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Trip Report - First Time Celebrity (Century Pacific Coastal)


Lisah101
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We have been on a few cruise lines and thought we would try Celebrity. Found a great price on the Century out of Los Angeles and it seemed like a nice way to see what Celebrity was all about.

 

Booking: I had started another whole thread about this. They moved our room and tried to tell us we did it ourselves. End results - too bad, out of luck. We did walk down to our old room and found it was part of a large group of foreigners who seemed to be traveling together as when we walked by, they were going back and forth from cabin to cabin to get ready for dinner.

 

Check in: Frantic and unorganized, lots of delays, no communication and just a mess. Once we did get to the front and were called up, we did ask about our room and moving back to the aft of the ship. THey told us they were full, no chance, so oh well, we tried. But...... when she went to get our room keys, they were missing.:( We waited 30 minutes standing at the desk for them to figure it out and we were never given any reason, only that they were looking for our room keys. THey advised us to board and go immediately to guest services.

 

Boarding stated, but we had no boarding number since they didn't give us one when we finally got a room key. We went with the first group they called and immediately walked down to guest services. They had us wait for a while, then advised our room keys were good for the new room they assigned us (first room in the bow - we wanted aft). They told us someone would contact us about the room issue.

 

BTW.... no one ever contacted us, even after another trip to guest services (same answer, someone will contact you), 2 calls from our room to be told they would research. IT wasn't until my husband tracked down the hotel director in the hallway and advised him we were hoping for at least a response before the cruise ended). The second to last day they sent us a future cruise credit, but never an explanation or apology for not following up on any of the requests.

 

Once we finally boarded, they were offering mimosas, but we were still trying to figure out the room issue. We had lunch at the buffet which was OK, but the food items were mostly the same with very little variation.

 

THe room was nice, it was our first interior and actually the best room we've had on any cruiseline if you compare the layout, features, storage, etc.

 

The bed was the worst however. Hard and uncomfortable.

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After a short introduction of the Culinary Crew, we did the kitchen tour. Some of these photos are VERY out of focus. My husband suggested I use the viewfinder on the camera instead of the display screen. We think the fact that we both wear glasses and the view finder was adjusted for his lenses meant photos were blurry when I tried. Still working on that one.

 

(note, this report is grouped by subject and not chronological).

 

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Edited by Lisah101
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After we toured the Galley, we ended up in Murano. This seemed like a very hard sell to book their speciality restaurant. There was actually more hard core "sales" on Celebrity than I remember on any other cruise line. These photos are from what i called the "Murano sales pitch"

 

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This was a nice place, although we never made it up there at night. The windows were kinda yucky. They had condensation issues, cracked around the edges and caulking. There was debris at the bottom that looked like stuff was falling out of the edges. Nice view if you found a good window with no condensation and was clean. The chairs were very comfortable.

 

I tried to find the best and cleanest for these photos.

 

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I was honestly so disillusioned after the room fiasco that I didn't take many photos of the room, but here are a few.

 

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Had a blister on my foot, but bought Cotton Candy in port to make it feel better - counting this as a room pic!

 

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We will be on her in a month, so really appreciate your review and pictures! Now I am getting really excited!

 

Just wait, there is a HUGE food section coming (about half out of focus unfortunately, but figured better than nothing!

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Like I said - using the viewfinder really messed up my photos but I"m posting anyway in case anyone finds them interesting. I'm new to DSLRs and am learning. This was also my first attempt at using a macro lens. Have a lot to learn! I also tried to do all these without flash as to not bother the rest of the dining room.

 

The start of a bazillion food photos.

 

Butter Plate:

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Beet Salad

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French Onion Soup

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White Gazpacho Ajo blanco

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Homestyle Pork Chop

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Creme Catalana - kinda like creme brule (sp?) only better!

 

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Cherry Brandy Ice Cream (DH asked for this every night and still talks about it)

 

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One night, one of the chefs and an assistant came through the dining room to chat with each table. I was very impressed. We did ask about the ice cream and they said there was a gentleman who rotated through the ships making ice cream. He would be onboard long enough to make homemade ice cream to store - then move on to the next ship.

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I tried the eggs benedict because they are my favorite, but was a bit disappointed. They were so runny, the whites were still clear in places. I like the yolks runny, not the whites, but this was too much for me. I never tried them again.

 

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I also love Muesli and was excited, but again, I was disappointed. Holland America as the best Muesli so after this my breakfast was mostly an apple, a hardboiled egg and some bread.

 

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We have been on a few cruise lines and thought we would try Celebrity. Found a great price on the Century out of Los Angeles and it seemed like a nice way to see what Celebrity was all about.

 

Booking: I had started another whole thread about this. They moved our room and tried to tell us we did it ourselves. End results - too bad, out of luck. We did walk down to our old room and found it was part of a large group of foreigners who seemed to be traveling together as when we walked by, they were going back and forth from cabin to cabin to get ready for dinner.

 

Check in: Frantic and unorganized, lots of delays, no communication and just a mess. Once we did get to the front and were called up, we did ask about our room and moving back to the aft of the ship. THey told us they were full, no chance, so oh well, we tried. But...... when she went to get our room keys, they were missing.:( We waited 30 minutes standing at the desk for them to figure it out and we were never given any reason, only that they were looking for our room keys. THey advised us to board and go immediately to guest services.

 

Boarding stated, but we had no boarding number since they didn't give us one when we finally got a room key. We went with the first group they called and immediately walked down to guest services. They had us wait for a while, then advised our room keys were good for the new room they assigned us (first room in the bow - we wanted aft). They told us someone would contact us about the room issue.

 

BTW.... no one ever contacted us, even after another trip to guest services (same answer, someone will contact you), 2 calls from our room to be told they would research. IT wasn't until my husband tracked down the hotel director in the hallway and advised him we were hoping for at least a response before the cruise ended). The second to last day they sent us a future cruise credit, but never an explanation or apology for not following up on any of the requests.

 

Once we finally boarded, they were offering mimosas, but we were still trying to figure out the room issue. We had lunch at the buffet which was OK, but the food items were mostly the same with very little variation.

 

THe room was nice, it was our first interior and actually the best room we've had on any cruiseline if you compare the layout, features, storage, etc.

 

The bed was the worst however. Hard and uncomfortable.

 

our pillows were also good/ did not need to change any

avoid ALL disembarkation problems by arriving at 1PM/ we got there at 11:30

because we had first time cruisers with us/ not smart/ the CC line had cuts from all the Suite Passengers as they had no separate checkin line

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Another dinner!

 

Chilled Pear soup - very good

 

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Mushroom thing, forgot the name but also the WORST entree of the trip. The edges were burnt so black they turned to ash when the fork touched them. THe spinach was chewy and even the knife didn't cut it well. I picked at it and decided desert would be coming, so not to fret.

 

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Another steak (from the daily menu, not the everyday menu. Can't remember exactly what they called it, but DH said it was very good.

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Shrimp scampi will a total of 4 shrimp. (ordered by a table mate)

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Phyllo dough tulip - not a fan. The phyllo dough was tough, not flaky and the creme inside was so tart it made me pucker.

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More Cherry Brandy Ice Cream

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Tomato salad - very good!

 

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Grilled chicken from everyday menu - very good!

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Turkey parmesan - very good!

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Cheesecake with Caramel - very good!

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Tiramisu - was ok, think it had been made too far ahead, was soggy and all tasted the same.

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Crab Cake - AMAZING!!!!

 

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Chicory Apple Pear salad - another EXCELLENT choice!

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Cajun Spiced Drum Fish - good, but a little dry

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Olive Oil Cremiuex - Again an amazing desert - I'd almost cruise just to have this again!!!

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Double Baked Blue Cheese Soufflé. This was my first savory soufflé and it was very good!

 

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Oyster Rockefeller (table mate's so didn't taste it personally)

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Lobster - very good

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Beef Wellington - DH loved this!

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Raspberry sorbet - excellent!

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Citrus Roulade - forgot to ask DH about this one.

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