Century transatlantic review - Part I

[lysolqn]

I thought by now there’d be a lot more posted re our recent Century transatlantic cruise but since there hasn’t been too much said here (other than related to the noro- problem), I thought I’d take a stab at it.

 

This was our 41st cruise, 29th on Celebrity, 6th on Century (first since the re-build). As the numbers show, Celebrity is our favorite cruise line and despite some changes we’ve seen over the years, we still think X offers a fine product which is better than that offered by the competition. We had a wonderful time on this cruise despite some minor bumps in the road and though a loyal champion of X, I’ll try to be as objective as possible with this overview.

 

We arrived at the pier at about 11:00 am and check-in was quick and efficient. We soon learned boarding was delayed until 2pm to give the crew time to sanitize the ship, something that was no surprise to us since word of the noro outbreak on the cruise prior to ours was posted on Cruise Critic long before we left home for Barcelona. In response to the delay, Celebrity ran complimentary shuttle buses to the center of town and provided guests with lunch vouchers for restaurants on Las Ramblas if they chose not to wait at the terminal. We chose to wait which worked fine for us but limited seating around the perimeter of the terminal filled up fast as more and more passengers checked in and the majority of people waiting to board had to stand. Inconvenient? Uncomfortable? Unfortunate? Yes, but lack of sufficient seating in the terminal was clearly not the fault of the cruise line as some insisted. According to plan (tongue planted firmly in cheek!), there were those who planted themselves at the exit door leading to the gangway and held their ground despite repeated requests by terminal workers that they clear the way. By the time priority boarding was announced, the restless mob (fearful they wouldn’t get on the ship, perhaps????) refused to back away and wait their turn according to boarding number, causing a log jam second only to that in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. That “me first; to heck with you” mentality would prevail throughout the next 17 days!

 

We were anxious to see the changes made to Century, especially with respect to the addition of balconies and once in our cabin, were amazed at how seamless (literally) those changes were. The balcony was a nice addition to our Concierge Class cabin and X did a nice job upgrading the furniture and bedding. As has been previously reported, the raised bowl sink in the bathroom, while admittedly a modernizing addition, results in a lot of splashback.. I was a bit surprised that with so much invested in the re-build, X didn’t take things just one step further and upgrade cabin bathrooms by changing the original plain white floor and/or shower tile to spruce things up a bit more. Murano’s is a nice addition (food and service were as wonderful as that which we’ve enjoyed in the specialty restaurants on all the M-class ships) and one would never know it had not been there from the get-go. The same applies to the Spa Cafe which always offered some "lite" choices when one was filled to the gullet. Some subtle and not-so-subtle changes in connection with the re-build were evident around the ship and for the most part, they were all positive. We thought the pool area still looked a bit tired – the only change we noted was the replacement of the decking. Again, with so much invested in the re-build, re-tiling of the original plain white tiles around the pool and hot tubs to something a bit more current (not glitzy) would have gone a long way to brighten things up. No big deal, but just an observation. The same thing goes for the Islands buffet - new carpeting and upholstery clearly make a difference but the buffet stations themselves are not as inviting as they are on the M-class ships and I’d have thought X would have done a bit more with them. Admittedly, much of the “dress up” that usually appears around a ship’s buffet (melon carvings, veggie and fruit displays, theme decorations) was missing because of the Code Red status and that surely made a difference in appearance. In general, Century remains a beautiful ship – classic in design, elegantly understated in décor and if her itineraries were longer than 4/5 days, we wouldn’t hesitate to sail yet again.

 

We found service on this cruise to be excellent. Staff and crew were friendly and clearly eager to please, in spite of their increased workload resulting from Code Red status. Our waiter and assitant waiter were quite efficient and though not over-friendly, most pleasant. Our cabin service was very good and the carpet remained splotless even though no vacuums were used throughout the cruise – in an effort not to stir up the dreaded virus! Any crew we passed in the halls always greeted us with a smile and a “good morning/afternoon/evening.” Everyone was pleasant and more than accommodating, including Guest Relations staff which we found to be particularly responsive.

 

More to come...

[barbarah33]

Thank you for what you've written so far - I can't wait to read the rest.

 

Happy Holidays!

[lysolqn]

We thought the food was quite good to excellent at dinner, although one of our tablemates had a tough steak and one evening I wrestled with a tough rack of lamb. Nothing’s perfect and one thing is for sure - it’s next to impossible to leave the table hungry. Any time our waitstaff removed a plate that was anything less than licked clean, it was usually because we and our tablemates just couldn’t eat any more but they always inquired if everything was to our liking and always offered something else. Some evenings there were substituions for an item or two appearing on the meanu but I’m not quite sure why. We appeared to be using the 14-day itinerary menu and thus three days were repeated. Perhaps the substituions were the result of trying to vary the menu slightly, perhaps they were the result of running low on some provisions or perhaps, as has been noted in another post, it was a cost saving measure. Whatever the reason, it really was no big deal as there was always something for everyone. One night carpaccio was on the menu but wasn’t available because they didn’t want to serve raw meat. Likewise, sushi was not available on this cruise and we were told it was because raw fish can cause interestinal upset and they didn’t want to add to the already existing noro problem. What one thing has to do with the other, I’m not quite sure but so be it. We missed it for the four or five times we might have availed ourselves but it was nothing major and certainly didn’t adversely affect our cruise.

 

We had our breakfasts and lunches in the buffet and it was the usual fare. We gave up on having those meals in the dining room years ago, simply because service is consistently slow during those meals on all ships. We did try breakfast in the dining room one morning just for a change of scenery and service was as predicted. We found that the lunch buffets were somewhat repetitive, with the same thing often offered two days in a row. For us the buffets were limited in choice and somewhat unappealing but that may just be our tastes. Nevertheless, there was always the sandwich line, the salad bar, the spa café and poolside grill to fill the void. Believe me, we were never wanting for food. Unlike every other X cruise we’ve been on, the buffet trays were minus the cloth liner, and paper napkins were used in place of linen. Perhaps this was in connection with Code Red – at least, I hope so ‘cause I missed those nice touches. Not being able to serve oneself on the buffet line or at the drink stations clearly slowed things down but that was the result of being Code Red and couldn’t be avoided.

 

The only midnight buffet was the Grand Buffet on the last formal night; otherwise it was lite bites every night which suits us just fine since we choose late seating and the thought of eating anything beyond that at night is frightening. On just about every other 10-night or longer X cruise we’ve ever been on, there have been one or two late night buffets, but not this one. We were told there was an outdoor deck party/dessert buffet scheduled for this cruise but it never came to be because the weather was a bit too cool.

 

Part III to follow...

[lysolqn]

Thanks...Part II is now up and I hope to complete the review shortly.

[hcat]

Thanks for your insightful comments...we had exactly the same thoughts about the sinks, showers, pool deck & other areas that could have been re-done.. etc. after our two trips on post-refurbed Century in 2007. We also are not fans of the strange up & downs to get to some of the main public areas which cannot be changed & are part of the ship's character. (On our second trip we had upper dining room seating so it was less of a bother. to get to the main area.)

 

The captain, service throughout, & Muranos were tops...enjoyed the aft area & sushi . have also head that the computer service is being upgraded. Although Mercury is our favorite we will probably cruise on this ship again!

[Bev]

Hi

 

"We arrived at the pier at about 11:00 am and check-in was quick and efficient. We soon learned boarding was delayed until 2pm to give the crew time to sanitize the ship, something that was no surprise to us since word of the noro outbreak on the cruise prior to ours was posted on Cruise Critic long before we left home for Barcelona. In response to the delay, Celebrity ran complimentary shuttle buses to the center of town and provided guests with lunch vouchers for restaurants on Las Ramblas if they chose not to wait at the terminal. "

 

That wasn't our experience. We arrived at 1:00 PM and there was no mention of shuttles to the city centre or lunch vouchers. Even if there had been, it would have been difficult to get into town and back - our bus spent close to an hour in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the road to the port. Many people were not able to board until 4:00 PM or later. I think Celebrity could have rented fold-up chairs for folks to sit on - there were many older people and people walking with canes/walkers that found it very difficult to stand for such a long period of time.

 

Bev

[Susan-M]

I'm enjoying your comprehensive review ... looking forward to Part III. :)

[Drew B]

I think Celebrity could have rented fold-up chairs for folks to sit on - there were many older people and people walking with canes/walkers that found it very difficult to stand for such a long period of time.

 

 

That is a nice idea, but I don't know if Celebrity would even be allowed to do such a thing. They hold no jurisdiction in the terminal - only the port authority can make decisions. For all any of us know, Celebrity may have asked to provide extra seating for the waiting guests and been told that they couldn't... And who knows what kind of safety laws would be broken by setting out several hundred extra chairs in a tight space...

 

On one of my cruises, pax blamed Celebrity when a guest got caught in the moving armrest of an escalator, leading to a pile-up and some injuries. While that situation, too, was very unfortunate, X had no authority over how the escalators are serviced, manned, or run. I encourage people to blame the ports for problems in the terminals and blame the cruise lines for things they can actually control...

[lysolqn]

Hi

 

"We arrived at the pier at about 11:00 am and check-in was quick and efficient. We soon learned boarding was delayed until 2pm to give the crew time to sanitize the ship, something that was no surprise to us since word of the noro outbreak on the cruise prior to ours was posted on Cruise Critic long before we left home for Barcelona. In response to the delay, Celebrity ran complimentary shuttle buses to the center of town and provided guests with lunch vouchers for restaurants on Las Ramblas if they chose not to wait at the terminal. "

 

That wasn't our experience. We arrived at 1:00 PM and there was no mention of shuttles to the city centre or lunch vouchers. Even if there had been, it would have been difficult to get into town and back - our bus spent close to an hour in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the road to the port. Many people were not able to board until 4:00 PM or later. I think Celebrity could have rented fold-up chairs for folks to sit on - there were many older people and people walking with canes/walkers that found it very difficult to stand for such a long period of time.

 

Bev

 

Since boarding was to begin at 2, I suppose they stopped the shuttle service by the time you arrived. Not only were the buses there when we got to the terminal, but X allowed passengers who were going into town to check their carry-ons in the terminal and reclaim them prior to boarding the ship.

Yes, traffic is a bear getting to the terminal - one lane in and one lane out - but if you've left from Barcelona before, you know to get to the pier early enough to avoid that annoyance. It is what it is thanks to poor planning on the part of the Barcelona port authority and clearly there's nothing Celebrity can do about that. As for making folding chairs available, as noted in another post, it might not have been within X's authority to go that route.

[lysolqn]

Entertainment was the usual Celebrity fare with several production shows, an a capella group, classical string quartet, guitar player, Michael’s Club pianist, the usual house band and guest entertainers for evening shows. We particularly enjoyed Elliot Finkel, who we’ve seen before on previous X cruises and as always, he packed the house. Among the enrichment lecturers on the cruise was Bill Miller, aka Mr. Oceanliner, whose presentations were fascinating (we’ve likewise seen him on other X cruises but were thrilled to have the opportunity to hear him again), and an estate planning attorney whose presentations were so terrific and so well attended that each time he was scheduled to speak, he had to be moved to larger and larger venues, ultimately ending up speaking in the theater. There was also a water colorist who gave complimentary classes and a musical couple who spoke about famous American composers. Add to that the usual daily activities like trivia, name that tune, etc. True to form, X continues to present pre-dinner shows for late-seating passengers (something we really wish they would stop doing) but there were enough after-dinner shows to keep us happy. We thought the Cruise Director, Stewart Turnbull, was delightful – always visible out and about the ship and never too busy to wave or stop to chat. Clearly, I don’t consider the captain to be part of the onbaord entertainment(!), but this is as good a place as any to say how delightful and friendly Captain Pagonis is (not to mention how competent!) and how welcomed his announcements were and how nice it was to see him on his daily walkabouts.

 

This was our second time is as many months on a ship that was Code Red for noro. Admittedly, the steps taken to contain/eradicate the bug are an inconvenience for passengers but in our opinion, a minor one. The staff and crew of Century are to be commended for their 24/7 non-stop efforts to contain/eradicate the noro bug that was introduced to the ship prior to our cruise. People complained about bleach fumes, the library being closed, the inability to serve oneself at the buffet, the constant offering of Purell wipes, the absence of salt, pepper, sugar and bread from the dinner table, etc. but in the grand scheme of things, these were relatively minor inconveniences that should not have ruined what was otherwise a wonderful cruise. (I must admit that a post I just read in reference the library being closed but the casino remaining open was amusing. I know the chips were sanitized every night but the cards and the quarters weren’t, so I guess the cruise line’s desire to keep passengers and crew bug free sort of stops just short of the desire to earn onboard reveneue!!!) No doubt it’s a bummer to be ill and quarantined while on vacation but that’s simply the luck of the draw and in no way attributable to Celebrity. I firmly believe that those who complained the loudest about the inconveniences they suffered would likely have been the first to complain had X done anything less, and probably the first to jump to the head of the line demanding compensation had they succumbed to the bug. I guess that's just part of human nature.

 

Part IV to come and then I'll quit boring you!

[Drew B]

I know the chips were sanitized every night but the cards and the quarters weren’t, so I guess the cruise line’s desire to keep passengers and crew bug free sort of stops just short of the desire to earn onboard reveneue!!!

 

 

I wonder what the point is of even bothering to disinfect the chips. All it takes is one sick person touching one chip (or one person who has touched something - say a quarter from the slot machine - a sick person has touched then touching one chip) and they are quickly all re-infected. I encourage anybody who uses the casino - ANY casino, not just the ones afloat - to wash/Purell their hands often and manically avoid bringing one's hands into contact with ones mouth, nose, or eyes...

[barbarah33]

You are NOT boring me - please keep the review coming as I am enjoying it all. And it makes me want my cruise next month to get here even faster.

 

I apologize if this has been asked and answered a zillion times already: I have not found an answer on the boards. I understand their removing things like salt and pepper which can spread disease and appreciate the efforts X made. I happen to be a salt-aholic - could you get salt by asking for it or was it not allowed at all? If that's the case and it keeps up I have no problem packing a little baggie with those salt packets for my cruise so I have what I want but I would feel silly if I did and you could easily get salt just by asking for it.

[coasters]

All condiments were available. Salt, ketchup and pepper was in individual packages, ketchup, salt and pepper served by waiters on your food in the dining room.

Diane & Jerry

[lysolqn]

Like most transatlantics, this cruise was a great combination of port and sea days. In fact, it was as if we had booked a 10-day port intensive European cruise and had an additional 7-day cruise for some much needed R&R thrownin along with it. Like many other people, we were disappointed that Casablanca and Tangiers had been cancelled; having called on several of the ports on this cruise on a prior transatlantic, they were the two ports that pretty much hooked us when we looking for another t/a, but with geo-politics and the state of things the way they are today, far better to be safe than sorry - no sense going we are not wanted. Perhaps we’ll get to visit them on a future t/a. We thought the Canary Islands were the real gems of the cruise and wouldn’t hestitate to stop back there some time again. We had beautiful weather throughout the cruise and with the exception of one cool, gray day in Cadiz and one overcast early morning during the crossing, the weather couldn’t have been better had we ordered it up ourselves – sunny, no humidity, afternoon temps mid-60s to mid-70s. The seas were calm with some swells that afforded us just enough motion to remind us we were on the water. I’m always amazed by passengers who complain about the motion, as if the fact that their cruise was a “water” vacation was hidden from them when they booked!

 

A word about our fellow passengers, if I may. If I were aked to use only one word to describe the passengers on this cruise, it would be “RUDE.” Certainly we met many lovely people but far too many people we encountered were downright rude and nasty – not only to fellow passengers but to staff and crew as well. Lest you think we were the only ones to make this assessment, many of the folks with whom we spent time remarked about exactly the same thing. Please, thank you and excuse me were in large part absent from the lexicon of many on board. Lines at the buffet, or any place else for that matter, were for everyone but them. Cutting ahead of people in line was the norm, as was the heated exchange of words thereafter. We were shocked to hear the way some passengers spoke to the crew, particularly those who were behind the buffet counters. I was behind one man who asked the server for something that wasn’t on that particular line. The server told him it wasn’t on the line and very politely directed him to the sandwich line, at which time the passenger responded, “I’m not waiting on another d(arn) line. Get it!” DH and I were walking through the Rendevouz Lounge on our way to the dining room one evening when from behind us we heard, “Get out of the way.” We turned around and saw a man on a scooter who promptly told us to “move over.” These were not isolated incidents but rather incidents indicative of the behavior of way too many people. Every night we and our tablemates would share our respective tales of rude passengers during that day - initially it was funny; after a week or so, the humor was all but gone. One morning I was on line waiting for toast and a man walked straight to the head of the line, ignoring everyone who was waiting. The man whose turn it was next to give his order very politely told the line jumper there was a line of people waiting, to which the line jumper responded, “Too bad.” I walked into an elevator only to hear one lady actually giving another an argument because she pushed a button to go up and the offended lady wanted to go down. I lost count of the number of times we were in an elevator and had passengers call out their desired decks as if we were employed by the cruise line as elevator operators – no please, no thank you, no “would you please push nine?” – just “nine.” Sometimes we felt like we had booked passage on a cruise for incorrigible children whose report cards all indicated, “Does not get along well with others.” I’ll stop short of attributing the over abundance of rude passengers on this cruise to the age demographic but it sure makes you wonder.

 

Like any other cruise, complaints abounded. There were those who swore they’d never cruise with Celebrity again and were eager to share their litany of reasons why with anyone who would lend an ear. There were those who after just three days into the crossing were itching to get off the ship because they had had enough – probably something they should have considered prior to booking the cruise. Rule #1 – don’t book a transatlantic if you don’t enjoy sea days. People complained about spotty CNN reception; you’d think they expected the captain to open a wire hanger and fiddle with it affixed to the top of the ship!

 

If I were asked to voice one concern about Celebrity, it would be in connection with the more than usual recent concerns voiced by loyal X cruisers on Cruise Critic. Although we’ve never had much to complain about at all, my underlying fear is that with Azamara as RCI’s luxury line, X may lose some of the little touches that set it apart from its competitors and it may slowly morph into being just another mainstream line. But that’s a topic for another day. The bottom line is that we had a wonderful time, still love the Celebrity product and anxiously look forward to the three X cruises we’ve got lined up for ’08.

 

Sorry for rambling on and boring you.

[Drew B]

Oy! The rude people sound dreadful. I would so much rather have bad food, shabby furnishings and missed ports than have to sail with unpleasant folks...

[Lois R]

Hi, great review:) you did not bore me in the least!

I enjoyed reading your review very much.:)

 

I just returned from a 4 nighter on Century and I missed the

T-Pool. It was the first time I had sailed her since before

the "revitalizaion" (the staff and crew called it that).

 

Sorry you experienced so many rude passengers:(. I always

say please, thank you, etc. when my waiter takes my order, etc....

I have to say I cannot recall any of my tablemates doing the

same thing:eek: ......are manners totally lost? When my water glass

is refilled it is just natural for me to look up and say thank you!

I don't know if it was just the demographic on your sailing....unfortunetly

it was on mine too.

 

Anyway, your review was very well written and I hope you

submit it to the reviews section. Thanks for sharing your

experience with us.:)

[lysolqn]

I apologize if this has been asked and answered a zillion times already: I have not found an answer on the boards. I understand their removing things like salt and pepper which can spread disease and appreciate the efforts X made. I happen to be a salt-aholic - could you get salt by asking for it or was it not allowed at all? If that's the case and it keeps up I have no problem packing a little baggie with those salt packets for my cruise so I have what I want but I would feel silly if I did and you could easily get salt just by asking for it.

 

All condiments were readily available, just not on a self-serve basis. Of course there's no reason to assume your cruise will be at Code Red status, but if you happen to be a salt-aholic, you might want to be prepared "just in case" and bring along your own salt packets for dinner since no matter how hard they try (and they do!), it's hard for waitstaff to season food just the way you like it.

[lysolqn]

Oy! The rude people sound dreadful. I would so much rather have bad food, shabby furnishings and missed ports than have to sail with unpleasant folks...

 

I appreciate where you're coming from and no, bad food, shabby furnishings and missed ports are clearly not preferable over sailing with unpleasant folks -but I didn't know we were required to choose one or the other!

 

Seriously, my reference to what was a particularly rude passenger load was simply an observation I wished to share, especially because it was noted by so many passengers and because for better or worse, interacting with fellow passengers is part of the whole cruise experience.

[Drew B]

I appreciate where you're coming from and no, bad food, shabby furnishings and missed ports are clearly not preferable over sailing with unpleasant folks -but I didn't know we were required to choose one or the other!

 

Seriously, my reference to what was a particularly rude passenger load was simply an observation I wished to share, especially because it was noted by so many passengers and because for better or worse, interacting with fellow passengers is part of the whole cruise experience.

 

I think you misunderstood me. I honestly and truly DO believe that bad food, shabby furnishings and missed ports would be preferable over sailing with unpleasant folks. I was not trying to be facetious (although I, like you, would prefer not to have to face any of these things). If the company is good and you enjoy those around you, it is easy to laugh off other complaints. If you don't enjoy being with those around you, it is difficult to enjoy anything else, no matter how good it may be.

[lysolqn]

I think you misunderstood me. I honestly and truly DO believe that bad food, shabby furnishings and missed ports would be preferable over sailing with unpleasant folks. I was not trying to be facetious (although I, like you, would prefer not to have to face any of these things). If the company is good and you enjoy those around you, it is easy to laugh off other complaints. If you don't enjoy being with those around you, it is difficult to enjoy anything else, no matter how good it may be.

 

I stand corrected and apologize if I offended you - I guess we're on the same page with respect to our fellow passengers but we'd never let them ruin our cruise, no matter how rude or nasty they may be - and believe me, this crowd qualified for an Olympic medal in rude and nasty!

[zaharaboys]

Unfortunately, we did not have the wonderful experience that you had on this cruise. We, like you, have been on many Celebrity cruises and until this cruise it was clearly our favorite line. This was our 6th Transatlantic cruise and therefore we were prepared and actually looking forward to the relaxing sea days. Unfortunately, we faced problems on this cruise from day 1 and by the end of the cruise we could not help but think we just experienced a cruise that was not representative of Celebrity. In fact, we felt that the cruise had been stripped of all the niceties that actually make Celebrity a premium cruise line and make Celebrity's brand stand above the rest.

 

Let's start with the boarding of the ship. Live Bev mentioned earlier, we also arrived around 1pm after waiting in traffic for more than 45 minutes to cross the bridge into the port. That certainly had nothing at all to do with Celebrity. When we arrived, we were given a priority boarding tag because we were in a suite. We would have also received the tag due to being Elite members. In fact, everyone that was an elite or select captain's club and those in concierge class or suites received priority boarding tickets and were to board immediately after the back to back guests. What Celebrity did not take into account was the fact that nearly 1/2 the guests qualified for the priority boarding tickets and therefore they were creating the problem that was alluded to earlier. We definitely agree the people that blocked the entrance did not help but Celebrity contributed to the problem. They did not manage the crowd. They could have easily put up lines like they have at airport security but instead they forced their passengers through a small opening for no reason. What is most unfortunate is that they contributed to creating a situation where potential virus carriers were huddle en mass so that they could more easily pass the norovirus to other passengers boarding the ship. If there is anything they should have done it was to avoid what actually occurred.

 

We cannot really agree with the rest of the review either. Yes, Celebrity canceled the two most anticipated ports before the cruise; however, they conveniently canceled them after the final invoice was paid. Of course they have the right to do this as passengers all sign an agreement where the cruise line clearly states that the itinerary can change at any time. Unfortunately, we did not appreciate the fact that they hid behind supposed dangerous events in the Moroccan ports. In fact, the US State Department does not list either port as an issue. We will always speculate about the reasons for removing the ports but we wonder why they didn't remove them earkier instead of after final invoice.

 

As for the cruise itself, the lack of service was not something that we can just ignore. We paid a premium price for a premium service with Celebrity. We paid for a Sky Suite on this cruise and certainly did not get our money's worth. All the services that make Celebrity a premium cruise line were gone. All the nice touches were eliminated.

 

We paid for cream and instead we were served skimmed milk.

[lysolqn]

Sorry your cruise was less than you hoped it would be - it's always disappointing when a cruise, or anything else for that matter, falls short of expectations. Though I may not completely agree with your position, I certainly understand your issues re embarkation and missing two important ports.

You were less specific with respect to your other complaints - problems from day one, the lack of all the niceities that place X in the premium category and set it apart from other lines, service that was lacking and not getting what you paid for. Your experience is important to the rest of us who cruise with Celebrity and frequent Cruise Critic; and, if as some say, corporate actually reads these boards, elaborating re those general complaints may prove beneficial to everyone.

Thanks.

[Drew B]

We definitely agree the people that blocked the entrance did not help but Celebrity contributed to the problem. They did not manage the crowd. They could have easily put up lines like they have at airport security but instead they forced their passengers through a small opening for no reason. What is most unfortunate is that they contributed to creating a situation where potential virus carriers were huddle en mass so that they could more easily pass the norovirus to other passengers boarding the ship. If there is anything they should have done it was to avoid what actually occurred.

 

 

Could they? I'm not sure that is true. I don't think the cruise lines have the authority to do much of anything having to do with the port before you cross the threshold onto the deck of the ship. I think your complaint is with the Barcelona Port Authority (do I have the right city of embarkation?) and not with X.

 

And lysolqn, you most certainly did not offend me. I was afraid I had offended you if you thought I was being that snarky...

[lysolqn]

And lysolqn, you most certainly did not offend me. I was afraid I had offended you if you thought I was being that snarky...

 

Snarky? Never!

[jbar]

Thanks for the review, enjoyed reading it. My husband and I were also on the transatlantic, and I have to say we really had a great time! We felt the crew did a wonderful job in spite of a very stressful situation. Would have hated to have been in their shoes, as you stated, many people were complaining all the time. They worked so hard, and I'm sure from comments made by some of the crew members, things would have been different had we not been under the "clorox watch" during the cruise.

We enjoyed the food, the sunrises, the entertainment, our tablemates were terrific, we met very nice people, had great conversations, we will cruise again with Celebrity. No complaints here....

John and Judy