December 2022 Carnival Celebration Caribbean Cruise Our first time sailing on Carnival's newest class of cruise ships

My fourth cruise of 2022, and 58th cruise overall, was on Carnival's brand new ship, Carnival Celebration.  Unlike most of our cruises, this was not a cruise I had planned way in advance.  Once our Fall weather finally arrived I started I got the urge to go somewhere warm.  I discovered that there was a nice cabin still available on Carnival's newest ship for a Caribbean cruise during the first week of December.  This was a real surprise, since a new ship like this would usually be all sold out so close to the cruise date.  I was really excited to be able to cruise on Carnival's new ship just a few weeks after her construction and sea trials had been completed!

So, how did I enjoy our cruise on Carnival Celebration?  The best way for me to explain that is to have you watch this video I made about our cruise:

To start the video playing, click the triangle in the middle of the video screen
To make the video fill the screen (recommended) click the little symbol in the lower right corner of the video player

In the video, I mentioned all the entertainment onboard.
Here's a picture of one memorable live event we saw, that I failed to shoot any video of.
It was Carnival's version of the classic TV game show, Family Feud...
With actual passengers playing for real prizes.
I really enjoyed watching it live in the ship's theater.

The cruise lines are always trying to one-up each other by adding new fun things to their ships.
Carnival's two newest ships are the only ships in the world with a roller coaster onboard.
With a big zoom lens mounted on my camera, I was able to shoot this photo of a couple riding the roller coaster, which is known as "Bolt".
I used a very fast shutter speed to get this photo, which makes it look like it wasn't moving at all...
When in reality it was going quite fast!  Look at the expression on the woman's face!

You'll get a much better look at Bolt in this video I made,
which focuses on some of the fun things to do on this ship:

This next video is a tour of our cabin, and an explanation of why it was the perfect cabin location:

To understand my final video from the ship, you first need a little backstory.
Years ago, when Carnival wanted to publicize their new ship, Carnival Splendor,
they did a funny television ad campaign that I've never forgotten.
You know how when you get a new car, it has a "new car smell"?
Carnival's TV ad was a twist on that, imagining a "new ship smell".
Watch that classic Carnival TV commercial here:

Now watch the 2022 Jim Zim version of that funny TV commercial, for Carnival Celebration:

One downside to cruising is that we miss our dog when we're away.
Our cabin steward made us feel better by making this towel animal dog for us:

Food Porn

One of the reasons that I've sailed with Carnival more than any of the other cruise lines is that I love the casual dining options.  Kellyn and I don't like to dress up for dinner, and we don't like fancy gourmet food.  We much prefer casual food in a casual setting, and Carnival does that really well.  Here are some of my favorite casual meals from our cruise on Carnival Celebration:
 

Brisket at Guy Fieri's Pig & Anchor restaurant on Carnival Celebration

Lasagna at La Cucina Del Capitano...  the Italian restaurant on Carnival Celebration

This is a typical breakfast for me on a cruise ship.  That's a ham & cheese omelet in the center of the plate.
Note the seasoned salt packet from Red Robin...
I bring that from home to enhance the taste of the omelet and the potatoes.

Kellyn makes a lot healthier food choices than I do.  Here's her plate at the buffet restaurant one night.

My favorite cruise ship lunch is this burger known as "The Ringer".
It's served at Guy Fieri's hamburger joint, located on all Carnival cruise ships.
The Ringer is a cheeseburger that comes topped with an onion ring and barbecue sauce.

Here's a typical Kellyn version of lunch on a Carnival cruise.
She has to eat gluten-free...  so, she skips the bun on the burger, and adds a salad.

But if you asked me about the best thing I ate during the week, it was actually on land, not on the ship...

Fajitas from Tijuanas restaurant in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Another delicious meal on land was these barbecued ribs at Lizzy's restaurant in Philipsburg, on the island of St Maarten

Our Favorite Part Of The Ship

Our favorite area on Carnival Celebration was at the aft end of deck 8, where there's a nice pool that overlooks the ship's wake.  Of the five pools on the ship, this was one of the quietest and least crowded.  From our cabin, it was a short, easy walk down just two flights of stairs to get to this pool.  We spent a lot of time here.

It was a great place to watch the sunset...

Internet Access

Something that really impressed me about Carnival Celebration is that the Internet access for extremely fast for a cruise ship.  The Internet worked better on this ship than just about any other ship I've been on.  Here are the results of a speed test:

That speed test was done at 11 AM on a sea day.  In other words, all 5000+ passengers on the ship were awake and onboard...  yet accessing the Internet was still fast and easy.  I was really impressed with this, especially since on our last Carnival cruise, on Carnival Panorama, Internet access had been particularly slow and difficult.

Need A Travel Agent?

Booking a cruise can be confusing, especially if you haven't been on many cruises before.  There are lots of first-time cruiser mistakes that a travel agent can keep you from making.

If you're interested in booking a cruise with any cruise line...  please feel free to use the services of my travel agent, Caitlin Gallagher.  She's extremely pleasant to deal with, easy to talk to since she lives in the United States and speaks without any kind of an accent, and quite experienced and knowledgeable about different types of cruising.  Caitlin is the owner of Ambren Travel.  Visit her web site, check out the Ambren Travel Facebook page, or contact her using the information below.

Other Cruise Ships We've Been On

If you've enjoyed this page, you would probably also enjoy reading my web pages about:

A Puget Sound cruise on American Constellation
A Cruise on Viking's new expedition ship, Viking Octantis
February 2022 cruise on one of our favorite ships, Carnival Panorama
A Cruise Up The Mississippi River on American Melody
American Harmony... our first river cruise!
A cruise to Iceland... our first cruise after the pandemic
Our first time on Carnival Panorama, January 2020
December 2019 cruise in The Haven on Norwegian Joy
May 2019 Carnival Horizon cruise
April 2019 Norwegian Breakaway cruise
January 2019 Caribbean cruise on the Viking Sea
December 2018 country music cruise on the Norwegian Getaway
May 2018 Panama Canal cruise on the Norwegian Bliss
January 2018 cruise on MSC Seaside in a suite with a private Jacuzzi
September 2017 Carnival Vista cruise in a Havana Suite
October 2017 Norwegian Sky cruise in the owner's suite
The $1600 per night owners suite:  January 2017 Norwegian Pearl
An Un-crowded Small Ship Experience:  Viking Star
One Of The Best Waterslides At Sea:  Liberty Of The Seas
Quite Possibly The Best Cruise Ship In The World:  Anthem Of The Seas
January 2017 Allure Of The Seas
One of the best cruise ships we've ever experienced: The Norwegian Escape
2015 Carnival Breeze back-to-back cruises
Back-to-back cruises on Independence Of The Seas
World's largest cruise ship: Allure Of The Seas
2015 Carnival Freedom repositioning cruise
Our first VIP cruise in The Haven: The Norwegian Getaway
Our June 2014 Alaska cruisetour with Princess
Our first cruise with Princess!  January 2014 Sapphire Princess
2014 back-to-back eastern/western Caribbean cruises on the Carnival Glory
The completely refurbished Carnival Sunshine
One of Carnival's best ships, the Carnival Breeze
A sister ship to the Breeze, the Carnival Magic
Our 2013 cruise on the Carnival Conquest
One of the oldest ships in the fleet, the Carnival Inspiration
Our first Caribbean cruise:  the Carnival Glory
Our many cruises on the Carnival Spirit
Our February 2010 cruise on the Carnival Splendor
Our January 2008 cruise on the Carnival Elation
Our April 2008 cruise on the Norwegian Star
Our first cruise!  1996 on Carnival Cruise Line's MS Holiday

Click here to see the complete chronology of all the cruises we've ever taken.

JimZim.net Main Page        Meet Jim Zim        Cruise Ships