I usually don't cruise during hurricane season, but I found a good deal on this 9 day repositioning cruise from Bayonne NJ to Ft Lauderdale on this new ship. I usually cruise solo, so I don't get any extras; I had a deluxe inside stateroom (9194) with no drink or internet package. Embarkation was quick and I was on the ship in about 20 minutes, the line was long but it moved quickly. The ship is absolutely beautiful and over all I had a wonderful time. On embarkation day I ate lunch in the buffet which was absolute chaos - I wish there was a dining room option for non-suite guests like on HAL and Princess. This sailing had about ~2500 people which is under capacity of ~3250 people, I'm glad the ship wasn't full because there were lines and waits for elevators. I ate lunch with a view of the Statue of Liberty in the fog. We were supposed to sail around the Statue, but the fog got much worse and it was cancelled. We ended up having terrible weather for about 7 of the 9 days (not Celebrity's fault, obviously), with rain, heavy downpours, dark clouds and fog. I'm glad I was on this ship as they had lots of indoor activities and entertainment, so I was never bored. Speaking of entertainment, it was absolutely fantastic, especially the production shows-don't miss these and get there early as they fill up fast! Captain Demetrios gave a talk and he is hilarious. Captain Kate was vacationing (with BUG) on the ship and she was nice enough to do BUG trivia and a meet and greet afterwords.

Dining was overall pretty good although the reservation system for the main dining room was a mess. Most people (including myself) were locked out of the reservation system on the app. I was very confused and ate in the buffet the first night as I thought I couldn't get into any of the main dining rooms. The next day I went to Guest Services and they told me to just show up at any of the dining rooms around 6pm and they would accommodate me. I did this for the rest of the cruise and they seated me right away. Service in the main dining rooms (all four) was spotty, you could tell they were short staffed and not very well trained. The food in the MDRs ranged from OK to good, the quality of the non-red meats was surprisingly bad. I almost ordered the pork chop in Tuscan and the waiter warned me it was very tough. The buffet was great, especially breakfast and lunch and there was plenty of cheerful staff. Dinner in the buffet did not have as many selections as lunch and they don't have any of the same food as the MDR (unlike HAL). I tried the hamburger place for lunch one day and it was meh - not nearly as good as Dive In. The Pizza was decent and the ice cream was great.

I got off the ship in Bermuda in the morning and walked around the port for about an hour and then it rained all afternoon. Bermuda doesn't require testing for vaccinated people, but you have to pay $40 per person for a "health certificate" even if you don't leave the ship (total money grab!). We had a total of 5 full days at sea and we finally had sun on the last two days heading to Florida. Even though the weather was bad, I didn't feel the ship move much at all. I didn't get off the ship in Curacao because it was pouring until about 2 hours before we left. Aruba had heavy clouds, but it wasn't raining so I took a tour around the island. I lost my cruise card on the tour but I had my photo ID so I was able to get back on the ship (NOTE: ALWAYS bring your photo ID when you go ashore even if it's not required!). After 2 sunny beautiful days (finally!), it was time to leave the ship. Read more