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    Navigating the Madness of a Carnival Celebration Cruise – A Middle-Aged British Couple’s Adventure!



    We had heard so many different opinions about cruising with Carnival. It is loud, chaotic and brash and that we would definitely have to leave our British inhibitions at home. We decided that there was only one way to find out and that was to try it for ourselves. So we booked a 7 night cruise sailing out of Miami on the Carnival Celebration. Our itinerary included Amber Cove Dominian Republic, San Juan Puerto Rico, and St Maarten.

    In this vlog series we cover all the entertainment, food, and facilities on board. We discuss the service, passenger mix, and let you know what is included in your cruise fare and also what is going to cost you extra!

    Watch our vlog series to find out if it all just proved too much!

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    About Paul and Carole Love to Travel
    We are a married middle aged couple from Gloucester, England who share our tips, advice and experience on how you can choose the right cruise line, cruise ship snd cabin. Cruising is expensive so we use all our experiences to give the best tips and advice so you can make the right choice too!

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    33 Comments

    2. Joan Freestone on

      I enjoyed the video but I can see that Carnival is not for me. Too crowded and noisy but I know a lot of people like the party atmosphere. I'm a Cunard fan. It's great that you've been able to cruise with so many different cruise companies.

    3. Solo Sue Travels on

      i agree, the straws on Carnival ships are nasty. Having learned my lesson, I now bring my own reusable straws when I sail with them. We had to stop at a port and pick some up, they were so bad.

    4. Jessica Munoz on

      Loved your video. American here! All specialty restaurants on Carnival will charge an 18% gratuity on top of the price of the meal. Also even with Cheers, you will be charged a small tax while in US waters. That tax goes to the US county you were currently in when the drink was rung up. Once you hit INTL waters that goes away. There shouldn’t be any other unexpected charges.

    5. Betty Collins on

      Wow, I have never seen you two so animated about a cruise! Your enjoyment is jumping out of the screen. Fabulous to watch, and realised I had a constant smile on my face! The view from the aft cabin looks amazing. One question: was there any vibration from the propellers? I have been on smaller ships and spoken to people in aft cabins who always mentioned this as an irritating factor. Cannot wait for the next instalment. 😍

    6. Harrison Jones on

      First time watching your videos. Loving your Britishisms and the perspective here at a very American experience: Carnival Cruises. From which part of the UK do you hail? ( My first job out of college was in Dorset UK, though I'm very American.)

    8. Diana Carragher on

      Hello Paul & Carole Carnival is not for me I prefer a more refined atmosphere however a lot of fun I like smaller ships too but they maybe a thing of the past.

    11. solongsofa on

      Those straws sound awful. I bet they're made out of gelatine or cellulose 🤢 I have a metal straw I take when I travel. It comes with a little cleaning brush like a mascara wand. Maybe look into getting one of those 💚

    13. Cheri Furr on

      Glad embarkation was good; cabin & aft balcony look great, but I’m American and have more inhibitions than that! 😂 Probably more quiet at the aft. I The Hub sounds good, different restaurant choices good, but they gave you the wrong order at ChiBang, Paulie! That is a good idea to know you can get things from other restaurants. 6,000 people, a fun button and LOUD is my idea of a nightmare! Plus everything is extra, plus tax and gratuity, which is ridiculous. A drinks package should include EVERYTHING! I like my daily planner delivered the night before. Carnival is known for party ships, and think that’s the crowd they draw. Glad you enjoyed the sail party, welcome party, and the entertainment at the welcome party. If I could stand the HUGENESS, I’d enjoy the entertainment. Nice to have a large and varied entertainment troupe. Not good to have to go through the casino to get out of a restaurant, especially where smoking is allowed. Great for that lady to win $10,000, though! Lovely moonlight shots, and glad you had a lot of enthusiastic staff. “Spanking’ the drink package” – love it! I like a Japanese steakhouse, but wouldn’t like the singing at the tables… Straws sound gross… Disney people go WAY overboard on their cabin doors. They do help you find your cabin on a big ship, though! I’d never sit in the front row of a comedy club or get up during a performance! 😂

    16. Andy Turner on

      In our house, we wash and reuse our plastic straws. There are pipe cleaners one can use to assure proper cleaning, so plastic straws don't have to be thrown out if one is willing. I hate paper straws.

    17. APG X on

      Hi guys! Haven’t got to watch any of your blogs as ages, so took time out to watch this one. As always very entertaining, thank you. X

    23. Kay Pea on

      Most of the US-based brands (NCL, RCCL, Carnival, etc) have comedians and/or Comedy clubs on them. Hit or miss as to how funny or not they are. For example, when I went on the NCL Escape in 2019, the Comedians had me in stitches. When I went in 2022 on the NCL Prima, the comedian had to resort to a type of jazz hands to indicate he made a joke. It was PAINFULLY awful.

    24. The braz on

      It’s not my crowd and I just can’t get past that they are counting drinks so I wouldn’t ever go on carnival again

    25. pearly on

      Hi Carole and Paul. lovely to see you both.. Not been on YouTube for some time.. Love the vlogs, so informative and as always, with a great sense of humour.. love it. I know when I was in Florida 1989!!! Even then, I said that, you need extra cash, just to tip everyone..They expect it.. Even just serving you a drink they want a tip.. Now it's tax added on.. crazy.. 😮

    26. Steven Smith on

      I'm not half way thru and I had to subscribe just for yall humor and personality. I'm going on my first cruise at 47 with my two teen kids M15F18 in one week and am binging Carnival cruise
      experience content.

    27. Dana Sandoval on

      Carnival is not our cup of tea either. We just got off the Celebration a few weeks ago. Don’t get me wrong we like a drink but that isn’t our primary idea of entertainment. The ship is confusing and there are no signs where things are just the info by the elevators. The food was hit and miss mostly miss, crew was unfriendly except for our cabin steward, entertainment was bad. We have already booked our next cruise back on Royal Caribbean which we prefer.

    29. John Fellows on

      Welcome to the fun ships! It sounds like you're enjoying Carnival more than Azimara. My wife and I love Carnival. We've logged more than 20 cruises and over 200 nights on Carnival ships. We've done 14 nights already this year and have 21 coming up in Carnival Pride sailing out of Dover and 30 days on the Carnival Luminosa from Seattle to Brisbane, Australia later this year. We have traveled extensively on one other cruise line, but every time we think of branching out, we go back to Carnival. Their cruises are truly fun. I do hate the mandatory gratuities on drinks and the lack of a kettle in the cabin, but that's life.

    30. Rae Birchall on

      We have been on a lot of Princess cruises out of Ft Lauderdale and have never paid tax when we have a drinks package or if we did not have a drinks package as Princess belong to carnival you would think they have the same charges, the drinks package on Princess service charge is included in the drinks package price. I don't like paper straws either as they go soggy I have bought some metal ones and take my own with me now as like you Carol I like to keep stirring my drink.

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