Frank Sap

Age: 31 to 40
Occupation: accountant
Number of Cruises: 3 to 5 Cruises
Ship: Century
Sailing Date: December 18th, 1999
Itinerary: Western Caribbean (5 night)

In December 1999 we made a 5 night cruise aboard the Celebrity Century. We are Frank and Rita, in our thirties, from Belgian nationality and having lived for more than 7 years in the Geneva area [French-Swiss border]. We have three children [at the time of the cruise 8y, 6y, 4.5 y] and invited Paula (Rita's mum, in her early sixties and an experienced cruiser in Europe) along on this trip.

Our previous cruises:

- in April 1996 (without the children) on a 3-day cruise to Nassau and Key West on board the NCL Majesty (at that time still Royal Majesty)

- in April 1997 we had sailed the Costa Allegra in the Mediterranean sea with our 3 children

- in July 1997 we had sailed the Costa Victoria in the Mediterranean sea with our 3 children and Paula

- in October 1998 we had sailed the M/S Azur (Firsteuropean cruises / Festival cruises) to the Greek isles (and thru the Corinth Canal) with our 3 children.

In January 1999 we started making plans for our annual Xmas vacation and thought that a trip to the US might be a good option. I had done extensive research on a combination of a land and sea vacation and had found a terrific deal with a French travel agent for this 5 night cruise where the two youngest children could sail for free. Our trip from Dec 16 to Dec 29 was scheduled as follows: 2 nights in FLL, 5 nights cruise (Dec 18-23), 3 nights in Miami South Beach, 3 nights in Orlando.

Itinerary

This was a pre Xmas cruise of 5 nights calling at Key West, Calica, Mx, and Cozumel, Mx and one sea day. The ship was full and the weather was warm and clear.

Pre-cruise

On Dec 16 we flew out of Geneva, Switzerland to Zurich (where we met Paula who had flown into Zurich from Brussels that morning) and connected onto the direct Swissair flight to Miami (10.5 hrs). The flight was uneventful with excellent service. We stayed at the Best Western Oceanside Inn in FLL, near port Everglades and at walking distance from the FLL Beach and main attractions.

The first day we awoke at 4 AM (because of the jet lag) and the second day it was around 5.30 AM.

Overall Summary

Food: excellent
Staterooms: excellent for 2, lousy solution for the 3rd.
Ship: very good
Service: very good
Entertainment: good
Itinerary: good

Embarkation

On Dec 18 we left the hotel and went to Hollywood beach for some beach activities and to look for some snorkelling gear for the children (which we found without difficulty). Around 12.30 PM we drove to the pier at Port Everglades and my plan was to drop off the luggage, return the rental car and then get in line for formalities. Upon arrival we were given priority number 6. This meant that we'd have a long wait and therefore we simply dropped off our luggage and took off to the Hollywood beach again. We again left Hollywood beach area around 3 PM but had trouble finding Alamo rental car return. We finally made it and the shuttle took us to the pier where we arrived at 5 PM (ship sailing at 5.30 PM) ; no check in possible, all computers were down. We simply got onto the ship without any wait (albeit an hour later than planned) and checked in a the Guest Relations Desk.

Cabins

We had booked two insides (cat 10, numbers 8157 and 8161) on Panorama deck (8), conveniently located about midship. The cabins are extremely well appointed and very spacious. There is ample storage space, a wonderfully roomy shower (for two) and all the necessary amenities provided. We had 2 identical cabins. Paula shared the cabin with our 8y old daughter and our 6y old son (who slept in a roll away bed placed between the two beds blocking all circulation). We shared the cabin with our 4y old son (who slept in a roll away bed placed between the two beds blocking all circulation). There was no noise heard from the neighbouring cabins. The cabin stewardess, Claudine, was efficient, invisible but not imaginative (no towel animals, no specials for the children, etc.). We appreciated the space in the cabin very much as well as the number of storage facilities. Every corner could be used to store some or another item. We never used the mini bar. A minor suggestion would be for the bathroom to have a sliding door making circulation when getting ready more fluent. We hardly ever watched the TV (which had non stop excursion talks and art auction info). It is great that Celebrity provides a small green night light. A sign of excellent service !

The ship

The Century is a rich looking ship with lots of wood and marble. A real class act as for decoration and very elegant. It is stylish and not glittery neon at all. It is a very large ship but then today it is hard to still find smaller new vessels. No two lounges looked alike and there were many quiet spots to be found even on busy moments of the day. The ship is also very clean and there is constant cleaning going on. It does miss a third pool (which has been added on the Galaxy and Mercury) cause it can get very crowded around the midship pools and it would be nice to have a quiet spot at an aft pool. The restaurant is beautiful and well set up. Elevators (although I hardly used them) are fast and always available.

The food and bar service

We usually had breakfast at the Islands grill buffet. Our children had gotten used to American time by the third day (= first morning on the ship) meaning that they woke up around 7 AM. However, as the ship sailed to Mexico during the second night on board our clocks had to be turned back an hour meaning that the second morning our 4 y old was again awake at 5.30 AM. I got up and got him and myself ready but not wanting to wake Rita I decided to go out on deck and get breakfast at the buffet. Unfortunately the buffet would not open until 6.30 AM for coffee and some Danish (coffee and tea were 24 hrs available at the aft beverage station of the buffet) and the full breakfast  buffet would only open at 7.30 AM. My 4y old was hungry and so was I. All we could do was wait. This was a problem particularly for early risers and occurred every day. Once open, the breakfast buffet had a terrific choice. I had the best bagels ever. All items were fresh and tasted very good; the choice was superb. Service was great and our children's trays were carried for them. There was always a waiter with a coffee pot serving refills. True service !

The lunch buffet was excellent (contrary to previous cruises where buffet food was far below dining room food). There were cold and hot items on the buffet lines at the Island grill and at the pool there were two buffet lines serving burgers and hot dogs.

Pizza was served between 3 and 6 in the afternoon and was delicious (every day the same though). Frozen yoghurt was served from 4 to 5 at the Islands grill. Given the lines I think this should have been available throughout the whole afternoon. The afternoon tea was once again very well served and plenty of items available.

The dinners were superb and I only once had a bad piece of beef. All other meals (buffet or dining room) were outstanding. Our waiter (Robert) as well as his assistant were from Croatia and Robert was excellent, and even cut the children's meat. One evening our 4y old had fallen asleep before dinner even started and Robert provided us with some rolls and butter (at my request) to take to the cabin in case he would wake up in the course of the evening. The wine steward was OK but did nothing exceptional.

The entertainment

The a cappella quartet sang in different lounges on different times throughout the cruise. They brought some well known songs and were nice to listen to for a short time.

We also attended the production shows "The beat goes on", "Las Vegas" and the "Gala Revue". Good music and special effects with 4 singers who should take some singing lessons. It is too bad that good shows and dancing is brought down by poor singing talent.

The last night we watched Vegas star Pamela Blake who brought us an hour of wonderful singing. Here personality (very ironic and bitter in some way) took away some of the charm of her performance. A wonderful voice and definitely talented person.

In the Rendezvous lounge there was Young Duo bringing some good music to dance on the smallest dance floor of the whole ship (pre and post dinner).

During the day we did not attend a lot of the entertainment except the usual pool side activities and Band playing music.

The ports of call

Key West; we walked through Duvall street for two hours but did not do any other specific things. We had been there on a previous cruise and had taken the conch train at that time; we could have done it again since the children had never been on it but on the other hand we thought a stroll through the main attraction area would do also.

Calica; just a dock.

I had done some extensive research on the Web to find info on Xcaret so we opted to take the ship's excursion which was as expensive as taking a cab and paying at the entrance. All six of us got onto the shuttle and after a few minutes (the bus was only half full) it took off for a 5 minute drive to the entrance of the park. We immediately went to the dolphin desk to enrol for one of the activities with the dolphins. The petting was 30 U$ (15 minutes) and the swimming was 55 U$ (30 minutes). Only cash was accepted and we were to be at the "tank" at 1.30 PM. We walked around the park and found by accident the entrance to the underground river. I must say that throughout the park the signalling is terrible and there is no way that you can get str8 from one point to another without missing a turn or path. Anyway, myself and the two eldest children got into the river and swam for about 20 minutes underground with every now and then an opening. It was a one time experience but nothing spectacular. When we got out Rita, Paula and Steven were waiting for us with our dry clothes. We decided to go back to the ship since it was already 11.30 AM and we wanted to lunch and needed to be back at 1.30 PM. In the afternoon Paula and Steven stayed on board for a nap (too bad cause the best of Xcaret was still to come).

We (Rita, myself and the two eldest children) were back at the tank at 1.30 PM.

We were given a short intro on the dolphins and the functioning of their body after which we were allowed onto a platform in the tank. There were about 20 of us and there were about 4 dolphins who came and went and let them pet by all the participants. I had taken the camcorder and recorded throughout the whole session (Rita swapped at some time with me) It was most enjoyable and a truly wonderful experience. They even took pics of us in the water with the dolphins (free of charge). I highly recommend this to anyone cause it is a once in a life time experience.

After the dolphins we headed to the snorkelling inlet where we put on our masks and into the water. I used my underwater camera right away and got some nice shots. There was a guy who had taken some corn flakes with him and as soon as he had thrown a handful in the water he got surrounded by hundreds of fish. The variety was rather limited but it was a very good first snorkelling experience for our kids. After half an hour we went further to watch the seaquarium (very impressive), the turtles (awesome), went along the ruins (guess they are not real cause they looked in perfect shape) and strolled along the replicas of the different Mayan sites. Rita had been to them on some of her previous trips long ago and gave us some historic insight. Around 5 PM it was time to pick up our pics with the dolphins and head back to the ship and catch up with Paula and our 4y old.

All in all it was a very nice shore excursion and the park has a variety of things to do. However, considering that later that month we paid the same amount to enter the Disney theme parks in Orlando, I would say that Xcaret is way overpriced (half the amount would be more than enough).

Cozumel; we tendered to shore.

There were some other ships in Cozumel : Celebration, Paradise, Sea Breeze, Enchantment o/t Seas, a Princess ship (think Regal or Crown) and another one I could not identify. While the others were still having breakfast at the buffet I spotted some other ships cruising to either Calica or Playa del Carmen. I could easily recognize the Mercury (knowing its sailing schedule) and may have spotted a P&O ship too.

We got a cab into St-Miguel (5$) and were dropped in front of a jewellery shop. We walked around in the morning, had some discussions with a jewellery shop but he could not make us a good deal and headed back to the ship for lunch. After lunch Paula stayed on board while we went to Chankanaab Park by cab (8$) and paid 7$ per adult entrance fee. We got there around 2.30 PM. Lots of Carnival people (easily recognizable by the towels they carry) and some RCI people (easily recognizable by the cheap plastic bag the ship had provided them with). I did not spot any fancy Celebrity cotton bags there.

We found a spot on the beach and were snorkelling for the major part of the afternoon. The variety of fish is much bigger and we had a truly wonderful snorkelling time there. By 5 PM we decided to go back and leave the wonderful beach (slightly deserted by then) behind us. We took a quick look at the dolphins and found the spot to swim with them nicer than the one in Xcaret. It is actually a part which is closed off from the ocean and quite big. I definitely recommend it here too (did not check the price though).

Disembarkation 

The disembarkation in Port Everglades was (as usual) a hassle. We had to get to the Theater at 6.30 AM to collect our passports from Immigration. By the time we got to the Restaurant the breakfast service had started and we were no longer admitted. We headed to the Buffet which was fine butthere was less choice than usual. No problem cause there was still plenty of those delicious bagels and other cold and hot items.

After breakfast we had about an hours wait before our number was called. We spent the time on deck near the pool enjoying a last stroll thru the ships elegant lounges and checking out some cat. 2 and 3 cabins for a possible future cruise.

When we got outside the terminal the number of people waiting for taxis or shuttles was huge. We waited for about 20 minutes until the Alamo shuttle arrived and even then we had to manoever thru the cars to get to it. We managed quite well and were off for another 6 days of wonderful vacation in Florida.

Some negative points ; there are too many positive points and therefore impossible to post them here.

1. Celebrity has a cheap way of accommodating third persons by putting them in roll away beds blocking the circulation instead of upper bunks.

2. Ship is difficult to navigate around. Not very consistent especially around the Grand Foyer and theatre. It does not have a wrap around deck which is very disappointing (there is nothing nicer than stroll around after dinner on the covered promenade deck). The jogging track is a joke (far too short).

3. Although food is available throughout the day (6.30-10.00; 12.00-2.30; 3.00-7.00; dinner; midnight snacks; 24hrs room service) we had a problem in the early morning (see "Food" paragraph above). One could imagine that they start serving coffee and Danish at 5.30 or 6.00. But again, this was only a problem for some 40 people on board who were up and about around 6.00 AM. On one occasion I was disappointed in the service at the Buffet: it was 7.00 AM and waiters were setting up the buffet; a mother was trying to calm her 3y old boy who was crying for some fruit juice and when she asked these waiters for some juice their only reply was that the buffet would open at 7.30. Only minutes later the waiter filled the dispensers with fruit juice but refused to make them operational before given time. I was not impressed and neither was the young mother.

4. We had booked our cruise 10 months ahead and had requested first seating. A few weeks prior to the sailing we received our documents and they announced second seating. So, I sent a fax directly to the ship's restaurant manager reconfirming our first seating. When we got on board we went to the restaurant manager at 6.00 PM to rearrange the seating. All he could do that evening was split our party into 3 and 3. He promised to rearrange this and would sent a note to our cabin. We accepted to be seated separately for the first evening because we had no intention of having dinner at 8.30 PM with three young children and still half jet lagged. The second day I went to see the restaurant manager again to ensure things were taken care of and he immediately remembered my name and cabin numbers. Things were taken care of and as from the second evening we were seated at a table for just the six of us. We never received any apology or gesture for the prior inconvenience or a bottle of wine for compensation.

5. I had read in the Century Daily that there was an abdominal class at the AquaSpa; when I got there I was told that this class was part of a special paying seminar. I was free to come to other classes but this one was "private". Why the hell put it in the Century Daily then? I was put off right away and did not set foot in the AquaSpa again. On previous cruises the gym facility was one of my frequent stops during the day and it had always been inviting to do some exercise but not on Celebrity.

Rita and her mum did go to a 33 U$ "body fat analysis" session and had no complaints (except that their body fat was a bit too high but that is another issue).

6. The Century is rated five star but I have trouble finding the justification for this 5th star. I guess a 4 star + would be more reasonable.

Feel free to email me for further info: frank.sap@cern.ch

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