Great cruise with one important piece of guidance

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 14

Review summary

Family of 5 including three teens. We loved the cruise, but I'm going to start with a "watch outs" so it's the first thing you read. The bad: DO NOT buy the zero proof drink package. It cost $30 per person per day plus 20% gratuity-- so close to $1200 for our family of 5. I bought it because I was led to believe there was no access to non-alcoholic drinks onboard with the base (zero proof) drink package. However, there were juices, lemondes and other non-alcoholic drinks available in the buffet area which is always open. The zero proof package is basically if you want to add bottled water and soda. And even if you do, there's no way you'll drink enough water and soda to make this worthwhile. On top of all this, you have to waiti in lines to get soda or bottled water. So you could get through the buffet and get all your food in 10 minutes, and then wait 15 minutes to get a bottle of water. You have to show your card, and they have to register that you had a bottle of water to your account-- it's an extremely inefficient process. I'd rather they just increase the cruise rate-- it's really a rip off. And another minor complaint-- there are upcharges for some things on the ship that are really tacky. For example, at the ice cream section of the buffet, if you want rum raisen ice cream there's an upcharge-- all other flavors are free. So I could eat one or seven steaks at the buffet with no charge. But if I want a scoop of rum raisen ice cream (vs other flavors) there's a charge. Really tacky. One other thing that was annoying-- my wife didn't feel well one night so we decided to go to the medical office after dinner. Closed at 7pm. We called Guest Services who sent a nurse who seemed annoyed that she had to come in. It was $150 charge for the doctor plus charges for procedures and medicine. We were in there for 10-12 minutes max and it was $200. The good: - Veranda cabin was excellent. Some reviewers didn't like that AC goes off when window is open-- didn't bother us. Note that if you're on the 6th deck, you may have a tender boat right below your veranda-- didn't bother us. - Premium internet worked fine. Note that you don't need an internet package to use the celebrity app on board. - Service throughout the ship was friendly-- staff was excellent. - Food was good at the restaurants (smaller portions) and the buffet. - Entertainment- stage shows were good. Entertainment in lounges was good too. Silent disco was a big hit on board. Wish they had more live entertainment poolside. - Easy getting on and off the ship-- lines move fast. - Captain and Cruise Director (Dave) were very accessible and seemed looked good people. - Smart Casual Dress code- mix of people who get dressed up for night out and people who wear pants with golf shirt and casual shoes/dark colored sneakers. Ports/Excursions: - Barcelona- we did a couple of days on our own and loved it. Stay in the Gothic Quarter. - Valencia- don't need an excursion- walk to town for hsitoric sites (churches, squares) and shops. - Ibiza- we did jeep tour excursion which was good...went to some nice sites and a beach. Wish we would have gone to the main town near the ship. Seemed liked everyone that went there enjoyed the shopping, restaurants, etc. - Corsica- walk around town-- nice shops, restaurants, historic sites in Ajaccio. - Portofino- we did Cinque Terre excursion. Cinque Terre is beautiful. Excusion was okay-- guide didn't really tell us anything-- and required us to take a tender to a boat to a bus to a train to a minibus to get there. - La Spezia- we did an excursion to Florence. Bus drops you off and gives you three hours to visit on your own. Only complaint was that they stopped at a leather factory on the way. Waste of 30 minutes minutes that I (and all of the passengers on the bus) would have rather had in Florence. Clear that tour bus gets a commission to stop there, but stinks for passengers. - Rome- we did a golf cart tour on our own. It was excellent.

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Barcelona, Spain

Valencia, Spain

Ibiza, Balearic Islands

Portofino, Italy

Ajaccio, Corsica

La Spezia, Italy

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

Disembarkation

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