Small ship, BIG fun!

If you haven't sailed on the Celebration, you may not get the chance. I understand it will be sold by Carnival to a European company in the near future. That's a shame, because even though it is one of the smallest and oldest in the fleet, the crew and their service are TOP NOTCH.

The Vista Dining room on the Celebration has been the NUMBER ONE dining room in the ENTIRE FLEET for the past three months. It was easy to see why. Our wait staff, the maitre d', the food, everything was perfect. I've only been on three cruises, so take my review as one from "the unexperienced," but it was the best food and service I've had in a cruise ship dining room. The Wheelhouse Grill is the dining choice outside of the two dining rooms (the Vista and the Horizon), with two buffet lines, a well-appointed salad bar, a sandwich station (which was an omelette station in the morning), a dessert line, and, of course, the requisite 24-hour pizza and soft-serve ice cream. The food was wonderful, but, depending on when you arrived, the Wheelhouse could be a little busy for my taste. My husband, son, and I did breakfast either through room service or at the open seating breakfast in the Horizon Dining Room rather than experience the hustle and bustle of the Wheelhouse. At lunch, however, it was a fine place to eat. Room service on the ship was prompt and pleasant.

As for the condition of the ship -- it is twenty years old. However, it underwent a remodel in 2003, and I found the ship to be clean, attractive, and comfortable. It has a "New Orleans" theme, complete with an actual New Orleans trolley car that serves as a sushi bar. Everywhere, even in the restrooms, the ship was very clean, and I saw crews performing maintenance in different areas every day. Is it "grand" and "exquisite"? No, but as one with a young child, I'm not concerned with such finery.

Speaking of children, the Camp Carnival program was wonderful. My son enjoyed the toys, games, and activities planned each day. On our final day at sea, we did family activities like cookie decorating and a shipwide scavenger hunt (we won!). The actual Camp Carnival room is small on this ship, but I liked the fact that it was more personal and intimate. My son is in the 2-5 group; my nephews were in the 6-8 group and enjoyed it immensely. They generally met in the "Galax-Z" room (a disco) and went on adventures from there. My older nephew frequently refused to let his mother pick him up at 10pm; he was having too much fun. After 10pm, there is a babysitting charge of $6.00, but that's a bargain for a night out -- especially whem your kids are having so much fun they don't want to leave!

I also found the staff to be very tolerant of young children. My son often wanted to eat with my husband and I in the formal dining room and was warmly greeted and given great deference by the waitstaff. They more than tolerated his picky eating habits -- they brought out whatever he wanted, even when he changed his mind. In the common areas, the staff would go out of their way to greet the little ones and be playful. The photographers coaxed great pictures out of the kids, as well.

The nighttime entertainment was just that -- entertaining. The first night there was a spectacular Broadway review; the second night, a sword-swollower and a comedy show; the final night, a Country music review. Was I blown away by the shows? No, but they were completely enjoyable and well worth watching. My older nephews really enjoyed the sword swollower (what boy wouldn't?).

Our cabin had a king-sized bed and a bunk for our son. I found the bed to be extremely comfortable and I LOVED their sheets and pillows. We slept well. There was enough room in the cabin for us to move about. The TV had ample channels (including Cartoon Network for the little ones) and also showed recently released movies like Transformers. Our steward kept the room wonderfully, including the trademark "towel animals" at turndown service. My son especially enjoyed the dinosaur.

You are probably wondering about the downsides of this ship. Well, it is small compared to the others on which I have cruised. If you are looking for a giant array of shipboard activities, the Celebration doesn't accommodate that. (It does have three pools, by the way; one with a water slide). Also, when we left Nassau as well as when we arrived in Jacksonville, the ship shook very loudly. It may have just been the position of my cabin (Empress deck, aft), but the noises when the ship had to pull into port were very loud.

Otherwise, I can't complain. We had a spectacular time, and the small size of the ship allowed for a more intimate, family-like feeling amongst the passengers and crew. If you have the chance to cruise the Celebration before it sets sail for good -- do it!