We chose this cruise primarily for the itinerary, as we wanted a transatlantic crossing. Having sailed Celebrity many times in the past, I knew I could rely on good service, good food (kudos to Blu for finally changing their menu!), entertainment, and spacious accommodations. All the facilities, public restaurants, Oceanview Café, and the Blu dining room were clean and well maintained. But for the first time, we had an emergency medical situation and used the onboard medical unit. We disembarked in Tenerife, Canary Islands. Their service, while pricy, compares to US standards. The nursing staff provided immediate assistance and was excellent and the doctor was helpful too. Some of the help provided by the port agent's employee was quite good. The ambulance was at the port when we arrived. The liaison officer provided to facilitate communication to the local staff (in Spanish) was helpful, although she was new at her job and not always sure what to do. To her credit, she found out from a colleague quickly when she didn't. I felt, though, that she was overworked, as there were two critical evacuations that day bound for two different hospitals. She really could have used the presence of a colleague to help with admissions and interpretation. Her supervisor the port agent (or perhaps contract employer, that was never really clear), required repeated attempts to locate him to get information and assistance. That was frustrating and unnecessary, especially under the most stressful of circumstances.

I also would say that the service at Guest Relations onboard wasn't up to par. We had a non-ship excursion that day, and knowing we wouldn't make it, I provided contact information to the front desk and asked them to contact the vendor to advise we would not be able to make it. As I later learned from the vendor, he did not receive this message, resulting in several other passengers being upset in the delay of their tour, but not knowing why. Celebrity officials were unable to advise them at portside, although the tour operator did ask.

Before our emergency, everything went smoothly and quickly. Overall, for the five days we were on board, we were happy with the transportation to the port, check-in process, food, service, entertainment, cleanliness, cabin and public areas. We did not participate in any port and shore excursions, but they looked about average for this type of cruise. We did not spend any time in Rome prior to our departure, as we both had visited many times before. The food in the Oceanview Cafe seemed to be improved, most noticeably a ton of freshly caught fish was served grilled in the Café one day only after a Spanish port call. I would love to see more of that in the future. One thing they could do, though, is put up a sign at the Cafe entrances noting the special. I had already eaten before I saw the fish. There wasn't enough to serve in Blu that night or in Oceanview the next day, so we missed out. Read more