Back from your Celebrity Sailing? Please write/submit your review...

[jspirit]

Herb44, if you got " upgraded" to AQ, then it sounds like it was for no extra charge. If so, then Blu dining is part of the AQ benefits. No extra charge for Aqua Class guests to eat in Blu. That is the main dining option for AQ, although you can request to eat in the main dining room if space is available. Blu is a much more intimate room with very attentive service ,and a slightly different menu.
If you choose to use the specialty dining , like Murano or Tuscan Grill, or Silk Harvest, then there is an extra fee involved. But not for Blu.
AQ guests can also eat their breakfast in Blu , so not necessary to go to the buffet, which btw is very well laid out. On sea days the main dining room is also open for breakfast to anyone during specified hours. There is always the option of room service- and AQ has an upgraded menu for room service, I believe. Geo can help you out with more AQ specifics.
If the upgrade fairy visited you, I would say " go for it!"
Hope that helps.

[Herb44]

TVM, JSPIRIT, but we still have concerns. From our prior cruise experiences, the lines for the elevators make vertical travel horrendous. The differences between Aqua class on the Penthouse deck seem very slight compared to the Vista Deck, balcony cabin. [They did the upgrade for no charge.]

My concern is that we are higher up in the ship with no clear advantages: everything is the same, except for the dining room and a small feature in the shower. Given the number of formal nights on board (which I hate), I'm just trying to examine my options.

Thanks again for your input.

[jspirit]

Originally Posted by Herb44

TVM, JSPIRIT, but we still have concerns. From our prior cruise experiences, the lines for the elevators make vertical travel horrendous. The differences between Aqua class on the Penthouse deck seem very slight compared to the Vista Deck, balcony cabin. [They did the upgrade for no charge.]

My concern is that we are higher up in the ship with no clear advantages: everything is the same, except for the dining room and a small feature in the shower. Given the number of formal nights on board (which I hate), I'm just trying to examine my options.

Thanks again for your input.

Well, Herb44, if this makes any difference- we were on the Sunrise deck7, in one of the cabins right on the hump, and we totally loved that location! We were right near the elevators and stairs- I only took the elevators on the 2 days we had our luggage and maybe only one other time. Since we were mid-ship in almost all ways, I took the stairs up and down and loved the exercise. A few decks up and we were at the lido and buffet, pools etc. A few decks down and we were at the Purser's, entertainment deck, dining room, etc. So central! That way if you are uncomfortable with the glass elevators, you can pretty much avoid them if you don't mind the stairs.
We had a great view from our balcony in both directions. Quiet always with cabins above and below us. Elevators separated from our hallway with doors . Seriously - no noise issues at all.
We loved our service in the main dining room and had all our dinners in there. On the second formal night, we were offered a seafood trio which included a small lobster tail. In Blu on the same night- they had a large lobster tail which must have been pretty darn good. There is a difference in the menu.
In terms of cabin, the size is identical. We actually did a cabin comparison of ours and GeoBills. They had the extras of a fruit plate, fresh flowers, 2 free water bottles per day, terry plush robes ( ours were thinner waffle but light and we liked them), thicker towels, and of course the fancy shower . Our shower was the same size but just a stationary head but very powerful and even temperatures. We loved our shower! Balconies were the same size too. They had the same 2 chairs as us but also 2 matching foot stools.
There are certain spa priviledges but we did not have the chance on our busy itinerary to even use the spa.
In my very personal opinion, the big decision would be if we wanted the Blu dining experience as opposed to the main dining room.
I wish you good luck with your decision! Let us know what you decide!!!

[Geobill99]

Originally Posted by Herb44

We're sailing on the Equinox (Oct 23/09) for the "Ancient Empires" itinerary. We just got upgraded to the Aqua Class (Penthouse Deck) w/o our request, but we can backout until COB Monday, Aug 10.

Thanks for your great review! Several of our concerns about our upcoming trip on the Equinox were resolved, but we have a few others. We need your HELP!!

In reading your review, you didn't note any noise issues from the deck above; were there any? Another cruiser also noted numerous issues with the "aromas" from the Sauna; did this present any issues for you? Other than the shower, there didn't appear to be any advantages to the Aqua Class.

About formal nights: did you participate in both? I'm very anti, but my wife is ambivalent. Is there any place to eat if one opts out (without paying extra? Are there set meal times in the Blu Restaurant for Aqua Class? How was the vertical movement (elevator) between the Penthouse and Entertainment Decks? It looks pretty nasty.

I've also got some concerns about breakfasts: early breakfasts are in the Oceanview Cafe. We just did a B2B on NCL's Jade, where there also were no trays, and found the experience horrendous.

In comparison, we are/were booked on the Vista Deck. Thus, the choices are to think about paying the extra tariff for the Blu (my sister is already booked and prefers up there) vs. staying where we are/were. It seems like a waste of $$, but there just isn't much info out there to do a real comparison.

Hi Herb44. I will try to answer some of your questions. I think JSpirit covered the dining part pretty well. Blu evening dining is 6:30 PM (i think)and 8:45 PM. If you are ambivalent about dressing up on formal nites you can get by with a jacket and tie...maybe even just the jacket. Other than the MDR and Blu and Specialty Restaurants (u really should try the Morano and Tuscan Grill restaurants if you get the chance) you have the Bistro on 5 ($5 cover) with a very nice lighter menu - all you can eat or of course you have the Ocean View Cafe whcih is a huge buffet style and the food is good there but not sit down restaurant fair. If you are def "anti" than the OVC is your proletariat fare. I felt the same way Herb, as you did about the upgrade to Aqua. I did it for my wife mainly and JSpirit can vouch for me that I didn't want to feel set apart or special. The Blu restaurant is intimate and very nice...top notch...but I made a point of making 2 reservations in the MDR just to be in a larger fun setting with a lot of other people and firends. All the restaurants are soo very nice. But the specialty restaurants do stand out in their cusine. Hey, but splurge one nite dude! You only have one go around in life. My thinking has always been if your spending $$$$ for the whole encahlada what is another $100 for reservations for 2 at 2 of the better restaurants you will find anywhere..sea or land!

Noise - I mentioned that our Aqua cabin 1628 was about 4 cabins aft of the aft elevators. If you look at the deck diagrams you will see that aft cabins on Penthouse deck (11) have only cabins above them. They were as quiet as a church mouse. If you move forward on deck 11, closer to the Aqua Spa, you will see there are more public spaces above those forward (11) cabins. There was an issue at one time (early Caribbean sailings) with noise above these cabins but I think much of that was addressed by Celebrity.

We did travel downstairs often from deck 11 to decks 3,4 and 5...where the restaurants, Solstice Theatre and many other entertainment venues are. At the aft elevators (which take you closest to the restaurants) there is a bank of 8 elevators. There was NEVER an issue of passengers being backed up at the elevators when we were using them. The elevators move quickly and frequently. It was a breeze.

No trays also in the OVC. I thought that would be a problem also but it was not. You may have to make an extra trip or 2 back and forth, but what the hey. If mobility is an issue for you than maybe you should check with Celebrity to see if special accomodations could be made for you. There is a very large wait staff walking around at the OVC and I am sure any of them could help you with ur tray. As far as turbulance goes..its the Mediterranean Sea...not the Cape of Good Hope! Haha. It like glass most of the time and you will feel like you are in your living room. Out of 10 days there was one day where it was a little choppy at sea and you could feel it somewhat...and to be honest a couple next to us in Blu went back to their cabin as they felt a little quizzey. But my wife, who gets car sick, never blinked an eye..never noticed a thing.

I hope you have as wonderful a time as my wife and I had as did all of our new friends we made. You can tell by my previous reviews that I am "sold on the Solstice" and "captured by cruising"! Have a blast! Ciao

[Durham]

Compared to many of the contributors to this blog we are relative neophytes to cruising, having sailed on just five voyages. All trips have been with Celebrity. Our last cruise was in May, 2009, on the Solstice in the eastern Mediterranean (Rome-Istanbul-Rome). Sorry to say that the Solstice was not as enjoyable as our voyages on the Millenium class ships. Our biggest complaints are food related. The cafe did NOT operate efficiently, the lack of trays being a major contributor to this inefficiency. Much prefer the 'linear' serving arrangements in the older class of ship. The main dining room was comfortable enough, but the quality of the food served was disappointing in that it was usually not hot. Comments to our waiter and to the maitre-D made no difference (I wonder if this relates somehow to Celebrity's new tipping policy, where there there does not appear to be an option to adjust the tips according to quality of service).
I wonder how long the lawn gimmick on the top deck will last, to me it was a waste of space that could better be used for other purposes.
Our cabin attendant was good; the Captain was a hoot! All in all, our latest Celebrity cruise was not up to the standard we had come to expect.
I think it's time we tried another cruise line.

[pellefsen]

Arrived in Vancouver on Sept 3rd to a very empty airport. Customs was easy and fast. Took a local limo "Aerocar", flat $39 to the Terminal City Hotel, which is also a condo complex. We had a great suite with a downtown view. Took a cab to the Ballantyne Pier about 11 am the next day and embarkation was a breeze. We did have priority boarding as we had a concierge cabin.

CABIN -Went to our cabin and it was great. 8172 is an aft cabin with the balcony as large as the room itself. The room was recently refurbished and was very clean. We quickly meet "Johnnie" our cabin steward who provided the best service of our trip. We had prepaid the tips, but wanted to have our room bar/fridge emptied to make room for the diet cokes we brought on board as well as getting the pillow menu and daily cookies in lieu of the hors d’oeuvres, so we gave him an extra $20. Whatever we wanted throughout the next 7 days, all we had to do was ask Johnnie and when we returned to our cabin it was there.

DINING - My very first experience on the ship was at the Ocean Cafe Buffet, after we boarded and were waiting for our bags to be delivered. I wasn't very hungry, so all I got was a couple of small cubes of cheesecake. It tasted great, until I bit on a small piece of thin white plastic. One of our tablemates actually got an invitation to dine at the captains’ table because she found a cricket in her salad from the buffet.

MDR - Requested late dining at a level 5 (balcony) table of 6-8. We were assigned table 508 which was a great location. It was really uncanny the more we got to know our tablemates. We had so much in common it was kind of scary (all in the mid to late 40s with no children).... Our tablemates were the highlights of our MDR dining experience, as our waiter, "Rennante" was absolutely horrible. Service was so slow, it was inexcusable. We had to ask for water, those of us drinking ice tea had to ask every night, which never happened in previous cruises. Once the waiters know what you like, it's usually there before you even sit down. Not this time. The food was just OK. Small portions, usually overcooked. Compared to our last Celebrity cruise, the food was a major disappointment, as we had high expectations.

ROOM SERVICE – If you are planning on ordering something HOT, then the only good thing about room service is the wake up call you get 5 minutes before it is delivered. The granola parfait and fruit smoothies are great, but everything that is cooked was delivered cold.

ALTERNATIVE DINING - Cova Cafe has the BEST pastries..... There is a $2 per person dinner dining aft deck 10 which we ate at 2 of the nights just to get away from the horrible service. The menu does not change, so you need to be ready to pick from the same items each time you dine there. The first time was fantastic, the second time NOT. Messed up by putting BBQ sauce on my Halibut and our waitress was really bad.

BEAUTY SALON - Wanted to get my hair trimmed/shaped which is pretty long (shoulder length) and ended up with a $100 "super cuts" (totally uneven) hair cut. My own fault, I should have had it cut before I left.

VIDEO ARCADE – Exploring the ship, we came across the video arcade. Only 3 of the 12 machines were actually working.

CASINO – Had a good time playing slots as well as Roulette. What I think is strange, is that my husband and I were on a small winning streak at the Roulette Wheel and every 5 spins, they would change out the wheel spinner, which we thought was strange, but not as strange as when the last spinner started placing his own bets on top of mine. I have never experienced this before and it was quite uncomfortable as he started telling me what numbers to play so he could then play them as well. Our luck quickly changed….

EXCURSIONS- KETCHIKAN, did the Misty Fjords & Wilderness Explorer – it was great, as the weather broke after a day of rain cruising the inside passage, high-speed boat with fabulous views and bald eagle sightings and an eagle nest. JUNEAU, Helicopter Glacier Trek with 2 hr trek. This was by far the highlight of our entire trip. Even though it was drizzling, we had a fabulous time hiking over the Mendenhall Glacier. Our guides were great and we experienced as much as possible over the 2-hour time limit. SKAGWAY, Glacier Point and Wilderness Safari. Our guide, Danny was fabulous. An hour high-speed boat ride brought us to our canoes where we paddled to within 20 feet of the glacier’s edge. ICY STRAIT POINT, ATV Expedition and ZipRider. ATV part was a waste of time and money but the ZipRider was really fun and you can actually purchase this yourself for $99 right at the ride booth.

Thank goodness I read from another cruise message to take Dramamine the night before Hubbard Glacier, as it got really ROCKY after we hit the open seas. In fact, the last day of the cruise, we incurred 50 mile per hour winds and seas as high as 35 feet. It was one hell of a ride. When we pulled into Seward, there was a Princess ship there that was scheduled to leave the night before, but because of the wild conditions, they were stuck at the dock.

Rented a car from Hertz and got off at Glacier exit and did the 3 mile round trip walk to the edge of the Glacier. It was cool, but nothing could compare to the Juneau experience. Checked in at the Anchorage Marriott, nice room needs some new carpet and had dinner at the Glacier BrewHouse, where I proceeded to have the best Alaska King Crab Legs to date.

Overall, we had a great time, but we disappointed that our previous Celebrity experience was not matched. Our next cruise to New Zealand will probably be on a different cruise line.

[Duane T]

I wrote a short summary of our trip on the Equinox. But in Summary, this ship and crew were the Best! We had one distraction (adjacent cabin had a smoker who Celebrity Guest Relations help was required but succeeded) but overall the itinerary complimented what I found to be a top notch happy crew, excellent/prompt service, delicious food in MDR/Murano/Tuscan Grill/Buffet, really fantastic/differenct shows/productions (including our Cruise Director who not only did guest intros but also was a talented performer himself).

NO SMOKING POLICY: We really appreciated this no smoking poicy in rooms and on the verandahs (only 3 designated smoking areas on the ship that I came across...alll outdoors).

CABIN: The cabins were better than I thought. I read some reviewers didn't like the set up but we found it very functional (bed by Verandah). The Bathroom was more spacious and the glass shower was a big improvement over previous "Curtain" types on other ships. Only thing we noticed was that we heard our neighbors talking loud around 2AM...which stopped after we mentioned to them we heard their "private" conversations.

FOOD: Food was great no matter where we ate. MDR (table 155) had wonderful service from our waiter (Nestorino) and his assistant (Ada). In Murano, we had a very friendly and attentive service from our Croation Waiter and the Manager...we liked it so much we went twice. We never had a problem getting a reservation although that may be because we eat early....and restaurants were crowded after 7:00 PM.

Comments from other passengers we met were that Equinox seemed better...crew were happier/friendlier than other RCCL/Celebrity ships. I can vouch that everyone we met in restaurants, stores, decks, shows, bathrooms, bars, discos, gym were wonderfully upbeat and positive especially after the long day shore excursions that took us to great places that were often hot (100+ degree temps), crowded, humid, with aggressive merchants selling stuff to you.

Overall, the best vacation ever.

[astrocat]

Great to read your review DuaneT .. we have a very similar itinerary for Equinox in a year's time. I'm already looking for all the info I can find and am sure to have more questions for you.

We have only done one cruise previously .. Summit in June .. do more experienced posters think that a trip review from me now would come too late ??

I'm keen to put (hopefully) useful information out there, instead of just asking for it all the time!!

[Hamburg Avon Lady]

Please post your review of the Summit -- new folks are joining CruiseCritic
daily not to mention those "old salts" that may have never sailed on the
Summit before. Any and all observations are welcome.

[9051]

My cruise on board the Celebrity Century was booked by my parents for my 40th Birthday for me and my wife (my parents were present too - they acted like tour guides) we were booked into Concierge class on the 9th deck (see my user name!)

On embarking at Barcelona the procedure was very good and very smooth from getting on the bus at the airport to going thru the registration procedure.

Got on board and the room was beautiful with a chilled bottle of sparkly ready to drink. had a good look round the room - just to admire the set up. Unfortunately the outside balcony glass was being held in with hand towels (lots of them!) i presume to stop either the glass from falling out or to stop it vibrating. Also the coat hooks next to the bed were held on with one screw and some sellotape. The shower head (being trivial now) - was not the Hansgrohe® shower head mentioned on the website!

After a couple of hours actually 1700 one of our bags turned up but not the other we had to wait another 45 minutes before we got the second bag! 3 hours after they had taken our bags off us!

My parents remarked that the room was smaller than other cruise liners they have been on and have paid less for them. But to me and my wife it was just fine.

After sailing it was nice to get dressed up for the evening meal (fixed dining means you miss out on a lot of activities which is a shame!) which was smart but not casual - very disappointing to see lots of Americans in the Dining room in Shorts and T shirts and nobody (staff wise) telling them it was not appropriate! after making the effort myself to get dressed up.

The next day we berthed outside Cannes very nice, however being in Concierge we were given Priority passes to get onto the tenders, as we queued down the stairs to get out onto 3 deck there was some chaos with staff telling people to file single file down the stairs, this was ignored and it was an almighty mess of people trying to get onto the tender with staff just standing there watching and not doing anything about it!

A similar thing happened in Portofino where it was a mad scramble to get off the boat and onto the tender. I personally think its only us Brits that have the patience to Queue as many other nationalities just barge there way past and think nothing of pushing in - again staff were powerless to stop this.

Food and all catering services are top notch and can't be faulted how ever its not possible to dine 24 hours a day as the website claims unless you use room service. Only bad thing is the food comes out luke warm, apparently this is how Americans like their food - i am a Brit and like my food to be Piping hot - many dishes sent back to be reheated and steaks cooked to well done and not pink many times too.

Our room was cleaned and bed made every day by Jose - unfortunately my parents were on the starboard side and there room was made up to a lot higher standard than ours every day - i guess its the luck of who you get on your corridor.

Our air con in the room never went cold. When i mentioned this to Jose he recommended we turn the air con up to 70 and then back down to minimum and tried repeatedly to tell me you had to put it onto warm before it would get cold! i don't think so!!

As a result the room never got cold and was always warm, luckily their is lots of water to drink.

The best water to drink on the whole ship - Free (not bottled Evian) was the water from the shower!! the water from the sink in the bathroom was very hot and only got cold one night at 4 in the morning. The water in the silver Jug provided in the room by Jose was disgusting! the cold water from the ice bucket was drinkable but had a taste to it. The water in the galley was okay but always very warm.

Our destinations were great. The cruise Critic party was very good - my wife is a member of your site and signed us up to this website very early when it was announced my parents were taking us on this holiday.

at the cruise critic party we got loads of free sparkly - not very alcoholic or tasty but free never the less. We learnt loads that my parents were not aware of and they have done lots of cruises! we booked ourselves and my parents onto a bridge tour and galley tour - neither of which were public knowledge - such a shame!

We attended the Murano restaurant on my birthday, the food was good but such a limited menu. the lobster tails actually looked like Langoustines (luckily we had a couple of Canadians on our table at formal dining who confirmed this) the tails were grey with coloured spots on - surely lobster tails are Red??

Again apart from this the food was excellent.

On the sea day it was very rough and i know that the cruise lines rely on fuel and burning as little as possible but it would have been nice if the ship could have sailed into better weather - on the bridge tour they told us they had state of the art weather radar how hard could it have been to find better weather on the way back? being rough it floored my parents and my wife but after spending 22 years in the Royal navy it did little to bother me apart from close the upper deck!

The staff photographers are constantly in your face and this is very annoying anything you do they appear - celebrity should provide guests with a sticker IE red that means - do not take my picture i am not interested in paying $20 per photo that if not sold get ditched - what a waste and a hazard to the environment.

On the final day of disembarkation, it was quite well organised calling various colours to the theatre to get people off. Once we were in the departure tent it was well organised getting our luggage, and getting onto the right bus.
However when we got to Barcelona the staff kept us on the bus for 10 minutes even though we could see our luggage 10 feet in front of us. the staff said this was because our luggage had not turned up! When the staff let us off the bus it was a big rush for everyone to get their bags and it was a big fight to get in and retrieve your bags, whilst staff just stood and watched. No help or offered any explanation why they kept us so long on the bus!

Room was nice but bad maintenance let it down i.e hand towels holding in the glass on the balcony, air con and cold tap never got cold, coat rack held on with sello tape and one screw!

it was a shame to see so many people on the ships organised tours paying out lots of $$$$$ to do the same thing i did - walk round and admire the sights and get onto tour buses. i didnt pay $200 i just paid a couple of euros!!
I would cruise again but would have to think twice before using Century, my mum and dad remarked that princess was a lot better and me and my wife will consider them next!

[pom]

Hello

Well I am one of the ones who just came back on Sat Nov14/09 from a wonderful cruise aboard the Summit! If you are looking to see history than this is the cruise for you and walking of yes, you get into shape!

I never really understood the history in Rome, Greece etc until I took this cruise. You have no idea what you are going to see and what you will learn about the way they did live and how they are living now.

Well that is all I am going to say about this great ship, I took 1,424 pictures and you know what they say about a picture! " A piture is like a thousand words!"

I have one thing to say, get a balcony! The views are outstanding, sunsets are out of this world and you can eat and enjoy everthing on your balcony. No smoking is allowed on them , which was great .

Serve, is out of this world, coffee was strong but everything else made up for it. The Summit has a wonderful Captain who thinking all the time how to make us feel safe in rough waters and I have to say it sure made me feel comfortable to know I had nothing to worry about as he knew what he was doing! Thank Heaven for Capt. Pepper

Take this cruise and see how history was in the past and how we see it today!

Pom - Susan

[zwolinski]

We also were on this sailing. It was a great cruise. We arrived very early in Barcelona, & Celebrity surprised us with a tour of the city, wonderful. Missed Nice due to choppy waters.

We had an aft, balcony cabin, (handicap accessible). It was wonderful, although a bit chilly, so we could not enjoy it as much as we would have liked to.
My only complaint was that the carpeting in the room, & on the veranda, REALLY needs to be replaced. Very shabby condition. Rest of the ship looked fine to me!

The food & service was great. One problem we encountered though, a piece of broken china in the soup one night. Our poor waiter looked like he was about to have a heart attack. The maitre d' apologized, but that was it, nothing more.
Could have been worse, at least my husband did not swallow it !!

Any questions, please feel free to ask.

[Compass Rose Monica]

....a work in progress with more to come:

http://luvtotravel.homestead.com/EquinoxJrnl2009.html

Monica

[pom]

Originally Posted by zwolinski

We also were on this sailing. It was a great cruise. We arrived very early in Barcelona, & Celebrity surprised us with a tour of the city, wonderful. Missed Nice due to choppy waters.

We had an aft, balcony cabin, (handicap accessible). It was wonderful, although a bit chilly, so we could not enjoy it as much as we would have liked to.
My only complaint was that the carpeting in the room, & on the veranda, REALLY needs to be replaced. Very shabby condition. Rest of the ship looked fine to me!

The food & service was great. One problem we encountered though, a piece of broken china in the soup one night. Our poor waiter looked like he was about to have a heart attack. The maitre d' apologized, but that was it, nothing more.
Could have been worse, at least my husband did not swallow it !!

Any questions, please feel free to ask.

Hi

Never had that problem, infact found that the Summit had excellent servers and the dishes were not missing any parts of them. Can not think how you must of felt. I would like to say on the last night aboard the Summit, in the restaurant, they put on a show introducing the staff from cooks right down to managers ! It was out of this world! Dim lights and that flaming cake was something to see and the music!
And don't forget the choc night that they did for us, wow this is something really to see and taste!!!

Keep in touch, would love to hear where you are going next
pom

[bagsybarlow]

All I can say is that on arrival at the pier, we went straight through check in and onto the ship in no time at all and didn't even have to wait long before being told our cabin was ready. Aqua Class 1526, a handicapped cabin.
On boarding it was the WOW factor and felt at home straight away with the friendliness and attentive care from the crew, reaching our cabin was WOW WOW and more WOW.

Our cabin steward introduced himself and proved to be exceptionally helpful when we experienced problems with the lighting and air con. He noticed it before we did and duly reported it then informed us, this was the beginning of a saga that would last four days and one day the lights & a/c went again just before dinner and we left a couple of electricians in our cabin removing ceiling panels about 5.30pm we had dinner, watched an excellent show walked around the ship had a pizza & coffee then really ready for my bed returned to our cabin to find 6 electricians & engineers all working on the problems and the fridge pulled right out so therefore unable to go to bed. It was almost midnight before they finished and then the electronically controlled door wouldn't close so they had to get another sensor and fit it.

Sheer heaven when I did get into bed and while I was writing in my journal, there was like a hissing sound and the bedside light went out. I tried to switch it back on but to no avail so I awoke my husband who came to my side of the bed and when he switched the light on it worked. and when I was finished writing I put the light out. A few hours later I was awoken by the ceiling light on my husband's side flashing, I awoke him again and sleepily he went to the wall switches by the door and turned them off, the A/C had also gone off again. It was about 5am when we were woken up by all the lights coming on flashing and the A/C kicking in.
Our poor steward again was called and he couldn't believe it and he promptly called the electricians back demanding they come immediately.

When we returned from breakfast it was all sorted and A/C working again.

Another night I was in the shower only a very short while when my husband came to check I was OK only to find the bathroom really flooded right up to the vanity unit and to the door and just spreading onto the carpet in the cabin. He just threw all the towels from the bathroom onto the floor, we called the cabin steward again and once again it was sorted immediately.

Like I have said we had a wonderful cabin steward and assistant, they were so patient and very understanding.

All of these comments were put on cards and on the comment sheet at the end of the cruise, including the fact that the hotel manager would be contacting us but he never did.
On the final night of the cruise, we were asked to meet the hotel manager, via another UK passenger, in the Martini Lounge. He couldn't understand why nothing had been done earlier like changing our cabin but he had only joined the ship 3 days earlier when the original hotel manager left and was annoyed that he had not been informed. He called the Customer Relations Manager to join us and we were offered on board credit and discount voucher for our next cruise.

We did not seek or expect this because we were determined not to allow it to ruin our cruise and we didn't spend much time in our cabin but we did expect to be contacted by the hotel manager after being told he would contact us.



Coming back to the cruise: It was simply fantastic, the ship was easy to negotiate with my wheelchair, I went swimming every day thanks to the hoist to lift me into the pool which was sheer luxury and I even started using the whirlpool which was a first and most enjoyable experience for me. The pool butlers were great and the pool was never overcrowded. We did enjoy the relaxation room too where I was also able to access the lovely comfy double beds there.

We only ever used the Blu dining room and all the waiters Maitre de & his assistant really put themselves out to make sure I was comfortable I used to stay in my wheelchair for breakfast but sit in the comfortable dining chairs for dinner

We found all the food excellent+ and the dining room was very beautifully decorated with rose walls. Service as I have said was excellent & even better than we had expected.

Entertainment was sensational and how the dancers performed on the high wires I will never know they all deserved medals, we weren't over fussed on the comedian but that could be a cultural thing.

Fellow passengers were remarkably friendly, weather was great what more could we ask for.

Alas Disembarkation Day - What a fiasco, Celebrity need to re think this because we couldn't get off t he ship, our no. was 24 and we should have been off the ship about 9.30 several hours later tempers were fraying (group no 42) when they thought we were jumping the queue.
There was insufficient wheelchair pushers and it was made worse by Customs being slow even when they opened another desk.

We only just made our flight from Miami's dirty airport to Atlanta and if they had not held our UK flight for us we would have missed it because we only had 20 mins to get from one concourse to the other.

Will we cruise again with Celebrity??? Too right we will ideally on Equinox and I am sure that a lot of the problems we encountered will have been teething problems and as we are not likey to cruise until 2011 they should be well sorted out.

The other events we enjoyed were the Cruise Connection party but we could only stay a short while but did enjoy meeting people with whom we had only had online contact with and the Honeymooner & Anniversary Celebration party which were run very close together. A lot of thought had gone into the planning of these events


DO NOT BE PUT OFF BY THE PROBLEMS WE ENCOUNTERED. REMEMBER THE NUMBER OF CABINS ON THE SHIP & YOU CAN SEE IT WAS ONLY A VERY SMALL RATIO

Best wishes to you all for Christmas & New Year and keep on cruising.
Betty

[Angibibbs]

Hubby and I had the Sunset Veranda #1253, my two adult sons shared an inside cabin on the same deck.
I speak for all of us...we loved this cruise
in its entirety. (period)

Our room steward, Alexander, and our dinner waiter, Sabu...gave professional
service and we give them the highest marks.

The food? Ay Caramba! <sp>

Thank You!

[rhstoo]

Sara and I were on the January 2nd, 2010 southern Caribbean cruise on the Millennium--our first cruise. Over the course of nine days, we had one complaint worth mentioning. On Dominica, we signed-up for a visited the Trafalfgar Falls which were magnificent but really challenging to get to and from. The write-up didn't prepare us for the slippery rocks and steep slopes. Everything else on the trip was terrific: the dining room, specialty restaurant and room service meals were much better than we expected. The ship was beautiful. The crew was friendly and accomodating. The excursions were (almost all) great. We were in a Sky Suite and loved it. Elmirio took great care of us and though we had no idea why we would want a Butler, we come to appreciate it the first day. We've already signed-up for another cruise on the Millie--eleven nights, which might not be enough but the trend is good.

[ehrlichpuppy]

I also just posted a review of our recent Century cruise- I got an email that stated it would be reviewed & posted as soon as possible & I would get a 2nd email with a link at that time.
Let me just sum it up with this:
It was a wonderful trip, we enjoyed ourselves & would do it again. Maybe next time in the M-class tho, I missed having the T-pool.

[Ray_Ray]

Just posted this yesterday, here is the link.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1139621

[StartrainDD]

I also submitted this review for the main review site.

We boarded the Celebrity Century 5 day cruise to Key West and Grand Cayman on February 1st. Our shuttle driver dropped us off at about 11:10 AM and we were whisked through check in and on-board before 11:30. We were warmly welcomed with a glass of champagne and began to tour the ship. We worked our way up to the Lido deck and enjoyed a very nice lunch at the Islands Café.

After lunch we toured the spa and continued exploring the ship. We sat down to await the “Rooms are ready” (at about 1:10) at the Cova café where a delightful string quartet was performing. A cappuccino was in order along with a few delicious almond croissants. We would go back a few times during our cruise for those croissants. We made our way to our cabin, #4139, a category 7 outside cabin on deck 4, port aft. We were surprised by the amount of storage space – we only used about 60% of what was available, of course this was a short cruise. The cabin is definitely somewhat “Cozier” than our standard outside cabins on our previous HAL cruises, and the bathroom is shower only (no bother to us at all).

The lifeboat drill was held indoors at muster stations as there was a pounding thunderstorm proceeding outside late in the afternoon. After the drill our cruise critic roll call was to meet at the (outdoor) Mast bar, but we did not think ahead to plan an indoor alternate. We were able to meet several from the roll call during the cruise, but really missed having a get together. I really wish Celebrity would offer an official connections gathering on these 5 day cruises, and so noted on my survey.

We made ourselves ready for dinner and proceeded to the Crystal room for pre-dinner dancing. Dinner was fixed first seating and at first we were surprised as we had requested a table of no more than 6 from our TA and found ourselves at a table for 10. Our TA never told us our request would not be accommodated. In the end, we really enjoyed our table and dining companions. We never had more than 8 as one couple had asked for a table for two and they were able to be reseated. Food is of course subjective but the first night’s meal was just astounding, and overall for the cruise we would consider it excellent.

Dinner was followed by more dancing and a great opening show. It turned out that the opening show was our favorite for the week. The other singer/dancer shows were technically excellent but were not really to our taste. We did not attend the full length comedian shows. One thing we noticed is that there are not a lot of entertainment options available during the main shows. On other cruises we have been on there was usually a lounge that had live dance music during the shows, and we missed that.

The next day we had an all day port call in Key West and enjoyed the sights. A sea day followed that and we had a very relaxing day. Grand Cayman was a great port call and we enjoyed an excursion planned thru CC advice with Capt. Bryan on the Buccaneer to Stingray City and two snorkeling spots. Next up was a fabulous sea day which concluded with a big thunderstorm in the evening.

Disembarkation from the ship itself was uneventful but after reaching the baggage claim it took almost 30 minutes before our color/number bags began to appear. We used SAS shuttle service from Fort Lauderdale airport to the Miami port and back. They provided good service.

Our cabin was very quiet, we never heard our neighbors. We did have some tablemates who complained of “Screaming children” nearby until all hours. The most impressive thing to us was the service on the Century was just impeccable. Our fixed dining wait staff was top-notch. The bar server we frequented at both the pool bar and the Crystal room, Aleksandar was wonderful and very pleasant to talk with. Our cabin stewards provided everything we asked for except they did not leave ice the last evening (ice was a standing request). As I said, food is subjective but my wife enjoyed the food more on the Century than on our HAL cruises. My preference is for HAL’s food. The Century has TRAYS in the buffet, we found them very convenient and they certainly minimized the trips back and forth!

I visited the future cruise desk on our last sea day but was not impressed with their offerings. They quoted a price on a future Bermuda cruise nearly double what I’ve seen offered thru CC e-mails, so I saw no advantage to booking on board.

The Century is 15 years old. There have been discussions on the boards about wear and tear? If you don’t look for it, you will have a hard time finding it. The only obvious thing we found was that the chair in our stateroom was showing some signs of age. Overall the ship is beautiful and top-notch. Don’t hesitate to sail on the Century.