I recently took an awesome girl’s cruise to the Bahamas. This included the newly opened port of Celebration Key. Celebration Key is Carnival Cruise Line’s newest destination. This private port is on Grand Bahama Island and is exclusive to Carnival guests but is not a private island as some people believe.
This port does offer a very long pier, so no tenders. And electric carts as do come around offering transportation. You are greeted by a massive, 10-story sandcastle, with water slides, of course. A large sign with the Celebration Key logo in front for photo ops and a water fountain is at the entrance before things begin to split off. There are several different areas that include kids, adults only, food trucks and shopping.
My group chose the adult only, reserved area called Pearl Cove. For this area, you pay a fee for access. We were met with fruit infused water and cool washcloths, which were amazing on the face and neck in the crazy heat! The staff carried our bags to our chairs and mad sure our group was sitting together. As you approached the area, you were surrounded by pink striped umbrellas and sunchairs that opened to a huge infinity pool and beach leading to a spectacular view of the ship. The options were access, access with drink package and access with drinks and lunch. Among the group, we had all 3. My mom and sister don’t drink, so we went with access only. Any drinks I wanted I just paid for, as I wasn’t going to drink enough to make the package worth it. Many drinks are still charged for even with the drink package, as we found out.
The friends that got lunch included said it was the best food they had the whole trip. It was served in the sit-down restaurant that is right on the Pearl Cove area. Part of going to Celebration Key is access to several food trucks and other options. Each of them offers an included menu to choose from and other options for upcharge. We enjoyed the mini donuts the most.
This was a full day of feeling spoiled at a beach club. We spent almost the entire time in the water because when we were there the heat was crazy! I would absolutely recommend this as an option for anyone who is an adult looking to relax and get away from the kids and crowds. I know many people will say why spend money when you could have had a free port with no excursions? But to us, this was worth the peace and quiet, was not even close to being crowded (two ships were in port at the same time), and who doesn’t want a bougee beach club experience?? If I end up at this port again, without question Pearl Cove will be my choice!
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