Truth be told I was not loving this cruise coming up as I read all the lower rated reviews and was pretty sure this new Celebrity ship wasn’t for me. My husband and I haven’t been on a large ship in years our last cruise being with our sons perhaps 15 years ago. I had images of crowded embarkation lounge waiting an hour plus to board, long buffer lines and with mediocre food and equally mediocre entertainment. I was pleasantly surprised none of these experiences materialized.

First embarkation was literally showing up having pre-checked in prior and just showing our barcoded tickets and passports. We’d sent headshots ahead of time so we got our room keys, kept our passports and headed aboard. Nice!

First impression of our cabin which was a Celebrity Suite was okay. There’s an oddly wide hallway into the cabin that takes up too much room leaving the bedroom area cramped. The hallway also has no function other than an entry way into the room so it really was a wasted space. While the bedroom area was separated from the living room area, the doors separating the two spaces were glass but opaque. You couldn’t lie in bed and see out to the balcony to have a view. Another design oddity. Read more