Ned Ashby

Age: 36 to 45
Number of Cruises: 2nd Cruise
Ship: Century
Sailing Date: January 22, 2000
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

After our first cruise on the NCL Seaward (now the Norwegian Sea) in October of 1996, I promised myself I would write a review of our cruise and repay all of those helpful people that had written cruise reviews.  I just didn't ever get around to it and have felt guilty ever since.  Now that we have just returned from our second cruise aboard the Celebrity Century I am going to try and redeem myself by giving my opinions of the cruise.  I want to stress that these are only my opinions and my experiences.  Others will have different experiences and opinions.  A person's expectations have a huge part to play in whether or not they are satisfied with a cruise.  Even if their expectations are unrealistic.   I also want to stress that although I will be giving some critique, this was a WONDERFUL vacation.  I'd do it again in a second and look forward to the day when we can cruise again.

This was a cruise to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary.  We are in our 40's and have 5 daughters.  The trip has been in the planning for over two years and has been booked for over a year.  Traveling along with us were two good friends that we met on our last cruise.  Bill and Natalie from Cleveland.  Since our last trip we have corresponded with them regularly, and taken two fun trips to Las Vegas with them.  People you meet on a cruise really can turn out to be life long friends.  They are about the same age as us, but have much more cruising experience.  They have been on about 17 or 18 cruises.

We arranged our own air and pre-cruise hotel.  We flew into Ft. Lauderdale a day early and stayed at the Ft. Lauderdale Airport Hilton.  Despite booking our room 9 months in advance we were given a room with 2 double beds.  I could tell you stories about this hotel that are worse than most of your nightmares.  Motel 6 would have been better.  It has no relevance to the cruise so I won't go into it.  But my recommendation is that you steer clear of the Airport Hilton and stay elsewhere.  Customer service is not their specialty.  In fact, it's not in their vocabulary at all.  I'll give them a break and say that their breakfast buffet was very good.

This cruise was a little bit different than most.  To our surprise, about 1200 people on this cruise were all with one big group.  The Royal Bank group (mostly from Canada).  We found this out the first day of the cruise when we tried to get a table on the lower level of the Grand dining room.  We were told that the bank had all of the lower level tables and that everyone else had to be upstairs.  This was no big deal but it did kind of set the mood for the entire cruise.  Right or wrong, the rest of us were made to feel like illegitimate stepchildren.  It was THEIR cruise and we just happened to be along for the ride.  I must admit to having some resentment (and probably jealousy) here because those of us that paid our own hard-earned money were not the focus of the cruise. 

Even all of the video screens in the main lobby had the Royal Bank Logo on them all week.  Don't get me wrong.  Many of these people were very nice and being on 'their cruise' had its advantages.  For example, most of the people on the cruise were in our basic age group.  There were very few children and seniors.  Again, don't get me wrong.  I have nothing against children or seniors.  I have 5 children and 2 parents of my own. 

Our feeling was that Celebrity was NEGLIGENT in not disclosing that we were booking into a cruise that had as its central theme the Royal Bank yearly convention.  We feel that we should have been given the courtesy to choose in advance if we wanted to be part of this cruise or choose a different week.  That's all.  Our complaint is not with the bank, but with Celebrity.  For groups that large they should either make them buy the entire cruise or else tell other customers what is going on at the time of booking.

THE SHIP:   At the recommendation of our travel agent we booked a Category 9 (highest inside) cabin with a guarantee.  To those that are new to this game, a guarantee means that we did not choose a specific cabin with the hopes of being upgraded.  Since we booked over a year in advance before the cruise our travel agent was certain that we would be upgraded at least two categories to an outside cabin.  I'm sure that this strategy might have worked had it not been for the fact that the Bank group owned almost all of the other cabins already. 

The cruise was over booked and there was no upgrade.  If we had been told in the beginning about the bank group, we would have picked our own cabin and been in the middle of the ship instead of the one aft that we were assigned by Celebrity.  Live and learn.  The cabins were very nice and much larger than on our previous cruise.  They were very comfortable.  Lots of storage space.  Much of it we didn't even use.  The shower had lots of room and plenty of hot water.  The shampoo was in a dispenser and there was lotion in a dispenser.  There was also a shower cap, Qtips, cotton balls, and a baby nail file.  Celebrity has now started putting bathrobes in all staterooms.  Very nice.

I don't think I can adequately express how clean and beautiful the ship is.  Elegant and classy is all I can say.  The beauty and layout of the ship have been covered by many people so I won't do it here.  The ship is just so nice.  The color selections are excellent.  I just can't say enough nice things about the ship itself. 

Our only real complaint about the ship is that the exercise facilities had almost no ventilation.  We went up to work out at 6 AM on several mornings and it was very hot and stuffy.  Some of the equipment was broken and needed service.  And they played the same music tape over and over all day long.  Whoever chose the music selection had strange taste.  That would have been OK if it had just been rotated a little bit.  This is very petty and just an observation.  While on the subject of the exercise room I will say that the exercise program is very lacking. 

On our previous cruise they had a very good aerobics class that was on deck at least a couple of times a day.  It was non-existent here.  The one class they had was at 5 PM.  We had main seating dinner at 6:15.  There was no way to do the class, get ready, and make it to dinner.  If there wasn't money in it (like paying to have your body fat count taken) they didn't do it.  We were in the exercise room everyday and never once saw the fitness instructor there.  Many people came in to try and use the machines but there was nobody to show them how to work the equipment.  They would eventually just leave.

Embarkation. We arrived at the terminal at about 11:30.  We were given a boarding number of 1.  Right after us they started giving out number 2 and 3.  We were given a questionnaire to fill out that included information about our returning flights, etc.  These are important to fill out.  They will determine the order in which you are called for disembarking on the last day of the cruise.  The information is also given to the airlines so that you can check your bags in for the return trip home.  This saves you from having to drag all of your bags to the airport.  At noon, groups 1 and 2 were called.  We had to pass through an airport type security check and then lined up to show our cruise tickets and show our passports. 

Our friends are Captains Club members and went through a different line.  We actually got finished first and had to wait for them.  So much for the Captains Club preferential treatment.  We then went up the escalators to a holding room where fruit punch was served.  We were told that they would start letting people in at 1:00.  In the next 45 minutes the room swelled with humanity.  So much for having a boarding number of 1.  When the doors were opened to move to the ship it was almost a mob scene.  If you had tripped and fallen down you would have been trampled to death.  The process didn't take long however and we were on the ship by around 1:30.  White-gloved stewards were lined up to show us to our cabin.  We were instantly impressed with the beauty of the ship. 

After dropping off our carry on luggage at the cabin we headed to the Crystal Room to check out our dinner table assignment.  This is where the news was broken to us about the bank group.  Then it was up to the buffet on level 11.  On our last cruise the embarkation buffet was used to get rid of all the leftovers from the last cruise.  We were expecting a similar situation.  Not so.  The buffet was excellent.  A huge selection including fish entree's and carved turkey, beef, and ham.  In our opinion, it was wonderful. 

THE FOOD: I've read all sorts of reviews from good to bad about the Celebrity food.  Although there were a few things here and there that didn't appeal to me, most things I found to be very good and very well presented.  I gained 5 pounds in 7 days and that was with an hour on the exercise bike for 5 of those days.  Although I realize that not everyone loves the food, I did.  All things on the ship are actually made from scratch.  Salad dressings and all.  Everyday at lunch and dinner they have fantastic homemade ice cream.  It's easy to get sucked into the fancy desserts but try the ice cream.  I think you'll be pleased.  One criticism that I have is that if you want to try two things at dinner (for example, both the lobster and the prime rib) you are required to order both full meals.  That means two baked potatoes, two vegetables, etc.  Not many people can eat that much food so food goes to waste. 

It would be better if they could just slide a lobster tail onto the same plate with the prime rib.  On the first night we found the salmon to be some of the best we've ever had.  I usually like beef but wasn't one bit sorry to have ordered the salmon.  Other entree's we found to be winners were: the tornadoes of beef tenderloin, the lobster (bigger than expected), prime rib, and pork roast.  We're not much for lamb so didn't try it.  If you order something that you don't like just mention it to the waiter and they are more than happy to get you something different.  They really want that gratuity at the end of the week and will do anything to make sure you are happy.  There were so many good desserts.  The cherries jubilee and the baked alaska were my favorites.

On Wednesday we returned late from Cozumel and so we ate in the Sky Room which has been converted to a casual alternative dining room.  Reservations are required.  The menu is more basic, with salmon, steak, or chicken.  We found the service to struggle a bit.  The waiter also didn't ever stop back to see if everything was to our liking.  It was OK but not great.  At the end of the meal we were unsure if we were supposed to tip them separately or not. 

We went to two of the midnight buffets.  The Italian and the Tex-Mex buffets.  These were OK.  It's not that the food wasn't good.  It's just that we aren't accustomed to eating that late at night.  It was hard to get up much of an appetite because we were very tired from getting up at 6 AM each morning to exercise.  There was also a Tropical fruit and sherbet buffet, as well as the Grand Buffet.  On the other nights they have what is call Gourmet Bites.  On those nights, waiters were in different areas of the ships serving finger foods.  We didn't ever try the Gourmet Bites.  We also missed the Grand Buffet.  By the time Thursday night rolled around, we were just too beat to make it.  Loafing all day can be very tiring.

We didn't ever order room service, so I can't comment on that.  I had good intentions all week to order a pizza to the cabin and watch a late night movie.  It just didn't ever happen.  We were usually too full from dinner, too tired, and there was never anything good to watch on TV. 

THE PORTS: Jamaica is pretty much as most reviews have described.  It is very green and beautiful.  We did not do any of the ships excursions on this cruise, so I can't report on any of those.  In the morning we walked to the Taj Mahal Shopping Center which is about 150 yards away from where you walk out of the gate at the pier.  The sidewalk and street are lined with people trying to get you to take their taxi, or go with them for a tour of the island.  Most are pushy but give them a firm NO THANKS! and just keep walking. 

The shops are mostly just souvenir shops with a few jewelry stores.  My wife was looking for a watch but the prices were higher than in the states and much higher than on the internet.  If you're thinking of such a purchase you should do a little research before the cruise to know if you're getting a good deal or not.  Bill and Nat bought Blue Mountain Coffee to give as gifts.  We checked out some T-shirts but they weren't cheap and the washing instructions all said COLD WATER WASH/LINE DRY.  This can usually be interpreted to mean GAURANTEED TO SHRINK TO THE SIZE OF A BARBIE DOLL.  We passed on the shirts.

We walked back to the ship for lunch and then got a taxi to Dunn's River Falls.  Our driver dropped us off and set a time to come back for us.  The cost was $22 for 4 people roundtrip.  We rented a locker at the falls for our towels and stuff.  It cost $5 which was a rip off, but needed.  There are guides that group people together to lead them up the falls.  There is no cost for this other than tips.  Some of the guides try to amass huge groups together to make more money.  We just walked down the trail to the bottom and started climbing up ourselves.  We did link up with a small group a little later.  The climb isn't that strenuous and is a real kick.  It looks scarier than it is.  I wish we had gone to the bottom and done it twice.  I recommend it very highly.  It was one of the highlights of the entire trip.

GRAND CAYMAN:   I wish I could report on Grand Cayman.  We had lined up an independent excursion with Captain Marvin's Watersports before the cruise.  We were really excited for this one.  The skies were cloudy and the seas were rough.  While we were eating breakfast the announcement was made that due to rough seas the Grand Cayman Port Authority would not allow any cruise ships to disembark passengers.  One crewmember told us that this only happens once or twice a year.  Bad luck all around.  After a few minutes the ship sailed for Cozumel and we had an extra day at sea.  We weren't given any kind of compensation or refund of port taxes already paid.  

COZUMEL:   In the morning we took a taxi into town and shopped for about 4 hours.  The taxi cost $5 plus tip.  This is the best shopping on this itinerary.  If you are a shopper you could easily do a whole day just shopping.  There were 6 cruise ships in port and it was VERY crowded.  I think it would be a nice place to spend some time if there were fewer people.  In the afternoon we took a taxi (8 bucks) to Chankanaab Park.  I recommend this very highly.  I must admit that I can't remember how much it cost to enter the park.  Somewhere between 5 and 10 dollars.  It is a beautiful beach with some historical stuff mixed in.  The snorkeling is good but I think the site is better for divers.  The water gets deep immediately.  There is a reef about 50 yards out but the water is deep and most snorkelers wouldn't venture out that far.  They rent all sorts of snorkeling gear right at the beach.  My wife rented a snorkeling vest for $3.  We had our own masks and fins.  They also have dolphins in an area that you can pay extra and swim with them.  We didn't do this but watched them being fed.  It was neat.

KEY WEST: The ship docks at a government military pier.  You are not allowed to walk to the town, so there are trolleys provided at no cost.  The one thing I can say for certain is that I've never seen that many T-shirt shops in my life.  Not even in Hawaii.  It is a fun little town to walk around in.  Since it's back in the good old USA there is no more of that duty free/tax free stuff.  Prices aren't that cheap either.  We have always been big fans of Key Lime Pie.  We love it.  If you love Key Lime Pie you won't be disappointed here.  We had two pieces each at The Key Lime Shoppe which were excellent but I'm sure almost anywhere in town would be good.  We also bought some bottles of Key Lime juice to take home.  We made 2 pies on our first day home, and they were great.  The recipe is very easy.  The juice can also be ordered over the internet.  We also walked down along the wharf area.  It's a charming little town.  If you go here you'll probably see the Gold Elvis and the Silver Guy.  You'll know what I mean when you see them.  We happened onto a great little leather shop called Kino Sandals. 

They make all of the goods right on the premises.  They have a great selection of sandals in many colors.  My wife tried them on and fell in love with them immediately.  They are very cheap at $7 a pair.  She bought 3 pairs in different colors.  Natalie bought 2.  They wore them to dinner on Friday night.  They also have belts and purses.  The shop is on Fitzpatrick and Green right behind the Hog's Breath.  Easy to find.  You won't be sorry.

ENTERTAINMENT: My opinion is that this is Celebrity's weak link.  We didn't see all of the shows but we did attend 2 shows by the Celebrity Singers and Dancers and a show with a singer named Pamela Blake and a comedian named Noodles Levenstein.  I REALLY didn't like Ms. Blake.  She was very dramatic and had an opinion of herself that was bigger than the whole outdoors.  My wife thinks I am too hard on her and that she wasn't that bad.  I don't think so.

I thought the comedian was very good.  He performed in the show that we saw and at a midnight show that was more adult oriented.  We didn't see that one.  He was well worth seeing but unfortunately was the second act in this show.  We didn't catch the Liars Club or the Newlywed Game.  We did go one night to the cinema and watched the movie Entrapment.  This was not on the TV.  Only in the cinema.  Otherwise I could have used it for that late night pizza and movie in my room.  On our last cruise on NCL there were several good movies on the TV.  We were expecting similar here.  Not so. 

There were a couple of good movies in Spanish however.  The TV subject brings me to another gripe.  The Royal Bank used 4 of the TV channels throughout the entire cruise to show their meetings over and over in both English and French.  This really added to the resentment since we suspect that much of our entertainment was dropped so they could use the channels. The reception on the TV was also very bad at times.  We're not sure what was up with that.  Possibly they tried to cram more channels on for the bank and the system capacity couldn't handle it.  Regardless of the reason, we found the TV, and what was on it, to be pretty worthless.

There was a good acappella group that performed around the ship named Grand Slam.  We also really like the resident band Vibz.  They were very good in our opinion.  They played up on deck and around in different lounges. 

  SHOPS: The onboard shops weren't that great.  Marilyn bought a watch in the Fossil shop that was nice and reasonably priced.  We also bought some silver chains in the jewelry store for our daughters.  Our friend Natalie wanted to buy a Celebrity sweatshirt.  They only had 1 or 2 sizes.  They said that they couldn't get other sizes from the storeroom until all that they had was sold.  Natalie waited all week for some 300 pound person to buy those 3X sweatshirts.  It didn't happen.  The same was true in the clothing shop where Marilyn wanted to buy a costume diamond and ruby ring.  There wasn't one in her size and even though there were more in the storeroom the policy was not to get more out until most of the rings were all sold.  To me, this makes no sense.

  SUMMARY: To reiterate what I said in the beginning.  This was a WONDERFUL vacation and I would do it again in a second.  I would sail on Celebrity again because the ship was beautiful, the food was great, and the cabins were very roomy.  The service was great as well.  Waiters would even carry trays for women in the buffet.  I would certainly ask in advance if I were booking into a cruise with a large group however.  I would be happy to answer any questions at my email address.  Happy Cruising.

Ask a Question About Celebrity Cruise Lines

Here is something new from Google
Click on the Keywords you are interested in and then
follow the links for more information about Celebrity Cruises.
(Use Your "Back" Button to Return)