CENTURY..Sanitation inspection score of 79

[dougnewmanatsea]

[quote name='4 cruisers']"Thank you for contacting us. We are currently reviewing your request. Once we have completed our review, we will get back to you with further details."

I hate to say it, but it looks to me like I'm most likely not going to get a response.[/QUOTE]In cases like this, the cruise line is obliged to send a corrective action statement detailing, in line-item fashion, what has been done to correct the various violations. This statement is then posted in PDF form on the CDC web site... So I'd say that it should be up soon enough. (There is generally a bit of a delay before things get posted on the CDC web site.)

The past few corrective action statements for CENTURY are on there - cruise lines often submit these even if they don't fail an inspection. I even once saw one submitted for a ship that scored 100! (So far as I know, no ship has ever actually gotten away with the CDC not finding anything wrong at all - the ships that score 100 just didn't have anything that they took off points for. Some people have noted that some of the violations that CENTURY had points deducted for, had shown up previously without points deducted - I haven't bothered to check this out myself though.)

[sunpsyche]

[quote name='Lotsacruising']This is for the poster from Florida that said roaches are a way of life in flforida.
I have lived here all my life and in the same house for 15 years without a single roach ever. So as far as I am concerned, there is no excuse for roaches. They can be irradicated, it just takes time, money and careful treatment.
Janet:)[/QUOTE]
I wasn't saying I had them in my home...but if you think they've been irradicated in florida...or anywhere...well...they haven't.

[FreesiaE]

FYI--in case anyone is worried about their tax dollars paying for this, actual the cruise lines must pay for inspections themselves

[hdawson]

Fact is that roaches come onboard in provision cartons. They love cardboard and the glue used. It's amazing what a great job the cruiselines do. And Celebrity and Century in particular have done a great job with sanitation. Just look at their last 17 inspections.

[CMHF]

[b][quote name='Host Doug'][/b]
[b]GOLDEN ODYSSEY was the first Royal Cruise Line ship, circa 1974, a lovely little thing of about 9,000 GT which carried 400 passengers - exactly the capacity of a chartered 747. The original concept of Royal Cruise Line was to cater exclusively to affluent passengers from Southern California, and so they'd charter a 747 from LAX to wherever the ship was, with all of the ship's passengers being carried on that one aircraft. I'm not sure how long that lasted; they certainly had expanded beyond it not long after. It was an interesting concept though.[/b]

In March of 1977, a Royal Cruise Line chartered Pan Am 747 crashed with KLM 747 in Tenerife, Canary Islands with 380 onboard, only 56 survived. Until 9/11 it was the largest loss of life in an aircraft crash. All were lost on the KLM. A total 583 deaths. What a way to start a cruise!:( I have taken many Royal Cruise Line Charters, it was like one big family.
Harvey

[sammiedawg]

It does not matter one iota what the previous scores were. The fact is the failing grade was 2 weeks ago, 79, anything below 86 is failure. 8 ships failed, 6 of the ships I never heard of. I'm trying to get transfer a booked cruise on this ship and getting no help from Celebrity. I will never do business with them agani.

[dkjretired]

[quote name='zackiedawg']HOST DOUG, This is partially on topic, but seems more appropriate here than anywhere else, since it is a question pertaining to background which given your extensive liner and cruise history, you'd probably know:

Celebrity/Chandris seems to have been credited with an otherwise stellar record until this report, leading most of us to believe it is an anomaly that will likely be corrected and remain a rare or unique incident.

However, I remember there being a cruise ship, crewed by Greek officers, which began to take on seawater and possibly sink during a cruise. I always thought the cruise was a Chandris, mainly because of the Greek officers...not that I was jumping to any conclusions (Chandris just always made a point of their Greek crews). Anyway, I seem to recall some amount of controversy over the fact that the crew told the passengers not to worry, that everything would be OK. The next morning the ship was listing fairly severely, and the captain and officers had departed the ship in lifeboats...leaving the passengers worried...I seem to recall some ship employees like waitstaff and entertainers still trying to calm and help passengers, and in the end, not only was everyone rescued from the ship, but it didn't even sink for some time (or at all?).

So, do you recall which line and ship this was, why it took on water or sunk, and whether it was true that the captain and crew left the ship? and if so, doesn't that break the cardinal rule of the sea - that the captain is either the last to leave or goes down with the vessel? And did the captain and crew have soem kind of explanation of why they left before the passengers?

If this was indeed Chandris, then that would be slightly on topic, as it would likely be the last significant blemish they had on their record!

Thanks for any knowledge you can impart...and by all means, continue to stay on topic and discuss the poor CDC score of the Century, which for the record was bad![/QUOTE

Zackie

I believe the ship you are talking about is the Oceanos which sank in August, 91.

Below is a link to what you may be looking for however it does not indicate what line owned it. I did a little extra checking and the ship was owned by the Greek Lauro line.

Don

[url]http://www.rmstitanichistory.com/oceanos/oceanos.html[/url]

[dougnewmanatsea]

[quote name='zackiedawg']So, do you recall which line and ship this was, why it took on water or sunk, and whether it was true that the captain and crew left the ship? and if so, doesn't that break the cardinal rule of the sea - that the captain is either the last to leave or goes down with the vessel? And did the captain and crew have soem kind of explanation of why they left before the passengers?

If this was indeed Chandris, then that would be slightly on topic, as it would likely be the last significant blemish they had on their record![/QUOTE]The ship in question was OCEANOS which sunk in 1991. She was owned by another then-big Greek shipowner, [url="http://www.epirotiki.gr/"]Epirotiki[/url], since 1995 a partner in the now-bankrupt [url="http://www.roc.gr/"]Royal Olympia Cruises[/url] (the other partner, Sun Line, pulled out some years ago - in their day, which was before Celebrity, they were the absolute top-of-the-line in Greek cruising, and their flagship [url="http://www.maritimematters.com/stella-solaris1.html"]STELLA SOLARIS[/url] was one of the most renowed cruise ships in the world).

I'm not an OCEANOS expert, but she sank because of a leak which developed in the engine room - what exactly the source of this leak was, I don't know. The captain was indeed among the first to leave. This was supposedly to coordinate rescue efforts from ashore, but he did not - the entertainers in the end saved the day and coordinated with the South African authorities who brought in helicopters to evacuate the passengers. So this would be a giant blemish on the record of whoever owned the ship, but Epirotiki has no connection with Chandris. (Epirotiki were acquiring a less-than-desirable safety record in the late 1980s and early 1990s - four total losses between 1988 and 1994; only one, the loss of JUPITER in 1988, was fatal, with four fatalities and over 500 survivors.)

Chandris have had only one total loss of a ship in their entire history; the loss of the BRITTANY back in 1963. The ship was undergoing engine repairs at a shipyard in Greece (no passengers) when she burned; she was later scrapped. There were no injuries. The safety record of Chandris is about as squeaky-clean as one can get though admittedly surpassed by Cunard who have never lost a single passenger due to the fault of the company (this means excluding things like the LUSITANIA being sunk by a German U-boat in WWI) since 1840!

[quote name='dkjretired'] Below is a link to what you may be looking for however it does not indicate what line owned it. I did a little extra checking and the ship was owned by the Greek Lauro line.[/QUOTE]The Italian-owned Flotta Lauro (later bought by containership owners MSC and renamed Starlauro; now MSC Crociere) had chartered her from Epirotiki, the Greek owners, in the early 1980s.

[zackiedawg]

Thank you...now that you mention the name, it is familiar. I of course remember the Stella Solaris once you posted it!

I just couldn't come up with any other major Greek line, so I was assuming Chandris.

Thank you much for the history and information.

[jsaadat]

We are sailing with Celebrity for the first time ever in April........... on the Century. Have to say I am pretty shocked to see this kind of score from this ship. Eventhough its an older ship, it has maintainted a prety good CDC record.

Like to think it was just a bad day, but lets face it, its not like these ships get inspected on a regular basis, Century is about every 6 months. Probelm is that the first 14 inspections from 96 to 2002 required no corrective action. BUT THE LAST 4 inspections from 2003 to today have required corrective action. THATS CALLED A TREND !!!! And thats not good.

We will change or cruise arrangments if we dont see improvements by the time we sail. We like a clean/semi safe ship.

JKS

[hdawson]

The inspection certainly is not to be ignored. However, one failing grade out of 29 inspections is one heck of a record. Glad CDC doesn't inspect my kitchen. All other inspections were in the 90s and even a perfect 100. Anyone that has sailed Celebrity surely has been impressed with the constant cleaning on their ships.

[jsaadat]

What do you know............. we have been reading these CDC reports for many years now...... and they are right down the street from us.

4770 Buford Highway, NE
Building 101, MS-F23
Atlanta, GA 30341

I think I will visit them withing the next few weeks reguarding these inspections......... and specifically........ the Century inspection. Would like to find out just how serious or non serious this report is.

JKS

[hdawson]

JKS Please report back here. I'm sure they take the inspections quite seriously. If conditions warrant, the ships are not permitted to sail or board passengers.

[RodPat]

We just got off Century on Saturday. We sailed back to back Nov. 20 and Nov. 27. We saw nothing that anyone would notice as dirty. One day we did not have water delivered to the rooms and there was no ice that day. We thought that there was a problem with the water system. It was fixed the next day. While the thought of roaches near anything that would cut my meat makes me feel sick but you must know that on any one day any ship could fail this inspection. I am sure that heads rolled for this particular inspection but no passengers on this sailing would have noticed if the crew were cleaning behind the scenes. Our rooms were clean and the buffet food was very hot, just no one sees behind the counters. Only when there is an inspection do you hear about this. To all that are going on Century in the near future don't worry about this, the ship is beautiful and the service and food is outstanding. Oh also no one got ill on this sailing so don't sweat the small stuff. That is why someone else does the inspecting and someone else does the clean up. You go just to enjoy yourself.

[hdawson]

Rod. Good attitude by someone that was there.

[dougnewmanatsea]

[quote name='jsaadat']Eventhough its an older ship, it has maintainted a prety good CDC record.[/quote]One of the best of any ship in the industry - most ships, by the time they reach this age, have already failed at least once.

[quote name='jsaadat']Probelm is that the first 14 inspections from 96 to 2002 required no corrective action. BUT THE LAST 4 inspections from 2003 to today have required corrective action. THATS CALLED A TREND !!!! And thats not good.[/QUOTE]There's no trend at all. Most cruise lines routinely submit corrective action statements even in cases where they are not required. A corrective action statement is required where there is a "critical" violation; that is, any violation important enough to be worth 3 or more points. In theory a ship can fail without having any critical violations, and at least one is found on most inspections, but even when there are no critical violations, and a statement is not required, most cruise lines provide them anyway, simply to document the action that they took to correct whatever deficiencies were found, however minor. Cruise lines even submit these statements when ships score 100 on inspections, as in most if not all of those cases there were problems found that are minor enough that no points are deducted.

[twinkles]

I'm shocked to read the report as I sailed the Century in October and she was...without a doubt...the best run ship I've ever seen. It was disturbing to see violations that had not been corrected from prior inspections. However, most of these seemed to be minor...they just added up. The roaches are troubling. If you read the report it does state the goal is REDUCTION, not elimination. And yes, they are disgusting. I surely don't want to think about them...but several people have mentioned the way they get onboard and the tenacity they have. I'm confident Century will blow the next inspection out of the water as she has previously. Let's not overreact.

[FreesiaE]

I ran query on the VSP website to see what percentage of ships had failed the past 5 years--I ran it from 11/30/99 to 12/01/04 (couldn't get 12/01/99 to work in the query for some reason)
at or above 86=1164 ships
at or below 85=60 ships
Total Number or ships inspected=1224
100's=58 ships
So that works out to 4.90% failure rate of , 4.74% at 100%, and a 95% passing rate

[jsaadat]

SAY WHAT YOU WANT.................. THIS IS SICK AND SHOULD NOT OCCUR.
There is no excuse HD






Site: LIDO GALLEY
Deduction Status: Y
Violation: NUMEROUS ROACHES WERE NOTED IN THE GALLEY. BOTH ADULT AND JUVENILE ROACHES WERE NOTED IN THE GALLEY UNDER A REFRIGERATOR, UNDER THE BLAST CHILLER, AND IN THE POTWASH AREA. ROACHES IN THESE AREAS WERE CRAWLING ON THE DECK, BULKHEAD, AND DECKHEAD.
Recommendation: 8.2.1.1.1 The presence of insects, rodents, and other pests shall be effectively controlled to minimize their presence in the food storage, preparation, and service areas and warewashing and utensil storage areas aboard a vessel.

Site: BUTCHER SHOP
Deduction Status: Y
Violation: TWO LIVE COCKROACHES WERE NOTED IN THE BLADE COMPARTMENT OF THE BUTCHER SAW.
Recommendation: 8.2.1.1.1 The presence of insects, rodents, and other pests shall be effectively controlled to minimize their presence in the food storage, preparation, and service areas and warewashing and utensil storage areas aboard a vessel.

[hdawson]

jsaadt. Yep serious. In fact so serious it was given 3 points deduction rather than 5. That should telll us all something.

[bahamapapa]

I cannot agree enough with all those who are concerned with Century's score. This is a incredible breakdown in management at several levels. This is not simply a slip-up, this is a systemic problem.

One thing that should be recognized: These are vessels flying under foreign flags. The CDC is able to inspect them because (as I understand) it is a condition for using the U.S. as a port-of-entry. Thank goodness this system is in place. Imagine if it were not. How long would it have been before these problems were addressed by management?

This is a case of government doing good work. Thanks CDC.

BP

[Luvtotrav]

I read the report and this is definitely abit troubling, but also let us keep in mind the cleanliness of many homes. I because of my occupation, enter alot of different homes. I have been in the wealthy and the poor.The truth is this, Most would not pass this test very well. I am always amazed at the way people choose to live and take care of their homes. I can't help but think that many who are complaining about the ships and their cleaning process probally would not wish to have the same inspectors come to their homes.

From Minnesota

[jsaadat]

Sure my kitchen may are may not pass a CDC inspection......... but I am not charging people thousands of dollars to dine at my house !! :(:(:(

[jsaadat]

[quote name='hdawson']jsaadt. Yep serious. In fact so serious it was given 3 points deduction rather than 5. That should telll us all something.[/QUOTE]



What should that tell us HD ???

[hdawson]

Serious, but not warrenting hysteria. If it was more serious, it of course would have had more deductions. Also I believe with some of the corrections taken on the spot during the inspection, the ship would have passed inspection, if only they could reinspect before completing the inspection. Afraid I didn't word that very well. Hope you understand what I was thinking. LOL