We took this specific cruise to spend time with our friends and because we hadn't been to most of these ports in previous cruises. Our time with our friends was fabulous. The time on board is always fabulous. The ports were not fabulous and I wouldn't recommend this itinerary unless you book a tour at each port. But at the price of the excursions, that adds a lot of expense to your trip.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
We booked a suite. In the past, we had special embarkation process but not this time. We waited in the same line as everyone else, sat in a very large room as everyone else and boarded with everyone else. There was no champagne on board to greet us and only a handful of crew members on board to greet everyone. It was pretty ordinary and minimal. I'm hoping this is not the new way Celebrity will do embarkation for Suite guests.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
The red wine selection was very limited and disappointing. We ate in Luminae most nights and the service and food was good. Service was exceptional.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
I got a 50 minute massage that was great. There was no dedicated pool/spa area for Retreat guests and the other pool and spas were too crowded.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
I've been on over 10 cruises, mostly Celebrity and the entertainment on this one was the best.
Children's Programs
Didn't sail with kids
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
We loved our Butler, Dominique and our waiter in Luminae, Vincente and an assistant waitress, Budnyani. The hostess at Luminae was also exceptional. Each that I've mentioned went out of their way several times to make sure we had all that we needed and were happy. Patricia in Michael's helped us with an excursion issue that could have been brushed under the table but she made sure that it was made right.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Ship was clean. Was very disappointed that there was no outside Retreat area on this ship. However, the outer security door was closed and the key pad was non-operational for anyone. We waited outside our cabin for over 30 minutes 2 times while the cabin stewards were located and then figured out the only way in was through the balcony doors in the adjoining cabins. Eventually, a repairment replaced the key pad with the correct software/hardware.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We normally book a Celebrity Suite but was love the configuration and price of this specific cabin as it's in the back corner.
We took a really bad excursion - The Best of Nassau. The person that met us at the meeting point was incredibly rude and not helpful. She gave us bad information about catching a tram to get part of the way but the tram never was called to pick us up. Then we had to run to catch up and were the very last people boarded on the bus and couldn't stay together with our companions. The tour itself was not great. We were taken to a couple of resorts to show how great they were and one of the stops was at one of the resorts???? What would we do there except use the restroom, which was difficult to find. There is not much to see on Nassau so the drive was uninteresting. We went to a rum distillery and that was very good. It was an incredibly long walk to get to the bus and back to the ship. We chose this tour because one of our companions has a hard time walking so this was a bad tour for him. Shopping would have been difficult because there was many ships in port and very crowded shopping area so we didn't spend anytime shopping. I would avoid a cruise with this port.
The ship was anchored in a place where you either had to book a tour or catch a cab to ??? The port area was completely dismal with nothing to do or see. The ONLY thing that helped redeem our stop here was the helipad sail away for Suite guests. Again, I would avoid a cruise with this port.
There were at least 6 ships docked in Cozumel... 3 where we were docked at a small port area. There were shops and a few eateries but with so many people, it was terribly unpleasant so we spent about 15 minutes in this port. We had booked a tour to Talum but changed our minds with so many people and the bus ride there.
We booked an excursion to the Everglades. It was a way to kill time before our late afternoon flights but a lot of time on the bus and a lot of time waiting at the venue standing in line. The interesting parts lasted about 40 minutes total at the "park" and the rest of the almost 5 hours was standing in a line or riding on a bus.
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