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Name: Bruce Helenbart
Email: helenb@vss.fsi.com
Age: 44
Occupation: Staff Engineer
NumberOfCruises: 2
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Celebrity-Century
SailingDate: 10 Jan 98
Itinerary: Western Caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 98
CruiseDirector: 75
CabinComfort: 85
FoodRoomService: 95
CruiseStaff: 75
CabinAmenities: 100
FoodLidoDeck: 98
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 92
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 85
FoodVariety: 100
DeckService: 88
ShoreExcValue: 80
GoodForHoneymoon: 85
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 75
TenderService: 70
GoodForSeniors: 85
BeautySalonStaff: 75
EntertainmentLounges: 85
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 90
EntertShowLounge: 99
OverallPortsofCall: 98
BeautySalon: 55
EntertainmentPoolside: 90
CruiseActivities: 75
Casino: 72
AirSeaProgram: 70
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 99
EmbarkDisembark: 80
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 95
ShopsOnBoard: 72
SpaceRatio: 80
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 23 Jan 1998
Time: 13:04:59
Remote Name: 199.217.137.143
Remote User:
Comments
First the worst of it: Anyone booking a cruise with Celebrity (and possibly Royal
Caribbean) should expect trouble receiving
documentation from them. My Travel Agent had to call Celebrity for our package. Everything
was done down to the plane
seat assignments except for sending out the documents. When my TA kept hearing "It
was sent out today," and she didn't
receive it the next day on each of 3 occasions (the week before our sail date) I got on
the line and asked for the clerk's
supervisor. When told she wasn't available, I asked for her boss's boss. The owner of the
agency even tried to reach the
President of Celebrity, whom she knows personally. She writes the Cruise Agents'
newsletter so I would be one to listen to
her if I was in the business. He was out. She was sailing on the Galaxy the next morning.
I told my agent if I didn't get the
documents the Monday before we sailed, I wanted a refund (this was beyond simple mistake,
we were lied to. We even
heard from one of the many Celebrity employees we spoke with, "Don't let them tell
you it'll go on the UPS truck today. I
know the truck has already left." We caught them in this lie and "The check is
in the mail." to "What do you want me to do?"
We asked a FEW people on our cruise if they had problems. All said yes. The people at our
table were lucky to get them the
Wednesday before (UPS dropped the package on the porch without getting a signature). I
don't blame the overworked staff
at Celebrity. I blame the educated nitwits at the top who merged two companies with
incompatible computer systems. Since
they laid off the "redudant" salespeople, how long will it be for the overpaid
clowns downsize the rest to increase profits.
Downsize this cliche: Careful you don't throw out the baby with the bath water. The
cruiser wants to relax, not hazzle. And
"When you get on the ship, everything will be great." doesn't cut it with me.
The CEO, President and VP of Customer
Satisfaction will all get letters since I have their names and addresses from the WWW.
The good side: The Production shows exceeded my expectations. The "Headliners"
were average, but the Century singers
and dancers were excellent. I read about the dancer, Clint McClure, on these web pages. I
expect to see him make it big in
show business--he can fly. The cabin (8111) has an excellent design. It makes use of the
available space so much better
than Carnival's Fantasy class (which has slightly more square footage. Instead of a large
wedge shaped laminated storage
cabinet for life preservers, Century has a glass table for two, just right for room
service. The bathroom has chrome trimmed
glass shelves and effective cabinets where Carnival has dead space under the sink (for wet
towels? Cousin Eddy?). The
interactive TV is now a necessity for cruise ships. I ordered excursions and got up to the
minute detail charges to the room
by the TV. They turned off the excursion purchasing on last days for the last port of Key
West for their benefit.
I didn't rate
Guest Services too highly. You can easily tell who works for tips and who doesn't. I read
one review saying to skip the buffet
and eat in the dinin room and another which says to do the opposite. I thought the food in
quality and variety (and some
dining room entres, exceptionally large). Our waiter, Petor of Croatia and assistant,
Miguel of Peru, were very efficient and
entertaining. We entertained them and the staff on a slow breakfast day by handing them a
stack of your reviews. They
scrutinized each word. Our maitre d' came by every night (not just 1st formal and tip
night). On second formal, he made
crepe suzettes on a mobile stove for anyone wanting one. He got a large tip from us. The
Latin band in the dining room just
didn't sound right playing songs like "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" on their
ethnic instruments. "Spanish Eyes" or music
from _Evita_ would have fit better. We had excellent weather--lots of sun, clouds at times
which brought a nice cool breeze
for relief. The one night we tried to stay up for the Midnight Buffet, I fell asleep on
the deck with the nice warm breeze.
Could have slept there all night except for my wife prodding me for snoring.
Ocho Rios: We went for the walk and not have
the feeling that we missed something if we didn't go. We wouldn't have missed anything:
pushy taxi drivers and street
vendors, trash and the smell of pot. The gift shops are the same as the other islands. I
saw enough of fat tourists climbing
the Dunn River Falls on the excursion sales video on the ITV, so we didn't go there. I
can't get those ugly sights out of my
mind. I will spare you from further horror. Grand Cayman: You HAVE to go on the Stingray
City excursion. The "city" is a
sand bar about three feet deep far off the coast. The rays swim up the boat as it pulls
in. They swim up to you like pet dogs
might run up to their beloved owner. They feel so nice and smooth: short hair fur like on
top, wet human flesh on the
bottom. A great time, but expect to swallow a little sea water from a wave. There is
another tour that goes there without
interaction with the rays. But, you want to do this one unless your physically unable to
go in the water. I would expect that
someday, some ecologists will get this "unnatural" treatment of stingrays
prohibited. I never saw a more beautiful thing
than a baby stingray following its mother around us.
Cozumel: We took the $4 taxi to downtown and shopped (too long) on
the main street. No bargains here. The street vendors are a little pushy. The ship warns
you that the silver they sell is fake
and to buy in the established shops. Mailed some postcards to USA: $0.50USD per stamp.
This was the same price as
Jamaica (and the cards have not arrived yet after nearly 2 weeks.) Didn't mail any from
the Islands so I don't know this
tidbit price info.
Grand Cayman is the prettiest island, but also the most expensive looking from all the
banking that's moved
there. We were fortunate to dock at the pier. More common is tender service by the port
(our waiter said it was slow).
Cayman is all tender service by your ship's life boat. The advice given by Animal in the
movie _Stalag 17_ should be taken:
You don't want to be the first in the trenches during an air raid. Everyone else piles on
top of ya. It's not that bad, but it get
hot in the nearly enclosed boat meant to keep water out in high seas. Tip: At the end of
South Terminal Pier is a lounge
with a beach and swim area. My wife wanted to swim and lie on the beach and I didn't want
to taxi to the opposite end of
the island from downtown after shopping. This little area fit well for hanging out for
less than the hour we were there.
Key
West: For us, the cost of flying direct or driving 4 hours from Miami and the cost of
expensive ($230/night for Holiday Inn
Concha Hotel) lodging, stopping here by our floating hotel is the only way for us. Duty
free ain't here. A tip from our conch
tour guide ($16pp for ~1 hour) which we took: Go to the Concha Hotel. At the top they have
an observation deck and can
see the entire key and get a great view of the Century. We went to Jimmy Buffet's
Margaritaville for a "light" lunch. My wife
got a platter of chile/cheese-fries enough for a family of four. I had a cheeseburger from
paradise. Tip: The tour tram
cannot stop. If you want a photo of the Southernmost point in the Continental USA or
anything else, be prepared for only
slowing down unless you hit a red light. Another photo spot for tourists is standing under
the sign "US 1 END"
My wife had a
better experience in the spa than I. We both both got a combo for mini facial and massage.
Mine was micro (I asked for no
sales pitch for (high comission) cosmetics, my wife bought a moisturizer). Half of my time
was waiting for my wife to come
out. The Spa costs you $10pp/day unless you buy a spa (NOT beauty parlor) treatment. I
found out that I don't understand
English accents as well as Eastern European. I thought I was getting $20/$20
manicure/pedicure with free use of the spa. I
got a $20/$35 bill, request for gratuity and no use of the spa that day. There IS a $20/20
package done by the spa. Be
careful, they keep the reservation book at the spa. If you're male and don't like the
gossip of the beauty parlor.... The gym
is good. It has a large aerobic area and many treadmills. I used the Nautilus equipment 3
days and exercise bike 4 days.
Some foam grips are worn completely off and need replacement. I couldn't figure out the
computer bikes: I could downshift
but not shift up on each identical machine (4). So, I stayed in 3rd gear. Lost 3-4 pounds
on this cruise.
Suggestions to
Celebrity: The very large lounges (Crystal Room, Rendevous) were not used much. The little
space for shops, especially the
"Every watch $40 or $60 and Chain by the Inch" area is way too small. The
selection of liquor and cigarettes is very small
(but as good as any price ashore. Tip: you should get 10% off anything coupon with your
tickets--use it.) Unlike Carnival,
Celebrity won't let you buy liquor for your room. Both try to stop alcohol from being
brought on board. Resign yourself to
$2.95 minimum for a beer or drink (drink special) plus 15% auto tip. Soda is $1.25 (I
think). There's never any searching
for a server to buy a drink. I rented the tuxedo for $75 (2 shirts, cufflinks and
cummerbund and all). The Room Steward
(Karina) brings it to the room and collects it for you (she got it all before I even
gathered it up and put it back into garment
bag. One expensive suit not to lose or wrinkle and the outfitter has my 48L, 19" neck
and 34" inseam sizes and way beyond.
Embarkation was not bad. We had a little wait in a large area and went in by number they
hand you (air conditioned and
not one long line).
Disembarkation is in the same building and is still a pain gathering up your luggage
and getting a porter
and leading him to your pile. They will not come to you and if you mistakenly go out the
building a security man with a
megaphone telling you not to will shoot you if you try to re-enter. Your luggage gets
dumped near the bus/truck to your
airport/airline and you wait to check in like at the curb at an airport. At least
Celebrity have a roof from the sun and rain
UNLIKE Carnival in San Juan (you inch forward in muddy puddles). We had a lousy return
schedule. Instead of flying back
from Fort Lauderdale, we were bussed to West Palm Beach (~45 minutes) and had to wait for
our flight for 3 hours. So
much for booking this trip 10 months in advance. FYI the $359 RT air pp cost them at most
$305 according my TWA
Frequent Flyer Account I checked back home. No bid deal except I'd rather have the extra
$100 for us than them (or would
have been worth it for an earlier flight from FLL (which there is per TWA web site)). Had
a great time. No lost luggage. No
injury or sickness. Paid $899 pp for cruise $2952 total incl. air, port, ins. Would we
cruise Celebrity again? We'll wait and
look for reviews on this site and others. I still will write Richard Fain, CEO, Rick
Sasso, President, and Manfred Ursprunger,
VP, Total Guest Satisfaction on YOUR behalf.
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