Century trip report, 8/7-8/14

Hi friends!

Well we just returned from cruise #3 for us on the good old Century. As usual, we were not disappointed. We (me, my 16 year old niece and my 4 year old daughter) booked our trip one week before sailing.

Embarkation was as easy as could be- we waited till about 12 to leave our house, arrived at the pier by 12:20. There were very few lines, and they moved quickly. We were at our cabin by 1PM. Our bags were there by 2!

The ship doesn't look bad considering its age. I just noticed some carpeting that should be changed, and the pool deck flooring should be redone. Our cabin was fine...but I think its time to update the bedspreads! Other than that, they are doing their best, as usual to keep things as clean as possible.

The food was as good as always....my new addiction was those fresh waffles they make at the pool in the mornings. I never had them before this cruise. Wow!!

The chair hogs were out in full force. I was always up and out early- reading my book by the pool by 9AM, so I never had a problem finding a seat, but I observed plenty of chairs with towels on them that were empty for sometimes as long as 2 1/2 hours! So many people were looking for places to sit....finally I would just tell them how long I'd been there, and that no one was sitting in those chairs, and they should just take them. They did, and no one said a word to them.

The funny thing I noticed about this cruise- and I feel silly mentioning this- was no one made any napkin animals for my daughter (LOL!) Seriously, that was one thing my four year old loved about cruises- all the waiters who would fold up the napkins into rabbits, mice, etc. etc. No one did that this time......she survived though- she raced to the Fun Factory every day. Would beg me from 7 AM on to go there- so those youth counselors did an awesome job!! My 16 year old niece , as usual, met up with all the other teens and they all basically hung around together all week. There were lots of kids on our cruise.

Some poor kid got appendicitis on our very first night out and in the middle of the night we docked somewhere (maybe Key West?) and he had to get off. That made us late for San Juan- we didn't get there till about 6 PM instead of 4:30. We didn't even bother getting off the ship and from those that did SJ received less than stellar reviews. "seedy", "scary", and "unappealing" were some words I heard used to describe it. I've been there before, so I didn't feel like I missed out on anything.

In St. Thomas we went to Magens Bay- which was fine till about 12 noon, then became so crowded with cruisers (there were 4 other ships in port with us, as was the case in all the ports) that we left and went back to the ship. We had lunch on the ship, thn went back out for a walk around downtown.

We went to Orient Beach in St. Martin which is one of my favorite places on earth. I got to do some shopping at this boutique on the beach that I love called Sexy Fruits. They have really unique silver jewelry, terrific bathing suits and clothes. I did all my shopping right there.

Nassau was super cowded as well- tons of traffic (the comedian even made a joke out of it!) and unbelievably hot. We walked around for about an hour and then went back to enjoy the empty swimming pool.

We escaped any effects of Hurricane Charley. The weather couldn't have been nicer.

Oh, and listen to this!! I was having a conversation with one of the assistant maitre d's who mentioned Cruise Critics- and how they all "get a good laugh" from this site! Wonder what she meant by that..... ( I was telling her how I read on line not long ago about a Celebrity ship that had docked in port and then was forced to leave because they hadn't filed the proper paper work- she said that wasn't true....I could have sworn that it was a Celebrity ship that had that problem...)

A confession: when waiting to disembark, my 4 year old was getting really antsy, so as soon as they started calling colors, we walked off the ship . No one asked what color we were or anything. Don't tell anyone!!! (LOL)

I just reread my post and it sounds a bit negative- but we really had a great time and would definitely sail the Century again!

Suzanne

Thanks for posting your review, I'm glad Charley didn't impact your cruise. I didn't think your review sounded negative, sounds like you had a good time. We're on her again in just over a month, we really can't wait!

Terri

Terri

Are you cruising the eastern or western caribbean?

Suzanne

Bisous3:

We will be cruising next week on the Century - same route (Eastern Caribbean). I have a few questions and would appreciate it if you could reply.

In St Thomas was the ship "docked" or did you have to tender to go ashore. Looking at the bridgecam for Tuesday - it seemed as if the Century was not docked at the pier and the http://www.***** cruise ship schedule the Century was listed as "anchorage". If there was a tender ashore - was there some type of order (by deck, excursions, etc).

How was the weather? Did you have any "rough seas"?

Thank you.

CardMutt

Suzanne, I'm glad you had such a nice time. I'll be on her in less than a month. I think it's incredible that you all were not impacted by Charley. I think that's speaks a lot about the Captain on the ship.

Did you have late seating or early seating? Who was your waiter? Who was the Captain?

thanks,

Toni

We had early seating and had a terrific waiter named Augustinho (Gus) and his assistant was Daniela. Terry Konstantinides was the captain.

Have a great time!!

Suzanne

Hi Suzanne, thanks for the information. :)

Welcome home Suzanne. glad you had the great time. thanks for the info. deb

Hi Suzanne:) glad you had a great time.....about the ship that didn't have the correct paperwork........You are correct....it was the GALAXY...last year...and it was in Charleston. I remember reading some posts from those who were on the ship at the time.....they made the ship leave the dock...(they were allowed back) but it was well documented and there were people left on land at the time...(who were on excursions).

So, whoever you spoke with last week was not informed correctly. It was a Celebrity ship...it was the Galaxy.

About having for ships in port all the time, don't you think it is about tiem, they did some switching of ports. RCI, Carnival, Princess & Celebrity would do some good to introduce some new islands on the 7 night eastern. NCL i starting to use Antigua next year. Just a thought. Having so many people does a make a port stop less enjoyable... I will try to deter people from going to Magens Bay for this reason.

Card Mutt- you are correct. We had to tender ashore in St. Thomas. I could be wrong but I think it was because of the pier being full. In the morning, you had to go to the Celebrity Theater when you were ready to go ashore to get a tender ticket. After a certain time....maybe by 10 AM or so it was no longer necessary to get a ticket for the tender. They encourage people who ar enot going on the ships excursions to let those people disembark first as to avoid a mad rush and large crowds. The nice thing was the tender let you off right downtown.

We had smooth sailing and great weather all week. No rough seas at all.

I definitely agree with ditching San Juan and Nassau (didn't like Casa de Campo on our Millie cruise either). There are so many more beautiful islands- and you get to those 2 places so late there isn't much to do to make a day of it anyway.

Suzanne

Bisous3 (Suzanne):

Thank you for your reply about St Thomas. Is there priority for the Royal Suites for tendering? We are booked a daysail (not thru Celebrity) and are to meet them at 9:30 am.

This will be our first on Celebrity/Century and we can't wait. We've heard so many good things about the ship (service, food, etc). I just wish that the time in the ports (St Thomas and St Maarten) were longer and San Juan if they could completely by-pass or arrive earlier to see things.

Well, I'm glad that your trip was safe and that you had fun. I will let the others on our roll call know about the tendering in St Thomas. Thank you again.

CardMutt

CardMutt-

I have been on the Century 3 times and this is the first time we've ever had to take the tender into St Thomas, so maybe you won't have to.

Also I could be wrong but the only people I remember who had priority tender boarding were Elite Captain's Club members.Even if you do tender though, assuming you arrive on time in port at 8AM, you'll have plenty of time to meet your excursion.

Suzanne

Glad to hear you had such a good time BICOUS,,, We ( me & daughter ) were on the Century in May and had the BEST CRUISE EVER....:D Plan on it again for May of 05.......:)

Kkorman,

The Century is switching its scheduled stops next year, in addition to increasing its cruises to a 9, 10, 9 night schedule. The Eastern Caribbean nine-night cruise will stop in St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados and Antigua - we are booked on the first one, leaving June 11, 2005.

Terri

Are you cruising the eastern or western caribbean?

Suzanne

I'm on eastern in September an western in December.

Terri

glad u had a great time---we always get off as soon as they call the 1st color--actually we just get our cabin attendant to get us the 1st color tags. :)

Since we've got a 12hr drive ahead, it helps to get out early.

Suzanne,glad to hear you had a great time on the Century and that hurricane Charley didn't affect your cruise. CLSmith