May 29 Century Scotland Ireland Journal - long

[rsquare]

Having just returned from the May 29 Scotland and Ireland cruise, I want to set down some thoughts in the context of comparing our experience on Celebrity with that of our first cruise, on HAL. This not a full scale cruise review, just some of the high spots, nor is it a rigorous comparison of the two cruise lines; I don’t have enough experience to do that. However, Century and Westerdam are similar-sized ships, and X and HAL are clearly competing in the same market, so there may be something to be learned.

Day 1 – Boarding process at Amsterdam Cruise Terminal was fast and efficient; we had priority boarding as Concierge Class pax, but did not really need to exercise it at around 3pm. First impression of the ship was good. As others have noted in similar comparisons, HAL cabins are larger than X cabins. But more importantly for us, 9165 on Century was a much smarter cabin than its Westerdam equivalent, with loads of storage space, shelves and cubbies. So a little less space, but better utilized. First negative impression was at lifeboat drill, which was confused. Our muster station was given two different sets of lifeboat numbers at different times in the drill, and no attendance was taken, in contrast to HAL.

Our first live meetings with members of our very lively and helpful Roll Call at the Sunset Bar on 11 Deck, as we watched the sailaway (no narration, as Cunard typically does). We all wore Mardi Gras beads to identify ourselves, even Sandy and Tony from Australia.

Day 2 – Our introduction to truly awful coffee in the Islands cafe. Too strong? Too old? Instant? It was to prove to be a consistent feature of eating on 11 deck, until late in the cruise we discovered the last portside coffee station dispensed drinkable brew. On Day 1, no cups at one of the coffee stations, and while turkey sausage was available, it had to be asked for, no placard announced it. Overall, a general sense of “not quite ready for prime time;” we had excellent breakfasts on our verandah after that first sea day.

Concierge Class was a bit of a joke, since the concierge is only available in the morning or early evening, but not afternoon. Calls to the Concierge got bounced to Guest Services. On Day 2 I also discovered that the daily news bulletin (USA Times, not the Century activities sheet) is not delivered to one’s room as it is on HAL and Cunard. I had to ask at Guest Services to have it delivered, which it often was.

Day 3 – A glorious day in Edinburgh. After having been told by Celebrity before the voyage that we would be docked at Leith, we tendered in to South Queensferry. Tendering was fast and efficient, supplemented by a large local tour boat. But Leith is so obviously superior a port for Edinburgh (15 minutes to downtown via ample public transportation) that it is difficult to understand why South Queensferry is still used. However, the port did give us a chance to discover Hopetoun House, one of Scotland’s best-kept secrets – a large mansion 2 miles from the tender dock, filled with period furniture, set in beautiful grounds and serving flat-out the best lunch that I had at any time on the trip. I also renewed my acquaintance with Irn Bru, a quirky Scots soft drink that is the love child of orange soda and ginger ale, with a touch of anise.

The low spot at dinner was getting cellophane-wrapped saltines with my cheese plate rather than biscuits. I know they had the biscuits, because we got a cheese plate every afternoon in lieu of canapes from our outstanding room attendant, Norma. Food in general was good, but menus were not particularly varied or imaginative. Ingredient quality, unlike on HAL, was outstanding. My wife got prime rib twice with absolutely minimal fat. Given that my first ship experiences were on Cunard, my standards may be too high, but both X and HAL get solid Bs, nothing higher, for food. High spots: Century’s ambidextrous butter knife (wife and I are left-handed) and parmesan breadsticks, to die for. Consistent low spot: completely taste-free sorbet.

Day 4 – Invergordon, with the gangplank at a scary 45 degree angle from 5 deck, rather than disembarking pax from 3 deck. Great trip through the Highlands to the Castle of Mey, with an excellent guide.

Day 5 – A private archeology-oriented tour of the Orkneys with a congenial group of Roll Call members, led by Caz Mamwell of Orkney Archeological Tours. Everything positive which has been said about Caz on these boards is absolutely true; the day was probably the single high point of the whole cruise, even if I did have to bend over and go through a 3-foot high, 30-foot tunnel to get inside Maes Howe. As an added attraction, Caz was able to get us to the Italian Chapel, Skara Brae and Skaill House, the Ring of Brodgar, the Stones of Stenness, and Maes Howe at times when busloads of ship’s tours had either gone or not yet arrived. Back on board, we overheard someone complaining about the fact that we had a full day in Kirkwall, why couldn’t we leave earlier? Takes all kinds....

Day 6 – Sea day. We had expected scenic cruising close in to the Western Islands, similar to what we experienced near Corsica on Westerdam, but turned out to be not much to see. We slept late and availed ourselves of the late breakfast in the Islands cafe (open until 11:30, nothing equivalent on HAL). Also discovered that there is no quiet indoor place to read on the ship other than our room and a very small library. Seem to recall more quiet public areas on Westerdam. Also became aware of Century’s policy of shifting entertainers around to different venues, so that if we wanted to listen to the very good classical quartet, we’d be in the Cova one night, Michael’s another, etc. On Westerdam, the entertainment stayed put, so we had a favorite lounge, and got to know the waiters.

Day 7 – Belfast to Derry (Londonderry if you are Protestant), to meet rain showers coming in from the west (so that’s how they get the 40 shades of green). Well-informed guide on the ship’s tour to Derry, but a bit insensitive to some of the older folks (eg, us) who had trouble keeping up. The walls of Derry have the property of always going uphill, at least the portion we walked. And the local tourist center next to which the tour busses park does not have any toilets. On the other hand, when I hear Phil Coulter’s great Irish song “The Town I Loved So Well,” I’ll have mental pictures to go with it.

Day 8 – Dublin. A total cock-up – docked at 3am and left at 3pm, all because of the tides and the ship’s draft. I am sympathetic to the Captain’s desire to have water under the keel, but I wonder why we couldn’t anchor off of Dublin and tender in. With most tourist attractions not opening until 9 and the last shuttle leaving downtown at 2:30, we didn’t give Dublin near enough the time it deserves. Then X compounded the situation by closing the main dining room for lunch, thus severely overloading the Islands cafe (by overloading, I mean waiting 25 minutes in the sir-fry line and then not being able to get a table at which to eat).

Day 9 – Sea day. Comments made by other posters about the higher level of service in the dining room on X relative to HAL are confirmed. From the second day, I was Mister Bob (how was the Indian waiter to know that this is the brand name of a line of portable toilets in the US?) and my wife was Mrs. Gail. Occasionally some aspect of service was unpolished, but when a suggestion was made (eg, don’t take away a half-full bread basket until you have a replacement for it in hand), it stopped being an issue.

Day 10 – St. Peter Port, Guernsey. Glorious day; previous cruise on this itinerary had to skip Guernsey because of the weather, so we counted ourselves lucky. Fascinating place, but be prepared to climb steps. For example, the Boot’s drugstore in St. Peter Port is halfway up North Pier Steps, not on an actual street. Our major interest was the Occupation Museum (the Channel Islands were the only part of Britain occupied by Germany during WWII). A $1.20 fare on the local bus line took us to within four blocks of the museum; admission was $8.00, and another $1.20 to get back, as compared to some $60 for the ship’s half-day tour. Incidentally, the bus that we took, the 7, circumnavigates the island, so we went back to the St. Peter Port the long way, with fascinating views of the seacoast and some remaining German emplacements; had we been in a hurry, we could have taken the 7A, which runs the same route in the other direction; town to town is about an hour and a quarter.

Day 11 – LeHavre, and 2.5 hour ride to Paris in X’s Paris on Your Own transportation. Actual time in Paris was about four and a half hours, sufficient for us to take the Metro from the dropoff point near Eiffel Tower to Montmartre, have lunch and wander a bit, and then Metro to Ile de la Cite and get a glimpse of Notre Dame before realizing that we’re due back at the bus in half an hour. No cab stand (street hails don’t work in Paris), so a nerve-wracking adventure up and down steps in the RER station (suburban commuter trains which run as an express subway within Paris) to get back to the bus on time.

Day 12 – Amsterdam again, and the golden coach turns into a pumpkin. Easy, hassle-free disembarkation, a cab to an airport hotel and then a train back into Amsterdam for more sightseeing, and a 10:55 plane home the next day.

Would I do Celebrity again? We’re already booked on Equinox’s October 10 Ancient Empires for 2009. Would I do HAL again? In a heartbeat. For all of the little nits that I can pick, I’m delighted to have two such well-run and affordable cruise options.

 

[AZjohn]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for your review. You cracked me up when you started with the coffee issue. What's up with that?? (lol).

Glad your roll call group had a great cruise. You all did a lot of home work and appreciated all the info for our cruise.

Thanks,

John

[Abby Ruth]

Great journal of our trip, but leave it to your wife to find an error.:D On Day 8 in Dublin, the last shuttle back to the ship was at 1:30, not 2:30, which really cut into the day. If I remember correctly, we had talked about getting a shuttle back around 2:00 and then , fortunately, overheard someone on the shuttle into Dublin comment that the last shuttle was at 1:30.

 

We did not recall seeing that in the daily schedule. However, on return to the ship, I looked again and it was there, but not prominently placed. We had missed seeing it.

[Abby Ruth]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for your review. You cracked me up when you started with the coffee issue. What's up with that?? (lol).

Glad your roll call group had a great cruise. You all did a lot of home work and appreciated all the info for our cruise.

Thanks,

John

 

Hi John,

 

And we thank you for your reports during your cruise. They really helped us a lot. We thought about you during our lovely day on Guernsey. Can't argue with Mother Nature though. I'm sure it will happen to us on some future cruise.

[librarycin]

Day 5 – A private archeology-oriented tour of the Orkneys with a congenial group of Roll Call members...the day was probably the single high point of the whole cruise...Back on board, we overheard someone complaining about the fact that we had a full day in Kirkwall, why couldn’t we leave earlier? Takes all kinds....

 

Day 6 – Sea day.Also discovered that there is no quiet indoor place to read on the ship other than our room and a very small library. Seem to recall more quiet public areas on Westerdam. Also became aware of Century’s policy of shifting entertainers around to different venues, so that if we wanted to listen to the very good classical quartet, we’d be in the Cova one night, Michael’s another, etc. On Westerdam, the entertainment stayed put, so we had a favorite lounge, and got to know the waiters.

 

I was on this cruise with Bob. Bob - just curious who else was with you on the tour in the Orkney Islands? This was also one of my favourite ports, largely due to my tour and tour guide. I did the X tour Brochs and Stones, so out to the Broch of Gurness, then to the Ring of Brodgar.

 

I was on Infinity last year to Alaska, and was able to find one quiet spot to read by a window (it was kind of in a back hallway behind the conference room and beside the movie theatre). The library on Infinity was much nicer and spanned two levels, but it was in the middle with no windows, so except for discovering it the first day, I never went back. On Century, it was very tiny, but there were very nice large windows, at least (this is important for someone staying in an inside room - I almost always wanted to be somewhere where I could see outside, if I wasn't already outside!)

 

Thanks for your review, Bob!

[AZjohn]

Hi John,

 

And we thank you for your reports during your cruise. They really helped us a lot. We thought about you during our lovely day on Guernsey. Can't argue with Mother Nature though. I'm sure it will happen to us on some future cruise.

You all are more then welcome;) I enjoyed writing daily to you all, you all had a great group! I doubt Phyllis and I will ever have a chance to visit Guernsey again, so I hope you all cherish those special and unique moments there;)

John

[meow!]

... I doubt Phyllis and I will ever have a chance to visit Guernsey again ...

Unfortunately, that sounds likely for us too. It was "regrettable", but such was what happened.

 

On a different topic, when we were in Dublin, we could stay ashore till late afternoon. Why did the people on the next voyage have to leave so early to take care of the tide. The two voyages were only 12 days apart -- did tide cycles change that fast?

[Abby Ruth]

I was on this cruise with Bob. Bob - just curious who else was with you on the tour in the Orkney Islands? This was also one of my favourite ports, largely due to my tour and tour guide. I did the X tour Brochs and Stones, so out to the Broch of Gurness, then to the Ring of Brodgar.

 

Thanks for your review, Bob!

 

Cindy,

 

Bob won't be at the computer today, so I'll answer for him. The others on our Orkney tour were ToBe, amarsh, and B&Ccruisers, and respective husbands. I had asked early on if anyone would like to join us on that tour (which could accommodate eight) and those are the people who responded.

[Abby Ruth]

Unfortunately, that sounds likely for us too. It was "regrettable", but such was what happened.

 

On a different topic, when we were in Dublin, we could stay ashore till late afternoon. Why did the people on the next voyage have to leave so early to take care of the tide. The two voyages were only 12 days apart -- did tide cycles change that fast?

 

Meow,

 

Someone asked about that at the disembarkation meeting (which I didn't go to, but heard about). The reason they gave was the tides. Evidently 12 days does make that much of difference, and tides are so predictable that they knew about it way ahead of time when they advertised the itinerary.

[DiamondDiva]

Thanks, Bob, for the great journal of our trip. Thanks too to AZ John of the prior cruise for his daily reports to us. They were invaluable.

 

The best bargain of this trip was definitely the # 7 public bus on Guernsey that runs around the island for 60 pence. In that hour or so, we saw so much gorgeous scenery, spoke with many locals, had a driver who pulled over for many photos ops without even having to be asked, and even visited the airport to pick up passengers. You can pick it up on the front street in either direction, get on and off as you wish, and connect to other routes for inland sites.

 

We did the Paris w/ lunch cruise on Sunday. Tho crowded in seating (and bathrooms), the cruise was a two hour long delight and we can recommend it.

 

We too (at least me) hated the scary ramp off deck 5 at Invergordon. VERY hard for anyone with even slight mobility or height concerns. I had such a bad moment at the top of it that they finally let me use the crew one on 3. Soon after that they offered 3 as an option to all.

 

Wish we had taken the Orkney trip with you-Chris wanted to do the ship's Skarpa Flow deal, so we didn't take advantage of your offer. So I did the ship's Scara Brae one. We were both somewhat disappointed-mine had a poor guide and no stop or even slow-down at the Rings and Chris' only spent a very short time at Skarpa Flow with only one ship to view.

 

But it was certainly a wonderful trip- one of the best we have had. We had terrific servers at dinner with Renato and Tammy, but only a fair room steward in Eddy, just down the hall from you. We were his last "people" - he left the ship with us, which may have been the reason. We too loved all the storage, especially the large drawer under the couch (mini-couch?) This was our first return to Celebrity after 15 years on HAL and Princess, but we will certainly consider them again, given an itinerary we are looking for.

 

Gail and Chris

Diamond Diva

[Blanco-Grande]

Did not anyone notice the new coffee machines? They started in the spa cafe and eventually made it to deck 11...They came with "sample" coffee and better coffee is coming in July

We are the "Murano Guy" we had been on the ship since Miami April 28 and ate in Murano 40 nights

tom

[Abby Ruth]

But it was certainly a wonderful trip- one of the best we have had. We had terrific servers at dinner with Renato and Tammy, but only a fair room steward in Eddy, just down the hall from you. We were his last "people" - he left the ship with us, which may have been the reason. We too loved all the storage, especially the large drawer under the couch (mini-couch?) This was our first return to Celebrity after 15 years on HAL and Princess, but we will certainly consider them again, given an itinerary we are looking for.

 

Gail and Chris

Diamond Diva

 

Hi Gail,

 

One of our fond memories is meeting you and Chris outside our door the first night. We were picking up our invitation to the CC get-together and you heard us mention Cruise Critic and stopped. I turned around and -- you looked just like your picture!! That was fun.

 

We're looking forward to sailing on the Equinox next year. The room is supposed to be a little bigger. I hope it's got as much storage space. Our room stayed much neater than our room on HAL's Westerdam because we had more places to put our "stuff."

[Abby Ruth]

Did not anyone notice the new coffee machines? They started in the spa cafe and eventually made it to deck 11...They came with "sample" coffee and better coffee is coming in July

We are the "Murano Guy" we had been on the ship since Miami April 28 and ate in Murano 40 nights

tom

 

Nope, all we noticed on Deck 11 was the bad coffee. Maybe the one coffee machine with good coffee that Bob mentioned was one of the new machines. Guess we'll have to go back and try again. :D

 

I guess you like Murano. We never tried it. Another reason for another cruise.