Cheryl, I can definitely recommend Azamara. Bob and I did a transatlantic cruise on the Quest and loved it! She's a beautiful ship and can stop at ports the mammoth ships can't get to. I'd gladly sail on her again.
Garry
In your experience, is the crossing rougher on a smaller ship?
I don't know. We were lucky enough to have seas like glass for most of our trip. Crossings are always a puzzle. You never know what you'll get. We've also had crossings with 107 mph wind and 40 foot seas. I love them both!
I guess you would say that we are very, very loyal to Celebrity since we have cuised Celebrity exclusively since 1992. Celebrity was a very good match for - met nearly all our requirements for a perfect vacation. When we decided to try cruising, our TA asked us a ton of questions about our likes and dislikes, and ideal vacation. After thinking about our answers, he told us about a fairly new cruiseline with a brand new ship that he thought would suit us. He booked us on the Zenith and it was perfect.
However, when Celebrity no longer matches enough of our ideals (and from what is changing on Celebrity it looks like they are moving away from our ideal vacation), we will look for another vacation trip - be it cruiseline or land based.
Karen
Zenith-Western Caribbean-6/92,
Zenith-Eastern Caribbean-6/93.
Century-Maiden Voyage-12/95,
Galaxy-Southern Caribbean-11/99,
Mercury-Northbound Alaska-6/00,
Millennium-Westbound Transatlantic-9/01,
Horizon-Western Caribbean - Adults only cruise-11/02,
Millennium-Westbound Transatlantic 10/26/03,
Century - Western Caribbean 1/31/04,
Celebrity Millie Trans two day "Barcelona land cruise" (due to drydock extension)-11/18/05,
Millennium - Westbound Transatlantic-11/20/05,
Millennium - Cruise to Nowhere - 12/2/05,
Zenith-Special Caribbean - 11/3/06.
Millennium Back to Back - Mediterranean - 11/18/07 & Westbound Transatlantic - 12/2/07
Century-Caribbean-1/3/09
Celebrity used to be my favorite cruise line, but things have changed. In the past I had recommended Celebrity to many people. The service, food and willingness to please of the onboard crew on Celebrity are about the same as any mainstream cruise line.
IMHO, for the past several years, the downside with Celebrity is the inconsistency of the ship conditions over the Celebrity fleet. More and more people are finding it necessary to check the last date of the last dry dock for some of the older Celebrity ships, so as not to be sailing on one of the cruises where refurbishing is long overdue. That coupled with the recurring propulsion problems on the Celebrity Infinity, Millennium and Summit have led me to the decision to not to sail Celebrity, until there is a change in direction from the home office of Celebrity.
For me when spending my vacation dollars, I prefer to cruise a line where I know that I am not gambling on what my ship and cruise will be like.
Celebrity used to be my favorite cruise line, but things have changed. In the past I had recommended Celebrity to many people. The service, food and willingness to please of the onboard crew on Celebrity are about the same as any mainstream cruise line.
IMHO, for the past several years, the downside with Celebrity is the inconsistency of the ship conditions over the Celebrity fleet. More and more people are finding it necessary to check the last date of the last dry dock for some of the older Celebrity ships, so as not to be sailing on one of the cruises where refurbishing is long overdue. That coupled with the recurring propulsion problems on the Celebrity Infinity, Millennium and Summit have led me to the decision to not to sail Celebrity, until there is a change in direction from the home office of Celebrity.
For me when spending my vacation dollars, I prefer to cruise a line where I know that I am not gambling on what my ship and cruise will be like.
Haven't heard from our resident pod person lately.
I've sailed Celebrity about once a year and haven't noticed any of the ships being long overdue for refurbs. My last Infinity cruise was excellent and as always was well spoken of by all in my group. I found the ship condition, service, food and willingness to please to exceed the other mainstream cruise lines. Besides hearsay, when was your last Celebrity cruise?