We chose this cruise first for the itinerary which included southern Caribbean islands we hadn't visited before and the great value. I've previously cruised on Carnival and Princess, and I definitely feel like this ship and Celebrity are a step above those two lines. Sailing out of Puerto Rico was also a first for us, and overall this more southern port made access to islands like Barbados and St. Lucia attainable for a seven-day cruise.
Embarkation was simple and fast at the Pan American pier. As an Aqua Class guest, we had an expedited check in line, and were through the line at 11:30AM in five minutes from drop off to getting our welcome complimentary glass of sparkling wine.
There were a lot of things to love about this ship. The decor and artwork were much more contemporary than any Carnival or Princess ship I've ever cruised, and that's a huge plus to me. While other reviews mentioned that the ship shows its age, I really didn't notice this. It's very well attended. The smaller size made it feel generally less crowded, although the main pool area could get busy and loud on sea days and after returning to the ship. My preference was the solarium with the two hot tubs, thalassotherapy pool, padded loungers, and air-conditioned enclosure. It's quieter here with nice views of the sea and soothing music. Access to the bar was close-- just through the doors to the pool area.
The Aqua Class experience was so nice, I'd prefer this or better on future Celebrity cruises. We had expedited embarkation, free tea, pillow choices, very nice bathrobes and slippers, a complimentary bottle of wine, fruit choices, access to Blu, binoculars and an umbrella, and access to the thermal rooms in the spa area, which were very nice, but I don't think anyone was policing who could use these and were open to the ship. They were mostly empty in any case. There were some unfortunately uneven choices for canapes delivered every day to our room. These are a great idea when properly executed; but on some days, we'd be served couscous, hummus, or an olive tapenade with no utensils or any bread or crackers to eat them with. This made no sense to me.
Because they had difficulty filling the ship with the hurricane out of Puerto Rico, we got our cabin upgraded to an A1 on deck 11. I preferred this over the A2s with the overhang on deck 9. Our balcony was the biggest we've had compared to spa cabins on Carnival and a standard balcony on Princess. One nice perk was the full sized, dining height teak table between the two reclining chairs.
The bed was comfortable, there was adequate storage (not including the stacked drawers in the closet which were too small), and the bathroom was kept full with shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, bar soap, and lip balm. I also liked that our shower had an actual door on it, rather than a flimsy curtain. I missed a bathroom electrical plug.
We spent the afternoon touring Old San Juan on our own. It's charming, has great food, and is very picturesque.