Gumbey

We did this same cruise (July 7 to July 13th, 2024). It was our first Celebrity but not our first cruise. We came in from Edmonton, Alberta. While we were impressed with the ship overall, along with the passenger vs crew ratio, we felt a couple of the MDRs did not cut the mustard (lol). Tuscan was a disappointment as was Cosmopolitan - the food quality was terrible (not being dramatic) and yes we did send items back. Cypress, which we were going to avoid, turned out to be the best of the MDR along with the best waitstaff. We also ate at Eden, Le Grand Bistro, Raw on 5 and Roof Top Garden. Each one exceeded my expectations. The food and service were amazing and the premium dining. Oceanview Cafe was really good. We never experienced any issues there and thought the choice and quality of the food were above average for a buffet. The pizza at midnight was always welcomed as was the Mast Grill on the pool deck. Great burgs with grilled onions! I agree with the amount of kids on the ship. I wasn't expecting it to be devoid of younger kids, but there were more than we figured. On a few occasions, I saw Celebrity staff (in suit jackets) tuning up a gang of kids that were a little overzealous. The pool was crowded for sure, but to be expected for a July cruise. We ended up often in the Club as we migrated right from the early show in the theatre and the Abba night was absolute pandemonium. Really a great time! We were told the ship was full, but aside from maybe one or two instances, we never felt the passengers on the ship detracted from the enjoyment. Embarkation was pretty uneventful. We had a boarding time of 11:30 am and were there around 10:40 am. We were given group 4 seating and then about 10 mins later began to walk up the gangway. Debarkation was a bit of a different animal to start. We chose early debarkation as we had an 11 am flight. They made Eden the area to gather at 7:45 am and when we got there at that time, it was closed and we had to walk back to the main debarkation point. It wasn't just us, there were quite a few other passengers who did the same as us. That being said, after we got into the terminal it was clear sailing and we grabbed a cab to FLL with zero issues. Overall, we had a great time. We even won the "Guess the sculpture weight" but we were eating lunch at Raw on 5 and it totally slipped our minds to show up. Damn it!!

Upgraded from Classic to Premium for our July Beyond sailing for 53% off. It was a Boxing Day Sale.