My Pros and Cons on my Celebrity Century British Isles Western Europe cruise.

[Amlee]

Ok, I had this all nicely typed out and went to post and it went poof! :mad: So here we go again.

 

I did the 10 day British Isle/Western Europe cruise Sept 3 - 13 on the Century. My first Celebrity cruise.

 

The ship:

 

I loved the size and the decor of this ship. It was refreshing to a see a ship that wasn't splashed with the casino flair that some many cruise lines seem to use. Blah!

 

It was my understanding that this ship had been in dry dock a not too long ago. You could have fooled me. I'm not the type person to follow base boards, or do the white glove test. But these were very noticeable things. In my cabin there was deep fist size dents in the wall, the carpet was water stained around the closet. I was right next to the crew elevators and storage area. It looked like that area had been flooded and the water had ran under the wall into that room. In the women's public bathroom on deck 6, one of the doors to a stall was broke. Now I met two crew members coming out with cleaning supplies, so they should have noticed this. I reported it, and went back a few days later. Nothing had been done. Some of the furniture was frayed and worn looking in many of the public areas. Some of the buttons for the elevators wouldn't work all the time. You would push them, they would light up. You look back and the light had gone out and the elevator had skipped you. One elevator (midship/port side) would snap, pop and shake at times.

 

Another problem was the lay out of the seating area. I am a non-smoker, and it seemed like all the smoking areas had the best seats. It also had the most seating. With part of the non-smoking area being taken up by the cartoonist and his stuff. I found the area for us non-smokers very limited. A few times I caught smokers passing through the non-smoking areas unchecked.

 

I have to say something that really bothered me and I heard quite a few comments about this was the items on display and the items for sale. The cruise before this and all summer was of the Baltic's and that is what was up. There was NOTHING about the port of calls or Celtic for sale on this cruise ship. The cruise afterward the ship was leaving going to the Med, so by day 12 the Med stuff went up. After I realized it was this way, I didn't even bother with the shops.

 

A problem with a crew member:

 

The photo area had a BIG BANNER that said "DIGITAL PRINTING" "SAME DAY PRINTING". When I went to use this option I was told that they didn't do that. HUH?! But you Banner says other wise. The moron, who's lack of customer service and rudeness already had me seeing red, shrugged his shoulders and said it was ship policy. I wish I had taken a picture of that banner and gone to guest services, but it wasn't worth it and you have to pick your battles.

 

My luggage:

 

But the biggest thing was my luggage. I flew in on the 2nd, but my luggage stayed in Atlanta. Delta had pulled it because the flight was over weight. So about 30 of us made it that our luggage didn't. I was the only one heading for the cruise. Delta assured me that my luggage would be in on the first flight in the morning. I gave them my contact information and my booking number on the ship and room number. Sure enough the next morning my luggage was in Amsterdam. Delta agreed to have it taken directly to the ship.

 

When I got to the port I explained to the lady taken the luggage what was going on. She took me to a desk and pulled out a form that said Lost or Delayed Luggage. She said this happened all the time and that they even had a form just for something like this. I gave her my information, what my luggage looked like and my room number. I boarded thinking ok this is going to work out. I called at 1:30 and talked to Delta. They said my luggage had been picked up and was delivered between 12 and 12:30 to the ship. YAY! Around 4:30 I started checking my cabin for my luggage. Nothing. I find my cabin steward and explain to him what is going on. I show him the matching pieces what my luggage looked like. He came back and said he didn't see it. I head down to the concierge desk. I explain to her that Delta says it was delivered. She says she will go look. I ask if I can go with her, and she says no. That it's not allowed. Now my luggage isn't the common luggage. It's the Vera Bradley red paisley. So it's going to stick out like a sore thumb. By this time the ship is leaving port.

 

I go to dinner and when I get back to my room I have a packet of toothbrush and tooth paste. An XL t-shirt. Now I'm a big women and that t-shirt wasn't going to work for me at all. I also have a message on my phone telling me that my luggage was not on the ship. That there wasn't any record showing it had been delivered.

 

The next morning I am up by 3am on the phone to Delta lost luggage (which I might say is USELESS!), and to the Amsterdam desk (who knew what was going on). By 5am I am dressed and down stairs at Guest Relations. The first person I got was clueless! I couldn't get my phone to work in my cabin. This is how my conversation went with him. Me: Hi, I'm having problem with the phone in my cabin. Him: Where are you calling? Me: Amsterdam. Him: Oh, you can't call Amsterdam from the ship. Now I had passed mad several hours back and had moved on to dangerous. So I very slowly took a deep breath. Me: Ok, thank you. Now if you would be so kind to get someone to the counter that knows what they are doing. He looked at me like I had grown a second head, but went to do what I had ask. Which brings me to Chrissy. Now if I could have brought her home and put her to work for me. I would have in a heart beat. She knew her job and knew it well. It seems like the phone and Internet system had crashed during the night and nobodies phone or net was working. They had it up and running by the time everyone else was up and moving.

 

The concierge's desk opened at 7am. I was sitting there waiting. I had already decided that if my luggage wasn't found today, I was flying home. Madonna (the concierge) called Amsterdam and was told the same thing I had been telling her since the night before. My luggage was delivered to the ship and it had been signed off on. I had booked the day in London excursion. I was told to go, and she would let me know something when I got back to the ship. I told her she could call me on my cell phone when she found out something. I hadn't been gone 30 minutes when she called to tell me that luggage had been found and it was in my room. It had been found with a crew member. That is all I knew until I got back to the ship that afternoon.

 

Once I got back, I was told that the crew member had thought it belonged to crew member and was holding it until it could be claimed. That only after questions started getting asked, did he realize that he had been wrong. Now my name, room number, and booking number was on the tags. I'm still not buying this story.

 

But all my stuff was there and it didn't look like it had been gone through. I'm also don't know how to put a value to stress. I did ask that the money I had spent in their shop be credited back to me. I returned the unused toothbrush and paste. The still folded t-shirt and the jacket that I had bought. I requested that the jacket be given to the next person who found themselves in my place. At first I was told that they couldn't give me my money back. That they just didn't do that. Did I mention I had passed Mad several hours ago? She must have seen that in me, as she went to backing off that comment quickly. Saying she would have to get it approved. On the last night the money was put back on my account.

 

Since coming home I have filed a request to get payment for my cell phone calls. Calls I wouldn't have had to make to Atlanta and Amsterdam. Had Celebrity been on their toes.

 

Now don't get me wrong despite it all I had a wonderful time.

 

The ship:

 

Like I said I loved the size of this ship. It was easy to get from one end to the other. I also liked the decor. I love the old ocean liner look that this ship has. I also liked the panel in the elevator that old you when people were entering and leaving. I just wished the same thing was offered on the outside.

 

The crew:

 

This had to be one of the nicest crews I have ever sailed with. Right up there with Disney. There was always a smile on their faces and a HAPPY HAPPY (yeah if you have been on this ship you know what I'm talking about!) greeting.

 

My waiter was great. Paulo knew with in a few days that I would drink a Dt. Coke with my meal. It was waiting for me when I got to the table and the refills followed.

 

My room steward was also wonderful. I did have a few cleaning issues that I had to point out. But once Peter had them pointed out, he saw that they were taken care of.

 

The biggest draw for me was the Itn on this cruise. The only thing that could have made this cruise better would have been to add a few days with stops in Scotland. Oh to dream!

 

I had done a land tour in Ireland earlier this year. So this cruise gave me a chance to do things that I didn't get to do on my last trip. In Dublin I did a day tour to Newgrange. If anyone ever gets a chance to do this tour GO! I had never been to Wales, N. Ireland, England or St. Peters Port. Places I would go back to in a heart beat. France was ok, and would go if the price was right, but it's not a must return for me.

 

One of our stops was Cobh, Ireland. Now Cobh is a 20 minute train ride from Cork and I had just done Cork and the surrounding areas. So I booked a spa treatment for that morning. I did the seaweed/full body massage. If you have ever thought about this, go for IT! I did this same treatment last year and loved it. I plan to do it again in October.

 

But my special moment came while I was having this done. I was laying there, looking out the window at the boats and land of Ireland, with Enya (for those of you who don't know, she is an Irish singer. Whose home isn't far from Cork) playing in the back ground. When it hits me, the last time someone from my family was here on a ship, was in the mid 1700s. Leaving Ireland for the New World. Yeah, I'm women enough to admit, the tears started.

 

That moment made the trip for me. It washed away all the negative I could think of on this trip.

 

I would sail on Celebrity again.

[Cruisenouvelle]

Thank you for a most interesting review. I'm sorry to learn of your luggage fiasco - especially when it was 'thought' to be crew luggage, when it was clearly marked otherwise. We sailed Century in April, so it was interesting to compare notes. Our steward's name was Peter, too - but to be honest, we weren't impressed w/ him. Anyway, glad the cruise had plenty of good moments to offset the stress!

[Literary Lynne]

Oh dear - I was SO sorry to hear about the luggage problem - what a nightmare.

 

Your special moment, brought tears to my eyes too! That wonderful haunting voice of Enya and you looking out towards the land of your forefathers/mothers. Thank you for sharing it.

 

Lynne:)

[Amlee]

Thanks and your welcome! I really had a great time and like I said I would sail with Celebrity again. That one moment will always be special to me.

 

Peter and I came to a quick understanding. My bathroom wasn't being cleaned like it should have been. I pointed out the areas in need and it was quickly taken care of. I didn't have a problem afterwards. I also asked for extra padding on the bed. He told me that it already had 2 covers. I asked if it was possible to have another added. He said he would see if he could find one, but asked if he couldn't could he double up some blankets. That night I had several blankets doubled up and I slept alot better.

[Gypsea]

Fun to read about Century but sorry your trip was less than perfect. I also feel badly that you found many areas lacking after the refurb. I love this ship and sailed her just before the work was scheduled. Looking forward to the 10/1 Med.

[warmwinds]

It is so nice to know that (stuff) can happen and you can still have a wonderful time - many people would have come home and just ranted about the bad and had it obliterate the good. You sound like a real take charge kind of person who knows how to get things done - I really respect that. Even though you said you were "beyond mad" it doesn't sound like you ever lost control and got truly nasty.

 

Tell me about this shore excursion from Dublin - Newgrange? Never heard of it. We're doing the British Isles next April on Connie and are having such a hard time deciding what shore excursions to take (can't book them yet but just looking).