Jack  

Age: 31 to 40
Occupation: artist
Number of Cruises: 6 to 10 Cruises
Ship: Galaxy
Sailing Date: November 18th, 2000
Itinerary: Southern Caribbean

We cruised Celebrity's Galaxy the week of November 18. It was a great way to spend the Thanksgiving holiday. We got to the pier around 5 p.m. The check-in process went very quickly and smoothly. As soon as we got about, I could tell that they took service seriously--many people waiting there to show passengers to their rooms.

Our cabin was cat. 7 outside on deck 4 near the middle of the ship. I found it more spacious than the smaller outside cabins we had on RCL's Nordic Empress and Sovereign of the Seas. There was lots of storage space--both for hanging clothes and for items that needed drawers. We had several drawers that were empty after we had unpacked everything.

The wall safe behind the mirror at the desk was a nice idea, but we had problems opening it a couple of times. I had to call guest relations, who said they would send someone up to look at it. Fortunately, the safe apparently resets itself after a few minutes and we were able to open it before anyone had to come. Of course this problem only happened when we were in a rush to get somewhere.

The bathroom was fairly nice size. My biggest complaint with it was the soap holder in the shower was made up of parallel chrome rods with a large space between the rods. The soap frequently slipped through the gaps.

When we picked up our tickets from our travel agent, we noticed that we had been assigned main seating for meals and wait-listed for second seating. Fortunately this was changed by the time we checked in. The first night's dinner was random according to slips of paper we received at check-in. I am thankful that the waiter we had that night was not going to be the one we had for the rest of the cruise. He was slow and surly. The wine steward also made a mistake, charging my partner's account for his glass of wine and the glass of wine a lady sitting beside him ordered. He thought it was straightened out, but when we checked later that week, he had been charged for three glasses instead of one. The woman at guest relations that he spoke with said it would take a day to go through the slips and find the mistake. When he went back the next day, another woman tried to tell him that he would have to come back another time. He explained how he should not have to waste his vacation time making sure their error was corrected. About an hour later, the credit slip appeared under our cabin door.

Our waiter and assistant at our regular table were terrific. Amando and Peter treated us very well. We shared a table for six with two delightful couples. The food throughout the cruise was great. I would rank it above the food on RCL, Norwegian, and, of course, Carnival--the other three cruise lines I've been on. My favorites were the seafood appetizers and entrees. My partner enjoyed the cold fruit soups and beef entrees particularly. We both enjoyed dessert, especially the freshly made ice creams. The only buffets we stayed up for were the Caribbean one the first night of the cruise and the gala one the last night. We just looked and took photos of the last one and did not get back in line to try it. Our tablemates say they enjoyed the midnight bites the two nights they served them. Instead of a midnight buffet, waiters bring trays of hors d'ouevres around to the different lounges and casino. We did not stay up that late.

The entertainment was varied. I enjoyed the Broadway show tunes that the singers and dancers performed on the second night. We did not go to see the show on the third night. It was a singer who had been with the Lettermen. Some people we ate lunch with the next day told us he was very good. The fourth night was more song and dance numbers. This show was definitely not as good as the Broadway one. The fifth night featured comedian Ed Regine. He was OK--definitely better than more dance numbers. The sixth night was billed as Circ du Galaxy. I had been looking forward to this show. Boy, was I disappointed. It was horrible. My partner slept through most of it. Our tablemates walked out. The Chinese acrobats weren't very good. There was way too much of the dancers. The only bright spot was the flyer, David Gourguechon. The last night's show featured a juggler. He was great--funny and very skillful. We did not see much of the singers/musicians in the lounges. There was an a cappella group, the High Seas, that performed a good show one evening before dinner. The band by the pool was OK. I would have preferred real steel drums rather than synthesizer.

I loved the layout of the ship. I never felt as crowded as I have on other ships.

The ports of call are basically interchangeable. We treat the ship as our destination. Our tablemates enjoyed days at the beaches. One couple had honeymooned on St. Croix earlier and knew where to go. The other couple picked a bad taxi driver to take them to a beach. On the way back, he stopped at different shops and galleries that his relatives owned. They finally told him to take them back to the ship without stopping again. We did enjoy the catamaran sailing and snorkeling excursion in Barbados. It was a great trip--beautiful clear water, colorful fish and coral formations, and, of course, rum punch after the snorkeling. We also enjoyed the kayaking/snorkeling excursion in St. Thomas. This was one of the best excursions we've ever been on.

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