We chose this similar itinerary on two previous occasions, 2012 and 2014. Our intent was to return with friends in 2014, but due to some family tragedy, they had to cancel. Their 2012 experience with food poisoning on an Egypt excursion in 2012 prevented them from seeing Israel. We finally made the connection on this cruise in 2016! A marvelous experience. The ship is maintained very well and they have managed to effect a few changes in eating and drinking venues but maintain the tried and true favorites, like Al Bacio cafe on Level 5 mid-ship where the coffees and teas are fantastic.

The staterooms are of good size, though my wife stated they seemed smaller than on our trip in 2012. I explained they were the same size as always, and perhaps the upgrade to an aft corner suite on the 2014 cruise may have skewed her perceptions! Celebrity has tried to enhance the perks for concierge guests since the room sizes for all veranda cabins are essentially the same. They now offer the dining room for embarkation day lunch for concierge class to take the pressure off the Oceanview buffet, which was sorely needed for crowd control. They also assigned one of the specialty restaurants as a disembarkation lounge on this cruise, which was a nice comfortable hassle-free touch. Both boarding events went very smoothly.

We did have some dining assignment problems. We had "linked" our friends with dining options having requested a table for four with them. Our first night dining in the Grand Cuvee, however, found our friends at a table for eight and my wife and I at a coveted table for two. It took two days to get it worked out, but this inconvenience was irritating, and never fully explained how this could happen since we each had confirmations from our travel agents. We ended up with excellent wait staff in Lester, Saude, and sommelier, Richard. Read more