From Princess to Celebrity! Lots of questions

[Nylsor]

Our TA has booked myself, my DH, our DD and SIL on the Century for Sept 8 2013 for 7 nights to Alaska as part of a two week vacation to the Canadian Rockies. Our DD and SIL have never cruised before but are very experienced travellers, as are we. My DH and I have cruised - but only with Princess. Our TA got us an excellent deal - she's booked Concierge staterooms ( 1020 and 1016) on Deck 10.

We know nothing about Celebrity so hope you experienced folk out there may be able to answer these questions ( for the moment - I'm sure there'll be more).

1 Our DD will celebrate her 35th birthday on Sep 11. We are considering the Murano for that evening. Is it worth the extra charge? Will they make the evening special? Do I have to order a cake or will Celebrity supply one? Should I book before we get on the ship?

2 How warm are the public rooms on the ship? On a cruise to SE Asia on the Diamond Princess we were very cold for the first two evenings.

3 Is there a bath in the Concierge staterooms? Sorry, but I've looked everywhere for this info and can't find it anywhere and I can't make it out from the diagram either.

4 On Princess, an order card is left in your stateroom each evening for you to order tea, coffee, juice, etc for the following morning. You order what you like for the time you want it and then hang it on the door handle for collection. We love early morning tea / coffee! Does this happen on Celebrity or do you ring room service every morning and then wait?

5 We have Select dining - but I'm not sure how this works on Celebrity, especially as there is only one dining room on the Century. Do we have to phone each morning to reserve a table for the time we want it? Or do we just go along and hope for the best? We would want to dine at 8.30pm. Would it be best to reserve a table for 4 at that time for the seven nights?

Any helpful advice / information would be most appreciated.

[Lois R]

Our TA has booked myself, my DH, our DD and SIL on the Century for Sept 8 2013 for 7 nights to Alaska as part of a two week vacation to the Canadian Rockies. Our DD and SIL have never cruised before but are very experienced travellers, as are we. My DH and I have cruised - but only with Princess. Our TA got us an excellent deal - she's booked Concierge staterooms ( 1020 and 1016) on Deck 10.

We know nothing about Celebrity so hope you experienced folk out there may be able to answer these questions ( for the moment - I'm sure there'll be more).

1 Our DD will celebrate her 35th birthday on Sep 11. We are considering the Murano for that evening. Is it worth the extra charge? Will they make the evening special? Do I have to order a cake or will Celebrity supply one? Should I book before we get on the ship?

2 How warm are the public rooms on the ship? On a cruise to SE Asia on the Diamond Princess we were very cold for the first two evenings.

3 Is there a bath in the Concierge staterooms? Sorry, but I've looked everywhere for this info and can't find it anywhere and I can't make it out from the diagram either.

4 On Princess, an order card is left in your stateroom each evening for you to order tea, coffee, juice, etc for the following morning. You order what you like for the time you want it and then hang it on the door handle for collection. We love early morning tea / coffee! Does this happen on Celebrity or do you ring room service every morning and then wait?

5 We have Select dining - but I'm not sure how this works on Celebrity, especially as there is only one dining room on the Century. Do we have to phone each morning to reserve a table for the time we want it? Or do we just go along and hope for the best? We would want to dine at 8.30pm. Would it be best to reserve a table for 4 at that time for the seven nights?

Any helpful advice / information would be most appreciated.

 

Hi:) welcome to Celebrity.

 

I will try to answer a few of your questions........

 

Yes, Murano's is worth it:D love the food and service in there.

Been many times and it is a wonderful evening. (In my opinion;)).

 

No, there is not a bathtub in the CC cabin.

 

Select Dining, you can show up each night....normally there is not

much of a wait, especially since you are wanting a table on the

later side. When you go the first evening you can also speak with

hostess and let her know you would like to dine at 8:30 each night.

And yes, there is only 1 main dining room. Select is just a part of

it..upstairs, starboard is for Select Dining.

 

CC has a breakfast menu. Hopefully someone will post it for you.

You can fill it out each evening and hang it on your door too.

Food/drink will be delivered at the time you choose. Room service

is great:)

 

I am sure others will chime in as well. Hope you and your family

have a wonderful cruise:)

[A Sixth?]

Our TA has booked myself, my DH, our DD and SIL on the Century for Sept 8 2013 for 7 nights to Alaska as part of a two week vacation to the Canadian Rockies. Our DD and SIL have never cruised before but are very experienced travellers, as are we. My DH and I have cruised - but only with Princess. Our TA got us an excellent deal - she's booked Concierge staterooms ( 1020 and 1016) on Deck 10.

We know nothing about Celebrity so hope you experienced folk out there may be able to answer these questions ( for the moment - I'm sure there'll be more).

1 Our DD will celebrate her 35th birthday on Sep 11. We are considering the Murano for that evening. Is it worth the extra charge? Will they make the evening special? Do I have to order a cake or will Celebrity supply one? Should I book before we get on the ship?

2 How warm are the public rooms on the ship? On a cruise to SE Asia on the Diamond Princess we were very cold for the first two evenings.

3 Is there a bath in the Concierge staterooms? Sorry, but I've looked everywhere for this info and can't find it anywhere and I can't make it out from the diagram either.

4 On Princess, an order card is left in your stateroom each evening for you to order tea, coffee, juice, etc for the following morning. You order what you like for the time you want it and then hang it on the door handle for collection. We love early morning tea / coffee! Does this happen on Celebrity or do you ring room service every morning and then wait?

5 We have Select dining - but I'm not sure how this works on Celebrity, especially as there is only one dining room on the Century. Do we have to phone each morning to reserve a table for the time we want it? Or do we just go along and hope for the best? We would want to dine at 8.30pm. Would it be best to reserve a table for 4 at that time for the seven nights?

Any helpful advice / information would be most appreciated.

 

I too am a Princess fan but love Celebrity, the extra price for the Murano is worth it to some, but not me personally.

 

The public rooms are comfie and the is just a shower in CC cabins. Tubs (whirlpool) start at Sky Suite class and above.

 

You can order B-fast the same way as you do on Princess and select on the Century is on the upper starboard section of the dining room We LOVE select. You can reserve when ever you want, but if you want to dine at 8:30 why not just do tradtional late seating?

 

Hope this helps

 

 

 

[lucinjo]

Hi, welcome to the celebrity boards. I can't answer every question, but others will soon provide additional info. Our first cruise was on Celebrity to Alaska, on a ship very like the Century. You will have a great time. In Concierge you will have an expanded breakfast menu that you can fill out and hang on your door handle. It includes most breakfast items, but also has things like. Fresh squeezed OJ and fruit smoothies. You just check the time you want and they give you a call 5 minutes before delivery.

Murano would be a great choice for a birthday dinner. You can make arrangements for a cake by talking to the Maitre'D once onboard.

Regarding select dining, if you want to eat at 8:30 every evening, I would suggest you change to regular seating, late dining requesting a table for 4. This will give you the same wait staff each evening and you will never have to worry about waiting for a table for 4. If you wish to stay with select, you can indeed make reservations ahead for each evening. If you find a waiter you like, you can request to be seated in that section each evening.

Finally, there is no bathtub in Concierge rooms, only showers.

[Poppet1964]

I'd also love to see a recent room service breakfast menu, I haven't been able to find one with the search function.

[dinosaurdem]

The room service breakfast menu will give you far more choices than are available on Princess.

[boogs]

Hi:) .....

CC has a breakfast menu. Hopefully someone will post it for you.......

 

I'd also love to see a recent room service breakfast menu, I haven't been able to find one with the search function.

 

Ask and ye shall receive:

 

Concierge Class menu

 

 

Standard Menu

 

[Poppet1964]

Sweet!! Thank you so much!

[CaroleSS]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I though you could write in items that were not on the menu....like an omelet with ham and mushrooms, etc. that if it was available on the buffet you could get it delivered. Is that right?

[Nylsor]

Thank you so much for your most helpful replies.

[gold1953]

We sailed both C class and Aqua this year and have yet to see this room service beakfast menu...except on this board before we went. There are several items on here that were not on the menu.

As well there were several nice choices which are not listed:D . I wonder if this menu is from before changed were made

[Christine Frances]

It is in the black binder that is in your cabin along with the pillow menu. If you don't see it ask your room steward.

[Kellie Poodle]

Murano's is nice. Be prepared for a lengthy evening. We were 6 people and it took us several hours. Also make sure they don't put foam on your food (unless you have had it before and like it).

 

In April many of the dishes were covered in this foam stuff which is supposed to be "molecular" and "trendy" but it was gross. It was like someone spit into the food.

 

For a special occasion, it's a nice venue (without the foam):)

[JoePDX]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I though you could write in items that were not on the menu....like an omelet with ham and mushrooms, etc. that if it was available on the buffet you could get it delivered. Is that right?

 

Yes, we've never had an issue with writing in something not on the menu. It's always beend delivered.

 

Joe

[navyrotorhead]

Our TA has booked myself, my DH, our DD and SIL on the Century for Sept 8 2013 for 7 nights to Alaska as part of a two week vacation to the Canadian Rockies. Our DD and SIL have never cruised before but are very experienced travellers, as are we. My DH and I have cruised - but only with Princess. Our TA got us an excellent deal - she's booked Concierge staterooms ( 1020 and 1016) on Deck 10.

We know nothing about Celebrity so hope you experienced folk out there may be able to answer these questions ( for the moment - I'm sure there'll be more).

1 Our DD will celebrate her 35th birthday on Sep 11. We are considering the Murano for that evening. Is it worth the extra charge? Will they make the evening special? Do I have to order a cake or will Celebrity supply one? Should I book before we get on the ship?

2 How warm are the public rooms on the ship? On a cruise to SE Asia on the Diamond Princess we were very cold for the first two evenings.

3 Is there a bath in the Concierge staterooms? Sorry, but I've looked everywhere for this info and can't find it anywhere and I can't make it out from the diagram either.

4 On Princess, an order card is left in your stateroom each evening for you to order tea, coffee, juice, etc for the following morning. You order what you like for the time you want it and then hang it on the door handle for collection. We love early morning tea / coffee! Does this happen on Celebrity or do you ring room service every morning and then wait?

5 We have Select dining - but I'm not sure how this works on Celebrity, especially as there is only one dining room on the Century. Do we have to phone each morning to reserve a table for the time we want it? Or do we just go along and hope for the best? We would want to dine at 8.30pm. Would it be best to reserve a table for 4 at that time for the seven nights?

Any helpful advice / information would be most appreciated.

 

Make sure you try the dessert souffles. Posssibly THE most incredible dessert I have ever tasted. :eek:

 

The chocolate one has this incredibly bold and intense dark chocolate flavor without the sometimes-bitter dark chocolate after taste. :)

 

The Grand Marnier variety is EXACTLY the opposite, with an unbelievably subtle flavor that makes you want to close your eyes to concentrate on the nerve impulses being sent by your tastebuds. :cool:

 

Then COMBINE a little of each of the two extremes on the same spoon... it is AWESOME! :D

 

(Oh-ya, the REST of the dinner, like the Lobster Flambe and Three Petite Filet Mignon is "FAIRLY" tasty as well... ENJOY!)

[OhioDogLover]

We are fans of Princess and Celebrity and have sailed Century twice. We will sail Celebrity again soon. (We are booked for some Princess cruises coming up.) I did find the ship to be cold, but then, I am one of those people who is nearly always cold. My opinion is that you should just take a sweater.

You will have a fabulous time.

Ohiodoglover

[TLCOhio]

Glad you are considering the Solstice for Alask. As my live/blog below details with many pictures and other background on the ship, its food, entertainment, etc., we liked it much. We are looking forward to our Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Celebrity Solstice sailing, departing Sydney, doing 14 days on this nice ship, finishing in Auckland.

 

Yes, Murano is very special. We did our 39th wedding anniversary dinner there on our sailing. See more below on that places, the ship, etc. For an Alaska sailing in September, the Solarium might be a great place to spend some time. See below.

 

See lots more details, visuals at:

Speciality Dining Photos/Tips:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1434523&page=2

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 104,522 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

 

Here is an overview for this wonderfully-appointed, speciality Murano dining room with nice wood, ceiling, glass, etc., details.* Maximum capacity for seating in 90.* For the last night, they have 30 people on a waiting listing.* We booked ahead which was smart in order to get a specific date on a sea day.:

 

 

 

The “Creamy Maine Lobster Bisque” is one of their most popular starter items at Murano. It is far different from what is served on the rest of the Solstice. It involves seven hours prep time for the different items. The broth is poured into your bowl with nice drama . . . and great taste. There are ten different starter options. You can have as many courses of starters as you wish. I had a second starter of Diver Scallop Wellington-Style. The warm goat cheese souffle is also a popular item here. :

 

 

 

Three of us had the Murano Lobster as our main entrees. It is cooked and prepared table-side from lobster tails that are first presented table-side.:

 

 

 

Three at our table at Murano went for the “Grand Marnier Souffle” with Creme Anglaise a la Grousse Tahitenne. It was loved so much, especially the sauce that poured in the middle.:

 

 

 

My dessert choice was “Les VI Etoiles du Murano”. It is six different bite-sized desserts. My wife and I were going to share this one, but she switched for the “Grand Marnier Souffle”. I got this whole selection, but, don’t worry, I didn’t and couldn’t eat it all. Very delightful!:

 

 

 

The Solarium was one of our favorite areas. Food and drinks were nearby and it was very relaxed and sophisticated. Quieter, too, as it is an adults-only area. Two hot tubs here. Not crowded, especially in the evenings. Nice art and design with this facility. Wonderful setting for relaxing and watching the outside water/shore views, enjoying subtle inside action, etc.:

 

[vickykay]

We also enjoy having early morning coffee delivered to the room, as well as fresh OJ for my husband and a smoothy for me. Found the coffee from room service always better than what's available at the Lido Cafe. The menus are in the back of the black binder as someone already mentioned. You also fill in a delivery time. We have always found that it is delivered at the beginning time (half hour increments) and they call your cabin a few minutes before to let you know it is on the way. We usually tip the server a couple of dollars.

 

Enjoy your cruise.