Was not expecting too much from our 1st Marella cruise but overall very impressed. The Celebration certainly looking her age from the outside but inside lounges, rooms, restaurants all ship shape. Very well maintained. Nice size ship, never felt overcrowded and staff do their very best to make you feel welcomed and relaxed.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Well coordinated transfer between airport and ship. Queue for ship card and registration but moved quickly.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Menu for main dining room appeared to be same as buffet, at least soups and carved meats were but didn’t see that as a bad thing as variety was very good.
Excellent made to order omelettes in Meridian for breakfast. Found buffet quality very good especially meats. Cider, larger, John Smiths, 3 wine taps all self serve available in buffet, very handy!
Burgers, hotdogs and made to order panini sandwiches pool side very nice for quick bite.
Booked Mistral restaurant but had to cancel as we didn’t realise they change the menu twice a week and we didn’t like the menu on the night we had picked. Reception have copy of menus for the selected nights, if you ask.
Overall, impressed with quality of food and service we received.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Pools, hot tubs all maintained well for such an old ship.
Live music and cooking demonstrations etc by pool.
Enjoyed daily quiz by pool.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
All singers and bands pretty good.
Staff talent show was great to see, a lot of untapped talent working in the service departments.
Didn’t see other shows as we preferred the quiz and audience game shows in Liberties and they always clashed.
Thanks to our fellow cruisers for an amazing karaoke experience! Normally hate these things but everyone was brilliant!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Service on board was some of the best we’ve experienced, couldn’t fault anyone.
Everyone was incredibly friendly.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ For cleanliness. Constant wiping, cleaning, hoovering in all public areas. Plenty and well functioning hand sanitizers at every entrance to all public rooms.
Probable due to age, ship not perfectly designed. No Atrium, which we sort of missed. Couldn’t walk from aft to forward when Broadway show was on without changing decks, was a bit of a nuisance. Outside stairs on upper sun decks quite narrow and steep.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Deck 3 Inside cabin 534
Cabin was bigger than we expected, plenty of walk room. Space for cases under bed. Plenty of wardrobe and drawer space. 2 good size dressing tables. Bed large and very comfortable. Nice having kettle in room, with decent tea! Bathroom on the small side, a bit dated too but kept immaculately clean. Missed wash line in shower, but not much room for one. A few bath towels showing their age. Absolutely no plumbing problems 😀
Ship tip
Don’t make plans for embarkation day. Muster bought forward by 2 hours and we lost ££ on private trip we planned.
Did Lascaris War Rooms which was excellent. Plenty to see and do under your own steam from port. Will return to spend more time here.
Duty free shop at port very cheap for booze and tobacco.
One of the most depressing ports I’ve ever been to. Visited on a Sunday and absolutely nothing open. Take excursion and get out of town.
Took excursion to Taormina. About an hour from port a lovely walled city with stunning views. Great shopping, even on a Sunday! The amphitheater is the big draw here, but didn’t have time to visit.
Tender port with stunning scenery.
Took the hop on/off bus which was waiting at port. 20 euro. Nice drive down coast with amazing views. Also had free walking tour inside city walls which was very interesting. City gets very packed later in day.
Wish we’d have had the energy to walk up to fort, but learnt our lesson in Dubrovnik in 30 degrees😉
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