Celebrity Century
Eastern Caribbean
-- San Juan, St.
Thomas, St. Maarten, Nassau
April 19, 2003
by Anne Goyer
Let me start by saying that we LOVE
cruising! And I’d be back on board today if it were possible. There
is just something about stepping on board a cruise ship that takes me
away from everyday living. How fortunate we are to be able to enjoy
such luxuries.
We switched ships (and cruise lines)
the week before our final payment was due. We were originally booked
on HAL’s newest ship, Zuiderdam. After reading about some of the
persistent challenges facing Zuiderdam in it’s first couple of
months of cruising, we decided we just didn’t want to deal with new
build hassles and switched back to Celebrity (this being our fourth
Celebrity cruise in the past 18 months). In retrospect, we made the
right move.
Our regular routine is to travel to
our departure city at least a day early. Our 16-year-old daughter
began Spring Break on Thursday, April 17 so we actually traveled to
Ft. Lauderdale two days early. We choose to stay at a funky little
hotel on Ft. Lauderdale beach called TropiRock. I found it several
years ago when we took a group of 25 on a cruise. It’s inexpensive,
clean and fun (looks like the Flintstones lived here) and the owner is
a gem! Makes us come back again and again. We rent a car (all the
major rental companies provide transportation to and from Port
Everglades) so that we can enjoy Ft. Lauderdale and then get to the
ship early on departure day. (FYI – three good restaurant
recommendations in Ft. Lauderdale – Il Mulino – Italian – and
Canyon – Southwestern are both located on Sunrise; and Mango’s –
Caribbean and Seafood -- on Las Olas. All outstanding and a quick cab
ride (if you don’t have a car) from any of the standard port hotels
(Embassy, AmeriSuites, Hyatt Pier 66 or Marriott Marina).
I love to wake up on embarkation
morning and walk up to the rooftop of TropiRock where I can see the
ships docked in the distance. Andy (my husband) runs up to the little
European café for breakfast goodies and juice that we enjoy on the
rooftop before we pack the car and head for the port. We departed the
hotel around 10:30 AM; arrived at the car rental return 10 minutes
later and were on board a shuttle to the port within 15 minutes. We
arrived just after 11:00 AM. Passengers had begun to trickle into the
terminal. We stopped and asked about Captain's Club/Suite check in (we
are a Captain's Club member and for the first time are in a Sky Suite). We
were escorted into an "inner" holding room (for lack of a
better description) where 50 or so passengers were already seated. By
11:30, they opened the doors to registration desks and they let us in
one row of seats at a time. We spent approximately 5 minutes in line,
received our keys and were on our way up the ramp to Century. It’s
the best feeling.
We always keep one roll aboard with
us. It has swimsuits, dop kits, pajamas, and casual clothing for
dinner the first evening just in case luggage doesn’t arrive in time
for dinner. I also carry on a small bag that has my camera, film,
book, CD player and CDs, suntan lotion and jewelry with me. If nothing
else shows up for the rest of the cruise, I can survive (they do sell
nice clothing in the gift shop if needed and travel insurance kicks in
for missing luggage).
Celebrity asks that you do not occupy
your staterooms until 1:00 PM. We make our way to our hallway and find
our cabin attendant and introduce ourselves. We ask if it’s OK to
drop our carry-on luggage in the room and tell them we will not occupy
the room until after 1:00 PM. They are always friendly and glad to
have us drop our carry-ons off in the cabin. We were then off to
explore the ship. Amanda and I sailed on Century with my mom in
1998 but this was Andy’s first time on board. We have come to like
the smaller ships (80,000 tons and less). Andy was anxious to see
Century.
THE SHIP
When we boarded, we were not welcomed with Champagne like we were
on Millie in December (re-branding has not reached Century). Not a
problem for us. As we began to explore the ship, I looked far more
closely at the condition of the ship because of discussions on the
message boards. Overall, Century is in great shape. There are some
signs of wear and tear. The yellow love seat in our cabin, for example,
was in need of being reupholstered since it had some
pretty bad stains (why would you put a yellow love seat in a cabin???). The Plexiglas on the upper pool deck was pretty scratched up,
too. But I’m not sure if I would have noticed these things if I
weren’t looking so closely. The furniture in the Rendez-Vous Lounge
appeared to be brand new and the hallways and staircases were spotless
(you always saw crew vacuuming and using chrome cleaner in these areas
throughout the day).
We find Century to be more classical
in its décor. Lots of wood versus chrome, art not quite as off the
wall as the M-class ships. We also like the size of Century a lot. At
just over 70,000 tons, she's easy to find your way around and still
feels like a ship compared to the floating hotels that are the
mega-ships (over 100,000 tons).
OUR CABIN – Sky Suite, 1207
(Deck 12)
It was really strange having a cabin above the pool deck. There
are ten sky suites on either side of the ship up there. We were steps
from the pool deck and steps from the Islands Café (the buffet dining
room). The cabin itself was a good size. It was wider than your
average cabin but not as deep as you might expect. The bathroom (by
ship standards) was big, titled with beautiful gray marble and had a Jacuzzi
tub. There was more than enough storage between the closet, drawers,
various shelves and the bathroom. We had three people in the cabin and
never felt crowded.
The sky suites have wonderful
verandas (nearly as big as the main part of the cabin). We had two
padded lounge chairs, two additional padded chairs and a nice dining
table on the veranda. We spent more time out here than on a typical
cruise (more on that later) and loved every minute of it. Other than
8181 on Summit and our aft cabin on Vision of the Seas, this is the
best veranda we’ve had.
I have always found the beds on
Celebrity ships to be very comfortable and they have great comforters,
too. There were a variety of pillows in the room as well, so we were
all able to find a pillow we liked (we all have different preferences
in our family).
BUTLER & CABIN ATTENDANT
Suites come with a butler, something we’ve never had before.
Peter (the butler) and Andres (our cabin attendant) quickly introduced
themselves and provided great service all week long. They were both
very friendly and quick to respond to any requests. Our room was kept
neat and clean without intrusion. We’ve decided that we really
aren’t butler people, though. We enjoyed chatting with Peter and he
was more than happy to do anything you might ask. There just wasn’t
much we needed him to do for us. He did find us some cardboard and
tape to package a painting we purchased for a gift so that was very
nice. I’m sure others may have more requests than we did.
PUBLIC SPACES
The majority of Celebrity’s public space occupies decks 5, 6 and
7 along with decks 10 and 11. All of the lounges were very nice. I’d
have to say that most of our pre-dinner time (we had late seating) was
spent in Images (the Sports Bar) because our daughter is a hockey
fanatic. I will say we met some other nice hockey fanatics in Images
and the bar staff (Resie and Rado) was terrific!
I liked the Crystal Room (deck 7,
aft). It is divided up into several different areas including the
Martini Bar in the far rear corner. Also, the Crystal Room had the
biggest dance floor of the lounges on decks 6 & 7 (usually the
Rendez-Vous has the largest dance floor). This room was also used
throughout the day for a variety of activities – Bingo, Battle of
the Sexes (the women won for the week!!!!), Wine Tastings, etc. – in
addition to evening music.
Can anyone tell me the purpose of the
Sky Bar? This area at the back of deck 12 is used in the evening for
alternate dining. But during the day it’s an empty room (and not a
bar at all). It could be a great little spot as there are great views
of the ocean from here. I think we should all come up with some fun
ideas of what Celebrity can do with this space!
ENTERTAINMENT
Overall, the entertainment was pretty good. I think I made it to
every show (unusual) in the Celebrity Theater. The production shows
with the Celebrity singers and dancers were excellent. All four
featured singers had great voices and the dancers enthusiasm for their
work showed. Guest entertainers were good, too. The "Ladder
Guy" was extremely funny even though we saw him two years ago on
Mercury. Jack Walker, a singer and impressionist, had a great voice,
too. There was also a guest comedian (don’t recall his name) who was
funny, but he had a minor microphone problem and seemed to get very
annoyed. He refused to come out when the cruise director asked for a
round of applause for him and he refused to return to the stage again
at the end of the show when the cruise director introduced all the
entertainers. It was very odd.
Xtasea (pronounced Ecstasy) was the
pool band that also played in various lounges and at theme parties
during the evening. They were the best overall cruise ship band
we’ve ever had. They played a wide variety of music on the pool deck
(some pool bands play the same ten songs over and over again) and were
very versatile in playing jazz, 50’s & 60’s, swing, etc. at
night.
The remaining entertainment (piano
player and the duo in the Rendez-Vous) was not memorable. The string
quartet that played in the dining room played nice dinner background
music, mostly on formal nights. One of the best entertainers was a
passenger who sat down one morning and played original compositions
while we were having coffee in the Cova Café. Wish he had played
more. Oh, how could I forget? Elvis lives – he was on Century with
us last week. He dressed and acted like Elvis ALL DAY LONG (and night,
too). It was kind of scary (sorry if you are reading this, Elvis)!
FOOD
Dining Room
With the exception of one lunch, we only ate in the dining room
for dinner. We had late seating (8:30), table 608 on the starboard
side of the ship, aft (one table from the rear window). We were on the
upper floor of the dining room just above the Captain’s table. I
loved this dining room when we were on Century several years ago and
it’s still a beautiful room. It doesn’t have the long
entrance-type hallway with tables that the M-Class ships have so all
of the dining room tables are actually in the dining room (I know that
sounds strange but those of you who have been on both ships probably
understand what I mean).
Our waiter, Aslan and our assistant,
Andrej (Barbosa) were simply outstanding. They were a perfect pair. We
have always had exceptional service from crew members on Celebrity
ships. This cruise was no different. They were friendly, funny, and
made great food recommendations. Without exception, all of our evening
meals were very good to excellent. The filet mignon was as good or
better than a great land-based steakhouse. Even the vegetables were
very good each evening. Our only complaint with the dinner menus is
that they were exactly the same as the previous three cruises we’ve
taken on Celebrity in the last 18 months. They need some additional
menus and/or menu changes.
In addition to the food and great
service, we had a terrific table for ten. One family was cruising with
their two teenagers (15 and 18) and the other family was grandparents
sailing with their 16-year-old granddaughter. It was a great table for
our 16-year-old daughter and us. One more bonus was the table next to
us. It was a family of six with an 18-month-old toddler named Hallie!
She was a highlight every night. She was always happy and smiling,
eating crackers, fruit, veggies and dessert. She’d wave to us and
blow us kisses. Considering we had late dinner, she was the most well
behaved and pleasant younger child we’ve ever seen on a cruise ship.
Islands Café
We didn’t eat here very much. The lunch menus in the dining room and
the here in the buffet were very similar; actually too similar. Andy
would stop here early in the morning and bring coffee, Danish and
croissants back to our veranda for breakfast. I usually enjoy the
homemade omelets in the morning but I skipped them this cruise. We
never actually sat down to eat in here. We’d either eat in our cabin
on our veranda or on the aft deck outside behind the Islands Café.
I also found it odd (I told you I
notice strange things) the way the buffet lines flow. They run the
opposite of the way they do on the M-class ships. On Century, when you
are at the end of the buffet line, you are ultimately meeting up in
the middle with the line on the other side of the buffet. On the
M-class, the buffets both start in the middle and work their way away
from each other and out into the seating area. The problem on Century
is that they’ve created a crowd where the lines meet. Drink machines
are also in this area so it always seemed abnormally congested. I
couldn’t figure out what they didn’t flow the other way?
Pool Grill
There are actually two pool grills, one on either side of the pool
just outside the Islands Café. On the port side of the ship, you’ll
find hot dogs, hamburgers, fries and pizza. All items were typically
very good. Pizza isn’t served all the time, but it is served
throughout each afternoon from something like 2 – 6 PM.
On the opposite Grill (on the
starboard side of the ship) you’ll find a themed lunch option. We
found the lunches served here to be better than those served in the
Islands Café or the main dining room. One day was Italian (the
lasagna was excellent); another day Oriental; another BBQ. There was
also a sandwich and salad bar one day (very nice) and most important
for me, at the end of this grill you’ll find a pasta station where
they tossed different types of pasta with a variety of sauces. The
downside of this area is that they do not provide any type of signage
as to what’s available (like they do in the Islands Café) so it can
be difficult to see and tell what’s available if you are trying to
decide where you want to eat. In fact, I didn’t find the pasta
station until the third day. I was walking by and smelled the garlic
or I may have never found it. This station was operating regardless of
the theme of the day (on the day the theme was Oriental, they were
tossing Pad Thai at this station). Check this grill out. It had lots
of good options.
CREW
Celebrity’s ships are beautiful but it’s their crew that keeps
us coming back. I’m a firm believer that in giving a smile and a
thank you to a crew member goes a long, long way. These folks work a
ton of hours to please passengers. And they are such interesting
people too. It’s great to learn about their homelands and their
families. On Century, some of the outstanding crew members were:
Charlotte (from St. Lucia) who was a member of the Cruise Staff; Yuli
(from Indonesia) was a bar server who remembered our names from the
first drink she served us; Helen, the Guest Services manager who left
three messages in our cabin when I stopped to talk to her about the
pool issues (to come later); the gift shop staff member (we never even
got his name) who we started a friendly hockey rivalry with; Tadeja,
our wine sommelier who really knew here stuff; and of course the other
staff I’ve already mentioned.
On this cruise, we were very lucky to
re-connect with several very special crew members we met last year on
Summit. Our waiter, Roy, had just returned from vacation; and Vesna,
our all-time favorite bar server who has been promoted to a wine
sommelier. The friendships you build make your cruise great!
AQUA SPA
Great facility. Lots of equipment in the gym; plenty of classes
from aerobics to yoga to Pilates. Spa services such as massages are
quite expensive ($109 for a 50 minute massage) but the therapists are
great. I also love the T-pool inside the spa. I like it much better
that the T-pool area on the M-class ships (it’s really a second pool
on those ships). While Century’s T-pool is much smaller, it is also
much less utilized since there is an additional charge to use the
facilities unless you are in a suite. It’s truly a relaxing place
and I used it almost daily.
ATTIRE
Much is written about attire on board cruise ships. In this
section, I’ll just report on what people wore in general. Celebrity
now terms their evening attire as "required throughout the ship
after 6:00 PM." By and large, most guests were considerate of the
required dress codes. On formal nights, all of the ladies were dressed
in lovely dresses or gowns. I’d say the percentage of tuxes to suits
was 30% tuxes; 70% suits.
PORTS OF CALL
We have been to all of the ports on this cruise in the past so we
didn’t plan to do any shore excursions on this cruise. We were into
relaxing. Here’s what we did:
San Juan
Arrived around 4:00 PM in the afternoon. It was raining. Amanda
had one thing in mind… finding a sports bar that had the hockey game
on (the ship didn’t get all the games). A crew member recommended
the Hard Rock Café which was a short walk from the ship. The
bartender was very kind and turned the game on for us. We enjoyed
appetizers and drinks here and had great conversations with the
bartender. They were so kind, we’d go back. We were back on board
for our dinner at 8:30.
St. Thomas
We have a ritual of hopping in a cab, taking the Red Hook Ferry to
Cruz Bay, renting a car and spending the day at the beaches on St.
John. Everything went exactly as planned except the minute we stepped
off the ferry on St. John, it began to rain. It poured the rest of the
day. We’ve been fortunate to spend time here in the past so we
weren’t too disappointed. We still drove to the beaches and I took
some photos (made for some interesting, different shots in the rain)
and drove up to Chateau Bordeaux for lunch (their outdoor deck serves
burgers and such for lunch. However, it was raining so hard, they
couldn’t light the grill. So we headed back to town and found a fun
little restaurant on the water (Panini Beach Trattoria). It was great.
Made me want to stay!
St. Martin/St. Maarten
Our only truly "bad" experience of the cruise. We
decided to visit Marigot since we had never been there before. After
waiting for a cab for about 20 minutes (I’ve decided that cabs
REALLY DON’T want to go over there) they put us in a small taxi,
along with an entertainer from a Carnival ship who needed to be
dropped off at the airport. No big deal, we thought. Bad thought!
Traffic on St. Martin apparently often is congested. We had about
three hours. We checked at the information desk and they told us it
was a 20 minute cab ride to Marigot so we figured we’d have a little
more than two hours in Marigot before we headed back to the ship. What
we didn’t realize (or anticipate) was that it would be a 40 minute
ride to first get to the airport (heavy traffic and stopped by a draw
bridge). Then it was another 20 minutes to Marigot from the airport.
We quickly decided we didn’t have time to make it to Marigot and
asked to be returned to the ship. The cab driver obliged. The problem
came when we got out of the cab… he charged us as if he had taken us
TO and FROM Marigot! I began to discuss it with him, explaining that
we were being treated very unfairly because we hadn’t asked to
"detour" to the airport AND we never made it to our
destination. It was a no win situation. Needless to say, we were VERY
unhappy with the experience. Lesson learned – don’t get in a cab
that is going somewhere in addition to where you want to go. Next time
we’ll rent a car and go on our own!
Nassau
We didn’t get off the ship. It was probably the most relaxing
afternoon of all. We had the entire pool deck to ourselves. It was
heaven! Try it!
FINAL COMMENTS – PROS & CONS
For the most part, we had a terrific cruise (we’ve never had a
bad one, really, some are just better than others). However, the
cruise wasn’t without several things that are desperately in need of
attention!
Pool Chairs
The situation of saving pool chairs is beyond out of control. It
was totally ridiculous! This is NOT a lie… by 7:00-7:30 AM daily,
all pool chairs (both decks) were completely filled with towels and
miscellaneous items (books, suntan lotion, etc.) but NO PEOPLE! I’d
bet that half the time throughout the day, pool chairs were empty,
sometimes for hours. Why do people feel the need to "SAVE" a
chair if they aren’t going to use it for a couple of hours? If
everyone used the chairs and removed their things when they went off
to do something else, the problem wouldn’t exist. But since it does
(and Celebrity asks guests to not save chairs), I feel pool attendants
should be monitoring the pool deck and removing towels and items that
are left unattended for extended periods. For some reason, the pool
deck brings out the worst in people. Consequently, we spent the better
parts of our afternoon on our veranda.
Kids in Gym
I have no problem with kids who visit the gym and want to
seriously use the equipment to work out. Our daughter works out daily
and used the gym equipment frequently. However, several times while we
were in the gym, kids (mostly younger) would come in and jump on
equipment and run from one thing to the other – just playing around.
It’s not safe, it’s annoying to those who are trying to use the
equipment and once again, it’s ignoring rules set down by the cruise
line (16 or older to be in the gym).
I generally believe rules are in
place for safety and the overall enjoyment of most guests. I’d like
to believe that the average person appreciates and abides by rules.
But for some reason, that often isn’t the case on ships. And the
situations are always made worse by the fact that the cruise line
doesn’t enforce their own policies. While I’m sure they don’t
want to "upset" passengers, there are a lot of other
passengers who are equally appalled that they allow some of these
things to go on. Part of it is definitely being on a holiday cruise
(the week of Easter). But that’s not an excuse to let things go.
I’d say that most of the kids on Century were well behaved and had a
really good time. I like to see them having a good time. But there are
definitely instances where there is no regard for other passengers or
rules and regulations.
Our Tablemates
Meeting new people and making new friends is always a highlight of
any cruise for us. This one was no different. We had a great table for
ten with folks who we enjoyed dinners with, exchanged daily
activities, etc. They made each dinner fun along with crew.
The Veranda
Many people say they don’t spend much time in their cabin and
wouldn’t get much use out of a veranda. That’s not the case for
us. We thoroughly enjoy a veranda. We like to have coffee out there in
the morning and relax there with a good book in the afternoon. It’s
great to go to sleep with the door open and spend a time on the
veranda starring at the moon and the stars before calling it a night.
For us, a veranda is worth the extra money.
Celebrity
There are good things and bad things about every cruise and every
cruise line. Nothing is perfect. But we still feel that Celebrity does
it as well or better than others in this category of cruising do. I
encourage you to walk on board with a smile, enjoy each moment on
board (or as many as you can without getting frustrated with the chair
hogs J ) and have a great cruise. Remember how fortunate we are to be
able to cruise!
Bon Voyage!
Photo--Courtesy
of Celebrity Cruises
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