Just the Facts:
Ship: Carnival Celebration is the 2nd of the new XL Class ship launched in 2022 at 183,500 Tons & 6500 max guest capacity.
Captain: Andrea Catalani - Hotel Director: Pierre - Cruise Director: Lee
Ports: Miami. FL - Amber Cove - San Juan - St. Maartin - Miami
This is only the 4th cruise sailing of the new Carnival Celebration and of course my 1st on her. I’m cruising with the Dear Wife (DW) on a B2B (back2back) for 15 days and have several friends and clients on these two cruises. This is my 108th and 109th Carnival cruises, and 192nd and 193rd cruises overall. We will sail 15 consecutive nights on board the new Carnival Celebration.
Sunday / December 4th, 2022 Embarkation / Day 1 
I finished packing early Sunday morning and we were off on our drive to Miami at about 6:45 am. We did the I-75 route crossing the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and south to Alligator Alley crossing the Everglades to the Atlantic coast. We drove into downtown Miami to Premier Cruise Parking arriving at about 11:00 am. The parking garage was very busy and by the time we were checked in and parked we had an hour wait to get a shuttle over to the pier. We saw old friends and made new friends in that long shuttle line. We finally arrived at the new Terminal F on cruise ship row at about 12:45 pm. From this point onward, it was a very smooth process. We checked one bag and I rolled mine on as usual. Then entered the Terminal and we did have a priority line for security and guest check-in. The Diamond lounge looked very nice but we proceeded directly through and boarded the ship. We ran into our cruise friends on deck six on the way to the aft elevators and our cabin. We arrived at our aft-facing balcony cabin on deck nine at about 1:20. Very nice to have a NEW cabin…very clean with no stains or wear and tear at all...very different from the recently sailed Carnival Pride. We have a huge balcony directly above the Summer Landing pool. It will be interesting and convenient being above the Summer Landing Area with a Bar, Lounge, entertainment, and BBQ (and secret breakfast) area. We went by our Muster Station F-7 on the way to the new Golden Jubilee Bar. This bar is a celebration of Carnival’s 50th birthday. It is decorated with Carnival ship memorabilia and the menu has old classic cocktails, very interesting. I saw several veteran Cocktail Servers and Friends while enjoying a couple of classic Mojitos. We went back to the cabin to enjoy the sail-away and fortunately, DW’s luggage had arrived so we settled in for the week. Our balcony was a fantastic location for viewing sail away and we also sailed at sunset … very special views of Miami, the other ships, the pool, and more. Enjoyed it. I met friends in our group at the Golden Jubilee (same location as the Brass Magnolia on Mardi Gras) then we had dinner in the MDR, the Festival Restaurant on deck 7. I had Tomato Soup, Sweet & Sour Shrimp, the Pollo Parmigiana Della Cucina (a great chicken farm dish from the Cucina de Capitano Menu) entree, and a fruit plate for dessert. I retired to the cabin and was soon asleep after this long and busy day. An overall fine embarkation day for the Carnival Celebration.
Monday, December 5th / Fun Day at Sea / Day 2 
Smooth seas overnight and I slept very well. Absolutely no noise at all from the Summer Landing area below our cabin location. I went down to Summer Landing for breakfast and was very disappointed…yes they had the (kind of secret) breakfast buffet, but the eggs, both Ham Benedict and Scrambled, were cold. Very cold. I don’t know why as they were warm on the Mardi Gras. They did have the grapefruit that I enjoy and I took some rolls, toast, peanut butter, and juices back up for DW and we enjoyed snacking on the balcony. Beautiful weather too. About mid-morning we decided to tour the ship starting from the top down so went up to the Serenity Deck on deck 18 forward. It was already packed with guests and hot tubs and the bar was very busy. We worked our way down to deck 17 and then the busy Lido deck 16. So far the same as Mardi Gras. We walked by the busy main swimming pools, the Red Frog Tiki Bar, and Blue Iguana, then through the Lido Marketplace all the way to the aft pool area. Our friends were there at a table so we visited with them and people-watched. It was amazing to see the long lines form at Big Chicken, it’s certainly no longer a secret for sure. We broke up at lunchtime. DW and I went to ChiBang for lunch. She ordered a vegetarian Tortilla Bowl and I ordered two Asian Noodle Bowls, a Chicken, and a Beef. Different style noodles and both were good; however, the beef one was exceptional IMHO. I will do this again. We went back up to 16 to continue our tour and actually sampled two items from Street Eats, I wanted to test the Thai food, and DW sampled the Fries. We watched an urban dance-off between guests organized by the DJ and Fun Squad. A lot of participants, but urban music is not my thing, certainly interesting to watch though. Continuing our tour we skipped the passenger decks down to the next stop: deck 8 and DW’s first visit to Summer Landing. Sitting there were our friends just finishing their BBQ lunch from Pig & Anchor. I did enjoy a Farmers Ale and it was great to see Nellie again behind the bar, she was excited to see me from the antics we had at the Pig on Mardi Gras. We finally had to break up our group as we’ll be meeting for cocktails prior and we older guests need a nap. Tour to be continued later. After cabin time we went down to the Golden Jubilee on deck 6 our designated meeting place for cocktail hour. I enjoyed a couple of Harvey Wallbangers as we visited our friends and were joined by other friends. The Captain and senior staff came by as they returned from the Center Stage and the Elegant Night Captain's Toast and greeted us as did many former cruise friends, staff, and acquaintances. A FUN time. We had six for dinner at Cucina de Capitano this evening. DW ordered Arancini, Caprese Salad, and Pasta Pomodoro and really enjoyed it as it’s not easy to get a proper vegetarian meal. I ordered Arancini, Nona’s Meatball, the wonderful grilled Pork Chop entree, and Tiramisu for dessert. Excellent dinner. FYI-now only one meatball is served on the Nona’s order. It was almost 10:00 pm by the time we finished, so no entertainment tonight, and back to the cabin for us. It was a very enjoyable Sea Day on the new Carnival Celebration.
Tuesday, December 6th / Amber Cove, Dominican Republic / Day 3
Wednesday, December 7th / San Juan, Puerto Rico / Day 4
Thursday, December 8th / St. Maarten, NA / Day 5 
Smooth seas overnight so no knocking and I slept very well. I woke in the night so updated the blog, the WiFi works very well on this ship. We were docked well before I woke again at about 8:30 am in the port of St. Maartin. Usually up to six ships here, but only the Celebration and three small ships today. I went up to the Blue Iguana for the first time, usually my favorite location for breakfast on Carnival ships. I had Huevos Rancheros with Pico de Gallo, Shredded Cheese, and Salsas. I also had an Arepas and took one back to the cabin for the DW. We went swimming in the Summer Landing Pool just below our balcony. More guests staying on board than yesterday, but friends were already there so we had a lounging area for the morning. Not that many actually in the pool though. Afterward, we had some cabin time before going to Big Chicken for a late lunch. After lunch, we had movie time watching Barefoot Contessa on TCM. I went to the Alchemy Bar for the first time. Of course, I knew all three Alchemists and there were friends from my Breeze travels there too. Nicola made me a nice cocktail and it was Fun. The Christmas Show was on the Center Stage this evening as well as the Amor Cubano production show in the Theater. A lot of Comedy Shows in both the Punchliner and the Limelight Lounge. I went by Miami Slice and brought a Pizza back to the cabin for a late-night snack/dinner…the pizza was good... MSC quality. It was another Fun stay-on-board the ship day on the Celebration.
Friday, December 9th / Fun Day at Sea / Day 6 
Rolling seas overnight and I slept well, I was up early so updated this blog, did some business, and paid bills…the WiFi continues to work well. I went down to Summer Landing for breakfast, the eggs were actually warm to hot, a huge change from Monday…in fact a good breakfast and not busy at all. The seas are too rough today for swimming in the pools. Nice sunshine and weather for outdoor activities, but not in the pools. Then busy with the Carnival Jubilee cancelation notices this morning. I had seven client bookings canceled as well as my transatlantic. Memories of the Mardi Gras cancellations. We met our friends for the Diamond Luncheon at 11:45 we had eight people in our group among the other 360 Diamond Guests. I ordered the Pork Belly, the NY Strip Steak x2 (photo), and Tres Leches for dessert. Both Bar & Food Service was very good. We decided to continue the party in the Golden Jubilee afterward and we had quite a party that continued until 8:00 pm. If you stay in one spot long enough everyone you know will eventually come by…I saw many past cruising friends, Diamond friends, and good friends. We even had pizza delivered using the Hub. Great FUN. Of course, I retired as soon as we returned to the cabin. It was a FUN day sailing the Carnival Celebration
Saturday, December 10th / Fun Day at Sea / Day 7
Rolling seas overnight, but not as bad as Friday. I slept very well and long as I needed to recover from the 8-hour party. We went to the Sea Day Brunch at about 10:30 am. I ordered the Steak & Eggs, Bacon, Hash Browns, Danish, Bloody Mary, Hot Milk, and the Assorted Cookies dessert for later in the cabin. We had a relaxing movie day in the cabin. Those old TCM movies are great and really the only decent TV channel available. I did an afternoon walkabout picking up our Celebration Pins and gifts (still the Koozies) and made a stop at Big Chicken before it closes at 5:00 pm. I made it to the Time Machine LED show by the Latitudes Bar on deck 6, it was interesting…something different for Carnival. We missed the Production shows this cruise, but plan on it for next cruise. I had cocktails tonight at the 820 Bar with Lidja one of my favorite Alchemists from the Breeze. They have some specialty cocktails (photo), I preferred the Mango 305 over the Key Lime Pie. My friends came by and they had done the same as me eating early on this final night of this cruise. I retired early to purchase my WiFi for the second week, almost forgot, and to preliminary pack as we are changing cabins. It was a good final sea day for the last day of this cruise.
Smooth Seas overnight and I slept well. We had been docked a while when I got up at 7:30 am and had a quick breakfast at Big Chicken as debarkation began. I then returned to the cabin to pack as we change cabins today. Fortunately, it’s just down the passageway from the current cabin with the same room steward. Since the guests left early we were able to get moved into the new cabin before our 9:00 am meet time for B2B’s. All of our friends were there and eventually, the 250+ B2B guests received their new cards and had new photos taken. At about 10:00 am we were off to Border control and the Facial Recognition system. All was well with our group and we were back on board before 11:00 am. We have coupons for the Welcome Cocktail and Photos so straight back to the new cabin. We quickly changed for the Summer Landing Pool hoping to get pool calisthenics in before guests arrived. We ended up in the Hot Tub…much warmer! I had Pig & Anchor BBQ for lunch, and DW had the Macaroni & Cheese with Pretzel roll. The BBQ was quite good, I didn’t have any last week. It really got busy so we returned to the cabin to unpack and set up for the next 8 days. We have a suite, really just a larger & longer cabin with a sitting area and two big screen Televisions. The bathroom is larger too. It will do. We met the group for cocktails in Golden Jubilee then had dinner in Cucina del Capitano. I had the Veal Marsala again as well as Arancini, Nonas Meatball, Minestrone Soup, and Tiramisu for dessert. We ate a bit early so that the group could see more shows on this cruise. They had a variety of Preview scenes at Center Stage and Amor Cubano in the Theater. A lot of music in various venues and Comedy in Limelight and in the Punchliner. A busy day for guests. It was a busy day for us as well on the Carnival Celebration.
Very smooth seas overnight and I slept well. A lazy cabin morning and I had fruit for breakfast. We had TCM movie time, Cool Hand Luke and I did some Monday morning business until lunch. We went to ChiBang for Noodle Bowls, not as much meat in the Beef Bowl as last week, but I did order two so it was fine…easy too. I did a walkabout, does seem as many guests outdoors as last week, perhaps a bit cooler. Along deck 8 seems to be the area most overlooked for both sunbathing and activities. Balcony time in the afternoon until we met our friends at Golden Jubilee for cocktails. Fun time...it's great to have good friends on board. We returned to ChiBang for dinner as it’s a completely different menu and we have not eaten there for dinner as yet. I ordered a lot and all of it was very good to excellent: Egg Drop Soup, Slow-Braised Pork Belly (much better than the Diamond Luncheon), Spring Rolls, Pot Stickers, the Kung Pao Chicken entree, Hakka Noodles, and Tres Leches for dessert. Also a very nice Lycée Martini...my favorite at a Chinese venue. We all split up for Casino, Center Stage feature show, or Cabin. The DW and I retired, and we are enjoying our suite very much. It was a restful sea day onboard the Carnival Celebration.
Slight rolling of seas just enough to rock one to sleep. We slept late and I again had Fruit for breakfast. Our friends are going to Jack’s Shack today. We are not going off the ship, we were just in Grand Turk a few weeks ago, and we enjoy the ship with fewer guests onboard. I did a nice walkabout the ship then did some work online. The beaches and water here are beautiful, you can see a lot of the island from the upper decks. We watched some classic black&white TCM movies with the Falcon, a Detective. We enjoyed them. For lunch we went to the Deco Deli, DW had Swiss Cheese on Rye bread (off menu), I had the #5-Reuben (classic) and a #9-Pan Con Lichon (Pork, onion, mojo sauce on Cuban Bread). We ate outside on deck 8, the under-utilized deck I have mentioned. Then sat at the Summer Landing pool on deck 8 enjoying the perfect weather an views of the beach…looks like a lot of people at Jack’s Shack, but a lot of new competition along the beach. We had an early dinner before Big Chicken closed for the evening. Then we sat outside on our balcony to watch the sunset and our brief sail-away. We only backed from the dock and anchored just off the beach for hours. We are close to our next port so perhaps the Captain wanted the protected waters for the big Circus Production show with aerial performances tonight, but who knows? Just seems very odd…I’ve never experienced it here. It was an easy relaxing day on the Carnival Celebration.
Wednesday, December 14th / Amber Cove, Dominican Republic / Day 11 of B2B
Smooth seas overnight, just enough action to rock you asleep. We slept late as we aren’t getting off the ship today. Fruit again for breakfast as I’m trying to limit some calories and still enjoy some unique food onboard. We did a walkabout the ship, the beaches and water are not as pretty as Grand Turk yesterday. I did some work from bed this morning and we have shade on the balcony so balcony time as well. I had my Spa day today getting a very nice pedicure and massage…I’m getting spoiled…my previous one was on the Carnival Pride. Afterward, I went for my first Guy’s Burger, it was busy as guests were already returning from Amber Cove, as we do leave early. My hamburgers were great as were the fries. We sailed at 3:50 pm and we watched from the balcony, the Spirit sailed just after we did. We sailed around the island and we could see Puerto Plata and two NCL ships docked there, It was a clear day and I could see the huge Christ Statue on top of the mountain. You have to know where to look. A beautiful sunset sail from Hispaniola (photo). We went to the Lido Marketplace for the first time for dinner. The selections were very good, I had Roast Beef from the Carving Station and two small NY Strip steaks plus side dishes. It was very good. The DW was able to find Salad and Rice for herself. We found a unique dessert, hard to describe, similar to a warm bread pudding but made from cereal with a sweet topping side. It was excellent. Lots of good entertainment tonight, but after that nice meal we decided to have a movie night. We watched the classic The More the Merrier (1943), and the comedy Out of the Blue (1947). I had never seen the 2nd and it was hilarious. We are enjoying TCM. It was another easy relaxing day on the Carnival Celebration.
Saturday, December 10th / Fun Day at Sea / Day 7
Sunday, December 11th / Embarkation Day / Day 8 of B2B
Monday, December 12th / Fun Day at Sea / Day 9 of B2B
Tuesday, December 13th / Grand Turk / Day 10 of B2B
Wednesday, December 14th / Amber Cove, Dominican Republic / Day 11 of B2B
Thursday, December 15th / San Juan, Puerto Rico / Day 12 of B2B 
Smooth seas overnight and I slept very well. We were entering the harbor as we woke this morning. We had a nice breakfast at Blue Iguana, I had my usual and the DW had a freshly Scrambled egg on a tortilla with queso. We left the ship at about 10:00 am for our day in OSJ (Old San Juan). We went along the harbor front and noticed them setting up for the Holiday Festival before we began our walk uphill. Our first stop was Marshall’s, I waited in the Park outside the main entry. (seems I recall doing that many times when I take friends on the OSJ tour. There are a lot of locals in the tourist areas, I suppose because of the Festival. The next stop was for a Diet Coke, Water, and a local Magnum beer on Fortaliza street. Visited a few shops before ouR stop at Catedral Basilica Menor de San Juan Bautista. We spent some time here as usual and I always visit Ponce DeLeon’s memorial located inside the Church. We walked down to the Puerta de San Juan (1635), the old iconic gate through the fortified walls. Now at sea level, we walked around the outer walls to Paseo de la Princesa, the 1853 urban European-style promenade. I love the fountain here, especially at night. Next was the Festival grounds and we saw the early vendors and displays. We purchased some great homemade cookies. When we got back to the Harbor Walkway we stopped at La Casita de Rones, the well-known small Restaurant on the Harbor. I’ve never been able to get in (long wait times) but with the attractive lady with me, we were able to score two seats at the Bar. DW had a frozen Margarita and I had the local Pina Colada. Very nice. The last stop was at Walgreens…we picked up toiletries, snacks, and Coca-cola. We were back on the ship by 4:00ish. We sat on the balcony and enjoyed the Regal Princess’ sail away. I love the theme of The Love Boat they play on the ship horns as they sail. Once they sailed we had a great cool breeze on our balcony. Yea! We enjoyed dinner in the Marketplace we went again this night. I had Ham from the Carving Station (excellent), Two small steaks, Broccoli, Breaded Cauliflower, and Rice…the DW had the Vegetables, Rice, and Salad. It was very good. For dessert, I had Bread Pudding. We retired to the cabin after getting in our 8000 steps today. It was a fine day in OSJ and the ship.
Friday, December 16th / St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands / Day 13 of B2B
Saturday, December 17th / Fun Day at Sea / Day 14 of B2B
Sunday, December 18th / Fun Day at Sea / Day 15 of B2B
Monday, December 19th / Miami Debarkation
Ship
The newest ship in the fleet with that new ship smell, so to speak. The XL class is a unique and great improvement for Carnival. The same basic design as the Mardi Gras with an extra staircase and new Zones and Bars.
Cabins
Week One: we had cabin 9507 an aft-facing balcony on deck 9. It has a huge balcony, but only two chairs and a table outside. The usual push button safe, queen bed, couch, two shelves, reading lamps at the bedside, a nice small refrigerator, bench at dresser/desk, and large screen TV. There are two large wardrobes and one set of drawers at the dresser. The bathroom is small and compact, but glass doors at the shower. Week Two: we had cabin 9459 a suite located just off the aft elevators and the same Cabin Steward. The balcony was not as large, but the cabin was much larger. The usual push button safe, queen bed, two shelves, reading lamps at the bedside, a nice small refrigerator, chair at dresser/desk, and two large screen TVs. There are two large lighted wardrobes and one set of drawers at the dresser. The bathroom was much larger with sliding glass doors at the larger shower…also premium toiletries. The best is the separate sitting area with a couch and vanity. Very nice.
Crew
Loved seeing all the veteran Alchemists on board. Our cabin steward Joven was very good and friendly. The wait staff in the MDR and specialty restaurants were also friendly and did a good job serving us. They usually do have the best crew members on the new flagship.
Dining / Food / Bars / Entertainment
The MDR food is the long-time standard Carnival menu, they have added 50th birthday throw-back classic dishes. The Specialty Restaurants are numerous and very good. My favorites were Big Chicken and Cucina de Capitano.
It was a FUN cruise on the new Carnival Celebration
