My husband and I took the May 17 Eastern Mediterranean cruise out of Civitavecchia. This was our first cruise on Celebrity. We chose Celebrity due to great reviews by family members. We had cruised on Princess (twice) and Royal Caribbean (once) and wanted to try Celebrity. When we heard they had a new ship I checked the itineraries and found just what we wanted. The ports were all new to us and we liked the fact that there were only 2 days at sea. We booked a veranda stateroom very much in advance and got a very good price. The price continues to go up the closer you get to the sale date. Although other incentives were offered as time went on, they still did not make up for the difference in what we paid compared to the new prices with incentives.

Boarding: We used Roma Cabs to get from our hotel in Rome to Civitavecchia. This company is terrific. We highly recommend them. We arrived at the time the cruise lines said they would start boarding (11:30 AM) and it only took about 10 minutes to board. We got our stateroom immediately and were able to drop off our carry on luggage. Our other luggage arrived in the early afternoon. We went to the buffet in the Oceanview Cafe. It was not crowded. We were told only about 500 passengers had boarded so far so that might be why it wasn't crowded, since the ship was fully booked and holds over 3000 passengers. We were greeted at the buffet with complimentary champagne and mimosas. What a way to start off. The buffet surpassed the lunch buffet we had on both Princess and Royal Caribbean. The food was much more varied and a higher quality. There were many salad choices (both those you make yourself and prepared salads which varied every day). At all lunch buffets there is always Asian and other eastern cuisine, a pasta bar and pizza, a place to make sandwiches with cold cuts, soups, other hot entrees and lots of desserts including an ice cream bar with toppings (whipped cream, chocolate and vanilla sauce, M and M's plain and peanut, Reese's pieces, gum drops and jelly beans and sprinkles). The ice cream bar is there at dinner and after dinner as well. In the AM a waffle station with toppings is there in its place. There are also soft serve machines in the buffet and on deck 15.

We ate all our breakfasts and lunches (when on the ship) at the buffet except twice when we had lunch at the Mast Bar (deck 15 - very good hamburgers, hot dogs and french fries). We went to the dining room for 7 of the 10 dinners. The dinners were fabulous in the Opus dining room, but a few nights we just chose to eat at the buffet because we were tired from our excursions or just wanted to eat outside, since the weather was marvelous. There is ample outdoor dining seating just outside the buffet which is on deck 14 at the back of the ship. We did not eat at the specialty restaurants. There are many and they do look wonderful but we were more than satisfied with what was offered in the main dining room and at the buffet. Tip: The specialty dining costs are cheaper the first night on the ship (you can book when your board) or if you get a dining package. The prices for specialty dining go as high as $45. Read more