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From Central Florida, the cruise terminals are close to home. Instead of paying an airfare add-on, you just drive down to the port. Century cruises from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, about a four-hour drive from our house. Rather than taking that drive, however, we decided to take advantage of Celebrity’s "free bus" option. An outside service, Cruise Connection, picks up passengers from all over Florida and drops them off right at the cruise terminals. Our pickup point was a Village Inn restaurant in Orlando near Sea World, about a 45-minute drive for us. The pickup time was 6 a.m. on Saturday. We didn’t want to leave our car there for a week, so we stayed at an adjacent hotel, the Hawthorn Suites. They said it was fine to leave the car. We drove down Friday after work and ordered in pizza. It was like having an extra night's vacation. The bus arrived on time at 6:00 Saturday morning, in the dark, of course. It was a new luxury coach, with a restroom and overhead monitors for the VCR. We watched movies on the way to Port Everglades, where we arrived at around 10:30 a.m. Riding the bus is definitely a no-pressure way to get to the ship. Once we brought our luggage to the bus, we didn’t carry it again until after the cruise. Getting that first look at your new home for the week is a thrill. The Century was huge, looking dignified and refined instead of gaudy and splashed with color. Its dark blue and white exterior was spotless. We craned our necks to get a good look as the bus found its way to the Celebrity terminal. The terminal area was quiet, since we were a couple of hours early for boarding. We got a #1 embarkation priority card, giving us a boarding priority second only to those repeat cruisers who had joined Celebrity’s Captain’s Club. Note: I would have joined Captain's Club in advance for this reason alone, but you must have finished a Celebrity cruise before you are eligible.. For newbies like us, here is what happens in the terminal:
We got a great surprise when we entered our cabin. Sylvia the travel agent had gotten us a free upgrade from an Inside, Category 12 (lowest price) to a Family Cabin, Category 3. A nine category upgrade! This is a slightly bigger stateroom with a sliding divider between a double bed and a small living area with two foldout sofas and an upper berth that pulls down. You could sleep five people fairly comfortably there, almost like a suite. Everything in the cabin was elegant: polished woods, mirrors, and a huge window looking out the back of the ship. No plastic or loud colors. Even the room divider was oak wood and frosted glass. The vanity/desk area was topped with marble and had its own upholstered chair, and a stainless steel water pitcher and ice bucket were already stocked. We had a telephone with voice mail, along with a nice coffee table book describing the history of the Century. We had two separate thermostats, one for each half of the cabin, and lots of lights to keep the place cheery. Closet space was more than adequate, even for the four of us that
included a fashion-conscious "two outfits for each day" Annie. We had drawers, a
wardrobe, and several shelves, all behind polished wooden doors which helped keep the
cabin looking orderly and inviting. The bathroom was a bit bigger than I expected, not
uncomfortable in any way. The closet held the nicest surprise of all: two heavy terrycloth
Celebrity bathrobes! Not to keep, but certainly wonderful to use when coming out of a hot
shower. We fought over them all week! Our cabin was #8236, located exactly in the middle of the rear of the ship. If you look at a picture of Century taken from the rear, our cabin was directly behind the flag. A friend had given us good advice: check your dinner seating first! This was being handled in the Crystal Room, an elegant lounge. We had been placed at a table of eight, and I asked if we could have a table for four instead. They told me that none was available. However, when we returned to the cabin later, we found a note on the door advising us of a new table assignment, a table for four. Then, up to the 11th level buffet (Islands Café) for lunch. It wasn’t yet crowded anywhere on the ship, since many of our 1750 or so fellow passengers weren’t on board yet. We expected hamburgers or sandwiches for our welcome-aboard lunch, given the girls’ experience on Carnival. We were pleasantly surprised to find a full buffet with real cloth napkins and silverware: appetizers, salads, cheese, sliced hot turkey and stuffing, roast beef, baked fish, hot vegetables, fresh baked breads, and lots of desserts (the fruit tarts were wonderful, all week long in fact!) The waiter carried our trays to the outdoor deck, where we chose a table under the awning. It was the perfect way to start our cruise, looking over Fort Lauderdale on a bright blue, not-too-hot early afternoon. We were already very relaxed and invigorated, and we'd only been on board for minutes. Once we’d finished lunch, it was time to find our way around the ship. Century has twelve decks and is over 800 feet long. There are several banks of elevators and staircases over its length, and each is labeled with a layout of what’s on each level. Note: it took a couple of days and some wandering around to really lock down the "what deck is that on" picture in our minds, but it wasn’t bad. In fact, it was fun to just head off in a direction until something looked familiar. Celebrity refers to deck levels by their numbers, not their names. You don’t have to remember whether Panorama Deck is above or below Entertainment Deck, for instance, since they are universally referred to by number instead. The top deck is the highest number, 12 in Century's case. Deck 11, where we had just eaten, had two important areas: Islands Café and the recreation (pool) area. On other decks, we found The Grand Dining Room and the Celebrity Theatre, both of which spanned two levels. We counted eleven bars and lounges, along with card and game rooms, a well-stocked library, shops, service desks, and lots more. Our first impression of Century was that it looked brand new. It was prettier than the fanciest hotels we’ve stayed at, like Ritz-Carlton or Hyatt Regency. Staircases were wide and elegant, with deep blue carpeting that looked like it had never been walked on (it looked just as fresh all week long.) Public areas gleamed with glass, brass, and chrome, all polished constantly so that you could not find dust or smudges even if you tried. We thought the most impressive part of Century was the
lavish use of beautiful polished wood throughout. Every room used wood differently:
various patterns, shades, and varieties. All of it was immaculate: no nicks, stains, or
sloppy carpentry. The housekeeping staff obviously took great pride in their work, as they
constantly polished, dusted, and cleaned to keep Century looking brand new
instead of showing its three years. My wife and daughter discerned immediately that Century
did not have the "fun ship" bright colors and plastic of Carnival We walked around Century for an hour or so, getting a feel for the various rooms and routes around the ship. Then, it was time to go back to the cabin for the 4:00 lifeboat drill. It was no big deal, just putting on lifejackets, walking to the muster area for our cabin (down two decks,) and then walking as a group outside to the Panorama Deck and squeezing close together for several hot and claustrophobic minutes before finally being excused. Our only obligation for the week was now finished. We went up on
Deck 12 to watch as Century pulled out of Fort Lauderdale at 4:30. We felt the
big propellers start to move, and almost imperceptibly the front of the ship turned to
point to the pass leading to the open Atlantic. The house calypso band Vibz played onstage
in the pool area, and lots of passengers bought the "departure cocktail" offered
by waiters. By the time we were well away from Fort Lauderdale, the sun was setting over
it, and ahead the only thing visible was the line where the ocean met the sky. |
As time passed closer to our main dinner seating of 6:00, we went to our cabin to change clothes. This first experience with four people sharing a bathroom went well, much to our surprise. The first night’s dress was casual, meaning slacks and sport shirts for men. We felt almost like royalty as we approached the line of waiters standing abreast at the dining room door, waiting to lead us to our table. And of course the dining room is indeed grand, as its name implies, every bit as elegant as the brochure pictures. Lots of wood, subdued lighting, chandeliers, and a two-level view of the ocean at the rear of the ship. We met the dining room staff who would serve us for the week. Piotr from Poland was our busboy, and Mustafa from Turkey our waiter. Both were very proper young men, trying hard to be proper yet polite. We came to enjoy both of them greatly. Piotr was eager yet formal, and Mustafa was very shy and quiet. Neither Piotr nor Mustafa spoke very understandable English, and sometimes they didn’t understand ours either. It was a challenge to decipher their descriptions of the various menu items. Still, we came to be very relaxed in their company. They obviously worked very hard, up to sixteen hours a day. Celebrity hires staff only from European hotels and resorts, another passenger told us, and the busboys work hard to learn enough to be promoted to waiter. Note: Many folks cruise Celebrity because of its food reputation, including us to some extent. If you aren’t particularly interested in food except as fuel, this will be pretty boring. For the rest of you, however, here goes. First-time cruisers like us aren’t sure what to expect from cruise food. Everyone knows there will be plenty to eat. Beyond that, though, the cruise brochures imply that every meal is a five-star experience. This isn’t exactly the case. Century’s chefs work from a single kitchen preparing several sit-down meals, buffets, snacks, and theme buffets each day for 1750 diners. They can’t cook to order like a gourmet restaurant, and they can’t go to the market each day. They must watch costs carefully. And, fancy French chef consultant or not, Celebrity outsources their food operation to Apollo Ship’s Chandlers, a catering company used by many cruise lines However, here’s the good news. Celebrity does a fine job with their food service, for which it wins much acclaim. Their chef consultant (Michel Roux) signed on even before Century was built, and he designed the kitchen himself. He plans the menus, creates the recipes, and defines the standards to which all dishes are prepared. So, given the limits they work under, Celebrity does a good job in our opinion. We were especially happy with the breads, pastries, desserts, soups, and sauces, all of which are made on board, from scratch rather than from mixes. Note: the only promise not delivered was that vegetables like green beans were not tied into little bundles using strings of blanched scallions. The book Celebrity places in each cabin makes a big deal of Michel Roux's insistence that proper presentation, especially the bundling of the vegetables, could be accomplished with only two additional kitchen helpers. Apparently those two FTE's were cut, because nothing was tied into little bundles, including the green beans. Frankly, we could care less, but we did overhear others who mentioned noticing this, too. We'd heard that cruise food is good but not great, rather like what a fancy hotel banquet room feeds you at a convention. We think that’s close to the truth. Everything is good, the menus are creative, and the presentation is very nice. You have probably had better versions of many of the menu items. But, several of the dishes you eat during a week on Century will be as good or better than you’ve ever had. Overall, even being picky about restaurants, we thought it was excellent. We weren't served anything we didn’t like all week, even Phillip's first escargot. You just order what you want, and ask for something else if you don’t like it, or for seconds if you want more. Note: the dining room isn't quiet and subdued like a fine restaurant. The background noise of conversation and dishes clinking is a bit loud. After all, several hundred people are eating and enjoying themselves in that large room. Waiters worked at their stations in full view of the tables, and I didn't enjoy watching them scraping leftover food onto plates for return to the kitchen while I ate. Fine restaurants don't do this, and I wish Century didn't. For our first dinner, I had the roasted tomato bisque, which I thought was wonderful and the best soup of the cruise. My wife liked her spinach-bacon salad, and the kids loved the shrimp cocktails in steel ice bowls. The strip loin of beef was very nice, and Phillip liked his veal piccata. All were served with fancy vegetables, sauces, and accompaniments. Bread was fantastic: wonderfully crunchy breadsticks that were different each day, hard rolls, soft rolls, and sliced loaf bread, with butter shaped in a flower pattern. Note: the waiters and busboys were busy, and their timing was often off. Invariably we were offered pepper, dressings, or sauces after we'd already finished that course and were sitting in front of an empty plate. Mustafa brought around the dessert tray, a tantalizing display of the evening’s choices: crème brulee with passion fruit, apple tart with vanilla sauce and fresh blueberries, and cakes flavored with liqueurs and topped with decorated frostings and sauces. Note: see the menu pages for more detail. Once dinner was finished at almost 8:00, we strolled to the casino. Very nice, pretty carpets, wood, and lots of slot machines (the only gambling we know how to do.) After a bit more walking around and looking at the ocean passing underneath us from the deck (eternally fascinating) we went to the evening show in Celebrity Theater, a wonderful facility indeed. The seats and drink tables were luxurious and comfortable. All seats on both levels had a clear view of the stage, which had an orchestra pit (and orchestra!) and a video backdrop. Entertainment for the first night was kept light and short: a comedian who did tricks on a ladder and some talented acapella singers. There also was a week’s preview from the cruise director, Simon Weir. We aren’t big drinkers, but the drink menu featured several drinks each day for $2.95 and most others for under $4, plus 15% gratuity, which seemed reasonable. We did try a Tropical Cocktail, which was very well made, and Annie began what was to be her daily ritual of having the non-alcoholic drink of the day as she watched the show. By this time the show finished up, it was pretty late, at least by our usual "land standards," but we wanted to see what the midnight buffet was like. The evening’s theme was Italian, featuring great antipasto, pasta stations, fresh-made pizza, calzones, focaccia, and tiramisu and many other desserts. Islands Café was decorated with Italian flags, vegetable carvings, and wine displays, and the kitchen staff wore Italian-colored costumes as Italian music played in the background. Note: you can probably discern the need for a lot of self-control to avoid overeating on a cruise. Where else would you polish off a huge, multi-course meal ending at 8:00, only to have to resist an immense display of other wonderful foods at midnight? As the week wore on, I realized the midnight buffet is best enjoyed by doing a lot of looking and only a tiny bit of eating, or else I would wake up the next morning feeling miserably stuffed and sluggish. Finally, at 1:00 or so, bedtime. The beds had been turned down, chocolates placed on the pillows, and the next day’s schedule slipped under the door, ready for our excited reading. All the towels had been replaced (as they would be twice a day for the entire cruise,) and the bathroom straightened and cleaned (ditto.) The cabin was pretty quiet, despite being directly over the propellers. The noise was about the same as when the air conditioner runs in our house, with a bit of faint hum from the vents in the background. Nothing major. The cabin was absolutely dark, making me glad my watch had a built-in light. The motion of the ship caused a slight side-to-side rocking in the bed, kind of like sleeping in the back seat of a car going down a highway slowly. We slept very well. Just to orient you to the Century layout, here’s a summary of the public areas located on each deck, going from the back to the front.
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