This was our seventh time on a cruise ship and it more than met our expectations. We chose the Celebration on a nostalgic whim having sailed across the Atlantic seven years ago on the same ship when she was called the Nordam and was sailing under the Holland America flag. Mostly the bars were the same, only the names had been changed, the character remained.
We arrived at Sharm el Sheik after an uneventful flight (apart from the fact that we had booked extra leg room seats and didn't get them!) and were delighted to see the 'middle aged lady' (the Captain's words describing the ship) looking so spick, span and shiny in the dock lights. We were welcomed into the reception area on the dock and the process of creating our credit cards for the ship went smoothly and quickly. Soon we were shown to our cabin by a friendly steward and were very pleased with the one that we had chosen. It was spacious, very clean and the bathroom was bigger than we expected. The toiletries were a nice touch.
The storage space in the cabin was excellent and the 'dressing table' area was like that in a first class hotel.
We pre booked our cabin purposely as the deluxe cabins on the two upper decks are great but this particular cabin had a double bed. It was very spacious, particularly for an older ship, spotlessly clean and comfortable. There was more than enough storage space and the bathroom was a good size. It was in a quiet location (next to the officers' corridor) because there was no through traffic and although on the plan it looks as though it is on the stairs it is actually separated from the stairs by a wall.
We had a great view, with no obstructions from lifeboats or their structures.
The steward tidied our cabin and cleaned the bathroom, giving us clean towels, twice a day which we heard they didn't do in regular cabins.