Celebrity Cruises has announced that it will transfer Horizon to U.K.-based Island Cruises, a sister company. The ship, will leave Celebrity in October 2005. In the meantime, Celebrity Horizon will continue to sail scheduled itineraries -- the Caribbean this winter from Tampa, and Bermuda this summer from Philadelphia.

At present, Horizon is Celebrity Cruises' grand dame. One of the line's three original ships, it followed Meridian (which ultimately was sold and sadly sank in the Pacific) -- and preceded Zenith, which launched two years later.

Celebrity positions itself as a premium level cruise line, meaning that their target guest is looking for a cruise experience that includes some of the amenities and refinements of the luxury lines without losing the element of fun. Horizon accomplishes this admirably by concentrating on sophisticated levels of food and beverage service most often associated with pricier lines: martini and champagne bars, cigar lounges, and caviar service, while not skimping on shipboard activities for passengers who like to let their hair down.

Horizon has 677 cabins; 533 are outside cabins with windows or portholes and 20 suites, however, none have balconies. All standard cabins are pleasant and airy whether inside or out. Even the lowest category cabins have large amounts of storage space to accommodate bulkier wardrobes. There are no staterooms with obstructed views. Room service is available around the clock, and guests may order from the dining room menu during designated mealtimes. Eight staterooms are handicapped-accessible. Amenities in all categories include toiletries, hair dryer, Interactive TV system, and telephone with voice mail, minibar, and safe. Suites have VCRs. The hairdryer in our cabin was showing its age and we recommend bringing your own.

If there is one thing the name Celebrity is synonymous with it is cuisine. A menu designed by Michelin three-star chef, Michel Roux makes it clear why Celebrity ships are at the top of their game for their price range. Fresh seafood and produce are provisioned on the fly, and much of the food is cooked to order. The cuisine is consistent with Roux's publicized rejection of many of the trendier trappings of contemporary cuisine as being gimmicks; this is basic, classical cuisine, well executed, but don't look for sculpted presentations or unusual multicultural fusions. The menu features nightly spa and vegetarian choices. There is a children's menu on request, and special diets can be accommodated if requested at the time of booking.

There are two facilities serving the pool area, the Coral Seas Café and the Grill. The Café is the basic lunch and dinner buffet operation, with a good variety. There are a handful of assistants available to help passengers to their tables. The Grill serves tea in the afternoon and pizza at various times during the day. They also do burgers and hot dogs at lunchtime. The grill also serves an alternative casual sit-down dinner on long port days, for which reservations must be made.

Besides piquing passenger interest, Horizon's wide spectrum of design serves to satisfy different preferences in different people, and, after a few days, most everyone finds a room which appeals most to his or her individual tastes, which spreads passenger load across the whole ship. We found little overcrowding and few lines. At one extreme are Horizon's dramatic, large public rooms, the Palladium Show Lounge (showroom) and Marina Deck's spectacular America's Cup Club, her top-of-the-ship, forward-looking observation lounge. There is an elevated bar and additional seating area in the center, so that even those who don't stake out window side tables aren't deprived of an unobstructed view. We found our niche in the smaller, intimate lounges peppered around the main public gathering areas of the vessel. Rendezvous Square, which fronts the two-deck entrances to the Starlight Restaurant with its piano music, makes an excellent pre-dinner cocktail and meeting spot.

Palladium Show Lounge, Horizon's two-level main show lounge, is one of the best designed we've seen. The absence of obstructing columns combined with a fairly steeply raked floor create a room with no bad seats. The ornate second level balconies, broken into separate units descending along the sides of the room, reminded us of the private boxes of classic opera houses, becoming part of the decor as well as being functional. The stage has adequate bells and whistles, though the constant use of the video wall system as a background scenic element began to get distracting after a while. The production shows, though improved over prior seasons, are still your basic cruise fare. The ship did have, however, an extensive slate of individual performers and lounge acts, including two comedians, two pianists (with very different repertoires), individual singers, and an a capella group. We also liked the presence of the String Quartet, which provided the soothing counterpoint of classical music at various times and places throughout the ship.

Casino Royale is popular and offers the usual blackjack tables, craps and one roulette table, plus the ubiquitous video poker and slot machines. The ability to gamble in-cabin through Horizon's interactive TV system might own up to why the casino didn't seem overcrowded.

The AquaSpa fitness/spa facility, a signature element of Celebrity Cruises, has been upgraded on Horizon. Operated by Steiner's of London and offering a far more extensive array of services than a typical shipboard fitness/beauty/massage center. Numerous treatments rooms for Rasul, facials, seaweed wraps, massage, etc. monopolize most of the space here. The gym is well equipped with treadmills, Stairmasters and other exercise machines. The equipment was all up-to-date and state of the art.

The main pool and sunning area is amidships on Marina Deck, with two pools and whirlpools with plenty of deck chairs. Other fitness offerings include a short jogging track on Sun Deck, which, because it doesn't top passenger cabins, has no time limitations.

There are numerous daytime activities, even on port days, including all the standard cruise fare. Movies are offered in the Palladium Lounge cinema, augmenting those shown on the ships video system.

Celebrity offers the basics, and its programs are downright dynamic and very popular on this ship, especially on the Bermuda itinerary. Children pay the third or fourth person per cabin rate. Under the age of 12, Celebrity recommends kids pay half of the usual tip amount. The Celebrity Youth Program covers children ages 3-17. Ship Mates (ages 3-6), Celebrity Cadets (ages 7-9), Ensigns (ages 10-12), and Admiral Ts (ages 13-17) operate 9 AM–noon, 2–5:30 PM, and 7:30–10 PM on sea and port days. In-cabin babysitting is available for $8 per hour (two kids maximum); requests must be made onboard through the ship's Guest Relations or Stateroom Services departments. Group babysitting is available in the children's playroom for children ages 3-12 from 10 PM until 1 AM; the cost is $3 per hour for one child, $5 per hour for two or more children in the same family. "Parent's Night Out" is a formal-night-only program where counselors host kids for a pizza party; there's no charge. Passengers who need to request high chairs, cribs, etc., must call Celebrity's Special Services department at 1 (800) 242-6374 no later than 72 hours prior to sailing. Celebrity has an "unlimited soft drinks" program for children under 18. The cost is $4.50 per day, plus 15 percent tip.

Horizon attracts a wider variety of passengers than most Celebrity ships due to its family-friendly Bermuda cruises. Mostly couples and families from the U.S. and Canada between the ages 30 and 55.

Celebrity recommends $10.25 per person, per day as follows: $3.50 to your cabin attendant, $3.50 to your dining room waiter, $2 to your assistant waiter, 75¢ to the dining room manager, and 50¢ to the chief housekeeper.

Standard designations of formal, informal, and casual. On our sailing there were two formal, two informal, and three casual evenings. About 50 percent of men wore tuxedos.

• Cruise line - Celebrity
• Ship name - Horizon
• Type of cruise - Sophisticated
• Total cabins - 673
• Private balcony cabins - 0
• Decks - 9
• Passenger capacity - 1354
• Total crew - 642
• Officers nationality - Greek
• Ship size - Large
• Year entered service - 1990
• Tonnage - 46811
• Ship length - 682
• Registry - Liberia

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