BillA6

Overall this cruise was a hit for a first time cruise vacation. On the positive side our stateroom and the entire ship was kept spotlessly clean, the morning and lunch food offerings were adequate and the formal dining format/food was outstanding. Embarking and debarking the ship was smooth and quick. On the negative side shore excursions were two to three times more expensive when arranged by Celebrity versus what we found on shore - there no excuse for that.

December 9th Departure with advertised ports of call: Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Spent a day and a half in port of departure because of light fog. Carnival dropped Jamaica from the itinerary. After spending two days cruising to Grand Cayman they also canceled that port of call. We did have a good day in Cozumel. On the way back to Galveston they stopped in Progresso as a substitute for Grand Cayman - what a dump, absolutely nothing to see or do. Service on board was very poor, entertainment was marginal; a high school review would have had more talent. The entire ship smelled of tobacco and body odor. Spent each morning removing someone elses cigarette butts and puke off of our balcony. This was the worse vacation weve ever had. Carnival went out of their way to keep us in the dark about the changes in our itinerary and their compensation for missed ports and delayed departure from Galveston was insulting. I cannot recommend this cruise line unless your idea of a good time is sailing around the gulf of Mexico for seven days surrounded by smelly juvenile acting drunks. All we could think about was getting off this prison ship and going home. We'll never sail with them again.