We sailed on the Bahamas Celebration out of the Port of Palm Beach. This cruise is extremely affordable, with cabins as low as $99 per person for the two day cruise! It's a smaller ship with less amenities that the bigger cruise lines have to offer, but since you're only on the ship for two nights, there is enough to do to keep you entertained.
Our boarding experience was quick and painless. The entire Bahamas Celebration staff--from boarding to dining, cabin stewards to cruise directors--were all extremely friendly and helpful. They made us feel welcome and pampered from the moment we arrived until the moment we left. I cannot say enough good things about the service we received.
Once on board, we were treated to a buffet style Welcome Aboard lunch at the Rio's restaurant. We ate at Rio's once for lunch and twice for breakfast. Honestly, the food at Rio's was not that great. It was basically the same experience and quality that you would have at the Golden Corrall. Lots to choose from, but nothing tastes as good as it sounds.
After lunch, we found our cabin and discovered our bags were delivered to the room while we ate. The cabin was small, as expected. I was pleasantly surprised with the bed. It was queen sized and comfortable! The bed was actually more comfortable than some hotels that I've stayed in, so that was a plus. Also, it seemed like little fairies were in our room to fix things. Every time we left the room and came back, someone had been in to tidy things up while we were gone. They even offered a turndown service, which is the one thing I wish I could take home with me but couldn't.
We headed up to the top deck to sit by the pool and enjoy some music. They had the pool deck split into a kids area and an adult only zone. I really appreciated that! The adult area had two pools, two bars, and two hot tubs. The pools were incredibly small--only about 10 people could fit in each one. It was too cold to swim, though, so that didn't matter too much.
Then it was time for diner. The first night we ate dinner in The Crystal Dining Room. This was the fancier of the dining options on board. They served a full five course meal. I had prime rib that was so succulent it's making my mouth water right now. The food in the Crystal Dining Room was superb. I wish we could have eaten there more than once, but you are only able to eat there one time during your cruise.
After dinner, we headed to The View nightclub for an evening of entertainment. The entertainment for the first night left a lot to be desired. Quite frankly, it was awful. There was a lounge singer--Linda something--who couldn't carry a tune. There was also a comedian whose name I didn't catch who was awful. I did not laugh once. Maybe if you were a bitter man-hating divorcee, you might find her slightly amusing, but even that is a long shot. The one good act of the first night was Cirque Vertigo. They were a duo who performed circus type stunts. This was even more impressive given the fact that the ship was rocking so much due to high winds. They were very entertaining!
From there, we moved on to the Ocean Breeze Lounge where a karaoke contest was happening. I came very close to participating, but just as I was about to, a very large and very loud crowd of drunken teenagers (the drinking age is 18 at sea) came in and took over. That was our cue to leave and retire for the night.
When we woke up in the morning, we were already docked at Freeport, Grand Bahamas. We took a charter bus to the Our Lucaya Beach Resort and spent the day there. This was the best part of the trip! The resort was absolutely gorgeous. They had an entire section of the resort reserved just for passengers of the Bahamas Celebration, which was great because there was plenty of room and you didn't have to fight for a lounge chair or beach space. The white sandy beach was so soft and the water was so blue. Just look at the pictures--words cannot describe how blue! It was beautiful. We spent the morning soaking up the sun, and then had a buffet lunch at the resort. After lunch, we walked over to the Port Lucaya Marketplace and wandered through the straw market. We picked up some handmade souveniers and had a good time chatting with the Bahamian ladies. Then it was back to the resort for more tanning and relaxation.
We got back to the ship just in time for dinner. Our reservations were at Rio's but since we weren't impressed with the food there and we didn't feel like being forced to small talk with strangers sharing a table with us, we decided to give La Trattoria a try. This was the pizzeria on board. It wasn't the best quality pizza ever, but it was still tasty and we loved being able to eat just the two of us without any forced socialization. We had their strawberry cheesecake for dessert, and it was yummy!
The entertainment the second night was so much better than the first! There was a magician who was both funny and had some good tricks. Then Cirque Vertigo was back for a second show with new stunts. The best entertainment by far came from comedian Steve Zimmerman. He had us laughing out loud the whole time! My favorite were his jokes about the ship itself. ("My room is so small, I put the key card in and broke the mirror!"). Great stuff!
And that's it! Lots of fun packed into two days. Would I do it again? In the words of Steve Zimmerman, "Not on this ship!". I might give a second thought to a much larger ship, but the jury is still out on that one. I've now been off the ship for over 24 hours and I STILL feel seasick. But despite the seasickness and rough seas, I'm really glad I decided to enjoy the experience and do all the activities anyway. It was a great trip!
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