This was my third and final cruise aboard Century which has been sold and will end its run with Celebrity next year. Century is my favorite ship. I had not cruised for 12 years when I first boarded Century with DH, DD, and DS in 2006. We had gone on two Baja California cruises when DS and DD were young, but did not sail while they were growing up. Finally, in 2006, when they were in high school, we sailed again- this time on the “beautiful Century” (as the crew calls her).

Century re-introduced us to cruising again, for which I am grateful. (Can you tell this good-bye cruise was seeped in sediment?). We sailed with her to the Caribbean, to Hawaii, and now to Canada. I was on Century last February when it was announced during our Cruise Critic get-together by the cruise director that Century would undergo a major overhaul. This led to several cruises to Hawaii and the Panama Canal to be canceled. Then, Celebrity changed course and decided to do only a minor facelift in order to sell the ship. Many people whose cruises were canceled were livid. Don’t blame them. After all of that drama, Century ended up having very little done to her. Perhaps new carpets, and a few other cosmetic additions, but little else. In fact, some things had been removed (perhaps in anticipation of the sale). In the Islands Cafe, an object d’ art had been removed, however, the placard stating the artist and title of the piece was still displayed and the metal brackets which had held it up were still there. A tile was missing from an otherwise attractive tile art display in Islands as well. It had obviously fallen off and was just left like that.

At our Cruise Critic get-together, many people expressed their disappointment that Century had been sold. One lady called her a “jewel” and stated at length how upset she was with Century’s retirement to Europe. In fact, cruise director, John Grantham, had to finally cut her off and segue onto another topic. As he said, “They don’t fly 707s anymore”. Unfortunately, the reality is that Century, in cruise terms, is old. She just can’t compete with the mega-ships of today. Read more