The Century is an older, smaller ship. It’s in OK shape; the chrome around the bathroom mirrors is deteriorating, and there was at least one hallway with torn carpeting (which might have been repaired after a few days because I stopped noticing it). We like the design of the Grand Foyer and the Grand Dining Room. Veranda staterooms are about the size they are on other ships, except the couch near the slider is a loveseat size. The room (9164) was refreshed several times a day by our very attentive concierge, Xavier.

We were disappointed to be assigned to late seating, and went to the dining room upon boarding to get on the waiting list for early seating. Service was slow the first night. On the second day, we were changed to early seating, where we had outstanding service (all week) by Loreto. The entrees in the Grand Dining Room started out just good; the vegetables were unimaginative, and a little bland… and usually green beans (which I like when seasoned). For some reason, the last three days had outstanding menus, very pleasingly presented, a good variety of vegetables, and great flavors. It was almost as if they had changed chefs completely (but the same executive chef was introduced at both the beginning and the end of the cruise). The tiramisu was just cream, no ladyfingers. The food in the Islands Café (buffet) seemed to be exactly the same choices daily for lunch and dinner, and very bland. The Asian Stir Fry was the exception, as the cook there would add as much spice as you asked for. The meat at the carved meat station was very good, but needed salt and pepper. Beverage service all over the ship was very attentive.

While the public areas looked clean, this is the first Celebrity ship where I have not seen staff sanitizing the staircases all the time. In fact, I never saw anyone wiping down the handrails, although I did see a lot of vacuuming. That said, we did seem to have healthy passengers and crew for the most part. The Sunset Bar aft of the buffet (Deck 11) apparently was not regularly bussed. In Ensenada, the seagulls were picking through the leftover food on trays, and leaving their mess on chairs, railings, and tables. Read more