My husband and I returned today from the 5-night western Caribbean cruise on Century.

BACKGROUND - My DH is 62 and retired.I am 54 and semi-retired. Although this was our first cruise,DH has travelled to Europe, mainland China, Australia, Hong Kong and much of the USA with his job. Me...not so much! Since we live near Daytona, we chose to drive to Port of Miami via I-95. No troubles at all, we made excellent time and arrived at the terminal a little past 11:00 am. Parking is literally across the street from Terminal 10 - note that payment is in advance and cash only.As a fellow reviewer, noted, I was impressed by the number of retirees that staffed the desks- courteous, professional and friendly. We had pre-printed our boarding passes, so were able to board and were enjoying buffet at 12:15pm. Although our cabins weren't scheduled to be ready 'till 1:00 pm., we stopped by and it was indeed ready - including the champagne on ice! (Not the best, but it was a nice touch for the sake of ambiance.

SHIP and CABIN - very refined and comfortable. Some passengers said they didn't notice much difference between pre-and post-refurb, but being a novice, I had no benchmark. Colors are understated - burgundy, navy and cobalt blues, gold, etc., with occasional touches of orange and like colors. Cabin soft lines are burgundy and a deep sand beige with white duvet cover. Side note- our duvet was soiled and wrinkled when we arrived, so requested and received a clean one. Storage seems more than adequate, even for a longer cruise than ours- lots of closets,cabinets on either side of the bed (which was a little short for DH and I, but still quite comfortable!) There was mold in our shower area, on tiles closest to the floor.Hansgrohe showerhead was height adjustable gave several different types of spray, but it was similar the one in our bathroom in those respects. Towels were thick and soft, but didn't seem absorbent. I'm nitpicking here. They certainly got the job done. Read more