We’ve taken several trips with Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), and really enjoy the experience of The Haven, a ship-within-a-ship concept that NCL pioneered in 2005 and many other cruise lines have since duplicated. Haven guests have exclusive access to restaurants, bars, lounges and public spaces in the Haven area, and priority access to restaurants, shows and other attractions on the rest of the ship. It’s a way of making a mega-ship feel less busy and more intimate. Admittedly, these ships remain truly massive.

For our most recent cruise, we decided to try Celebrity Cruises instead. Celebrity also has a well-executed ship-within-a-ship concept, The Retreat, with similar amenities. In comparing the two, NCL bested Celebrity in several areas: the Celebrity Ascent has limited outdoor dining compared to the NCL ships, doesn’t have diversions such as water slides and go-kart racing, and the Retreat lounge and restaurant were rather uninspiring. But despite these drawbacks, we ended up preferring the Celebrity experience more. The Ascent felt less crowded and hectic, we could get dinner reservations anywhere at the last minute, and gym space was plentiful. The Celebrity butlers also have much greater autonomy to arrange dinner reservations and excursions, whereas on the Norwegian ships we often wasted time lined up to speak with The Haven concierge.

Our cruise took us from Port Everglades, Florida to St. Maarten, where we explored the island and got some thrills riding the Flying Dutchman, billed as the steepest zipline in the world. In St. Lucia and Barbados we filled a gap in scuba diving there, an activity we couldn’t partake in when we visited on Dirona due to Jennifer’s broken collarbone. On our final stop we explored Antigua’s naval history and took in some of the island’s dramatic natural beauty.

Below are highlights from November 20th to 30th, 2025. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a map with our most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.

11/20/2025

Guitar Hotel Position: 26°4.64’N, -80°13.84’W The 35-story Guitar Hotel in Hollywood, Florida, viewed en route to Fort Lauderdale for a Caribbean Cruise. The landmark building opened in 2019 is part of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

Burlock Coast Position: 26°7.37’N, -80°6.25’W Dinner overlooking the beach at Burlock Coast in the Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale, where we are spending the night before taking a Caribbean cruise.

Ritz-Carlton Position: 26°7.40’N, -80°6.29’W Enjoying a post-dinner drink with a view to the Intracoastal Waterway on the balcony of the Club Lounge at the Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale before tomorrow’s Caribbean cruise.

11/21/2025

Dawn Position: 26°7.39’N, -80°6.26’W The dawn sky over the Atlantic Ocean viewed from our room at the Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale.

Celebrity Ascent arriving into Fort Lauderdale Position: 26°7.39’N, -80°6.27’W Our ship, the Celebrity Ascent, arriving into Fort Lauderdale at dawn. We’ll be embarking later this morning.

Breakfast Position: 26°7.39’N, -80°6.27’W Breakfast on the terrace of our room at the Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale. At 9am it’s already sunny and hot.

Port Everglades Position: 26°5.76’N, -80°7.46’W Entering Port Everglades to board the Celebrity Ascent for a Caribbean cruise. The last time we were here was nearly a decade ago for Fleet Week.

Eden Position: 26°18.80’N, -80°4.60’W A sunset dinner at Eden, at the stern of the Celebrity Ascent, as the lights of Fort Lauderdale dwindle in the distance. The Celebrity Ascent has several excellent restaurants, but we favored Eden for its wonderful views.

Steve Caouette Position: 26°9.81’N, -79°26.41’W Comedian Steve Caouette put on an entertaining but rather unusual show on the Celebrity Ascent. Instead of just telling jokes, he really engaged the audience to be part of the act in a surprisingly effective manner.

11/22/2025

Gym Position: 26°9.81’N, -79°26.41’W Getting in our morning workout at sunrise on board Celebrity Ascent. The gym was similar in size to that of the Norwegian Encore and Joy, but much less crowded. Cardio equipment was always available and even though the strength-training equipment was much more popular, we always were able to get a workout in.

Breakfast Position: 26°9.81’N, -79°26.41’W Enjoying a post-workout breakfast on the terrace of our Celebrity Ascent suite.

Behind-The-Scenes tour Position: 26°9.81’N, -79°26.41’W Today we took a Behind-the-Scenes tour on the Celebrity Ascent. It was much more detailed and interesting than some other cruise ship tours we’ve taken, and more strict too. Long pants and closed-toe shoes were required, we were scanned with metal detectors before entering the bridge, and photography mostly wasn’t allowed. An exception was the hallway before the bridge, showing plaques of the ship’s ports of call.

Towel Swan Position: 26°9.81’N, -79°26.41’W The first of many towel animals our steward created, this one a swan.

Raw On 5 Position: 23°9.98’N, -71°51.21’W The sushi chefs at Raw on 5, where we had an excellent dinner.

Bridges Position: 23°8.50’N, -71°48.28’W Taking in the musical and acrobatic show Bridges on the Celebrity Ascent. We’re generally not big show fans, but have been finding the on-board entertainment quite impressive.

11/23/2025

Raw on 5 Position: 23°8.50’N, -71°48.28’W Lunch at Raw on 5 en route from Ft. Lauderdale to St. Maartin aboard Celebrity Ascent. We had such a good dinner here last night that we returned for lunch.

Towel Dog Position: 23°8.50’N, -71°48.28’W Our room steward aboard Celebrity Ascent creates a unique towel animal for us each day, this one a dog.

Blu Position: 23°8.50’N, -71°48.28’W Dinner at Blu aboard Celebrity Ascent en route to St. Maartin. This is one of two restaurants aboard the ship that are open only to passengers in specific cabin categories.

The Edge Position: 20°10.93’N, -66°24.79’W Enjoying a nightcap at the Edge on Celebrity Ascent. The bar is in the Magic Carpet, a movable platform that lowers to the water level and becomes a dock for shore excursions via the lifeboats and otherwise elevates up to one of the higher decks and become a restaurant and bar.

11/24/2025

St. Maarten Pilot Position: 18°0.45’N, -63°4.32’W Picking up a pilot as the Celebrity Ascent nears St. Maarten.

Fort Amsterdam Position: 18°0.93’N, -63°3.55’W With the Celebrity Ascent moored at Philipsburg in Sint Maarten, we spent the day touring the island. We started off with a short hike up to the ruins of Fort Amsterdam, originally built as a Dutch outpost in 1631 and captured by the Spanish two years later.

Bells Point Lookout Position: 18°1.46’N, -63°4.64’W The view to Simpson Bay Lagoon and causeway across it, from Bells Point Lookout in Sint Maarten. The lagoon is the one of the largest in the West Indies and contains the border between the French and the Dutch halves of the island.

Fort St. Louis Position: 18°4.24’N, -63°5.12’W The view across Baie de Marigot from Fort St. Louis in St. Martin, the French half of the island. The fort was built in the 18th century under the reign of King Louis XVI, the last king of France before the fall of the French monarchy.

La Terrasse Position: 18°4.18’N, -63°5.16’W A delicious lunch with a view over Baie de Marigot at La Terrasse in Marigot, the capitol of the French St. Martin.

Soualiga Sky Explorer Position: 18°0.62’N, -63°2.79’W Riding the Soualiga Sky Explorer to the summit of Sentry Hill at elevation 1,125 feet (343 m). The views along the way were fabulous, and even better at the top.

Ziplining Position: 18°2.51’N, -63°4.35’W Geared up to go ziplining at the summit of Sentry Hill. We had a blast.

Flying Dutchman Position: 18°2.44’N, -63°4.33’W Descending from Sentry Hill down to sea level on the Flying Dutchman, billed as the steepest zipline in the world. The ride has 1,050-foot (320-m) elevation drop over a 2,800-foot (853 m)length, and riders can reach speeds of 56 mph (90 kph). The launch was a little nerve-racking in suddenly being suspended a thousand feet up with nothing underneath us, but the ride was super-fun with a gentle arrest at the bottom.

Towel Elephant Position: 18°0.62’N, -63°2.79’W The towel animal of the day from our Celebrity Ascent room steward, this one an elephant.

Fine Cut Position: 18°2.60’N, -63°3.88’W We finished the day back on board the Celebrity Ascent with an excellent steak dinner at Fine Cut, in a seat overlooking the central atrium. Every so often, the bartenders below put on an impressive juggling display.

11/25/2025

The Pitons, St. Lucia Position: 13°51.88’N, -61°4.90’W Surface interval with a view to famous The Pitons in St. Lucia. We did three excellent dives with Eastern Caribbean Diving, who picked us up by boat right at the port where the Celebrity Ascent was docked.

Towel Rabbit Position: 14°14.55’N, -61°6.43’W The towel animal of the day: a rabbit.

11/26/2025

Towel Tortoise Position: 15°17.73’N, -61°23.28’W Today’s towel animal is a tortoise.

Dinner on The Edge Position: 15°17.74’N, -61°23.33’W An exceptional meal with a wonderful view at The Edge on the Celebrity Ascent. The bar is in the Magic Carpet, a movable platform that lowers to the water level and becomes a dock for shore excursions via the lifeboats and otherwise elevates up to one of the higher decks and become a restaurant and bar.

11/27/2025

The Pamir, Barbados Position: 13°6.27’N, -59°37.95’W Diving the Pamir, as part of an excellent three-dive excursion with Barbados Scuba Divers while the Celebrity Ascent is docked in Barbados. The 165 ft freighter was sunk in 1985 as an artificial reef and rests upright at a depth of 40-60 ft.

Awaken Position: 14°4.40’N, -59°59.22’W Taking in the show Awaken while returning to Fort Lauderdale. We were quite impressed with the quality of the shows on on board the Celebrity Ascent, and the talent of the performers.

11/28/2025

Nelson’s Dockyard Position: 17°0.51’N, -61°45.95’W The remains of the 1797 boat house and sail loft at Nelson’s Dockyard in English Harbour, part of the UNESCO Antigua Naval Dockyard and Related Archaeological Sites World Heritage Site. The now-capped pillars supported a two-story building that was destroyed by a hurricane in 1871. Named after famed British Admiral Horatio Nelson, the dockyard was built in by the British in the early 18th century and abandoned in 1899. It currently is the oldest continuously operating Georgian-era dockyard in the world.

Catherine’s Cafe Position: 17°0.53’N, -61°46.59’W A delicious lunch beach-side at Catherine’s Cafe on Antigua, overlooking Falmouth Harbour.

Fort Cuyler Position: 17°0.34’N, -61°46.04’W The sweeping to Falmouth Harbour, left and English Harbour, from Fort Cuyler. Now largely in ruins, the fort was built near the end of the 18th-century as a defensive battery for Nelson’s Dockyard in English Harbour.

Devil’s Bridge Position: 17°6.10’N, -61°40.69’W Waves crashing into eroded rocks at Devil’s Bridge National Park in Antigua. The park is so named because slaves from the nearby estates came here to commit suicide by throwing themselves into the crashing waves. With no islands between here and West Coast of Africa, it was reported they viewed this as their closest opportunity for their bodies to be washed back to their homeland.

Fort James Position: 17°7.83’N, -61°51.82’W Looking through a doorway to one of several cannons remaining at Fort James, Antigua. The British built the fort from 1709-1739 at the mouth of the harbour of St. John’s to guard against a possible French attack.

Towel swans Position: 17°7.27’N, -61°50.97’W The towel animal of the day aboard Celebrity Ascent is two graceful swans.

11/29/2025

Towel monkey Position: 21°1.37’N, -67°59.97’W A monkey, hanging from a coathanger, is our Celebrity Ascent towel animal of the day.

Eden Bar Position: 21°35.38’N, -68°56.81’W Enjoying the sunset from the Eden Bar at the stern of the Celebrity Ascent.

11/30/2025

Captain Tasos Position: 24°5.09’N, -73°34.89’W Captain Tasos giving a presentation, with some super-interesting photos, showing the construction of the Celebrity Ascent.

Towel penguin Position: 24°38.86’N, -74°39.39’W The Celebrity Ascent towel animal of the day: a penguin.

NFL Football Position: 25°11.62’N, -75°42.96’W Watching NFL football on the big LED screen in the Rooftop Garden on the Celebrity Ascent.

Sunset dinner at Eden Position: 25°9.94’N, -75°39.71’W A final sunset dinner at Eden before the Celebrity Ascent returns to Fort Lauderdale.

Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map. And a map of our most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.