Another vote for Celebrity. And, Celebrity does have several newer, larger ships. The 4 newest Millenium class ships are the Millenium, Infinity, Summit, and the Constellation. Each carry passengers of 2000+ and were inaugerated between 2000 and 2003. They are the largest ships that will fit through the Panama Canal. They also have a much smaller ship servicing 94 capacity, the Celebrity Xpedition which travels the Galapagos Islands.
We have also cruised with Carnaval and NCL. With NCL, we experienced poor quality food, rude and incompetent service and a very worn ship all around. We will not cruise with them again. Carnaval was better, but definately not the class of Celebrity and the prices are nearly comparable.
The food and service on Celebrity is outstanding. The entertainment we had on this last cruise, Summit through the Panama Canal, was fabulous with standing ovations each night. It was hard to believe that a two week cruise could provide consistently outstanding entertainment.
For breakfast, there was the standard buffet. Also, you could choose from the waffle bar, the omelet bar, or a light breakfast at the AquaSpa. And, there was also the formal dining room. The same for lunch, except the omelet bar was a pizza bar, the waffle bar was sandwich bar. The ice cream bar opened at lunch time. And, the hamburger and hot dog bar opened up on the pool deck complete with excellent french fries.
The food and service in the specialty dinner restaurant was beyond fabulous - which was very hard to beat the food and service in the formal dining room, but did! There was another option besides the formal dining room and the specialty restaurant. White table cloths and waiter service was also offered in the buffet area. One side of the buffet room was used for reservation dining, but on a much less formal affair. The buffet was also open in the evening including the pizza and sandwich bars.
We took advantage of room service this time. There were four couples and we had the late dinner seating. So, on the days we were at sea, we took turns entertaining in our staterooms. We ordered fruit plates, cheese plates, pizzas, and quasadillas from the roomservice menu - all free of charge (except the tip). We thoroughly enjoyed this service.
Celebrity will be our first choice, but, like you, will compare another cruise line (except NCL) for the itinerary, cost, accommodations and is well recommended.
