We chose this ship because we were doing a transatlantic from Ft. Lauderdale to Rome on Celebrity Reflection and and we could fly to Barcelona for a couple days and catch the Horizon back home. Being a new ship we anticipated it being top notch! Just the opposite.

Embarkation - We were told to be at the dock for 11am check in. We then had to sit and wait 2 hours before we could get on the ship. After we were on we were directed to a dining room for lunch. The servers were all new and it took forever to get our food. That's when we first realized there was a shortage of help on this ship. That's probably an understatement!

Cabin - When we got to our cabin the cabin steward was on his first cruise and could hardly speak English. Could not carry on a conversation with him. He ask if wanted room service in the morning or afternoon? We have always had room service twice a day! That was odd. We were in Cabin 6226 toward the front with a balcony. It happened to be over the main show room so the noise was quite loud with the music and vibrations. The first couple nights the ship was rocking and pounding. Our big window creaked and popped all night. We had to call maintenance. Worried the window would not make the transatlantic trip! Luckily the rest of the cruise was relatively smooth. You do not get chocolates on your pillow at night. There were no writing pens or pads, no Carnival bags. We had to carry our cards, etc. around in a Celebrity Bag. The doors to the balcony slam shut if you let them go. The next door neighbor was constantly slamming their door. The balcony is so small there is only room for 2 chairs and a short small table. It is also not private. We were used to foot stools and tall table for dining on the balcony. No such thing on this ship. The balcony was not very private either. You could see both sides if they were in their chairs. On the plus side they did have a fairly good selection of movies on the TV which came in handy considering it was too cold outside for the big screen. They only provided Beach towels to cover up with, no blankets. Read more