I waited a couple days after we returned to look at the trip from a bit more objective perspective. This is our second cruise on the Century and it was a difference of night and day as far as the ship was concerned. I'll try to go through this from start to finish. Although disappointed we didn't get to Morocco, we were pleased with Celebrity's decision to place our safety as their priority over the itinerary. We flew in a day early and stayed at the Hotel Regina about half a block off Plaza Catalunya at the top of Las Ramblas, It was an excellent hotel. The staff were very friendly and helpful with all our requests. The hotel was clean and well maintained. Our room was a triple, the third bead sat in an alcove that gave my Mother plenty of privacy, when she wanted it. We could have easily walked to most of the major tourist sites in the area. Cab service was readily available if we needed or wanted it. I highly recommend the National History Museum underground tour if you like archeology and pre-historical sites. Most of the ruins were located beneath the museum and Barcelona Cathedral, very interesting and well worth the 5 euro entry fee. The hotel was very quiet at night since it sat back from the main Plaza and Las Ramblas. We've read on some past reviews some hotels can be noisy because of the traffic and street noise, not a problem at Hotel Regina.

Embarkation - Easy as pie, 15 minutes and we were onboard with a mimosa in hand. We got to the port around 11:30 am so we had to wait about an hour before the rooms were ready but no problem, the buffet was open. The Ship and general ship stuff - Once cleared we went to the room, Sky Suite 1207. It still reminds me of a Princess mini-suite with a whirlpool tub. Anyway, this is where some of our disappointments started showing up. The last time on the Century, within a couple of minutes of arriving to the room, the butler and room attendant had introduced themselves and gave us quick once over of the room and asked if we needed anything. This time, it was almost 3 hours before we ever saw the butler, it was later still till we met the room attendant. Absolutely nothing was wrong with the room except we overpacked and needed extra hangers. If I had any suggestions for the cabin, it would be to move the mini sofa to the other side of the cabin and put the dresser where the mini sofa was. You couldn't sit on the sofa and watch TV because it was on the same wall as the sofa, you'd have to pivot you head 180 degrees to watch it. Closet space was good but the shallow drawers made it tough for us overpackers! 1st Night at the main dining room. This was different. We had requested a table for six (us and our traveling companions), we were put at a table for 10. As we sat down to eat, we noticed a horrendous vibration under the table, it was so bad it immediately upset the DW's stomach and she had to leave. Before we (the remaining 8 folks at the table) had our salads finished, the other couples wives were becoming ill and left to find another table. They came back and picked up their husbands and left the table. The rest of us toughed out the vibration but we were all feeling the effects of the vibration, achy joints and queasy stomachs. The explanation offered was that the Captain had to increase the speed of the ship to rise the ships draft because of the shallow channel out of Barcelona and the engine they had to bring on line was having troubles which was causing the vibration. That turned out to be a crock of baloney because even after we changed table away from the severe vibration, we always felt the vibration, to a lesser degree, within the main dining room. Very annoying to say the least. The quality of the food was good to very good for the most part within the dining room, personal tastes excepted. Service - I don't know really how to say this but here goes. Our waiter was very personable, polite and all. After a 2 and half hour dinner we were ready to get out of there (late seating). This was every night, 2 or more hours in the dining room. We had to wait 20 to 30 minutes between courses. We noticed that the waiter would bring everybody's course out in one load after the slowest eater was finished with his/her last course. This applied throughout all his tables. Every table had to finish that course before he would deliver anybody's next course. It got to the point we found reasons not to go to the main dining room so we didn't have to sit through 2 or more hours of dinner. That led to our next disappointment. Outside Murano's, the pizza/pasta bar, and the Island Cafe and the sushi bar, there is no place else to eat. No Nightly buffet whatsoever. The Island Cafe was horrible the night we ate there, the food was cold to luke warm when served and it still took 2 plus hours to get out of the place. I love pasta and pizza but the pizza this trip did not live up to Century's reputation. It was bland and tasteless no matter what toppings were on it. The pasta upset both my and the DW's stomachs, I had a cream sauce and she had the red sauce and both of us were queasy from it an hour later. The dining room was never open during lunch so you had the pizza/pasta bar, the buffet and the pool deck grill. For the so inclined they had the Spa Cafe but it was not to my taste. After the 3rd day we started to noticed our dining room waiter was working the breakfast and lunch buffets as well as the early and late main dinings and so was his assistant. As we got along it appeared the entire wait staff was pulling these hours. I suspect they may have been understaffed and it was coming through in the quality of the service as the cruise progressed. These folks were just plain worn out! Murano's was Absolutely fabulous as it was the last time we were on the Century. The only show we went to was a Broadway-type and was very good. Most of the bands we heard were pretty good if the singer didn't try to push their range or do songs that were not within their range. The casino staff were wonderful, funny and always pleasant to talk to as they took your money. It wasn't to bad, the couple we were with, both hit $1500 on the video poker machines. The DW and I both hit some good hands (straight flushes and triples several times) at the three card poker table. Ports of call are what you make of them and we had a great time despite the cold and one rainy day (Rome). It is not Celebrity's responsibility to make me enjoy the ports of call nor do they control the weather so I don't normally comment on them other than once when an cruiseline-provided (not Celebrity) trip absolutely was a ripoff, but the line made it right by refunding half the cost.

I realize I highlighted a lot of negatives on the cruise but we really had a great time. We noticed an unusual slide in the level of service and food (except Murano's) that we encountered on our 1st Celebrity Century cruise. My mother has taken other Celebrity cruises and even she (75 and still going strong) thought the level of service and food weren't up to Celebrity's excellent reputation. It appeared the wait staff was understaffed as well as were other areas but not to the degree of the wait staff. There was a definite adverse affect on the food and service since our last Century cruise in Apr 2007. Would I recommend Celebrity, definitely, would I take another Celebrity cruise, sure would if the itinerary meets our desires. Even the best have bad days and you can't judge the cruiselines by a single less than stellar cruise. Even though it appeared the crew was overworked, they really tried to make sure we had an excellent experience but some of it was beyond the staff's control.