2theship

Hi Andy,

I'd appreciate any general comments you can make about Century at this stage of her life. I'm interested in the overall condition, the service and the food. The last time I sailed her was the summer of '96 when she was brand new.

Thanks,

Pam

On our recent Silhouette cruise, I was upset when I realized that I had forgotten my bottles of salon shampoo and conditioner. I never use anything else on my hair and am, frankly, a total snob about the whole thing. But, I wound up using the the Celebrity shampoo for an entire week and guess what - it was fine. My hair didn't look any different and didn't suffer any damage. I think I learned a little lesson.

Be aware that in order to use the wifi, you must visit the iLounge first to set up an account. Like much of Celebrity's IT system, it's not a very user friendly process but once you understand it, it only takes a minute.

How about a nice portrait by the ship photographers?

We actually took a break from family cruising while our girls got past the awkward age. It's too bad the cruise lines haven't figured out that there's a hole in their programming for the 18-21 year old crowd.

However, the couple of times they did cruise while 17-19, they always found other kids their age and went to shows together and hung out in general. They would be togehter in the buffet area or around the pool in the evening and found that the security staff was very nice to them - as long as they were behaving appropriately.

We received no invitation to the Platinum events on the Royal transatlantic last fall. I asked our cabin attendant and she said she didn't have anything for us. My next stop was the Captain's Circle Hostess and she told me that the invitations had been sent and I should check with our cabin attendant. :confused: When I told her that I had already done so she got a frustrated look, took my cabin number, and gave me the basic information. That night, a stack of assorted papers appeared in our cabin - the Platinum event invitation, a Cruise Critic meet and greet invitation, etc. Our cabin attendant was on her first contract and didn't know about getting messages for her passengers.

We were on the Silhouette last week and the six of us had the free classic package. As some have mentioned, service at the pool bar and the martini bar varied on the time of day. Since we had select dining, we got much faster service at the martini bar after the early diners went to the dining room. The sommelier could not have been more attentive. We were joking yesterday that he was a little too attentive.:rolleyes: The dining room bar server was not always around but always made a point of stopping at our table by the time we'd ordered dinner. We found that if we wanted a drink as we began our dinner, we were best off if we got it elsewhere and took it in with us. For the person in our party who wanted Diet Coke with her meal, the server's timing was just fine.

Overall, I think the quality of our service was pretty similar to what we have experienced without a package.

Rome Cabs or Rome in Limo (just google their names for the websites) are both very reputable limo services. With three of you, it might even be cost effective to arrange for a car to pick you up (as opposed to the minivan that many of us have used to get to Civitavecchia).

To use Celebrity's transfer, you would have to get to their pick-up point with your luggage. By the time you paid for their bus as well as for a taxi to get you to their location, you may save money by having a car to pick you up at your hotel and take you all the way to the port.

These companies can get booked up. You should schedule the transportation as soon as possible.

Are Celebrity casinos smoke-free? :confused:

Yes.

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I calledCaptain's Club about this very issue two weeks ago and was told that her room key would indicate Elite. I did not inquire concerning coupons.

When I asked about this recently I was told that while cabin mates were welcome to the Elite lounge, they would not receive any coupons.

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Hello,

 

We will be leaving on our first Celebrity cruise in a few days on the Sihouette out of Ft Lauderdale, heading to San Juan, St Kitts and St Maarten. All ports we've been to at least once.

 

We are a couple in our mid 50's yet we are still pretty active and do at times enjoy some nightlife (assuming we've had our nap lol).

 

You can see our cruise history below so we're just wondering if those of you who have experienced some of the cruises below may be able to let us know what may be different on Celebrity than what we've experienced in the past.

 

Thanks...

Are you on the January 5 sailing? If so, stop by our roll call at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1626220

It's not the most active one I've ever been on but it seems to be a pleasant group.

We've never sailed on Carnival but we have been on Royal Caribbean and Princess. Our preference is Celebrity. The food is excellent and the staff is outstanding. We are past our 50's but are often more active than the younger set. An itinerary like this will have a younger crowd on it - our group has three people in their mid-20's.

It would be access to a room that has a row of 9 heated tile loungers. At one end of the space is an "inhalation" room that has warmed air with aromatherapy scents intended to open your breathing (I think). At the other end is a more traditional steam room. There are also a couple of special showers - I never really saw the point to those. We often sail Aqua Class and I love going there but usually spend no more than an hour at a time, most of it spent relaxing on a lounger.

We sailed on the Infinity in an Aqua Class cabin on Deck 11. We enjoyed the fact that the buffet was just one deck below and even had dinner there one night (out of a 15-night Panama Canal cruise). We found Blu on the Infinity to be even better than on the S-class ships. We're not really sure why but maybe since it's located right beside the MDR kitchens, they were more able to accomodate any needs. The Infinity is smaller than S-class ships but in a good way.

Despite the fact that we live in Ohio, we've discovered the joys of enjoying lobster dockside in Maine. Anything else is just frozen stuff and we don't expect anything more. Having said that, I do enjoy a nice lobster tail on the last formal night. I just lower my expectations.

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Back in April we booked the Silhouette for next month and got the drink package.

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The last time we were on the Silhouette (but that was about a year ago), we were hanging out at the Sunset Bar waiting for the sailaway. A Qsine waiter approached us and offered 50% for that night. He had no way of knowing that we were in Aqua Class or that we were Elite so it had nothing to do with either of those conditions. We're hoping we can get the same opportunity next Sunday when we're sailing with family.

If you find the "Ports of Call" section here on Cruise Critic, you can get some idea of what your options are.

Have you joined your roll call? Perhaps some are already being planned that you could join. You'll find it here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1809050

I'm guessing that the morning event is what is listed as the "Captain's Club Coffee Break". I have no idea if that means it's been scaled down but the Elite Breakfast seems to be different from cruise to cruise anyway.

There are larger tables in Blu. You can have a table for four at almost anytime. While it's usually done by putting two 2-tops together, there are a couple of round tables for four. While I don't remember large rounds on the S-Class, on the Infinity there were some round tables for eight. If you want to have a group, check with the maitre d' ahead of time to make a reservation.

The Best Western at the airport is a reasonable hotel. Nothing fancy but a welcome sight when you get off a late flight and don't even have to go outside to get to your hotel. They get a lot of cruise business so the breakfast in the morning will be jammed. Also, because of the amount of cruise business, there will be taxis lined up in the morning to take you to the port.

We sat with a lady on a low sodium diet on the first night of our last cruise. She explained to the waiter and he helped her order. Then, the head waiter came over with the following night's menu. When she asked for items that were not on the menu (a simple green salad with oil and vinegar, steamed vegetables, plainly cooked chicken), they had no problem obliging her.

Cruise Raider, is the observation lounge part of the AQ privileges or can anyone use it?

 

Jennie

When we've sailed in Aqua Class, the desk only seems to be staffed during prime spa hours. Otherwise the desk and the Relaxation Lounge were empty.

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Can we use our classic drink package for wine when dining in Murano or other alternate dining rooms?

As I understand it, the drink package does not apply in any specialty dining facility. However, if you show up with a glass of wine in your hand, no one's going to stop you. Also, I think you get a discount if you purchase a bottle of wine.

Do you happen to know what the cost would be for a week-long pass to Persian Gardens? We're dedicated Aqua Class cruisers but we're doing a family cruise in January and opted for three adjacent hump balconies instead. I will miss Blu but getting use of Persian Gardens could ease the pain:rolleyes:.

It's such a pleasure to walk off a ship and see someone holding a sign with your name on it! Gabriele was absolutely fantastic - charming, knowledgeable and patient with group of people who had trouble agreeing on what we wanted to do. We avoided lines, were able to park very close to the places we wanted to see, and had a fantastic lunch at a restaurant recommended by him. He finished the day on a hilltop with a view of all of Rome that was simply spectacular.