Celebration Day 5 : Roatan

Day five and our favorite port. To be honest, Roatan, Honduras is the main reason we booked the Celebration for the week that we did. When we first started dating, Cory went to Mahogany Bay with his family and could not stop talking about the beauty of the island so on our honeymoon cruise in 2021, we went to Roatan and absolutely loved the views. We loved the bright colors, and the experience we had ziplining through the jungle. So we knew we had to go back!

On day five, we woke up early. We were excited to get off the ship and I was excited to explore Mahogany Bay. We grabbed breakfast at Blue Iguana and Shaq's. The best part of eating on a cruise is you can really find anything you want to eat at all hours of the day! If I am honest, today was the fastest we decided on food and ate and if you know Cory that's a huge success!

In our years of cruising, we have learned if you want a good seat on the free beach it is very important to get off the ship early. So we did just that! We headed off the ship almost as soon as it was announced that the gangway was open with our beach bags packed and ready to go! We decided to get the day pass for the chair lift, which took you from the main port area to the beach. It was worth the $15 a person for a day pass to not have to walk over a mile to the beach and back, plus the views on the lift were absolutely stunning! The chair lift took us to an area of cabanas. We knew there were free loungers available so we decided if it was free it was for us… so we went exploring!

It only took a short walk down the beach. We found some public beach chairs and claimed our spots for the morning. Mahogany bay is a private cruise port for Carnival and Princess Cruises, and luckily we were the only ship at port so there was a lot of space for us to take advantage of. When we sat down our seat was shaded so there weren’t many people around at that time. We found our sunscreen and books and took advantage of the quiet. The relaxing was short lived for Cory as he had to test out the water. Remember how I said it was shaded? So was the water at the early morning hour we were there… the water was cold!!

Once the sun came up and over the trees, I was able to try out the ocean! It was much warmer then when Cory originally tried going in. I enjoyed a few minutes in the water before deciding it was time to find the bar and enjoy a cold beer (or two)! Our cruise motto is if the bar is open that means we can enjoy a beverage no matter the time! We took our drinks back to our seats and enjoyed the sun before heading back in the ocean for a little longer. While we were out there, one of the crew members was walking around offering a professional picture. We rarely get professional pictures on a cruise but finding someone to take quality pics at port tends to not happen for us.

After having drinks, some quality sunshine and of course relaxing, it was time to head to the shops to get our souvenirs! We took the chair lift back and took in the amazing views of the Carnival Celebration and the jungle views! We explored many shops for a simple vacation t-shirt, and I was so bummed with the cost of all the shirts we found. I finally found a clearance section with an oversized t-shirt, my favorite type of vacation top!

With beach time and shopping complete, it was time to head back to the ship for some food! We do not usually eat off the ship unless the meal is included in our excursion, we like to save money on food and drinks and take advantage of experiences, souvenirs and of course casino money for Cory. Once on board it was time for lunch! We headed up to the Lido deck for some tacos at Blue Iguana and fresh watermelon!

Next stop was the adults only Serenity Deck to continue relaxing and taking in the beautiful views. The best part of the Serenity Deck on Carnival Celebration is that it is on the top floor and you are surrounded by the beauty of each port. While taking in the views, we found seats that Cory could enjoy the view while I could enjoy my book! If you couldn’t tell, this vacation was truly supplied by books and relaxing!

Spending the morning and some of the afternoon in the direct sun, it was time for me to take a nap in the room. Typically on cruises, I take a nap a day but on this trip I was seriously slacking on my nap time. I opened the balcony door, turned on HGTV and passed out. If you have been on a cruise, you know that TV channels are limited so HGTV tends to be the only one we put on in our room.

I woke up just in time to get ready for dinner. We decided on the main dining room for tonight. We loved our wait staff and loved hearing about their days and sharing ours with them! We had to ask them to serve dinner faster than usual since we had plans to head to Deal or No Deal and still had to buy our tickets to participate. The best part is, they were able to serve us so quickly and get dinner and dessert to us with no problem at all!

With a quick dinner, it was time to head to Center Stage for Deal or No Deal. This is the one show Cory always wants to be chosen to play. Unfortunately, this trip he did not get a chance to play on stage but we did get to play on our own cards at our seats. BUT we lost both rounds, no free bingo package, no free cruise, just a few bruised egos.

No shows were scheduled for this night except for Deal or No Deal. The piano bar was not open until 9:00 so we had to get creative with our time. We decided to explore outside, we had spent a lot of time outside during the day at the pool but we hadn't taken in a lot of the nighttime views. We were SHOCKED when we went outside and the wind was intense. I was glad to have handrails and Cory to fall into. We grabbed a drink at a bar, saw a few young drunk guys taking shots and went inside for our next great adventure.

Luckily for us, it was time to get into the piano bar! We hung out a lot with Tatsu on this cruise, enjoying her music and people watching. But it was quiet tonight so we decided to have a nightcap on our balcony to take in the wind.

With our favorite port behind us, it was time to head to bed and get ready to enjoy two sea days. Sea days are all about relaxing and taking in the ocean views all around us. Come back to see how we spent days 6 and 7 out at sea and learn more about why we love cruising!