I'll start by saying we travel a lot, but aren't "cruise people". We've only been on one other cruise. Most of our travel is self-booked, no groups, tours, etc. That said, we were looking to do something out of the ordinary and special for our 35th anniversary cruise, and had our sights set on exploring a few greek islands. After looking at options including cruises, flights, and water taxis, we decided on the 3-night Celestyal Olympia cruise. We figured that if it didn't agree with us, 3 nights would be OK. We liked the smattering taste-test of the islands, and we liked that two excursions were included.
Embarkation was a breeze for us, but read the cabin details for possible explanation.
Yes, the ship is old, but it's been refurbished quite nicely. It was perhaps a little nicer than expected. I think we had 1,000 passengers, so quite a bit under capacity. That may have helped with things for our cruise.
We splurged and stayed in one of the two Grand Suites. WOW, it was amazing! I realize that is not for everyone, but we don't regret it one bit. The suite area on deck 9 had its own dedicated staff and great service. It helped to have a wonderful space when my kidney stone was being a b*tch. We were pleasantly suprised to learn we had our own private dining area with designated table and wait staff. Very nice! We also had #1 for getting off the boat (after the paid excursion folks). Sweet!
One bad thing is we had 2 different plumbing issues in our bathroom. We reported them and they were corrected promptly.