It is hard to believe that this is the top rated ship. Our observations were entirely to the contrary. The general decor of the ship was worn and tattered. The chair arms were frayed and the carpets showed worn spots and stains. The bar at the edge of the world decor was one of the worst decors we have seen. The ceiling is hanging gauze that looks like tripe(cows stomach)which made it very dark. The library was in disarray with the books (what they had) unsorted and few. Since there is no control of books, all the reference books were gone. No way to check any history or geography on ports. Not even an almanac. They did have a section which you could trade book which had a better selection than the library. Our stateroom had black mold in the shower on the inside lip and a large rust area that had not been painted. The food was typical cruise fare but one note celebrity has cut down on serving size. Portions were very small and the fish was uniformly bad. On lobster night you did not get a whole lobster tail but 1/2 With a couple small shrimp and scallops. Advice order 2. The buffet was very crowded and only one side was open. So in the afternoon when people came back from tours the lines were 10-15 people deep. The buffet only stayed open until 6:00 pm for hot entrees, only sushi, pizza, and pasta available after 6:00. There was a restaurant at end of buffet only open at night which had waiters, tablecloths, dining room menu, with a great view. There was only a $2 per night gratuity. The entertainment was very substandard. Only the final show was worth seeing. The other shows had no stage props only screens that were painted. The accompanying background music was so loud that the singers voices were drown out. The lecture was totally terrible. Boring, brief, and tangential. He was asked a simple question if the euro was used in Poland and he couldn't even answer it. There were only 4 people for his second lecture on a sea day. In St Petersburg our ship docked very far out while the Princess ship was docked in town. Most ports were this way and entailed costly bus rides. The staff seemed very down and were not always polite.
We were charged for a shuttle ride we didn't take. We disputed the charge and it took 3 days to get off our on board account. Celebrity called and did not apologize but said "We took off the charge you said you didn't make". We were accused-not we are sorry but the cabin number on the shuttle sheet was close to yours and we made a mistake. It took 15 minutes to go on to our account and 3 days, 2 phone calls, and two trips to desk to get off. Celebrity seemed to have made several cost cutting measures which really affected the quality of our sail.