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We arrived early around 12:30 to enjoy an afternoon on board prior to sailing. Instead we spent the afternoon in cruise terminal waiting while the ships crew disinfected the ship from a outbreak of the norovirus on the previous cruise. We were provided a box lunch and juice while we waited.
We finally boarded around 4:30, our stateroom was ready and we were greeted by our room steward. The room was clean and well appointed. Our room steward indicated he would help with our needs during the cruise, a promise he fulfilled many times.
We chose Celebrity Select dining and had made daily reservations before the cruise. We easily modified our reservations several times during the cruise to fit our needs. I would highly recommend this option as it provided the flexibility to better enjoy the ports and ship activities. Dinners were generally excellent with the exception of having to ask for coffee refills on a couple of occasions. The evening menu was varied and always provided a good selection on each course to select from. A standard menu was available for the less adventurous in dining.
On the second morning we discovered the waffle bar at the rear of the seaside cafe. There you could get fresh waffles, pancakes and cheese blitzes. The various food stations towards the rear of the breakfast buffet were normally less crowded so head aft after entering.
What most surprised me was the quality of the entertainment. The cast of the featured song and dance shows were outstanding performers. Many of the singers and dancers in my humble opinion are of broadway quality. Do not miss these featured shows. The remaining entertainment was ok but totally cruise ship quality with a few good acts thrown in. Unless you like bad vaudville stay away from Perry Grant in Michael's Club, he reminded me of Tiny Tim on steroids.
Must note that we also had a norovirus outbreak on this cruise. Cannot over emphasize the professionalism of the crew to keep it under control. Besides the frequent reminders to wash your and sanitize you hands regularly the crew was visible continually sanitizing anything that could be touched. In the buffets all foods were handled only by ships personnel, not a bad practise virus or not. This passenger and friends stayed virus free by being vigilante and following the ship instructions.
The itinerary speaks for itself, great ports. I recommend seeing the ports on your own or with independent tours. Our two independent tours (Warnemunde and St. Petersburg) were great and we also did Tallinn on our own. Our ships tours in Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen were essentially a bust.
In summary I would definitely recommend this cruise line and ship to anyone interested in visiting the Baltics. Loved everything about this cruise.
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