Our 3rd Annual Christmas Cruise (2025): A Day at Carnival’s New Celebration Key 🎄🏝️

For the third year in a row, we rang in the holidays at sea with our annual Christmas cruise — and this year came with a highly anticipated highlight: Carnival’s brand-new private island, Celebration Key, where we spent December 26th soaking up sunshine while winter storms wreaked havoc back home. Power outages, freezing temps… meanwhile, we were in the Bahamas. I’ll take that trade any day.

First Impressions of Celebration Key

Carnival truly knocked it out of the park with this island. From the layout to the food, drinks, seating, and overall vibe, Celebration Key feels thoughtfully designed for all ages. Even on a full holiday sailing with two ships in port (including the massive Mardi Gras), the island never felt crowded — which honestly amazed me.

There was ample free seating everywhere, near the lagoons, food areas, and walkways. This ended up being a big takeaway for us… but more on that later.

Our Over-the-Lagoon Cabana at Starfish Lagoon: Worth It? 🤔

We splurged on an over-the-lagoon cabana at Starfish Lagoon, which is on the more family-friendly side of the island. The cabana itself was beautiful — clean, spacious, shaded, with loungers, water access, and a safe.

However, the experience didn’t quite live up to the price.

Check-In Confusion & Location Issues

Right off the bat, things felt disorganized. We were sent to the wrong check-in hut, waited about 10 minutes, and then were told we had to walk another five minutes to a different hut to actually check in and get situated. Not the end of the world, but not ideal when you’re wrangling kids and expecting a premium experience.

We also weren’t allowed to choose our cabana location, and unfortunately, we ended up next to the least considerate group imaginable.

Neighbor Problems (a.k.a. Why Location Matters)

Despite being in a kid-friendly lagoon, the group next to us was doing shots nonstop while simultaneously letting their kids throw footballs in the water — then yelling at them for splashing. Instead of redirecting their kids elsewhere (in a huge lagoon with plenty of space), they sent them directly in front of our private cabana.

The result?

• Constant splashing

• Footballs repeatedly landing in our cabana

• Zero awareness or courtesy

  
  

To Carnival’s credit, once another attendant noticed what was happening, she alerted our cabana attendant, who did step in and address the issue, letting them know their kids were not allowed to play directly in front of private cabanas. That intervention helped, and we were grateful someone spoke up for us.

Cold Water + Shade = Missed Morning Fun

Another downside: the in-water loungers attached to our cabana were fully shaded, which made them unusable for the first half of the day. The lagoon pool is unheated, and with no sun hitting the water early on, it was ice cold. Not exactly the relaxing soak we had envisioned.

The BEST Part of the Cabana: Waterslides 🎢

The cabana did include all-day access to the Sandcastle waterslides, and that alone made it a win for Angelo.

He absolutely LOVED them.

We basically only saw him when he needed:

• A drink

• A snack

• A bathroom break

  
  

Otherwise, he was flying down those slides over and over all day long. Total highlight for him.

Luca, on the other hand, wasn’t feeling the slides and was much happier hanging out with us in the cabana — which worked out perfectly.

Kids Areas, Splash Pads & Island Fun

We took a walk to check out the kids’ splash pad area, and it was really well done — bright, spacious, and fun. It did close for a while in the afternoon (not sure why), but overall it looked like a great option for families.

There was also a fun parade with a marching band that passed through several times, which added a festive, lively atmosphere to the day.

Food Trucks, Vouchers & Seriously Good Eats 🌮🍩

The food trucks deserve a standing ovation.

Carnival provides everyone with a voucher that can be used for:

• A free meal or treat at the food trucks, OR

• 40% off a sit-down restaurant if you choose to forfeit the voucher

  
  

That’s incredibly generous.

What We Ate:

• Angelo & Luca: Warm mini donuts 🍩

  • Bonus: each came with a free snow cone, which they were thrilled about

• Tony & Me:

  • Jerk chicken tacos

  • Jerk chicken quesadillas

  • Both meals came with delicious chocolate chip cookies

    
    

Everything was fantastic — flavorful, fresh, and satisfying.

The drinks were great too, and Tony was especially happy to find a coffee shop on the island with iced coffee options (although they were unfortunately out of cold brew by midday).

Beaches, Adults-Only Area & Overall Island Layout

We didn’t make it to the beach this time since we had already spent a full beach day at Grand Turk, but from what we saw, it looked beautiful. We plan to explore it fully when we’re back in February.

We also didn’t visit the adults-only area, but it looked incredible from a distance — and every review I’ve read says it’s well worth the upgrade. If we weren’t traveling with the kids, I’d absolutely consider it for the added perks and atmosphere.

Would We Book a Cabana Again? Probably Not.

Because there is so much free, comfortable seating all over Celebration Key, the expensive cabana just wasn’t worth the cost for us.

Next time:

• We’ll skip the cabana

• Sit in the free areas (which were plentiful and nice)

• Rent extras à la carte (like waterslides or lockers)

• Save a significant amount of money

  
  

Important Tip for Carnival Pride Sailings ⏰

One thing we learned:Carnival Pride only stays at Celebration Key until 1:00 PM, meaning it’s a half-day stop.

That’s disappointing — especially since:

• The cabana prices were the same as our full-day visit on Mardi Gras

• But you get far less time

  
  

Because of this, we cancelled our February cabana reservation.

Our new plan:

• Grab seating near the splash pad area

• Be closer to the beach

• Enjoy the nearby smoothie/frozen drink bar

• Have an easier walk back to the ship when the short day ends

  
  

I do wish Carnival would reconsider Pride itineraries. I understand the logistics of returning to Baltimore versus Port Canaveral, but I’d love to see Celebration Key scheduled at the beginning of the cruise instead of the end so guests can enjoy a full day. Maybe that’s a future change — I hope so.

Final Thoughts 🌴

Despite the cabana hiccups, Celebration Key is absolutely stunning.

Carnival did an amazing job with:

• The island layout

• Food and drinks

• Shops

• Seating

• Activities for every age

  
  

And spending late December in the Bahamas while a massive winter storm knocked out power back home? That was the cherry on top.

We will happily return again and again — just with a little more knowledge and a little less splurging next time.

Sunshine over snowstorms any day. ☀️❄️

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