Background: Fifth cruise for us (prior: Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Disney and Celebrity) and the second with Celebrity over 12+ years. We are ages 48 and 45 and from South Dakota, USA. We selected this cruise due to past good experiences with RCCL/Celebrity and the itinerary which included great ports including our heritage; mine Swedish, Norwegian, German and Welsh (U.K.); my wife's Finnish, German and Danish. We research much and choose carefully for all vacations and were handsomely rewarded here!
Hotel: We arranged our own airfare and 5 pre-nights in London. We stayed at the Rembrandt Hotel in South Kensington which has one of the best locations and amenities we have experienced in about 30 nights in major European cities, so a great start. London has loads going for it, so selecting it as a departure city for us was a no-brainer. Make sure you hit a play or two in the West End (London's "Broadway"; you won't regret it. We hit a mix of outdoor and indoor activities and the pubs (for food). Great time!
Travel to Port: We debated taking the train versus the cruise line's arranged transfer by bus; decided on the coach/bus with Celebrity for the peace of mind of knowing that once we stepped on the coach we were pretty much guaranteed of being on that ship; despite the high cost, thought it paid off even in hindsight. Only thing that had us disgruntled was the distance to slog luggage from the tube station to the actual coach/bus entrance which is harder to identify than it sounds if you have not been there. In addition, Celebrity failed to meet us inside the main entrance which had us slightly panicked as we were down to 15-20 minutes before scheduled departure and had to hunt them down around a corner and down a hall. Once checked in and on board, it was more the expected flawless execution. Be SURE to allow extra time to travel if you take our route.
As noted, like any aspect of cruising, if you take some time and select what is right for you, you will be rewarded. We picked Category CC on Deck 8 to get the extra service touches of Celebrity's "Concierge Class" and a little more room in the cabin and balcony. We thought it money well spent. We love balconies after graduating form an inside cabin to a porthole to balconies over the years. We also selected a cabin about halfway between the forward and mid-ship elevators/stairs which helped reduce traffic noise and motion. We felt almost secluded and the balcony is a priceless thing to us. If you book early, you will be able to use these tips (or follow your own preferences) to your best advantage with selections offered early on.