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Celebrity Summit

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Celebrity Xploration

Celebrity Ascent

Once again excellent

Hong Kong

We've sailed the eastern Caribbean many times and wished to experience the Mexican Riviera .   Glad we did - these ports are gems.  Overall we enjoyed the cruise.  Booked and S1 - Sky Suite, deck 12 port aft side.  Deck 12 balcony rooms have a "cover" deck from above, so they can remain shaded for periods of the day.   If you don't want direct sun - you pick deck 12.   Cabin was comfortable, but after sailing the current Edge class Sky Suites - it's definitely smaller and out of date.   Small nits like not having phone charging options next to bed and the relatively smaller bath is minor, but contrasts how much the new class of ships has corrected the old.   Sky Suite gives access to Luminae dining and Michaels club (also known as the Retreat).   Luminae offered a few new dishes early in the cruise, but toward halfway through the week, the menu became very weak, and we ended up ordering from the MDR menu on a few nights.  We also found they were running low on certain beverage types and fruit accompaniments.   Our waiter was excellent - as was all the Luminae staff.  They tried to keep the penny shiny and were honest about the menu shortfalls offering recommendations when we didn't know which way to go.  Our Sky Suite butler situation wasn't the expected level of service.  Celebrity has elected to remove the butler from Sky Suite service.  Instead, additional responsibilities are given to the room steward.   Our steward did a good job stocking water, reminding us about laundry etc, but there wasn't the past experience of getting the periodic canopies or fruit in the room.   The Retreat butler did provide his card in the cabin, but never stopped by for a welcome and we can't even recall meeting him in Michaels club.  We interacted with Anastacia (lead concierge)  and Michael who always had answers to our questions.  Michael's is dated, and doesn't provide the food services you find on the revolutionized ships - so disappointing.  In  all, the Sky Suite cutbacks were very noticeable and did influence our overall impression of the vacation experience.  

Port calls at Cabo San Lucas,  PuertoVaerta , Mazatlan, San Diego.    Cabo required tender service which was very bad if you were not in the first group.  (Retreat guests and early excursions had first tenders).  Some guests had a 3 hr wait to get off ship.  Other ports were able to dock.

We sampled the Ocean view cafe a few times, and found the food adequate, but less selection.   We don't mind that there aren't huge mounds of food, but noticed a reduction in choices of breads, pastries, and desserts.   (Things were missing by the end of the cruise).   Thought it was easy to move through ship and the cruise director team did a very good job with the selection of entertainment types as well as distributing entertainment throughout the ship.  It was a well run operation.   The early immigration stop in our last port of San Diego worked out well, but did disrupt the next to last morning of being on the ship.  We used the spa facilities often and found them fully manned and able to handle the demand.  But it's a space in need of update.

Primary issue was not ship operation or entertainment, but the premium paid for the S1 level did not lead to our expectations (based upon previous Celebrity experiences and were at the Elite + Captains Club level).

Probably would not sail Eclipse again until it's updated. and would need to book higher than a Sky Suite to get the previously provided service.

Overall, a pleasant cruise, no way close to our best Celebrity experience.

Enjoyed the cruise - Crew Great - Corporate is diminishing experience

This was our very first sailing on Celebrity. We've sailed mostly on NCL, few Carnivals and one MSC cruise. The overall vibe was very different than what I'm used to but we still had fun. It was a relaxing cruise. The service was excellent! Entertainment was hit or miss. We are in our mid 40's and we felt relatively young on this cruise. Later at night the ship was pretty quiet. We walked into the Sky Observation Lounge one night at around midnight and we had to ask the bartenders if they were still open because it was so dead in there. Haha! Eventually the crowd showed up a little but not too crazy. Bartenders are fabulous! We loved the drinks at the World Class bar with Eka and Prathamesh. They made the cruise a 3 star review into 4!  They were so much fun. The martini bar and the Cafe al Bacio were also favorites for before and after dinner drinks. Our room steward was just okay compared to service I've had in the past. I'll definitely give Celebrity another try in the future on one of the bigger ships. The highlight for relaxation was hanging out in the solarium with a good book. They had technical problems with the ship and so we didn't get into Cabo until 7pm which was a disappointment since we were supposed to arrive 5 hours earlier. We made the best of it and it was like getting an extra sea day.

First Celebrity Cruise

The purpose of our trip was to check out progress on our condo that is being built in Cabo San Lucas.  Cost of cruise was about the same as round trip airline tickets first class to Cabo.  We booked a balcony in concierge class no drink package.  One month before the cruise we upgraded with the move up program to aqua class and added the premium drink package since Celebrity offered a great discount.

We had an amazing experience dining at the Blu restaurant which is dedicated to aqua class guests.  The service was outstanding.  The food was excellent.  My wife is a health nut  so the healthier menu satisfied her.  We also had the option of ordering from the main dining menu if we so desired.  Blu was a more intimate setting than main dining and we had the same wait staff every meal and they knew after a few days exactly what we liked.  The drink and wine choices were also very good!

Lunch was not available at the Blu so we typically hung out by the pool and ate at the spa cafe and snacked on healthy fare that they offered.  We tried the Mast Grill for a burger one day and it was ok but not great.  The Buffet we wandered into a few times and was very unimpressed.  The pool cocktails were not very good but the service from our waiters was good.

The Solarium pool was great on hot days in the afternoon since it is air conditioned.  Adult only so very relaxing.  Loved the live music at the main pool in the afternoon!  Classic rock type music which we love 70’s - 80’s.  

The evening entertainment was much better than I expected.  Went several nights.  The comedian was funny.  The musical shows were entertaining.

I was amazed at the quality of the ship and how well maintained it was.  I saw virtually little wear and tear on the entire ship.  Our stateroom was absolutely perfect.  No flaws in anything , Everything worked great.  The bed was amazing, I slept really well.

My only negative comment about the ship would be there were some dirty windows in many different areas of the ship.

There were many bars and lounges on the ship.  Many with live music at different times in the evening.

My wife and I are in our early 60’s and this cruise catered to our needs perfectly.  Younger adults or families may not find this cruise to meet their needs.

Cabo trip

Booked our cruise for November, to sneak in some couple time before the holidays - its just me and my husband in our late 20s. We chose this cruise as an upgrade from our last Royal Carribean cruise (our first cruise ever!). We even opted for a balcony room vs the interior one we had last time.

I want to share some of the highs and lows of our trip, and a reason we're likely not going to take another Celebrity Cruise in the future. 

The good.

1) Itinerary. Having an overnight stay is wonderful. The tender service is quick and easy, despite them having some trouble with the platform on arrival. Cabo is easy to navigate and its very easy to find fun activities to do, even if you go outside of the cruises excursions. In cabo, we did a snorkling sailing cruise and got beach massages (living zen massages did an amazing job - they are essentially a tent on the beach but we both agreed it was one of the best massages we've ever had) San Diego is a great addition for a more city-centric day of shopping and meandering. I recommend taking a drive up La Jolla (uber is about $30) to the Raptor Center and do some Falconry!

2) The Bars. The bars on board make some great cocktails and they are definitely cheap enough to forego the premium drink package if you don't plan on drinking 10 a day, a pina colada was only about $10 - they have a special martini bar with an ice chilled counter and some great espresso martinis. 

3) We loved our room. The bed was incredibly comfortable, we couldn't believe how well we slept and we loved having breakfast delivered to our balcony. The bathroom was spacious and well arranged. The staff did an impeccable job at housekeeping and it was well worth the upgrade.

Now for the bad. 

1) The food. One of the reasons we booked a celebrity cruise was for the upgrade we expected to get in the food area. I would say the main dining room was hit or miss - the hits were good, the misses were TERRIBLE. I enjoyed the Tuscan Grille (we booked the first night discount) but my husband's prime rib steak looked like something they fished out the bottom of the bargin bin. The mast grill is embarrassing with the low quality, tasteless burgers. But the worst of the worst was the Oceanview Cafe. A miserable buffet experience with terrible, minimal choices that ran out quickly, spongy desserts that all taste the same, and mucky silverware and cupware. The best and only really good restaurant on board is Sushi on 5, where we enjoyed gyoza, rolls, crispy rice, and ramen I would gladly eat every night of the cruise. 

2) The entertainment. My husband and I ventured to the theater entertainment the first two nights. The eclipse theater has nice stadium seating. On our voyage, you could always find an open seat easily right at time. The first night was a comedian, if you can even call him that. Simple, "i hate my wife and kids" jokes that got a couple chuckles from the crowd. He spent 5 mins trying to talk to a 10 year old which was incredibly cringey. 2/10. I dragged my husband back the second night to see Topper - a custom show about a guy who traps people in his magic hat? Sadly the talent left a LOT to be desired. Couldn't stay on tempo, sharp, flat. The song choices ranged from the most soulless rendition of Uptown Funk I've ever heard, to a horrifyingly dull version of Bubbly. We gave up on the entertainment after that. But the entertainment on the rest of the cruise outside of the shows was also mediocre, uninspired, and infrequent. On both our sea days, we found ourselves thinking theres not much to do on board (and most of what was available required an additional fee). Some of the things like the hot glass blowing classes seemed random, and even if we wanted to do it, we weren't in the mood to fork over $300. I was even more surprised at what they did have that they didn't really take advantage of - like Quasar, their nightclub. They rarely had events, or parties there which felt like a huge miss. 

Despite all that, I can't complain too much. it was a 6 night cruise i snagged for $1200 total - but I think it'll be passing on future celebrity cruises given the importance I put on food and entertainment when cruising!

6 Night Cruise to Cabo/San Diego - Great itinerary, weak entertainment, worse food + Royal Carribean comparison

This was by far the worst of the three Celebrity cruises I’ve taken. I’ve been on the Solstice and Beyond prior to this and while I know Beyond is in a class of its own, the Eclipse is a Solstice Class ship and definitely no where nearly as good.

Service is lacking from the crew, the ship is in need of repair in many places and the rooms are outdated. The windows weren’t cleaned for any of the areas through the cruise (even before we left Los Angeles). 

I will say that the cruise director and the entertainment were great. I’m just really disappointed in the service from the main dining room, bars and pool area- not Celebrity standards. Not only could you not find someone to take your order from the chairs, they weren’t happy to see you when you went to the bar- never even attempted to recognize you.

Also, there seems to be smoking allowed at the Mast Bar and Sunset Bar on this ship which for a non-smoker was a real disappointment because I love the Sunset Bar.

Disappointing 

About us: I'm in my early 60s and my buddy is in his early 50s. I've cruised over 20 times, mostly on Celebrity & MSC.  He hasn't cruised a lot, but recently did a Ritz Carlton Yachts cruise in Europe.

Overview: This was a 6 day cruise out of Los Angeles.  It sailed to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, overnight, and then spent a day in San Diego, which is where I live.

Thread: I did a live thread that you might enjoy called Live from Celebrity Eclipse on a 6 day cruise from L.A. to Cabo.

Our Cabin: Cabin 1065, which is a Concierge Class veranda.  Check YouTube for my recent video cabin tour.

Transportation: We took the bus from San Diego to Long Beach and then Uber from Long Beach to the Port of Los Angeles.  On the way back, we reversed the process.  Long Beach is sketchy to the point of feeling filthy and dangerous & I recommend avoiding it.  If you're in a hotel near a port (Long Beach or San Pedro), you should be fine.

The Passengers: Overwhelmingly American, an eclectic mix of all ages. Just about everyone was well-behaved.

Embarkation and Disembarkation: Relatively smooth, fast and efficient.  However, it was extremely busy and crowded at the Port of L.A. post-cruise.

The Ship: It's older but in relatively good condition. I wouldn't hesitate to book it, but there were a few problems, to follow.

The Food: Not bad, not as good as it used to be.  The specialty restaurants (Tuscan Steak House and Murano) were excellent, especially Murano.  See the thread referenced above for more details.

The Service: Generally very good.

The Bars: We really enjoyed World Class Bar & the Martini Bar.  High marks.  I also have a couple of YouTube videos showing these bars.

Problems: 

Here's a partial copy and paste from an e-mail that I sent to Celebrity.

The biggest problem is that the toilet failed 4 times.  3 out of the 4 times, it simply would not stop running to the point where it overflowed onto the floor.  One had to stand next to the toilet, flushing it continuously, until it was fixed or stopped running (flushing 25-50 times or more).  One of these failures occurred at 2 am.  On the final day, the toilet stopped working entirely, which was very inconvenient, as we were trying to get ready before disembarking.

On the night where the toilet failed at 2 am, we had an interesting experience where the front desk called and started yelling at us, and we couldn’t figure out what was going on.  The fellow, with a heavy Indian accent, just kept saying, “Tell the guest to clean the toilet!“ over and over again.  I would say, "I don’t understand what you mean" and he seemed to be very upset and confused. Finally, I said, "I don’t know why you keep saying this, because I am the guest" and he didn’t realize that, but his first tipoff should’ve been that I don’t have an accent, nor does my friend (he spoke with both of us). But it was kind of odd, and then they sent a housekeeper here at two-something in the morning,  But we really needed a plumber, and the whole yelling thing was unusual.  I have no clue what “Tell the guests to clean the toilet!” meant, in the midst of a toilet failure at 2 am. 

We also had a lot of noise from the balcony glass that separates our cabin from cabin next to us. It seemed that the bracket that holds the glass in place is loose and so the wind causes squeaking and clanking/banging noises as the glass bangs within the support bracket. Somebody, perhaps staff, wedged some paper in the gap, which may improve the situation a little bit, but it still can create a bit of a nuisance in terms of the noises.

The Wi-Fi did not work in the room for three days. I did visit the Wi-Fi center and on day 4 it worked properly.

When I asked about the bottle of champagne for Concierge Class, I was handed a warm bottle of cheap champagne with no glasses or ice bucket or presentation of any kind. I think that you guys could probably do this in a little bit nicer way to make the guest feel special, like they do on MSC.  On MSC, they serve it in a bucket of ice with a towel around it, and some little snacks and chocolates in a really nice clear presentation tray, so I thought that was a little bit odd.

Even though the service was generally pretty good, actually, we do feel like there is a general lack of attention to detail. As an example, I mentioned the situation with the champagne, but we’ve also had times where one bath towel was missing (housekeeping was generally good though), or when they do bring the snacks. Every couple of days or so, they only bring one fork which is odd when you have two guests. 

Excursions: We did the San Diego Safari Park tour, even though we live in San Diego.  I recommend this.

Entertainment: Very good, actually.  One show was odd, but all were worth seeing.  See the thread I referenced earlier for more specifics.

Ports: 

Cabo San Lucas: I've been there many times.  Plenty to do and see, even though a hurricane had hit a few days prior.  Lots of nice food.  I recommend Los Barriles and Salvatore's downtown.  Cabo Wabo is also fun, and it's near Los Barriles & Salvatore's.

Overall: We had a nice time and recommend this itinerary for a quickie getaway.  Don't hesitate to reach out privately or in one of the aforementioned threads if you have any questions. 

Cabin Review

Concierge Veranda:

Probably not worth the extra cost versus a standard veranda.  I also have a YouTube cabin tour, as mentioned.

Photos: I'm bummed, as I tried to upload some really nice photos to Cruise Critic and they failed every time after about 15 pics.  Refreshed and everything was lost.  And I spent over an hour on this review, but I'm done.  So I'll just point you to my original thread which I'll link to here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2970317-live-from-celebrity-eclipse-on-a-6-day-cruise-from-la-to-cabo/

Concierge Class Quickie 6 nights out of Los Angeles.

Celebrity is supposed to be a high end cruise product. This cruise didn’t come close. The ship Itself is in dire need of a refurbishment. Peeling paint, worn furniture, carpet stained. Overall appearance is a 4 outta 10. 

Food, this is why we cruise. The buffet had a very poor selection. Everyday was some type of stewed dish, and a lot of them. All the dishes were over cooked and dry, in some type of tomatoe based sauce, and just lacked flavor. 80 cruises and I’ve never seen bologna on the menu. Desserts were lacking and overall had zero flavor.

Main dining room had a very limited menu and the food was over cooked and room temperature. Cut backs were evident ship wide and I would rate the food a 4 out of 10. Definitely lost weight on this cruise.

Activities centered around sales pitches. With the exception of a Few trivia games most of the activities had some way for the cruise lines to make money. Sales pitches everywhere. 

I have sailed Celebrity a lot. We are Elite. Nobody cared and our status gained us nothing. Free happy hour from 5-7 was a joke, very limited menu and the bar staff acted Put out when you ordered a drink. 

We have a 11 night ultimate Caribbean cruise booked for December 22, 2023. If I could cancel and get my money back I would. It’s terrible to dread a vacation, but this cruise was so bad, that’s exactly how we feel.

Celebrity needs to step up their game.

I had never sailed on Celebrity. 4 previous on Norwegian.  That was my comparison and Eclipse was a bit of a disappointment with a 5.5 rating on Vacations to Go. 

 Pros: the crew tried very hard and were friendly and courteous always. Not sure how happy or cohesive they were. 

 Felt fairly new. Stateroom was well maintained and clean. Ship interior is quite beautiful with glass elevators viewing the interior of the ship. 

Cons: food was mediocre compared to NCL. Room service left out items 4 of 5 times until we stopped using them.  Carved meat was usually pork though one night they had duck which was very good. Most bakery items like cakes and puddings looked great but something was always off in the taste. Pancakes and waffles had an odd taste and waffles were soggy undercooked. Bread pudding was an exception which was excellent. Eggs and American breakfast were good. Indian food was excellent.  Pizza was tasteless.  They need an American tasting American food.   Someone Asian apparently was tasting Asian food and it hit the spot.  Veggie Curry was outstanding.  Entertainment was really bad. Sorry.  Mostly low level vocalists most  below community college level theatre.They were obviously trying to save money and did nothing like the high level of singing and shows that NCl does. Constant monetizing of everything: crew sent to your table every meal to sell drinks and specialty dining.  Meet at the door to the dining room selling specialty dining.  Flyers sent every day to your room advertising shops and future crews.  Truly annoying.  They acted desperate for cash.

Highly uneven experience

Seasoned cruisers here.   Had not ever sailed from west coast and wanted to do something different so we booked this cruise that covered 4 ports we'd never visited (along with one we had). More port-intensive than we usually like, but since we don't know when we'll do the west coast again, decided to get to as many new ports as possible in this one cruise.   Did a price re-check just before final payment and price went down $300 so our TA got us the adjustment.   

 Solstice class (like Eclipse) is my favorite class of Celebrity ship.   

Arrived 2 days early into LAX and stayed in Santa Monica.   Had a great time exploring the area and the usual Hollywood tourist sites.  We had a rental car and got sticker shock at the gas pump--$6.50/gallon!   I'll keep NJ gas prices, thank you.

Sunday arrived and we headed to San Pedro.   Arrived right at our check-in appointment time, and after our document verification and security, onboard we went.  We each brought a bottle of wine and I had a couple little cans of Coke in my carry-on.   Maybe 15 minutes from arrival to being in our cabin to drop off carry-on and get room keys.  Liked the cabin itself with storage space, bathroom was a good size with plenty of storage and ample shower.   First ship I think I've been on that had a fixed shower head; not one that was removable and flexible.   And the metal toilet paper helmet--yuck.   So unsanitary.  Removed the TP roll from it so I didn't have to touch it.    Sink works out well for doing hand wash.  There is no line in the shower to hang clothes.   The vinyl couch with matching vinyl drapes is different.  Balcony was smaller than I hoped for in a SV (aft-view) but I knew this after viewing videos on line.  Some cruise ship aft-facing balconies are deeper, including the Beyond, but this was a standard depth although we chose one of the wider balconies due to a steward's closet next door.  Anyway, an attractively decorated and functional cabin and balcony.  Only once did we have soot but that is because of wind direction.

Cabin steward did a good job keeping our cabin clean.   I heard someone on our deck commenting that she never saw her steward, but we saw ours every day.   

Mustering is quick and easy.  Watch the videos, then go to your muster station and get your card scanned.  

We always found something we liked to eat so we don't have complaints about the food.  Oceanview had a nice variety although the later you go, the more dry and overdone the heated dishes get.   I do wish there were sinks to wash your hands there like newer ships have.   The ice cream and sorbet in the Oceanview buffet were usually good but the cinnamon got weirdly grainy at one point.   Guava sorbet--love it.  We also cashed in our perk of free scoop of gelato, and it was just ok and nothing I would pay extra for.   

We had select dining and usually ended up waiting in some kind of line to be seated.   The food was good although the portions are very small.  Lobster night I cut my tail into 5 pieces, and there was ONE small broccoli spear and maybe 1/3 cup of rice.   On a huge plate which made it all look even smaller.   I did hear a lady in the elevator saying she "can't stand the food" in any of the places, but we did not find this to be the case.    Even the burgers at Mast Grill were good.   The buffet at dinnertime was much better than Beyond's earlier this year.   More variety and more stations open, and more guests eating there.   

Toward the end of the cruise plastic cups and mugs seemed to be unavailable and buffet had paper cups in their place.   Also on the 6th day our cabin key no longer opened our door so we had to visit GS to give us new keys.   No idea what happened; our keys were not together anywhere and we did nothing different than on any other cruise.  

We sent a few items to ship's laundry and they were back the next day.   

We went to a few of the Theater shows like ROCK which was awesome if you like that music, and the Broadway show which was (obviously) mostly singing of popular Broadway tunes.   It was nice to see a live band for those shows, which seems to be a rarity on ships these days.    The comedian/magician was entertaining.  Various entertainment around the ship was good.  Activities person was very funny--forgot her name but she is from Chihuahua, Mexico, and talks about it all the time.  We won a trivia game.  I do think the main plaza area is a weird place for activities.

Lots of bars of course, and I noticed the Martini Bar pricing again has gone up.   When I was on Reflection in 2022 drinks were $13; Beyond in Feb 2023 they were $15 and $17, and now $17.   Got a drink at World Class bar and it was just ok.  I remember when that space was the Molecular Bar which was so great; so sorry Celebrity changed those out.   Sky Lounge had unique drinks that were good too.   Love that bright and sunny room.   Mast Bar served a red wine that was  warm which I thought was odd.   

There was an 80s party in the Sky Lounge one evening, and it began with a team game of Naming that Tune which was fun.

Bunch of times in port the TV channels were unavailable.   If you want to hear the announcements but not open your cabin door, put the tv on channel 1 or 21 and you'll hear the announcements.  We kept 21 on when arriving into port so we had a forward view.   

Pickleball court forward deck 14 by the basketball court.   There are also lounge chairs facing forward in this area.   We loved this spot for sailaway; we had it to ourselves most days. 

We attended several of the CC top tier events although now I just realized we totally forgot about the Mixology event.  Oops.   Went to it on Beyond and the cocktails were just ok, so I'm not too sad.   The backstage tour was very good--first time I've seen that offered on Celebrity as Elite level perk, and we enjoyed our guide who was one of the performers, Benji from Denmark, as he was entertaining.   We went to Tuscan for the breakfast one day and got seated in the second row of tables as all the window tables were full.   Then we sat there.  Another table next to us got filled.  And all of us just sat there.  Finally one lady spoke up and asked if we were going to get service.  Yet other members got seated at a vacated window table and the server was there immediately.   Not sure where their disconnect was or why we got such slow service.   We prefer the variety in the buffet so we did not go back to Tuscan after that.  The Sr. Officers event was good as was the Welcome event--both in the Sky Lounge with free drinks and light bites.   Priority tendering was great.  The wine tasting was just ok.  Concierge is located by Team Earth. 

Celebrity app did not work on Android phone the entire cruise.  Kept getting error messages.   iPhone had no issues with the Celebrity app.

Ports.

Santa Barbara was a tender port.   It was a beautiful day and we were on land by 9ish.   Took a wander along the waterfront.  I may have walked past Rob Lowe but realized it too late.   He had longish hair and mirrored aviator glasses on so I can't be sure, but he does live there so. . . I'll never know.   Walked out on the pier and wandered downtown for a few hours.  Found an excellent cocktails place.   Long line to get back on the ship but it moved.   Liked this stop.  

San Francisco we've been to a few times and the fog cleared just as we approached the Golden Gate bridge.  This time we decided to go to Alcatraz.   Bought tickets online and walked over to the pier.   It was an interesting tour on a nice sunny day.  Other fellow cruisers did this as well.   Also got some nice sunset pics of the City.  

Catalina Island.  Tender port but they use lifeboats and local ferry-type boats so it goes quickly.   Golf cart rental line was too long so we rented electric bikes instead.   Two hours was more than sufficient to see what was around.  Got some great ship pics.   Stopped for a cocktail, then headed back to the ship.   There is a nice beach area there.   Note that this was the only port we planned a ship-sponsored excursion due to the 40% off sale Celebrity had, but the day before Catalina we noticed that our OBC had increased and this was due to the refund for the excursion, and then we got the letter that the excursion was cancelled due to maintenance.   We rode bikes past the excursion area and they were indeed working on the ropes courses.   But Celebrity only told us this the day before?    If you want to rent a golf cart, wait till early afternoon when most have been returned and there is no line to get one.  Note that the 2 rental companies wanted payment in cash only.  $60/hour.   I think if we stop there again we'll look into doing wave runners.   

San Diego.   We did the hop on hop off trolley car and they were not sufficiently prepared for 2 ships and many riders for that day.   We bought tix online and then had to show them at a window to get the stickers to be able to board the 36 person trolley.  The ride was fun and we got a great tour and decided we'd stay onboard for the whole tour, then get off at Coronado later.  Well, lunchtime was approaching and our guide told us he was stopping at Old Town and breaking for lunch so we'd all have to get off the trolley and wait for the next one.  Which ended up being a 20 minute wait in the hot sun.   They needed to be better prepared for the # of passengers they'd have that day--when ships are in port.   As we stopped back at where the ships were, there was still a line to get on the trolley.   We stayed on and hopped off to wander around the Hotel Del Coronado and then took a trolley back to Balboa Park, but at that point I'd had enough trolley time so we took an Uber back to the ship.  It was a great way to see the city; it is just a long ride.   And the lunch stop delayed things too much.  When ships are in port, they need more trolleys.

Ensenada.  Fog fog everywhere.  It did clear up and got hot and sunny.   We stayed on the ship.   Got foggy again just around departure time.

Weather:   I was not sufficiently prepared for how cold it can get on Pacific evenings and wished I had a sweatshirt--even on the southern parts of the itinerary.  It was hot for the most part during the day, but the breeze always seemed cold.  The seas were mostly calm though, with a gentle roll here or there.   Be on the lookout for lots of sea life; we saw sea lions, dolphins, and even whales.   

While this ship shows its age with rust and a lot of wear and tear, sticky buildup on tables, scratched and gouged floors, furniture needing repair or replacement, it is still my favorite class of Celebrity ship.  We got a good deal on this cruise, so this was all ok.  If I paid top dollar, I would not have been happy.  

Sometimes people ask about age of passengers, and I would say this cruise was largely folks over 60.   I don't think I saw more than maybe 8 kids onboard.   

To depart we got into a short line on deck 5 a little after 7, we were off the ship by 7:15 and in an Uber at 7:35.  Of course the price to SNA had surged up $30 due to demand, but what can you do.  I guess we could've priced a taxi, but the few that were there were taken quickly and people were waiting for more to arrive.    

Note:  If you can't handle toting your own luggage for express walk-off, put it out the night before.   We saw a few people who had their cabin steward bring their luggage to deck 5; don't know how it got off the ship.   And have your cruise card out for the last time!    No passport needed; facial recognition used.

Great cruise on my fave class of Celebrity ship

We wanted a cruise that was a round trip from a US city.  We had been on Celebrity before so we booked the Pacific coast Cruise. We really enjoyed this ship.  The balcony rooms are very nice and spacious. The food in the main dining room was good, portions are smaller than before, but you can always order a double portion if you want more.  With all the courses, we always felt it was plenty of food with much less waste than previously.  We also ate at the Tuscan Grill specialty restaurant. Food and service was amazing.  My husband said the Filet Mignon was as good, if not better than some very expensive restaurants we've been to at home. The nightly shows were some of the best we've seen on any of the many cruises we've been on, 4 different lines. The ports we visited were nice walkable CA cities and  Mexico.  The ship could use some minor updating but everything was clean and worked, so a worn railing varnish wouldn't ruin a very enjoyable trip.  But the most enjoyable part of this trip was the warm, friendly, smiling, helpful crew and staff.  I'd go on Celebrity again and again based on our experience.

Staff and Crew are amazing!

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