Celebrity Century.....February 17 - March 4..........Did not enjoy this cruise

[gimletgal]

Just wondering how this was possible:

 

"......TY for your input. I too am a reformed smoker that started smoking again. When we were on the Equinox my husband was able to smoke then on the Veranda."

 

Since the no smoking on verandas policy was initiated in October, 2008, how was this possible???? The Equinox did not enter into service until late July, 2009! Lucky perhaps that your neighbors did not report your husband to be in violation of the smoking policy? :eek:

 

P. S. I am a smoker.

[Lois R]

Just wondering how this was possible:

 

"......TY for your input. I too am a reformed smoker that started smoking again. When we were on the Equinox my husband was able to smoke then on the Veranda."

 

Since the no smoking on verandas policy was initiated in October, 2008, how was this possible???? The Equinox did not enter into service until late July, 2009! Lucky perhaps that your neighbors did not report your husband to be in violation of the smoking policy? :eek:

 

P. S. I am a smoker.

 

Hi Beth......thank you for the post...I was re-reading the thread

and totally missed that........:eek:.....

[ka1958]

Hi,

 

I want to thank all for commenting and clearing up the new smoking policy on Celebrity.

 

I booked this cruise on the Century because of my past experience on the Equinox. Even though it is a much smaller and older ship that did not bother us. We just wanted to go to Hawaii by boat.

 

All the snide remarks were not necessary. Most people that come to these message boards are looking for information from past cruisers. I wanted to share my experience. I did not enjoy it at all.

 

I met at lot of nice people and even exchanged email with them. Unfortunately I had more negative than positive experience. Like I said in number of my posts I am willing to give it a try again. Hopefully my next Celebrity cruise will be a positive one.

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

We were also on this cruise and had a cabin on deck 9 concierge, though I agree with your comment about the weather we did not have the same overall experience.

Our cabin was lovely, the steward was great at servicing the cabin. We never had any maintenance issues. There is a sign on the toilet to close before flushing otherwise the vacuum system will send water everywhere, have these people never been on a ship before.

We found the food in the MDR generally good and the service excellent. If anything our meat was undercooked, never over.

We were disappointed with the quality in the buffet. Getting food was not helped by the old style of the counters, the new Solstice style buffets are much better.

If you don't like formal you should not book a cruise line that requires it. Most did dress up, but we did see a few who did not bother, they seemed to wear the same clothes all day!

Century is still a lovely ship and we found the crew, particularly the bar staff excellent. This is probably the most friendly ship we have ever been on. If you are booked go with a positive attitude and you will not be disappointed. But if you are a smoker you will be in the minority.

 

Thank you for posting your experience, we are sailing on the Century in Sept and the only concern I had was the size of the ship, and maybe not enough to do, but 90% of the reviews I've read gave a thumbs up. I'm still looking forward to sailing her. To me no cruise is a bad cruise, just some are better than others! :D

[HappyTvlr]

I have sailed the Century in Dec 11 and Dec 12, and found it to be lovely. Yes it is older and shows some wear and tear, but the staff do a fantastic job keeping her clean. We are foodies, and we really enjoyed the food in the MDR as well as the lunch buffet and Aqua Spa Cafe. It is not 5 stars, but very good in general with lots of choices on the menus. I hope those booked on future Century cruises keep an open mind and stay positive and judge for yourself.

Finally, I just have to laugh about the toilet thing because it would be hard work flushing while sitting down.

[Jane2357]

I just had a friend spend something like 35/36 days on the Solstice - and she is a big smoker. She knew going in what the rules were and she had no problems - I guess the smokers go their area at all times of the night in their p.j.s :rolleyes: She made some new friends this way. I wouldn't cruise Celebrity if I smoked but it can done without problems - people just need to be aware of the rules. I do appreciate that the OP did follow the rules about no smoking on their balcony this cruise!!

[ka1958]

I just had a friend spend something like 35/36 days on the Solstice - and she is a big smoker. She knew going in what the rules were and she had no problems - I guess the smokers go their area at all times of the night in their p.j.s :rolleyes: She made some new friends this way. I wouldn't cruise Celebrity if I smoked but it can done without problems - people just need to be aware of the rules. I do appreciate that the OP did follow the rules about no smoking on their balcony this cruise!!

 

Ty for your input. It was my fault for not checking the smoking policy. I have no problem smoking in a designated area. Even though I do smoke I would not smoke in a no smoking area. I don't even smoke in my own home. It is because of the smoking area I met a great group of people.

 

I just had more negatives on this cruise than positives. For now I will not go on another Celebrity cruise. The Century is in need of major refurbishing. You can see it all over the ship. When there are electrical problems in the galley that creates brown water. The cable snapping on a lifeboat. It is a warning. The in the MDR was not all that good. The entertainment ending way to early. By 11pm it was a ghost town because it is an older crowd. If there was 200 people under the age of 60 that was a lot.

 

At least we got a chance to see Hawaii. That was a positive. Unfortunately the rest was a nightmare.

[doublemm16]

Ty for your input. It was my fault for not checking the smoking policy. I have no problem smoking in a designated area. Even though I do smoke I would not smoke in a no smoking area. I don't even smoke in my own home. It is because of the smoking area I met a great group of people.

 

I just had more negatives on this cruise than positives. For now I will not go on another Celebrity cruise. The Century is in need of major refurbishing. You can see it all over the ship. When there are electrical problems in the galley that creates brown water. The cable snapping on a lifeboat. It is a warning. The in the MDR was not all that good. The entertainment ending way to early. By 11pm it was a ghost town because it is an older crowd. If there was 200 people under the age of 60 that was a lot.

 

At least we got a chance to see Hawaii. That was a positive. Unfortunately the rest was a nightmare.

 

I was on this cruise too. I think "nightmare" is a little extreme. I can understand this may not have been your best experience. I too was bummed about the weather, and the food was not the best food I have ever had, but it certainly was not the worst. I agree with your observation about the demographics on this cruise. I am in my early 40's and was on the younger side. But all of that said, I still had a great vacation, mainly due to the great people we met, all of the wonderful crew we encountered, and participating in the flash mob and other activities.

 

Just another note, we had a cabin on Deck 9 and had no maintenance issues. The night of the galley problem, we were in Murano. Dinner service took 4 hours. Long, yes. But they could not have been nicer in trying to be accomodating. We had an excursion booked in Kona and we were in the theater for a 7:00am meeting time. They did announce what happened with the tender and why there are delays.

 

The Century is an older ship, and I agree that there may be more maintenance issues than on other ships, but it is still lovely and well maintained. I am sorry your vacation did not meet your expectations. Glad to know you are willing to give Celebrity another chance.

[Sailfish]

Hi,

 

Was anyone up about 5:30 am the day we went to Kona. Did anyone hear the loud noise?? If you didn't you were woken up by it. Then what did we see, the lifeboat being towed to the mainland. I was on the first tender.... NO ONE TOLD US WHAT HAPPENED!!! It wasn't until we arrived at the dock and saw the lifeboat. Upon arrival was 2 ambulances, 1 police van and a firetruck. No one would say what had happened. We found out what had happened after we got back to the ship. Heard from a good source that saw the lifeboat dangling when the cable snapped. Thank God there was only minor injuries............BUT it could have been a lot worse. God forbid while there was an emergancy like the TRIUMPH. I don't even want to go there.

 

 

 

We were in the Theater at 7:00am awating our scuba diving tour when the Captain announced over the loud speaker what happened; around 6:30am that morning, an unoccupied lifeboat fell into the water, after a cable snapped, as the crew was attempting to lower it into the water. No one was on the lifeboat, which the ship was going to use as a tender, and no one from the ship or from shore, was injured. The captain during our early sailaway also made the same announcement.

 

We were on our dive boat, returning to Kona, when a PON PON alert was broadcast to boaters in Kona alerting them to lifejackets in the water - it was around noon. We told the dive boat captain what had happened earlier in the morning.

 

Many people who saw the Century's captain that evening (including my party) asked about the incident, explaining we had heard about another similar incident on another ship which did result in crew deaths. We also told him about the PON PON alert. He old us that when the cable snapped, the lifeboat flipped, then righted itself - that expalined why the lifeboat that was parked at the tender peir was all smashed in and why the lifejackets were dumped into the ocean - a few were swept away by the current. The captain said he is required to make several ship announcements and document the "event at sea". I guess when lifejackets are found in the water, a PON PON distress alert is broadcast to let boats in the area know to keep any eye out for people in lifejackets. We were already close to the marina, so we didn't see anything.

 

Finally, we happened to be on one of the first tenders when an the older lady with a medical problem was be escorted off the ship by a nurse; they had an ambulace waiting to transport her to the hospital. When we got to Kona, there was no fire truck, only the 1 ambulance, which the lady and ship's nurse went into. Perhaps the authorities were alerted around the time the PON PON distress warning was sent out about the lifejackets, as that would explain the fire turck and ambulances.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to clarify what really happened. I guess the OP never heard any of the captains announcements.

[HopefulCruiser123]

I guess the smokers go their area at all times of the night in their p.j.s :rolleyes: She made some new friends this way.

 

On our recent Silhouette trip, late in the evenings when most people were either inside partying, or in their cabins all tucked in and fast asleep, we would make our way to venues from one end of the ship to the other. The smoking areas were always well-attended and everybody seemed to be having discussions that included the group as a whole. My first thought was family reunions or groups sailing together until we got close enough to smell the smoke. They seemed to be having a good time and since I am asthmatic and sensitive to smoke, we just passed on through and did not linger. But it did seem like everyone was having a nice time.

[dkjretired]

Hi Beth......thank you for the post...I was re-reading the thread

and totally missed that........:eek:.....

 

I pointed that out earlier in the thread. Since you and I were on the Equinox for its first cruise in North America, I don't see how that was possible unless they didn't read the dailies from the cruise and/or just ignored them. Lucky nobody called to complain.

[ka1958]

Thank you all. For now I am putting Celebrity cruises on hold. My Century experience was not an enjoyable one. There too many negatives and the only positives I had was I got to see Hawaii and the people I met.

 

I enjoy more activities, especially at night. Even with Celebrities smoking policy. It did not bother me to go to a designated area. I was one of the younger ones that enjoys a nightlife. I always liked Royal Caribbean better. I will continue to go on there cruises. Celebrity caters to the older people. There is nothing wrong with that. But for now Celebrity is not for me. Even with having a wonderful time on the Equinox I still feel the way I do. Before this cruise I could not wait to go on The Century. Now I want to put this not so great cruise behind me. I have spoken to numerous people that I have exchanged emails with. Each and every person said this was a bad cruise. Celebrities post cruise Guest Relations said to us that there were a lot of complaints. A supervisor on the ship told us that there were a lot of complaints then. I know it was not me. Everyone has there own opinion of the cruise. If it was only 1 thing that was bad. I would not feel the way I do. There was too many not likes. For what I spent on this it definately was not worth it. :mad:

[Miss SeaBee]

The no smoking policy was my fault for not looking into it. SMOKERS have rights to.

 

 

Smokers "rights" are shrinking rapidly in this world. Perhaps you have not heard that your right to smoking directly conflicts with my right to breathe unpolluted air? Guess which "right" trumps?

 

Oh, you have the "right" to cruise on a line that caters more to smokers. Celebrity is known and loved for having the MOST RESTRICTIVE smoking policy at sea. That's why I choose it.

[Caribbean Chris]

Thank you all. For now I am putting Celebrity cruises on hold. My Century experience was not an enjoyable one. Now I want to put this not so great cruise behind me.

.

 

I think that's a good idea. You've posted your review. You've made LOTS of posts about this cruise and the Century in two threads, over and over, for days on end now. We get it.

[Miss SeaBee]

I am sure we are all devastated that there will be one less dissatisfied smoker cruising Celebrity.

[teajak]

As long time Celebrity cruisers we may be of the older demographic but we are a quick study,good-bye and good luck.

[CRUZBUDS]

On any 15 Hawaii -- the demographics will be pretty much the same between the lines, we've done Hawaii on five different lines, none had a whole lot of night life.

 

Good luck on your next choice! :) smoke'em if you got them!