Century Review 9/2/06-9/15/06

[GramaFran]

We just got off the Century and what a wonderful ship and crew. I have no complaints except for a few rude passengers but that was not Century’s fault.

 

Background – We are in our 60ies and have cruised 10 times – 2 times with Celebrity. We had a very active roll call and I was the organizer of lists and meeting places. We named our selves the Travelers of the Century (TOTC)

 

We flew into Amsterdam a few days early and took the bus tour and canal tour our 1st day. I would suggest taking one or the other but not both – lots of repeats. Our hotel was the NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky right on Dam Square and it is beautiful. We had a room on the 6th floor with a balcony overlooking the city. They serve breakfast in the Winter Garden room and it is beautiful all glass, mirrors and frescos.

 

We arranged in advance to meet fellow TOTC at the de Roote Lieuw on Damrack on the Friday night before the cruise. 14 of us showed up and had a great visit, drinks and some local food. Ine of the boards came to meet us too. She is a great help for information about Amsterdam. What a good way to start a cruise with friendship made in advance.

 

Sat. morning we got up and went to the flower market and bought arm loads of flowers to take on board, lilies, roses & antheriums. Since our hotel was one of the ones used by Celebrity for pre-cruise stays we were able to book transportation to the ship. We just put out our bags by 9am and they were picked up and we saw them next in our cabin.

 

We took the 11:45 am bus to the Port, got our number for checking in, and proceeded upstairs to check in. It took about 15 min all together and we were through security and on the Century. It was still before 1pm so we took our glass of champagne and decided to drop off our flowers and small bag in our suite before finding lunch. We were in Sky Suite #1210, one of the old ones. It was fantastic, lots of room for clothes, very clean and a very large balcony. The bed was very comfortable with lots of pillows. The bathroom is small but had a jetted tub and a good shower head so we were happy.

 

We went to the Islands Café to meet other TOTCs and get something to eat then to the spa so I could make my reservations for massages and hair appointments. We went back to our cabin about 2:30 and all our bags were there so we unpacked. At the same time we met our butler, Cliff, and cabin attendant, Anna Marie. We discussed with Cliff what we wanted and asked him what he could do for us. We had never had a butler before so very curious as to just what his duties would be. “WE LOVED CLIFF AND ANNA MARIE” They could not do enough for us – always with a smile and yes madam of course I can do that. WOW! I was spoiled by the end of the cruise.

 

After the muster drill the TOTCs met at the Sunset Bar for drinks and a chance to meet and mingle. Ine told us about when to look for her while sailing out of Amsterdam. We spotted her on the shore and we all waved and yelled Hello. She was waving back. Just one more great way to start a cruise.

More later,

Francine

[AnDeNo.UK]

Thanks for the great review. DH and myself will be on her in April, cruising back home to the UK.:cool:

 

Was the SS really that good.:D We have SS 1220, our first time in a suite, can hardly wait.;)

[Pisti]

I have been watching this site for someone who has recently cruised the Century. We are booked for five days out of Miami . Was looking forward to the therapy pool but told it was gone. Can you tell me the charge to use the Persian Garden, per day? per cruise? Looking forward to the rest of your posts.....Joan:)

[GramaFran]

Yes it was and is that good. We did a cabin crawl seeing other cabins and comparing it to a CC - wow ours was so much bigger and lots of storage space. We did not even fill up the closet completely and even had 2 drawers empty. I will not ever again cruise if not in SS or above. I am spoiled. You will love it, If Cliff is still on board you will probalby have him as your butler - there was no request he could not fulfill.

Francine

[4 cruisers]

Gramafran, I'm enjoying your review SO much!!!! It sounds like a great time!!!! Looking forward to hearing more (and maybe some pictures???!:D ).

[Ine]

Hi Francine,

So good to see you had a great cruise on Century. It was very nice to meet you, your husband and the others in De Roode Leeuw in Amsterdam. Also waving to you along the Northseacanal and hear your group shout and wave back was much fun.

I am looking forward to read the rest of the report.

Ine.

[GramaFran]

We had late dinning, so went back to our cabin to find appetizers waiting for us. We rested and cleaned up for dinner. Made our way to the Martini Bar, where we met “SUDI” the greatest bartender we have ever met on board. He made a show of making drinks, played card tricks and magic tricks. What an entertainer. We had a few martinis, I had a French Martini and my DH, Pat, had a Q martini. Then it was time to find our table.

We were on the main level back by the window, a table for 10. The 1st night only 6 of us showed up. A couple from UK and 2 women from London. Very nice table mates.

(More later about table mates). I do not remember what we ate but everything was wonderful. My DH fell asleep at dinner so we all got a laugh out of it. He was suffering jet lag. So back to our cabin for a good nights sleep as the ship was rocking and rolling which I love while sleeping.

 

Next morning we had breakfast served in our cabin too cold out side to use the balcony. Cliff sets the table with linens, china and silver – Wow! I loved our breakfasts; we could order just about anything on our suite menu and could write in extras like eggs benedict.

One more great perk for the SS.

 

We had arranged with fellow TOTCs to share a Bruggsetaxi to Brugge. Well it did not work out as planned. They had my reservation mixed up, but resolved it so off we went to Brugge about 30 min away. What a beautiful town we took the canal boat ride and saw so much. Then we walked back to the Market Square and hired a horse and buggy for a tour. We saw much of the same things but from street level. After all this we decided to go to lunch – What a shock! We must have gone to the most expensive restaurant in town. Food was fantastic but blew our budget. After a short spell of shopping for tablecloths and candy we returned to the square for a few beers and wait for transport back to ship. The ship got in late so arranged to depart late also. We still had our full day in Brugge. This time Bruggse taxi was right on time and a van for 9, no sharing seats this time.

 

Back on board to find Tea sandwiches and goodies waiting for us. Nice way to return to your cabin. We rested and got ready for the formal night. Met at 8pm at the Martini bar with fellow TOTCs. This night we had a full table and that was the problem. We had a very loud, rude whining table mate. We tried to ignore her, but she was so loud. I felt sorry for the UK couple sitting next to her; they were getting her full story of complaints.

I said to the table mates at our end that if she keeps it up we were going to move tables.

Again Pat fell asleep – so back to cabin we went right after dinner.

 

Next morning we were woken up with a call from Cliff that he was right out side our cabin with breakfast. Up and in our robes for breakfast. Loved the phone call to wakes us. Coffee was right there. We were in Le Havre, France and had arranged to rent a Hertz car to drive around Normandy and Calvados, with Joscelyne and KC from Singapore, fellow TOTCers. Since all you can get in France is manual shift KC got to drive. I navigated with all my maps and instructions I got from map quest and Hertz. We were off for a day exploring the country side

[GramaFran]

that was such a thrill - waving and yelling across the water. You made our cruise so great with all your pictures before hand just wetting our appetite for the cruise.

Thank you so much - the cookies were shared at the Connections meeting and every one loved them.

Hope to meet you one day on a cruise.

Francine

[C 2 C]

Century Review 9/2/06-9/15/06

 

I hope the rest of your review gets worse. ;) I can't stand the fact I'm not onboard yet.... We'll be boarding on October 6th and cruising back to Miami.

[AnDeNo.UK]

I hope the rest of your review gets worse. ;) I can't stand the fact I'm not onboard yet.... We'll be boarding on October 6th and cruising back to Miami.

 

 

Don't you just hate it when someone writes a fantastic review, and your no where near your sail date. :D:D:D

[Andy&Mary]

Don't you just hate it when someone writes a fantastic review, and your no where near your sail date. :D:D:D

 

 

59 days and counting for us (11/18 and 11/23 W. Carib) :)

I'm really enjoying your review, Francine!

Mary

[TourDeCruise]

Francine: I'm really enjoying your review. We'll be on the Century on Monday for the Tyrrhenian Sea itinerary, then again in May for the Scotland / Ireland itinerary from Amsterdam. When we get off, C 2 C will be getting on hours later. Maybe we'll see Ine when we're in Amsterdam. She has been helpful on our rollcall.

 

Falling asleep at dinner might have been a good thing with the loud, rude tablemate!

 

Do you recall which movies were playing? How were the food and shows? Did you do the Persian Gardens? If so, how was it and how much was it per day (I think I read $18 per day on an earlier post)? Do you know if the TV-looking screens on the eliptical trainers are actually TVs or something to monitor exercise progress?

 

Looking forward to the next "chapter" in your review!

 

Kathy

[slotaddict]

52 days and counting, woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dmk]

GramaFran

Did you have a chance to look inside the SV's when you went on your cabin crawl? For some reason they still remaim a mystery. Any info is appreciated.

[GramaFran]

Le Havre:

 

Our 1st stop was Cambermer looking for the tourist office, which never opened. Cambermer has wooden people all over town, in the bell tower, painting, showing directions. Very Cute plus cats (statues on roofs) I guess to scare away the birds.

We found the Chamber of Calvados and they directed us to a Calvados House, Calvados Pierre Huet. We tasted the Calvados and Apple cider, Pat bought a Calvados sampler, we picked up a map listing the places we could taste Formage and Calvados. So off we went

following the map we thought. Well we wound up back in Cambermer while trying to find JA Motte a place for Formage de Chevre. We gave up the hunt and proceeded to Livarot. Passing through Lisieux we spotted the Cathedral of St. Pierre. Just outside of Lisieux we found the Village de Formage, the tours were closed for lunch but the shop was open so we tasted and bought some Livarot & Camembert Cheese. We asked about places to have lunch and the women directed us to Vimoutiers, as on Mondays most places are closed, but Vimoutiers has their street market on Monday, so most places would be open. We drove there and found a very local restaurant to enjoy lunch and afterward a Pastries for éclairs.

We went back to the Village and took the tour, very interesting, learning about the Cows and how to make cheese. Afterward we drove to Deauville and Trouville on the coast.

They are very modern vacation resorts and we just stopped long enough to take a few pictures and continued on to Honfleur. We stopped and walked around, what a delightful Harbor town We enjoyed a stop for wine and beer and then met KC & Joscelyne for our return to le Havre. Returned the car and got a taxi back to the Ship. Since it was a late departure the Century had a dinner buffet open in the Islands Café which we enjoyed.

Since the next day was going to be at sea we stayed up later and enjoyed the Martini Bar.

 

At sea we decided to try out the Grand Restaurant for breakfast giving Cliff time off.

Afterward I went to the spa for a hot stones massage – I told the girl up front about no sales pitch and got a great massage and felt very relaxed afterward. Met up with DH at pool bar and went to the Cruise Connections Party held at 10am at Michaels Club.

We had a great turn out only a few missing. We when around the room introducing ourselves, most of who we had already met. Ms. Fleet (forgot 1st name) and Allen our CD spoke about the ship and answered questions. Ms Fleet arranged for a galley tour on our last at sea day. Very nice of her. We passed around the cookies Ine had given us at the de Roode Leeuw on Friday night and Celebrity had coffee, tea and pastry available for us.

After the meeting we visited a few of our cabins going to 2 Sky suites (old and new) a new CC cabin and an inside cabin. Afterward we had lunch, rested, and visited with our new friends. At 3:30 we had a party for a few of our new friends in our cabin. WOW! Cliff did a fantastic job of setting it us. We had brought on board smoked salmon from Norway, cheese we bought in France, Cliff arranged them on silver platters with crackers and also supplied shrimp and chocolate covered strawberries. He also supplied plates, silverware, champagne, wine & cocktail glasses. We bought 2 bottles of wine and had them iced with the champagne. Anna Marie took all my flowers and with a friend arranged them in 2 vases for me. WOW! Our cabin looked wonderful and everyone was very impressed and we had a great party. After the party ended we cleaned up at we were joining some of the same friends for dinner at Muranos.

[GramaFran]

I will try to answer some questions:

1st off we did not make it to any shows - with mr. sleepy head it just did not work out plus they started at 11pm with late seating at 9pm. that was a complaint but because we were sailing in Europe with many Europeans on board that was the new time.

2nd I do not work out so do not have price for Persian garden or what the screens might be on the eliptical trainers.

3rd - no one was staying in an SV so we could not see in one or PH either.

From our time at the Sunset bar I would not like being right above it though.

4th Food was excellant in the Grand Restaurant only ate 1 breakfast at Islands and had the waffles and like everyone else stated - fantastic. Lunch was either in grand restaurant or from the grill pool side - both great.

5th I do have list of movies:

the Perfect man, Monster in Law, Million Dollar Baby, Cinderela Man, Crash, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Must love Dogs, Millions, Batman Begins, the Interpreter, March of the Penguins & Fever Pitch.

 

Any other questions I will try to answer but we spend most of our time at Martini Bar or in our cabin (balcony). On other sea days we did play trivia with the other TOTCers.

[caviargal]

GramaFran, thanks for taking the time to post a review! Info on Century has been so scarce.

 

Did you go out dancing at all after dinner or speak with anyone who did? We enjoy dancing (Top 40 and disco) after dinner so I am hoping there is good music being played somewhere on the ship.

 

Did you try Aqua Spa? I plan to have breakfast and lunch there most days.

 

How about Murano? Was it wonderful? I am making reservations next week thru Captain's Club for our 11/23 cruise. Any advice about requesting a specific table or waitperson?

 

Keep it comin'!

 

CG

[TourDeCruise]

Thanks for your information on the movies. We have seen most that we want to see, but haven't seen March of the Penguins and would see Crash and Cinderella Man again. Crash is a great one -- can see why it won Best Picture. Probably won't have much time for movies though! Thanks again.

[GramaFran]

Caviargal: Yes there was dancing after dinner - dj Evans in Hemisphere plays disco and pop songs. Rendez-Vous Square has eazy listening dance music and Crystal Lounge has Band with many different types of music

 

I did not eat at the Aqua Spa as I liked our balcony or Grand restaurant.

I will cover Muranos next - It was fabulous.

[4 cruisers]

Sounds like you had a great time!!!!!!!! Good for you!!!!! Any pictures?:cool:

[EggDropErin]

Thanks for the review! :)

[EggDropErin]

I don't think it posted my first post...

 

But thank you for the review. I can read reviews all day...gets me through the day at work. LOL

[VPGPH]

I loved your reviews... I have booked the July 9th sailing next year and I can't wait. I have a question though. How far is the airport from the port in Amsterdam? I am doing back to back with Connie (July 21st sailing) from Sweden and I am afraid I might not have enough time between arriving at Amsterdam and leaving from Stockholm on the same day. I know the flight b/w Amsterdam and Stockholm is 2 hrs, so I hope to be able to make it if the port distances are not that great!!!....

[BarbaraB2]

I am making last minute reservations on the Century for an October cruise and would like to know if all the suites have balconies? I don't have many choices left at this late date, but we do want a cabin with a balcony. There are CC cabins with balconies on the Vista deck and only 'guarantee suites' available.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Ine]

I loved your reviews... I have booked the July 9th sailing next year and I can't wait. I have a question though. How far is the airport from the port in Amsterdam? I am doing back to back with Connie (July 21st sailing) from Sweden and I am afraid I might not have enough time between arriving at Amsterdam and leaving from Stockholm on the same day. I know the flight b/w Amsterdam and Stockholm is 2 hrs, so I hope to be able to make it if the port distances are not that great!!!....

 

The port is about 15 miles from the airport. Without trafficdelay it can be done within 30 minutes. However on weekdays expect rushhour delay. It also will depend what time you can leave the ship.

Any (Europe) flight after 1100 or 1200 noon, it is no problem.