Update on Century

[funship freddy]

Any news on the "new" Century. Sailing on 12.11

[Andy]

Any news on the "new" Century. Sailing on 12.11

 

Hi Freddy !

 

Nothing new to report.... but she did arrive in Miami yesterday (from Europe), and started her Caribbean season. I am sailing on Century in 17 days, and I will post my comments when I return home.

[ocngypz]

I'm writing this from the Hyatt Regency in Coral Gables. I'll be boarding her tomorrow!! Stay tuned.

[stinsowm]

I will be boarding my favorite ship the Century on Monday so I will also write a review when I return.

 

Walter

[Tagoladad]

I'm 'tuned"...Can't wait.

[Texed]

I'm writing this from the Hyatt Regency in Coral Gables. I'll be boarding her tomorrow!! Stay tuned.

 

And we are right behind you on the 18th. :D

[gillianrose]

We are booked on the Century next July and I'd love to read any and all reviews, too. We have booked a CC cabin and will have our own balcony, but we really like public access to the stern of the ship, so we aren't thrilled about that access having been closed in order to add stern balconies. (I thought I'd get that in since we are also booked on the Mercury next year and hope that public access won't be cut off from her as well. I really don't want Celebrity to add aft balconies to the Mercury.)

 

If anyone for whom aft public access is important will be cruising soon in a cabin that does NOT have an aft balcony, I would especially like to hear from you. How does that lack of space affect the overall cruise experience?

 

Ocngypz, you've cruised on the Century before, and I am hoping to read an honest appraisal from you of all the new changes. Your previous reports were always very frank; I hope that now that you are a T.A. you will still call things as you see them, bad or good, and not "gloss over" anything that is less than favorable.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[TITISSA]

I'm booked on the Penthouse for my 50th birthday next year. If possible can somebody take pictures of the Penthouse. Thank you and have a great cruise.

[TeaBag]

Funship Freddy, check the roll call for the Dec 12 sailing. See you on the ship

[mferranti]

If anyone for whom aft public access is important will be cruising soon in a cabin that does NOT have an aft balcony, I would especially like to hear from you. How does that lack of space affect the overall cruise experience?

There is still limited public access to the aft, aside from the Sunset Bar there are outside stairways port & starboard that don't seem to get a lot of use. You can lean on a rail and look over the wake. I don't think there's room for furniture, unfortunately.

[TourDeCruise]

I can answer some questions about Century; we were on Century in late Sept. to early Oct.

 

Can anyone tell me about the Century Vista deck cabins, particularly the inside ones? Any cabins of concern, with noise, vibrations, etc.? We will be back on Century in May to early June for a B2B and are trying to get the same cabin for both segments. Vista deck has the most open cabins at this point.

[ocngypz]

Ocngypz, you've cruised on the Century before, and I am hoping to read an honest appraisal from you of all the new changes. Your previous reports were always very frank; I hope that now that you are a T.A. you will still call things as you see them, bad or good, and not "gloss over" anything that is less than favorable.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

No, I don't gloss over that's for sure. I was on Century last March.. and she was tired...and all the Lysol in the world ( well at least the two cans I bought in Key West) couldn't get rid of the mildew smell in our cabin.

 

The first two days will be out of the ordinary as it is a non-revenue sailing. I actually won the cruise because of my sales production. As I was one of the top 5 in North America to win, I've been upgraded to a suite and Celebrity paid my roundtrip air. Whee... then we are onboard for the first 5 night sailing attending a seminar. I am looking forward to Murano's and the Persian Garden. Bittersweet though, as I will be missing the t-pool something fierce.

 

The 11/13 sailing is full and will be interesting to see if the added cabins... and passengers make a difference.

[usha]

Ocngypz, I'll be on Monday's sailing, too.:D I also really LOVED the M class T-pool, holding on for dear life while those powerful jets massaged my back and shoulders. I will sorely (literally) miss the T -pool! I'm sure X is figuring they'll rake in more profit with the Persian Garden, but I don't consider that change to be any sort of improvement.:(

[Cracker Ken]

I'm quite interested in something that's a very basic need - A decent bed to sleep on. Actually, I'd be very pleased to have a nice, old fashioned, cruise ship mattress that's in great shape. We were on Century 2x before the refit, the last time being on the way to the dry-dock for the refit. The first time, the mattress we had was deplorable, and beyond being worn out. I dare say I could have picked up a better one leaning up against a Goodwill box at the corner, or even at a flea bag motel offering hourly rates. I've thrown out better. We were able to get a couple of the egg-carton cushions for the bed, which helped make it work. On the last cruise, the mattress wasn't as bad, but still not very good. I'm hearing that they haven't replace mattresses in the inside rooms on Century yet. Does anyone have any word on this problem, and what they plan to do about it? People shouldn't have to be begging for foam cushions just to tollerate a bad bed.

 

The other concerns and questions written here certainly have merit, but a reasonably comfortable bed to sleep on (without paying for a balcony cabint) would be of interest to us. We are booked on the T/A next April, and hope it's better by then.

 

Ken

[C 2 C]

I'm quite interested in something that's a very basic need - A decent bed to sleep on. Actually, I'd be very pleased to have a nice, old fashioned, cruise ship mattress that's in great shape.

Ken

 

We just spent 34 days on Century bedding. Since it did not have the curved ends I suspect it was still an old mattress. The bed was great and we slept soundly every night. As the picture shows, beds as of the 24th of October, were still being replaced.

[Cracker Ken]

Arno - Thanks much. That's a relief. I hope the same goes for Mercury next month.

 

Ken

[C 2 C]

I can't predict how Century cruises will differ now that the cruises are so short. Century was our favorite ship before the refit and continues at the top of our Celebrity most desirable ship list.

There are many variables that determine the rating of a cruise experience. The passenger mix: older/younger, children, European, income.. will vary and might have a serious positive or negative impact depending on your own expectations.

There will be a large turnover in entertainment staff that could be positive or negative depending on tastes.

From October 6th to November 8th we were nighly fixtures in the Crystal Lounge where Intenz6 played. The duo, Rhythm of the Night, played in the Rendezvous Lounge to smaller crowds every night. Both of these lounges will have new performers.

Allan King hosted daily trivia contests and was greatly appreciated by full lounges on every sea day. He will be replaced by Dru Pavlov, a CD whom we have enjoyed on several previous sailings.

The service was excellent as always. The food was good to great depending on your menu choice. I'm a soup lover and was disapointed by Century's offerings.... the chef should be replaced.... On the crossing many shortages occurred: eggs, cream, milk, bananas... There were quite a few guests who were determined to take this voyage home with them;).

We enjoyed the new equipment in the gymn and were determined to work off our daily food intake.

There are a few areas that need some extra work. There seemed to be several problems with flooding/pipe leaks in the Island Cafe. A new wood floor is starting to "curl" near the serving areas. The wood tables outside show stains that resist cleaning.

WARNING: The Hemisphere Lounge has several changes in level requiring a step up or down. Repeatedly guests were seen stumbling and falling when they did not watch where they walked. A ship has many changes in levels and lintels that can trip up the careless wanderer. Keep your eyes on the deck as if your next step requires lifting your feet.

The only disapointment we had resulted from the bad air management aboard. The lounges were either too cool or too hot on alternate days as adjustments were made. One smoker on the smoking side would affect air quality throughout the lounge. Several smokers would affect the air quality to a very uncomfortable level. The vents were incapable of filtering out or containing the air in the designated area.

We'll be back on Century for another transatlantic next year. Despite a few drawbacks, Century provides as close to a perfect cruise experience as money can buy (NOTE!!! my opinion). Other people might/will have different opinions. I'll rate it a 9+ and hope my next cruise is as enjoyable.

[RDeagazio]

I just got home from Miami and the first 2 day Century cruise. Will post a full review and pics tomorrow. Embarkation was a total nightmare-- we were all herded in the terminal for 6+ hours with no place to sit, no food or drinks- didn't get on the ship until 6pm!! Ship looks nice, needs a good scrubbing though. Crew was NOT happy, service was also very poor. Food was hit or miss, ship was VERY hot-- AC seemed not to be working well. The new cabin decor and bedding were very nice.

[Andy]

I just got home from Miami and the first 2 day Century cruise. Will post a full review and pics tomorrow. Embarkation was a total nightmare-- we were all herded in the terminal for 6+ hours with no place to sit, no food or drinks- didn't get on the ship until 6pm!! Ship looks nice, needs a good scrubbing though. Crew was NOT happy, service was also very poor. Food was hit or miss, ship was VERY hot-- AC seemed not to be working well. The new cabin decor and bedding were very nice.

 

Hi Bob !

 

I am sorry to hear things werent all that great. I am certainly not making ANY excuses for your problems, but a much of it was probably due to Century getting into Miami late, as they had a difficult Transatlantic sailing. I suppose that would at least explain the embarkation problems. Also, this was Century's first day in Miami, as she previously homeported out of Ft. Lauderdale. Of course, Celebrity should have tried to make you comfortable at the very least.

 

As for the Crew not being happy, the above could be a part of it, but the real reason for the Crew being unhappy is an unknown. The biggest disappointment, was that you said the food was hit or miss, and the ship was hot. I know both those items would make me very unhappy ! I hope things will improve, as I will be on Century in 2 weeks.

 

Anyway, thanks very much for the update, and I hope you post more about your Cruise when you have the time.

[RDeagazio]

Andy, I was aware of the unfortunate events during her crossing. The ship docked in Miami at 930am (3 hrs late) but the problems with embarkation had nothing to do with that. It was an unorganized mess which I will go into full detail tomorrow when I write my review. The crew was very unmotivated, not friendly and had an overall "I could care less" attitude. I waited for 45 mins to get a drink at the pool bar-- and there were only 3 people sitting at the bar. Several lounges/bars were majorly understaffed and the crew took their sweet time in serving us. Our cabin was so hot, I contemplated going up to sleep on the pool deck. We slept with the balcony door open which helped a little, but waking up in the morning in a pool of sweat is not pleasant.

[C 2 C]

I just got home from Miami and the first 2 day Century cruise.

 

Since your cruise was not available to the general public, was this a free cruise? Does an employee get paid in the same fashion as with regular cruise guests? Perhaps as a result of the late arrival and guest departure, staff was busier than usual and you suffered the consequences.

I'm not making excuses but I find the difference in attitude puzzling. Were drinks provided free as well or were they the regular rate???

The temperature variation is a problem I also reported in a post above. Our cabin was always comfortable though.

[JORAY]

We have a SS booked for a cruise on the Century so I have looked at the Virtual tour closely and noticed they have the Flat screen TV mounted over the sofa which means you can not watch TV from sofa. :rolleyes: You can only watch TV from the bed or one person could watch from the one chair they show.

 

Interesting placement

[npb]

Bob,

 

I thought that the 2 day cruise left yesterday and returned Monday when we will board. I am worried about the morale of the crew after the crossing, but will still have a wonderful time, except if I am hot. Guess my expectations are low so hopefully will not be disappointed.

[C 2 C]

Bob,

 

I thought that the 2 day cruise left yesterday and returned Monday when we will board. I am worried about the morale of the crew after the crossing, but will still have a wonderful time, except if I am hot. Guess my expectations are low so hopefully will not be disappointed.

 

In the 34 days we were on board we had no complaints about staff....to the contrary we found them praiseworthy.

air conditioning was a problem though....

[DavidJ]

Hi,

 

I am sure sorry to hear about issues with Air Conditioning. I leave on the 27th for a five day cruise on the Century. Unfortunately, it is moist, muggy and HOT in the Caribbean. I am counting on A/C for relief. I am hoping that others will update us that the issue is not as bad as it sounds or that it has been addressed by Celebrity. I can imagine if it is HOT where the guests are, the crew areas must be miserable. No wonder they were cranky!