Back from the Century Nov 18-23

[comfortcove]

Well, we are home. It was a fun cruise and the Century is very beautiful. I won't call this a review, just some of my impressions. I am a married lady from Virginia, and cruised alone with my 21 year old daughter, soon to be 20 year old son, and 14 year old son. We flew in to FLL, and used Larry's Limo for transportation to Miami port. They were excellent, arrived in style in a beautiful white stretch limo, stocked bar (soda, ice, bottled water), made a stop at Walgreens for bottled water and libations, had us at the port in 45 minutes. They also returned us to airport yesterday. Excellent car service, and not much more than Celebrity transfers would have been for the 4 of us. My older son left his wallet at home, and I was really sweating getting on without his picture ID, but it turned into a non-issue. Our cabins were lovely, CC balconies 9060 and 9058. On the small side, but beautifully designed, great comfy beds, plenty of storage, and very nice location, just a quick flight and a half up to aqua spa cafe and the pool. We were across from a service area, and it seemed a little noisy at first, lots of shutting of that door, and some dish sounds, but I quickly adjusted to that and it wasn't a big deal. Our steward was very efficient at granting our every desire, although he was the serious type. Main perks I liked about CClass: divine robes, great linens, breakfast menu, fresh flowers. We had a really good time, all in all. The weather was less than perfect, not alot of sunshine on this cruise, some light rain, cool and some rough, but not too bad, seas. I met some great friends, Nan and Bruce from CA, who had the gorgeous PH suite, and Andy and Mary. I did not get to spend alot of time with them, as I mainly ran around trying to keep up with my kids! These are fellow cruise critics, and we did get to share a few cocktails and good times. Nanette and Bruce always offered to entertain in their suite. I have met some neat folks from these boards, it is a true resource. The gym is lovely, the aqua spa cafe has good light food if you want to get away from buffet or grill fare. Dinner was always enjoyable, with the usual awesome service. I found the food not as good as our last two experiences on Celebrity, specifically not so tender cuts of beef, and wretched pasta. However, there were always items I like alot, such as salad with their great dressings, wonderful soups, shrimp cocktail breadsticks, and my jeans feel tight today. I definitely ate my fill of lots of good food. I love the abundance of fresh fruits on a cruise. In Jamaica we tubed the White River in a light rain. It was a beautiful river. We did our own excursion through Phil Lafayette and his daughter. He is very articulate, entertaining and accomodating. He took us on a tour of fern gully and other areas for about an hour and a half. The tubing is a separate operation, and he drops you off there at the White River, after making sure you are set up with a guide. They take pictures, and then sell them to you for $5 each. The kids can jump about 20 feet into the river. The natives there give you a hard sell on crafts, there was a little skinny child begging that I gave a few $$ to, they attempted to sell me, my older son and daughter pot (ghanja, he said) separately, and several of these guy really came onto my daughter. At no point did I feel threatened or anything, but it was a tad intense. My kids loved the tubing, and being there on this Amazonian like river in paradise with the natives. We bought some crafts there and four pictures. The tubing was 20 pp, Phil was 20pp. I gave Phil and his sweet daughter a 20 tip, and the guide for tubing 15. I was getting irritated with his come-ons/ghanja sales pitches, but tipped anyway. Grand Cayman was kind of ruined by the weather. We anchored somewhere other than Georgetown in the middle of nowhwere. We got a taxi for $30 each way to Sea Grape beach, but the seas were very rough and there was alot of blowing sand, so we had a plate of conch fritters and a beer and went back to the ship. We should have stayed onboard, it was the one sunny day and we could have enjoyed the pool area. A note on the pools: Century sure could use another one. The pool area was generally crowded, the four hot tubs packed. We enjoyed the entertainment we attended: the 50's production show "Shout", the ventriloquist with Matilda, and Noodles, the comedian. Also of note: the caricaturist, who drew me and my two sons, Bing in the piano bar, and the acapella group, Cat's Pajamas. Disembarkation was long and somewhat disorganized, we were not off until about 10:15. It didn't matter as our flight wasn't until almost 2, but I felt badly keeping the limo driver wating so long on Tday. All in all, it was a very nice vacation, and the Century was beautiful. I do have a few gripes with Celebrity's guest relations. I am not hard to get along with, or to please, but there people skills leave something to be desired. First, I checked a case of water that never made it to either room. When I called the first night to check on it, the fellow made some snotty crack implying I should not have brought water on board. I never did get the water, maybe the tag ripped off. What bothered me was the attitude. Secondly, I prepaid gratuities for both of our cabins. On the last afternoon vouchers only for my cabin were delivered, not for 9058. It took about six calls to guest relations to get them, and the staff insisted they were showing up as printed, maybe they were in the other cabin, maybe our steward had them, but he was off duty. It was total pass the buck, no one would take responsibility, they would say they were going to call me back and no one would. I really did not want to go to dinner without them. They finally were left on my door ten minutes before dinner, no explanation or apology, and not even a notification that they were delivered. My daughter saw them when popping back over to our cabin from the boy's cabin. It put a real damper on our last afternoon on board. Final and biggest gripe: When checking our folios yesterday AM, I noticed a charge for two movies twenty minutes apart in 9058. I asked my son, who had asked me if they could order a movie, and he said the movie cut off twenty minutes into it and they reordered the same title. So I call guest relations and spoke to Karen. She told me these were two adult movies that are charged if you even turn them on. I backed off and went next door to chew out my son for ordering that. He said absolutely not, they watched the Will Ferrell movie, and this was independently confirmed by my daughter who went over there to watch it with them. So, I call back and am given a nameless supervisor after being on hold for about ten minutes. She doesn't aplogize and says she'll check with the interactive services manager and call me back. She never did. I called 3 more times before we had to leave the cabin, and would immediately be slapped on hold. I never did get an answer, and am indignant about the whole matter. It is not the 11.95, but the way they handled this issue, and I guess I'll have to call customer service. Anyway, all in all a fun cruise and a lovely ship. I am going to unpack, and cook a big bird, but will try to answer any questions.

[hcat]

Thanks for the info--glad you enjoyed your cruise despite the problmes you encountered. We are on this ship in April to carib & again next Sept to the Medit. Hope by then all the little kinks are work outed from the refurbishment. We will miss the T pool--Could not believe they took that out for yet more pay for services. Did you try any of the spa services or the special restuarant ? Just curious but without photo ID how did they let your son board the airplane? Here in NY that would never work-- you were very lucky!

[slotaddict]

Thanks for the review, we were on the week before you, the ship has some definate issues but all in all a lovely ship and cruise. Did Dru Pavlov make it onboard yet as the CD, or did you have to endure, Halsey?

[slotaddict]

Also, did you get your tan bag for being in CC class?

[dixiejen]

hi comfortcove -- thanks for the review. i really hate to hear they were less than accomodating with your compaints. hardly what one would expect from an 'up-scale' cruiseline, is it?! :confused: my family will be sailing on the century in april. i was curious -- did your 14 year old do anything w/ the other teens on board through the ship's teen program? we also have a 9 year old daughter. i am hoping they will find at least some of the ship's organized activities worthwhile! thanks

[comfortcove]

Hi all! Yes, we got a tan bag in each cabin the last evening, and Dru Pavlov was onboard as cruise director. There were lots of kids of all ages onboard, I was surprised at the number of little ones, but all ages were present. My kids did not do any organized activities, I think we were all just happy to be together, as the 2 oldest are away at college most of the time. My impression was that there seemed to be lots of organized activities, especially for a nine year old. My 14 year old is big into gaming and warcraft online, he thought the games in the arcade and teen zone were inferior. I think they can live without that while on vacation. I really never complained about anything, except water not being delivered. The other issues were problems Celebrity created and then would not resolve. It was way too much like being at home and dealing with Cox cable when your internet is down, no answers to problem and endless, frustrating time on the phone. Cruise time is too precious for that. One night at sea our balcony would not lock, and the door would open spontaneously all night long. It was very windy and rough, and sounded like Armagedon in our cabin. My daughter was scared, and we couldn't sleep, so I called in the middle of the night to have it fixed. The night steward attempted to fix it, couldn't do it, aplogized, offered to call maintenance, brought hot cocoa and sympathy, he was great and it was fixed the next AM while we were out. Basically, front line service on this cruise (dining and household) was fabulous, the more executive tier I found sorely lacking. My son's missing ID was another funny (in retrospect) story. My DH dropped us off at small, local airport onway to Saturday golf match. Alex discovered his missing wallet, and I freaked out completely. Security let us by with me showing my ID and all four boarding passes. I did not know this, but it must be policy, as they did the same thing in FLL yesterday. Maybe if you are all family with same last name, only the parent has to show ID. Maybe we were just really lucky. So, I berated Alex the whole flight, snarling things like "You don't travel much, do you?", and "Well, maybe we'll just send you to the Miami airport when you can't board the ship, and you can fly home when you can get a good deal on a flight". I was really worried, so worried I called my husband, got him off golf course and had him standing by at home to fax copies of documents and Driver's L, and student ID. Alex is pre-med at UVA, very conscientious and bright, and I was so taken aback by this goof-up, especially since I had mentioned making sure we all had ID etc twice before leaving the house. At the ship we were very lucky, she did it cabin by cabin, examined everything for each of us, I distracted her in conversatiobn after she looked at his BCert and she forgot. Immigration was also easy, she looked at my passport, asked twice if all 3 children were mine and born in the US, wanted to know about alcohol and tobacco, and made a joke about having to go home and cook. It all worked out, I think airport security has special rules about kids travelling with parents. My daughter, who will graduate college next spring, looks to be about 16 or 17. She had the gold card, and my permission to have a drink or beer. She could hardly ever get served on this cruise, I would have to vouch for her, and she'd have to show her DL. She was really mad, I told her she'll be glad some day!

[C 2 C]

i really hate to hear they were less than accomodating with your compaints. hardly what one would expect from an 'up-scale' cruiseline, is it?!

 

I just wish they would be as accomodating as Wallmart... too often we have found the frontline troops.. the waiters and room stewards to be great, and the further you move up the ladder the worse the service gets. I think this attitude is pretty consistent with all the cruiselines. Everything is fine until you have a problem. The problem is always yours. Once you get off the ship, you have to take your problem home with you.:(

[michelethelibrarian]

I'm sailing on the Century in a few weeks and hoping there is a ping-pong table on board. Did your son or daughter mention seeing one?

 

Thanks! M.

[comfortcove]

hcat, which med cruise are you on? We really hope to do that next fall, but are not close to booking until spring as our schedule is indefinite. I am looking at all lines for this trip, best itinerary is key. No, I didn't indulge in the spa or specialty Muranos. I usually do those things on a cruise with my husband, and boy did I miss him this trip. I do not know about the ping pong table. I did not see one, and my sons like to play that and I never heard it mentioned. I'll ask when they are home. Anyone else know?

[Canes Rule]

I think this attitude is pretty consistent with all the cruiselines. Everything is fine until you have a problem. The problem is always yours. Once you get off the ship, you have to take your problem home with you.

 

For what its worth I never experienced this attitude on three cruises with Oceania or our most recent with Regent. We did experience the attitude big time on our Infinity cruise and our Galaxy cruise of a couple of years ago.

[dixiejen]

gotta ask, "canes rule" -- would that be the carolina hurricanes??? as in, the defending Stanley Cup canes??!!:)

[dixiejen]

and thanks, comfort cove, for the low down on the arcade. my son is also a gaming nut and i was hoping that he would enjoy it OCCASIONALLY! but it won't hurt my feelings if he played a little less video while on the trip!! i'm glad to know there were other kids on board. thanks a bunch!

[Llav01]

hi comfortcove, i totally agree with your review. We were on the same cruise. The ship is beautiful, could have used a little more sun but all in all it was a great cruise. I was hoping someone would post about this cruise. I too found that guest relations service was lacking. We had sailed on the Millinnium last year and were very impressed with their customer service. Everyone was so friendly and ready to help. Our experience was bit lacking this time around. I found that talking to guess relations was not the most inviting thing to do. It seemed to us like the some of the staff was not very friendly on the first day. We just thought it was because they were tired from the last cruise.

 

For instance on the day of embarkation we took a tour of the spa area. My husband and I are fans of the Persian Gardens on other ships. One of the ladies at the front desk didn't appear to be very enthused to be there. Not rude but not approachable as good customer service should be.

 

I'm not trying to complain not a big deal just wasn't expecting it. On other cruises you can buy a weekly pass to the persian gardens and go in and out as you please. They don't offer it on this ship because they use the room for couples massage and they close it off. They sell day passes. Which we did buy on the first sea day. Turned out to be a waste of money as we only used it once. We tried to used it again several times during the day but couldn't as it was being used for treatments. When we inquired they did offer to let us use it the next day but again no luck it was being used for treatment. On the last port day I bought a spa package that offered 20 minutes in the persian gardens and guess what I couldn't use it as it was completely booked for the rest of the day. :( Sorry to go on an on its just that its only of my husbands favorite things. That and the sun and he didn't get much of either! Still enjoyed the cruise very much.

 

I also did notice the number of kids on this cruise. Especially infants. It made me wonder if they had any programs for children as we noticed there were quite a few of them around the pool and the hottubs. Our waiter told us he thought that there were about 300 kids on the cruise. They were expecting over 500 on the next one.

 

On the last night one of our tablemates (very nice couple) said they had thier camera stolen from their cabin bed. Ironically one of our other tablemates said that a couple of hours earlier they they had overheard a girl complaining to her cabin stewart that her passport had been stolen from her cabin bed. I felt so bad for the couple at our table. It didn't appear that customer relations was very helpful or "concerned".

 

Great cruise...just sad it's over....:rolleyes:

[slotaddict]

I'm sailing on the Century in a few weeks and hoping there is a ping-pong table on board. Did your son or daughter mention seeing one?

 

Thanks! M.

 

Michele, I was on the Century the week of the 13th, i do not recall seeing a ping pong table.

[stinsowm]

Hi Michelle,

 

My brother and I found the ping pong tables--they are aft of the ship...I believe deck 6 or 7? I know there is an area all the way back...aft that they are located on. Maybe a lower deck...but if your sons will walk down they will find them.

[michelethelibrarian]

Dh and I discovered ping pong on the last day of our last cruise (Norwegian Sun) and loved it, so I'm sorry to hear the Century doesn't offer one. It was a fun game, but we only saw teenagers using them and I can see why Celebrity doesn't feel there is need for one on their ships.

 

I appreciate the responses and will be sure to post my review when we return.

 

Happy travels!

[slotaddict]

Dh and I discovered ping pong on the last day of our last cruise (Norwegian Sun) and loved it, so I'm sorry to hear the Century doesn't offer one. It was a fun game, but we only saw teenagers using them and I can see why Celebrity doesn't feel there is need for one on their ships.

 

I appreciate the responses and will be sure to post my review when we return.

 

Happy travels!

 

Michele,

Stinsowm, says there are ping pong tables, I guess I just didn;t happen across them.

Roe

[michelethelibrarian]

And thanks, stinsowm! :) I bet they are up on the Sky deck, with the basketball court. I can't wait!!!

[katscruise]

My husband and I were on the Century before it was refurbished and they had ping pond tables but I do not remember where they are, The are in a strange place. They were outside under some stairs, it was not where I would expect them to be I love to play ping pong so that is why I remember them. :)

[comfortcove]

Hi Llav, Sorry you did not get to enjoy your Persian Gardens pass. I did not use the spa, only the gym and dome daytime meals from the aquaspa cafe. I liked their food for a lighter lunch. It sounds like the spa treated you guys about the same way as guest relations treated us. I have been very busy today, but do plan to call X customer service about the movie issue. It made me mad that first they wanted to blame it on my kids saying it was "adult movies" since it would be impossible to watch 2 movies at once, and then would never even answer my calls. I heard somebody saying at disembarkation that they went to guest relations the last AM with some kind of issue, and there was only one person at the desk!!! All in all, a great cruise, I just don't feel the same way about Century experience as our last two X cruises. We also loved the Millenium, and were indeed treated famously. That slogan hardly applies to this cruise! Our last 2 cruises were on Jewel of the Sea (RCI) and Caribbean Princess, management/attitude on both were top notch. I am not saying I am going to avoid Celebrity, only that they did not inspire any loyalty on my part. I am glad you had a good time, we just had to make our own sunshine last week. We don't have any other cruises in the works for now, although we hope to do the Med early next fall. I miss having a cruise to anticipate!

[drk]

comfortcove...thanks for the review. If you do not get any satisfaction from X on the movie issue just dispute that portion of the charge with your creditcard company and let them handle it for you. Good luck.

[CRUISER94044]

I also returned from the Nov 13th cruise on Century. Yes, there are three ping pong tables located aft on deck 6 or 7. They are a little hard to find. Enjoy! Robbie

[caviargal]

I just posted a mini review on my Century experience.

 

I was disappointed in the service aspects of the cruise as well as lack of dress code standards.

[comfortcove]

Hi caviargal, Just read your posting. I too am wondering if short cruises just aren't really held to the same standards as longer ones. There were tons of kids on our cruise also. I only witnessed one real misbehavior, but hot tubs were always full of kids, and little children would get antsy at dinner. Speaking of dress code, there was a 30ish man at a nearby table who wore a ballcap and plaid shirt to formal night!! The balcony repair would have annoyed me. Our AC was fine, but heard others say theirs was not. Welcome home to you, Nancy

[Llav01]

hi comfortcove, my husband and I are thinking of trying out Princess next. We've only tried Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. In your opinion how does Celebrity compare to Princess? Before this last cruise I had a hard time convincing my DH to try Princess since he had such a great time on the Millinnium (first Celebrity Cruise). I hope you got your movie issue resolved!!