Celebration Cruise Line
#1
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Celebration Cruise Line
My wife surprised me with a short cruise to the Bahamas for a Christmas present, with a 2 nights stay at the Grand Lucayan Lighthouse point on Grand Bahama. Started reading reviews about Celebration Cruise, and wish I didn't. Not good. To me any trip is a good trip. Never been on a cruise before, so probably wouldn't know a bad one. Any comments on how to make it the best possible cruise?
We've stayed at the Grand Lucayan before, when it was Our Lucaya, had a wonderful time, but I'm not sure that Lighthouse Point is on the same property. Any info on that? Their website is unclear.
We've stayed at the Grand Lucayan before, when it was Our Lucaya, had a wonderful time, but I'm not sure that Lighthouse Point is on the same property. Any info on that? Their website is unclear.
#3
Join Date: Jun 2004
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Celebration offers more like transportation rather than a real cruise. It's on a very old ship with few amenities, but you leave west palm in the evening and arrive grand Bahamas in the morning. It's pretty cheap, so it's not such a bad deal. Having a couple of days on the island is ideal. It's should be a decent short getaway.
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I went on this cruise last fall with a group of 3 couples. The most important thing is to go with an open mind & reasonable expectations. It is an older ship with signs of wear and tear but it is spotlessly clean, the staff tries very hard to please and we were pleasantly surprised with the food quality. We had a lot of fun and luck in the casino and given the super low price we paid for the cruise, ended up making money that weekend!!
We spent an afternoon at Lucayan Resort but I'm not sure where the Lighthouse Point property would be. Hopefully your wife didn't book this trip tied into a timeshare pitch....?
One tip I would suggest is before you leave home, log on and request the dining room for both of your nights onboard the ship. Then print out your confirmation and bring it with you. Otherwise, they will tell you that you must eat at the buffet one night and will only be allowed into the dining room one night. We found the dining room much more appealing.
A lot of the poor reviews are people who either get wound up in the timeshare deal and other folks that go expecting the same experience the "big" cruise lines offer....it's just not that caliber but as long as you don't over pay, it is an excellent value and can be a great little getaway. It's kind of like going to Holiday Inn and complain that it's not as nice as The Ritz.....
Have fun!
We spent an afternoon at Lucayan Resort but I'm not sure where the Lighthouse Point property would be. Hopefully your wife didn't book this trip tied into a timeshare pitch....?
One tip I would suggest is before you leave home, log on and request the dining room for both of your nights onboard the ship. Then print out your confirmation and bring it with you. Otherwise, they will tell you that you must eat at the buffet one night and will only be allowed into the dining room one night. We found the dining room much more appealing.
A lot of the poor reviews are people who either get wound up in the timeshare deal and other folks that go expecting the same experience the "big" cruise lines offer....it's just not that caliber but as long as you don't over pay, it is an excellent value and can be a great little getaway. It's kind of like going to Holiday Inn and complain that it's not as nice as The Ritz.....
Have fun!
#5
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Thanks rattravlers, that puts a great perspective on the trip. For me pretty much any travel is good travel, so I expect we would have a great time even if it were an old beat up ferry boat.
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Just as a follow up, we really enjoyed the trip on the Celebration. Food was decent, room was great with ocean view out the window. The only down side, and this was not the cruise lines fault, is that it was spring break week, so the pool and bars were taken over by partying college kids and posers. Still had a good time, it changed my mind about cruises - prior to this I wouldn't have considered a cruise as a vacation, now I'm looking into another (cheap) cruise for this winter.