This was our first Celebrity cruise (Jan 3, 2011) and we went with high expectations having heard some many wonderful things about Celebrity. Unfortunately, their embarkation process had us off to a bad start. It took us almost 2 hours to get onto the ship and most of that was in line to give our luggage to handlers who were only interested in a tip. It didn't help matters that there was no one from Celebrity "policing" the line and some of our fellow travellers didn't seem to think that line-ups applied to them.
The layout of the ship is very nice and easy to navigate. The only time it felt crowded was if you happened to be near the Celebrity Theatre when a show was letting out. We went to parts of 2 or 3 shows in the theatre but never stayed long...not our idea of entertainment.
On first walk through, the ship is very nice but after you've been on the ship for a day or so you start noticing that it needs some tender loving care. For instance, the window coverings in the Cosmos Lounge are badly water stained and the carpets have huge stains. Bedding was bleach stained. Towels didn't match. We had to check the lock on our door when we left the room because it didn't always lock - when we mentioned it to one of the room stewards he seemed to have a hard time understanding what we were talking about.
Never heard any noise from beside/above/below. Close to forward elevator but not too close. We had an issue with the lock not working.