Good to be back cruising, but the industry is having cash flow issues and is cutting corners. Hopefully this is a temporary situation.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Process, while faster, seemed confused. Check-in times were ignored – everyone who showed up was let in. One person asked to see our passports before we entered the building. Less than 20 feet later another person asked to see our passports again. We were asked to show our fast-passes 3 times in the space of about 5 minutes and about 15 feet. While the reservation was in my name, since my wife’s fast pass was the first one scanned all of our on-board spending went under her name. Not good. What happened to the welcome champaign when we board?,
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
This seems to be where Celebrity is doing their cost-cutting, and was definitely not up to their past standards.
Main Dining Room food selection was such that it was difficult to find something I wanted to eat.
It’s difficult to trust wine recommendations from someone who says they are my “sommel-yur”.
Lavazzo coffee is not very good to start with, but the strength was very inconsistent – sometimes too strong to drink, other times it was fine.
Pizza was some of the best I’ve had at sea!
I appreciated the creativity of using last night's leftovers in the Indian dishes. The recycled potatoes missed the mark.
Bar drinks in general were too sweet.
Oceanview Café and Bar
4 out of 5
Food was good in general, but limited selection. Consistency was an issue, particularly in the mornings, with the poached eggs running the gamut from firm to still clucking. The bacon was also anything from crispy to almost raw. And the coffee was usually way too strong, except the random times when it was almost too weak.
Silhouette Restaurant
3 out of 5
Service was very poor. Selection of food was not up to their previous standards, and it didn't taste all that good either.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Great selection of shows.
Cruise Director Eddy was one of the best we've had. We particularly enjoyed his talks.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
First the bad news. Our waiter provided very poor service. I shouldn’t have to wave my arms to get him to refill a water glass. He always seemed preoccupied, and was very difficult to find when we needed him.
Highest marks for the rest of the crew and staff. No matter if they were wearing blue coveralls or shirt and tie they said hello and smiled.
Our stateroom attendant was perfect! He greeted us immediately after we arrived. He kept the stateroom immaculate, and was always there when we needed him. Definitely the best stateroom attendant we’ve had in 20 years of cruising.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Good for a ship of her age, but she needs a refresh in the next year or so. Minor things like cracked tiles in the restrooms, etc...
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Comfortable. Average size. Needs some repairs to one of the ceiling light fixtures and the drawer in the bathroom.
Ship tip
Don't expect things to be like they were before the lockdown, particularly the food, but they're working it!
Our last visit to Philipsburg was before the hurricane 5 years ago. We did not expect the amount of damage that was done, along with the economics of two years of COVID lockdown of the cruise port. Several favorite haunts of ours are no longer in business.
We've been to St. Lucia several times before, so we decided to try something different. We took the "Taste of St. Lucia and Chocolate Workshop" tour and it was fantastic! Highly recommend it.
Bridgetown is a beautiful port. We tied up very close to the terminal so the walk was much shorter than our previous visits. The "Tiami Sail, Turtles and Swim" tour was disappointing. We had taken this tour before and loved it, but now they are not allowing swim fins, which makes the snorkeling much less enjoyable.
Beautiful island. The "Grand Etang Volcano and Fort Frederick" tour was a good sampling of the island and better than the tours we've taken previously.
Highest marks! "Best of Martinique" tour was 7 1/2 hours and worth every minute of it. The tour guide spoke excellent English, and US dollars were accepted everywhere we went. There was a bit of confusion regarding passports - Celebrity was saying we absolutely needed to take them with us, but they were never asked for. Later we found out that the ship won't let you off there if you didn't register a passport when you embarked.
The smoothest disembarkation we've experienced. We were concerned because we returned to a different pier than the one we left, but it was still the easiest we've ever had.
Thank you for your extensive review! I would love to be able to do the cruise that you did as soon as I can; I've seen it listed before on cruise websites, and it sounds like such an amazing itinerary! Awesome that you had such a wonderful time in the ports, and I will keep your reviews of them in mind!
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