Cruise Line: Carnival Celebration
Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean (Grand Turk, Amber Cove, Nassau the Bahamas, Celebration Key)
Date: October 19 – 26, 2025
After cruising on Royal Caribbean, Holland America, and MSC over the past 12 months, we were a bit hesitant to cruise on the line generally described as “Walmart of the Seas”. But, it was (yet another!) comped cruise, we were anxious to get back to a warmer climate, and did I mention it was comped? Most importantly, it was an 8d/7nt itinerary, which we felt would avoid the types of passengers who live by the FAFO mantra when on the open seas.
Leaving from the same Miami port as our MSC cruise earlier this year, we stayed again at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Miami International Airport, a very convenient and relatively economical hotel that allowed us to us our quarterly $50 American Express Business Platinum credit for Hilton hotel stays which, with 3 of these cards, wiped $150 off our folio right off the top! We also like their breakfast buffet, the spaciousness of the atrium, and the suite-style rooms that allow us to spread out, as we typically arrive mid-afternoon the day prior to our embarkation.
Because we eschew drinks packages, we decided to order a 12-pack each of our favorite non-alcoholic beverages and have them delivered to the hotel, which was relatively easy to do and checked the box of having additional options on-board without having to spend money unnecessarily. We also brought along 2 bottles of wine, which would be our +1 for a couple of our evening meals. Based on the number of items that were out of stock, we were not alone in using this cruise hack as a way to supplement the free beverages onboard, and we do recommend this, especially for families.
With this cruise, we had no status to take advantage of, which was fine – the embarkation process was very smooth and uneventful. Aboard the ship, we were able to go immediately to our cabin to get a lay of the land and familarize ourselves with the Muster process. While the cruise itself included an Oceanview stateroom, we did upgrade to a Balcony stateroom for a
nominal fee, and were glad we did. One of the first things we noticed about our room was the double-closet, something that really benefits a couple like us who don’t pack lightly (#teamcheckedbag) and with this being an 8-day cruise. We then found our way to our Muster station (which made us miss MSC’s in-cabin Muster station review) and explored the ship a bit.
One thing we looked forward to were the dining options, as this was a bit of a disappointment on MSC Seascape, as their didn’t seem to be as much variety. Our first stop was Shaq’s Big Chicken, which already had a line, but the wait wasn’t too bad for me, though Stephanie did have to wait about 10 minutes for a grilled chicken. And Carnival Celebration passed our first
test, which was that the servery was decently maintained and there were plenty of stations for hand-washing.
So, with all of that as an introduction, let’s walk through our overall experience. One important note is that Stephanie was a bit under the weather for this cruise, having picked up a bit of a cold prior to leaving home and only increasing in severity a couple of days into the cruise, resulting in her spending the majority of time sequestered in our cabin.
Our Cabin
As we mentioned at the outset, we paid to upgrade from an Oceanview to a Balcony, and were very happy with our choice, It had plenty of space beneath the bed for luggage, ample power & USB outlets (bonus points for each side of the bed), and generous closet space. While the bathroom felt small, both it and the room in generally made good use of space with shelving and cubbies for storing items. Travel hack: we always bring along magnetic hooks and shelves to supplement, particularly bedside and on the far wall for hanging lanyards hats, etc.
Getting Around
With out stateroom midship it was an easy walk to the elevators and stairs, so getting between decks was not a hardship in most circumstances. After shows or during embarkation post-port stays was an extremely busy time, but we found that taking a flight or two of stairs would increase your likelihood of catching an elevator. We had no difficulty finding our way around, not only because of the maps alongside each of the elevator banks, but also because the layout lends to it being easy to get your bearings and navigate to where you wanted to go.
Dining
For the Main Dining Room and restaurants, Carnival uses a unique waiting list/faux-reservation system using the onboard app, wherein once the reservation is open, you make your “reservation” and proceed to your chosen venue. Depending upon 1/ how quickly you make your reservation and 2/ time of day, you may find yourself able to be seated quickly or have a wait that can be up to 20 minutes in our experience. Not a hardship – you always know how long you have to wait, but if you have post-dinner plans, you might want to make sure you don’t expect to immediately be seated unless you have reservations at a specialty restaurant.
On that note, we really enjoyed a benefit on Carnival, whereby you are able to enjoy several of their specialty restaurants for no additional fee on your first time, $8 per guest for additional seatings. I feel more cruise lines should offer this as a way to both introduce passengers to alternative dining options while also taking the traffic burden off of the MDR.
Speaking of, the MDR experience was very good, with decent meal portions, very friendly waitstaff, and pleasant surroundings. Travel hack: As we found on MSC Seascape, you can order more than one appetizer, entree and dessert, which can be nice if you’re really hungry or just don’t want to limit yourself to one serving.
Including the fast-serve restaurants, Guy’s Pig & Anchor and Guy’s Burger Joint were our hands-down favorites for the quality of their entrees. While we would have loved the Burger Joint being open later, we understand that it comes down to constraints of not having a staff that can do double or triple-duty. Special mention goes to the pizza at Miami Slice, where generous portions and quick service made it the go-to spot after shows for late night noshing.
One mention is that because this was a comped cruise through a casino status match, we were both given the benefit of free drinks within the casino. As we’ve experienced on other ships, this is a very loose restriction, as there’s no checking of whether you are/plan to gamble, so many times we would just come in, order a drink and continue on our merry way to dinner, a show, or just find someplace to relax.
Shows & Entertainment
MSC Seascape set a high bar for the quality of their shows, but Carnival Celebration didn’t fail to take up the challenge with aplomb. While we did prefer the theatre-style main show that MSC Seascape has and the space it afforded for the performers, 
the uniqueness of an open-air style performance was quite enjoyable. The comedy show was “ok” for us, though it seemed to have a lot of regulars that like the comedian quite a bit. We didn’t take the opportunity for other shows however, as Stephanie was taking in a much rest as she could.
Port Day: Grand Turk
As a general rule, we don’t book many excursions, as they require a level of commitment upfront (money & time) that we prefer to be more spontaneous about. And, we had considered spending the majority of our time enjoying the thermal spa on this voyage
anyways. Still, we had not been to Grand Turk before, so we left the ship and decided to explore on our own. We found that, once we left the port area, you could rent golf carts to explore the island. Since Stephanie was looking for a
pharmacy, we decided this would allow us to do both. We negotiated $70 for the day, andwith our trusty Google Maps, spent spent about 4 hours exploring the island. Highlights were reaching the lighthouse, where we parked the cart and walked around for 30 minutes, taking in an unobstructed view of the sea. Then on the way back, we stopped at a well-known bar restaurant, Jack’s for fried conch. We returned the cart and walked back to the ship, a well-spent afternoon of an excursion we designed on our own. 
Port Day: Amber Cove
Another port we hadn’t frequented before is Amber Cove. It was an overcast day with likely showers, so we decided to stay close and just venture over the the port area, where we walked around, did some people watching, and enjoyed a coconut water. We made it back to the ship right before a moderate rainfall.
Port Day: Nassau, The Bahamas
We have been Nassau on several occasions, having stayed at Atlantis courtesy of our Caesars Diamond benefit of a 4nt stay. By this point, Stephanie wasn’t feeling great, and we’d both become huge fans of the Thermal Spa, so we chose to stay on board. There was the entertainment however of watching stragglers barely making it back to the ship on time, and then waiting for one unfortunate passenger who because so inebriated she was eventually found and brought to the ship via golf cart, most likely to sleep and purge out their ill-conceived afternoon of fun and frivolity.
Port Day: Celebration Key
Not heeding our own advice, we’d splurged on a day at the Pearl Cove of Celebration Key. Unfortunately, Stephanie was in no shape to leave the ship at this point, having been provided antibiotics by the ship’s doctor, that I spent the time reading, 
relaxing in the Thermal Spa, and wandering the ship. I enjoyed myself, as best I could with my partner-in-travel down, and have no regrets about missing Celebration Key. Maybe next time – we’ll purchase the day of, even if it costs more and at the risk of it not being available.
Final Verdict
Our trepidations about a Carnival cruise were unfounded, fully and completely. While this may be due to the length of our cruise, I would surmise that cruises of 2-3 nights on any ship would hazard the raucous behavior we had feared would befall us on this cruise. We happy to say that our experience was not unlike that on Royal Caribbean, MSC or Holland, with the only significant difference being that the passengers seemed to be majority US nationality.
Would we sail on Carnival again? Absolutely! In fact, we already have another cruise booked for late summer 2026, this time on Panorama and sailing the Mexican Riviera.
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