A little about myself - I am a veteran cruiser, and this was my 22nd cruise on Celebrity, so to be fair I am probably a bit biased. At the same time, I like to call it as I see it so will try for a balanced review. I was cruising with my husband for a relaxing break.

Embarkation - We are tired of fighting the crowds to board early so we arrived at around 1:15 and were very glad we waited. There were still passengers from the previous cruise boarding taxis! We got lucky - due to our Captains Club status (Elite) our group was boarding just when we arrived. I felt guilty walking past those who had been there forever, but it is a perk I earned so I confess I was happy to use it. We were able to go right to our cabins, but as was said the buffet area was a nightmare for lunch. Despite Celebrity saying this was all due to "Customs", rumor on the ship was that there were a few passengers who were refusing to leave and they couldn't begin boarding until the ship cleared. Not sure what was true but it was a mess indeed.

Ship decor - I have sailed on all Celebrity ships except for the two newest, dating way back to the Horizon and Zenith. This ship tops them all in my opinion as far as sheer beauty. I was truly in awe of the amazing decor on this ship, and considering how beautiful all their ships are that is saying something.Specialty restaurants - We decided to try the five dinner Specialty Dining package. It was for two nights in Tuscan, two in Silk Harvest, and one Murano. My only issue with buying the package is that we were not allowed to pre-book any but the first reservation. As the ship was completely full, we had a difficult time getting our preferred dining times once we boarded even though it was the first thing we did. This is wrong! People buying the most dinners should NOT get lowest priority for dates and times. Other than that, we were very pleased with the restaurants and the price discount was nice for the package. The food was excellent, and service overall was great with the exception of Tuscan, which was so-so. I had never been to Silk Harvest and was very pleasantly surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did. Read more