Booked our cruise on a special and didn't know what to expect. Our package included flights from Sydney to Auckland and two nights accomodation in Auckland before boarding the Celebrity Century in Auckland for a 12 night cruise which ended in Sydney on the 24th December. We decided to get off in Melbourne as did about 100 others on the 22nd which worked well for us. This is not always possible but Celebrity allowed this. We arrived at the port about 11am and starting the process which went smoothly, I am glad we got their early as it was easier than later I imagine. Onboard about midday, the ship was then open to us for meals but we were not able to get to our cabin till about 2pm which wasn't a problem. Cases were then delivered throughout the afternoon to rooms.

First impressions of the ship were fantastic and stayed that way throughout the cruise. Having only been on one other cruise I guess it is all new to us still and we don't have a lot to compare it with but on speaking to others who have done a lot of cruising and different lines they all spoke highly of this ship. The ship itself was exceptionally clean, we had a balcony room which was wonderful and has probably spoilt us forever now, our first cruise was an inside room. I did see one of these though and they are still fine. The room itself had so much storage and cases were able to go under the bed so you never felt like you were falling over anything. I was very impressed with the size and what the rooms have in them. Bathroom of course is small but very practical and no problems either.The staff were wonderful and made you feel as though you were the only ones on the ship, they could not do enough for you and if there was ever a problem, which we had with a neighbours TV being too loud, they attended to it and they also rang a couple of days later to enquire if everything was okay which I was pretty impressed with.

The meals were wonderful in the main dining room and we also spent the extra $40 pp one night to dine in Murano which was a lovely experience and would recommend if you get the chance. Breakfast we often ordered for our room which meant you didn't have to get dressed up first thing in the morning and also helped the waist line by not being tempted with all the goodies. The buffet was very good but perhaps the only thing I was not impressed with, though you couldn't complain about it either as there was a lot of choice but perhaps I was over seeing so much food in one place. The hamburgers at the pool grill were great though for a quick lunch. Read more