Century, 9 day Xmas Caribbean Cruise

[ocgirl]

My husband and I are booked for the 9 day xmas cruise on the Century to the Caribbean. We've never been on a long cruise, just the 3 day cruises. Can anyone give us some insight on what to expect on this type of a cruise. Like who travels on this itinerary (age group) and hows the weather in Dec. at these ports. Any info. would be greatly appreciated.

[Pisti]

Usually the longer cruises attract a more "senior" crowd, the exception being the Christmas holiday period. Generally, you will find more families and extended families on holiday cruises which changes the dynamic. Since we travel a lot as a family, one of whom is a 6 year old, the family atmosphere appeals to us but be aware you will probably have more kids than one usually expects on a 9 day. We usually travel at Christmas and the weather has been great ! Keep in mind we're from Montreal and anything over 60 degrees in December is heaven !

[ocgirl]

Thank you for the response. I like a diverse environment. We're from California, so anything under 70 is cold to us. :) But I've heard that the caribbean is still warm in Dec. and that the water is calm, so I'm not worried. Have you been on Celebrity before? If so, how do you like this cruise line?

[wiselindag]

Dear OC Girl,

 

Our family of three (my dh and I and our then 16- year-old son) were on the Century for the holidays last year and had a wonderful time. We thoroughly enjoyed the itinerary (2 days at sea followed by four islands, followed by two more days at sea) and went to the beach at three of the four ports. The beach was beautiful and the weather was beach hot. The water was nice and warm. All of the days were sunny with the exception of the day we were on Barbados, when it drizzled for a short while. We just went under the trees and avoided the raindrops. I think it might have rained some later in the day when we were on the ship, but that was close to dinner time and didn't have any real impact on the day.

 

I love the Century. In fact I am going on a 5 day cruise on the Century at the end of November and that will be my third time on the ship. It's a beautiful ship with many new extras since it has been redone. If you read the threads and the reviews, you will notice that lots of people love this ship. There are many positives including friendly and wonderful crew, great service, terrific breakfast waffles (got my son out of bed every morning with the reminder that the waffle station was about to close!), free sushi in the evening, small but well decorated cabins with plenty of storage, new bedding, and lots more. The ship has lovely art and wood paneling throughout and I enjoy just walking around the decks. Others have praised the new spa and since I loved the spa cafe on the Constellation, I'm sure I'll enjoy it on the new Century as well... that's a real plus.

 

As for passengers, there were all ages on our cruise. Many of the passengers were from Canada and we enjoyed the company of a family of five from Vancouver at our table in the dining room. My son enjoyed meeting lots of kids from all over and especially enjoyed the company of the lovely young ladies. Because it was Christmas, the captain and the cruise director and many of the senior officers had their families on board as well, which was nice.

 

Celebrity is my favorite cruise line. For the money, I don't think they can be beat. Needless to say, others may not agree, but I have thoroughly enjoyed all six of my Celebrity cruises and am looking forward to my seventh November 27. I'll have lots more information after that.

 

Enjoy your travels and your holidays!

 

Linda

 

PS If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. We liked this cruise so much we are going on a 12 day cruise for the holidays this year (on the Norwegian Spirit which enables us to cruise from home).

[Cruize Aholic]

Welcome - join us on Celebrity Roll Call and meet fellow cruisers - all ages. We sailed on Century last Christmas and doing it again. Also sign up for Cruise Critic party.

 

Ginny

[ocgirl]

Linda,

Thank you very much for sharing your experiences on the Century, I really appreciate it. I can't wait for our trip. I hope you and family have a nice Vacation in Nov. Thanks again.

[ocgirl]

Ginny,

Thanks for the info. on joining the Celebrity Roll Call and the cruise critic party. I'm gonna sign up today for both.

[Andy]

My husband and I are booked for the 9 day xmas cruise on the Century to the Caribbean. We've never been on a long cruise, just the 3 day cruises. Can anyone give us some insight on what to expect on this type of a cruise. Like who travels on this itinerary (age group) and hows the weather in Dec. at these ports. Any info. would be greatly appreciated.

 

Hi OCgirl !

 

Century is one of my favorite ships. Last year, Century previously did 9 night sailings on a regular basis, and I did 2 sailings on her back then. We found the crowd to be passengers of all ages. Yes, there were a fair amount of seniors, but that's totally fine with us. I am sure you will find a nice mix of all age groups, especially as it is during Christmas.

 

As for Century, she is a wonderful ship. You will have a great time on her. We wish that Century was doing longer Caribbean sailings though. We feel the short sailings are a waste for a newly refurbished ship. They should leave that job to another C-Class ship or perhaps Zenith.

 

Hopefully, Celebrity will let some other ship do the short sailings after April 2008.

[ocgirl]

Hi Andy,

Thank you for the feedback. I'm glad to hear that there will be a nice mix of all age groups. My husband and I are in our late 20's and early 30's, but we like being around a nice mix of people. We get along with young and old alike. It's just more interesting that way.

[geoherb]

I was tempted to book this cruise, but we ended up booking a cruise on the Sun Princess. It's sailing to the eastern Caribbean instead of western plus has one more night.

 

We were on the Century two years ago for Christmas and New Year's. We had a great time. The ship was decorated tastefully. The children's staff seemed to keep the kids on board busy and out of the way. We had special menus for Christmas and New Year's Eve and special religious services and non-religious holiday events.

 

One of my concerns was seeing that the Century was doing short (4- and 5-night) cruises beforehand. But then I saw there were just a few of them before the holiday sailing. I agree with Andy that it would be better not to subject a newly refurbished ship to the wear and tear of short cruises.

[Arubalisa]

We were on the Century two years ago for Christmas and New Year's. We had a great time. The ship was decorated tastefully. The children's staff seemed to keep the kids on board busy and out of the way. We had special menus for Christmas and New Year's Eve and special religious services and non-religious holiday events.

Our family was disappointed in the minimal amount of holiday decorations on the Galaxy last Christmas. A ship's officer explained it was part of cost cutting measures by X.

 

Other than that, we obviously loved the Holiday cruise and the Galaxy that we are doing it again this year, plus 6 additional family memebers. Yes, the kids are kept very busy and Santa makes an appearance. I do not know how many on a 9 night, but on the 12 night cruise we had two really nice midnight buffets: Tree Trimmer and Le Grand. Truly works of art.

[ocgirl]

Andy,

Do you know what the empty space is around the cabin # 8125 on the Panorama deck? It's in midship, but i'm worried about what's around that cabin. We're currently on the same deck cabin 8016 at the very front, so I was a little worried about the motion and was gonna change the cabin. 8125 is all they have left. Anything you can remember on the ship's layout would be greatly appreciate. Thanks.

[Andy]

Andy,

Do you know what the empty space is around the cabin # 8125 on the Panorama deck? It's in midship, but i'm worried about what's around that cabin. We're currently on the same deck cabin 8016 at the very front, so I was a little worried about the motion and was gonna change the cabin. 8125 is all they have left. Anything you can remember on the ship's layout would be greatly appreciate. Thanks.

 

Hi Ocgirl !

 

I cannot tell you for certain what that area is, but more than likely it is a service area for the crew. If it were me, I would probably not choose that cabin as (assuming it is a crew area) it may be a bit noisier than the other cabins.

 

I would keep checking for cancellations. Perhaps another cabin will open up. Enjoy your Cruise !

[ocgirl]

Thanks Andy for the quick response, I really do appreciate your input. I guess we'll keep cabin 8016 in the front of the ship and per your advise keep checking back for any cancellation.

[ocgirl]

Thanks Andy for the quick response, I really do appreciate your input. I guess we'll keep cabin 8016 in the front of the ship and per your advise keep checking back for any cancellation.