This is a cruise of pluses and minuses. The good was the itinerary (mostly) which we had chosen this for. The service by staff onboard was as ever, mostly good.
The downside was the feel of the ship onboard, with the feel of even more cutbacks making it feel like nothing special, just an average hotel, and right at the bottom was the food, which was substandard. Edible certainly, but very simple, very limited in choice and variety and even times available.
Breaking it down:
A well sized cabin, still kept in reasonable condition, but with some maintenance issues. Excellent bathroom, but small wardrobe/storage.
Disappointing after all this time and refurbishments that Celebrity haven't bothered putting an awning over the balcony, like the rest of Millennium class has.
Good culture, good sights, lots to see, and easy to get around. Our favourite was OceanPark which was an unexpected surprise, but there's enough to catch anyone's eye.
Failed in 3 ways. 1) Costly - and confusing contradictions created uncertainty before the visit. 2) Was very polluted yet again, so unpleasant to walk around, made people cough, and visibility was low, and things just looked uglier being 'brown' 3) Caused the loss of Nagasaki from our itinerary due to fog and subsequent poor operations on our visit as they wouldn't let us proceed with the pilot even though Celebrity would send him back (or just transfer to another ship). The usual no-can-do attitude.
Should be dropped from future itineraries.
A delightful hub of itself, plus to see many interesting landmarks and nearby sights, as well as Kyoto, Nara and Osaka. Brilliant!