My review is based on myself, my wife and our two teenage children's opinions of cruise line, ship and itinerary etc. We flew to Amsterdam two days before cruise and flew home two days after cruise, thus giving us a 16 day holiday. Amsterdam is a wonderful city that we (parents) had experienced when much younger and knowing that there is so much to see and do there, (Ann Frank house, Van Gogh museum, canal cruise, Heineken experience etc etc) we wanted to let our children get a real taste of Amsterdam. I strongly recommend it. Embarkation went very smoothly, approx 30 mins from taking luggage out of taxi to boarding ship. We had filled out all required info online prior to arriving at port except our c/c details. Dis-embarkation, just as good. Ship: As the century is fourteen years old, inside, in all the public areas, the ship is really in superb condition. DEcor in our opinion could be better in the likes of the martini bar, (all white with lights constantly changing color giving it a different feel), Rendezvous square, which feels like a car ferry with a band playing at certain times of the evening, and the Hemisphere lounge where the dance floor was always sticky and the place just seemed un-cared for, but that may have something to do with the fact that staff parties are held here and most passengers except the very young ones seem to avoid it. Then you have places like Michaels Club (superb), Cova Cafe, nice upmarket feel to it (coffees poor and $4.50 for a poor cappuccino!) Grand Restaurant, very nice on the lower level (I'll explain later) and theatre, (very smart and a lovely size). Gym: How can any cruise line provide a gym with over 30 pieces of cardiovascular equipment in a room with floor to ceiling glass on two sides, 8 feet ceiling height, and an average temperature in the gym when half full of + 26 °C?? Two floor standing fans were on full the entire time but all they do is recirculate the already warm air and the staff in the gym know it! No air conditioning in the warmest room in the ship! I would hate to workout when the ship is in the Mediterranean! Pure crazy when this ship was refurbed 3 years ago! Equipment was all Pro Fitness which is the best available so it just doesn't make sense! On the outside decks, there really is no hiding the Century's age. Sunset bar on deck 11, (tired) Pool area, (far nicer to be found on newer ships) but then they positioned their walking/jogging track on deck 13 with no doors leading onto it so the only way up to it was up a flight of stairs which is brilliant as the only people on it were walkers or joggers! Other cruise lines have doors leading onto track so it becomes an assault course trying to avoid people standing around. Now the worst part about the Century and I'm sure others will have their opinions as to why, The Vibration of the ship! Every time she makes a turn and when she uses her bow thrusters when coming into or out of port, the vibration is terrible. No need for wake up calls on the Century cause the entire ship vibrates erratically at these times. Now I'm not talking about motion movement. VIBRATION, when everything shakes together and becomes quite noisy. This really needs to be addressed by Celebrity if they are holding onto the Century. Cabins/staterooms: We had two cabins on deck 10 aft which are nicely decorated, good size, excellent storage space and great beds, high enough off the ground allowing you to store suitcases underneath them. Our attendants were superb. Twice daily service including turndown with chocolates. Fresh water and ice always replaced. Good interactive TV (mostly American programmes) with onboard account always available for viewing (good when you have children onboard), selection of pay per view movies, room service ordering etc. The bathroom was not so good with cheap shower curtains that stick to you in the shower, single ply toilet paper (now who uses cheap single ply toilet paper) no cold water (always warm) small sink and the worst shower head that I've ever experienced (something out of the 1970's) The bathrooms are the same whether you have a sky suite or an inside cabin except that suites have a bath with shower contained in the bath with the same high quality shower curtain! Bring in sliding shower doors like other cruise lines. Food: Main dining room food and service was good. Wines are expensive although the American wines provide the best value. Very good wine list. Choice of 3, 5 or 7 bottle packages in three different price ranges (sommelier package $95, captains package $129, collectors package $345) (all prices are for the three bottle options). These are available on a separate list but as these wines are not on the main wine list and to me were not instantly recognizable, I can't say if they provided good value. We did buy two captains packages and were very happy with them. The grand dining room in my opinion was not always an enjoyable experience (we did have great table companions), the problem is that with 1750 people on board and two seating's, you have a restaurant with approx 800 people dining with you each night and the noise on the upper level does not make for a relaxed dining experience! We did notice that tables of eight are round while tables of ten are off square (3 facing 3 with 2 on each end). We prefer round tables. Brunch, 10am - 1pm served on two of the four sea days in the grand restaurant should not be missed. Grand restaurant only open for lunch on sea days and only the days when brunch is not on. We would like to see it open on sail away day as there is nothing better than arriving on board for the first time around lunchtime and having a nice leisurely lunch while cabins are being prepared. Murano, on the other hand is a relaxed, elegant, and thoroughly enjoyable fine dining experienced that we enjoyed twice during our cruise on two formal nights (sea days), If you're going to dress up, its nice to go somewhere special! Best dining (not eating) experience that we have ever had at sea by far! Spa cafe is great for a light breakfast. Didn't try it for lunch/ Islands cafe (buffet) was good by buffet standards and only common complaint I heard was regarding food temperature, often cold. Best way to avoid that was by going to stir-fry counter which was superb. Part of the islands cafe gets a makeover in the evenings (table cloths, place settings, wine glasses etc and then being called islands bistro. Looked good but didn't try it. Entertainment: Musicians on board were ok. No band stood out, No singer stood out, the Century orchestra were probably the best and they were just ok. Keith Turner's piano playing deserves a mention. I forgot, the classical quartet were excellent when in the Cova cafe. Totally wasted when in the grand restaurant as the noise of the restaurant drowned them out! Ports of call: Many other reviewers have said plenty and just to add, Alla tours 2 day standard tour of St Petersburg in a group of no more than 20 (16 on our tour) was superb. Thank you Julia (our tour guide). Tallinn was fantastic and the friendliest port. Copenhagen remains one of my favorite European cities. Restaurant called Teapot beside the old lighthouse in Warnemunde was brilliant, but you must like fish! Stockholm will never see me again as I just don't like a place where you have to deal with about 5 taxi drivers in each direction to get a fair price for your journey. It doesn't happen in London or New York so why Stockholm! I now understand why the Danes don't like the Swedes! Weather: Worst day - Warnemunde, 19 °C showers. Best day - Tallinn, 24 °C sunny. All other days were something in between the above.

Yes, its sell sell sell onboard but without the announcements. Photos, art auctions, jewelry, the last Amber available in the whole world, lectures at $20 a go, buckets of beer specials, you get the picture, but it's not in your face.

Overall, our opinion is that our first cruise with Celebrity was an extremely enjoyable experience onboard a ship that has its faults and its age is against it with so many new cruise ships available today but that said, we have booked (without children) for the Solstice this November in the eastern Mediterranean. I do believe that the Century will be better suited to short 5/6 night cruises in the Caribbean where it's heading later in the autumn. I do like the size of the Century but its size is better for shorter cruises. Celebrity seem to attract a well educated, well travelled clientele which is stated in the 2008 Berlitz cruise guide, how they do that, I don't know, but going by our experience they just seem to attract people who dress up on formal nights, people who don't jump queue's, people who are mostly very polite to staff, just nice people! I hope now that the people or (man) from the Berlitz cruise guide do an up to date review on the Century. Thanks for reading. Read more