items are additional
- Guy’s Pig & Anchor Smokehouse | Brewhouse – BBQ included at no charge
- Emeril’s Bistro 1397 – New Orleans specialty dining for an additional charge
- Bonsai Sushi – sushi specialty dining for an additional charge
- Fahrenheit 555 – steakhouse for an additional charge
- Rudi’s Seagrill – seafood for an additional charge
- Bonsai Teppanyaki – teppanyaki for an additional charge
- Seafood Shack – fresh and fried seafood for an additional charge
- Deco Deli – sandwiches included at no charge
We took a dive into the Chibang! menu and noticed that there was Peking duck on there for $20 per person additional. That was enough to sell me and another of my travel buds on dining at this restaurant that features both Chinese and Mexican food.
We checked in on the app and even though it said we would have a table in less than 10 minutes, it was about 15 before we had one and were seated. We started out with apps including loaded nachos, pork belly, Singapore Chili Shrimp, shrimp spring rolls, quesadillas, lettuce wraps, and some grilled steak.
For mains, the Peking duck came out and was carved tableside. This was almost a no-go, as when we ordered it our waiter mentioned that they didn’t have it. We asked him to double check and he came back and said it was available. The duck was presented and carved while the chef made duck pancakes for us from the breast meat, then served the rest of the duck along with some fried noodles.
The duck was fantastic, and for $20 a per-person upcharge was a pretty good deal.
After dinner, we meandered around the ship some more, had a cigar out on the deck, enjoyed a cocktail, and some before-bed ice cream, and stopped by Guy’s Pig & Anchor Smokehouse | Brewhouse where a live band was playing.
With day 1 complete, I have to say so far I’m very impressed with Carnival this time around. The ship is beautiful, and the layout may be quirky at times but overall it’s navigatable, the range of bars and restaurants is fantastic, service has been on-point, and there is no shortage of entertainment. Granted, a new ship gets the most attention in the fleet, but unless things go downhill quickly, this will be a top-rated trip for me.