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Note - this page contains multiple reviews.
Name: Harlan Heiser
Email: hheiser@furmanselz.com
Age: 36
Occupation: Systems Manager IT
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Celebrity-Century
SailingDate: October 9 1998
Itinerary: Western Carribean
FoodDiningRoom: 92
CruiseDirector: 100
CabinComfort: 100
FoodRoomService: 100
CruiseStaff: 100
CabinAmenities: 98
FoodLidoDeck:
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 99
FoodMidnightBuffets: 90
CabinSteward: 100
ShoreExcVariety: 90
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService: 95
ShoreExcValue: 80
GoodForHoneymoon: 95
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 90
LoungeService: 95
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors: 90
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 85
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 94
EntertShowLounge: 90
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 95
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino:
AirSeaProgram: 95
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 95
DiscoNightclubs: 80
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 99
ShopsOnBoard: 70
SpaceRatio: 90
OverallCruiseValue: 99
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 16 Jun 1999
Time: 11:52:20
Remote Name: 205.172.39.240
Remote User:
Comments
This was my first cruise, my wife's 3rd.
Embarkation was smooth, but took a little time. The spa sales staff were a little pushy,
but I'm good at
giving a good stare..which means go away. :)
We were very impressed with the accomodations. The staff was friendly and very courteous.
We had a D
class cabin in room 9072. It was comfortable and very clean. The closets were ample and we
had no
complaints.
I thing I have found that it helps to talk to your cabin steward one on one. We invited
our steward into our
room for a 5 minute chat. I think this resulted in much better service for the week.
Our waiter and busboy were very nice and entertaining. The maitre'd did not do anything
that we could
see. We even asked the waiter about why we should even tip the maitre'd, and the waiter
defended him by
saying that he coordinates all the dining room activities. ok.
The ship was very clean, and the activities were fun. Bingo was a little expensive...10
dollars per card. We
liked the trivia games, it was a great way to meet other people since teams were formed of
groups of 4 or
more.
We found that there was alot of room to spread out on the ship. Even though the main
central pool decks
were crowded during at sea days, there were a lot of side decks at lower area's of the
ship that had empty
chairs. If you want to participate in the pool side trivia games, just arrive about 10
minutes early.
The food was good, but a little bit too fancy after a while. We took a break one evening
and had pizza on
the outside deck one evening. (The pizza was very good and was served daily..at lunch and
in the
evening).
Breakfast is adequate, scrambled eggs, waffles, omelates, cereal, bread and fruit. Juice
is self serve from
a machine fountain.
We were disappointed that we could not tour the bridge or the facility areas of the ship.
This was due to
security precautions. However, there are video's shown on your cabin TV that explain the
ship logistics
and facilities. That was fine.
The ship really needs to add a shop for sundries. I couldn't buy some simple personal
grooming items
anywhere on the ship.
All the ports of call were fine except for Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We should have stayed
aboard ship instead
of going to Dunn's River Falls. The Dunn's River Jamaican natives were rude and uncaring.
They made
disparaging remarks about the ship passengers. The beach was not very clean. This would be
a good day
to catch up on your tan, reading or exercise on the ship. A couple of people were accosted
in town. Too
bad the natives do not realize that tourist dollars are their main means of economic
earnings.
We really liked Cozumel. I found the people there to be friendly, and enjoyable. One store
owner tried very
hard to sell me some cuff links..so I bought them. No big deal. We didn't listen to the
Port director about
buying tanzanite, and we should have. New York is more expensive for these stones. So buy
tanzanite in
Cozumel. You won't go wrong.
There is a tour where you go to the San Gervasio Ruins, then you get an hour to visit some
stores, go to
the beach and eat lunch. Choose either the beach or lunch, you won't have time for both. I
noticed the
restaurant staff constantly paid attention to keeping the beach free of food refuse.
Dis-embarkation was very smooth. You are given tags that are color keyed based upon you
plane
departure time. The color tag you receive will determine the approximate time you will be
called for
dis-embarking. You can wander the ship, while waiting for the announcement for your color.
We would go on Celebrity again. But we'll try the eastern carribean next.
Name: Marilynne Belden
Email: MBelden@webtv.net
Age: 49
Occupation: dance studio owner
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Celebrity-Century
SailingDate: 11/14/98
Itinerary: Western Caribbean
Cabin: category 4
FoodDiningRoom: 95
CruiseDirector: 90
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService: 90
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck: 85
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 95
FoodMidnightBuffets: 90
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 90
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService: 85
ShoreExcValue: 85
GoodForHoneymoon: 90
CasinoStaff: 85
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 85
LoungeService:
TenderService: 75
GoodForSeniors: 90
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 90
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 85
EntertShowLounge: 95
OverallPortsofCall: 85
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 90
CruiseActivities: 85
Casino: 90
AirSeaProgram: 90
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 95
EmbarkDisembark: 90
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 90
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 95
OverallCruiseValue: 92
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 17 Aug 1999
Time: 21:34:40
Remote Name: proxy-312.public.rwc.webtv.net
Remote User:
Comments
After reading several cruise review books my husband and I decided on the Century of the
Celebrity cruise line.
Boarding went smoothly and we were promptly shown to our cabin. I was surprised by the
spacious closets and more
than expected drawer space. We had a large window that was certainly worth the extra
expense. Other pluses were
the mini refrigerator bar, safe, hair dryer and robes that we were given to use during our
voyage.
The entertainment was varied and quite good. The singers and dancers did a great job!
Steve Kane was the vocalist
and I enjoyed him so much I bought his CD. The comedian and juggler were outstanding and
the group HOMERUN
were also a hit! I didn't miss a single evening and actually made the trip memorable. The
theater is layed out so well
that there is hardly a bad seat in the house.
The food overall was very good. Our table at the late seating was in a prime location in
the center of the dining room
between the bottom of the staircase and the Captain's table and we had delightful table
companions that added to
the wonderful dining experience. Our waiter was named Eric and he was not only prompt and
helpful but entertaing
as well. The night my husband had duckling he deboned it at the table, amazing. The only
entree that was not
wonderful was the lobster, rather rubbery. The best was the tounadoes of beef. The buffet
food was not the caliber
of the main dining room, but was pretty good, exept I thought the pastries, except for the
brioche were on the dry
side.
The excursion we took were just ok. We enjoyed the Mayan ruins but it was a long bus ride
to get there, an hour with
not a very good lunch provided. We liked Grand Cayman but I got sick on the tender boat
coming back to the ship.
All in all we were both happy with our choice of ship and cruise line and are planning an
Alaskan cruise in the
summer of 2000.
Name: Benjamin Smith
Email: benjs@ix.netcom.com
Age: 40
Occupation: Desktop publishing, teaching
NumberOfCruises: 5
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Celebrity-Century
SailingDate: 8-28-99
Itinerary: Western Europe
Cabin: 8173/inside
FoodDiningRoom: 98
CruiseDirector: 98
CabinComfort: 96
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 98
CabinAmenities: 98
FoodLidoDeck: 90
DiningRoomService: 98
CabinQuietness: 96
FoodMidnightBuffets: 98
CabinSteward: 100
ShoreExcVariety: 90
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService: 88
ShoreExcValue: 90
GoodForHoneymoon: 88
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 80
LoungeService: 98
TenderService: 95
GoodForSeniors: 98
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 98
WheelchairAccess: 98
ExerciseFacilities: 96
EntertShowLounge: 99
OverallPortsofCall: 97
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 95
CruiseActivities: 96
Casino:
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 97
EmbarkDisembark: 96
DiscoNightclubs: 85
DeckSpace: 96
Stabilization: 99
ShopsOnBoard: 88
SpaceRatio: 98
OverallCruiseValue: 98
Submit:
Date: 17 Sep 1999
Time: 10:07:20
Remote Name: nyc-ny68-21.ix.netcom.com
Remote User:
Comments
My wife, mother-in-law and I sailed aboard the Celebrity Century 28 Aug-10 September,
1999. 13 night, Western
European cruise. Itinerary specifics will be included in the port section of the review.
Embarkation in Amsterdam: we arrived very early to embark and the process was painless.
However the facility that
houses embarkation appeared much too small to handle the amount of people that the Century
can accommodate.
We heard no negative stories of embarkation so perhaps it was not too slow and crowded.
Century: The Century is the first of Celebrity's large ships and her inaugural was in
1995. She is approximately 70,000
tons and carried close to 1800 passengers while we were aboard her. This is the fourth
Celebrity ship that we've been
aboard. We've toured the Zenith, sailed the Galaxy, toured the Mercury, toured the Zenith
again and then sailed
aboard the Century. Overall the Century is the most luxurious and woody of all of her
fleetmates. Having come off of
the Galaxy it was interesting to see the differences with not only the Century ship and
crew but also the differences in
the Alaskan style of cruise and fellow passengers in a 7 night cruise vs. those of the
passengers and style of cruise in
a European 13 night cruise. These cruises were different in significant ways and since the
Galaxy/Alaska experience is
so fresh in my mind I will make a fair amount of references and contrasts, from time to
time in this review, of the
differences in the experiences. Also a brief direct comparison towards the end of the
review.
Century, the ship: An essential part of the experience for us flows out of the environment
of the ship which includes
her decor, her crew, her aural/visual/sensory sensations are all integral parts of the
experience. For me the
environment suggests a certain type of demeanor of passengers and certain activities and
influences how one feels
as in stimulated or relaxed and variations and ranges of these feelings. The Century is
easily identifiable without and
within as a Celebrity ship but with more wood than her fleetmates, and Celebrity ships
tend to use more wood (and
veneers) than most other modern ships. The Century uses more brass than the other
Celebrity ships, though far less
than most new ships.
The Century is a traditional ship with some high tech touches. It feels to me like a ship
designed to give an updated
version of a sophisticated American environment and includes many decorative touches of
30s-50s aesthetics in the
design. It's quite art-deco in some ways, like most of Celebrity's ships. I'll say that
this ship's style is for people who
enjoy woody and some formal environments, rich colors, and a rather subdued and dark,
intimately lit atmosphere
than one of bright colors. Galaxy, by comparison, uses far more vivid, vibrant, 'living'
colors in more of her interior
spaces. Some rooms on the Century are designed to be interior settings with views of the
sea curtained/draped off,
like the Crystal room, Rendezvous Square and others on the Entertainment deck. Others
bring the ocean in like the
rooms on the resort deck, the whole lido area, and Hemisphere, the forward facing
observation lounge. The Grand
Restaurant, with its magnificent views of the sea, offers wonderful views of the sea and
ship's wake in the experience
of dining.
I could talk about woods and brass highlights, there are some reviews with fine
descriptions in this manner. I will say
that Michael's Club, a cigar smoking room, is in the manner of a British gentleman's club
and it is full of fine eclectic
furniture, cherry woods and dark woods creating a rich, dark room. The Crystal Room is a
re-creation of a 1930s
nightclub and it is an opulent room with chandeliers, fine gold individual seating and
burgundy curved benches with its
Martini Bar off in a nook in the room. It is interesting that I experienced the Savoy Club
of the Galaxy first, one of the
few rooms that is similar on the Galaxy to a room on the Century, before I did the Crystal
Room, the earlier version of
the room. Although these rooms have the same layout and use much of the same design, the
choices of materials and
combinations create different atmospheres. Both are luxurious but the Century's is
fancier, more conservative and I
feel its environment invites Big Band or Latin music or dance music of the early to middle
century period and has a
more high end look about it. The Savoy's atmosphere suggests a wider range of music,
though Big Band is fine and
rather appropriate, other styles of music did not seem completely out of character for the
room. To me, music other
than Big Band and standards or Latin seemed to conflict with the environment of the
Crystal Room though Classical
music would not clash and rock or R&B music from the 50s would seem appropriate. What
did not blend with the
environment, IMO, was 70s-90s pop music and the standard Macarena, Electric slide, line
dance sort of music played
in this room. This music/entertainment/activity worked better on the open deck pool areas
or would have worked well in
Hemisphere, where the environment suggests something more 80's, 90's and really seemed
more adjustable to many
styles of music and activities.
I want to distinguish the lobby/expanded lobby areas of ships: atriums, centrums and
foyers. Throughout Europe, and I
was not quite aware of this before this European sailing, the Centrum is the center of
town. It is a town square, meeting
area and crossroads, usually containing a very large open area sometimes referred to as
the plaza. This is what Royal
Caribbean designs into their ships. An atrium, I find, is something open with many shops
and eateries, something of a
mall or shopping area. A foyer is an open area, more modest in scope and function, where
some convergence may
take place, but more serves as an open area that is more localized.
The Century is NOT designed, nor is the Galaxy, nor is the Mercury, to have a Centrum.
This should be understood
about a Celebrity ship. This line is a Greek origin line that is designed to give a
traditional cruise on an updated
traditional ship for a primarily North American market. The foyer is not the center of
activity and functions, such as
meeting the Captain, are done in the theater or other public areas, not the foyer area.
The foyer on the Century, IMO, is magnificent but during our cruise too brightly lit on
its upper level. Tastings/Cova sit
on the second level of the ship. It feels like an upscale 'sidewalk' cafe, in how the
seats are positioned alongside the
glass railings of this circular foyer and it is a most charming area. Here fine coffee or
tea is available (for a fee) and
very fine Cova chocolates. I found the foyer, particularly the upper level slightly odd
feeling at times due to the lighting.
At night it is lit strangely in a glowing blue fibre-optic light that makes some people
have a somewhat ghostly blue hue
to their skin tones. Worst yet, sometimes it is pink, usually it is bright white. Just too
bright and contrasts sharply with
other areas of the ship, especially those near the foyer which are more dimly lit. Shops
are over three decks, an idea
which did not prove to work as well as having shops on one deck. The carpeting is a
variation of celestial carpeting
one finds in many areas of the ship. This is one of the elements that unifies the ship.
Since this ship, like all Celebrity
ships, was designed by many designers headed by AMK but including John McNeece, Birch
Coffey, and other firms, a
unifying theme was needed. So much of the ship is in blues, and some patterns and general
feel was maintained
throughout. Getting back to the foyer there is a waterfall, different than the Galaxy's,
different style. There is also very
elegant tan leather seating areas on the lowest level of the ship. The shore excursion
guest relations is done in
medium stained woods and is curved opposed to the Galaxy's white marble flatter area.
Intimate, with high quality
furnishings mixed with shops placed on three levels and bright lighting and a waterfall in
front of a few staggered
placed screens characterize this rather attractive, IMO, fairly cozy feeling foyer.
Casino is for the American (US) market, large, fancy, high quality carpets, drapes,
chandeliers, deco columns and
lamps. This is quite a fancy arena for gamblers. The mood of the arena was subdued on this
ship, sometimes a
carnival type of music and polkas were played, not often. Music was either soft or at
medium volume. With the large
amount of North Americans on the ship the casino was usually well populated but not
crowded. In fact, no part of the
ship felt crowded and at times the ship felt empty. Some people are under the false
assumption that larger ships carry
more people resulting in larger crowds. The reality is that the newer ships carry larger
amounts of people but provide
more space and usually have a higher space ratio, so crowding is more of a problem
periodically on the smaller Zenith
and Horizon of Celebrity's fleet than it is on the larger Century class ships. The
Millennium class promises to improve
space for passengers and feel even less crowded. But some of this has to do with how areas
are designed and the
flow of the ship.
The Century has some design idosyncracies. Personally I found them charming. I like some
dead ends and odd
passenger flows on ships. I like going aft from forward on the Entertainment deck that
from the port side the
passageway goes diagonally back to the starboard side through the sports bar and not to
the foyer through the same
side. The Galaxy fixed most of the design quirks of the Century, but has taken away some
of the idiosyncrasies. Some
strange thinking, though, on the Century is the location of the ping-pong tables at the
rear of the promenade deck.
One strolls around the aft portion and encounters ping-pong players. It is just a matter
of time before the ball flies over
the railings and the back of the ship into the sea. Usually no balls were available. The
sunrise deck has a laughably
small area for joggers who have to hug the walls or take a chance tripping over the rail
supports (and maybe going
into the ocean). Seated in Hemisphere one hears the joggers running above. Originally the
Century had placed the
jogging area a bit aft on the Sunrise deck, directly above the sky suites. This, of course
had to be remedied, hence
the current solution. There are certain areas aft where one can almost jump into the
'private' aft balconies. Only on the
promenade deck can one go across the ship from starboard to port or vice versa on the
Century until they get to the
resort deck. On the Galaxy/Mercury all of the decks between the promenade and resort decks
are transversable.
Cruise style: Ah, the Galaxy had a certain vibrancy, a subdued vibrancy of sorts. The mood
was a bit upbeat in
comparison to most days and times on the Century. For the Century there was much more
Classical and Jazz music
piped throughout various areas of the ship, there were Classical concerts in the ship
where there were none for the
Galaxy/Alaska cruise. There were more seminars, there were Ballroom dance class teaching
couples the Fox Trot and
dances of this era to , mostly, Latin music and dances like the rumba and samba. There was
a much more laid back
atmosphere, much more traditional atmosphere. The line is the same, the atmosphere aboard
that Celebrity provided
was tailored more to an older crowd, or nostalgic crowd, than it was on the Alaskan cruise
of shorter duration. I must
note that there was nothing that seemed to be geared towards our particular itinerary in
the way of food or
entertainment. Towards the second week, when the weather became warmer, pool activities at
night were introduced
and a more Caribbean like or at least festive atmosphere with dancing and games took over.
These were not the most
creative with the standard Macarena, something I wish would be retired, other line dances,
polka with food galore to be
found. Here is where I think some of the regional dances and flavor of the itinerary could
have been presented.
Interestingly I never saw (or heard) a harp player in the forward facing observation
lounge Hemisphere where the
Galaxy had one in her comparable Stratosphere Lounge. Also I was surprised to see that the
Century cruise had a
jousting contest, yes the same type as Carnival has. I did not think such a thing took
place on a Celebrity ship.
Celebrity does not do fun best. The fun and games segment was not very creative, there
were the standard take
pictures with Pirates, and karaoke, scheduled for 1 1/2 hours started to bomb after only
one half hour. The cruise
directors fun and games in the classy Crystal Room was a dud. He had people singing 'Old
McDonald had a Farm' and
people onstage making the noises of livestock. OK, but did not fit with the overall cruise
where something more
creative would have fit better. What was well done were the trivia contests, seminars were
well attended, the
Entertainment in the showroom was of a very high order with an excellent band and very
good singers, and most
entertainment was excellent. Most popular, due to the age of the pax aboard, was big band
jazz and dancing and the
dance classes, and Celebrity does this well with many of the public rooms enhancing the
environment for this type of
activity. This is the purpose for going on the ship, the fun stuff is done better on other
lines but at least some of it is
there for a change of pace and the entertainment staff led the guests through the
activities with enthusiasm. I would
not just want big band or one style of music and entertainment constantly.
There are certain areas where one feels the motion of ships. The bow area is one area
where pitching is felt most in
all ships. But there are certain other areas where one can barely detect that they are
aboard a ship and yet other
areas that have a life, a vibration or sound of machinery or a sense of the sea that one
feels connects them with the
ship. Areas of the ship where this occur on the Century as well as the Galaxy and I would
also think would apply to the
Mercury are the Rendezvous Lounge and rear nightclubs of the respective ships. It is not
necessarily or always motion
that is felt but one can sense the mechanical operations of the ship in these rooms, a
certain vibration and even the
muted sounds of the engines. So, the Rendezvous Lounge may have very intimate lighting and
have an overall dark
appearance and not too much of the ocean coming in but the sensation of the ship is part
of the experience. This was
probably not done intentionally but every ship will have an area where this can be felt
and this is one of the areas on
the Century (and Galaxy and I'm sure, Mercury). Of course the promenade deck area is an
area where one is close to
the sea. No wraparound, unfortunately. With all Century ships about 3/4 of the way aft a
stairway leads up a deck to
the back of the ship to get to the other side.
Dining food was as it was on the Galaxy. I heard praise to not impressed with the food
sentiments from various
passengers aboard. My Belgian mother-in-law, a fine cook though not a chef, has no problem
holding back
commenting on what she feels is ill-prepared food, and she simply found almost all of the
food very good to
outstanding which is how both my wife and I found it. Everything in the dining room
including the desserts, a Belgian
favorite, were in her opinion very good to outstanding. Most of the complaints I heard
about food where interestingly
from people who overall preferred a different type of cruise line or who were just
impossibly picky. That is the
overriding impression I was left with on this cruise. I spoke to quite a few Celebrity
cruise veterans and most felt the
food was close to what they've been receiving but cutbacks were most apparent in the
grandness of the buffets. There
is no consensus on any food of any line. Celebrity has a reputation. The food was fresh,
well prepared, usually the
meats tender but they do not, and probably can not, ALWAYS get it right. The sauces for
the meat, people who enjoy
Celebrity feel, differentiate the line from the other cruise lines. My mother in law
absolutely raved about the lamb, her's
was tender in fine gravy/sauce and served with an excellent mint sauce. She said it was
the best lamb she has ever
had and she's had quite a bit in various fine restaurants. She ordered a second entree of
it. Both entrees had tender
lamb. She did not care for two things. The vinaigrette served at dinner and she felt the
croissants were not up to the
standards of those in Belgium. But, she felt most of the pastries were comparable to those
found in Belgium, which are
some of the best in the world.
Dining ambiance, except for the piano quartet, was wonderful. The Grand Restaurant is a
magnificent dining room,
waiters are always impeccably dressed, our waiter was personable, one night he entertained
our table making a
napkin bikini and then placing it in front of our busboy trainee (hilarious because he is
very tall). He was very proud to
inform the table of the French style of service that Celebrity provides. The wine
stewardess and bar server were both
charming. Overall, polite, professional and polished describes the service experienced
even though Celebrity was
training new staff aboard the Century on our cruise.
Celebrity offered open seating dining in addition to the regular main and late seating
while in port at La Havre. This
was to accommodate the many pax who were in Paris and missed their regular seating. Waiter
and busboy at open
seating gave superb service.
An interesting thing is that the Farewell Baked Alaska presentation was done on the 9th
day of the cruise with three
more days to go. It was a fairly low key affair, no waiters dancing with pax. New Orleans
styled jazz was being played
through the presentation. I found the timing strange and too early.
Lido food is good, some choices are much better than others. Coffee served at breakfast is
weak. Scramble eggs are
suspect, omelettes are a better choice. There were plenty of choices for both breakfast
and lunch yet no fried eggs for
some reason. Waiters and assistant waiters carry trays for the elderly, women and children
who direct them to a table.
Some were a bit overzealous in clearing trays from tables. Lido area has four lines of
buffet food, the rear area usually
had shorter lines. On this cruise lines were never long in the lido area.
Fellow passengers: the ship carried approximately 1800 passengers. Being a 13 night cruise
the median age was
older than the ages of those on our 7 night Galaxy cruise. This ship was full of mostly
North Americans but I'd say
about 30 to 35 percent were from a variety of Western European countries. I sensed many
enjoyed the Celebrity style
of laid back cruise, dressed for the evening in elegant clothing, remained in formal or
informal clothing on these nights.
I did sense many people found the ship too quiet and took it for the itinerary.
Unfortunately I observed plenty of petty
complaints and rude behavior from many people who think that the world revolves around
them and everything should
be perfect because they paid for it. I was quite impressed with the guest relations staff
which, at least what I witnessed,
was unfailingly polite and professional with all of the petty whiners and boors
confronting them.
Shortcomings: once again Celebrity's lifeboat drill was slack and slightly disorganized.
Assemble in a public room,
listen to instructions on how to wear a life vest in multiple languages, follow a crew
member to muster station. No roll
call and silence was not maintained throughout the drill.
Punctuality and communication: Throughout the cruise the ship was late in docking ranging
from 15 minutes to over an
hour. This is somewhat understandable, though not necessarily excusable, since this was
Celebrity's second time
doing this itinerary. The big problem was in Le Havre, port to access to Paris. The ship
was due to dock at 7:00 AM.
Many people expected to get off of the ship in time to take a taxi or shuttle to Le
Havre's station, an approximate 10
minute ride, to get a 7:52 train to Paris (next train was a bit after 10:00). The ship
actually was not let into the port of
Le Havre until the Norwegian Sky had docked into a nearby pier and had to go around to the
far side pier to dock. So
the ship was on time arriving to Le Havre but the ship was not allowed to dock until
later. Eventually the ship docked
and passengers where allowed to exit the ship at 8:20. However, no taxis were available
and one of the officers
contacted someone at the port to send taxis. Not a pretty sight. Worse of all Celebrity
made no announcements
whatsoever on the status of the timeliness of the ship and what caused the delay. They
also never made any mention
of the delay afterwards. Here is where the no public announcement policy, one that is
welcome by most, is not
welcome. Some sort of announcement informing passengers of the status of the ship should
have been made and
Celebrity could have at least apologized and explained the delay in their daily's
afterward. They did neither and this
left a bad taste in the mouths of several passengers. Overall many people asked ship's
staff what was going on,
nobody could really answer except for some of the officers, and this gave a sense that
Celebrity was not interested in
people. What I think is that they don't like to cause disorder, but their method leads to
resentment which is not desired
either. It also gives an impression that the staff is either poorly informed or not
trained well to respond to timeliness
issues. This situation has to be addressed by Celebrity brass in Miami as this point
surfaces too often in reviews of
Celebrity's cruises.
Celebrity employed an unacceptable port lecturer on this cruise. She was a poor speaker,
poorly organized, not
particularly well informed and seemed to suffer from stagefright as she had a very shaky
voice. She was
uncomfortable to listen to and uncomfortable to watch. I'm sure there were many negative
mentions of her abilities in
the comment sheets.
The Grand Restaurant is one of the most grand at sea. On this particular
cruise a string quartet played while dining. Sounds romantic? Not. The
room was magnificent but the string quartet played overly exuberant,
overly rhythmic oom-pah, quick tempo music throughout. Their repertoire
was extremely limited. Our assistant Maitre' D informed us that many were
dissatisfied with them and that they unfortunately had a contract which
allowed them to play what they played. Here is an area where the contract
has to be worded in such a way that a group can not have the power to
have carte blanche and play music that did not enhance the atmosphere of
the dining experience. This group will not be renewed.
Photography: This ship had some of the worst photographers I've seen
anywhere. Pictures of people, formal nights or just around the ship in
casual settings, were abysmal. The photos revealed uncentered people,
harsh horrible lighting, one fellow had food on his face, disinterested
people, people quite obviously unprepared for the photos. I think only 15
percent of the pictures were acceptable.
Lack of blankets: an oversight, it seems. I was outside one night
enjoying the sea sitting on a lounger on the promenade deck. I wanted to
be a bit warmer so I searched for a blanket. There were none. None on any
deck, none of the staff could find any. They offered some from a
stateroom but I declined. There were plenty on the Galaxy so I regard
this as a curious oversight.
Disembarkation: excellent, orderly with standard colored tags based on
time of flight. After leaving the Century plenty of people were available
to assists in finding bags and getting taxis. Some buses were parked at
the dock, perhaps part of Celebrity's post cruise package.
Ultimately what is the Century Europe experience? An utterly romantic
ship. The dim light settings, the warm decor, the music of America's
golden age, the standards of the 30s-50s were heard moreso than music of
later periods, most passengers cooperating with elegant appearance and
behavior. Mostly it is designed for couples who want to keep the romance
in their lives, dance close together, reminisce perhaps or imagine
themselves in the ideal settings of the 30s to 50s. There is something
nostalgic about Celebrity's environment. Their ships already feel
nostalgic before any of the cruise aspects kick in. Before the music is
played, before the waiters present things in an elegant manner. It is the
decor that suggests Celebrity's style and manner of cruising.
I recommend this ship or line for couples and those looking for a
relaxing traditional cruise within the cruising format of today's
cruising market. For families with children some praise Celebrity's
children's program, others are not so favorable. This European version of
the Celebrity 13 night cruise had a formal, somewhat regimented feel
though very friendly throughout. I think they include 'fun' activities
for a bit of variety but this is within limits. I think that those
wanting a looser or even semi-boisterous experience will find Celebrity
restrictive and to varying degrees, bland. It is not a fun ship, it does
not have a charged environment and the staff, by design, keeps a certain
distance from the ship's guests. They sometimes get you involved but
respect and seem to even almost expect that many passengers may not be
interested in the more frivolous activities offered.
Many lines for the North American market will have similar formulas like
the Park West art auctions, inch of Gold sales, Steiner's health pitches.
Celebrity is no exception. This is what helps keep price of admission
lower. Whether they are a necessary evil is debatable. However, I
strongly feel that although most cruise lines designed for this market
have these as part of the experience, some lines do diverge in important
areas elevating them into a higher rating and rung.
Some feel that Celebrity overpromises in their advertising. Well, for me
this is a most tenuous argument. The bottom line is Celebrity is in the
service business that must tailor their product to certain realities of
today's cruise market. They must try to make a reasonable profit. Part of
this reality is creating exaggerated images of themselves. Are they the
only ones to do this, and in the cruise business? Of course not. Yet,
over and over I hear the argument that they don't meet expectations and
all of the other repetitions of their advertising SLOGANS. SLOGANS are
slogans. What is the bottom line? Competitive pricing and providing a
product within a certain idiom with services and goods consistent with
this product for the price charged. For me this overrides slogans or any
star ratings. Also, it must be realized that all cruise lines have
particular strengths. Overall there are areas where HAL and I would guess
Princess is stronger than Celebrity and vice versa. These lines represent
a product for traditional cruisers in their own particular way. This is
the point, these are traditional, fairly formal, at times quiet, cruise
lines by design. Research reveals the differences between Celebrity's
fleet, which are significant, the differences in style and execution of
the cruise of various itineraries, that situations on one ship may not be
consistent with those on another, that cruises themselves all take on a
life and dynamic depending on many factors. Conclusions about Celebrity,
or any other line, have to be made with enough varying experiences, not
impressions based on a particular experience or what one thinks the line
should offer based on their slogans. The line should not be blamed for
people who prefer some other type of experience yet book a Celebrity
cruise for an itinerary or deal or something along those lines or what
some think Celebrity should be rather than what they prove to be in what
they provide.
Valuewise I regard this Celebrity cruise, the physical furnishings and
atmosphere of the ship, the stringent cleanliness/maintenance standards,
the standards of the service and the obvious professionalism of the
staff, the standard of most of the entertainment, the complete experience
even with the mishandled delays and problems with shore excursions as
fine and competitive. It the case of the Galaxy it was an outstanding
value.
Compared to the Galaxy experience the Century experience fell a few
points shorter but is nevertheless rated highly by my wife and me. What
distinguished the Galaxy was the personalized service and so many
different representatives of the staff, some addressing us by name,
inquiring about our comfort and enjoyment, and the entertainment staff
which also inquired about our comfort and our enjoyment of the cruise.
This was not part of the Century experience. At certain times I felt the
new ship coming sense. The Millennium will arrive next year, scheduled
for June, replacing the Century for this itinerary. For this reason
perhaps the Century carried many trainees. At one point in the cruise we
had 5 busboys. There were some people who identified themselves as
'freshmen' and could not provide information about the restaurant or the
department where they worked. On the Galaxy everyone seemed very well
informed, some impressively so. We had an assistant Maitre' D who did not
compare well to the Maitre D we had on the Galaxy, although he was
getting there. Most of the supervising staff was just not as engaging.
However, the Galaxy will continue with the same itinerary next year as
she has presently and does not need to train new staff.
We enjoyed the same high staff to passenger ratio that we did on the
Galaxy. It is very noticeable and was highly appreciated by us.
We enjoyed the a cappella group so much in the Galaxy, which engaged the
passengers and was not predictable in which area of the ship they would
perform. The Century's version was not as dynamic or engaging. Both
nightclub/lido bands were very good and engaging yet the Galaxy's Onyx
was more energetic and dynamic than their counterpart, Opus, on the
Century. We enjoyed the duo in the Rendezvous Lounge of the Galaxy
however the singer in the duo on the Century had a voice that did not
seem well suited to many styles of songs she sang. We rate the cruise
directors evenly and waiters were very different but we enjoyed the
differences. Both waiters served woman first, served mostly from the
right and not across, addressed the women as 'Madame'. Our waiter on the
Century informed us of some of the training and the general guidelines
that waiters must adhere to aboard Celebrity ships.
We preferred the Century's showroom performers and orchestra to the
Galaxy's counterpart. We enjoyed the Century's dance instruction and a
continuing seminar on how certain clothing compliments or detracts from a
person's appearance. We enjoyed the jazz and Classical music piped
throughout the Century. Both ships feature ultra polite, professional
ship service staff without exception.
Regarding the ships the Galaxy used vibrant colors and had an overall
less formal atmosphere. She has a quiet pool area with megradome and a
secondary foyer. She was also in impeccable condition, glistening and
shining in most public areas. The Century, while being quite clean, had
some areas of slightly blotchy brasswork and more evident wear and fade
on some areas of upholstery. Some of the wood is scratched and certain
areas of the floor in our stateroom bathroom were turning gray from wear
(originally white). To the Century's credit one day some of the Officers
inspected the ship. The next day glass tables were replaced, conspicuous
areas of carpets, and miscellaneous ship fittings also replaced. A seat
in Images was missing for 3 days and came back in impeccable condition.
On the Galaxy minimal fade and wear of upholstery was apparent,
glimmering brass, our stateroom appeared almost new everywhere. Galaxy
also had conspicuous continuous maintenance. Galaxy was cared for just a
bit better though, it seemed swept and vacuumed more often than the
Century. Galaxy is one year younger than Century.
Century is the more luxurious ship, and is more subdued in her decor. Her
Grand Restaurant is Celebrity's most expensively furnished and majestic.
Her Michael's Club is richest of the Century class. Overall, her
furnishings and artwork are most expensive. She is a Grand, quite formal
upscale ship.
Galaxy is stylish and chic. She has vibrantly patterned and colored
furnishings in many of her interior areas. She uses aquamarine colored
carpeting in stairwells and has modern stairwells. She is upscale and at
the same time has period elements and is chock full of deco nouveau
details. My favorite of the two though both are fine, individual vessels.
The only similar interior areas of the two ships are the aqua spas, the
corridors to some degree, the showroom theaters and the nightclub. Some
interior details such as the glass etchings in the lido area are similar
to the glass etchings in style of the Galaxy's secondary foyer. One or
two light fixtures of the ceilings of the Stratosphere club are similar
to one or two in Images. However the public areas are different and have
their own character throughout. The main dining room, lido area, foyer,
Rendezvous Lounge, Michael's Club, libraries and card room, Cova/Tasting
areas, the landings and elevator treatment (much more elaborate in the
Century), observation lounges and so many other major areas are
different. Different layout, unique carpet and fabrics and styles of
furnishings for both ships. Sisters yes but unique within. This applies
to the Mercury also, which is different than both although the Mercury
shares a similar style of landings with the Galaxy.
Staterooms are comfortable on these ships. Bathroom showers are big, the
shower curtain does not cling to the showerers body as it does in some
bathrooms. Because of this they do not have large couches, but loveseats
or two individual seats. Amenities in the bathroom are Francis Denny
soap, shampoo, a hair dryer that accepts European and North American
voltage, and really fine skin lotion in a dispenser. Nice Sony TVs and
interactive TV has many useful functions, but sometimes some functions
were down. Our cabin stewardess on the Century was exceptional. The room
was not only cleaned, but in creative ways, and we kept it fairly messy.
She took care of every request and was always a joy to greet.
These ships have ATM machines but often on the Century they were out of
order (assumingly due to the satellite). They worked fine on the Galaxy
and were rarely down.
Celebrity is one of the lines of choice for my wife and me. We hope that
the quality of the line remains, some improvements are made regarding the
lifeboat drill and communication with passengers, some more creativity is
introduced in some of the activities and events. We also hope that
service and standards are not compromised as the fleet grows. Next
Celebrity ship for us may be either the Zenith or new Millennium.
Itinerary:
Sounds great, was great, proved to be exhausting in this direction. It
was as follows:
embark Amsterdam, Holland. Sail 6:00 Aug 28
at sea 8/29
Zeebrugge (Brugges/Ghent, Brussels) 8/30 7:00a-5:00p
Le Havre (Paris, Rouen) 7:00a-10:00p 8/31
at sea 9/1
Vigo 9/2 9:00a-5:00p
Lisbon 9/3 7:00a-5:00p
Tangier 9/4 12:00p-5:00p
Malaga 9/5 7:00a-5:00p
at sea 9/6
Villefranche (Monte Carlo/Nice) 9/7 7:00a-5:00p
Civitavecchia (Rome) 9/8 7:00a-7:00p
Livorno (Florence/Pisa) 9/9 7:00a-6:00p
Genoa 7:00a disembark 9/10
The ship sailed from Paris at 9:45, Rome at 6:45.
Remarkable thing, it did not rain at any port we visited. It was not even
cloudy any of these day. Sunny and warm/hot. Every day.
Most of the countries were done on our own. My mother in law is Belgian,
lived in the United States from the age of 13 and recently returned to
live in Belgium. She speaks fluent French. She devised a plan of attack
for us for Paris and Belgium.
We used the shore excursions for Tangiers and Monte Carlo/Eze/Nice. It is
not advisable to go off into Tangiers without a group or with very savvy
Moroccans. Tourists are targeted there to buy/buy/buy and vendors follow
tourists relentlessly. The tour was interesting, but the bus moved
quickly at times, the tour guide was very knowledgeable. An interesting
tidbit is that the bus collided with a taxi but kept moving. Later the
taxi driver met up with the bus and the two drivers of the respective
vehicles exchanged words. Not too bad, it was resolved in a few minutes.
Price of tour was $40 per person.
The Monaco/Monte Carlo/Eze/Nice tour was stressful due to the number of
other tours at the time and the tons of tourists especially in Monte
Carlo. We followed a very knowledgeable and personable French tourist
with a distinctive umbrella. The tour guides had their umbrellas worked
out because each tour guide had their own distinctive umbrella. We had
some problems with some people on the tour getting back to the bus on
time. She became very strict and adamant about the group getting back to
the bus when some were late in getting back on the bus at the designated
time in Nice. Nice was easy, we were on our own for about a half hour and
then returned to the bus. We explored the market area with fresh goods
and some of the side streets. Eze included lunch, a good lunch at a
restaurant, and lots of climbing. Monte Carlo included fighting crowds
and trying to locate our tour guide. The bus moved slowly enough from
town to town to take pictures but at times went too fast for pictures.
>From time to time the bus was not adequately air-conditioned, although it
was clean, modern and comfortable. Price of tour was $145 per person.
A problem occurred with the Tangier excursion. For an unexplained reason
not enough buses were provided for everyone on tours. People on tours met
in the Celebrity theater and tours were formed with assigned buses on a
first come first serve basis. We were some of the last in the theater and
received a high number. So we waited around. Celebrity did a good job
here keeping us informed of the status of the buses but did not know why
not enough buses were provided. We later found out when we went ashore
that not all buses were filled so we were able to get on one of the buses
that was only about half fill.
Western and Southern Europe: most of it is part of a continent with small
countries, multiple currencies and each country having a different major
language. Fast trains, luxury buses connect people by land from country
to country. I did not like the arrangement of seats on most of the
trains, with seat pairs facing each other. It is also a place where in
most countries many people smoke, many interior areas allow smoking and
ventilation is not up to United States standards. I noticed more graffiti
in some areas of Europe, such as Italy and Holland than there is in New
York City. New York's City subways (metros) erased graffiti from their
subway system and really cut down on it on the streets in the mid 1980s.
Today New York City subways suffer from scratchitti, scratching on mostly
glass surfaces but sometimes other surfaces of the subways. But in
Amsterdam and Rome, for instance, some of the trains reminded me of New
York City trains of the 1970s.
In Europe we viewed, some from trains, quaint areas, industrial areas,
small towns, farms, historical castles and churches, and the major cities
tend to isolate the modern areas to one part of the city, away from the
traditional architecture which I think is a good thing.
I found the money exchange annoying and welcome the Euro. I think it is
great to encounter so many languages but I did find myself wishing that
one common language was known throughout the continent that was secondary
to the language of the particular country. I found that a fair amount of
people in Italy and almost everyone in Amsterdam, Holland spoke English.
Some spoke it in Belgium, Portugal and Spain, and perhaps some in Paris.
Since I traveled with my French speaking mother-in-law communication in
French speaking countries, at least when we were with her, was not a
problem. I do think it is high time that American people learned at least
Spanish and French and some of our mainstream programming and news were
in these languages. I see no disadvantage in being bi- or tri-lingual
whatsoever. Had we known Spanish and French on this trip it would have
been very helpful in communicating with storeowners and ordering food on
this trip and would not have hoped that they spoke English, a foreign
language in their country.
I found it interesting that most taxis are Mercedes-Benz cars in many
countries especially Belgium. Other premium cars that are used as taxis
are Audis, Lancia's and Volvos. American people love to show off and show
off in these cars but in Europe these are commonly used as taxis.
Also bare-breast women are no big deal in most of these countries.
Americans cover them up in ads, supposably protecting our children from
seeing natural mature female breasts. This is not the case in Europe,
women sometime sunbathe bare-breasted and at the beach in Malaga I saw
many barebreasted women. Seemed natural enough to me and a healthy
attitude towards the human body.
Dog manure on streets was a big problem in Belgium and less so in Italy.
Air-conditioning is not as prevalent in Europe as in the United States.
In most major cities in the US most shops, restaurants, buses and
subways, and other interior spaces are air-conditioned. This is not
always the case in Europe. Some of the luxury trains are air-conditioned
but we found that in Italy and Portugal some of the trains were not
air-conditioned. Paris subway cars we traveled in were not
air-conditioned where all of the subways of New York City are
air-conditioned as are the buses (doesn't always work but they are
equipped with air-conditioning units).
Toilets and hot water are another interesting aspect of Europe. In
Belgium, Spain and Italy and also France and Holland one must pay a fee
to use a public toilet. Toilet paper may or may not be present in the
washroom. Some toilets in Italy, Portugal and Spain did not have toilet
seats. Usually one does not get hot water in the bathrooms for washing
hands. Bathrooms are easily found with the sign W/C used in all of the
European countries we visited.
There are American influences in all countries we traveled to, including
the African country of Tangiers. American establishments or products
advertised or displayed include Planet Hollywood, Coca Cola, Nike and
Reebok, McDonald's of course, others. Pictures of American celebrities
are plastered about in many places. Also quite a bit of MTV influences,
one hears American music everywhere, especially rap. There are plenty
teens dressed like American teens. Also, American movies seem to be
showing in just about every European city we visited.
European cities are multiethnic and people are beginning to seem
interchangeable from country to country. Although clothing and styles of
the countries visited can be found mostly people dress in jeans,
sneakers, or styles not representative of a particular country.
Throughout Europe one finds people from Asia, Africa, and India working
in various establishments.Some of these people are dressed in the
clothing of their countries.
Overall I prefer the better ventilation of buildings and the smoking
prohibited policies in the United States as I did find the volume of
smoke and poor ventilation irritating many times. I prefer the
air-conditioning in the United States. I prefer the arrangement of seats
on the commuter trains. I'm not interested in facing strangers, I like
the option for the seats to recline, I like to stretch my legs with no
one else's legs to compete with.
I prefer the comfortable and solid Mercedes and Volvo taxis of Europe as
opposed to the wobbly large taxis mostly used in cities of the US. I
prefer the consistent charming architecture and beautifully detailed
sculptures one finds in several cities and villages. I enjoyed the
flowers placed in windows that add color and beauty to the cities. I
prefer the fast trains and luxury buses. I appreciated that many
Europeans are at least bilingual which enables them to view the world,
verbally, from different perspectives.
As mentioned earlier I welcome two things in Europe. A common second or
third language and I do not really care what it is but wish for it not to
be a declining language. A romance language or mildly declining Teutonic
language would work. Then the Euro, that way money would not have to be
exchanged and currency conversion would not have to be calculated so
often.
Brugges/Ghent
Zeebrugge is the port in very close proximity to two small city/villages
Brugges and Ghent. Both are in the Flemish part of Brussels and many
French speaking people tend not to speak French in these areas due to
conflicts with French speaking and Flemish speaking elements of the
society. IMO, Stupid. Ghent is a picturesque city/village with some
interesting architecture and charm. It is nice within the Centrum, areas
leading to the Centrum are a bit dank and dingy. Within the Centrum are
the character buildings, appearing somewhat like shorter versions of the
type of architecture found in the buildings near the canals of Amsterdam.
Brugges, on the other hand, is attractive as soon as one exits the train.
It's architecture is in a different style, some Dutch-like homes, but
shorter, very colorful, well kept, very charming. It has a few canals but
feels different than Venice, the canals and architecture are of a
different nature and Brugges is quite a bit cleaner. For those that enjoy
picturesque clean villages this is highly recommended gem of a village.
Paris
Access is through Le Havre. Train ride is approximately 2 hours.
My mother in law made the plan to Paris to start with points furthest
from the station and work our way to the station to take us to the train
going back to Le Havre where the Century is docked. We bought a day's
pass for the Paris Metro, took trains to Champs Elysees, walked down the
Champs Elysees to the Louvre (we did not go in), took a boat sight seeing
tour on the Seine and than took a train to Montmartre section to the
Sacre de Coeur church which gave wonderful aerial views of Paris and
beyond.
The first impression of Paris was from the train going into Paris where
we could view some of the architecture which looked promising. When we
got off of the Metro in Paris we were at the Arc de Triomphe on the
Champs Elysees. Our feeling about this street was that it was congested,
full of traffic, full of commercial American enterprises such as
McDonalds and Planet Hollywood. It was full of people, many using
cellular phones, and the atmosphere felt typical hustle-bustle city
albeit with very attractive architecture. We did not care for it. As we
made our way towards the Louvre our impressions became more favorable. On
the way we say beautifully detailed lamps, lots of wonderful
architecture, manicured gardens and the city was reasonably well kept.
Once we got to the Louvre we were quite impressed, almost overwhelmed
with its grandness, detailing of every sort including railings and
fences, openness and symmetry between the left and right sections. Yes,
the glass pyramid is silly and does not belong in the setting. However,
it is a truly magnificent structure. Breathtaking. We then made our way
towards the Seine and took the boat ride which covered the many bridges,
the Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, visible from most of Paris. Here you
see the magnificence of Paris, the charm, the marvelous architecture,
some of the bridges are magnificent. We especially like the Alexander
with its carvings and lamps. The Notre Dame is impressive even from
without with its Gothic architecture and imposing look and intricate
stained glass. We took the Paris metro then to Montmartre to the church
and saw the aerial view. For me this is less exciting, its like being in
a helicopter but it was still interesting.
A few hours in Paris is a tease in such a city. My feeling is Paris is
probably not what it may have been earlier in the century, in fact I know
that it is not. I know that the music and feel of the city has changed,
that it is more international, that it may not have all of the cultural
milieu of pass eras. But hopefully some of this has remained, the
physical 'arena' of Paris is still there, the history, of course, and
there is still loads of culture. For me Paris should be a two day affair,
the ship should have remained in Le Havre overnight. It is still one of
the world's great cities. The majesty, charm, and beauty of its
architecture did not disappoint us although, of course, we did not get to
really sample the culture of the city.
Vigo
Not much to say. Dingy small town near the sea with perhaps an attractive
beach. We stayed there a few hours and left.
Lisbon
Lisbon began on a bad note. A shuttle took us from the ship to a main
street where we were advised to take trams to various places. We were
also advised to watch for pickpockets. Well, here is where several people
aboard the Century had their wallets and purses stolen. My mother-in-law
had her purse chained to her her wallet and caught one of the pickpockets
with her purse in his hands aboard a fairly crowded tram. Many people on
the tram witnessed this and then paid close attention to their belongings.
We explored a landmark church and castle, both very characteristic of
Portugal, enjoyed the Moor influenced tiled buildings in the old town,
enjoyed the varying architecture and many hills of the city and the tram.
In this respect, with the trams and hills, it is akin to San Francisco of
the United States. Also, like San Francisco is the red bridge connecting
Lisbon to Fatima which is similar to the Golden Gate Bridge and similar
to San Francisco the fog rolls up below the bridge and at times covers
the bridge. It was an interesting site to see in Europe. The center city
was full of charm, lovely architecture with elaborate railings, cafes,
and a feeling of vibrancy without too much hustle bustle of the big city.
Tangier
We first ventured out to the pier where the vendors were there to greet
us. We haggled over the price of some slippers and got a taste of the
ways of buying in Tangier.
Tangier is a poor city in a country where most of the population is poor
located on a dry and often barren landscape. Vendors are positioned to
approach all tourists and very aggressively pursue everyone to buy their
wares. This becomes exhausting as they are in just about every tourists
attraction in the city. There is stark contrast between the wealthy, with
their large homes and most of the populous who live in substandard
conditions. This makes for a very sobering contrasts to the relative
wealthy European countries visited. Even the poor sections of Lisbon
seemed wealthy in comparison to Tangiers and there were many visibly
disabled people in Tangier's streets.
Malaga
A nice place to spend time. Some of the architecture had character. A
very nice tree lined main street. Felt clean and safe. Nice resort area
and beach near where the ship docks.Grenada is accessible from Malaga.
Nice/Eze/Monaco/Monte Carlo
As mentioned earlier we did these as part of a shore excursion full day
tour. Pretty exhausting especially Monaco and Monte Carlo which were
flooded with tourists. Monaco has spectacular views, Monte Carlo is a
playground for the ultra rich which we found unappealing. Nice is nice,
an attractive city with a village feel to it, a nice open market, and not
overly congested (at least not at the time we visited it). Eze is a small
stone village with quaint shops at high elevation on a mountain.
Spectacular views and very much its own world.
Rome
Access trough Civitavecchia, a bit over 1 hour trip by train. We entered
Rome via rails. We were told to take bus number 64 to get to San Pietro,
so we took this bus. Along the way we got a sense of the magnificence,
detail and scale of Roman architecture, the hustle bustle nature of the
capital of Italy, the cosmopolitan nature of the city. San Pietro (Saint
Peters) is magnificently grand but we did not get inside. Outside the
Pope was giving his weekly public service with a few hundred onlookers.
We saw him in the distance. We went to the Vatican museum to see the
Sistine Chapel. We were not prepared for the maze-like series of spiral
staircases, up and down stairs, inside and outside and various passages
that eventually, and I mean eventually, lead to the Sistine Chapel. It's
all worth it but is not extremely practical with the limited hours at
port for Rome. Magnificence, utterly fine workmanship, amazing sculpture
and paintings, all well taken care of, are everywhere. Opulence and
grandeur. These words also describe the Victor Emmanuel Monument of 1885
and the Traversi Fountain of Rome. The piazzas are wonderful. Massive,
large, grand, this is one architecturally impressive city and such a
significant historical area. Rome is in many ways a huge museum and keeps
a perspective, in its sculptures especially, of some of the cruelty and
conditions of her time as capital of the world's greatest empire. Current
Rome is as impressive as Paris but in different ways but both are, in
many ways, large Cosmopolitan cities in their human makeup.
Florence
Access trough Livorno, about a 1 1/2 hour trip by train.
Since we were exhausted and this was the last port call we really did not
see too much of Florence. It was very much packed with tourists and lines
to get into some of the major attractions, such as Duomo di Firenze
(Cathedral of Florence), were extremely long. This is one of the biggest
centers of art in the world and really, a few hours in this city, just
are not enough. My mother-in-law returned to Florence to see some of the
magnificent art in this city.
We saw from without the Duomo, the Gates of Paradise doors located near
the Cathedral, the Ponte Vecchio bridge which had many small buildings on
the bridge and was full of jewelry stores. That's about it. This is a
great port and the Century does not spend enough time here.
Embarkation port: Amsterdam is a lively, cosmopolitan city with fine
architecture. It's not overly clean or dirty, has a fair amount of
graffiti, hustle-bustle, has loads of character, most people seemed to
speak English. We went into the Old town and the huge red light district.
There is a certain commercial level to this city. This seems like a very
interesting and in areas attractive city to spend time.
Disembarkation port: We flew out of Genoa the next day and spent one
night in a hotel located near the train station. We did not find this
part of Genoa compelling and we were too tired to venture out to really
explore Genoa. Seems like it may offer some very nice views, seemed
hilly, and some areas the architecture seemed interesting.
Perhaps this Century itinerary is overly ambitious. I think Paris
warrants more time as does Rome and Florence. Vigo is absolutely
unnecessary, Tangier should be included as a huge contrast to European
ports. Malaga could be dropped also in favor of more time at Paris, Rome
and Florence. These cities should be seen at night. However, Paris, Rome
and Florence are all 1 hour to 2 hours away by rail from the port cities.
Is this too tiring to travel by train for some of the more elderly
passengers? Could Celebrity work out some sort of deal with either the
train lines or buses that could shuttle passengers back and forth? Do
they worry about the safety of passengers at night in these cities? I
think not because Celebrity stays overnight in St. Petersburg, Russia, on
another itinerary and crime at this time would be higher in this city
than Paris or Rome. Florence is problematic due to the amount of tourists
visiting the city, crowding and long lines. Those on the cruise have a
limited time and waiting in line for 40 minutes to an hour just to get to
the admission door of a cathedral or museum cuts down drastically on time
that can be spent in the city.
Sea day distribution is not ideal in this direction. Sea days are the 1st
full day, 4th, and 9th of this 12 full day 13 night cruise. The last
three days were exhausting and there was no sea day between the port of
Florence and disembarkation in Genoa. In the opposite direction the sea
days occur on the 1st, 4th and 10th full days of the cruise. There are
two heavy ports in a row before disembarkation instead of three which is
a bit easier.
Overall I found that this port intensive cruise was a lot to digest.
Along with dealing with the different money and languages there is so
much to absorb. History, magnificent architecture of varying types,
cathedrals and museums, wonderful bridges and a feeling that one has to
see as much as possible in great cities such as Paris, Rome and Florence
and also see much of Lisbon. Some people commented after this itinerary
that they need a vacation from this vacation. My mind still has so many
sights, sounds, and tastes of various countries racing through my memory
in a rather disjointed manner.
We took 28 roles of pictures, 10 rolls of 36 exposures and 18 rolls of 24
exposures. Also some video of Brugges and Ghent, Paris, and going into
each port. This was a concentrated, rich itinerary.
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