The good and the bad on our Panama Canal Cruis on the Century

[Dutch Explorers]

We just returned from a great Panama Canal cruise on the Century.

I want to share some of our observations and comments both good and bad. Overall it was a very positive experience!

Chair hogging :

This is a serious issue and needs to be addressed by Celebrity. This is what we experienced:

Somebody used a deck chair just for drying laundry! This continued for a full day.

After a couple of days we saw the same books on deck chairs and we decided to keep an eye on who was the culprit. We arrived at 7.45am and the 4 beds were blocked already with nodoby in sight. Many people wondered past in the next couple of hours complaining that no chairs beds were available. Many noticed these 4 beds and asked the pool butler to remove the books but to no avail. He was not authorized to remove stuff from beds. Finally 3 hours later the culprit arrived and started using 2 beds. We decided to address the issue and remove the books of the other 2 beds so other people could use the beds. He freaked out and called us thieves and ass*****!

The fact that his behaviour was very rude and inconsiderate did not resonate with him and the next day the same 4 books occupied the beds again.

Service:

The service in the MDR started out inconsistent (no water refills and second juice at breakfast etc) but improved later on.

Ricardo (waiter)and Toto (wine steward) were excellent.

A special compliment to Tanesha. She managed the seating for select dining and did an outstanding job with a big smile. Select dining was sold out but still we managed to get a table without reservations within 5 to 10 minutes (around 7.30pm)

Food:

The food was ok to good in the MDR. The soup was always luke warm due to the fact that they bring out the soup the same time as the appetizers.

Positive: If you order your meat medium rare it was at least medium.

Murano:

Arif, Marko, Nedad, Anes and Herny delivered outsanding service.

We booked the 5 dinner package so this gave us the opportunity to taste several different dishes. Hereby our impressions.

Appetizers:

Goats cheese soufflé: Delicious but very rich.

Salmon and Crab parfait: Great flavors and light

Scallops Wellington: you can taste the scallops well en it is a reasonable light dish

The morels and mushroom risotto: Great mushroom flavour but a very rich appetizer

The lobster Bisque: Great presentation and a full bodied flavour with a hint of Cognac. Much better than the MDR bisque.

Main course:

Lobster: rich creasm sauce . Prepared table side

Patato laced Turbot: Delicate and light dish. Excellent fish

Lamb rack: Cooked to order (perfect medium).

Muscovy Duck breast: Wow, my favourite. It is a plate full with duck breast and duck confit. Be aware that this is a very rich dish.

Veal Tenderloin with tyme sauce and morels: Again a great dish and a big piece of meat.

Dover Sole: Delicate fish and very delicious. My wife’s favourite.

Venison: Again perfectly prepared (medium rare).

Cheese:

Great selection of French cheeses that are less known than Camabert and Brie. For example the Comte was delicious.

Desserts:

Chocolate soufflé: Yummie. Ask for the vanilla sauce

Grand marnier Souffle: again Yummie!

Valhrona Chocolate dessert: Surpisingly light with the best chocolate available.

Crepe with Strawberries: Prepared table side and the strawberries were delicious.

Overall this is well worth the extra money and especially the package is a good deal.

Martini bar:

Our favourite pre dinner spot. Great choice of martinis: favourites candied apple and pomegranate.

Music is loud and in my opinion too upbeat. Good modern chilled house or mellow lounge will fit better. Still very appealing to the younger crowd but more relaxing.

It is nice to have a spot where Neil diamond with Sweet Caroline is not the hit of the hour:)

Fitness center:

Well equipped and if you avoid the busy mornings it was no waiting for any equipment.

The Zumba classes at poolside were very popular!

Entertainment:

We really enjoyed the the ix of entertainment. We never been to so many shows as on this cruise. We only skipped the production shows (no our thing).

Pool Music:

Way too loud. It was impossible to order lunch at the grill or sandwich bar during their performance.

Hot tubs:

2 out of 4 are way too hot and hardly used. All of them have a nauseating amount of chlorine in it.

This got better during the cruise.

State room:

Clean and more than enough closet space. The room stewards were excellent. We did not have to ask for anything.

Disembarkation:

What a mess it was delayed by more the 1 hour and customs too forever. We arranged transfer to the airport via Celebrity but this was a slow and painful process also. Not enough buses waiting so we finally arrived at the airport LAX at 1.00pm so I can imagine that people missed their flights.

Overall a nice and relaxed cruise. Was everything ok, as you can see above no. But the positives outweigh the negatives by far and we would cruise Celebrity again. It is a shame that the Century will leave the fleet as this is for us the preferred size within the Celebrity fleet.

[Dutch Explorers]

I forgot to mention that the ofiicers were VERY visible on this cruise. I cannot remember a cruise where we had so many chit chats with officers.

Very positive :)

[curtdesilets]

Thanks for the review. We are on Century in 3 days. I doubt the chair hogging will be an issue, as SF will be rainy and 60 degrees. Brrrr.

 

I do remember the officers always being visible and helpful on Century.

 

Sounds like a great cruise. Especially your Murano meals!

[A Sixth?]

Thanks for the review. We are on Century in 3 days. I doubt the chair hogging will be an issue, as SF will be rainy and 60 degrees. Brrrr.

 

I do remember the officers always being visible and helpful on Century.

 

Sounds like a great cruise. Especially your Murano meals!

 

This winter we've been dreaming of rainy and 60 degrees! :p

 

Have a great cruise.

[curtdesilets]

This winter we've been dreaming of rainy and 60 degrees! :p

 

Have a great cruise.

 

We will, and we will always remember our great times on Century 2 years ago with you guys. That was a winner, especially the Michael's Club.

[teecee60]

Chair hogging :

This is a serious issue and needs to be addressed by Celebrity. This is what we experienced:

Somebody used a deck chair just for drying laundry! This continued for a full day.

After a couple of days we saw the same books on deck chairs and we decided to keep an eye on who was the culprit. We arrived at 7.45am and the 4 beds were blocked already with nodoby in sight. Many people wondered past in the next couple of hours complaining that no chairs beds were available. Many noticed these 4 beds and asked the pool butler to remove the books but to no avail. He was not authorized to remove stuff from beds. Finally 3 hours later the culprit arrived and started using 2 beds. We decided to address the issue and remove the books of the other 2 beds so other people could use the beds. He freaked out and called us thieves and ass*****!

The fact that his behaviour was very rude and inconsiderate did not resonate with him and the next day the same 4 books occupied the beds again.

 

Pick up the books, turn them over at the guest services desk as lost/abandon.

 

Be VERY nice. Let guest services, and anyone else that might ask, know you wouldn't want someone's cruise ruined by loosing a favorite book.

 

Continuing to tolerate rude behavior only encourages and emboldens continued said behavior.

Edited March 26, 2014 by teecee60

[Dutch Explorers]

We will, and we will always remember our great times on Century 2 years ago with you guys. That was a winner, especially the Michael's Club.

 

 

Unfortunately Michael's Club is a private lounge now reserved for Suite guests and Zentih members. Most of the time it was sitting empty.

[drarill]

Great review!! thanks for sharing your cruise with us. A Panama Canal cruise is on my bucket list...:)

[jkgourmet]

Pick up the books, turn them over at the guest services desk as lost/abandon.

 

Be VERY nice. Let guest services, and anyone else that might ask, know you wouldn't want someone's cruise ruined by loosing a favorite book.

 

Continuing to tolerate rude behavior only encourages and emboldens continued said behavior.

 

Shouldn't this be a chore assigned to cruise line staff instead of paying guests?

 

The problems with chair hogging are common on all mass market cruise lines, but not all cruise lines deal with it the same way.

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Forums mobile app

[upwarduk]

Shouldn't this be a chore assigned to cruise line staff instead of paying guests?

 

The problems with chair hogging are common on all mass market cruise lines, but not all cruise lines deal with it.

 

I have seen towels removed after half an hour and we then took 2 of the vacated loungers.

You ought have heard the insults, when a party of 5/6 women returned.

To add to the rudeness, one woman told her friend that 'she would pick up our germs' when we vacated the lounger so we could eat lunch.

She even carried on the topic in Dunedin the following day, when she climbed the stairs on a bus.

She turned to her friend and said' that's the man who took my towel.':eek:

 

As far as I was concerned, she broadcast to the whole bus, that she was a 'chair hog.'

[jkgourmet]

I have seen towels removed after half an hour and we then took 2 of the vacated loungers.

You ought have heard the insults, when a party of 5/6 women returned.

To add to the rudeness, one woman told her friend that 'she would pick up our germs' when we vacated the lounger so we could eat lunch.

She even carried on the topic in Dunedin the following day, when she climbed the stairs on a bus.

She turned to her friend and said' that's the man who took my towel.':eek:

 

As far as I was concerned, she broadcast to the whole bus, that she was a 'chair hog.'

 

Simple solution: tell her "The butler did it.". (And, frankly, they should!)

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Forums mobile app

[Rick-cruiser]

What did the Hotel Director say when you told him/her about the chair-hogging situation negatively affecting your cruise?

[mafig]

Tanesha? Her name is Tanesha?

Well we wrote a very long complimentary review on her on our comment card ....

unfortuately we thought her name was Phoenecia. :eek:

[oskarNZ]

Unfortunately Michael's Club is a private lounge now reserved for Suite guests and Zentih members. Most of the time it was sitting empty.

 

Oh, this is a big disappointment. I was looking forward to this space as it looks cosy and relaxing.

 

Does anyone know where on the Celebrity website it says that this space is no longer available to everyone as I can't find it? I think information like this should be clearly stated.

 

OP, otherwise, thanks so much for your review. I'll be on the Century at the end of the year and was thinking of booking Murano once. After your review, I'm now thinking of booking the 3 meal package instead.

 

A couple of questions if you don't mind. What are the dress standards for Murano? If it's suit jacket and tie, once will probably be enough for my husband.

 

Did you know in advance when formal nights in the MDR would be, and if so, how did you find this information out?

 

Thanks.