This was our 6th holiday cruise, but our first with Celebrity. We flew to Fort Lauderdale and arrived at the port around 11:00. The line was extremely long and at one point loaded us into long rows of chairs that were roped off at each end. We waited for a couple of hours before we could board. No announcements were made, and we were never told what was holding up boarding. We later found out that the ship had just re-entered the U.S. after a long stint in Europe and the Coast Guard did a very thorough inspection. At check-in, we had a brand new employee. I had two cabins under my name and it confused her. She did not return my credit card and I didn't notice it until I stepped on the ship. So I had to make a turn around and retrieve the card!

Once on board, things were great. We were greeted with champagne and went directly to our cabins. We met up with the other people in our group and then went to the pool deck for something to eat. I will break this down into areas of interest:

Cabins: We had balcony cabins and had rather large balconies. The rooms and bathrooms were clean and tidy. I did notice some wear on the carpet and bathroom tile. The bathroom had additional storage that we didn't have on Carnival or RCI. Closet storage was ample and included a wall safe. There was a minibar in the room that we did not use. Warning: If you pick up the items and look at them and place them back into the minibar, you will see charges on your bill. This happened to two others in our group. The room was quiet but our door did whistle a time or two. At times I smelled a sewage odor around the front of the ship on several floors. Read more