Celebrity Century Coastal Cruise

[Cruise Raider]

We just got back from the Century on an 8 night coastal cruise. Here are some of the highlights / lowlights of the cruise :

 

> The ship is ok --but not maintained very well. There were rusty spots in different parts of the ship and just an overall weathered look in others. The windows in the Hemisphere lounge up top leaked badly during the rain....I mean, they needed buckets in several locations. Plus, disgustingly dirty especially looking up behind the shades. They also needed some new pool furniture -- even though the pool wasn't used too much during this rather cool weather cruise. The stateroom balcony floors and furniture were in dire need of replacement / refinishing, as was the bathroom flooring in our stateroom. The room had noticeable vibrations (we were toward the aft section) and creaked and rattled quite a bit when pulling into or out of the ports as well as when the seas were rough. The carpets in some areas were badly worn but in others, looked nearly new.

Other than that, the ship was in decent shape for her age. Nothing super special but nice public rooms and seemed to be kept nice and clean overall.

 

> Embarkation in LA was not great but we were lucky enough to be the first group to board and met some nice people to talk with while waiting so not as bad for us as it was for some. We did get varying stories from the staff -- so which one to believe? Who knows why the delay but we did hear everything from the computers crashed, some passengers refusing to disembark from the previous cruise, norovirus cleaning, ramps being built to meet the required level of the pier, etc. We did board at approx. 1:00 - 1:30 PM and the rooms were available shortly afterwards.

 

> Our stateroom was ok -- needed to be refurbished but not too bad. The room was a good size and there was plenty of storage space in the room -- the design was quite efficient. The shower was actually decent sized but the tile needed replacement as did the rest of the bathroom floor. It was stained a dingy brown where many feet have stepped. The sink area and counter area did look new, though. The toilet flushing mechanism went on strike one day, worked a couple of hours later -- whew!! The carpet in the room had seen its better days and there were some chips on the furniture that had been painted over. The bed was hard until our room steward put an egg crate on top....then, pretty comfy. He also brought us a couple of feather pillows which made it seem like home. The towels and robes were of very good quality. The balcony was in poor condition, though. The glass was dirty, the varnish had all baked off the balcony furniture and the flooring was in desperate need of being refinished.

 

> Cruise critic meet and greet -- hmm? What happened there? Not sure. We showed up at the Sunset bar after the muster drill and didn't see any organized meeting. I suppose we could have walked up to others at their tables to ask if they were part of the group but were relaxed in the sunshine and were part of the Zaca Mesa group so went down to that sail away party 40 minutes later anyhow. We also showed up at the second meet and greet in the Hemisphere lounge and looked as though everyone was already grouped at the tables so sat on the outskirts and listened to the cruise director's welcome and Q&A session....as we were not so much in a chatty mood anyhow. Celebrity did make a point of giving us a nice room as well as Champagne for the meet and greet....nice touch.

 

> The dining was nice no matter where you went. We booked Muranos for this trip -- the 3 dinner package and it was just excellent, however, my DH did complain about the lamb on the last night. He said it was very tasty but the toughest piece of lamb he had ever had. The lobster Murano was amazing -- as was the service. We did go to the main dining room a couple of times and both times, it was excellent. The poolside grill, sandwich bar and buffet (especially the stir fry and pasta stations) were great. Our favorite place for coffee, a glass of wine or dessert was the Cova Café. A special note of gratitude to the staff at the Cova (Marijana and Ivana) -- they made the trip quite special for us.

 

> Bar service was great overall. We noticed one of the waiters on this cruise from a previous sailing on the Solstice -- Norris. He was fantastic then and now. Always took such great care of us. The bartender in the Rendezvous Lounge was great. The only time we ran into any issue was at the martini bar. I had been getting lemon drops (small ones with non-premium liquor) in all different bars on the ship but they wouldn't allow one on the classic package in the martini bar. The only other time we went there I ordered a Kahlua and milk -- when they brought it, it was actually a mudslide. I cannot have chocolate so had to dump that one.

 

> Entertainment -- Rob Ondras -- fantastic. We noticed him playing at the beginning of the cruise and liked it so much, kind of looked for when / where he was playing. By the end of the cruise - he had a following. He was very talented and engaged the audience.

We also saw a couple of shows -- the dancers are great and they also had a 70's production which involved audience participation. They made it very fun.

The casino was pretty entertaining for us -- didn't see a lot of winning but we ended up doing ok. The cashiers were so friendly. This is a very small casino with not a huge variety of games but adequate for the size of the ship.

We went to the movies a couple of times -- saw Captain Phillips (yes, on a cruise) and Jobs. Both were excellent films and in a small but nice theater onboard. You could always watch them on your stateroom tv the next day but nice to see on a bigger screen. Never did find a tv guide in our room for start times and shows but didn't watch too much tv at all anyhow.

 

> Zaca Mesa wine package -- this was definitely one of the highlights. Because this was such a port intensive cruise, the wine tastings were held pretty early in the day. Also, I think some crackers or cheese would have added to the experience -- especially out at the winery. We originally understood there was to be a BBQ at the winery with the tour and wine tasting, which would have made this an outstanding tour. This was not to be, however, Eric and Dane were excellent speakers and even with as many winery tours as we've been on, we still learned a lot of new things about wine and wine making. They wines were quite good and special discounts were provided if purchased during the cruise. The wine pairing luncheon was the highlight of this package. Nicely done!!!

 

> Demographics -- the ship seemed to have just the right mixture of passengers. There were some children and even fewer teenagers on this cruise. It was not a spring break cruise by any means. There were some crabby people -- think they were still a bit miffed about the embarkation -- but all in all, there were such nice and interesting people that we met onboard.

 

> The ships officers and cruise director were mingling with the passengers -- think this is something that Celebrity has promoted in the last couple of years. It is really appreciated from our point of view. They definitely make the passengers feel like they are important. The cruise director actually had a couple of extra minutes one morning and we asked if he wanted to sit and join us for a cup of coffee at the Cova. At the repeat cruisers event, one of the officers came by to ask if there was anything that would make our cruise more enjoyable. Nice touch!!

 

> The staff on this ship is what made our cruise so enjoyable. We can forgive the lack of the WOW factor on the ship and even that it appeared to be in a bit of disrepair, when the staff goes out of their way to make you feel so welcome. With the exception of just a few (which I won't even mention as maybe they were just having a bad day) the Century has such a fantastic crew and staff. From the officers, cruise director and entertainers to the room stewards, restaurant and bar staff to the casino and boutique staff -- all fantastic. The hostess at the main dining room, the hard working bus staff in the buffet, the tender operators, etc. all deserve our thanks as well.

A special thank you, though, goes to Ivana and Marijana at the Cova Café that made our cruise something very special. Also, Christina, Seymore and Alexandra at the Cova Café -- that always were so bright and cheerful -- even when we weren't so perky. We especially loved it when Rob Ondras played there.

 

This was a very port intensive cruise and we love our sea days but it was very enjoyable, nonetheless. By the time of disembarkation, they really got it together at the LA Harbor. Disembarkation was painless -- very quick without too many line ups. Everything seemed to move very quickly and efficiently, especially by the time we got to customs. We arrived at LAX so early, we could have easily made the 10:30 flight -- but we played it safe and booked the one at 1 PM so had a long wait in the airport.

Overall, I would give the cruise 4 stars a deduction for the lack of maintenance of the ship but put back with such a great staff.

[spookwife]

I am on her in a month, and am looking forward to comparing your experience to ours.

 

any pictures?

[upwarduk]

Thank you for your report. Which class of cabin did you have?

[Andy]

Thank you for sharing your insights Cruise Raider. Welcome Home !

[lovecruzin]

Thanks Cruise Raider! We are doing the same cruise in April, what nights were formal?

[LetsGetWet!]

I am on her in a month, and am looking forward to comparing your experience to ours.

 

any pictures?

 

We must be on right after you.

 

Thanks OP, appreciate the review - and any pictures would be great!

 

Sent from my Galaxy S4 via Tapatalk

[Dandylyon]

Thank you for the info. We'll be on Century next Saturday!

[mjceditor]

Thank you for taking the time to write a balanced review.

[Brooklyn Boy]

My wife and I were also on this cruise and agree with most of your observations. From our point of view the embarkation was a total mess. We arrived at the terminal at 10:35AM, and did not get to a check in agent until 12:05PM.

 

When we entered the terminal, the lady who greeted us told us that only penthouse and suite guests were being allowed to check in. We were told to take a seat and we would be called when it was time for us to check in. After sitting for a while we noticed other people being directed to check in. Knowing there could not be that many penthouse and suite guests, we spoke to a different direction person who told us to get into a now much longer line. It would have been nice if everyone at Celebrity had their people reading from the same page.

 

These are some of the strange actions I personally observed at check in:

 

One guest discovered she did not have her passport with her. As one normally does, she checked her bag over and over again. Every time she checked, it still was not there. This went on for over half an hour, while the Celebrity agent patiently waited for the missing passport to make an appearance. You would think that Celebrity would have a special desk to handle problems, rather than take an agent off line for so long.

 

At the beginning of check in there was a person directing guests to the next available agent. She left after a while and went someplace else, and there was no replacement for her. It was up to the guests to figure out where to go. The Celebrity agents had no lights, paddles or other ways to indicate they were ready to help another customer. Most of them did look up and call out, sort of catch as catch can.

 

After about an hour of standing, my wife needed to support her back, so she left the line to stand against the wall. She noticed that an agent who had finished checking in a guest was staring off into space, making no attempt to call over another guest. My wife walked over to this agent and asked if she wanted my wife to call on the next guest waiting in line. The agent replied "Oh yes would you". My wife then went to the front of the line and told the couple waiting there that they could go to check in.

 

You have to admire the bean counters at Celebrity. They have figured out a way to have the guests do Celebrity jobs for free.

 

I heard horror stories from other guests regarding the Keystone Kops check in, but only want to report what I personally saw.

 

After check in we had to wait over an hour before boarding began.

 

Like you I asked several staff members what happened, and got a different answer from each person.

[koolforkatz]

Hi Lisa! Great review - as the "nice people" the OP met, I concur - it was so nice to meet and chat with Cruise Raiders and her husband during the long, arduous wait as it took my mind off it. The embarkation was a total, disorganized nightmare. Not enough staff or resources. What on earth made them put in their documentation 10:30 as the embark time???

 

Conversely, our meeting time to get off the ship was 8.30 a.m. and we were standing outside with our luggage by 8.35 a.m. Best debark ever!

 

As the OP has stated the crew on this ship was fabulous - very, very friendly. As were the passengers. We met some amazing people on this cruise - really had a great time and I am exhausted and need a holiday.... ;)

[Cruise Raider]

So sorry...I really took very few pictures as we live just outside of San Francisco and have been to all these ports of call many times in the past. It was actually liberating not being tied to that camera. We also packed in carry on luggage only .... another aspect that made our cruise more enjoyable. Packing and unpacking was virtually painless.

 

We booked a Concierge Cabin (C2) aft on the vista deck. The location turned out to be pretty much perfect as we only sailed into one port well before wake up time. Most of our stops made it into port around noon. There was an afternoon of very rough seas which made the room creak and rattle. I rarely get sea sick but this movement in this area of the ship made me feel really woozie. I finally made it up and out of the room where in the hallway, they were spraying some kind of disinfectant I think, which made me feel a little sicker. I knew I had to get out into the open air and took the secret stairs in the back up to the Sunset Bar. There I met up with another one of the amazing staff I mentioned and he made me a club soda and bitters. I was back to feeling normal!! This is such a great sea sickness cure, by the way. I actually was able to enjoy a great dinner in Muranos that night.

 

I actually tried to upgrade to a more midship room prior to the cruise and was not allowed unless willing to give up the Zaca Mesa package. I don't think it would have made that much difference and am so glad I didn't spend the extra money on this. The room was just fine -- just as I suspect the ones further midship were. The real gems of the cruise were the people...very nice mix of passengers and that great staff / crew. We ended up spending very little time in the room anyway.

 

PS -- one thing I forgot to mention is that all the dining venues close down at night. After closing the casino one night, we went up to go get a piece of toast, pizza or a dinner roll. There was nothing ...not even a carton of milk. The buffet had every curtain closed with a few guys cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. They said I could order room service. Guess I am used to just a little something available after midnight but there was nada. I wasn't too put off by this ....just surprised, is all. This was not a ship with any late night people aboard. We are usually kind of early to bed kind of people so don't know what happened to us on this cruise but were so surprised that every venue and hallway was just barren by midnight.

[tn1728]

Thank you cruise raider and brooklynboy for the reviews! It sounds like we should have a great time in a few weeks!

 

What type of music does rob ondras play?

 

Also, your reviews of the embarkation explain why the rest of us got phone calls, text messages, and emails about what time check in starts, and that embarkation would begin when the ship was cleared.

 

Theresa

[Cruise Raider]

Hi Lisa! Great review - as the "nice people" the OP met, I concur - it was so nice to meet and chat with Cruise Raiders and her husband during the long, arduous wait as it took my mind off it. The embarkation was a total, disorganized nightmare. Not enough staff or resources. What on earth made them put in their documentation 10:30 as the embark time???

 

Conversely, our meeting time to get off the ship was 8.30 a.m. and we were standing outside with our luggage by 8.35 a.m. Best debark ever!

 

As the OP has stated the crew on this ship was fabulous - very, very friendly. As were the passengers. We met some amazing people on this cruise - really had a great time and I am exhausted and need a holiday.... ;)

 

Hi Miss Katie.....yes, you were one of those great people we met and guess what, just found the Pan Pacific for $50 cheaper in Sept ....so am probably going with that one. thanks for your advice....plus, it made the time fly.

 

Now, I regret that I have to go make my own dinner....what's up with that?? I am just sick about it. hahaha :D

[Cruise Raider]

Thank you cruise raider and brooklynboy for the reviews! It sounds like we should have a great time in a few weeks!

 

What type of music does rob ondras play?

 

Also, your reviews of the embarkation explain why the rest of us got phone calls, text messages, and emails about what time check in starts, and that embarkation would begin when the ship was cleared.

 

Theresa

 

I think they have worked out the embarkation now....however, seems like whenever embarkation is delayed ...it is on the west coast.

 

Rob Ondras plays a lot of Neil Diamond but some Jim Croce, Don McLean, Jimmy Buffet, etc. All songs that the crowd seems to know and sing along. He even did a Tribute to Neil Diamond one night. He just seems like such a truly nice guy and will take the time to talk to you and play your requests if he knows it. Just such a great talent. As he said, he likes to play music that you can either sing along with or visit with your friends while he is playing in the background so not so loud that you cannot hold a conversation if you want to. Just right!!

[Cruise Raider]

Thanks Cruise Raider! We are doing the same cruise in April, what nights were formal?

 

Sorry I forgot to answer this. Formal nights were on the first sea day and then again on the night leaving Monterey.

Of note, even though Muranos does not require formal wear, most people dressed VERY nicely. We were a bit underdressed but they didn't seem to mind one bit.

 

PS -- Hi Andy...thanks for all the Century advice before our cruise! It was so helpful.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

We just got back from the Century on an 8 night coastal cruise. Here are some of the highlights / lowlights of the cruise :

 

> The ship is ok --but not maintained very well. There were rusty spots in different parts of the ship and just an overall weathered look in others. The windows in the Hemisphere lounge up top leaked badly during the rain....I mean, they needed buckets in several locations. Plus, disgustingly dirty especially looking up behind the shades. They also needed some new pool furniture -- even though the pool wasn't used too much during this rather cool weather cruise. The stateroom balcony floors and furniture were in dire need of replacement / refinishing, as was the bathroom flooring in our stateroom. The room had noticeable vibrations (we were toward the aft section) and creaked and rattled quite a bit when pulling into or out of the ports as well as when the seas were rough. The carpets in some areas were badly worn but in others, looked nearly new.

Other than that, the ship was in decent shape for her age. Nothing super special but nice public rooms and seemed to be kept nice and clean overall.

 

> Embarkation in LA was not great but we were lucky enough to be the first group to board and met some nice people to talk with while waiting so not as bad for us as it was for some. We did get varying stories from the staff -- so which one to believe? Who knows why the delay but we did hear everything from the computers crashed, some passengers refusing to disembark from the previous cruise, norovirus cleaning, ramps being built to meet the required level of the pier, etc. We did board at approx. 1:00 - 1:30 PM and the rooms were available shortly afterwards.

 

> Our stateroom was ok -- needed to be refurbished but not too bad. The room was a good size and there was plenty of storage space in the room -- the design was quite efficient. The shower was actually decent sized but the tile needed replacement as did the rest of the bathroom floor. It was stained a dingy brown where many feet have stepped. The sink area and counter area did look new, though. The toilet flushing mechanism went on strike one day, worked a couple of hours later -- whew!! The carpet in the room had seen its better days and there were some chips on the furniture that had been painted over. The bed was hard until our room steward put an egg crate on top....then, pretty comfy. He also brought us a couple of feather pillows which made it seem like home. The towels and robes were of very good quality. The balcony was in poor condition, though. The glass was dirty, the varnish had all baked off the balcony furniture and the flooring was in desperate need of being refinished.

 

> Cruise critic meet and greet -- hmm? What happened there? Not sure. We showed up at the Sunset bar after the muster drill and didn't see any organized meeting. I suppose we could have walked up to others at their tables to ask if they were part of the group but were relaxed in the sunshine and were part of the Zaca Mesa group so went down to that sail away party 40 minutes later anyhow. We also showed up at the second meet and greet in the Hemisphere lounge and looked as though everyone was already grouped at the tables so sat on the outskirts and listened to the cruise director's welcome and Q&A session....as we were not so much in a chatty mood anyhow. Celebrity did make a point of giving us a nice room as well as Champagne for the meet and greet....nice touch.

 

> The dining was nice no matter where you went. We booked Muranos for this trip -- the 3 dinner package and it was just excellent, however, my DH did complain about the lamb on the last night. He said it was very tasty but the toughest piece of lamb he had ever had. The lobster Murano was amazing -- as was the service. We did go to the main dining room a couple of times and both times, it was excellent. The poolside grill, sandwich bar and buffet (especially the stir fry and pasta stations) were great. Our favorite place for coffee, a glass of wine or dessert was the Cova Café. A special note of gratitude to the staff at the Cova (Marijana and Ivana) -- they made the trip quite special for us.

 

> Bar service was great overall. We noticed one of the waiters on this cruise from a previous sailing on the Solstice -- Norris. He was fantastic then and now. Always took such great care of us. The bartender in the Rendezvous Lounge was great. The only time we ran into any issue was at the martini bar. I had been getting lemon drops (small ones with non-premium liquor) in all different bars on the ship but they wouldn't allow one on the classic package in the martini bar. The only other time we went there I ordered a Kahlua and milk -- when they brought it, it was actually a mudslide. I cannot have chocolate so had to dump that one.

 

> Entertainment -- Rob Ondras -- fantastic. We noticed him playing at the beginning of the cruise and liked it so much, kind of looked for when / where he was playing. By the end of the cruise - he had a following. He was very talented and engaged the audience.

We also saw a couple of shows -- the dancers are great and they also had a 70's production which involved audience participation. They made it very fun.

The casino was pretty entertaining for us -- didn't see a lot of winning but we ended up doing ok. The cashiers were so friendly. This is a very small casino with not a huge variety of games but adequate for the size of the ship.

We went to the movies a couple of times -- saw Captain Phillips (yes, on a cruise) and Jobs. Both were excellent films and in a small but nice theater onboard. You could always watch them on your stateroom tv the next day but nice to see on a bigger screen. Never did find a tv guide in our room for start times and shows but didn't watch too much tv at all anyhow.

 

> Zaca Mesa wine package -- this was definitely one of the highlights. Because this was such a port intensive cruise, the wine tastings were held pretty early in the day. Also, I think some crackers or cheese would have added to the experience -- especially out at the winery. We originally understood there was to be a BBQ at the winery with the tour and wine tasting, which would have made this an outstanding tour. This was not to be, however, Eric and Dane were excellent speakers and even with as many winery tours as we've been on, we still learned a lot of new things about wine and wine making. They wines were quite good and special discounts were provided if purchased during the cruise. The wine pairing luncheon was the highlight of this package. Nicely done!!!

 

> Demographics -- the ship seemed to have just the right mixture of passengers. There were some children and even fewer teenagers on this cruise. It was not a spring break cruise by any means. There were some crabby people -- think they were still a bit miffed about the embarkation -- but all in all, there were such nice and interesting people that we met onboard.

 

> The ships officers and cruise director were mingling with the passengers -- think this is something that Celebrity has promoted in the last couple of years. It is really appreciated from our point of view. They definitely make the passengers feel like they are important. The cruise director actually had a couple of extra minutes one morning and we asked if he wanted to sit and join us for a cup of coffee at the Cova. At the repeat cruisers event, one of the officers came by to ask if there was anything that would make our cruise more enjoyable. Nice touch!!

 

> The staff on this ship is what made our cruise so enjoyable. We can forgive the lack of the WOW factor on the ship and even that it appeared to be in a bit of disrepair, when the staff goes out of their way to make you feel so welcome. With the exception of just a few (which I won't even mention as maybe they were just having a bad day) the Century has such a fantastic crew and staff. From the officers, cruise director and entertainers to the room stewards, restaurant and bar staff to the casino and boutique staff -- all fantastic. The hostess at the main dining room, the hard working bus staff in the buffet, the tender operators, etc. all deserve our thanks as well.

A special thank you, though, goes to Ivana and Marijana at the Cova Café that made our cruise something very special. Also, Christina, Seymore and Alexandra at the Cova Café -- that always were so bright and cheerful -- even when we weren't so perky. We especially loved it when Rob Ondras played there.

 

This was a very port intensive cruise and we love our sea days but it was very enjoyable, nonetheless. By the time of disembarkation, they really got it together at the LA Harbor. Disembarkation was painless -- very quick without too many line ups. Everything seemed to move very quickly and efficiently, especially by the time we got to customs. We arrived at LAX so early, we could have easily made the 10:30 flight -- but we played it safe and booked the one at 1 PM so had a long wait in the airport.

Overall, I would give the cruise 4 stars a deduction for the lack of maintenance of the ship but put back with such a great staff.

Thank you for your review. I'm sure you put a ton of time into writing it. It sounds like you had a great time!

 

I'm reading a lot of reviews that state this ship needs a lot of maintenance. I can't imagine a cruise line not taking pride in their ship.

 

I have friends that will be on this ship soon and they are first time cruisers. Prior to booking, we heard nothing but wonderful things about Celebrity cruise line. I hope the shape of the Century does not make the company look bad in their eyes. I hope my friends love their cruise so they will want to cruise as often as I do.

[mcrcruiser]

We will be on this cruise April 5th & after reading about all the delays ,I hardly think it wise to arrive too early . We will drive up & take our time .;) Thanks for the posts & heads up :)

 

After 62 cruises I am not surprised by any delays from the land agents of Celebrity vs the ships crew who are fabulous . We have been disappointed by the lower quality of personnel on the land side .If this is the definition of "Modern Luxury " ,you got to wonder:rolleyes:

 

We sailed Silhouette on 3/2 & 3/9/14 b2b Eastern & Western Caribbean . Debarkation at Port Everglades cruise terminal is a night mare because of low staff of customs agents .In line & it took well over one hour to get out of the terminal . We decided then & there that we will never come into a debarkation in Ft Lauderdale or in fact any Florida cruise port:eek:

[Lulubelle45]

Thank you for your review. I'm sure you put a ton of time into writing it. It sounds like you had a great time!

 

I'm reading a lot of reviews that state this ship needs a lot of maintenance. I can't imagine a cruise line not taking pride in their ship.

 

I have friends that will be on this ship soon and they are first time cruisers. Prior to booking, we heard nothing but wonderful things about Celebrity cruise line. I hope the shape of the Century does not make the company look bad in their eyes. I hope my friends love their cruise so they will want to cruise as often as I do.

 

I'm going on the Century in August and it's my first Celebrity cruise. I'm guessing they don't want to put in a lot off $$$ maintaining a ship that's ending her run next year.

 

I'm concerned there are no dining options late at night but hope this may change for the summer. I usually get peckish after dancing all night.

 

I'll take the ships condition with a grain of salt and not judge the rest of the fleet.

 

 

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Forums mobile app

[lovecruzin]

I'm going on the Century in August and it's my first Celebrity cruise. I'm guessing they don't want to put in a lot off $$$ maintaining a ship that's ending her run next year.

 

I'm concerned there are no dining options late at night but hope this may change for the summer. I usually get peckish after dancing all night.

 

I'll take the ships condition with a grain of salt and not judge the rest of the fleet.

 

 

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Forums mobile app

 

 

I'm sure your right about maintaining the ship however, we've found her to be very clean just a bit tired looking here and there.

 

Re the food, I think the pizza and buffet do close at midnight. If you like cookies or sweets, you can always get something and take it back to your cabin to eat later. Or for me a club sandwich always hits the spot late night. ;)

[spookwife]

I'm reading a lot of reviews that state this ship needs a lot of maintenance. I can't imagine a cruise line not taking pride in their ship.

 

 

you'd be surprised. she's leaving the Fleet so no one is willing to spend a lot of time, money or effort into maintaining her unless safety is a concern. If it can be put off to until she leaves Celebrity and thus the cost foisted off on the new owner, it will be.

 

Mr Spook went through something similar in his sea duty days. long story short one particular ship went through 4 complete crew changes( at once) in the span of about 2 years. every six-8 months EVERYONE would leave the ship at the same time and be replaced by an entire crew from a different ship. by the time DH's crew came aboard( last of the 4,) the USS FLETCHER was in very very sad shape. it took them almost a month to get her sea worthy enough to finish out the extended deployment she was on.

[Pamster]

Sorry I forgot to answer this. Formal nights were on the first sea day and then again on the night leaving Monterey.

 

 

 

Hi,

 

I've been trying to figure out when formal nights are, too. We don't actually have any sea days - so still not sure when the first formal night would be? The Santa Barbara day?

[Cruise Raider]

Hi,

 

I've been trying to figure out when formal nights are, too. We don't actually have any sea days - so still not sure when the first formal night would be? The Santa Barbara day?

 

That's right, all the remaining Pacific Coastal cruises are 7 nights instead of the 8 night itinerary on which we sailed. I would still think formal night will be on the second night, so yes, if you are on the same path except without the one sea day, it should be the night after leaving Santa Barbara.

On seven night cruises, it seems like they are most often on the 2nd night and then again on the second to last night.

[Cruise Raider]

I'm sure your right about maintaining the ship however, we've found her to be very clean just a bit tired looking here and there.

 

Re the food, I think the pizza and buffet do close at midnight. If you like cookies or sweets, you can always get something and take it back to your cabin to eat later. Or for me a club sandwich always hits the spot late night. ;)

 

I wished I had thought of this as there is a small fridge in the room to store food that you might want to eat later.

The Cova Café (I think I am one of their biggest fans) had the most amazing lemon meringue pie -- and I am not a huge sweet tooth so it has to be excellent before I would comment on this. I kind of wished I had thought about hiding a slice of that in my room. :D

And, there is always room service and no charge....I just wanted a little bread roll or something and more surprised that it wasn't available than I was starving. I can honestly tell you I didn't lose any weight by this one night of not having a midnight snack.

Just of note, not sure if it was just the particular sailing I was on or if this is normal, but this didn't seem to be a ship of late night activities. They pretty much started rolling up the sidewalks by 10 PM, hatches all battened down by midnight. Didn't really see any dancing venues -- not late night ones anyway on this sailing. Not sure where that would even happen on the Century....but I could have missed it.

Just today, I commented to my DH that I think we missed the Grand Buffet. I just thought about it today....funny, huh? Did we miss it or did they not have it....really not sure. I would usually recommend, don't miss the Grand Buffet and didn't even think about it once during the cruise.

[LoboJ]

Cruise Raider- You mentioned that there was an afternoon of rough seas. Do you remember which day that was of the cruise?

 

I had a couple of other questions for you or anyone that's been doing this Pacific Coastal cruise, if you don't mind.... :)

 

I think the formal nights are going to be Santa Barbara and Monterey? Does that sound right?

 

Did you notice the TV's in the stateroom, as to whether they are flat screen or old school tube TV's? I'm guessing flat screen, but just want to make sure as I will be wanting to hook up some videos to play for my kids.

 

I had another question about the pool- Do you remember if it was warm enough for swimming? I think I read that they heat it. I know it's been pretty nice here in Southern California lately, so I'm hoping we can get some swimming in at least during the southern ports.

 

Thanks for any info that any of you have...!

Lobo

Edited April 7, 2014 by LoboJ

[Cruise Raider]

Cruise Raider- You mentioned that there was an afternoon of rough seas. Do you remember which day that was of the cruise?

 

Also, I think the formal nights are going to be Santa Barbara and Monterey? Does that sound right?

 

Last question- Did you notice the TV's in the stateroom, as to whether they are flat screen or old school tube TV's? I'm guessing flat screen, but just want to make sure as I will be wanting to hook up some videos to play for my kids.

 

Thanks for any info that any of you have...!

Lobo

 

Hi Lobo...the rough night was definitely memorable. It was the night we left Monterey. Usually, we've found that sailing south in the Pacific was very calm but this day was the exception. It was rainy weather, though....so maybe that had something to do with the rough seas.

As far as our formal nights were concerned, yes, I think you are right. We had an extra sea day right after Santa Barbara but were sailing at a snails pace. I think you are safe in thinking the formal nights will be the day you leave Santa Barbara and the day you leave Monterey....but they could still adjust that while onboard.

The TVs are nice new flat panel TVs but are small. They do show the featured movies onboard the day after they show at the onboard movie theater. We saw Jobs (after Steve Jobs) and Captain Phillips (after the raid on the Alabama Mearsk pirate attack) while onboard. there were others, just cannot remember what they were as we didn't watch those. Not sure how old the kids are ....but if 14 or older, the movies shown were great.