A little about us-Hubby 54, myself 53. This is our 8th cruise, 4th on Celebrity. We have sailed S-class in AQ until this cruise and on this one we booked OV because of the intensity of the ports. This was a linked reservation as we sailed with our good friends. Since every Celebrity Cruise has gotten us into San Juan pretty much at dusk, we flew into San Juan two days early due to a mile saver special as my husband used airline points for our flight and stayed at the Embassy Suites in Carolina which are presently being renovated. Our room was totally new-very nice as were the amenities. The outdoor areas were awesome! Free breakfast and evening cocktails were a plus. Thankfully I brought my receipt with me because there was a glitch in their system that said we had only booked one night. We were locked out of our room for about an hour or so. They charged us a much higher rate that I didn't catch right away, however I took my email up and the young woman at the counter took care of it and I did get a letter of apology direct from the hotel in my email.

On Saturday, the group of us had breakfast, checked out of the hotel about 11:30 and headed to the Summit. Check in was very fast compared to FLL and MIA. The ship departing at 8:30 is probably a big reason for this. It was so laid back compared to other check ins. Once we boarded the ship, we headed to Bistro on 5 for our traditional lunch. It did not disappoint. Service was wonderful as always. Bistro on 5 continues to be a nice option on boarding day. While we were sitting for lunch, the announcement that rooms were ready to be occupied was made. After lunch, we headed to our rooms to put our carry ons away. We wore our swimwear on so that we could start enjoying the facilities right away.

We booked stateroom 3134 which is an OV. For my hubby and I, this is the first time that we had booked in this category and we were mildly surprised at how comfortable we were (and would be!) the entire week. The area was comfortable, well kept, enough room for the two of us and was very quiet! The bathroom was well appointed and we loved the shower. Never had any issues with the curtain being a problem. I was uber concerned that I was going to really miss not being in AQ which is what we have always booked. We want to cruise more, not less and seriously the OV will allow us to do just that. We felt just as special as customers in OV as we did in AQ. While you can hear the engine and generator noise in these rooms, seriously it just ends up being white noise. I slept the best I have in years on the ship! Read more