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Name: Stan Myatt
Email: Blueboro@aol.com
Age: 45
Occupation: Sales/Marketing
NumberOfCruises: 6
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Celebrity-Century
SailingDate: 5/30/98
Itinerary: Western Caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 96
CruiseDirector: 85
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 98
FoodLidoDeck: 92
DiningRoomService: 98
CabinQuietness: 90
FoodMidnightBuffets: 88
CabinSteward: 93
ShoreExcVariety: 85
FoodVariety: 93
DeckService:
ShoreExcValue: 70
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 95
LoungeService: 91
TenderService: 70
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 92
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 91
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 88
CruiseActivities: 88
Casino:
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 99
EmbarkDisembark: 99
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 95
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 96
OverallCruiseValue: 96
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 13 Jun 1998
Time: 17:11:23
Remote Name: 152.163.195.242
Remote User:
Comments
This was the sixth cruise for my wife and I and the second for my two teenage sons. Last
summer we were on the Dolphin Seabreeze (now Premier) and
in the fall we took a 3 day cruise on the Sovereign of the Seas (RCCL). Prior to these, my
wife and I had been on Carnival's Fantasy in 1991, the Norway
in 1980 and Carnival's Festivale in 1978.
Obviously, cruising has changed a lot since our first cruise in 1978. But I must say that
the Celebrity Century was everything we had hoped for.
Embarkation/Debarkation: The best we have ever experienced. We arrived around noon,
received an embarkation number of 4. They begin boarding at
1:00. We were on the ship by 1:20. Debarkation was also a breeze. We had number 7, found a
place in the card room to sit and play cards and were off
the ship by 9:30.
The Ship: The Century is an elegant ship with beautiful wood and brass almost everywhere
you look. And, it is kept immaculate. It is by far the cleanest
ship we have sailed on. Staff is constantly cleaning and polishing.
The Grand Restaurant is beautiful and most all tables have a view of the sea. On formal
nights they have shades that cover the windows with nice artwork
that make it seem even more elegant. There was only one jerk who complained about the
shade blocking his view of the sea and began cursing and
asking the waiter to raise the shades. When they did not, he tried to physically tear them
down. The next evening and for the rest of cruise he found
himself in the center part of the restaurant alone at a table with NO view. Serves him
right. Apparently his was known by Celebrity to be a troublemaker
from problems he had caused on other Celebrity ships.
All of the lounges are beautifully appointed and comfortable. The only complaint we had
was that the Photo Gallery was too small for this size ship and
when photos were on exihibit, it was almost impassable. The Cinema / Conference Center was
better for meetings than for movies. The screen was fairly
small and seats too close together.
Images, the Sports bar, was crowded on several nights due to the NBA playoffs. They had
several Sony Playstation games built in to 4 table tops. These
was a great idea even though two of them were broken throughout the cruise.
The Hemisphere doubles as a disco. It also has 8 to 10 telescopes around the outside
windows, several of which don't seem to work very well. They used
this room for the Captains Welcome Aborad party. Unlike other ships, the Captain here
simply mingled and did not greet everyone at the door.
The Celebrity Theatre does not have a bad seat in the house. It seems to fill up quickly
for the shows. We enjoyed the upper level for the shows.
The Islands Cafe is for informal breakfasts, lunches and teas and is the best set up we
have seen compared to other ships. There are normally 4 lines
serving food and lines are non-existent. Waiters even usually carry your tray and you can
select the table you wish to be seated at.
I just wish that these new ships had a full circle promendade deck like the older ships.
Century, like most new ships, does not.
We did not use the Aqua-Spa.
Cabin: Our cabin was on Vista Deck, category 4. It was shared by 4 people but there was
plenty of storage space. Two closets, several shelves and
drawers, a safe behind the mirror. It was extremely well laid out and fairly comfortable
except for when everyone was trying to get dressed at the same
time. Storage space was also in the bathroom.
Food: This was probably the best food we have had on a cruise ship. Dinners were very good
with good selections and the food was always served at
the proper temperature. The beef was cooked to order and I found if you ordered medium
rare, you got medium rare. The filet they served one evening
was one of the best I have had anywhere. We were fortunate to share our dinners with a
family from South Carolina who made the dinners very
enjoyable.
The food in the Islands Cafe was good but sometimes seemed almost too nice for an informal
restaurant. They also served hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta
and a selection of the day at the outside grill.
Breakfast in the Islands was everything you could want. We did eat in the Grand Restaurant
two times for breakfast and, other than Eggs Benedict, the
menu was almost the same. Lunch in the Grand Restaurant was very good the only time we ate
there. The buffet lunch in Islands serves similar food as
the Grand but obviously is presented much more elegantly in the Grand. Be sure to try the
ice cream in Islands. It is made on board and is delicious. The
soft serve yogurt in the afternoon is also very good.
We really enjoyed the Afternoon teas with finger sandwiches and desserts. Unlike other
cruises, Celebrity has full size pies and cakes at all buffets rather
than just pre-cut slices.
We went to most all of the Midnight Buffets and the food was good but nothing special.
They, like other cruise lines, seem to put more emphasis on
presentation rather than the food itself. The food at the Grand Buffet was good and was
beautifully presented and this was one of the only lines we saw
all week.
Service: Our waiter (Ronald from Croatia) and busboy ( Andre from South Africa) were
excellent. We mentioned on the first evening to Andre that we
wanted iced tea and he always brought it without having to ask from that time on. He did
the same with coffee after dinner. I have been on other cruises
where you constantly have to ask for tea or coffee. Not here. Both Ronald and Andre were
new to the ship but you would have never known it. We
thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. Ronald even brought a table mate and me prime rib
after we had both had lobster during one dinner.
Our Cabin Steward was Joe from India. He was efficient and the cabin was always cleaned
after we left. We did not see him as often as stewards on other
lines. It seems that much of Celebrity's staff wants to be as unobtrusive as possible.
Entertainment: What we saw was very good. The Celebrity Singers and Dancers did a good job
and the show with broadway tunes was excellent. They
had a comedy juggling act (On the Edge), a singer (Holly Lipton) and a comedian (Noodles
Levinstein) who were all good. Mirage, a band that played at
the pool and in lounges, was good. And the duo in the Rendez-Vous Lounge (Class Duo) were
very relaxing to listen to. David Cole, the Cruise Director,
did not seem to be around as often as cruise directors on other ships but with a ship this
size he can't be everywhere. He, like other staff, again seemed
to be unobtrusive which can be refreshing.
Activities: They seemed to have less than other lines. There was no horse racing, which we
have enjoyed on other lines. We would have liked to tour the
bridge or galley but it was not offered other than a video on your cabin TV. It also
seemed that only the disco had anything going on after 11:30 or
midnight. If you want all night parties, which we did not, this is not the ship for you.
Celebrity seems to take a more laid back approach to cruising.
Be aware that there are NO announcements other than safety or debarkation announcements.
We found this to be nice.
Shore Excursions: I thought they were overpriced. We walked to town in Ocho Rios and, as
expected, got a lot of unwanted attention from cab drivers. At
Grand Cayman, the ship anchors off shore. We took a mini-city tour with a visit to the
turtle farm and Seven Mile Beach. It was okay with the beach being
the highlight. They used Lifeboats as tenders and they were very hot and uncomfortable. At
Cozumel, we boarded a tender to Play-del-Carmen for the
Tulum tour. The tender was terrible. We were stuck in a lower seating area with only a few
very small portholes and temperatures that could make you
sick. The tour was good but be prepared for most of it being travel time with only
slightly over 1 hour at the ruins.
Miscellaneous: We were impressed with the way the ship arrived and departed ports at the
specified times. You could set you watch by it. I have never
been on a cruise that, when scheduled to leave at 4:30, actually left at 4:30. We did.
And, we left ports at the exact scheduled time. If only airlines could
do as well.
Overall: I would highly recommend this ship and cruise line to anyone. It is such a
beautiful ship. It is over 70,000 GRT's but has probably 300 less
passengers than the similar sized Sovereign or Carnival ships. We look forward to our next
Celebrity cruise.
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