Century – January 13-18, 2007

[Senga]

Here are the positives and negatives of a fantastic vacation that we would repeat in a heartbeat.

 

Custom air arrangements through Celebrity were excellent. We boarded Century at 3 p.m. which is the latest we have ever boarded a ship. The late arrival was due to a one hour delay in Toronto while the plane was deiced and a one hour wait in Miami for the Celebrity shuttle. The end result, however, was no lines at all and we just walked aboard.

 

Our inside cabin, 8107, was beautifully decorated, bright and elegant, with tons of storage space. The new bedding is very comfortable and attractive. The very modern bathroom comes complete with a new hairdryer which doesn’t overheat like the old models did. After sailing on the Millennium class ships for so long we found it very difficult to get our bearings from the Grand Foyer as the elevators are tucked away and we couldn’t figure out Aft and Forward. The Celebrity theatre is poorly designed as the seating in the beautiful balconies offer obstructed views. The downstairs seating is great. The Persian Gardens on Century doesn’t compare to the ones aboard the Millennium class ships. The shops are bright and attractive but with limited space outside the stores it becomes very overcrowded when they feature their special sales and tastings. Photographs are way overpriced at $19.95 each. Much has been made of the ice bar but to us, although nice, it didn’t live up to our expectations which may have been too high. We were disappointed in the Aqua Spa Café as the oatmeal wasn’t hot and the bran muffins stale. Although this is our normal breakfast choice on board Millennium class, we didn’t give it a second try. There was lots of variety offered in Islands Café, including the famous waffles at breakfast, the pizza and pasta station and soup and sandwich station at lunch and the buffet food was appetizing and hot. The french fries were always hot at the grill. Dinners in the Grand Restaurant were exceptional. I ordered beef every night and it was perfectly cooked as requested. Nice to see a few new offerings on the menu and they now actually list what is available every night (shrimp cocktail, salmon,

N.Y. steak). We went to Murano and had a wonderful meal; Chilean Sea Bass and Steak Diane. The steak was prepared tableside by Dominic and I can honestly say I have never had such an incredible cut of beef, it just melted in my mouth.

 

The Cat’s Pajamas were fantastic, we went to all their performances and we really enjoyed the party band, Synergy, and took in their shows poolside and in the Crystal Room. There were three production shows on this five night cruise. As Celebrity production shows are fleet wide and are performed for a number of years we were delighted to see two new shows; Shout and Dance Around The World. However, we were not impressed with the Celebrity singers so after Shout we decided to wait until the Constellation in March to see Dance Around The World in hopes of better performers.

 

In Jamaica we only got off the ship to purchase a lovely tropical bouquet for the cabin for $10 US which was sold right inside the terminal. We spoke with a number of passengers who did the beach excursions (close to $100 p/p) and there was no positive feedback. The main complaint was the travel time (1 ½ hours each way) but one girl told us they were disgusted with the Breezes resort which she said was filthy, the food inedible and they were approached a number of times on the resort to purchase drugs. They intended asking for a refund. Another passenger said that after the travel time they only had 1 hour to spend at the beach and 15 minutes for shopping. My suggestion would be to stay onboard and enjoy the Century.

 

There were six ships tendered in Grand Cayman so Georgetown was really crowded. Pre-hurricane there was a limit of 3 but they are trying to recover lost revenue any way they can. We took a taxi to the Marriott at Seven Mile Beach where we usually rent a chaise lounge for $10. When we arrived we were advised they now charge $120 for cruise ship passengers (post hurricane) although this does include a day room, something we weren’t interested in. Needless to say we gave this a miss, walked along the public beach, deposited our belongings on the sand and went for a swim. It was very fortunate we had our water shoes as the once sandy bottom is now very uneven and rocky. By the time we walked along to the Ritz Carlton we were dry, walked up the public access path and caught a bus ($2.50 p/p) back to town. The buildings have made a tremendous recovery from the hurricane but the beach is disappointing. Next time we’ll stay onboard and enjoy the facilities offered on the ship.

 

Disembarkation was excellent and, for the first time, we cleared customs in the port terminal rather than waking up very early for our “interview” on board ship. Don’t know if this is a permanent change but we sure hope it is! Transportation to the airport was well organized and timely.

 

We thought we might find 5 nights too short but it was very relaxing and we wouldn’t hesitate to repeat this cruise. I have pictures posted at:

http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sengamilne/my_photos

[wanderlust402]

I have pictures posted at:

http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sengamilne/my_photos

 

I am surprised no one responded to your review. It was well written.

 

I realize that this is an older post, but it looks like you are still an active cruise critic member. Do you have an updated link for this photo album? My wife and I will be sailing Century in December and we are seeking photos.

 

We have been spoiled with all of the great photos of the S-class ships recently and are really eager to see more photos of the Century.

[librarylady19]

Here are some photos from our Century cruise.

[wanderlust402]

Here are some photos from our Century cruise.

 

:D

 

I have a confession to make.

 

I looked through those photos last week. I enjoyed your Equinox photos so much that I had browsed your other albums. Since I had just booked Century (in addition to a planned Eclipse sailing) I was thrilled to see those other photos. Thank you for sharing!

 

By the way, do you think Murano is worth experiencing? We are on a four night sailing and I don't want to miss formal night in the main dining room, but would consider it on one of the other three nights. We are with my parents and I am hoping that Murano has some tables for four and that we could obtain a reservation.

 

Century will also be our first Celebrity cruise!