A couple of months prior to this cruise I took another Celebrity trip, the first one in 22 years. As a result of that terrific experience, and more than usual free time this year, I booked 6 more trips with Celebrity over the next 12 months--needless to say it was a stellar experience!
Had this voyage been my first in 22 years with the line, i would either wait another two decades before cruising or still be hunting down a line to travel with.
I wouldn't ask for my money back from this trip-- a cruise in a suite still beats many alternatives in life--but this was really disappointing.
The good parts-- large living room, large balcony with very comfortable lounger, the usual extremely comfy Celebrity bed and bedding.
The not so good parts--1) Suite design-- A) in order to sit on the toilet one must also sit on the toilet paper...no joke, less than one TP sheet width separates toilet seat from the roll; B) The cramped entirely interior bedroom--there are far cheaper ways to sleep without a view of the water than a Celebrity suite--to make matters more annoying there is an entirely opaque sheet of glass separating the bedroom from the living room ( and natural light/view) Did no one think to put in clear class with a drape?
2) Noise-- A) the walls are paper thin, thus the booming bass from one suite and screaming kids from the other were constants B) on a couple of occasions it sounded like hammering going on from above long the back wall. One such occasion was around midnight--security came up and determined that somehow it was from the party up at the pool. (Celebrity provided some kind compensation for this, but it was weird.)
3) Service--A) one evening either the steward or butler left my door open and bolted so that it could not be shut by a passing good Samaritan type. The door was not simply ajar, it was open.B) Embarkation day it took 6 hours for delivery of a tea kettle; C) a working remote required 20 hours and 3 requests.
Embarkation was a bit more chaotic than necessary--VERY few signs at the port; a lengthy back up at the Suites security check as the result of only 2 staffers and someone without proper id...then more chaos