Just off Century 1-28-06 Western

[bilgeboyPa]

Hi All..Just a few thoughts on this last cruise.

First off, Century was in very good shape. For an 11 year old ship, it was very clean and well maintained. It looked just as good as it did when I first sailed her 4 years ago. Cabin was 9234 aft. I guess you could call it a family cabin. Very spacious, lots of room and storage. Cabin steward Rolondo was excellent. Very attentive. He had coffee at the door every morning at 7:30am and fresh juice all day. Great guy!!

 

Food: One word..OUTSTANDING!! The dining room food was really good.The menu apparently had been changed. There were a few standards left, but the rack of lamb was gone. It was replaced by rack of veal. My new favorite. It was just delicious. IMHO, the weakest dish was the pork chop, but even that was still good. Our waiter Vinod and his asst. Calet were the best I have ever had. I couldn't have asked for better service.

 

The service on Century, IMHO, is the best in the fleet. I kept running into people onboard that had worked on other ships.The new Century crew from the other ships were just great.Seems like they put the cream of the crop here.

 

BUT..of course there is ALWAYS a down side or a negative. Unfortunitly, it is a biggy for me. After our stop in Jamaica, apparently the PAX a few doors down the hall made a "purchase" there while in port. I was subject from Monday night to Friday night to the very pungent, acrid, sickening smell of Skunk Weed ( for those who don't know what that is, a VERY strong variety of Pot). You couldn't get within 100 feet of this cabin without getting knocked over by the stench. I reported it immedietly to Guest Relations and figured it would be taken care of. Tuesday, same thing from at least 7:30am to 2:00am. All day.This went on all week.It was wafting into my cabin from under the door. It was so bad on night that I had to turn back down the passageway, go up a deck, walk outside and down the outside stairs, open the door so the hallway could air out so I could breath. This might sound like an exageration, but trust me, it wasn't. I reported it sometime 2 times in a day. Nothing was done. They said it was "Under investgation". I talked to an Officer, he said there is really nothing they can do. He said he smells it all the time after Jamaica. That's really not my problem. They throw off unruly PAX all the time. THey should do the same for blatant drug users. Security onboard for these matters is really a joke. The kicker is that the 4th time at the Guest relations desk ( Friday afternoon), I finally got someone that had some sort of authority. I told her I was tired of smelling this stuff in my room because it kept coming in under the door ( which I told them it was from the beginning). She said that she didn't know that. She said she would have moved us. I know that I said it was coming in the cabin from the first report I made. Whatever. I will take that up with Corporate.

 

Otherwise, the cruise was a delight. I would definitly sail Century again. I definitly will insist to be moved if an occurance like that ever happens again.

 

The ports of call were OK. Jamaica is not, by far, my favorite place to be. I would prefer that it would be dumped from the Itinerary. I just don't feel safe there.

Grand Cayman was nice, but a dissapointment as well. As we were going back to the ship, there was a HUGE mob outside the area were you have to go to get back on the ship. Tons of Police everywhere. I thought a riot was about to break out or something. I asked what was going on and was told a Gay charter was coming in. I felt really angry that the charter group had to be hearded on buses behind a fenced in ,secured area,to get them out of the area for their safety. It really got ugly. Don't people get that all they are doing is make people see how ugly they can get and not want to go to their island. Where do they think the money comes from to repair their island after a hurricane? They shouldn't bite the hand that feeds them.

 

Cozumel was terrific!!! It really made a lot of strides after what they had been through. It was my favorite port. Did the Fury Catamaran excursion and had a blast!! I would recommend it highly.

 

All in all, it was a great cruise, with the exceptions listed above. We all had a great time dispite the few incidents listed. X is still my favorite place to be and Century is still my favorite ship.

 

Jeff

[tuggers]

Boy, Grand Carman and it's people are such a disappontment! What gives them the right to be so judgemental?

 

Glad you guys had a great time!! Come go with us on the Z October/November. We are going to have a blast!!! Or the Connie in '07!:)

[bilgeboyPa]

HI Gail,

We are going to be on Z this May to Bermuda. Looking forward to it. I am looking at the Connie trip ( What a hoot):) . I can't go on Century without thinking of the last cruise we were all on. We sat a few tables away from our old table!! That was one of the best cruise we ever did. Kev told me to say HI and that he misses you too.

Talk to ya soon

 

Jeff

[tuggers]

That was a SUPER trip! And the swim up bar was great!

 

Z has a go to Bermuda get 15% off some Z cruises later. Have you checked that out??

[teedee]

I'm glad you still like the Century, Jeff. I didn't know that the people in Grand Cayman feel that way, what a shame. It sure doesn't make me want to go there anymore.

I hope you and Kevin join us on one (or more) of our upcoming cruises, I'd love to see you guys again!

Terri

[bilgeboyPa]

Hi Terri,

Same here. I was saying the same thing to Gail this morning. I think a reunion cruise is in order:D

 

Jeff

[tuggers]

If JoAn has her hip done she's going to need an extra cruise as a 'reward'! She's already canceled the Med. Let's talk her into something we can all do!

 

What time frame are we looking at and what time restrictions?

[bilgeboyPa]

Hi Gail,

I didn't know JoAn had surgery. I hope she is doing well.Send our love.

Kev thinks it's a great idea.We all just have to come up with a date.

 

Talk to ya soon

 

Jeff

[tuggers]

I said 'if', She's still thinking, but as she just csnceled her Med cruise for May, I'm pretty sure she's going to do it. She's been in a lot of pain recently and not able to do the things she wants to.

 

Find us a time period and let's see what we can do.:)

[joeyanddavid]

Sounds like our voyage this past October glad to see ours wasnt an issolated case (two thumbs up)

[BTDookie]

Did that same vessel and itinerary last January except no Jamaica, which is 100% fine with me. Having just returned from a sailing on the Constellation, the Century is really overdue for her big overhaul scheduled for this summer.

 

Amazing about what you went through in Cayman. We tended there so it was a major mess getting back onboard the ship anyhow.

[DancerOT]

That is very interesting with what you said about the pot. I have been on previous cruises where I have seen them escorting people off the boat due to drugs. They even brought on drug sniffing dogs once.