Century poor reviews - what gives?

[wwcruisers]

VegasMark, I would not be too concerned about taking your first Celebrity cruise on Century. I was on the same cruise as Elena7seas, Cruisenut, and Lois R, last month -- and I had a great time. I posted a review, which I tried to make as fair and balanced as possible. Yes, there were a few problems (isn't that always the case with life?), but I love Century. It's sad that we probably won't get the chance to sail her again. :(

 

And yes, I was amazed at all of the negative reviews, of both the 3-nighter and 8-nighter that made up our b2b :confused: But, in general, I chalk them up to folks who (unlike you, VegasMark) failed to do their homework -- or who had unrealistic expectations, from the beginning. Hope you have a wonderful cruise -- please come back and tell us about it. :cool:

Edited March 19, 2014 by wwcruisers

[kennelgang]

VegasMark, I would not be too concerned about taking your first Celebrity cruise on Century. I was on the same cruise as Elena7seas, Cruisenut, and Lois R, last month -- and I had a great time. I posted a review, which I tried to make as fair and balanced as possible. Yes, there were a few problems (isn't that always the case with life?), but I love Century. It's sad that we probably won't get the chance to sail her again. :(

 

And yes, I was amazed at all of the negative reviews, of both the 3-nighter and 8-nighter that made up our b2b :confused: But, in general, I chalk them up to folks who (unlike you, VegasMark) failed to do their homework -- or who had unrealistic expectations, from the beginning. Hope you have a wonderful cruise -- please come back and tell us about it. :cool:

 

wwcruisers,

 

Your screen name is very familiar. Weren't we on a cruise with you recently (see my cruise list)?. What are your names?

 

Bob

[wwcruisers]

wwcruisers,

 

Your screen name is very familiar. Weren't we on a cruise with you recently (see my cruise list)?. What are your names?

 

Bob

 

If memory serves, we were on a Millie wine cruise (2012) roll call for a while -- but sadly, you guys had to cancel.

-- Suzanne

[Brerpossum]

Love reading these great comments about century... We'll be on her in July.

One question for all of you... Where do you eat after you embark? A common suggestion on cc is going to bistro on five instead of the buffet, but century doesn't have bistro on five, right?

 

The last few cruises, Kay & I enjoyed the Aqua Spa Cafe.

We have always found the Century crew to be friendly and helpful. We are booked on the September Golden Gate Alaska and hope to see many friends on board.

Jerry

[robtulipe]

I believe that some posters are venting because they were not given special consideration during the transition to the new Captain's Club levels.

 

One cruise being below expectations would not turn us away from our cruise line of choice.

 

The Celebrity threads should be calmer once chronic complainers actually do move on as they have stated. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.. ;)

 

Our Century cruises were not perfect, the iLounge guys below average in providing accurate information and assistance, the service inconsistent, but the smiles, the interaction with senior officers and staff, and connecting with friends on board made for a wonderful cruise.

 

Arno as you are likely well aware I'm one who complaint on our roll call and posted a bad but not what I consider a terrible review for the Feb 15 cruise we were on with you. I had our Century Hawaii cruise late last year to compare to and to us it was a drastic change in service level especially in the eating establishments and with some of the attitude of the staff we had interaction with. Some were out rite rude and appeared not to care and other simply didn't do what they were suppose to. Yes the officers were great and very visible and our cabin steward was one of the best and friendly we've had onboard a cruise.

As to your comment some wanted and weren't given special consideration with the Capt's Club changes. My take is that those weren't given reasonable consideration as IMO many had legitimate concerns with the changes and how they were introduced. But then if I was one who already had the top level or Zenith status I likely wouldn't have been terrible concerned about those changes or how they were implemented either.

You even posted in the Capt's Club Changes thread that going on RCI was now the best option to gain loyalty status as their days only points award one better than X's days and cabin category points unless one is in a high level suite.

As to moving on with our cruise choices we have done so and have already booked a RCI and a Princess cruise. The Serenade of the Seas cruise we booked for next month is actually the one that we decided on to replace the X TA cruise we were considering booking last month while onboard Century so that X door isn't going to hit my derrière on the way out as I've already gone over to the dark side, RCI and even darker side, Princess.

I plan to continued dropping in on the Celebrity forum here on CC as I may end up doing other X cruises in the future but those likely won't be our first consideration.

Also someone has to keep the X's cheerleaders in check a bit! :D

Edited March 19, 2014 by robtulipe

[wallie5446]

I believe that some posters are venting because they were not given special consideration during the transition to the new Captain's Club levels.

 

One cruise being below expectations would not turn us away from our cruise line of choice.

 

The Celebrity threads should be calmer once chronic complainers actually do move on as they have stated. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.. ;)

 

Our Century cruises were not perfect, the iLounge guys below average in providing accurate information and assistance, the service inconsistent, but the smiles, the interaction with senior officers and staff, and connecting with friends on board made for a wonderful cruise.

 

Arno as you are likely well aware I'm one who complaint on our roll call and posted a bad but not what I consider a terrible review for the Feb 15 cruise we were on with you. I had our Century Hawaii cruise late last year to compare to and to us it was a drastic change in service level especially in the eating establishments and with some of the attitude of the staff we had interaction with. Some were out rite rude and appeared not to care and other simply didn't do what they were suppose to. Yes the officers were great and very visible and our cabin steward was one of the best and friendly we've had onboard a cruise.

As to your comment some wanted and weren't given special consideration with the Capt's Club changes. My take is that those weren't given reasonable consideration as IMO many had legitimate concerns with the changes and how they were introduced. But then if I was one who already had the top level or Zenith status I likely wouldn't have been terrible concerned about those changes or how they were implemented either.

You even posted in the Capt's Club Changes thread that going on RCI was now the best option to gain loyalty status as their days only points award one better than X's days and cabin category points unless one is in a high level suite.

As to moving on with our cruise choices we have done so and have already booked a RCI and a Princess cruise. The Serenade of the Seas cruise we booked for next month is actually the one that we decided on to replace the X TA cruise we were considering booking last month while onboard Century so that X door isn't going to hit my derrière on the way out as I've already gone over to the dark side, RCI and even darker side, Princess.

I plan to continued dropping in on the Celebrity forum here on CC as I may end up doing other X cruises in the future but those likely won't be our first consideration.

Also someone has to keep the X's cheerleaders in check a bit! :D

Sitting on the outside 'reading' both comments, hummm. Rob, yours makes his read correct, sorry.

[robtulipe]

Sitting on the outside 'reading' both comments, hummm. Rob, yours makes his read correct, sorry.

 

Wallie, You're entitled to post your opinion and it is only one person's impression, as this is an open forum but give me a break with the "sitting on the outside comment" as you were involved in the many threads about the changes in the Capt's Club program including this post in response to the other quote which shows your sentiment on this subject.

I can't believe a recent poster stated they are considering not sailing on Celebrity anymore because they felt the overall perks were not as valuable anymore. Gee, I thought the purpose of a cruise was to enjoy one's vacation.

Ditto.:)

Same goes for this post.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=40830400&postcount=282

 

Also you responded to one of those who I feel should have got reasonable consideration from X. They started their cruise on the day the Capt's Club changes were announced so got the new lower value points but didn't get the benefits from the new program as those only started two days later. See

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=40830761&postcount=287

 

We are Elite on X but with the poor shape of some of their ships, Century in particular, lowering of the quality of food and service combined with what very little addition benefits that the plus status offers and Zenith, with the new points system, being pretty well unattainable for us in this lifetime we've decided we're better off going with RCI and Princess since we've have similar loyalty status with both. It's easier to their next loyalty level and since both have a lot more ships than X thus offer many more sailing opportunities. IMO it was a the best and most logical decision for us.

I hope you future X cruises are far better and enjoyable than the last three we've done especially that Century one we did last month with Arno.

Edited March 20, 2014 by robtulipe

[wallie5446]

The Century is on Her farewell tour, did you not get the email?

The 3 post of mine you reference, reinforce Arno's statement.

 

RCCL is a good choice, our 1st with them was on the Nordic Empress in Oct 1990. Our 1st Princess was on the Regal in 1992, and was our benchmark for quality for many years.

We wish no one ill will, and do understand we all see things thru different glasses, due to individual experiences.

 

My comment on another thread:

"Stuff happens across all facets of retail, some work for us, the consumer, some don't. We have sailed on 7 different lines since our 1st in 1987. In doing this we have yet to reach a level in anyone's loyalty program to receive very much except, Thanks for sailing with us again. We let it go, and now look and book based on everything but the loyalty perks. There will always be someone in the seat next to us who received something different from us, or we from them."

[C 2 C]

I started a thread a few months back:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1976088

 

I was hoping that once a person has made a strong case for switching cruise lines they would actually move on.

 

Over the last two months we have cruised on Eclipse, Century, Oasis, Constellation and Allure.

Non provided a perfect experience but all of them would get a positive rating from us.

We loved Eclipse for itinerary and choice of live music, Century for itinerary and crew friendliness and ease of movement through the ship, Allure was much better than Oasis and the 5 day Constellation was merely "interesting".

 

With the new Zenith perks we doubt that we will sail with any other line except RCI for their amazing new ships or to be with our grandchildren again.

 

I'm just glad that their are so many options for those who dislike the Celebrity experience and look forward to more balanced reviews.

[robtulipe]

The Century is on Her farewell tour, did you not get the email?

The 3 post of mine you reference, reinforce Arno's statement.

 

No I didn't but did read that here on CC and that farewell cruise in not for another year. What about her cruises until then? I guess those who cruise on Century will have to put up with the threadbare chairs in the Crystal lounge, water leaking and fogged up picture windows in the Hemispheres lounge, worn carpets etc.

Re the chairs in the Crystal lounge I was told they had someone onboard our cruise that was reupholstering these and a few were done at the start of our cruise but none other appeared to be done during the cruise so this might be completely when that ship is transferred to Croisieres de France in April 2015. I can't believe these were left to deteriorate to such terrible shape where many chairs had the under padding exposed.

Your second comment just goes to show you're not on the outside as you indicated in your post.

Below is some shots of some of the bad Hemispheres windows.

 

 

Edited March 20, 2014 by robtulipe

[robtulipe]

I believe that some posters are venting because they were not given special consideration during the transition to the new Captain's Club levels.

 

One cruise being below expectations would not turn us away from our cruise line of choice.

 

The Celebrity threads should be calmer once chronic complainers actually do move on as they have stated. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.. ;)

 

Our Century cruises were not perfect, the iLounge guys below average in providing accurate information and assistance, the service inconsistent, but the smiles, the interaction with senior officers and staff, and connecting with friends on board made for a wonderful cruise.

I started a thread a few months back:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1976088

 

I was hoping that once a person has made a strong case for switching cruise lines they would actually move on.

 

Over the last two months we have cruised on Eclipse, Century, Oasis, Constellation and Allure.

Non provided a perfect experience but all of them would get a positive rating from us.

We loved Eclipse for itinerary and choice of live music, Century for itinerary and crew friendliness and ease of movement through the ship, Allure was much better than Oasis and the 5 day Constellation was merely "interesting".

 

With the new Zenith perks we doubt that we will sail with any other line except RCI for their amazing new ships or to be with our grandchildren again.

 

I'm just glad that their are so many options for those who dislike the Celebrity experience and look forward to more balanced reviews.

 

Arno, You keep making the comments in bold above and we've moved on but I think you're really stating don't bother posting here on the X forum anymore since you don't like Celebrity any more.

Well, Arno, that's not going to happen as this is an open forum that allow all, including X cheerleaders and not, to post.

Beside that it was you who brought up that some posters are venting because they were not given special consideration during the transition to the new Captain's Club levels and I simply responded to that criticism.

Here's wishing your continued enjoyment of your select group of friends onboard your Zenith perks filled cruises.

Edited March 20, 2014 by robtulipe

[VegasMark]

Hmmm... It seems we've gone a bit off topic. Would anyone like to discuss tipping, smoking, or music volume? ;)

[wwcruisers]

Hmmm... It seems we've gone a bit off topic. Would anyone like to discuss tipping, smoking, or music volume? ;)

 

VegasMark -- I know that comment was "tongue-in-cheek" -- but, it does touch on a sore spot for many of us who have recently cruised Century. In our entire 11-night b2b, we never had one drink in the Martini Bar (my favorite, on previous cruises). The music was just too loud, and the bartender refused to turn it down -- even early in the evening, when the bar was practically empty! :mad:

 

This resulted in several of us having conversations with the Cruise Director, and Guest Relations manager -- but, apparently with no results. When you come back from your Century cruise, please let us know if there has been any change for the better. :cool:

Edited March 20, 2014 by wwcruisers

[wwcruisers]

 

We are Elite on X but with the poor shape of some of their ships, Century in particular, lowering of the quality of food and service combined with what very little addition benefits that the plus status offers and Zenith, with the new points system, being pretty well unattainable for us in this lifetime we've decided we're better off going with RCI and Princess since we've have similar loyalty status with both. It's easier to their next loyalty level and since both have a lot more ships than X thus offer many more sailing opportunities. IMO it was a the best and most logical decision for us.

 

Rob -- best of luck to you, no matter which cruise line you choose. I know that you had some real issues on our Century cruise -- although it did seem like you were enjoying yourself, on the occasions when DH and I met you, onboard. And, my earlier remarks on this thread that many of the negative reviews were written by folks with unrealistic expectations, etc., were definitely NOT directed at you. :)

 

We are D+ on Royal, and enjoyed sailing on them for many years. Although we haven't sailed on RC in a while, we are tempted by some of their recent policy changes, such as: banning balcony smoking, and doing away with the dreaded pool-towel check-out. But then, three little words in a recent RC promo struck terror into my heart: "Kids Sail Free!" :eek:

Happy Cruising! :cool:

Suzanne

Edited March 20, 2014 by wwcruisers

[robcruz]

We were on the Century for 11 days a few weeks ago and everything was great but of course I wasn't searching for fogged-up windows or threadbare carpets. I especially liked the fact that whenever I went to Customer Relations there was never a lineup. Just walked up to person manning the position and had my questions answered accurately and politely.

 

Robert

[COMBOY]

I booked the Century for a Pacific Coastal cruise back in September. Our sailing is a week from Saturday. When I was looking to book, I did considerable research and read lots of reviews and threads on here. I knew I would be booking an older ship without a lot of the newer bells and whistles, but that was fine. I also knew the ship was rumored to be sold. I've been on about 17 cruises on a wide range of ships, so I've seen most of what is out there. This, however, will be my first Celebrity cruise.

Recently, reviews of the Century have been mostly very poor. And it isn't just comments about the state of the ship itself, but more regarding service issues. Things like staff being rude, longer than expected wait times for different things, lack of knowledge by the crew, etc. These are things mentioned on several reviews and threads. I spend enough time on here to know that people will complain about most anything, but when there is a trend, I take note.

This being my first time on Celebrity, I expect a good product or I will look elsewhere. I can't believe Celebrity has diminished their product so much on this ship that they would risk losing customers. I will cruise with an open mind and report my thoughts when I return.

Happy cruising!!

 

Two years ago I booked a Carnival cruise since friends of mind were going. I usually cruise on Celebrity, RCI. Anyway...I read some horrible reviews of the Carnival Splendor after I booked. Like you...I went with an "open mind" and the cruise was NOT as bad as some of the reviews noted. I didn't see or experience the things these people complained about. I'm not saying it didn't happen or aren't valid, but I did NOT experience it. I had a very enjoyable cruise. I kept my expectations low and realistic given it was a Carnival ship. Everything was spot on. Sure, no ship is perfect and there are good and bad employees/crew. Reviews can be highly subjective based upon what people's expectations are and sometimes they are completely "unrealistic." You need to take many reviews with a grain of salt. Some problems/issues are very specific to an individuals. Once on the Celebrity Summit I had a horrible dining experience, but the other 6 nights were perfect. It's happens. I believe a vast majority of passengers are very happy and don't write about it. People that are unhappy will more than likely come on Cruisecritic and vent. That's why they call is Cruise"critic." That's OK. In general Celebrity provides a very good to excellent cruise experience. Sometimes the older ships get a bad rap. All Celebrity ships are beautiful...even the older one. Celebrity gets some of the highest ratings in the cruise industry. I can't complaint about any of them I been on and I've been cruising since 1980 on every major line. Please come back and let us know how it was.

Edited March 20, 2014 by COMBOY

[LetsGetWet!]

Two years ago I booked a Carnival cruise since friends of mind were going. I usually cruise on Celebrity, RCI. Anyway...I read some horrible reviews of the Carnival Splendor after I booked. Like you...I went with an "open mind" and the cruise was NOT as bad as some of the reviews noted. I didn't see or experience the things these people complained about. I'm not saying it didn't happen or aren't valid, but I did NOT experience it. I had a very enjoyable cruise. I kept my expectations low and realistic given it was a Carnival ship. Everything was spot on. Sure, no ship is perfect and there are good and bad employees/crew. Reviews can be highly subjective based upon what people's expectations are and sometimes they are completely "unrealistic." You need to take many reviews with a grain of salt. Some problems/issues are very specific to an individuals. Once on the Celebrity Summit I had a horrible dining experience, but the other 6 nights were perfect. It's happens. I believe a vast majority of passengers are very happy and don't write about it. People that are unhappy will more than likely come on Cruisecritic and vent. That's why they call is Cruise"critic." That's OK. In general Celebrity provides a very good to excellent cruise experience. Sometimes the older ships get a bad rap. All Celebrity ships are beautiful...even the older one. Celebrity gets some of the highest ratings in the cruise industry. I can't complaint about any of them I been on and I've been cruising since 1980 on every major line. Please come back and let us know how it was.

Well put. We'll be on Century in about 6 weeks. We fully realize its older and will be sold to a lesser line next April. I'm sure we'll see faded paint and frayed upholstery and similar in places. But we still can't wait, and I'm sure we'll have a wonderful week!

[wallie5446]

Hmmm... It seems we've gone a bit off topic. Would anyone like to discuss tipping, smoking, or music volume? ;)

 

Well put. We'll be on Century in about 6 weeks. We fully realize its older and will be sold to a lesser line next April. I'm sure we'll see faded paint and frayed upholstery and similar in places. But we still can't wait, and I'm sure we'll have a wonderful week!

 

Mark, Sorry, I did not mean for that to happen.

 

Gary, please come back to this thread and let us know your thoughts when you get back.

 

Our first sailing on Century was in her first yr in 1996 and our 2nd Celebrity cruise. Talk about a state of the art cruise ship! WOW! Sadly the grand ole gal is showing her age a bit, but there are not really any of the old style ships left in the American market. We have gotten a tad picky:rolleyes: Go, enjoy.

[VegasMark]

We are back from our cruise and as promised I'm back to report on it. I have submitted a review which should post shortly. In the meantime, below is the text from my review. We had a fun trip thanks mostly to the ports. We didn't find Celebrity to excel over other lines in any area, and found them lacking in a few departments. To each their own. I will say, however, that the ship appeared to be in good condition and I didn't notice any signs of unacceptable wear.

 

Background information

My wife and I traveled on this voyage. We are mid-30s and have each sailed on a variety of different cruise lines. I have been on 19 cruises and my wife has done 8. We went into this cruise knowing that the Century was an older ship and would not have a lot of the amenities of some of the larger Royal or Carnival ships. We booked this sailing based on the itinerary, and knew that we would not be spending a lot of free time on board. Knowing that there have been a number of negative Century reviews lately, I actually started a thread on the Celebrity board asking why. I will provide details below, but in summary, there really isn't anything wrong with the ship itself. It was more an issue of what Celebrity has to offer for us. Keep in mind as you read this review, I am not comparing my experience to my normal life. A cruise on a ship with hardly anything to offer would still be a million times better than a week at work. Maybe that means I need to find a better job, but my point is I'm comparing my experience on this cruise to all other cruises I've been on.

 

Hotel information

We traveled to LA the day prior to embarkation for some sightseeing. I booked a 3.5 star hotel on Priceline and ended up with the Crowne Plaza LA Harbor for $75, which was a great deal. We rented a car through the LAX Thrifty for $63 which allowed us to return the car at the Long Beach location the next morning. Parking at the Crowne Plaza was free. On the morning of embarkation, I dropped the car off and ran the ten miles back to the hotel. I needed an excuse to eat multiple desserts every night ;) The hotel was perfect for us. We had one little issue at check-in. We were given two keys and a room number, but the keys didn't work. I returned to the desk and was told the keys were actually for a different room. At that point I was given the keys for a third room. Not a biggie, but given that it was 10:30 at night, it wasn't ideal. Otherwise, we had a nice room with a view of the water where we had one of the best sights - our cruise ship in port!

 

Travel to embarkation Port

Since the Crowne Plaza is only about 8/10ths of a mile from the port, it was an easy walk. The hotel does run a shuttle, but if you are able, I'd recommend the walk. Embarkation was pretty easy. We arrived at about 1pm, and there was hardly a line. As usual, I was told by porters and dock workers that my large bag would not fit through the x-ray. And also as usual, I had no trouble getting it screened and through. I have just had too many first hand baggage issues and heard too many stories to leave my bag out of sight. Also, it allows us to unpack right away and not have to wait until staff delivers the bags.

 

Ship information

As I had mentioned, there has been a lot of talk on the boards and in the reviews about the state of the Century. This was a concern of mine before boarding, but I wasn't going to let talk of worn carpet and upholstery ruin a cruise. I have never been on a bad cruise and I wasn't about to start now! :) Much to my surprise, I did not see any worn carpet or upholstery. Besides our bed pillows, which had seen better days, there were not any major condition concerns. Sure, there were scuffs and dings here and there, but is that really going to ruin anyone's vacation? Yes, but I feel sorry for those people.

 

Activities

Well, this was one area of failure. There just weren't a lot of things to do while the ship was sailing. Every day was a port day, but we were still at sea by early evening most nights. I don't recall any trivia sessions in the evening at all. This was also the first cruise I can remember where there wasn't a "Newlyweds" type game show. There really weren't too many options at night other than the evening theater show. There were a couple theme parties, but they were 50s, 60s, and 70s themed, which didn't really appeal to us. There actually was a 60s trivia one night, but it was called something like "Impossible 60s Music Trivia". Being that we weren't born for another decade from the end of the 60s, this didn't sound like much fun. Beatles trivia or some other type of trivia? Sure. But we knew we weren't going to know anything for this particular trivia, and it seemed to be the only one offered at night.

 

Service

Service was excellent, but this was another area where the Celebrity ***** just wasn't our thing. I will give you a few examples. Much of the hot food on the buffet line had to be served by crew members. This resulted in longer lines and also wasted food. You had to wait for each person in front of you to tell the crew member (where there was usually a language barrier, by the way) to make their selections and be served. Also, there was a large amount of food waste. Sometimes I just want to have a tiny portion of something (say, scrambled eggs). When I asked for a small amount, I was given the same heaping portion as everyone else without fail. Same goes for the waffle bar. I couldn't even get syrup without the server dumping a giant ladle full on my food. This is not better service, it is worse. Furthermore, a couple of the men's and women's bathrooms had restroom attendants. To my wife and I, this was highly unnecessary. As I mentioned, I've been on many cruise ships and never before saw restroom attendants. I don't recall ever using a dirty bathroom on other cruise ships. They probably have a roving person to clean restrooms. To have a person stuck in the bathroom for a large portion of the day seemed demeaning and unnecessary. While overall service from the crew members was very good, it wasn't anything special when compared to other cruise lines. Service from our dining room waiters Roy and Shunny was exceptional.

 

Cabin

We were very pleased with the cabin overall. We had an inside room on Deck 9 and it had plenty of storage and was kept very clean by our steward Leonardo. There were three full closet sections (two had a rod and hangers and the third had shelves and drawers). There were lots of other drawers in the desk, nightstands, etc. On this ship, there is only one outlet. Not a pair of outlets, just one (well, plus the shaver only outlet in the bathroom). So you might consider bringing a power strip if you have a lot of electronics. The shower was much larger than any other shower I've seen in a standard cabin. The water pressure was also very good. Our toilet did not want to flush one day, but it was fixed while we were ashore and we never had another issue.

 

Dining

Food was largely very good. I would say it was comparable or a little better in quality than other ships, but only marginally better, if at all. There seemed to be a lack of options at the buffet at times. For example, when the salad bar was open after the normal lunch buffet was closed (usually after 2pm), there were no protein options for vegetarians (i.e. beans). One day we asked one of the supervisors for kidney beans, knowing they had been there before. He never returned to our table after 15 minutes. When I flagged him down, he made up some story that they looked for them but there weren't any. The next day they were there again during normal lunch hours.

 

Entertainment

The shows in the main theater lacked the grandeur of other ships because of the small size of the stage and the lack of good bass sound. The comedian and comic magician were both very good. The singers/dancers were comparable to other ships. We saw two of the three productions shows, and they were both good. On two of the nights, they used the lounge guitar player as part of the main theater entertainment. I had never seen this before on a ship - a lounge singer who normally performs for 10-20 guests is not suitable for main theater entertainment once, let alone twice. AND, he played the same song on each night. Really? Here again, Celebrity failed to be comparable to other cruise lines. By the way, there has been a lot written about loud music around the ship, but we did not notice this at all.

 

Disembarkation

Disembarkation was a little flawed. We had bag tags to depart at 9am, but elected to carry our own off, so we did not wait for our number to be called. We were number 20, and at 9am they were only up to about number 14. Customs processing actually took place on the ship. Passengers were told to go to the Rendezvous Lounge to disembark, but not told which elevator to take. When we got off the elevator, we found ourselves "swimming upstream" to get to the end of the line, which was clear into the atrium. The line wasn't too bad though and we were off the ship in plenty of time to get on our SuperShuttle and to LAX on time for our flight.

 

Summary

While this cruise was a great experience, that was largely due to the ports. This was our first Celebrity cruise, and Celebrity did not show us anything extraordinary. Service policies (not the service itself), entertainment, and activities were all lacking. In the future, we would rather book on Royal, Carnival, or Princess. Each of these lines are comparable to Celebrity in most areas, and superior in others. For this reason, we would only consider a Celebrity cruise in instances of unusual itineraries.

[LetsGetWet!]

We are back from our cruise and as promised I'm back to report on it. I have submitted a review which should post shortly. In the meantime, below is the text from my review. We had a fun trip thanks mostly to the ports. We didn't find Celebrity to excel over other lines in any area, and found them lacking in a few departments. To each their own. I will say, however, that the ship appeared to be in good condition and I didn't notice any signs of unacceptable wear.

Mark, thanks so much for returning and giving your review here. It actually makes us feel even better looking forward to our own Century cruise coming up! Ours is a whole-ship charter, so the activities/entertainment will be different from the standard Celebrity fare. Since those seemed to be some of the key low points of your review, sounds very promising for a great cruise!

 

We'll report back after our cruise also...

[curtdesilets]

Well put. We'll be on Century in about 6 weeks. We fully realize its older and will be sold to a lesser line next April. I'm sure we'll see faded paint and frayed upholstery and similar in places. But we still can't wait, and I'm sure we'll have a wonderful week!

 

She is a great ship with class and great service. We had a hoot last week.

[curtdesilets]

Mark, thanks so much for returning and giving your review here. It actually makes us feel even better looking forward to our own Century cruise coming up! Ours is a whole-ship charter, so the activities/entertainment will be different from the standard Celebrity fare. Since those seemed to be some of the key low points of your review, sounds very promising for a great cruise!

 

We'll report back after our cruise also...

 

Just Out Of Curiosity... what is the group that is chartering the 5/3/2014 Century sailing. I have an idea that it may involve an optional item ?? :eek:

[coastlady99]

Wrong thread sorry

Edited April 8, 2014 by coastlady99
Sorry wrong thread!

[BEAV]

Just Out Of Curiosity... what is the group that is chartering the 5/3/2014 Century sailing. I have an idea that it may involve an optional item ?? :eek:

 

Results from Googling "Celebrity Century May 3 2014"

 

 

http://www.toplesstravel.com/cruises/century-2014.aspx

 

http://www.luxury-lifestyle-vacations.com/Cruise_Celebrity_Century_May_2014Desc.asp

 

http://www.shiptakeover.com/lifestyle-cruises/celebrity-century-west-coast-cruise.html

 

http://www.aphrodite-travel.com/cruises/celebrity-century/celebrity-century.html

Edited April 8, 2014 by BEAV

[LetsGetWet!]

Just Out Of Curiosity... what is the group that is chartering the 5/3/2014 Century sailing. I have an idea that it may involve an optional item ?? :eek:

Haha, why yes it does - but only at the pool deck and a few other places - not ship-wide. About half are "lifestyle" if you know what that means - the other half are a combination of nudists and people like us who love the high energy, all couples, no kids, playful and party environment on these cruises.