Boatharbour

You can buy peach nectar at a gourmet grocer called Simon Johnson. They have a store in Harris St Pyrmont. You can order online too so perhaps you could make arrangements for delivery once you arrive.

You could also try the food hall at David Jones which is in the city centre.

The library is a real disappointment. On our Solstice and Equinox cruises we found the collection woeful. Not much to choose from and uninspiring. I made a point of leaving behind the books I had brought on board, which were current best sellers.

Such a shame to have a beautiful looking library and not spend any money putting decent books in it.

We were underwhelmed by Silk Harvest. Limited menu and very ordinary dishes.

We were enticed to try it after attending a food demonstration, but the food we received was nothing like the demonstration.

If this food was served at the Oceanview Cafe you could say it was adequate, as a speciality restaurant it's not.

Unfortunately when you book a three package speciality deal you have to eat there once.

We had the same issue on the Equinox last year. Purchased a 3 dinner package pre- cruise and during the purchase process was only able to book one dinner. Found it impossible to book subsequent dinners online without being asked to pay again.

We did try calling Celebrity and was told the other bookings could only be made on board. On the day we boarded a table was set up outside the Oceanview Cafe selling dinner packages. We visited this and were able to make all of our bookings within half an hour of getting gon the ship.

I am always surprised by comments about the long walk from the aft sky suites to the elevators. It's not an issue unless you are physically incapacitated, but then any walking may be an issue in that case. For the average person, it's simply not a big deal.

We have stayed in these staterooms twice. The walk is a minute or two at most. The corridors are quieter due to less foot traffic and the view from the aft is sublime. We love it back there.

Staff have access to an internal staircase in the aft and halfway along the corridor between the elevator and the aft. The only thing we didn't like was that cleaning trolleys and other equipment was often left stored in the passageways in this area.

Murano is definitely the most romantic restaurant.

Agree that the window tables at the Tuscan Grill are pretty special too depending on who is sitting near you. Our anniversary dinner on the Equinox in September was spoilt by being seated next to two large raucous groups which made conversation impossible. Even our waitress had trouble hearing our order. Not likely to happen in Murano.

We didn't have any problems on our previous Celebrity cruises, so just wondered if the supplier had changed.

Not a big deal, just an observation.

Yesterday my mother arrived back in Sydney after a wonderful cruise on the Century. She enjoyed the food at the buffet, but had problems on several occasions with the meat in the MDR.

The lamb and veal were so tough that her waiter offered to cut it up. Not only for her , but for other passengers having the same problem. Does anyone know where Celebrity purchases it's meat or is this perhaps a cooking issue?

I know this is a first world problem as any cruise is a good cruise, but it wasn't an isolated event on this particular trip.

The latest brochure we received features only youthful looking passengers. Aged 35-45 I guess. This was to promote the new suite class.

Very little overhang on deck 11 and no privacy. Pretty much all of the verandah can be seen from the Oceanview bar. Scraping of chairs from above around 6.30 each morning.

Stayed on deck 9 the previous cruise and this was much better, but still only a small overhang.

Ship: Equinox

Cabin: 1674

Deck: 11

Area: mid aft

Bed near: balcony

Quiet: some noise on first and last nights from crew ( luggage?). Occasional early morning scraping of chairs from Oceanview cafe.

View: wonderful

Size: one of the largest non suite balconies

Wind: not a problem

Soot: no

Comments : Would not book again. No privacy from people looking down from the Ocean view Bar. A drink was spilt on us from someone overhanging the rail with a glass in hand. Very small overhang. No shade.

Our 13 night Eastern Mediterranean cruise on the Equinox in September had two formal nights not three.

I laughed when I read about your difficulties finding the Pantheon. We stayed in a beautiful little hotel next to the Pantheon prior to our cruise on the Equinox in September.

Each day we got seriously lost trying to find our way back to the Pantheon. It's a magnificent building, but somehow it disappears into the streetscape until you are almost on top of it. We had maps, apps and our wits about us, but Roman back streets were really difficult to navigate on foot.

Agree with your comments on Michael' s Club. We travelled in a suite on a previous cruise, but would have felt uncomfortable using this under patronised venue.

We live in Australia and sailed out of Sydney on a 13 night cruise on Solstice last year. Most of the passengers were Australian.

There were three formal nights and on each occasion the dressing was of a standard consistent with Celebrity policy. Tuxes, formal gowns worn by many, but dark suits, cocktail dresses worn by the majority. In fact most people seemed to enjoy the opportunity to dress up.

We did see some passengers dressed less formally , but they were heading to the Oceanview buffet.

The standard of dress in the mdr every night was smart casual. No shorts in sight!

Decided to make our final payment a few weeks early due to all the talk about problems with the website.

When I looked in Manage my Reservation I found the obc and other entitlements are completely scrambled. Contacted Celebrity by email and was assured that the benefits are still there on our booking, but just don't appear in a readable form on the website.

I continued with the final payment and all looked fine until I received the confirmation email. Our 13 night Eastern Mediterranean cruise is now listed as a 7 night Galapagos inner loop itinerary!!

Now I understand why there are so many posts about the state of the Celebrity website....

We did a behind the scenes tour on Solstice last October. It was one of the highlights of the trip. I can't recall the cost - (maybe $150 each?) but absolutely worth it.

We booked on board the day we embarked. There were two tours on our cruise. Numbers were strictly limited given the areas of the ship we were visiting, so I don't think that this would work for a roll call group. Cameras were not permitted in some areas for security reasons.

We started on the bridge with a lengthy briefing form the captain. He was amazingly generous with his time. From there we worked our way down - crew areas ( not cabins ), backstage in the theatre, anchor / ropes zone, cool rooms ( amazing), engine control room, kitchens and on and on it went. So much to see. And so much interesting information.

If you think everything runs smoothly upstairs, it' s the same below. Systems and schedules for everything. Spotlessly clean and so well organised.

We finished with a lunch at the Tuscan Grill. Each table had a senior crew member seated with them and they were more than happy to answer our questions. It was a great day.

There are also behind the scenes tours of the kitchen area. I think these were free.

It sounds as though many of you have a soft spot for the Century.

The reason for my question is that I am concerned that Celebrity will not spend the money to maintain the ship to its usual standard, given that this is its last season.

From all the feedback it sounds as though my mother will have a wonderful time.

The Century sounds like her style.

The concerns were mine after reading a few other comments on the forum. Thank you to everyone for sharing your experiences.

Thank you for sharing your experiences on the Century. It sounds as though it has a great deal of old world charm and atmosphere combined with the truly amazing service that we experienced on the Solstice.

My mother's cruise departs Sydney on 30 October. She may be 84 but refuses to have a balcony, as she spends so little time in her state room!

My 84 year old mother is a regular cruiser but has never cruised with Celebrity before. We went on our first cruise last year choosing the Solstice and absolutely loved it.

Mum now wants to experience Celebrity and has chosen the Century because it departs and returns from Sydney in October. After reading that this will be the ships last season with Celebrity I am concerned that the ship may not be in the best condition by the time she travels.

I've read plenty of threads about the ship being clean but having worn carpets and other signs of age. I've heard rumours of a refurbishment but don't know how likely this is given its the ships last season.

After raving about Celebrity I'm not sure that mum will come away with the same experience that we had. I realise there is a difference between Solstice and Century but I would hate her to end up on a run down ship.

Am I worrying unnecessarily?

We used the card on Solstice out of Sydney, October 2013

Re my previous post about credit card fraud - Celebrity are based in Miami but if you call the 1800 number from Australia you are put through to a call centre. Last week I was speaking to a company agent in Guatemala.

We didn't use the card off the ship at all. Card details were only given to Celebrity for our Sea pass card.

We also had problems with credit card fraud after a Celebrity cruise in October last year.

The card is rarely used but details were given to Celebrity for our Seapass card to pay on board expenses. Several weeks after coming home, the card details were used fraudulently twice on one day totalling $3000. The activity was traced to South America .

We immediately cancelled the card and our bank reimbursed us. I notified Celebrity but apart from an acknowledgment they had received my email, nothing more has happened.

In a recent telephone call to Celebrity about another matter the operator mentioned she was in Guatamala so there is a South

America link there.

All too much of a coincidence .

Re smoking in the port side of the sky lounge, I found the information by "Googling" the smoking policy for Celebrity Equinox. The first hit that comes up is not from a Celebrity site.

I've since double checked on the Celebrity website and it does say smoking is not allowed inside.

We were very happy with the non smoking policy on the Solstice, although there is some irony that the walking track passes through the smoking area of the Masthead Grill.

The only problem we had involved smokers at the Sunset Bar who leant over the railings so that the smoke drifted down on to the Oceanview Bar below. On one occasion ash landed in my husbands meal.

We' re sailing on Equinox next year and it appears that smoking is allowed on the port side of the Sky Lounge. I don't see how you can have smoking and non smoking areas in the same room.