From: lorraine@caliban.crd.ge.com (Peter Lorraine)
Newsgroups: rec.travel
Subject: Celebrity Cruiseline Comments
Summary: Very much fun indeed!
Date: 6 Apr 92 17:53:37 GMT
Organization: GE Corp. Research & Development, Schenectady, NY

My wife and I just got back from a 7 day cruise throught the southern Caribbean on the
Horizon of Celebrity Cruiselines and enjoyed it tremendously.  The ship visited Martinique,
Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, and St. Thomas.  This was our first cruise.

We had not heard of Celebrity 5 weeks ago and booked with them based on a travel agents recommendation
and the pictures in the glossy brochure so we were a little wary.  The ship was spectacular,
immaculate, and spacious.  We had an outside cabin which was quite spacious with a large
window, plenty of closet space, a colour TV, and a reasonably large bathroom.  The decor throughout
the ship was quite contemporary (ie lots of mirrors and glass).  I was surprised that the ship did 
not feel crowded.  It was very easy to get into the pool and the jacuzzi's (sp?) and to get on 
and off the ship at the various islands.  

The food was superb with many choices and flawless, attentive service.  We were consistently 
surprised by the excellence of the service throughout the ship.  If we stepped out of our
cabin for a few minutes to check at the main desk, we would discover fresh towels when we
returned.  Clothes were folded and hung up, ice buckets and pitchers filled, and beds made
and turned down in a timely fashion.

The passengers were of varying ages.  I am 31 and my wife is 28 and we were close to the
young side of the adult population.  There were a surprising number of families with young
children.  There was fairly little silliness on the part of the entertainment staff.  We had
dreaded the thought of wet t-shirt contests, beer-drinking marathons and the like.  The evening
entertainment was quite good, but probably would have appealed to my parents more than us.
There were numerous lounges around the boat with piano music and a reggae band played poolside
most days.  We only stopped by the casino for a brief look around.

As a side note, I should mention we spoke with people on the ship who had been on other
cruises and said that Celebrity was their preferred choice.  People generally praised the
comfort of the cabins, the ship, and the quality of the food and  service.  

In Antigua, we met some passengers who were on a new Royal Caribbean ship ( I think it was
Monarch of the Seas).  This ship was bigger than the Horizon and very attractive.  The
people we met complained that their cabins were fairly small and that the pool area was
very crowded.  They said the food and service were excellent, however, and had much praise for
the entertainment.  Both couples said they would consider Royal Caribbean again but would
certainly get one of the larger cabins.  One of the people we spoke with was a travel agent
who looked at our daily program and said it was comparable.  She said she thought she would
try Celebrity next time.  The other comment they had was that our itinerary spent longer
at each island.  We arrived no later than 8:30 am and sailed at 7:00 pm from Martinique and
Barbados, 4:30 pm from St. Lucia, 5:00 pm from Antigua, and 8:00 pm from St. Thomas.  The
Royal Caribbean ship generally arrived later (as late as 11:00 am in Martinique) and left
earlier.  In summary, they were enjoying themselves a great deal but would spend the extra
for a larger cabin on their next cruise.

As I said at the beginning, this was our first cruise so we have nothing to compare this with
other than hotels and restaurants.  We enjoyed ourselves greatly and would definitely choose
Celebrity again.  

Other comments:

The five island itinerary was a little hectic and an extra day at sea would
have been nice.  At it was we made it to the midnight buffet only twice as we were usually
exhausted after a day of island-exploring.

The Zenith is a sister ship to the Horizon and should be comparable.  Both were built in
Germany (the Horizon was finished in 1990, the Zenith just a few weeks ago).  Both are
680' long, 100' beam, 46k ton displacement, and have some 700 cabins.  This translated into
around 1400 passengers on our cruise.  The ship was very stable although that may have 
something to do with the Caribbean.  Celebrity also has the Meridean, which has a 
significantly different layout.  

I would be interested in comments from those who have sailed on the Horizon and could
compare it with other ships.


             Peter Lorraine  < lorraine@crd.ge.com >
Newsgroups: rec.travel