We chose this cruise because I'd wanted to see the Panama Canal, never been on Celebrity and happened to check for cruises when the price on this one was very low (just about 3 months before sailing, after which it went back up to almost double). Starting out with that serendipity, I was primed to love it, and I did. I noticed none of the wear and tear on the Infinity that other posters have mentioned, except that the sink plug had some rust on it --who cares? It's a very pretty ship and easy to navigate. We had an inside cabin on deck 2. I'd always had a balcony before, but didn't want to spend the money for it on a 15-day cruise, and was happy with the cabin. We didn't experience the total blackout some people have mentioned; there was always enough light to orient yourself, and the cabin was more spacious than the balconies I've had on Holland America. The bathroom also seemed larger than I'm used to. Derek, our steward, kept everything immaculate, and always seemed to be in the hallway to open the door for me whenever I showed up.

We didn't eat in the buffet for dinner, but the breakfasts, lunches and ice-cream were great, especially the eggs benedict and sandwich bars. They had brie for every lunch, and always fresh sweet juicy fruit -- the pineapple an watermelon were always perfect. The MDR lunches and dinners were usually very good, but there were a couple of misses, e.g., undercooking the short ribs. I found the desserts subpar in all the venues except Café Al Bacio (which has great mini lemon tarts). We tried each of the specialty restaurants once. I'd heard you could get them for half-price if you were patient, and that's what happened. In Tuscan Grille, all the appetizers we tried were fabulous, including the best tomato I ever ate, as part of the burrata starter (parboiled, I think, and marinated in oil and vinegar) -- I'd return just for the tomato. The rib-eye would have been very good, except I didn't like the sauce, which seemed like regular gravy. Qsine was a hoot and, unexpectedly, almost everything we tasted there was delicious (though I'd stay away from the cold soups). As for the pool grill, the hamburgers tasted good, but the two times I tried them they cooled off by the time I could get them fixed up with condiments and find a table. The hot dog was fabulous, enhanced by crispy bacon pieces.

We enjoyed almost all of the performances we went to. There could have been more activities; often there was a space of 2 or 3 hours with nothing that looked interesting. Luckily, the casino was usually open at those times! We had found people to pay trivia with on the roll-call before the cruise, and added to our group early on, so it was fun to find your friends every day to play with. Of the staff, Jeanna (games host), Nacho (don't know what his title is; he directed many of the activities involving audience participation) and the guy who narrated the trip through the canal were all fabulous (though I would have preferred the latter guy not sharing his personal politics re the canal, which I don't agree with). Read more