Carnival Celebration (Nov 2022)
Reason for booking: I’ve always wanted to do a TransAtlantic cruise. After seeing a good (non-casino) rate, as well a cheap direct flight ($296) to London from my local airport, and enough PTO (after our 30 days in Europe this past summer), I jumped on this opportunity! Being Carnival’s flagship was an added bonus! My family couldn’t join me on this sailing so I went solo and met up/made new friends onboard!
Embarkation (Southampton): Since this was the Maiden Voyage and the ship was in from shipyard build (Finland), there were no guests that were disembarking before us. Christine Duffy (CCL President) and John Heald made an appearance in the Southampton Cruise Terminal, came on the mic and the ribbon-cutting. I personally met with John, Mrs Duffy, Mr Aldofo Perez, Mr Pierre Camilleri, and Mike Pack onboard on embarkation day (then with others like Calvyn, Captn Vincenzo, Doug Parker on other days during the sailing). Never met so many in one sailing! My cabin was ready upon embarkation with my S&S card was outside my door. Being the maiden voyage, it was a unique experience being the first person to use that cabin, sleeping on that mattress, using that shower and toilet. Speaking of toilet, I noticed they fixed the position of that TP which is now on the side (vs behind like on the MG)! 
Got to meet Trevor (fantastic FunSquad and Comedy club host), and Lee Mason (wonderful CD!). We were also reminded by them on embarkation day like when we were sitting in the theater or comedy club that ‘you all are the first people to sit in that chair!’.
Entertainment: I really feel like Carnival and Calyvn (the Ent. Director) got us the best singers and performers (like Marcus Anthony, Jonathan Timpanelli, Kate Lindemen), as well as other great entertainers, like a Magician (Phil Hitchcock), Impressionist (Karen Grainger), Juggler (Sideshow Bert), Ventriloquist (Don Bryan), Hypnotist (Acid), plus some new shows like the Most Magnificent Circus, and some bonus stuff from Calvyn like the Liar’s Club. Oh I can’t forget about comedy, with some great comedians like Happy Cole, Cee Jay Jones, Caroline Picard, Tim Young, Thomas Brown, and 6 others (Billy Washington, Merl Hobbs, Jill Kimmel, Percy Crews 2, Jim Brick, Lisa Alvarado). Family Feud was fun to watch!
Other Activities around the Ship: Besides the regular stuff like Trivia and Bean Bag challenge, we had Academy of Fun with Tom Parks (stuff like Photography, Astronomy, Wine, Being An Adventurer and not as Tourist, etc), Maritime Q&A with the Senior Officers, Adult Game Night, Pickleball, Soccer Tournament, and also Throwback Seadays (ship building race on lido pool, etc). 80’s Rock-N-Glow Party, Tiki Fest, White Hot Night Party, Mega Deck Party, etc.
Dining: I had a personal goal that I set for myself before the sailing to hit every single dining venue on the ship, and mission accomplished! I kept track of all the different restaurants and put a check-mark when went to each one (I included a picture in the end with a list of them all). I think Chibang was my favorite from the free ones, and Teppanyaki for the specialty, but really enjoyed them all. For the Chef’s Table, we were able to go inside the galley and see one of the Chef’s do and explain how to do the Chocolate melting cake (something we were not able go inside the galley on the Pride during our Chef’s Table this past summer).
Interesting Stats (from the Q&A): From what I recall from the Maritime Q&A and info shared from Pierre Camilleri— we had 4512 guests onboard, with 1800 crew members (~75% men), in ~900 something crew cabins. Top crew countries: Indonesia, Philippines, India, Peru, and Italy. And 1 Malta (Pierre himself 
). Food loaded from Finland, Southampton, and La Corona (Spain). $2.5M food orders, $850K beverage supplies. $4.2M in other supplies (TP, uniform, etc). Wow.
Other Stuff Onboard (Sea days, Casino, Bolt etc): We had a total of 9 sea days (7 back-to-back sea days from our last port of call in Canary Islands to Miami). As far as crowds and congestion, really didn’t feel it was crowded or long lines anywhere, with plenty of seating (indoors and outdoors), with the exception of Grand Central for the popular shows in Center Stage. We changed our clocks ~6-7 times during the sailing (around 2am on various nights, communicated well beforehand), each time for 1 hour back as we were sailing west, which means we had like 6-7 25 hour days 🙂 One advantage of doing a Western TA vs an Eastern. Quick note on the Casino (I’m not a casino player myself)- it is split smoking and non-smoking side, and those dividers/firewall between them really helps since can’t smell the smoke in the non-smoking side. BOLT the roller-coaster onboard is super fun! We did face some rocky seas (high winds and 20 ft swells first few days as we crossed the English Channel and down the Bay of Biscay to our 1st Spain port), but the rest of the way/actual crossing was smooth sailing.
Ports of Call (A Coruña, Vigo, Madeira, Tenerife Canary Islands): Great ports! In A Coruña I walked around all over (12 miles 25K steps) and got some great shots. Felt very safe, went to couple different coffee shops/restaurants, talked to the locals. In Vigo, did a small group tour to Biona, enjoyed the picturesque medieval town and walked along the Galician terraced houses followed by a walking tour in Vigo. Was able to buy alcohol from a local supermarket and brought it on the ship with no issue. In Madeira, wow what a beautiful island! From the views of the ship surrounded by those mountains. Did a sidecar private tour, where my guide took me and 2 friends (in 2 motorcycles) to Curral das Freiras “Nun’s Valley”, Calhelta (saw the banana plantations, Madeira Wine, sugar cane), then “Cabo Girao” (one of the highest cliffs in the world). One of the best tours I have done in ANY port (from over 45+ different ports of call been to). Then had them drop us off at the entrance of the cable car, where we bought our tickets, took the cable car up the mountain, and then the fun toboggan ride down! We stopped at a local restaurant with great views for some drinks (Madeira wine ofcourse!). Then last but not least, in Tenerife Canary Islands, did a small group tour where we went over 7000ft up to Teide National Park with some amazing and unique views from up there, before we headed back down and visited La Laguna cute town.
Feeling very blessed and grateful to have done this sailing!!
