David B

Age: 36
Occupation: Clergy
Number of Cruises: 2
Cruise Line: Celebrity
Name of Ship: Century
Sailing Date: November 9th, 2002
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

This was our second cruise. The first cruise was with Princess on the Grand which was very nice. The Century was an older ship and not as GRAND as the Grand Princess, but the Century was very nice and clean.

Here are the positives:
1. The food and service was excellent. The cabin steward was exceptional and our room was always in great shape. The dining staff was very good and their service was exceptional. The maini resturant was a real treat, food and service!

2. The food was very good. The special Thursday night grand buffet was a delight.

3. The entertainment was very good. Many posts about the Century stated the entertainment was poor, however, we found the singing, dancing, and comedians were of good quality. Nothing like Broadway, but still very good.

4. The entire staff was mostly very friendly.

Here are the matters of concern (and none of these are "trip killers" just matters of concern):

1. The designated smoking areas were not always well defined. A fair amount of smokers on the ship.

2. The pool area was very crowded. My advice is to get to the pool area EARLY.

3. They REALLY push the booze. An alcoholic should not go on this cruise.

4. Tipping is not automatically charged to your shipboard account. You are given envelopes to put tips in. The staff really did a good job and this practice really lets the "cheapos" take advantage of the good, hard working staff.

Ports of call:
1. Jamaica: Nothing special here, but not quite the dump many make it out to be on these boards. We took a cab to the Dunn Falls and climbed it ourselves without having to do the huge human "daisy chain" with a guide. Plenty of people in the guided trip up the falls fell and got bruised up. It was great and even better doing it as a couple. It was not too difficult, but challenging enough to make it fun. We did some shopping and had lunch at the area near the docks. We spent about two hours at a for-fee beach near the ship. Lots of people in Jamaica will hound you to buy this or that. Your skill at saying NO will greatly increase on this port of call!

2. Grand Cayman: 7 mile beach is excellent! We spent time there and then did shopping. Unfortunately, the ship was scheduled to leave at 3:00 p.m. which limited how far from the dock we could venture off too.

3. Cozumel: More of the pestering to buy things, but a very nice port. We took a cab to the National Park Beach ($10 each way and $10 per person entrance fee.) This was a real treat! The beach was great and had wonderful snorkeling areas. Very well kept and clean. We did shopping after the beach trip; again, learn to say NO THANKS!

4. Key West: A classy, pretty place. We rented bikes and road to the beach near the Naval Base which was a wonderful beach, not too crowded. Then we road our bikes around the town and did some shopping. (Mostly window shopping.) We ate at Sloppy Joes which was a fun place to eat. Riding bikes around was fun, we are glad we did it. SHOPPING NOTE: You get all this information on the cruise ship about what a "great bargain" it is to shop in the Caribbean. I am sure there are some good deals here and there, but our opinion is that most of the stuff for sale is junk or over priced. The cruise ships really psyche you up to BUY when you go on shore. Save your money for another cruise!

Also, we don't do shore excursions. We just do the research and hop a cab! Taking the shore excursions is expensive and you have to do LOTS of waiting around waiting on others. If you want to do something very specialized, like diving, you would want to take the pre arranged shore excursion. Otherwise, do your research and head out on your own.

It was a great cruise experience and we would cruise Celebrity again, but might try another ship. However, we sure wouldn't cry over having to sail on the Century again.

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