My husband and I are mid-60's. We have sailed all major cruise lines except Holland America in 10 cruises over the last 15 years. This was our first Celebrity cruise, our longest at 15 days and our first with friends--two other couples which added a lot of fun and comraderie. The ship seemed very well run and friendly--a tone set by the ship master--Michael Sympouras. We saw him more times around the ship than we have ever seen the captain. It was the 11/22/13 cruise out of San Diego through the Panama Canal ending in FLL. We knew this was an older ship with a few signs of wear and tear but nothing that hindered our enjoyment. The size of the ship also made it easier to find each other.

Phoenix was being deluged with rain as we headed to the airport--first rain in 75 days! I had broken my rule of getting to the embarkation port a day early because of the short flight to SD but was questioning the wisdom of that as we sloshed to the airport. The port of San Diego seemed a bit disorganized and it was raining as we embarked. Once we left San Diego, we encountered almost no rain which we had wondered about since it was the tail end of the rainy season.

Overall, we were very pleased with both the food and service on Celebrity and would rank them both the best of the cruises we have taken. Mario (Mendez) and Stefan took excellent care of us in the dining room and gave us tips on the best items of the night. We did "assigned" dining which worked out very well for 3 couples. Read more