Few thoughts concerning our 15 day Century Panama Canal Cruise

[kelmac]

Just a few bullet thoughts concerning our recent Celebrity Century Cruise, Panama Canal 15 day, Dec 21 -- Jan 5. The Good, Bad and the Ugly:

 

 

 

Good:

 

--Outstanding crew and officers were everywhere and approachable

--Excellent cuisine in the main dining room

--One of the best Captain’s club hostesses -- Jonette

--Great passenger mix and few chair hogs

--New perks of Elite Plus were nice -- used both 200 minute internet coupons + 3 of 4 laundry coupons

--Wonderful Elite happy hour which was combined Elite, Elite Plus and Zenith. Elite members totaled 126; Elite Plus totaled 23; and no Zenith’s onboard.

--Super cabin team (Ahmad and Anak)

--Nice visit to Murano using the new Elite Plus discount

--Great evening at the Captain’s Table hosted by the Chief Engineer Haris Karamitsios; a nice new touch is the meal had it’s own special menu from the Murano kitchen

--Super bunch of Cruise Critic folks

--Weather cooperated the entire cruise with only a 24 hour period of rough seas

--The ship is in great shape for being 18 years old

--There was a very “uncrowded” feel to the ship this cruise

--Beef quality has improved a bit

--One of the best beds we’ve had on a cruise ship, and that includes HAL

 

Bad:

 

--The port side of deck 12 has some A/C issues; halls were hot and our cabin never really cooled down to a temperature we like. Had to make four calls to Guest Relations. We wanted to move, but no cabins available

--Port Everglades still has disembarkation issues, but not the end of the world

--Elimination of the a cappella groups fleet wide

--Elimination of separate Wine Stewards and Bar Hosts in the MDR starting Feb 15th

--No holiday gift this year -- small issue

--No ice bucket in the cabin unless you request one

 

Ugly:

 

--The 80 foot scrape from the port side roller going through the Gatun locks. They painted over it the next day in Colon

--Kids onboard were great considering this was an at-sea dominated 15 day cruise. You really need to know your children to expose them to this. Some were really bored

 

All in all, and excellent cruise and we still think Celebrity is the best "bang for the buck" at sea!

Any questions, let me know!

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[Barwick Cruiser]

If they've eliminated the separate wine and bar servers who takes your bar order? I've always had the sommelier get my wine and the bar server takes my husband rye order...is the meal server doing both the food and bar?

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise...we did the PC on the Infinity a few years ago and enjoyed it very much also. Thanks for the review!

Cathy

[mafig]

Did you hear of or experience any other a/c issues elsewhere on the ship?

[geospyder]

Great review Kel. Did have to laugh at "--Elimination of the a cappella groups fleet wide". For some it is bad thing but for my DW it is good thing. She would cover her ears :)

Edited January 8, 2014 by geospyder

[Lois R]

Hi Kelly, thanks for "your thoughts":) I always respect your reviews.

 

Celebrity is no longer having Sommeliers?....and that starts on

my upcoming cruise......so who will be serving wine?

And what is a "Bar host"?:eek: Did I miss something all these years?:confused:

[kelmac]

Hi Kelly, thanks for "your thoughts":) I always respect your reviews.

 

Celebrity is no longer having Sommeliers?....and that starts on

my upcoming cruise......so who will be serving wine?

And what is a "Bar host"?:eek: Did I miss something all these years?:confused:

 

Hi Lois,

 

We didn't get the full story, but it looks like the Sommeliers may have to do both jobs. I think they are going to move the Bar service people out of the MDR and use them in other areas of the ship. I don't know if the waiters will help the Sommeliers with drink orders?

We got this from two different servers, one in the MDR and one in the Captain's Club Elite Lounge. It starts Feb 15th.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[kelmac]

Did you hear of or experience any other a/c issues elsewhere on the ship?

 

We did run into one couple that had A/C issues, but I can't remember if it was deck 4 or 6?? Might be a great new thread question? "Did your Century Cabin have A/C Issues?" It was a problem on deck 12 for sure!!

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[Grandmaanne7]

Thanks for posting. We board in 12 days and are looking forward to it. We are deck 4 port side. I will try to remember to post regarding the AC quality.

[Tom47]

We did run into one couple that had A/C issues, but I can't remember if it was deck 4 or 6?? Might be a great new thread question? "Did your Century Cabin have A/C Issues?" It was a problem on deck 12 for sure!!

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

Hi

Thanks for your review. We were on Century Panama 15 night cruise Jan 2013. We had problems w. a/c also. See my review

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1787067

 

Tom:)

[jgnova]

I recall reading other comments about the reduction in the number of bar servers. My guess is that now that =X= has the beverage plans, it is no longer in their best interest ($$$) to foster drink consumption and instead their interests now align with a reduction in drink consumption (can't say sales since it's not a sale any more). So combining the sommelier and bar server roles helps them reduce consumption.

 

j

[trabeler]

We did run into one couple that had A/C issues, but I can't remember if it was deck 4 or 6?? Might be a great new thread question? "Did your Century Cabin have A/C Issues?" It was a problem on deck 12 for sure!!

 

I guess we were lucky in the A/C department. We were on Deck 5 and had to keep the thermostat at mid-range all cruise or else it got too cold!

 

I did notice a few days that decks 11/12 were quite warm, especially the panama canal cruising day. Perhaps the combination of very hot sun and little ship movement (no breeze) compounded the problem...

[Texed]

Thanks for posting, sir. :)

[kelmac]

I might mention that outside the Crystal Room (Elite Happy Hour location) they set up a brand new 7 foot hanging sign that had a picture of two happy cruisers (models) and the words "Captain's Club Special Function" Elite, Elite Plus and Zenith Lounge.

 

When they had the Officers' Evening Party, they changed to a sign that included Select members. I may have photo -- if so, I will try and attach a copy.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[upwarduk]

I might mention that outside the Crystal Room (Elite Happy Hour location) they set up a brand new 7 foot hanging sign that had a picture of two happy cruisers (models) and the words "Captain's Club Special Function" Elite, Elite Plus and Zenith Lounge.

 

I am surprised that Elite, Elite+ & Zenith were all in the same room for the 'Happy Hour.'

I understood that one of the reasons for creating Elite+ & Zenith, was because there were too many Elites, who couldn't all be accommodated in the same lounge.

However, on your cruise they only numbered less than 150.

On our last 2 cruises, we have had more than 1,000 Elites, so were given vouchers.

[20pluscruises]

Hi Lois,

 

We didn't get the full story, but it looks like the Sommeliers may have to do both jobs. I think they are going to move the Bar service people out of the MDR and use them in other areas of the ship. I don't know if the waiters will help the Sommeliers with drink orders?

We got this from two different servers, one in the MDR and one in the Captain's Club Elite Lounge. It starts Feb 15th.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

 

On the Christmas cruise the Sommelier brought the wine by the glass, bottled wine, martinis and even the diet coke....the Sommelier was also the only one who ever touched our sea pass (no drink package)

 

I need to add...Nicolina gave us excellent, fast service.

Edited January 9, 2014 by 20pluscruises

[kelmac]

On the Christmas cruise the Sommelier brought the wine by the glass, bottled wine, martinis and even the diet coke....the Sommelier was also the only one who ever touched our sea pass (no drink package)

 

I need to add...Nicolina gave us excellent, fast service.

 

Hi 20pc,

 

Which ship were you on for Xmas? The Century still had Sommeliers + Bar Servers in every section of the dining room.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[kelmac]

I am surprised that Elite, Elite+ & Zenith were all in the same room for the 'Happy Hour.'

I understood that one of the reasons for creating Elite+ & Zenith, was because there were too many Elites, who couldn't all be accommodated in the same lounge.

However, on your cruise they only numbered less than 150.

On our last 2 cruises, we have had more than 1,000 Elites, so were given vouchers.

 

Hi Jackie,

 

I think you are right -- it's a numbers game. On many cruises there will be very few Zeniths on board, and it might get very lonely in Michael's club.

Maybe a combo of vouchers and the lounge when the Elite number is high?

 

It felt perfect on our cruise with about 40 -- 50 people in the lounge, with six or seven bar service stewards and three servers bringing around the hors d'oeuvres. As I stated before, we only had 126 Elites; 23 Elite Plus; and No Zeniths.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)