Royal Caribbean to deploy Celebrity Century and Celebrity Solstice in Australia

Royal Caribbean md Gavin Smith has just announced that two Celebrity Cruises vessels will be deployed in Australia for the 2014-15 season.

Celebrity Century will join Celebrity Solstice in local waters, with Solstice also returning for its third consecutive season in 2014-15.

The move follows a highly successful inaugural season for Solstice this year, with the vessel departing Sydney today for Alaska. Smith said that Celebrity had carried 35,000 passengers during its first down under deployment, about 60% of whom were from overseas.

Century was built in 1995 and is smaller than the 2850-pax Solstice, carrying around 1800 passengers. It's a more "classic" vessel, Smith said, but incorporates a range of Celebrity's contemporary features including about 50% balcony cabins, an ice bar and a 9000 square foot spa area.

The Century season will see the ship operate 11 Australian based voyages over a three month period before redeploying to Singapore in Jan 2015. New Celebrity destinations for the smaller ship will include Port Lincoln in South Australia, Burnie in Tasmania and Cairns in Queensland.

Solstice will also return for an extended 2014-15 season of 16 voyages.

Source: Cruise weekly breaking news

So another 'old' ship Celebrity Century, almost 20 years old, to arrive in OZ to work and the Solstice returns, why not ? She did a great trade this season. Note the Solstice is the oldest of the S Class ships, figures, we always get the oldest ones down here, look at the trifecta of aged Princess ships here, Sea,Dawn and Sun Princesses, discarded from the USA.

It's a 'classic' vessel because Moses had a cabin aboard.

I like how they try to 'varnish' moving an old ship down here but still generally charge us more.

Must admit Solstice was in pretty good shape.....and it is only 4-5 years old which is spring chicken territory for this country's cruising industry.

I just got off Solstice this morning and we cruised on Century last year -she may be older and not as glitzy as Solstice but I will be more than happy to cruise on her again - she is not a clapped out old ship like the hand me down P&O tubs, that's for sure. Classy, traditional and I much prefer the dining room on Century to Solstice.

After the season here, Century will then reposition to Asia to do some interesting itineraries, one of which will visit Burma.

It's a 'classic' vessel because Moses had a cabin aboard.

 

I like how they try to 'varnish' moving an old ship down here but still generally charge us more.

 

Must admit Solstice was in pretty good shape.....and it is only 4-5 years old which is spring chicken territory for this country's cruising industry.

Fair comment, I think Solstice might have had a bit of a refurb before she came here late last year. But sure, she was in good nick, furniture, furnishings, carpet were A1.

6Andy6, do you know why they could not keep the food hot in the buffet? Ceramic hot plates, which were only permitted to heat to a 'safe' temperature, not steam in the bay maries like other ships have. Likewise their ability to heat plates for the MDR. I asked the Exec Chef and Asst.Maitre 'D'. Design flaws.

Its a good thing Solstice is coming back. I think more people would be going for the newer rather than older. What I can say about Solstice is that it was in outstanding and excellent working order. I was hard pressed to find anything damaged or broken. It was pleasent to sail on and clean. I have been on some newer ships which have disappointed me with broken faclities like spas that do not work and do not have jets and do not blow bubbles. On Solstice they all worked.

Having enjoyed Solstice, the Century might be ok to try. About the same age as Oriana but with a decent amount of passengers too at 1,800. You can bet that at that age it will be kept in good condition.

Solstice did have some design flaws according to the crew. If the ports cannot supply a gangway the only way to get people off the ship is via deck 3. If the port wall is too high then there is no way the ship can use their own gangways and has to rely on tenders. This was the reason on my cruise that it took hours to get off in Dunedin.

If you think newer is better here is something to think about. The new Royal Princess that is being buit is not much bigger than Solstice. I will try and look up the figures again but the size difference is minimal. Solstice has 2,800 passengers. The Royal Princess will carry 3,600.

The Azura, Ventura, Crown Princess, Emerald Princess, Ruby Princess, Caribbean Princess (all of which I will refuse to cruise on even if some millionaire decided to pay my fare to test me) I will flat out refuse to sail on these ships. The reason why 3,080 passengers on a 113,000ton ship 290m long and 36m wide. The Solstice is 122,000tons, 314m long, 36m wide and WAIT FOR IT!!!! 2,800 passengers.

I love cruising but am fast losing faith in some things like excess crowding on ships particularly the newer ones. However the newer ships are generally more appealing with better facilities than the old ones as they are phased out. What can you do!!??

So yeah despite the age I probably would try Celebrity Century. I will keep sailing on ships like Aurora, Oriana, Diamond Princess, Sapphire Princess, Golden Princess, Star Princess.

Delighted to hear that Celebrity will be repositioning Century Down Under again.

It is a better size for visiting some of the smaller ports, than the bigger ships.

I loved that ship and I am looking forward to some more interesting itineraries.

It will be a good mix with Solstice for those who prefer the larger, more modern ships.

Thanks for posting this.

Keith

Love the Century its a great ship well worth a try if you have not been on her, very classy

Havnt tried Solstice but looks good.

Celebrity gets my vote after only one trip with them.

Hopefully more to come.

Hard to see how people view this positive as a negative.

Instead of having one ship, they are now offering two!

Is that not better than one?

So then the only question is which two? Solstice already fits in so reasonable to expect her. Century is the smallest so is the most sensible addition as a growth step. Solstice is already from their newest class, so a bit unreasonable to expect two from that class. The third option is the Millennium class which already makes brief visits each season anyway. They're also larger so economics are questionable.

Millennium class are my favourite, but I still don't see this as anything but positive.

It's like some expect the cruise lines to scrap ships after 10 years. Outrageous!

Fair comment, I think Solstice might have had a bit of a refurb before she came here late last year. But sure, she was in good nick, furniture, furnishings, carpet were A1.

 

6Andy6, do you know why they could not keep the food hot in the buffet? Ceramic hot plates, which were only permitted to heat to a 'safe' temperature, not steam in the bay maries like other ships have. Likewise their ability to heat plates for the MDR. I asked the Exec Chef and Asst.Maitre 'D'. Design flaws.

TBH....yup the food was never hot but that didn't worry me as I'm not a hot food type of person...hell I like lukewarm soggy chips :D. I find of food to hot I just sit there talking until it cools down..... Lol. Just as I hate boiling hot coffee (have a blistered tongue at the moment from that today). I think they used heat lamps from memory...don't know what was underneath if there was an additional element.

For me, as I've said before, it was standard buffet food. A place to eat on port days where you didn't need to overdress and it served its purpose. Neither award wining nor spit out of the mouth bad.

Brilliant news! Well done RCCL!

Good, interesting post. Appreciate this sharing of the potentially big, big news. Many have been wondering if Celebrity would be dumping the Century. I checked and did not see any media reports, yet, confirming this major development by Celebrity cruise in "doubling" their bets/ships for these down under areas. I posted a link to this thread on the Celebrity main board for this Cruise Critic site.

We are looking forward to our first “down under” visit, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Celebrity Solstice sailing, departing Sydney, going from Australia to Auckland/NZ doing 14 days on this ship we loved in the Med in June 2011.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Celebrity Solstice Visual Highlights? From our June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in France, Italy, Kotor and Dubrovnik, I have pull together a number of wonderful visuals of the Solstice, its features, food, entertainment, options, etc. We are now at 2,520 views for this shorter version started late last week of my larger full review of that cruise and all of the port pictures/details. Check these postings and added info at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1803477

Delighted to hear that Celebrity will be repositioning Century Down Under again.

 

It is a better size for visiting some of the smaller ports, than the bigger ships.

 

I loved that ship and I am looking forward to some more interesting itineraries.

 

It will be a good mix with Solstice for those who prefer the larger, more modern ships.

Agree totally. I would cruise on the Century again in a heartbeat. We loved our 2011 cruise and would be more than happy to have an Oceanview Cabin again!

We were on the Century for a 15 night cruise in January. The ship is lovely, but there were a few negatives.

Food in the buffet was never hot. For example, scrambled eggs were no hotter than my hand. Yuk! The only way to get hot eggs in the buffet was to line up and wait for them to be cooked. Luke warm pizza wasn't too good either. If we went to the buffet for lunch we went to the hamburger station near the pool and waited for our hamburger to be cooked, then served with hot chips.

The production show were abysmal. We noticed wine was a couple of dollars more expensive than on Princess for the same drop. There was a charge to watch fairly recent movies on the Stateroom TV. Our room stewards kept knocking on our door for the tiniest thing, even to give us the programme for the next day. We didn't have a "Do not disturb" sign to put out. Maybe we should have just asked them not to disturb us, but having them known 3 or 4 times a day when we were in the cabin was a bit much!!

There were a few pluses compared with Princess - Embarkation and disembarkation were done very quickly. The library was open 24/7.

We couldn't get a place for early dining so went with 'Select'. We were seated in the same area with the same waitstaff for the whole cruise - great.

Hi all,

Just checked the Celebrity website, but they are not showing any mention of the itinerary changes for Century past September 2014.

I was interested to see what the South Australian itinerary was that mentioned it was to include Port Lincoln. (a place I have always wanted to visit.)

Any ideas when the itinerary details will be released?

Hi all, Just checked the Celebrity website, but they are not showing any mention of the itinerary changes for Century past September 2014. I was interested to see what the South Australian itinerary was that mentioned it was to include Port Lincoln. (a place I have always wanted to visit.) Any ideas when the itinerary details will be released?

It will later in April when those detailed cruise options will be posted and available for booking. Per Host Andy on the main Celebrity board, that is the schedule. You might check at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1801687&highlight=host+andy

It's a long thread and you might check at the end of the thread. In early March, Andy thought these might be up and available around April 11. He also noted: "they are open for booking for Captains Club members. The best bet is to call your TA or Captains Club for information & booking."

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Celebrity Solstice Visual Highlights? From our June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in France, Italy, Kotor and Dubrovnik, I have pull together a number of wonderful visuals of the Solstice, its features, food, entertainment, options, etc. We are now at 2,536 views for this shorter version started late last week of my larger full review of that cruise and all of the port pictures/details. Check these postings and added info at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1803477

Sometimes these days it is not worth looking at the itinerary and prices until a few months before departure. I am not worried about looking at itineratries too early now. After so much extensive travel I can afford to take my time and pick and choose slowly and I gether most seasoned cruisers are inclined to do the same.

I do have to respond to this as I keep seeing people say the same thing.

We were on the Century for a 15 night cruise in January. The ship is lovely, but there were a few negatives.

 

Food in the buffet was never hot. For example, scrambled eggs were no hotter than my hand. Yuk! Next time, cook some scrambled eggs at home. Keep them in the frying pan with the heat on and see what happens. They burn or dry out. You cannot keep food that is going to sit for 10-15 minutes or so piping hot anywhere. Bain maries are only intended to maintain an even temperature....not the original cooking temp.The only way to get hot eggs in the buffet was to line up and wait for them to be cooked So let me see, having them sit there they would have got cold...but cooking them fresh so they are hot was a pain?? I'm confused.. Luke warm pizza wasn't too good either.Once again. Grab a heat lamp and stick pizza underneath it for any amount of time. Unless its cooked fresh and handed to you there and then (another complaint waiting to happen about waiting), pizza sitting under any sort of heat will...wait for it...dry out. Every got just cooked hot pizza from a delivery boy? At best they can only maintain it for a short time...the alternative is throwing it out every 5 minutes. If we went to the buffet for lunch we went to the hamburger station near the pool and waited for our hamburger to be cooked, then served with hot chips.

 

The production show were abysmal. ooookkkkayWe noticed wine was a couple of dollars more expensive than on Princess for the same drop. There was a charge to watch fairly recent movies on the Stateroom TV.Must have had a different television system, ours have recent on demand movies (Prometheus comes to mind - I only saw that last year - also Rock of Ages - also released 2012) and more recent (like released last month or two) paid movies. Our room stewards kept knocking on our door for the tiniest thing, even to give us the programme for the next day??? Isn't it their job to be cleaning the room, constant maintenance. The alternative is not to make up the room until they have the next days programme - around 4pm.. We didn't have a "Do not disturb" sign to put outWell we did...and guess what. We wern't disturbed.....once. And took it down when we left the room. Oh and we gave the room attendant sufficient time in the morning to do her chores.. Maybe we should have just asked them not to disturb us, but having them known 3 or 4 times a day when we were in the cabin was a bit much!!Yes it is a bit much, specially when they are trying to do a job for someone that found fault with everything. You do understand they is no magic camera that tells them when your in or out..other than knocking.

 

Sorry...when I read you comments I just sat there and was simply amazed you found something you liked. Come on..there are legitimate complaints (and even I had some) but then there is just being so pedantic...

When are Royal Caribbean going to redeploy a ship to Australia in our winter, so we can cruise north?

Like the American/Canadian snowbirds who relocate south to Florida/Arizona for their winter, Australians like to holiday in the north during our winter.

As I'd love to cruise on Century again, I noticed it will only be based in Aus for 3 months from 10/10/2014 to 11/1/2015.

On first look, Celebrity's first combined Nth. Qld. and South Pacific cruise looks good, however, it will be in the cyclone season.