leonardofan

We had 2 wonderful cruises on Century - we were on the ship when they started the martini ice bar. I will always have fond memories of her.:)

 

I would love to see Celebrity build a new ship in the size of the Century.

 

We sailed the Zenith twice when she was new and we miss her too.

 

Let's hope Celebrity doesn't get rid of any more ships.

 

Dave

Apparently the Century will be joining the Zenith at CDF Croisieres de France--learn French and you can still sail on them both!

Supposing you have a little time, the train from FLL to MIA works great--cheap, reliable, room for baggage, free shuttle to/from airports at both ends.:)

The photo shows what appears to be a section of the double bottoms. I am pleased that Viking is now setting the completion date as EARLY 2015 instead of MAY 2015, which is problematic since they have an APRIL 11 Empires of the Med. cruise that is sold out. Since their website shows many sold out cruises, it seems that most people paid 100% a year early.

They didn't have a choice--Viking is demanding full payment now for 2016

cruises!!! Apparently passengers are supposed to finance the ship...

Viking's brochure says pax in minimum rate cabins can't make specialty restaurant reservations. Does anybody understand what that means? No access at all? Availability at the last minute on a space available basis?

Seems beyond bizarre to have a balcony cabin on a premium ship and be treated as an untermensch.

Hi

 

Have booked a med cruise on this ship for September 2013, & am looking for any information or advice re this ship or tour operator.

 

Thanks in advance

Pullmantur is not a tour operator--they are a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean and the market leader in the Spanish market. All their current ships are cascaded from Royal Caribbean.

We have sailed on the Riveria and am looking at the Europa 2. Has anyone done both that can give a comparison? Thanks

Brochure per diem is $1000/day--why not try Silversea or Regent Seven Seas first?

Frankly I could care less what the so called experts at Berlitz have to say about the ships. I prefer the honest opinions of fellow Cruisers here on CC.

Does Berlitz accept paid advertising I wond

Does Berltz consider what dress code I prefer

Are the reviewers at Berlitz named in the Reports

 

So many questions.......

 

Brian

Your cynicism is unwarranted--they do not take ads, Mr Ward reviews all ships personally, preferences of passengers are addressed. Have a look--its very much worth it.

I don't understand people who see no difference between Celebrity and Royal Caribbean (I know they have the same corporate parent, but so do Skoda and Bentley!). Within the (very reasonable) budget they have, I think Celebrity makes a concerted effort to give you an experience to your liking.

On Royal Caribbean you are on a floating theme park where your choices are to take a ride or not, and they lose no opportunity to rub it in, from refusing to cook steak or burgers medium, to the wretched Wal-Mart greeters who annoy you while the MDR hosts aren't doing their job.

I found Princess closer to Celebrity than I expected as far as the service went but the food, although of excellent quality, was unimaginative--what my mom would have cooked in the fifties if she had more time and a better butcher. Celebrity doesn't always hit the target, but the goal is sophisticated international cuisine, and the specialty restaurants--on the four ships I've sailed on that had them--were outstanding.

Obviously HAL is the big competitor in the premium market; I've sailed once on the old Noordam--cheap and cheerful -- and twice on the glorious Prinsendam. Haven't sailed on any of the 1400 or 2000 passenger ships, but I came away with a positive impression of the line. Passengers, both downmarket on the Noordam and upmarket on the Prinsendam, seemed more from the center of the country than the clientele from the coasts on Celebrity

According to Mer et Marine, Portuscale has announced they are suspending all work on the Lisboa and cancelling plans for the rest of the year. Costs have supposedly risen to unmanageable levels. Seems like she will be scrapped. Shame...

Century's Murano was added when the ship was Millenniumized and the space is not as elegant as on the rest of the fleet. But the food and service are out of this world.

I didn't intend to respond to my own post, but the French website

Mer et Marine reports that four of the five ships will now sail for a

company called Portuscale Cruises (The Princess Daphne will remain in

the hands of the Potamianos family)

The updating of the Funchal to meet current SOLAS requirements will be

resumed and the three remaining ships will be renamed for, like the

Funchal, Portuguese places:

The Athena will now be the Azores (or Acores?)

The Arion will be renamed Porto

The Princess Danae, Lisboa

I was just listening to BBC Radio Merseyside's lunchtime phone in today, a pax rang in from the MV Discovery claiming that she was flying the yellow quarantine. He also stated lots of pax were ill?

Also is this the old bucket that I sailed on a few times from Ft Lauderdale to Freeport?

No.

It's been reported that the fleet has been refinanced and will return to sailing-- anybody know any details???

Yep Jim, you'll get them on your 2nd cruise, just as the Rev answered. Have an awesome cruise and enjoy!

If you're jealous, or if you just want to expand your collection, there is a lively trade in them on E-bay.

On the Mariner website there is actually a complete catalog of them, since they started issuing them...:)

TA on the France in 1971--real (surly) Parisian service but the ship was

the last built to show off national taste and technology!

There will never be anything like it. (Sigh...)

Hi Paul Bernard,

 

Interesting point. I made the same comment a few days ago, wondering how much Oceania is spending on marketing. It seems I receive an Oceania item in the mail, like every week or two... and I've never sailed with them ! Their budget must be mind blowing, and it certainly seems like overkill to me. One would think they could put a big chunk of that budget to better use.

If you had tripled your capacity in two years, you would boost your marketing budget, too. I can't see that is to be held against them.

Remarkably, Classic International Cruises has done what they said and

brought the whole fleet up to current SOLAS regulations.

Athena is scheduled for a full season from November to April from Fremantle.

Wooo hoo....I'm excited now!!

Although we've cruised many times on 4 other cruise lines, it's our first Celebrity cruise, at the end of this month....and our daughter and her fiance's first ever cruise!

Whether it's top grade champagne or third-rate sparkly wine is of little consequence.....it'll just be another thing to made DD's first cruise a special experience. We've been trying to persuade her to cruise for such a long time!!

I love Celebrity already!!!!:D

Make sure to take them once to the specialty restaurant--they are spectacular and worth every penny :)

I'm looking at a solo eastbound TA but the supplement is MURDER! But I guess the experience would be worth it and I can pay in installments. . .I also want to cruise to Bermuda and the Mediterranean but this is the only cruise that fits my vacation schedule...I'm *this* close to booking it though.

In the end it's the bottom line that counts--a zero single supplement on

an expensive base fare could be more expensive than a 100% supplement

on a heavily discounted one. Having said that I've been on TAs on

Celebrity, Princess and Oceania with zero single supplements--it pays to be alert.

I suppose as the Chefs Table concept is copied across brands and

from ship to ship the commitment of the staff diminishes. I did it

on the Crown Princess a couple of years ago when it was still

exclusive to Princess, and the effort put into it by the Chef and his staff--

for a trivial financial gain to Carnival Corp--was really astonishing.

One of the most agreeable experiences I've ever had on a ship (The CP

was my 23rd ship and first on Princess, so I had no preconceived

notions at all)