In March of this year, my family decided to take a last minute trip aboard the Carnival Celebration. At the time of writing (2026), this was the second newest ship in the Carnival fleet. It departs from Miami, Florida, one of my least favorite cruise ports (but I'll save that for another day . . . )
Because the port of Miami is so congested, we left the hotel in plenty of time to make it to the ship and board. We dropped off our rental car at the Miami airport around 8am, and then we took an Uber to the port. We had scheduled the Uber over a week in advance. I had read on many Facebook groups that was incredibly important - because of the construction, fewer Uber drivers are wanting to take guests there. Our driver told us that was correct. She said would take boarding passengers only until about 8:30 or 9, pick up a guest that was getting off the ship, and once she was done with that, she wouldn't do any more terminal drop-offs or pick-ups because of the hectic area. So take note—book your Uber in advance for early in the morning!
We arrived at the port close to 9am, checked our large bags with the luggage porters, and made our way to the area where people were lining up to board. The signage here we found to be confusing because we didn't see a sign for our selected arrival time. Many other people arrived incredibly early due to the traffic fear also, so the lines started growing quickly. They began to let us into the terminal around 10am, and then it was smooth sailing. We went through our check-in, had our documents verified, had our carry-on bags screened, and made it to the last waiting room before boarding. Then major storms hit and boarding was stopped. We sat in the waiting room for over 2.5 hours before we were allowed to board the ship. I have never had a problem like this when boarding. We heard multiple rumors that the delay was caused by lightning, a gangway issue, and a customs enforcement check onboard, but we never were able to verify what the hold-up was. But here's my thinking . . . a day waiting and boarding a ship is a better day than one at home!
Once we walked onboard, we quickly found our muster station and did our safety check-in. I highly suggest you find out where your station is prior to boarding and familiarize yourself with the ship map enough to know which direction you need to go to find your muster station. There are staff stationed around the ship, but you'll be one step ahead of everyone else if you have an idea of where or what deck yours is on.
Finally . . . lunchtime! When you board Carnival ships, they have a huge selection of lunch items. You can go to the main buffet, Guy's Burger Joint, Big Chicken, the pizzeria or deli, Blue Iguana Cantina, and this ship had several other complimentary options as well. We ended up going down to the Promenade deck and eating at Guy's Pig & Anchor, which offers different selections of BBQ, baked beans, mac & cheese, and other items. It is one of our favorites! Helpful tip: during the day, Guy's Pig & Anchor is outside the main restaurant on the side of the ship. (You literally have to walk outside to find it.) You walk up to the food line and tell them what you would like on your plate. In the evening, it becomes a complimentary sit-down option where you are seated at a table and a server brings you your drinks & food. Options are practically the same, the ambience is just a little different.
Rooms were ready around 2pm and we made our way to ours. This cruise we opted for 2 connecting interior rooms. Our plan was kids on one side, adults on the other . . . did that happen? No. It ended up being girls on one side, guys on the other, but this worked out for the best. We didn't have kids fighting all week!
Let's talk about the ship itself. It has plenty of Carnival ship offerings that you can find on almost every ship in the fleet - the Alchemy Bar, Red Frog Rum Bar, Punchliner Comedy Club, Cherry on Top, etc. But the set-up of the Excel Class ships is different. It has a much smaller main theater and a larger "Celebration Central." This is where most of the shows ended up being held. I was not a fan. Seating was incredibly limited and viewing was terrible if you weren't in the front 2 or 3 rows. I highly prefer the larger theater to this set-up. Because of this, we didn't see as many shows as we normally do (usually because seating was full by the time we got there!)
One of my favorite things about Carnival cruises is all of the activities that are offered on sea days. All day long, you can find Bingo, trivia, poolside music and games, dance parties, towel-animal folding seminars, port talks, and more. There is so much to keep you busy, and they truly offering things for every kind of person. My husband enjoys sitting by the main pool all day and watching all of the poolside activities. I usually stay there a few hours and then wander off to do other things.
I really enjoyed all of the different food options on this class of ship. (I always enjoy Carnival's food, but this ship had many different ones that I haven't seen before on the smaller ships.) Big Chicken was one of my favorites - and they offered buffalo sauce, which is a necessity with chicken tenders. 😆 My son always enjoys the pizzeria and Guy's Burger Joint. We ate Guy's Pig & Anchor multiple times. ChiBang is a specialty restaurant offered on this ship that's a fusion between Chinese and Mexican food. Your first time eating there is complimentary. We enjoyed it, but the restaurant was very busy and the portions were very small. I would not pay additional to eat there again.
One thing I really loved about this ship was the soda dispensers. In the past, I've had to go to a bar to request sodas, which is incredibly annoying and time consuming. This ship had soda fountains where I could scan my Sail & Sign card and then use the fountains myself. I loved this!!
Our itinerary took us to Roatan (Mahogany Bay), Cozumel, and Celebration Key. We had never been to Roatan before, and we really enjoyed it! We got there early and had no problem finding a seat at the beach. The restaurant on the beach had really good food and drinks, but it was pricey. I would definitely go back to this port.
Cozumel is one of those ports where you either want an excursion or just go into the port area to shop. We tried to venture out beyond the port area but were swarmed by people trying to sell things all day (my husband speaks Spanish and was able to get each one to leave quickly...it was just exhausting.)
Celebration Key is Carnival's newest port and it was gorgeous! The beaches were clean. The pool was huge (but cold!). The complimentary food options were great. We did find the beach to be somewhat rocky, so bring water shoes. The drinks were expensive and the onboard drink package doesn't work there, which is a bummer. The size of Celebration Key is massive. I went off to tour it alone and was gone for over an hour . . . and I only made it through half of the port area! Carnival did a great job with spreading everything out so no one feels crowded.
Overall, we enjoyed our time on the Celebration. The staff were friendly. The rooms were clean. The food was good, and I LOVED all the different food options. I did not like the setup with Celebration Central and the smaller theater. I prefer the old style of theaters with the long rows and tables for drinks. My favorite ship class is still the Dream class, but I would go on an excel-class ship again without hesitation.
Have you tried one of the excel-class ships: Mardi Gras, Celebration, or Jubilee? If so, what did you think? Would you go on it again?
