Mary G. Kerr

Century (Celebrity)
14 Night Russia and the Baltic
Sail Date - 31st July, 1999

This was our 5th cruise - details of others are:

September 1995 - Royal Caribbean, Sovereign of the Seas, Eastern Caribbean 
January 1997 - Princess Cruises, Crown Princess, Southern Caribbean 
June 1998 - Royal Caribbean, Vision of the Seas, Mediterranean 
September 1998 - Royal Caribbean, Rhapsody of the Seas, Alaska 

We live in Central Scotland, UK and since our first cruise in 1995 we must admit to it being one of the most pleasurable ways to visit many countries in one vacation with the least amount of hassle. I had read previous reviews of the Century, some of which have been very scathing, and talked about the ships stability, service and food not being what was expected, I thought well I can only go with an open mind and take it as I find it.

Arrangements

We booked in late March. Our tickets did not arrive until 8 days before departure date, a bit too close for comfort for me, if anything was wrong it did not leave much time to sort anything out. I am not sure if this was Celebrity or the TA fault. One reason we chose this Itinerary it covered almost every country in the Baltic, included four days at sea and we only had just over an hour’s flying time to Amsterdam from Scotland. (We had a very tiring 30 hour journey flying to Hawaii in May - bearing in mind there were no flight delays - it just took all that time to get there and longer coming home - so beware you Scots thinking of flying to Hawaii) therefore this short flight was a breeze. We flew by KLMUK from Glasgow to Amsterdam direct, it was worth the supplement to fly direct, air was included in the price of the cruise but only from London.

Embarkation

Celebrity are still having trouble with their embarkation procedure in Amsterdam. It started off very well and then went into a steady decline. We were met in the baggage claim area by a Celebrity Representative who escorted us along with our luggage (trolley’s were available free of charge at Schipol) out of the Airport to a truck where it was duly loaded and we then boarded an air conditioned coach, which was nice considering it was 80+ deg. After a 10 minute wait the coach then proceeded to the ship. When we arrived the queue was all the way out of the building for quite a bit. On checking with Celebrity we were told Captain’s Club member’s would have to queue as well until we got inside the building. Once inside the building we pointed out that we were Captain’s Club member’s and we were directed to a special desk to check in. We then had to fill in another 3 forms including Passport Details etc and I think this was what was causing all the congestion. These forms were very similar to the ones we had already filled in our ticket book, which incidentally were never checked or removed by Celebrity. We then proceeded to another hall and given a number, which when called we moved into another area to go through security checks and then the final stop "the photographer", by this time everyone was frustrated, although this only took about 45-50 minutes it felt like hours as it was totally congested, in a building that was way too small, and with no air conditioning and 80+ deg. heat. The whole procedure was totally disorganized. I believe this was the 3rd time the ship had sailed from Amsterdam, surely they could have been better organized than allow the chaos that happened. When we got to the photographer we bypassed him, as this was causing another hold up, but it was funny when we went to check out the photographs that had been taken on embarkation, I have never seen such disgruntled and fed up expressions on any cruisers face in all my life.

Celebrity did issue a written apology in the Century Daily, at least they acknowledged the fact that the embarkation procedure was a complete disaster. We were met and escorted to our cabin, and within 10 minutes all of our luggage had arrived (fastest ever for us).

General

The makeup of the passengers on board were approximately 800 US, 800 Spanish, and the rest German, British, and whoever. The fact that there were 800 Spanish on board, meant there was a LOT of noise and a LOT of smoke, which was actually overwhelming at times. If this is how Celebrity are going to market their cruises in Europe I for one would not chose to sail with them on a European Itinerary again. I just do not relish the fact that the only place on the ship which was a smoke free zone was the restaurant and the theatre and of course your own cabin. The rules of smoking on the Port Side only were never enforced. They printed requests every day in the Century Daily to observe the smoking rule which was completely ignored.

Itinerary

Day 1 Embark Amsterdam, Holland 
Day 2 At Sea 
Day 3 Oslo, Norway 
Day 4 At Sea 
Day 5 Stockholm, Sweden 
Day 6 Helsinki, Finland 
Day 7 St. Petersburg, Russia 
Day 8 St. Petersburg, Russia 
Day 9 Tallinn, Estonia 
Day 10 At Sea 
Day 11 Gdansk, Poland 
Day 12 Rostock, Germany (For Berlin) 
Day 13 Copenhagen 
Day 14 Copenhagen/At Sea 

Ship

There are many descriptions of the ship in other reviews, so I will not go into detail of it deck by deck. My observations were it was kept extremely clean, they just seemed to be cleaning all the time, even at midnight, there were attendants going around cleaning the lifts (elevators) and most other public areas. How they kept the carpets in such good condition is amazing. The Grand Restaurant is beautiful and lives up to its name "Grand". All of the lounges were very nice, we especially liked Hemisphere as you could look right out the front of the ship and if you timed it right, usually after first seating whilst the show was on, we got it to ourselves, and we certainly did observe some of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. The weather by the way for the whole trip was tremendous we had 80+ degrees on some days, and only about one day that it rained and was dull. I think this itinerary in bad weather would really change how you would perceive the whole vacation. The theatre was alright I guess, but compared with the Rhapsody and Vision, it did’nt amount to anything, the seats were the most uncomfortable I have ever sat on, they were bench type with upright back, sounds normal enough but they just seemed to be so uncomfortable.

Cabin

We were in a Cat.2 Premium Ocean view with balcony (Aft) , Celebrity now call this Category a Mini-Suite and as so comes with all the extras including a Butler. On arrival in the Cabin it was an endless stream of introductions from the Head Housekeeper, Cabin Steward, Butler we wondered who was going to appear next. A complimentary bottle of Champagne was on ice, fruit bowl and bathrobes which the latter two I believe are in all cabins. There is a nice chrome insulted ice bucket and water jug which is filled twice daily, and the ice bucket was effective, it was a while before the ice melted. There is a mini-bar which was to be unlocked by the cabin steward. In the bathroom there were small bottles of conditioning shampoo, hand & body lotion, mouth wash, shower caps, sewing kit, cotton balls, and yes the shower is a reasonable size. There is also an umbrella in this cabin so you do not need to lug one of those along. Also provided was personalized stationery and business cards with your name and suite number on for you to hand out to new found friends, (a nice touch).. A complimentary "Celebrity Cruises" Tote bag was put in the cabin as well.

Food

We found the food as well as the service to be somewhat inconsistent, some of the time we had outstanding food and service and other times it was poor. This was such a shame because when we get such good service and food we want to rave about it, and then they seemed to let themselves down. It was nothing major and did not stop us having a tremendous holiday.

Ports

Oslo, Norway: 7am - 3 pm

As we leave the curtains in the cabin open at night, I awoke to a very bright light at 3.30 am filling up the night sky, I jumped out of bed thinking it was a helicopter and some excitement but it was only the Pilot coming up the rear of the ship and he was’nt wasting any time. Cruising up the Oslo Fjiord is beautiful and very much like Alaska and on arrival in Oslo it was misty, moody and had loads of atmosphere but I knew this would burn off to make a beautiful day and it did by 9 am. We decided to do our own thing in all ports with the exception of St. Petersburg and Poland where we signed up for 3 tours. The ship was cleared by 8 am and it was docked right by City Hall and Akerhus Slott. We walked to Akerbrygge area about a 10-15 min walk and took the tram either a No.15 or 12 to Vigeland Sculpture Park. An all day tourist tickets costs 40 NEK (around £3.30) or 5.20 $. You can pay the driver but only in NEK (No dollars accepted) It is the same tram number to return to Akerbrygge.

Anyone who likes sculptures Vigeland is certainly well worth a visit, there are some bronze, granite sculptures and some lovely wrought iron work, we enjoyed this park very much. Try and get there early as possible before the tours arrive, then the park becomes very crowded. We returned by tram to Akerbrygge which is the old warehouses converted into shops and restaurants, we had a stroll along the front of this and you get a fine view over the water to Akerhus Slott and the Century. (A fine photo opportunity).

We then headed over to City Hall, and although a bit stark on the outside there were some beautiful Frescoes on the inside to see. You enter from behind the building that faces the pier. This place is the venue for handing out the Nobel Peace Prize. Then it was a short walk to Akerhus Slott (Fort & Castle), this is quite a large area inside and you could spend all the time ashore here, take note that there are a lot of cobblestones and stair climbing so it can get pretty tiring. The Museum of the Resistence is very interesting costs 20 NEK entrance fee and to do it justice you really would need to spend a couple of hours in it. Last stop was the small building on the pier that had a Tourist Information Centre and a selection of souvenir shops. Oslo is a very user friendly city, easy to get around and there did not seem to be very many people around compared with many other European Cities. Again it was a very hot day, and it made for a very nice sail away at 3 pm. Its the first time ever that I have seen the crew sunbathing on their own private area around the pool in the bow of the ship. The cruise down the Fjiord was really beautiful, the scenery was just tremendous. In fact I would say the cruise into Oslo and also Stockholm was the highlight of the trip for us.

Stockholm, Sweden: 8 am - 5 pm

The sail into Stockholm is just outstanding, there are literally thousands of small islands dotted all around, some inhabited but most uninhabited. Again it was clear blue skies and 80+ deg. Weather. We docked out of the city and Celebrity provided a free shuttle service into the city centre. We took the shuttle bus and from the drop off point it is a straight walk down Drottningatan over the bridge into Gamla Stan (the old town). It has very narrow cobbled streets, churches beautiful buildings and well worth a visit. From the old town we took a ferry to Djurgarden and got off at an amusement park place and walked through it and over to the Vasa Museum. It was very busy with tour groups, but we did not have to stand in line to get in, we just paid our entrance fee and we were in. The Warship Vasa was just unbelievable and a must see. There was an auditorium showing a film on the raising and restoration of the Vasa.

There are also lifts to each level in the building with great vantage points to view the ship. We then returned to the old town the same way we had come and strolled through its very busy streets, back to the shuttle pick up point at Ahlens Department Store. In port with us was the Crystal Symphony. As it was such a beautiful evening we did not go for dinner, but opted to sit on our balcony for the sail out of Sweden, the Crystal Symphony followed us for over an hour, it was just so interesting to watch the islands, houses and small car ferries go back and forwards. I would actually say that this area was even more beautiful than Alaska, (but remember it was 80 deg. which probably made all the difference.) The butler came in handy that evening, as we had full dinner served to us later on in our cabin. (I do believe all cabin categories can do this - but it is just not publicized by Celebrity).

Helsinki, Finland: 10 am - 6 pm

We arrived early in Helsinki to another beautiful day, and were off the ship and on the free shuttle to the City Centre by 09.20 am. The drop off point was at South Esplanade, we walked down this tree lined avenue with gardens and flowers in the middle until we came to Market Square where there is a farmers market of fruit, vegetables, crafts, and the usual souvenir T. Shirts etc. From there we walked to Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral then to Senate Square which is dominated by the domed Tuomiokirkko Lutheran Cathedral. We took the 3T Tram ride which circles the city in a loop and costs 8 markka less than a £1. This is not a sightseeing trip, it is a regular tram that runs all around the city therefore stops and starts all the time, but it was good for resting tired feet and lets you observe life in Helsinki. The circle took around 1
hr.

St.Petersburg, Russia: 8 am Fri - 7 pm Sat

Day 1

The trip we booked for today was the St. Petersburg highlights and concert at Smolny Cathedral. So once we had been through customs, shown our passports and got them stamped we set off on the tour. This procedure took about 10 mins and were entertained by a brass band whilst we were in line. The first stop was St. Isaacs Cathedral for a photo stop opportunity, there was no time to enter. Then it was on to the Church of our Saviour on Spilt Blood. We had a 25 minutes stop for photographs etc and although it has been completely restored it does not function as a church. There were several organized stalls here which gave us a chance to pick up some of the lacquer boxes and Matroiska dolls, which you could pay for with dollars. There was one more photo opportunity to look across the Neva River towards the Peter and Paul Fortress. There is a lot of restoration work of the palaces and great buildings going on but this is determined by the funds available. Sadly the rest of the city is in much disrepair. We then went on to the Smolny Cathedral and the concert which I thought would not be my cup of tea however the choir of singers were very good, with one soloist giving a very moving rendering. An excellent concert with just the right amount of time allocated - around 25-30 minutes.

Day 2

We took the tour to Peterhof "Petrodvorets" but by the time we got there it was extremely busy so it was a very quick look around the gardens, we then had to queue to enter the Palace and once again it was very crowded, we could only enter each room when the next room cleared. This took 1 hr 30 mins as each guide went into very great detail of each room. It was extremely hot and stuffy as well which made it quite uncomfortable. The guide was quite insistent that we stay in a group, but as it was the fountains and the gardens that we really wanted to spend time in we felt we did not get out of this tour what we wanted. There is also a market here where the coaches park so once again there were opportunities to buy.

Tallinn, Estonia: 8 am - 5 pm

The ship docked in Tallinn instead of Muuga which was very pleasant as we got a very nice view of the old town of Tallinn from the ship. Once again Celebrity provided free shuttles to town and this time a very nice young guide met us at the shuttle stop and escorted us to the edge of the old town and explained where everything was - a very nice touch as in Stockholm/Helsinki we had to find our own bearings from the shuttle stop. Tallinn is a beautiful old medieval town with cobbled streets, stairs and ramparts which was very easy to get around and see all that there is to see. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and Toompea are worth seeing. We arrived on a Sunday and by 10 am all shops, restaurants, market stalls were open for business. There was a money exchange open too as most shops and restaurants did not accept dollars. This was one of my favourite places of the trip.

Gdansk, Poland: 7 am - 4 pm

We docked in Gdynia and a full brass band were on the pier to welcome us. I think most people took the one tour which was offered here "The Three Cities", Gdynia, Sopot and Gdansk. There was some festival on in Gdansk and the place was at saturation stage. The guide warned us that every thief in Poland was in Gdansk for this festival as it was so crowded it made pick pocketing so easy. We visited The Church of Our Lady which was the largest brick shrine in the world which was interesting but as it was extremely difficult to hear what the guide was saying amidst the crowds we wandered off to see the town at our own pace. By the way the guide’s first stop on the tour was to visit 3 different "Amber" shops "A shopping opportunity - he said". The tourist area of Gdansk is compact and worth spending some time to see. We then made our way to Oliwa Cathedral built in the form of a latin cross and took 159 years to complete to hear a recital on the largest pipe organ in Europe, but all the coach tours were there and it was standing room only by the time our coach arrived. The recital lasted 20 minutes. A point to note the coaches in Poland are not air conditioned and if it is hot (like the weather we had) it gets pretty stuffy, also another observation was that the drivers drove way to fast for comfort.

Rostock, Germany (For Berlin): 7 am - 11.30 pm

We docked in Warnemunde and most people took the tour to Berlin. As this tour involved 6 hours travelling by train we decided against it. We took the train from Warnemunde into Rostock. You can buy a Tageskarte for 5.50 dm and this covers all transport in the area for the day. They have a very modern tram system that gets you all around town which was very clean and efficient and easy to use. Rostock was easy to get around, there is a nice pedestrian area near Lange Strass which is across the way from the Town Hall. Later on in the day we decided to walk around Warnemunde and were surprised to find a town like a typical seaside town in England, complete with a very wide beach, harbour area full of life, boat trips, restaurants and shops etc.

Copenhagen, Denmark: 8 am Thur - 1 am Fri

We docked in Langeline pier and a free shuttle bus was provided into the City Centre. We were dropped off at the Town Hall which is just across the Square from Stroget the main shopping street. We found this street to be a typical shopping street that could be anywhere in Europe, it was not until you got down to Nyhavn and the canals that Copenhagen came into its own. Christiansborg, Rosenborg and Amalienborg Palaces are all within the city centre which they say can be walked, well they are not as close together as you think, this is a large city and you just cannot do it justice in one day. We walked to Christiansborg Castle and then took a canal tour from there that took us around a few of the canals within the city and out to see the Little Mermaid. Later on in the day we walked from the ship to the statue of the Little Mermaid which was about a 10 - 12 min walk. There was also City Tours in open topped buses that you could get on and off at certain stops as you wished.

At night we took the tour for 16 $ to Tivoli Gardens, this provided a shuttle to the park and back and included the entrance fee. You could probably have done it for less as it was only 7$ for the entrance fee but for convenience its a lot easier to take the ships tour. Tivoli is 150 years old and is quite unique in the fact it is in the city centre. It is a mix of gardens, carnival and theme park, when it gets dark and the lights are twinkling it takes on a family carnival type atmosphere. We sailed out of Copenhagen at 11.30 pm on the dot, the itinerary said 1 am, but I was told the early departure was due to the tide. . Renaissance 7 had been docked alongside us which had left at 10.30 pm.

Disembarkation

Disembarkation was no better than the embarkation. The ship was a little late in docking so I don’t think this helped much. People were off the ship and the forklifts were still going in and out of the building delivering the luggage, some people could see their luggage but were not allowed to go collect it as the forklifts were still moving around, which I suppose was correct, but people were getting frustrated that they could not get to their luggage. We then transferred by coach to Schipol Airport along with our luggage, once at the airport trolleys again were available.

A point to note if you are flying by KLM watch out for the weight of your bags. We were charged 90$ excess by them, we argued the point that we still had the same amount as we came with, that all we had bought was carried in our hand luggage, but they were having none of it. We had to pay up to get our boarding cards. I do not mind paying if everyone was dealt with in the same manner, but this was not the case, another of the Scottish couples on the cruise were on our flight and knew they were on the limit coming, they were charge nothing. No more KLM flights for us. Apart from the "excess baggage" business, I think the service we got from them was poor, they changed the gate three times on us, having people walking from one end of the airport to another, the pilot and co pilot did not turn up on time, so we had to wait on them arriving, then they wanted to take our hand luggage from us and put it in the hold, we refused saying there were valuable and breakables in it (and believe me this was no outsized hand baggage).

General

Cruising the Baltic was certainly an experience, lots of time we cruised close to land and at all times there were always some other ships and ferries to see, the most movement I have seen on any cruise. I had read that this ship did not handle well that it pitched and rolled, well in the 14 days we sailed on her she was extremely smooth, there were times when you would not have known you were on a ship. The only time we felt any vibration was in port when the ship was manouvering into its berth. Maybe the location of our cabin on deck 10 helped but there was very little of the much talked about vibration in the dining room. I think any ship in certain weather conditions will not handle well, when we were on the Crown Princess in the Caribbean the ship pitched and rolled for 3 days, we did not blame the ship for this only the weather.

I think probably the perks that go along with a suite do make a difference to your cruise experience on board this ship.

The food and service was never consistent, sometimes we had outstanding service and food, and other times it was extremely poor. I cannot understand how this can be, someone somewhere is not getting the training right throughout the ship. I found the experience with Celebrity not any better or worse than Royal Caribbean or Princess. We still had a wonderful cruise, would we do this cruise again - probably not, but we know which countries from this cruise that we would visit again, which obviously is easier for us than for people from the US.

Everyone has their own personal reasons for cruising, but what I like is:

1. (No packing/unpacking - well only at the beginning and end of the vacation), - we go to bed at night and the next morning we are in another country you just cannot
beat that for convenience.

2. Leaving any port and the hearing Captain blasting the ships horn

3. Walking along the decks late at night, looking at the stars and watching the ship cutting through the water

4. Watching the pilot joining and leaving the ship (I do not know why I enjoy seeing this)

5. Docking/leaving a port and people being there to see you and waving (it always makes us feel very privileged to be on board)

(This happened in the Mediterranean/Baltic a lot (but not in Alaska or the Caribbean)

6. Passing another ship at sea and everyone takes the trouble to wave to each other.

There are many many more, everyone has there own little likes about cruises and cruising.

Anyone who may wish to ask any further questions can contact me at scottylass@hotbot.com

Regards

Mary G. Kerr

Ask a Question About Celebrity Cruise Lines