David Mancione

Age: 44
Occupation: CEO
Number of Cruises: 15+
Cruise Line: Celebrity Cruises
Ship: Galaxy
Sailing Date: June 28th, 2002
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

As a frequent cruise traveler, I was anxious to try the Celebrity line. We sailed on a beautiful day out of the harbor of Baltimore. it is truly a horrible port, fit for cargo - not people. However, celebrity has made it as friendly as possible. We were booked on the 11 day cruise in a sky suite.

Upon check in the first question I was asked was, did I belong to the captain’s club, when we said no - we were told "then its the long line for you! " We were a bit taken back by the abrasive comment, but then just before we proceeded to the "long" line I remembered that the brochure said something about sky suites getting priority boarding. We saw another agent and when we gave her our cabin number - we were whisked away to a quick boarding procedure that lasted only minutes.

Our cabin was great, really like the suite. Great veranda largest I have ever had. My only complaint about the room was the terrible television reception. All channels were fuzzy, even the taped movies. This seems to be a problem through the ship.

Our Butler and housekeeping staff were the best I have ever had on board a cruise ship.

Food service - OK - not consistent. Some food was great other terrible. Pick wisely and you can have some wonderful meals. Beef was often tough or not cooked to spec. best bets are lamb and veal. Desserts are ok, look great, but lacked any real flavor. Food presentation was good, but the plates served on were cheap commercial china.

On board entertainment - one word - awful! Enough said, Quite frankly, I knew this before going, the travel guides all rate this as a significant weakness at Celebrity, but I figured, how bad could it be? Well, it really was bad.

The itinerary was good, I had been to all the ports prior and was looking forward to Belize

This is the most important part of my review, if you are considering this trip for Belize - think very hard. It is a horrible cruise stop. Here is why, the harbor is polluted with dark brown, very dark brown color, that no one can really explain. Let’s put it this way, Belize has had no sewage treatment plant for 150 years.

There is no beach within a two-hour drive. Most of the tours are for athletic individuals who enjoy hiking, cycling or rafting. This is OK, but it should be noted in the brochure.

Other than Belize the ports were very nice.

Coco Cay is the RCL island that shares with celebrity, it is nice, they are doing quite a bit of construction to make it a bit more developed. This is both good and bad, as some days there are a lack of facilities and the construction will make some cruise passengers’ stay at Coco Cay in 2003 more enjoyable. However if you are going now it is a bit noisy if you get a chair near the construction. Advice - get over to the island early and get a chair as far away from the construction as possible. Also, the island has no beach umbrellas and limited shade. You get a full day here, they serve a mediocre lunch. Another complaint - they an out of drinking water by 10:30. However you could purchase all the bottled water you wanted for 3-4 dollars!

Nassau - great stop, my only complaint here is I would have liked to have more time, we only got 4 hours.

OVERALL - I enjoyed the trip, nice ship, good food for the most part.

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