This was our sixth cruise but the first on Celebrity. I got the impression from a lot of sources (including this one) that Celebrity is a step up in luxury and service; however we failed to experience it. We booked a Concierge Class room, expecting luxury in both accommodations and service, and fortunately at least one of the expectations were met. Our room was the size of a crackerbox...shame on me for not realizing it ahead of time. We don't over pack and we still had issues with space. The bathroom shower wasn't much more than a 2x2 stall with mildew on the bottom. I'm not a big person, but I struggled to wash my hair in there without bumping my arms on the walls. accommodations aside, our room attendant was absolutely fantastic and very gracious. He was probably the only crew member who really went out on a limb for us. We used our "concierge" once, but never actually met her. Room service was prompt and tasty and we had no issues in our cabin. The balcony was roomy enough for two chairs and a small table and when it wasn't too cold, we enjoyed it!

Boarding was extremely efficient - which put us on the ship around 11:30 am. We knew we could bring two bottles of wine on board, which we purchased right in the terminal at a duty free shop (very convenient!). Once we boarded and realized that they didn't even flinch at the wine, we dropped our stuff off in our room and went back off the ship to buy two more bottles. We are big wine drinkers, so the ability to bring what we want on the ship was a plus - not to mention the wine glasses and cork screw provided in the room. We were also able to bring wine on at some of the ports. I don't know if that was an oversight of their security, or if they simply don't care about bringing on wine.

Once we took off to explore the ship, we were immediately stunned to realize that the ship had several public areas (besides the casino) for smokers. One of the areas, the Cova Cafe, is smack dab in the middle of the atrium area and it seemed that no matter where you went in the atrium you were overcome by cigarette smoke. I realize we were in Europe (and you can't get away from it in port either since pretty much everyone smokes) but I truly could not believe that the cruise line would subject the furnishings and decor to that kind of damage, LET ALONE my own health and well being. You might think "well gee honey, you could go somewhere else on the ship to get away from it" - which we did; but the bottom line is in such a public area they simply should not allow it. I don't care if we're in Europe or not. It was crazy. Read more