Century Europe and transat 14Oct. review

[donnaw]

Donna we lost it for most of the trip. When we finally started to get it back it would fade in and out . Sometimes we would get a message on our screen informing us that it was the Galaxy transmission. Even the local channels were terrible, often times you would be listening to two channels at the same time. So how were the mattresses on the Galaxy?

 

Jean, The mattresses had seen better days but were still comfortable. You could see a little dip in the bedspread in the queen configuration in our cabin but very minor. Didn't hear any complaints from anyone else so appears they were definitely better than the Century. Cnn was a very sore point on our cruise, others had sailed on the R3 TA and said they had CNN during the entire crossing which didn't improve the mood. Between trying to guess what Wilma was up to (eventually cancelled Key West) and the World Series, grumbling was extremely loud all around! With internet access so high priced and slow, we pooled our access and printed anything of importance to pass about.

[seagulls]

We, on the Century were very concerned about Wilma too. Many on board were from Florida and worried about their homes. Every night our waitor would update us on the weather, etc.

 

Celebrity prides itself on not annoying passengers with announcements but I think the Century carried it too far. Every day at noon we would hear the bell to announce that the Captain was about to give us a report and if you were in your cabin you had to rush to open the door in order to hear what he had to say. Volume seemed to have been turned off in the cabins. It was also not working in certain public areas too.

[cechase]

I am reluctantly posting to this thread, because it seems that Sammiedawg is back with her anti-Century crusade [well put C2C!] Many months ago, after she stated that she would never sail on Celebrity, I suggested that she just let it go, and go to some other cruise line threads. Unfortunately, she has not and I have to question her motives.

 

We were on Century in February of this year, and despite being forewarned by Sammiedawg, we did not see any of the things that she mentioned in her posts. Lois R was on Century also earlier this year, and did not observe her complaints.

 

Last month at Santorini, Greece, Century was there along with Galaxy which we were on. Chatted with a number of Century passengers, because Century is our favorite, and did not hear one complaint.

 

Finally, I do have a question about beds. On all four of our cruises, our beds were really comfortable and as good as we get at Sheraton Hotels, which we stay in because of their very comfortable beds and the furnishing of several small square pillows which my DW loves. We always stay in a Royal Suite - are the beds different in the non suite cabins?

[oceandrive]

As I mentionned before, the matress was terrible. However we asked for a second matress to put on top of the bed and our room stewart got us one. The problem with this is that the sheets become too short. So we spent half of the vacation waking up at night having to reajust the sheets because the bottom sheet was half way off the bed !

 

I forgot to talk about the coffee: It was horrible. However the coffee at Cova Coffee was excellent (for a fee, of course). We bought some instant coffee in one of our ports and always carried it ! The instant coffee was better that Celebrity's coffee concentrate (I never thought that I would praise instant coffee).

[seagulls]

I did not enjoy commenting on the Century's shortcomings because I know there is a person who relishes every single written derogatory word. Nevertheless, we are Cruise Critic and everything is not as it should be on her right now. I feel I would be remiss if I dild not comment on the many complaints we heard about the mattresses. Many of which should have been replaced a long time ago.

 

The Century is a beautiful ship in need of a facelift that will come out of dry dock more beautiful than ever.

[Normandie-BCN]

Matresses on Millennium are also terrible! Should have been replaced months (even, years) ago. I expect they will be replaced soon during refit.

 

Next August I will go on the Constellantion. How are the matresses there?

[SS Cruise Lady]

We sailed 11 months ago, the ground in dirt and shabbiness did not happen overnight. When I got home I searched this board for posts on Century and found previous references to these conditions going back at least a year. I would not give this cruise line another red cent of my hard earned $. We lost a prized week of vacation x 2, air fare for 2, cruise fare for 2, miscellaneous costs with going away, etc. I filed a formal written complaint with my TA and didnt even get a phone call from their Celebrity liason.

The cabin we had compares with aging Holiday Inns about to be sold off to Days Inn, this type of hotel room is available through Priceline in most cities for about $39 per night, 2 star rating. Our TV worked off and one but our phone didnt work at all, we couldnt retrieve messages or use the wake up service. I wont gross people out and describe the disgusting bathroom, it was really unbelievably bad

The open decks carpets were so filthy that huge sections of the golden colored carpets were black with dirt, especially forward areas.

It was difficult to find a clean seat in the Islands cafe that wasnt on a broken bench or table. The Rendevous lounge cushions were in terrible shape and you sank so far it was hard to get up. We also saw many broken seats in the theatre.

I was just thankful we didnt ask friends or family to accompany us, if my kids had been along their comments would be "digusting" "yuk" "you're not making me stay here for a week".

 

I personally feel that if you were just a typical cruiser who did not enjoy your experience with Celebrity, you would not seize every opportunity to reiterate the same tirade. This leads me to believe that you have something to gain financially by consistently attacking Celebrity and attempting to steer people to another cruise line.

[sammiedawg]

No connection of any kind to the tourism industry. This is basic consumerism and stating the facts

[Elaine0138]

I like others on this Transatlantic cruise reported what we saw and felt, those springs are painful.

 

I'm sure they will rectify all the problems when she is in for her overhaul.

 

Sammiedawg is obviously banging an old drum

[SS Cruise Lady]

No connection of any kind to the tourism industry. This is basic consumerism and stating the facts

 

I would like to apologize, then, for making that erroneous assumption. You are certainly entitled to express your opinions :)

[clvali]

Can't help but reply to all this negitive stuff. We chose this cruise for the ports. They were wonderful, expecially our two days with private guides in France and Italy.Thank you Claudio and Ken.

Next we like Celebrity and had not traveled on the Century. We knew up front that she was due for a major overhaul. So what if the sink was bit stained, couches were being repaired and the TV's were not perfect. We were in concegier class so the beds were just fine. Did hear a lot about springs from people on board, agree that is not good.

The crew is the BEST I have ever seen, from the captain on down, they are an approachable group that just gives so much extra.......The ship is laid out well and always sparkling clean. Art work is something special.

Food was fine, with the exception of the dry fish. BUT the coffee is AWFUL. Everyone agrees on this, when do you suppose Celebrity will doing something about this. Michael Roux must not drink coffee.

We had a very fine cruise.

clvali

[Parrot Mom]

We were also on the Oct. 14th sailing of the Century and can agree with most of the comments already posted.

 

The embarkation and disembarkation were both smooth and presented no problems. This was especially impressive since were arrived in Port Everglades in the wake of hurricane Wilma!

 

The Century is indeed tired and in need of its overhaul next spring. (For example, some seats in the Celebrity Theatre were threadbare and had holes in them.)

 

We were pleased to find that our cabin had more than adequate space for storage on a long voyage.

 

The food was good but not up to the quality of the cuisine we had experienced on the Infinity and the Zenith. NOTE: If you have a food allergy BEWARE. Except for the Assistant Maitre'd in the dining room the staff, including the waiters and chefs, were completely untrained and uninformed in this area. One comment given was "This food contains no nuts just almonds!).

 

The quality of the Island Cafe buffet was not up to Celebrity standards. However, the omelet stations at breakfast and the sandwich / salad station at lunch were outstanding! The food service in the dining room was excellent. However, Celebrity, if you insist on having a dress code, please enforce it! After hauling formal and informal attire (on airlines with decreasing luggage allowances, it was disconcerting to see passengers arriving for dinner in casual attire on dress up occasions.

 

The ports of call were excellent and the shore excursions (Imperial Rome, Les Calanches and the Alhambra) were worth the money.

 

The entertainment was hit and miss. The Finkel family was amazing but some other performers left much to be desired. Non-American passengers with whom we spoke (and there were many!) found the "flag waving" in the production show on the last night a bit much.

 

Cudos to cruise director, Alan King. He is certainly one of the best we have encountered. We loved his team trivia sessions and even his "groaners".

 

All things considered, we will sail with Celebrity again.

 

Normally I would have written a review, but personal things got in the way. This was our first Celebrity Cruise... and although the check in happened quickly for Concierge status, disembarking was not that easy.. Yes, the ship looks tired and especially the lounge where the art auctions are held...it reeked of smoke, the cushions were disgusting...etc. As for the food... I have never had such great meat in my life..but the fish and some of the soups were way below par. Unfortunately, we were seated at a set table on the lower level with guests I would have never have sat with a second time...and we yearned for the NCL Freestyle Dining.. Our waiter and assistant waiter were incredible... The show room is falling apart and the highlight were the Finkels, father and sons. Alan King proves that an Entertainment Director does make a cruise again NCL has better entertainment. There were a few great guest stars and the english comic(whose name escapes me) we had seen before and has only gotten better. The entertainment troupe left much to be desired. One thing that was the biggest bargain was the digital camera photoshop classes at $20.00 a session.. My husband couldn't believe the quality of the session and took two. As for the staff.. well the lovely Patricia, the Purser was just delightful... and the gift shop people were hysterical..but that is a long story... As for the Maitre de... we have never on any of our 20 cruises had a Maitre de who worked the tables and was so solicitious.. One evening we ate at the alternate restaurant and found it feezing cold.. the buffets when we did attend were not lacking.. We ate most of our meals in the dining room.. Okay, so I don't know what the Century used to be.. The ports were wonderful.. sadly I could have lived without Corisca and Malaga was a wonderful surprise... It's interesting that there are people who have been on the same cruise as we have.. and see it from a different aspect.. Oh yes.. the worst part was taking a special photo and a female photographer with an attitude.. her boss said she was leaving the ship she did have the attitude.. and was the worst photographer we have ever met on a ship... but I'llsail the Century again...asap

[Charbie]

I had the time of my life on this cruise, and met some wonderful people on this board before we cruised and it was so nice to meet all of them and spend some time with them during our sail across the pond! Like Val said (Hello Val, say hi to Tom for us!!) - the crew was absolutely the BEST we have ever sailed with. They all seem to be among those talented ones who can make you think that you ARE the most important person on that ship!!

 

I felt as if I could have MADE that commercial that Celebrity runs ("my butler knew just how I took my coffee!") ... just wonderful memories were made!

 

(Jean/Seagulls - Hello, tell Hugh hello too!!)

 

Charbie