This was the 9th cruise for my husband and I. We have sailed before on Celebrity and also RCCL, once on NCL and twice on Carnival. We arranged our own air travel and had a short flight to Ft. Lauderdale on the day of embarkation, arriving at 12:15 pm in baggage claim, where we were met by a Celebrity representative. We pre arranged round trip transfers with the cruise line from airport to pier and back. They had us sit in an area to wait until a bus was available...Lucky for us, we sat for a very brief time and we were escorted outside to a bus that immediately took us to the pier, which was about an 8 minute drive. Bus was less than half full. We were told by the greeter who came on the bus that if we had our bags already tagged with our cabin #, to proceed out the bus and follow the sign to the correct door entry (for us that was Concierge Class. Once inside, we followed the signs through the security ck point and then to the Concierge line...which was very short. We were at the counter almost immediately, ck'd in with our passports and Express pass that we had printed out at home, and the man gave us our sea passes and directed us to the escalator area to the ship. Our photo was taken and we went up to the gangway. We were given a glass of champagne or juice upon boarding and sent to deck 14 to the Garden Cafe (buffet) to eat lunch and relax until the cabins were ready ( It was now just past 1:30)...rooms were a bit late getting ready because previous cruise was a repositioning one coming from Europe and it took awhile for Customs clearance.

Garden Cafe was crowded and it took awhile to get a table but we finally found one and proceeded to ck out the buffet and sample food. I would give this resaurant /buffet an 8 out of 10 rating....many tasty items...carving stations were very good. The ham especially. there were many selections for salad, pizza, meat dishes etc.....only a few items were lackluster. I will say that the cafe itself felt more like a cafeteria than the Windjammer Cafe on the Navigator class of ships (RCCL), which were more like a restaurant with carpet and plants and nicer furniture. This cafe had white tile floors, simple tables and chairs and was noisy. But, the food was very good. Cabin:

Our concierge class cabin was on deck 10, just aft of the elevators on the bump of the ship, near the suites. Cabin itself was rather small but bathroom was roomy. Deck was very deep as we were on a curve out on the bump of the ship. 6 people could sit out there easily. the cabin decor was lovely and was like a 4 star hotel. The bed reminded me of Marriott with the crisp white duvet and large decorative square pillows, plus several sleeping pillows and silk decor pillows. Very comfortable. All balcony class cabins look exactly alike...Only difference in Concierge class or Aqua class is what amenities come with it. For us, it was champagne bottle welcome, little plate of appetizers delivered each day, fruit platter each day, fresh flowers each day, and some gifts...oh, and the bathrobes were extra thick compared to the standard cabins...Also, the towels were very thick bath sheets. We also had access to some private cocktail parties . However, next time we will just get a regular cabin. With all the food offered on board, the fruit plates and appetizers were just too much...we barely touched it... Read more