This was my husband and Is 11th cruise with Celebrity but the first where we have taken our son who was 8 months old whilst on the cruise. We chose the cruise as it involved no flying and we had hoped that it would be easy to get on/off the ship with a very large amount of luggage and a small child.

Overall it was a wonderful holiday and the crew could not have been more helpful and kind. I have summarised our experience below.

The embarkation was challenging although not entirely Celebritys fault. We left my parents house (12 miles from Southampton) just before 1pm. At 3.45pm we finally reached the ship with a very tired and hungry baby! The traffic was backed up for miles no accidents just terrible congestion. I seriously thought we were going to miss the ship at one point. It didnt get much easier when we arrived at the ship as my husband dropped the bags, our son and I by the ship. He then had to drive to the car park and come back through the traffic on a shuttle bus. This took 45 minutes while I waited outside the terminal. The queues to enter the terminal were enormous many people reported standing in line for over an hour. After check-in further long lines ensued for the security screening. When we finally got on board (with a very tired and hungry baby!), the cabins werent ready. The next day, we learnt that the delay was due to a mass fumigation of the ship. I fully appreciate that this needed to be done but it would have eased my frustration if I had known that was the problem. It was clear that the housekeeping team led by the Chief Housekeeper Mihai did a great job in cleaning the ship and ensuring there was no outbreak of illness on our cruise. Read more