Our Thoughts Century 11/17/2005

[Coolcruise02]

Thoughts On 11/17/2005 Century Cruise

 

 

 

We have just returned from a great cruise on Celebrity Century. This will be a short review comparing our first experience with Celebrity with past cruising on Carnival, Princess and RCI. We chose this cruise with our first priority being the great itinerary, secondly the price, thirdly the smaller ship size of Century, and fourth curiousity with Celebrity. If you are a dyed in the wool Celebrity cruiser our comments may seem nit picky, but we are mainly trying to point out some things to cruisers like us who may have felt as they were cruising on so called "non-premium" cruise lines that they were missing out on some of the finer aspects of cruising. We spent quite a bit of time on the Celebrity board reading reviews and commentary and perhaps some false assumptions were made by us. Please don't take our comments as bashing but we approached this cruise expecting a higher level of cruise experience and in some instances this was true but in others it was not.

 

ARRIVAL

 

We arrived at the terminal around 11:00 am and they were still in the process of disembarcation. There were no cages to deposit our large suitcases in so we had to take them into the terminal waiting area which made for some congestion. We were handed a numbered card and told to take a seat until they were ready to begin the check-in process. Our card had a number 1 and we noticed as others entered they were given cards with successive numbers on them. After a while porters began entering the terminal gathering the luggage in no particular order which was a bit confusing. When they opened the doors everyone headed for them. No numbers were ever called and I have no idea what the point of the numbered cards was. We were thru security quickly and were directed to an agent who was totally unprepared for the task. What should have taken 5 minutes stretched into 15 minutes and eventually had to be completed by another agent when they were thru.

 

STATEROOM

 

We liked our cabin very much and our steward was friendly and efficient. The shower was the largest we have had although the bathroom itself is showing its age and hopefully will be revamped in the upcoming refit. We were somewhat surprised that the bedspreads were never put on the beds and with just the sheets showing it left the room with an unfinished look more like a dorm than a fancy hotel room. Not a problem just something that we have not experienced in the past. Our only real cabin issue was with the room safe as it is in an awkward location behind the desk mirror. You cannot have anything taller than a few inches sitting on the desk or it will be knocked over when the mirror is opened. We had to re-enter the combination numerous times until finally one morning it refused to open. Our camera was in the safe so we missed getting some sunrise pictures while one of us waited in the cabin for approximately 1 1/2 hours while they attempted to open the safe. We wanted to be in attendance when it was opened as all of our money, jewelry,camera etc was in it. Eventually the combination mechanism had to be removed and replaced to solve the problem.

 

FOOD

 

Knowing that food is a very subjective topic we won't go into lots of detail but will note a few things. We ate all of our dinner meals in the dining room and ate breakfast and lunch at the buffet or serving areas around the pool. Our problems with the buffet food may not have been so much with the food itself as with the method of obtaining it. With the hot food being dished up by the employees it is a cumbersome process. The food is not easily visible which requires people to ask what is that? Then they have to tell them how much they would like. It just seems easier and faster to serve youself but this may just be our preference. We liked the breakfast items much more than the lunch items although the pizza and caesar salads were fantastic. Also a nice selection at the drink stations of different beverages.

Our wait staff for dinner was very good although not the most polished that we have ever had. One of our party received the previous nite's menu and a course or two was placed in front of the wrong person. Again these are not "big problems" but they are things that we were thinking would set Celebrity apart. The portions are definitely smaller which was fine with us. Some things were very good and some were not good at all. This was commented on by others seated at our table with us. Most of the beef dishes were excellent but the pumpkin pie and creme brulee stood out as being very bad.

One of our dinner guests was celebrating a birthday but it never took place. When asked the waiter said he had no knowledge of it, so the ball must have been dropped higher up. The cake was delivered the following evening along with complimentary champagne.

We were most surprised by the lack of imagination in the presentation as we thought that Celebrity would far outshine the other cruise lines but in fact fell short in this area.

 

 

ENTERTAINMENT

 

 

The lounge entertainment was excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed the featured entertainers in the theatre. We did not feel that the production numbers and dancing were up to the level that we have seen on other ships. The cruise director was polished and all that you could want in that capacity. The activity staff was hit and miss. Sometimes it was very good and other times it was like it was the first time that they had ever attempted to host the event. I was very surprised to see that you had to pay a fee to participate in any of the golf skills challenges.

 

MISC. OBSERVATIONS

 

It was very nice to be able to get a dry towel whenever you needed one around the pool. We are early risers and one morning while sitting around the pool we noticed a pool butler placing towels and paperback books on half a dozen chairs. We jokingly asked if he would save us a couple chairs in the morning and he gave us a wry smile and said they had some "special guests" onboard. We expected a fancier level of dress but found it to be the same as we have experienced on other ships. We noted that most all of the scheduled events took place on time and where they were supposed to occur. There was a charge on our account that was in error that required a followup but was taken care of. The staff at the guest relations was probably the best that we have experienced.

 

CONCLUSIONS

 

We are glad that we have experienced a Celebrity cruise firsthand and can now form our own opinions as to how they compare with our other cruise experiences. Going in we felt there would be more differences but actually found them to be very similar in many instances. We would encourage other cruisers that have had a hesitation to try another line to go for it and see how it fits them. Celebrity probably is not the best fit for us as we like more avtivities that are well attended and participated in. All in all we did enjoy the ship and the itinerary was one of the best we have done with a perfect balance of sea days and ports. We also enjoyed meeting with our cruise critic friends and saying hello as we saw them around the ship. Perhaps we will try another Celebrity cruise in the future if the itinerary, price and ship all come together.

[lysolqn]

Thanks for your review.

 

At the outset you note that you "approached this cruise expecting a higher level of cruise experience and in some instances this was true but in others it was not," yet virtually all that you mention clearly falls into the "not" category. To be honest, it appears you had to dig deep to find things about which to complain - a fifteen-minute-plus embarkation time, the location of the in-cabin safe, bad creme brulee and pumpkie pie.

 

Out of curiosity, what, if anything, did you encounter that falls into the "true" category?

[Coolcruise02]

We don't feel we had to "dig deep" to point out what we experienced on this cruise. On the contrary it would require "digging deep" to meet the statements in the 2005-2006 Celebrity brochure such as "the experience runs a little deeper on a Celebrity cruise" or "learn how Celebrity can treat you famously".

 

Whether intended or not spending time on the Celebrity board will leave you feeling that you are missing out or are getting a "second class experience" with Carnival, Princess or RCI and we just do not feel that is the case, at least in our experience with these lines.

 

Maybe we are just looking for the wrong things. Perhaps experiencing being "treated famously" occurs in concierge class instead of a regular cabin. If you are looking to have your food dished up, your tray carried to your table and champagne served on arrival as part of special treatment than you will be very happy.

 

I mentioned several things in the review that I felt met a higher expectation. The guest relations staff was the best, the unlimited use of dry towels, the lounge and individual entertainers were superb. Beyond these things we just do not feel that what we experienced made us feel any more famously than any other cruise we have been on, and that is the point of this review. We held Celebrity to a higher standard from what we had read, whether right or wrong but did not feel that they delivered on this point.

 

Again I want to stress the point that it was a great cruise and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Just as much as our cruises on Carnival, Princess and RCI.

[tbelian]

Everything in perspective.

 

Make sure you also read other reviews for the same sailing:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=260552

[lysolqn]

TBELIAN,

 

Thanks - reading other posts re this particular cruise is exactly what made me respond to this post.

 

I have no problem whatsoever with Coolcruiser02's disappointment with the X experience - different cruiselines appeal to different people for a variety of reasons. That being a given, I still think the OP had to dig pretty deep to find something about which to complain.

[drk]

Thanks for your review. I for one found it to be on point. We have taken 10 cruises the past 3 years with 3 on Celebrity and the rest on RCL, CCL, HAL. When asked to compare I usually say that they were all the same and all different. We enjoy them all, thus we usually book based on itinerary and price. Next up for us is Carnival Valor then the Century in Feb and RCL's Vision to Alaska in May. I don't expect any one to be more extroadinary than the others having experienced all.

[cruisewmn]

Thanks for the post. I find it refreshing to read a balanced review of a Celebrity cruise. It's a good reminder to keep your expectations in check.:)