This was our first time cruising with Celebrity and first time on such a large ship (2850 passengers). We cruised the 350 passenger Paul Gauguin in October and have cruised Oceania (650)several times. Used to cruise Holland America but they've gone downhill. Wasn't sure we would like this experience but we were favorably impressed. First of all, all the staff on board did everything they could to provide exceptional customer service! Kudos to the Celebrity training staff. Ship was spotless, lots of hand sanitizers, lots of shipboard activities with plenty of variety, etc.

Why are the home offices/websites of cruise lines so uniformly frustrating? I tried to book shore excursions on-line with Celebrity and kept getting "kicked back" to the main menu- had to sit on hold 20 min. to speak to a real person - very helpful woman. Shore excursions are ALWAYS overpriced on cruise ships. It's the advantage of ship-shore-ship convenience/assurance vs. internet/take a chance better prices. Your choice. There's a reason the stateroom cost is so enticing..they're going to get you on the "extras" on Celebrity. To eat at one of the 2 specialty restaurants- Tuscan Grille or Murano-you must pay extra. For a suite guest you get 1 free meal per STATEROOM, not per guest, at each site. After that it's $30 per PERSON extra for Tuscan Grille and $40 extra per PERSON for Murano. Murano is worth it, Tuscan isn't. See below for details. To make day and time reservations ahead, you go on line. The website didn't factor in that we were in a suite and thus intitled to 2 " free meals"..I discovered I had been billed on my cc for all 4 visits- should have been billed for two. Home office said I had to resolve the issue on board or I'd lose my reservations. Said the butler could take care of it..Not. Then found out I could only get ship credit, not a credit to my cc. Again...they've got you.

Drink packages are a waste unless you're a boozer and don't much care about the quality of your libations. Figure out how much you'd drink each day to make the package worthwhile- remember, no sharing your card and you only get 1 drink at a time (these companies aren't dummies). No alcohol/wine allowed to be brought on board to drink- they'll hold it until you disembark. No laundry room for guests- prices weren't bad for pants, shirts. Hand wash your undies/socks. Read more