Celebrity Century March 11,2010!

[proudmomma]

Hello, I am going on the Century on March 11 to the Western Carribbean. I am so very excited, this is the first time my husband and I will have had a vacation, alone in 4 years. With a 19 month old, working 45 hours a week, and school 20 hours a week.. it is MUCH needed! My question to all is.. I've booked the room, the veranda, on the Panorama deck, which is 2A (no clue what this means).. we got a guarantee room. Should I ask for an upgrade when I go? Also, the liquor package is $206 pp, is it worth it? I saw some of the drinks prices and jeesh! We paid $1155 total with a $75 onboard credit, I'm thinking that's a good price, but I don't travel often, so don't really know. Also, does anyone have any menu's for this ship? I don't eat pork nor fish. I'm hoping they will have variety. Also is there anything else I need to know? I've spoken with some friends who have been on cruises and they said to bring some liquor on the ship with water bottles, mouthwash, etc. Does this work? Trying to save money, on a limited income, although really REALLY wanted to enjoy this one vacation we get! Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for listening :o

[librarylady19]

Hi there = sounds like you deserve a wonderful, relaxing vacation and Century should do the trick!

There is plenty of variety in the MDR menu so you won't have a problem avoiding fish and pork. If you eat lamb, make sure you order it - delicious.

If you can afford it, definitely book a dinner at Muranos. For an inexpensive but lovely dining experience, have dinner at Islands bistro, it's only $2 pp gratuity and is wonderful. (It's in part of the Islands cafe that is sectioned off at night). Aqua Spa cafe offers some yummy and healthy lunch options too.

Be sure to try Cova cafe if you like cappucino - delish - and free pastries too!

I hope Franklin the guitarist from Chicago is on board as is he is a wonderful performer and a great guy!

Avoid the shopping presentations at all costs! They are billed as "educational presentations" about the ports but are really just pushing the stores at the ports. If you go to Cozumel, avoid the downtown area and stores and either book a beach package or tour the island. It's much nicer away from the tourists and locals hawking jewelry.

Here are some pics from our cruise. Have a wonderful time and RELAX!!

http://travel.webshots.com/album/570572091yIsYwA

[etc1etc1etc1]

You will find plenty of reviews about the liquor packages on this board. Most think they are not worth purchasing. To make the average liquor package work you (you can not share) would need to drink roughly 6+ drinks a day. This includes the days in port and if you decide to have a beer or frozen drink plan on paying for it (if you bought the liquor package). As far as drink costs go plan on paying roughly $6 (plus gratuity) for mixed drinks and $9-10 (Plus gratuity) for martinis. You can easily calculate the number of drinks you need to drink to break even. We will be on the same ship on 4/17, let me know your thoughts.

[proudmomma]

WOW, thank you so much for all of the information and the wondeful pictures!! What cabin did you have? This was all so helpful! Now I'm getting more excited! :)

[hannibal54]

proudmamma, my GF and I will be on the Century next week. I have bought the beer package for both of us. We can drink 6+ beers a day in port or at sea. The beer is $34.50 per day the frozen drinks I believe are $22.00 per day. Some people like to drink different types of drinks during the day. We like to just drink beer or have a glass of wine at diner, which we will pay per glass. It is all in how you drink, it is nice not having to wonder what the bar bill will be.

[proudmomma]

proudmamma, my GF and I will be on the Century next week. I have bought the beer package for both of us. We can drink 6+ beers a day in port or at sea. The beer is $34.50 per day the frozen drinks I believe are $22.00 per day. Some people like to drink different types of drinks during the day. We like to just drink beer or have a glass of wine at diner, which we will pay per glass. It is all in how you drink, it is nice not having to wonder what the bar bill will be.

 

 

Awesome, thanks for the info. We often drink liquor. I thought if you got the package it's unlimited? But paying $412 for 2 liquor packages hurts. Not sure if we will go that route. Not much of a wine/beer drinker though. What deck are you on?

[jerseygirl3]

Awesome, thanks for the info. We often drink liquor. I thought if you got the package it's unlimited? But paying $412 for 2 liquor packages hurts. Not sure if we will go that route. Not much of a wine/beer drinker though. What deck are you on?

 

I think the Century is a great ship for first-timers. And how nice that you and DH get some relaxing, romantic time away! It does wonders for a marriage!

 

Anyway, I'm not sure the drink packages are worth it. The liquor/beer/frozen drink packages are all unlimited...the wine packages are not. What the previous poster was referring to is that you have to drink 6+ drinks/pp for it to pay for itself. You may think you'll drink that much, but don't forget you'll probably be off the ship in Key West and Cozumel, and you may opt for a glass of wine at dinner. I would just budget for a few drinks each day and go with that. Personally, I think it's rather tacky to bring liquor onboard when it's prohibited. You are allowed to bring onboard 2 bottles of wine/cabin, and you are free to drink it in your cabin (some people will pour themselves a glass and bring it poolside), but if you opt to bring it to a public bar or the main dining room, you will be charged a $25 corkage fee. Unless you plan to drink it in your cabin, it's really not worth bringing it to the dining room and paying that pricey corkage fee. It is nice to have a glass or three on your balcony, though!LOL

 

If your budget allows, as someone else mentioned, try to book an evening at Murano, the specialty restaurant. The cost is $35 pp, but it's a magnificent dinner. But if the budget doesn't allow, you won't be disappointed eating in the main dining room.

 

Is your cruise 4 or 5 nights? We're doing the 4 nighter on April 8 with my sister and her family. This will be our third time on Century, and we really love that ship. But then, we haven't met a Celebrity ship we didn't like!

 

Enjoy!

 

Jo-Ann

[PartyAllDaTyme]

I've booked the room, the veranda, on the Panorama deck, which is 2A (no clue what this means).. we got a guarantee room. Should I ask for an upgrade when I go?...I've spoken with some friends who have been on cruises and they said to bring some liquor on the ship with water bottles, mouthwash, etc. Does this work?

 

Class 2A is deluxe ocean view stateroom with a veranda. With a Guarantee Veranda, you get whatever veranda cabin Celebrity sees fit to put you in. It's typically the lowest class available, but not always, especially if they're trying to fill up the ship by booking last-minute cruisers looking for a cheap fare. Concierge (CC) class, which is two classes above, is currently available for just $100 more (actually $105, because your prepaid gratuities will be slightly higher). The room will be about the same (but likely in a more desirable location), but Concierge class comes with many more additional ameneties. You'd have to upgrade now-- you won't be able to if you wait until you're boarding. An oddity-- the class of cabin you're in now is actually going for more than CC (if you were to specifically book 2A instead of CC), so you might ask if you can get upgraded for free-- doesn't hurt to ask. If the answer is no, it still would probably be worth your while to come up with the extra $100. If you plan on sailing with Celebrity again, it also counts as two cruises in the Captain's Club loyalty program (after five, you get additional benefits with your cruises). I'd go for it!

 

Regarding sneaking alcohol aboard-- I don't condone it, but search the threads for the topic "rum runners";).

 

Whatever you do, enjoy your trip!

[mprince4]

proudmomma, I will be on the very same cruise!

 

Although there are a lot of people on this board who think this is stealing and a terrible thing to do, if you're on a fixed budget, it sounds like you might want to get one liquor package and do some drink sharing, even though it is not technically allowed. From what I've heard, you can't order multiple drinks at a time, but you can get two in a row from different bars. The liquor package is very expensive, so I can't see getting one for each person unless you are extremely heavy drinkers. I'm planning to get a frozen drinks package and might get my boyfriend a margarita or two from it, but I guess my moral compass is just broken! :eek: Or, as you referenced, you could smuggle alcohol on board. This is pretty common and it seems like it may be more successful on Celebrity than some other cruise lines. I know some people do the whole mouthwash thing or try to get it on in old shampoo bottles, but that is way too much trouble for my purposes, and I don't want minty or soapy alcohol. I would use rum runners or just put plastic bottles in my checked luggage, with the realization that it might be confiscated.

 

As for guarantee cabins, I can't speak for Celebrity, but I got a guarantee balcony room on a Carnival cruise and it worked out perfectly fine in terms of location. I tend to like picking my own cabin, but it's hard to go too wrong with any balcony cabin, so you'll probably be fine with a guarantee if you don't want to upgrade. We are staying in a peasant inside cabin on the Plaza deck for this cruise, but I LOVED having a balcony on my first cruise.

[hannibal54]

Proudmomma, we are on the Penthouse deck. We have an aft Suite. Some people say you can't drink 6 beers with a port day, but then again some people can. This is why I bought the beer package. Others just call it heavy drinking, what ever. I am what I am.