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Name: Nancy Smith
Email: nans@onix.com
Age: 35
Occupation: travel agent
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: Yes
Ship: Celebrity-Galaxy
SailingDate: 3/21/98
Itinerary: deep caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 95
CruiseDirector: 95
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService: 95
CruiseStaff: 100
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck: 90
DiningRoomService: 100
CabinQuietness: 100
FoodMidnightBuffets: 90
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety:
FoodVariety: 95
DeckService: 100
ShoreExcValue:
GoodForHoneymoon: 95
CasinoStaff: 95
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 95
LoungeService: 100
TenderService:
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff: 90
EntertainmentLounges: 90
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 95
EntertShowLounge: 90
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon: 95
EntertainmentPoolside: 95
CruiseActivities: 95
Casino: 95
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 95
DiscoNightclubs: 95
DeckSpace: 100
Stabilization: 95
ShopsOnBoard: 80
SpaceRatio: 95
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 29 Mar 1998
Time: 23:31:07
Remote Name: 198.70.176.110
Remote User:
Comments
We just returned from the 3/21 sailing of the Galaxy. As first time cruisers, I'd like to
give a somewhat detailed review
from our prospective and hopefully help other first time cruisers. Before I start, I'd
like to personally thank Peg and
Derek Caldwell-Ott (of RTC). Aside from giving us superb advise, they made alot of things
possible on the Galaxy which we
would have never had the opportunity to do (I'll explain later). They truly are great
people! Ok, here we go. We flew
from Philadelphia on American Airlines on a 6:00 a.m. flight to San Juan (we did our own
air) and arrived at about 10:30
a.m. As soon as we exited the plane, a rep. from Celebrity was there waiting for us (it
looked to us that RCI is running
things at San Juan for both Celebrity and RCI). Since we had never cruised before, we were
really concerned about our
luggage. We were told that as long as our luggage was tagged with the Galaxy tags, our
luggage would be fine. Being
first timers, we were skeptical that we would ever see our luggage again. We were escorted
to a lounge and waited for a
few other flights to arrive and at about 11:45 we were on a bus to where Galaxy was
docked. Once we were at the pier,
embarkation started about 10 minutes later. Since we had arrived so early, there were few
people waiting and we were
actually the first ones on the ship! Our room keys/ship charge card were given to us and
we were escorted to our room.
Before we left, we were more than a little nervous about room size.
When we entered our room, we let out a sigh of
relief. No, it wasn't as spacious as an average hotel room, but it was certainly more than
adequate and it was nicely
decorated in blond woods and extremely clean. There was an entertainment center in the
corner of the room with a
small fridge and a t.v. (not much on t.v - CNN, ESPN, 2 movie channels and 3 music
channels) and a VCR which we never
used.The safe was located in one of the closets and was very easy to program and use. We
were in room 9153 which
was a mid-ship outside stateroom with a king size bed and verandah. At this point I must
say we absolutely loved our
verandah and I don't think we would be able to sail without one....I guess we spoiled
ourselves ;-). We had brought
bathing suits in our overnight bags and we changed and went to have some lunch. Lunch was
in the Oasis Cafe where
they have a buffet lunch everyday. The Oasis Cafe is located next to the pool and it is a
very open and comfortable. You
can go there in a swimsuit coverup and there is a nice selection of hot and cold entrees
and salads which change daily.
A buffet breakfast is also served there daily which had many hot & cold entrees along
with an omlette station. We never
had breakfast the dining room (The Orion Resturant), but other people we met told us there
wasn't much difference in
choices, but you couldn't go there in swimsuit coverups.
At the Oasis, there was never a long line for food and there was
always a waiter waiting for you at the end of the line waiting to take your tray to the
table for you. Also, one stand next to
the outdoor pool and one stand next to the indoor pool served hot dogs, hamburgers,
chicken, fries, etc. from 12:00 -
2:00. Once we were done lunch, we went to check out the Aqua Spa & workout room. Both
were very nice and well
equiped. I worked out about 5 times, there were lots of machines and free weights and I
never had to wait for more than
5 minutes for a treadmill. We then went to the pool. As I went to get a chair, a crew
member from the Spa approached
me and asked me if I'd like to be "model" for Spa services for the tours that
the passengers would be taking. He asked if
I would like a facial with a head and neck massage, I said sure and off we went as my
husband relaxed by the pool. I
highly recommend the facial/massage and Lee did a great job - it was a nice way to start
off a vacation. At the end, Lee
mentioned he needed another model and I offered my husband - he too thought it was great!!
Around 5:00 p.m. we went
to explore the ship...we were, to say the least, very impressed. There are many bars and
intimate areas. We also went to
Guest relations, Peg & Derek know the ship's master, Captain Iordanis Adamidis and we
sent him a little note. About 5:30
we went back to our room and low & behold, there sat our luggage! At that point my
husband was in heaven. There are
3 closets and about 10 drawers,plenty of room for all of our clothes. In the bathroom,
there are 2 shelves and 3 drawers
under the sink. Our Steward, Roussel then came in and introduced himself and he did a
wonderful job throughout the
trip. Our room was always clean, ice was always in the bucket and he delivered room
service within 15 min. of ordering. I
highly recommend the huge chocolate chip cookies, great late afternoon snack! First night
was open seating and the
food in the main dining room was always good - excellent. Many choices and everything was
cooked to order.
Our waiter
and Maitre'D were truly excellent. The second evening we were sat with another couple and
we found to have alot in
common with one another, but both couples had a problem with our table. We were in area
with alot of vibration and
noise and could barely hear one another talk. We spoke with a Maitre'D and the next night
we were at a much better
table and never experienced the problem again. The first night we left San Juan at about
11:30. What a party Celebrity
had! The band Voltz (who was enjoyable throughout the cruise) began to play, the midnight
buffet was setup and
everybody was in great spirits! As the ship began to move, I became a little nervous, but
the movement of the ship was
no big deal. My husband and I took bonine everyday, not sure we needed it, but it never
made us tired and we never felt
seasick, so we were afraid not to take it. Some nights there was more movement than
others, but we loved being rocked
to sleep and we never heard anyone complain about it ( or about anything else for that
matter!). Around 12:30 we went
back to room (we had been up since 4:00 am and we were more than a little beat) and sat on
our verandah. We still
were able to hear Voltz playing soflty in the backround and the both of us remarked had
relaxed we felt. It took some
willpower, but we went inside or else we both would have fell asleep outside! Most
mornings we had room service for
breakfast, continental only in all rooms other than suites, but we knew how much food we
would be having the rest of the
day, so it was fine for us.
We had 2 breakfasts in the Oasis Cafe and we never ate breakfast in the Orion. Catalina
Island
was our first stop, the only place where tenders had to be used. The seas were very rough
and the tenders were having
alot of trouble. We heard people were getting sick on the tenders and a crewman had even
fallen off and had to be
rescued. Needless to say, we then decided to stay on board. Because all of the crew from
the Oasis was on the isalnd,
the Oasis closedand there was no food poolside. A decision was made (because so many
people decided to stay on
board) that you could be casually dressed in the Orion restaurant which was fine. The
captain's wife called us that
afternoon and asked us to meet for drinks. She is a very lovely, friendly, outgoing person
and they have a very cute 13
month old son whom we also met. We had alot in common and were even 1/2 hour late for
dinner (she told us to blame
her!). Our next day was at sea and it was fun and relaxing. By the way, anyone who says
Celebrity is old and boring must
need their own social director. The age group ranged from 3 - 70 ( I am 35 and my husband
is 40 and there tons of
people our age on board) and there was always something to do. The Stratosphere lounge was
always packed till at
least 2:00 am (we never stayed later than that).
Anyway, on our day at sea, I returned from working out and found an
invitation to dine with the Captain that evening, what a thrill! We were met at 8:20 in
Rendevous Square by Stacy the
social director (very sweet). She introduced us to the rest of the table and we had
drinks. Captain Adamidis then met
with us and we all walked into the main dining room. Dinner (the first formal night) was a
wonderful experience I'll never
forget. Captain Adamidis was very easy to talk to and made us all feel very comfortable. A
different wine was served with
every course and it felt like we each had an individual waiter. A group picture was taken
of us and delivered to our room
the next morning compliments of the Captain. At the end of dinner, Stacy then took us to
the show (Noodles Levenstein -
very, very funny - sorry to say we saw no other shows - busy doing other things) where we
had reserved seats - what a
way to end the evening, I was in heaven. The next day was Barbados - I have been there
before and shared some
special places with my hubby. Antigua was next and we loved it. We spent the day at Dark
Woods Beach - I highly
recommend it and had lunch at the Big Banana Holding Company. Shopped a little in town and
returned to the boat.
There was a message waiting for us to come to the bridge at 5:15. Now my husband was in
heaven! The bridge of this
ship is amazing - mission control. We took lots of pictures and had a great time.
Martinique - spent an hour in town,
didn't really like it and spent the remainder of the day on the ship. St. Thomas - the
weather wasn't too nice but it was
perfect for shopping ;-) . Went back to boat and spent our final day relaxing and then
packing. Debarkation was basically
painless and here we are again home.
Sorry if this was too long and drawn out, we just had such a wonderful time.I
wanted to write this while it was still fresh in my mind. If anyone has any
questions,please feel free to write to me at
nans@onix.com i'll try and help as much as I can. Nancy
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