Baltic Experience |
| Reviewed By: Gribben, Burton Stather, Scunthorpe on 12th Aug 2008 |
| Cruise Line: Celebrity Cruises |
Times cruised before: 10+ |
| Cruise Ship: Century |
Sailed:
June,
2008 |
| Destination: Baltic |
Age: 46-55 |
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We embarked our first Celebrity cruise with anticipation. We had travelled on Princess, P&O and Royal Caribbean previously and had heard such good reports about Celebrity that we were quite excited.
Embarkation from Amsterdam went pretty smoothly. We were a group of 36 people, me being the Group Organiser. This was a 12 night Baltic Cruise with an itinerary of Amsterdam Denmark Sweden Overnight in Russia Norway Finland Estonia.
We entered our cabin (Inside 9024 Family Cabin, 2 adults, 2 children) and were delighted with the cabin which looked very new. I agree with comments from other cruises that the bathroom sink was useless. Water splashed everywhere and it was neither use nor ornament, although it did look nice. All staterooms have new style bedding and overall were very nice, its never ideal with 4 in a cabin but they are quite roomy.
The interactive TV was fantastic as it could be used to order room service, access your account, watch world cup TV and much more.
We had a look round the ship and it was obvious that most public rooms had been refitted and looked in good new shape. The outside areas of the ship were a different story. There are many outside areas such as the swimming pool where pool lights were corroding and hanging off, and inside the pool area was stained badly in parts and it was pretty obvious that this deck area had not been touched. Having said this the Pool Attendants (especially Edwin) we found to be extremely helpful and there was always a good supply of towels (and blankets). The backs of the ship were in really bad shape, dirty, rusty littered with old cigarette ends and were generally a disgrace. It was pretty obvious that all public areas had been refitted and that everything else has just been left as it was. Having said this work was still ongoing throughout the cruise. The theatre looked new with obvious refitted seats. On the floor underneath lights there was old carpet cuttings left, screws and any number of things left behind after the refit.
The Martini bar is quite impressive but drinks very expensive, in fact drinks generally were very expensive. We did bring drinks on board from the ports of call and were never challenged (both wine and beer). Michael's club was very nicely decorated and a great place to meet for a quiet drink. Hemisphere lounge again was good although we did not spend much time in here. We had an age range in the group from 40 80 and it seemed that there was always entertainment for all ages in the Hemisphere lounge.
As a group organiser I had continual problems throughout the whole holiday with constant complaints about customers who should have had shipboard credit and didnt get it, shore excursions that had been booked beforehand on the internet, which Celebrity computers had messed up cancelled, yet taken the money for (it will be interesting how long it takes them to refund me). The complaints were mostly not sorted until the last day of the holiday which resulted in me constantly nagging at certain members of staff, some of them never did get sorted. We asked for automatic gratuities to be taken off at the beginning of the holiday as we like to tip for good service those who have given, as well as the children's club which to us is usually a great asset. We had to ask 3 times before this was done as did other passengers.
On board staff (even the ones I constantly nagged at) were excellent and were some of the best that we have had, nothing was too much trouble, all that we encountered could not do enough for you.
The ports of call on this cruise were some of the best we have ever been too. Russia is an unbelievable place. My husband and his brother tried for weeks on end to get a Russian visa, (visiting the Russian embassy, making numerous calls etc.,) so that they could do their own thing but unfortunately it proved unattainable not unusual we have been told by many people. Some trips in Russia were excellent and everybody came back in raptures about St Petersburg, some trips seemed very good value for money. and if you were as lucky as we were to get such a fantastic guide (Anastasia) it was even more enjoyable.
The sail in and out of Sweden (and Norway) is not to be missed, it is so beautiful apart from St. Lucia these were the most enjoyable we have encountered on all our previous cruises.
The shuttle buses were $10 (scandalous) return into most of the ports of call and each day the Celebrity news pointed out that it was at least 15-20 minutes in the shuttle to the drop off point in town. Each day we walked into the centres which were easily accessible in Tallin, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki.
Unbelievably the weather (June 16th 28th) was nothing less than fantastic which we had not expected we were so lucky.
Food we did not eat in Muranos restaurant but it seemed quite populated each time we passed. We found the food in the main Dining room (we ate late seating) very good. I do confess to feeling a little disappointed in that people have previously told me about how fantastic Celebrity food is, and I felt it was a slight let down. Having said that the food was very good.
The food in the buffet area too was very good, pizza and pasta bar excellent as was the Verandah Grill. Soft drinks and tea and coffee were plentiful and available 24 hours a day. My father is not too good on his legs and he was continually given help from the waiters as were other people.
Children's facilities did not always seem too organised but my kids enjoyed it (though not as much as some in the past they have enjoyed). There are always a lot of Scavenger Hunts which to be honest I am not keen on. The kids have to go up to strangers asking all sorts of questions, running about the ship which in my opinion I dont think people need when they are on holiday and the nature of the hunt encourages the kids to run along public areas etc., which is not really acceptable.
Table tennis tables were situated at the very back of the ship which resulted in balls going over the side all the time. Also on view was old carpeting presumably from the refit!!
Highlights of the holiday Staff, ports of call, weather.
Disappointments Outside areas of ship, reception desk problems, children's facilities.
There were many nationalities on the ship (mainly American), not too many british, italian, dutch, canadian.
Entertainment I thought the entertainment was fantastic, excellent singers and dancers. Out of this world were the Russian acrobat dancers some of the best entertainment I have seen throughout all the cruise lines I have been on.
Lots of money has been spent on the Aqua Spa which was a great place to spend a few hours and which we used a great deal. The healthy eating café was superb.
Disembarkation was rapid and organised. Unfortunately our coach was not due to pick us up until 10.00 and we were all off the ship by 8.30 am. We were then asked to leave the baggage reclaim area and wait outside for our coach, luckily the weather was kind but I am talking about some old and disabled customers here, so it was really not ideal. I spoke to the Celebrity personnel to ask if we could wait somewhere more convenient but nobody was too keen to help as we were now off the ship. We could have gone back up to the waiting area but as customers were arriving for their cruise and we were leaving this was also prohibited. At least our cruise agents will be aware of this in the future and may be able to find more suitable waiting rooms.
Final thoughts Sorry if I have disheartened anybody about to sail on Century I have been very critical comparing this ship to those I have travelled on before. In my view (and this is my perception only) this ship did not compare to the Princess ships we have sailed on but we had a fantastic time. My time was made more fraught than it need have been by problems that I had to sort for other customers and I am still in the process of sorting these out. You will like the ship, the cabins are excellent. Generally I feel that lots of money has been spent glitzing the ship up on the inside areas and possibly some wasted on the likes of the martini bar and other areas such as the aqua spa and some money could have been channeled into more worthwhile areas on the outer decks ie. at the back of the ships.
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