Background: We select a cruise based on itinerary, dates, and price. Of our 24 cruises, the first 5 just happened to be on Celebrity, with 3 of them being on the Century. But we have not cruised on Celebrity for the last 5 years, as our selections have been various other lines, all of which we enjoyed. We visited Alaska 2 years ago on HAL. As we really like visiting Vancouver, we decided to take this cruise, and spent an extra 4 nights in Vancouver.
Pre-Cruise: We flew into Vancouver one day early and stayed at the Sheraton Wall Centre. A taxi from the airport was $40 on a Saturday at about 11:00. We booked using Hotwire, the first time we have done so. The hotel was very nice and modern, but TO ME seemed over priced since I was only sleeping there for one night. Vancouver is an expensive city.
Embarkation: We took a taxi to Canada Place ($8) at about noon. We were through check in and aboard in about 30 minutes. Very easy. It was then that we noticed some of the "little" things that Celebrity offers, such as being greeted with champagne or mimosas. Our rooms were ready by 1:00.
Celebrity Century- Cabin 9089 - inside cabin; very quiet, good sized, much storage space, large shower (compared to other cruise lines)