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MSC World America vs Carnival Celebration
The MSC World America is a fairly new ship, being built in 2025. The World America was built specifically for the American market with customized venues like MSC's first sports bars and an onboard brewery. The ship is split into seven districts that provide unique restaurants, bars, and attractions; helping to reduce crowding. It's 3 years newer than the Celebration, which was built in 2022. The Celebration is named after the original Celebration that sailed with Carnival from 1987 - 2008. It has two unique zones not found on its sister ships: The Gateway, an area dedicated to travel and Carnival's history, and 820 Biscayne which has a retro-Miami vibe.
Comparison Overview
- Ship Size
- Number of Passengers
- Food and Restaurants
- Bars and Drinks
- Pools and Hot Tubs
- Ship Features and Activities
- Cruise Costs
- Onboard Costs
- See Our Detailed Cruise Blog
Ship Size
The World America is considered an extra large ship. Coming in at 1,092 feet long and 155 feet wide, it's roughly the length of 3 football fields, as wide as 2.9 tractor-trailers, and the same height as a 16-story building. Compared to the Carnival Celebration, the World America is 18% larger in terms of overall tons.
Number of Passengers
MSC World America holds about the same number of passengers as the Celebration based on double occupancy (two people per room). At full capacity, MSC World America holds about the same number of passengers as the Celebration.
When you compare the total tonnage of the ship to the number of passengers, or what we call the "Space Ratio," the World America has more space per person compared to the Celebration. This means that you might have a bit more space to yourself on the ship, although there still could be some crowded areas like buffets, pools, etc.
Both the World America and Celebration use a zone concept to break up large crowds across the ship, often making it feel less crowded.
| MSC World America | Carnival Celebration | |
|---|---|---|
| Class | World | Excel |
| Gross Tonnage | 215,863 | 183,521 |
| Length | 1,092 | 1,130 |
| Beam/Width | 155 | 137 |
| Passenger Decks | 16 | 17 |
| Passengers (double occupancy) | 5,264 | 5,364 |
| Passengers (maximum occupancy) | 6,764 | 6,631 |
| Crew | 2,138 | 1,735 |
| Passenger to Crew Ratio | 3.2 | 3.8 |
| Space Ratio (tons of ship per passenger) | 32 | 28 |
Food and Restaurants
Food is a big part of any cruise, and the ship you choose can make a huge difference in your food experience.
The World America has eighteen different dining options like Paxos, HOLA! Tacos & Cantina, and Il Mercato. Of those options, twelve are complimentary, or included with your cruise fare. The other twelve options have an additional fee.
The Celebration has eight more dining venues. Some of its popular venues are Big Chicken, Street Eats, and Bonsai Teppanyaki. Nineteen of these restaurants are complimentary and the other twelve have an additional fee.
If you like having a variety of places to eat, the Celebration might be a better choice. It has 44% more dining options than the World America.
If you're looking to avoid extra money while on board, the Celebration might be a better choice than the World America. More of the dining options are included in the base cruise fare, potentially saving you money.
| MSC World America | Carnival Celebration | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Dining Options | 18 | 26 |
| Complimentary Dining Options: | 12 | 19 |
| Additional Fee Dining Options: | 12 | 12 |
| % of Included Options | 33% | 54% |
| See the options | See the options |
In terms of drinks and cocktails, you have a variety of choices. Both ships serve the Coca-Cola family of products. That means Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite and Barq's Root Beer, although the selection can vary by ship.
There are also plenty of bars available on these ships. You can check out the recent bar menus for the Celebration below.
Pools and Hot Tubs
MSC
World America
7
pools
13
hot tubs
Carnival
Celebration
6
pools
7
hot tubs
| World America | Celebration | |
|---|---|---|
| General-access pools | 4 | 3 |
| Adults-only pools | 2 | 1 |
| Exclusive pools | 1 | 2 |
| General-access hot tubs | 10 | 5 |
| Adults-only hot tubs | 2 | |
| Exclusive hot tubs | 3 | 0 |
Nothing beats relaxing by a pool with a nice drink in hand as you feel the fresh sea breeze pass by you. The MSC World America has a total of 7 pools and 13 hot tubs. 1 of the pools and 3 of the hot tubs are exclusive access, which means there's either an extra charge to access them or you need to book a certain class of cabin to have access to them.
Carnival Celebration has fewer pools than the World America and fewer hot tubs. There are fewer exclusive pools and hot tubs on the Celebration. If you like ships without extra charges or exclusive areas, this might be a better choice since everyone will have access to these areas.
Tired of loud kids and splashing? Two of the pools are adults only on World America.
Ship Features and Activities
Both ships have lots of activities to keep you busy throughout your cruise. Below you'll see a list of some of the major features on these ships. You might end up paying more while on board the World America. Only 55% of the activities below are included in your cruise fare. On the Celebration, 61% of the activities are included at no additional cost.
| MSC World America | Carnival Celebration | |
|---|---|---|
| Adult Only Relaxation Area | ✓ | ✓ |
| Adventure Trail | ✓ | ✗ |
| Arcade | ✓ | ✓ |
| Basketball | ✓ | ✓ |
| Brewery Tour | ✗ | ✓ |
| Bumper Cars | ✓ | ✗ |
| Casino | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cliffhanger | ✓ | ✗ |
| Comedy Club | ✗ | ✓ |
| Comedy Show | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cooking Class | ✗ | ✓ |
| Dr Seuss Breakfast | ✗ | ✓ |
| Dueling Pianos | ✓ | ✗ |
| F1 Simulator | ✓ | ✗ |
| Fitness Center | ✓ | ✓ |
| Interactive XD Cinema | ✓ | ✗ |
| Jogging Track | ✗ | ✓ |
| Mini golf | ✗ | ✓ |
| Outdoor gym | ✗ | ✓ |
| Pool-side Movies | ✗ | ✓ |
| Production Shows | ✓ | ✗ |
| Roller Coaster | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ropes course | ✓ | ✓ |
| Spa | ✓ | ✗ |
| Splash park | ✓ | ✓ |
| Thermal Suites | ✓ | ✓ |
| Thrill Slide | ✓ | ✗ |
| VR Arcade | ✓ | ✗ |
| Water slides | ✓ | ✓ |
| Learn more | Learn more |
Cruise Costs
MSC and Carnival are both considered "Mainstream" cruise lines. Mainstream cruise lines cater to a variety of guests, hoping to provide something for everyone. These typically cost about $100 - $350 per person per day.
Cruise pricing is dynamic and varies for each specific sailing based on factors such as departure point, ports of call, and time of year. Typically, newer ships cost more, so a cruise on MSC World America will likely be more expensive than on Carnival Celebration.
Onboard Costs
Another way to gauge the cost of a cruise is to consider how much you'll spend on board. Even though a lot is included in the base cruise fare, you may still spend money on things like spa treatments, specialty dining, drinks, and excursions. In addition, guests may also have to pay for things like gratuities and tips.
Typically, guests can expect to spend about 25 - 40% of the cost of the cruise on onboard expenses. In other words, if the cruise fare is $1,000 per person, you might spend between $250 and $400 on extra expenses.
The table below will help you compare onboard prices to see if you might spend more on a specific ship.
| MSC World America | Carnival Celebration | |
|---|---|---|
| Base Daily Gratuities* (Per Person Per Day) | $17.00 | $17.00 |
| Tip added to drinks & services | 18% | 20% |
| Soda Price | $3.50 | $3.25 |
| Domestic Beer Price | $9.00 | $8.25 See drink menus |
| Drink Package Price | $46 - $85 | $83 - $88 Learn more |
| Internet Plan | $17 - $27 per device per day | $18.70 to $23.80 per device per day |
| *Daily gratuities for a standard cabin. Suites or specialty rooms may have higher rates. | ||
We sailed aboard the Carnival Celebration
Follow along on our sailing on the Carnival Celebration. We take you through every aspect of our sailing, from getting to the port to debarking the ship. See the schedule of events, menus, what excursions we did, and what we really thought about the ship.
Carnival Celebration - Cruise Blog - Day 1 - Miami
Carnival Celebration - Cruise Blog - Day 2 - Sea Day
Carnival Celebration - Cruise Blog - Day 3 - Cozumel
Carnival Celebration - Cruise Blog - Day 4 - Costa Maya
Carnival Celebration - Cruise Blog - Day 5 - Roatan
Carnival Celebration - Cruise Blog - Day 6 - Sea Day
Carnival Celebration - Cruise Blog - Day 7 - Sea Day
5 Hits and Misses on Carnival Celebration
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