Review of the Celebrity Galaxy - (now MV Mein Schiff I)

Panama Canal

written by Lolamia posted on 29/12/10

This was our second cruise. Having flown to Houston from Toronto, we shuttled to Galvaston where we had a smooth embarkation. Our room was "nice" although a little dated. The main areas of the ship were beautiful, however. Live shows were great each night as was the live music in the lounge area. We were joined at dinner by three couples, one from Spain whose English was very limited and chose to eat elsewhere for most of the cruise, as well as two couples from New Jersey. Being the social people that we are, we throughougly enjoyed each other's company.

Shore excursions were a little bit of a let down. We stopped at Cozumel, took the Mayan Ruins excursion. After sitting in the ferry next to our ship waiting for our trip to the Playa del Carmen, Diane took a Gravol in fear of seasickness resulting in her wanting to sleep throughout the trip (two hours on the bus, and approx. 1 hour at the ruins). Our guide was very knowledgeable, but we found the trip very long and not enough time spent at the ruins.

Next stop was Costa Maya: loved the shopping and dining as well as great music and dancing. Very enjoyable.

Costa Rica brought us on an organized rain forest tour, lots of vegetation, but not much in the way of wildlife (monkeys). The next morning, at approx. 5:30 a.m. we started going through the Panama Canal. We were up, dressed and on deck to see the fascinating process, and see the sun rise over Panama in all its glory. Enjoyed every second of this part of the trip. We anchored on Gatun Lake, and tendered to the mainland where we took a bus excursion to the Pacific side of the Panama Canal...not too much to see there, but enjoyed lunch nevertheless. Next stop was Jamaica, having docked in Montego Bay, and decided to do Dunns River Falls, along with four thousand of our friends: extremely busy place, but interesting. Falls were beautiful, but the crowds were unbelievable. Lunch followed at Margueritaville and some shopping before heading back to ship. Our last stop on this cruise was Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands where we decided to do a beach day at 7-Mile beach, again with another couple thousand "friends"...much too crowded for our tastes. Since this was our last stop on this cruise, we would have loved a beach with alot less population. We will know next time.

Food was good to great, and staff were very attentive and personable.

All in all, we were not totally disappointed with this cruise, nor we were absolutely delighted with everything either.