This was a very nice first experience on Celebrity marred by some not very nice weather. November can be tricky in the Caribbean and it certainly was on this cruise. Thankfully, the ship has a great deal to offer to keep you busy when Mother Nature is not cooperating. The embarkation process at Port Everglades was a breeze; it could not have been easier. We made our way to our stateroom, an inside cabin on an upper deck, and were pleasantly surprised to find it spacious, well thought out and very attractive. It had plenty of storage space, ample room to move around and the bathroom was excellent - a fine, roomy shower and lots of drawer and shelf space.

And now - good news/bad news. Actually the good news is really good and the bad news not so terrible. Bad news first: a truly chaotic, unprofessional muster drill in an overcrowded, noisy lounge. Many people did not have seats. Those seated had a hard time viewing the video because of the folk standing and there were too few visible screens to watch the video. Passengers were very restless throughout, which was disruptive. On top of that, many of the staff chatted noisily among themselves. Had there been an emergency on this cruise, many would not have been appropriately briefed on what to do.

I found you got approached a lot by the sales staff on decks 4 and 5; their sales technique can be aggressive and it is sometimes unpleasant walking down the hallways - we tried to avoid them, which is not always easy. Read more