Review: July 4, 2008 Norway on Century

[cruisingdelt]

First let me state the obvious, Century is over 10 years old and if you want to be critical you can find examples of wear and tear. Overall; however, she is very well kept and provided a great 12 days. I would cruise her again in a heartbeat. A thank you to the Cruise Critic members on this cruise. It was a pleasure meeting you. C-legs, thanks for setting up the meet and greet and thanks to whomever set up the gathering with the Cruise Director, Captains Club Hostess and some of the officers.

General Info

This was a r/t 12 night cruise from Amsterdam with four days at sea and visits to the Norwegian ports of Alesund, Alta, Honningsvag, Tromso, Molde, Olden and Bergen. In addition over 700 miles of cruising was spent in the fiords. The Master of the vessel was Captain Nicholas Pagonis who was by far the best captain I have ever sailed with. He was personable, visible, had a great sense of humor and spoke very good English. If he is the future of Celebrity captains we all have some very good experiences ahead. There were 3 formal, 3 informal and 6 casual nights.

Trip to Amsterdam

We booked our own air through KLM and arranged to arrive a day early. The airline was great. Attentive service, complimentary drinks (2 beers and 2 cognacs), a pillow and blanket at every seat, interactive A/V and hot towels. We arrived in Amsterdam around 7AM, retrieved our luggage, cleared customs and immigration, found the shuttle desk then the shuttle and were in our hotel by 8:30. WOW! We used some points and stayed at the Marriot Amsterdam which had a room for us at 8:30, thanks Marriott. We got into the room and slept until noon. The rest of the day was spent touring. Amsterdam is a great walking city. The dollar is worthless, the only downside.

Departure

We took a van for 20 Euros to the terminal and arrived about 1PM. Check in was very quick and our room was ready upon boarding. A pleasant surprise greeted us, a $200 OBC and a bottle of wine from our TA!!! Our room attendant, Ahmad, introduced himself. He was outstanding, which is probably why he will be transferring to the Solstice. The sail away was great with sunny skies and warm temps.

Our Room

We had room 9232, a FV cabin on the Vista deck. We had a similar cabin on a Caribbean cruise prior to the refurbishment. The changes were great. Somehow more drawer and closet space was created. The four of us unpacked and we had free space left even though we had to bring more clothes. The cabin is 195 sq ft. with a veranda of approx 100 sq ft. Please note that the veranda is uncovered as were those of the SS cabins above us and the FV below. The FVs below us on the Panorama deck had the standard 42 sq ft veranda, same price. You won’t find a mention of this anywhere in a Celebrity brochure or their website.

The Ship

The renovation was great. We really liked the decor of the Martini Bar. All the public areas were attractive and functional. You never felt like you were sharing the ship with 1,700 other passengers.

Food

Celebrity still does a great job with meat and a poor job with fish. The deserts were very good. The food changed a bit, for the better. Smaller portions and a bit lighter, especially with the sauces. You were full but not bursting. I cannot say enough about Murano’s. The service and food were excellent and you are provided with a very enjoyable and relaxing 2+ hours. The Grand Restaurant is a nice venue for dinner. Our waiter and assistant waiter were not terrible but not great. The Assistant Matre’d and the Wine Steward were very good. The buffet also changed for the better by increasing the variety of food at breakfast and lunch. Stir fry, Asian and made to order personalized pasta dishes were available. Nice job with lightening things up and increasing the variety. The coffee, except at the Cova, is still terrible. The coffee anywhere in Norway is great.

Entertainment

The song and dance routines are getting old. The singers and dancers work hard but it is not my cup of tea. The comedians were terrible. The only highlight was a group called Metro, consisting of four vocalists without instruments that used only their voices to substitute for a bass and percussion. They also sang very well.

Itinerary

This is not a jet ski, parasail action packed cruise but a relaxing scenery laden one that puts you in your place. We experienced mountains, glaciers, fiords, pine forests, tundra, the midnight sun and 5 days without a sunset. It is not often you see such varied landscapes on one cruise, all beautiful in different ways. By day 3 I had to refer to the Celebrity Today to know what day it was. If this cruise does not relax you then you just cannot relax. The temperatures were warmer than we expected. The coolest day was in the northernmost point and was in the high 40’s. I managed to get a slight burn on my face above the Arctic Circle. Only one day was a real washout.

Disembarkation

Very well done. We reported to our designated area at 7:30 and were off the ship by 8:15. We were worried when we could not find the area for our color, brown 7. A rep then informed us that the brown 7 luggage could be retrieved at the airport, we had Celebrity transfers. So onto the bus, to the airport and there was out luggage in the brown 7 group and with all six pieces together.

General

We had two issues with our room. A door hinge broke and the TV remote stopped worked. They were both corrected within a couple of hours. It has been a few years since my last cruise with Celebrity. My family and I were happy with what has been done and will cruise Celebrity again. In fact we booked a cruise on board and placed an open deposit for a second. The seas were incredibly calm the entire trip, and our room was as aft as possible. At Tromso and Alta we were docked away from the city center and you needed to purchase a $12 transfer ticket. The passangers were very diverse and Americans were a minority. This was interesting and a great example of the glabal economy. Only about 100 chilren were on the ship.

[florisdekort]

Thanks for a great review! It brought back some wonderful memories from when we did the same itinerary last year. Captain Pagonis is definitely the best. Who is Cruise Director on Century these days?

[uktog]

Thanks for your very helpful post. As you can see we will be following in your footsteps very soon and are really looking forward to the trip. Which night would you recommend for Muano's? Can you tell us the order of the evenings between casual, formal and informal. That might help me make my mind up re Muranos

A

[Phoenix cruiser]

Thanks for the review. Great seeing you onboard. Here is a link to my review of the same cruise.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=553127

[dondavig]

Agree that the voyage was a success. If you would like to see my photoshow of the sites, send your email address to me at dondavig@verizon.net.

[Atomica]

Thanks for the great review!

[librarycin]

Thanks for the review! I already know I'd like to do a cruise to Norway, but this makes we want to go even more! :)

 

To someone else who asked, unless he's left in the meantime, I was on the Century May 29 - June 10 and the cruise director at the time was Luke Bonney.

[cruisingdelt]

The cruse directoe was Damian De Lorenzis and the Activity Manager was Danielle. The Captains CLub Hostess was Sue Williams.

 

As far as Evening attire:

 

Day 1 Amsterdam Casual ©

2 At sea Formal (F)

3 ALesund C

4 Arctic Circle Informal (I)

5 Alta C

6 Hoinningsvag C

7 Tromso I

8 At sea F

9 Molde C

10 Olden I

11 Bergen F

12 At sea C

 

We ate at Murano's on day 3 after Alesund. A note-If you can't decide on a desrt get the sampler. 5 or 6 samples. I had the grand marnier suffle which was out of this world.

[uktog]

Thanks Muranos after Alesund it is then!!

[Susie51]

Thank you for the informative and concise review.