i frequently cruise with celebrity and past experience has been excellent. this sailing fell short of meeting expectations because of all the extreme (albeit, necessary) measures that were in place because of an outbreak of gastro-intestinal illness the previous sailing..an outbreak that presisted throughout the october 30th sailing. the sanitation of the ship delayed boarding, creating long queues and a bit of chaos. all library books had been removed from the library, as this was seen as a possible means of disease transmission. all table-top drink menus had been removed. this was particularly annoying for passengers who had purchased premium drink packages, because there was no way to know what drinks, wines, beers were listed as premium options. all salt and pepper shakers had been removed. all food, coffee, water in ocean view cafe were served by ship's staff, slowing down the pace of meals and creating more congestion than is normally seen in that venue. breakfast and lunch in the ocean view cafe were unpleasant experiences because of all these precautions...meals that i generally look forward to now became ordeals to be endured.

the australian/new zealand itinerary is very good. because many of the attractions in the ports visited are a good distance from the port, it is good that port stops were long enough to enjoy the sights that were far away.

aside from the fact that there were no salt and pepper shakers on the table, we enjoyed all of our meals in the main dining room. the food and the service were very good. we had "select dining", and we traveled with a group of ten people. once the hostess knew our preferred dining time, she was able to find a nicely located table for us each of the nights that we ate at that venue. Read more