First time we took 14 day cruise to celebrate retirement. Been on Celebrity before so had no reservations about the cruise line. However.... its painfully obvious that some things are beginning to slip. Dining... they are obviously pushing you to specialty dining. First, they are "hawking" you all day long at the table, to try it, even offering deals on the restaurant. Second, quality of regular dining room is falling off. They are still putting great sounding meals and variety on the menu, but the food is of a lower quality and portions are bird sized. By that I mean a steak the was pretty tuff, prime rib that tasted like pot roast served with brown gravy, lamb that could not be chewed by the dog, and servings so small you had to ask for two, and feel like some kind of hog. In 14 days we were served lobster only once and it was about Red Lobster sized, 4 bites and its gone. Exotic dishes served with one piece of baby carrot, one broccoli crown and a small pearl sized potato, and don't forget the brown gravy, that was served on everything but the lobster. The wait staff was excellent! Got to give credit where it is due. The wine steward, or Sommelier, as they now call them, well he was very interested in those choosing wines by the bottle from the high priced cellar, than the average guy buying it by the glass. When you asked for a bottle or water, it served to you by simply placing the bottle in front of you, no glass with ice or even the courtesy of opening the bottle, in the dining room. I guess you were supposed to dump out your glass that was served by the waiter and use that.

The buffet... again quantity abounded. If you were hungry, you didn't eat. But again, quality was slipping. The usual fare on a buffet but most often kind of bland, except for the soups. I'm a soup guy, love it always will. The Chef upstairs has a pretty heavy hand with the pepper, I like it tasty but this was way beyond hot. They served Louisiana Gumbo one night on the buffet. I know this can be spicy but man this was on fire, not spicy but pepper hot that I think my throat was chemically burnt from one sip of this stuff. Which by the way, was pureed, not chunks. Three other times I tried various soup and had the same reaction so I gave up on the soup. Deserts were the usual kinds, plentiful and sweet, but looking for a plain old piece of apple pie was a quest. The hamburgers out by the pool were the best ! Again credit where it is due.

Overall cleanliness of public areas was great, no issues, but when it came to cleaning the glass around the buffet area, you could barely see out the windows with the salt spray buildup. I realize we are cruising, but they could spray them down when we are in port. We docked next to another ship in St.Kitts, Royal Caribbean I think, and those guys were like ants all over the glass cleaning them. Read more