The destination and cruise line drew us to this cruise. We are very fond of Celebrity cruises, and have wanted to do a Panama Canal cruise for a long while. We were not disappointed with this cruise! This was our first experience with a balcony, and as well in Aqua class, and we loved it. The benefit we most enjoyed with this category was dining in the Blu restaurant for breakfast and dinner. We appreciated the smaller, more intimate and relaxed atmosphere from the main dining room Trellis, and overall the food was excellent. We also loved that it was "anytime" dining. The host quickly gets to know you and we were seated with the same waiter and assistant waiter every evening, although we did tend to show up at the same time with our friends we were traveling with every evening. That said, the entire process from start to finish seems longer, which for us was two hours (closer to three on the last Elegant Chic night when they served lobster.) But having now experienced Blu, we plan to always book Aqua class. The Persian Gardens access (inc with Aqua class,) is a nice benefit IF you like saunas, but keep in mind it is not as large as the S class ships, so it doesn't include the heated ergonomic beds that look out over the ocean that Celebrity pictures in their promotion of the Persian Gardens. That was a minor disappointment.

The entertainment in the theater was overall good; we preferred the outside acts like the comedian, the Not3Tenors, the violinist, etc., (which were all excellent,) to their in-house performances by the Celebrity players. I feel like there used to be more shipboard musical groups (solo guitarist, singers, small bands,) years ago, but I could be mistaken.

The room itself was nice. However, the ship is starting to show its age, and I noticed that in the bathrooom (the drain stopper in the sink was off kilter and barely open, tile that needed refreshing, etc) and in the pool. Minor stuff, though, and nothing that ruined the wonderful time we had on this cruise. Read more