celebrity-centurysm081598

Name: Steve McDermott
Email: smcdermott@tidalwave.net
Age: 44
Occupation: Agricultural Marketing Analyst
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Celebrity-Century
SailingDate: 8/15/98
Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 90
CruiseDirector: 95
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 95
CabinAmenities: 90
FoodLidoDeck: 90
DiningRoomService: 100
CabinQuietness: 95
FoodMidnightBuffets: 95
CabinSteward: 90
ShoreExcVariety:
FoodVariety: 95
DeckService:
ShoreExcValue:
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff: 95
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 100
LoungeService: 90
TenderService: 95
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 85
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 95
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 90
CruiseActivities: 100
Casino: 95
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities: 95
ShipCleanliness: 90
EmbarkDisembark: 75
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 85
ShopsOnBoard: 85
SpaceRatio: 95
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 26 Aug 1998
Time: 12:33:37
Remote Name: 199.129.174.67
Remote User:

Comments

I will start the comment section with a brief biography of myself so you may obtain a better feel of my viewpoints on cruising the Century. I have been with
the U.S. Department of Agriculture for 21 years working specifically in the areas of food safety and quality involving meat and poultry products. My
cruising partners were my wife, who is a middle school teacher, and my son and daughter who are 17 and 14, respectively. Except for my wife, this was
our first cruise. We are a close family that vacation together a lot.

I will proceed with my comments by categories. I thought this would be the best method to provide information to future cruisers. However, let me first
begin by thanking Celebrity Cruise Lines and the hard working staff of the Century for an enjoyable experience. As my daughter stated, ‘it was the best
vacation she has ever taken.’ I also want to thank this web site (cruise review) for playing a major role in the selection process of our cruise.

FOOD: I’ll start with this category since most people who cruise always talk about the abundance of food on a cruise. The Century was no exception. I
encourage all people who plan to cruise to spend the prior week before cruising at your local Bonanza or Ponderosa restaurants to get in shape for the
amount of food you will intake on a 7-day cruise. I make this comment about Bonanza and Ponderosa strictly for the relationship in quantity of food and
not for quality. The quality of the food on the Century, for the most part, was outstanding. I have eaten at several up-class restaurants in the Washington,
DC area as well in the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston and the presentation, service, and quality of food on the Century was
equally as good or better. The presentation and service for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and mid-night buffets were always outstanding. The quality of the
food was superb with some exceptions.

Breakfast. You have the option to eat breakfast in the main dining room and be waited on, in the Islands Café where there is a buffet of unlimited choices,
or by the poolside for a continental style of eatery. We always ate at the Island Café because of the options. There was always an abundance of fruit for
the weight watchers or loads of pancakes, French toast, omelets, assortment of meat and Danish for those who cared less about gaining weight.
Breakfast was from 6:30 am to 11:00 am. The quality of all food choices was great. Beverages included coffee, tea, milk, orange juice, and grapefruit
juice.

Lunch. Again, you had the same options as to where you wanted to eat lunch. And again, we ate lunch at the Island Café because of the choices. Well,
to be honest, we ate at the poolside too because of the hot dogs, hamburgers, and French fries that were always offered. My 17 year old son is a
hamburger fanatic and I stood in line with him to keep him company—plus to eat a few hamburgers. The hamburgers were usually burnt on the outside
but the inside was not always cooked thorough enough. This makes be believe that they were frozen when placed on the grill. Of the four hamburgers I
ate while on the cruise, two of them still were pink on the inside. My son’s were about the same. I strongly recommend that hamburgers be thoroughly
cooked when eaten (that is the USDA inside of me). The hotdogs were the quarter-pounder ones and although I did not eat any my daughter said they
were good.

The lunches at the Island Café were outstanding. Presentation and service were always great and the quality and choices of food were excellent. My only
negative comment was that some of the food offered appeared to be left overs from the previous night’s dinner or mid-night buffet. Beverages were
coffee, tea, milk, lemonade, and fruit punch. Of course, alcoholic beverages were always available at an extra charge.

Dinner. Your only option for dinner was the main dinning room. Unless you wanted room service, which was available 24 hours a day. Even if you feel
sick, or just want to be alone in your room, make it to the dining room for dinner. We had the early seating (6:00 pm) and were glad we made the choice.
This allowed you to see the early shows and be hungrier for the mid-night buffet. The downfall of early seating is that you had to be back on the ship by
5:15-5:30 to get ready for dinner. This wasn’t a problem for us. The service we had while dinning was magnificent. This was all attributed to our waiter,
Sjeito, and our bus boy, Darius. The two gentlemen were outstanding and really made our vacation an added pleasure. Sjeito was from Croatia and in
fact about 90 percent of the 900-crew staff were from outside the United States. I guess this is true for most cruise ships as the foreign flavor adds to the
cruising experience. All dinners were 5-course meals; appetizer, soup, salad, entrée, and desert. Each night there were different options, but in most
cases you could choose from a beef, fish, or poultry entrée. If you were a vegetarian, the Century provided you with options as well. My only negative
comment about the dinner cuisine was that the beef items (mainly the sirloin steaks and strip loins) were tough and very little flavor. Even though the
menu states that the beef they served were USDA Prime and Choice cuts, I would have to question that. Lobster tails were offered one night and they
were a little tough. Also, some had a strong ammonia smell, which indicates that the lobster tails were not in excellent condition. Otherwise, the quality
was superb and the quantity was more than you needed. The dinning room was gorgeous and we were fortunate to have a table next to one of the
many windows. If the sun was too bright or the water too rough, they had automatic and colorful shades that would come down.

Mid-Night Buffet. We bellied up for more food at the mid-night buffets. The presentation was outstanding, but the quality was so-so. Again, it appeared
that food offered was left overs from previous meals, just rearranged in a different way. Nonetheless, it was all good eating and I never heard anyone
complain about it. The mid-night buffets usually had a theme to them, e.g., Chinese, Tex-Mex, etc. The one mid-night buffet you do not want to miss is the
night of the farewell dinner where they present exquisite ice carvings as well as fruit and cheese carvings. Just beautiful.

Pool Side. Pizza and more pizza. From lunchtime to dinnertime you have the option to eat all the pizza you want. The quality is not bad.

Room Service. We never did use this service but understand that it is available 24 hours a day and you get about anything you want. They really try to
please their guests.

One more comment: After lunch they shut down the drink machines and the only drinks that are available without cost are coffee and tea. If you are
hooked on soft drinks, bring them with you as they cost $2 each. Also, if you want a cup of coffee while you are sitting and watching a show, get a cup
from the Island Café and bring it with you, otherwise they charge you $2.

CABIN (STATE ROOM): Our cabin number was 4011. The décor of the room was very nice, however, one bed spread was noticeably worn. There was
ample room for the four of us. We had two twin-size lower and upper beds. There was more than enough storage space and the bathroom was quite
nice. Having lots of hot water for showers were never a problem. Water pressure was great. Each cabin had a 19” color TV, safe, wet bar, and desk with
two chairs. The only complaint would be not enough electric outlets. In fact, I only saw one over the desk. None in the bathroom. They had a blow dryer in
the bathroom, but it would hardly put out enough heat or air to dry one’s hair. I recommend that you bring your own. The room was always kept clean.
Whenever you would leave for some lengthy amount of time, the cabin steward would refill our ice bucket and water pitcher and give you clean towels.
They would finish the night off by pulling down your bedspread and leaving a piece of chocolate on your pillow. The pillows were bulky and hard. So if you
are use to sleeping on a soft pillow, bring it. My wife and children did.

SHIP ACTIVITIES: You could do anything from playing the slots or Blackjack to shuffle board or basketball to watching a movie at the theater or reading a
book in the library to just sit on the deck and catch the rays. There were more things to do for all age groups they you can imagine. They had daily
programs for the little ones, the teenagers, and the adults. There were three small swimming pools and a few hot tubs. There was plenty of deck space to
lounge around. If you want a spot next to the pool, get there early in the morning. The Century does have a nice Spa, but it does cost. I believe it was
$10 per hour. They have an exercise room with attendants and exercise programs. The casino was gorgeous and I did manage to leave there $30
dollars ahead. My son and I joined a Ping-Pong doubles tournament. Did not win but did ok. Bingo was available every day and a lot of people seemed to
enjoy playing. I could go on and on, but believe me when I say there is more to do then you have time. Even when the ship is in port, the ship activities
continue.

The ship’s gift stores are very nice, but a little pricey. They run specials so there are some good buys. They do have an on-board liquor store. However, if
you plan to buy a lot of booze, you do better in one of the ports. The shows were fantastic. They are very similar to what you would find at Las Vegas. The
Celebrity singers and dancers were very, very good and with the right break could make a name for themselves. The visiting acts were also good. No big
names, but the talent was outstanding. I recommend that you do not miss the shows. The musical groups on other parts of the ships were fair to good.
The band by the pool was enjoyable. The couple that played and sang in the lounge were ok. The sock-hop dancing and disco dancing were fun and the
band played various types of tunes very well. They had a sports bar that showed continuous ESPN. For the sports fanatic as myself, I made several stops
to keep up on the scores.

PORTS: Our first stop was San Juan. We arrived about 4:30 pm and looked around town for about 1 hour before we had to get back to the ship for
dinner. After dinner, we went back to town and visited the various shops. If you are interested in buying jewelry (gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, etc.)
the prices are fantastic. Same thing for liquor. We were not in the market for either, so we basically did window shopping. The ship left at 12:00 midnight,
so we didn’t have enough time to explore San Juan. I recommend that you keep with the crowds and not wonder off by yourself.

Our next stop was St. Thomas. We were off the ship by 8:30 am and headed for Coki Beach. Our top priority on this trip was to snorkel. Several areas
were recommended and Coki Beach was one of them. The beach wasn’t that great but the water was beautiful and crystal clear. We all enjoyed swimming
with and seeing the various types of fish. We did see some barracuda but as long as you leave them alone they will do the same. A jellyfish did sting my
wife so we had to cut this snorkeling trip short. A few others were stung also. Some of the cruise passengers went to St. John for snorkeling and said
those beaches and water was also beautiful. We did not take any excursions from the ship at any of the ports and glad we didn’t. We did the same thing
on our own at half the cost. There were local people at each port who gave you the same trips at a lesser cost. Thus, I recommend that you skip the
excursions unless you feel unsafe by going out on your own. A safety problem was never an issue with us. We did some more window shopping and
enjoyed walking through the various stores.

Our third stop was St. Marten. Again, our priority was snorkeling. We went to Little Bay and Little Beach. It was about 20-minute walk from the ship. The
water was clearer than St. Thomas, so if we ever decide to fly back to one of the islands we visited on this trip it would be St. Marten. The snorkeling
equipment (mask, fins, and mouthpiece) was $10 here all day and $15 in St. Thomas. You can usually rent snorkeling equipment at the location where
you plan to swim. If you plan to do a lot of snorkeling, then I suggest you buy your own equipment (about $45). We did not visit the French side of the
island and wish we took time out to do such. The shops were very similar to what we saw at San Juan and St. Thomas. The people here were quite
aggressive and wanting to sell you a time-share. All of the tourist information booths were time-share companies.

Our final stop was Nassau. We only had a short time here so we did some sight seeing instead of snorkeling. We walked to an old water tower, about 15
minutes from the ship that is now used as a sight-seeing facility. On top you can see most of Nassau. A lot of people from the ship visited Paradise Island
to visit the underwater aquarium and do some gambling. Be careful in Nassau as we just found out that two tourists who have been missing for several
weeks were found dead. Not sure if this is a continuous problem in the Bahamas. The prices at the shops here were not as good as the other ports. So if
you plan to buy some jewelry do so earlier on the cruise.

I could go on and on about the Century and our cruising experience but won’t bore you. Overall, the Century was one beautiful ship and they treat their
customers very well. Without a doubt, we will cruise with Celebrity again, but to a different location.

They could improve in some areas, e.g., embarkation, debarkation, and some food items. At embarkation, we arrived at the port at 2:00 pm and
unloaded the car. We obtain an embarkation number, as did the other 2,000 passengers. However, by the time we took the car to the garage and
returned to the port (2:30 pm), most of the passengers had gotten on the ship. On debarkation after the cruise, we had to be out of our room by 8:00
am but did not get off the boat until 9:15 am. The ship had to clear customs and that seemed to be the problem for the delay. Ship personnel requested
that passengers stay in an area other then on the deck of debarkation. Of course with 2,000 people ready to get off, bodies were everywhere including
the deck of debarkation, of which there was only one exit off the ship. Celebrity needs to improve this area of the cruise.

Also, be advised that if you purchase a drink they automatically add on a gratuity. They don’t tell you that and the slip you sign has a space for indicating
a tip. So we always added a gratuity and found out at the end of the cruise that they automatically added a 15% tip.

E-mail me if you would like further information.

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