anyone done a Celebrity Cruise

[TimSJ]

Just won a sales contest and the prize is a 4 night 5 day cruise in February on the Celebrity Century..

We usually do the all inclusive thing. Any cruise tips? Anyone been on this boat?

[GoinAllTheWay]

Ah, I thought you won a cruise with a bunch of celebrities, that would have rocked.

Never been on a cruise ship of any kind so I am of no help.

[Prototype]

If you want to know about Carnival, I did a cruise in May. Never been on Celebrity.

[SaprykinPWNSjoo]

I was on celebrity but not that ship. it went to panama it was real good only thing about the boat is its alot of an older crowd me being 19 dont know your age. Food was great our boat was a little small but still good great crew and the shows were fun to watch. I really enjoyed it and would go on another celebrity cruise again

[Jayems]

I'm going to assume you've never been on a cruise ship before... (if you have, then you probably know most of this anyway)

I was on the Carnival Conquest out of New Orleans before Katrina, and going on the Holland America Westerdam in January...

One thing, all inclusive doesn't usually include drinks on a cruise ship. All the food you can shove in your face, but they'll still charge you for beer.

Some may be different i'm sure, but expect booze not to be included unless otherwise stated.

Find the pizza stand quick, it will become your best friend. I must have ate 500 slices of pizza on my trip.

Go for the late dinner IMO (if you have a choice) We went for the early one, and missed every good sunset. Plus, if you're feeling a little peckish, there is always the pizza bar.

I don't know where you're going... so I can't help there...

Lots of fun things to do aboard, me and the GF played bingo every day for fun prizes, they had game shows that we went and participated in, ice carving contests in the middle of the caribbean...

The hot tubs and swimming pools are salt water... didn't expect that. (In hindsight, it makes sense, but still)

I'm really looking forward to my trip, as in less than 1 month, i'll be in the caribbean doing the eastern (Bahamas, St. Maarten, Turks & Caicos, and the British Virgin Islands), as I have done the western caribbean (Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Mexico).

Lots of bars on board with all sorts of different themes for whatever you are into (martinnis [sp, i know], sports lounge).

Internet is deadly expensive, but i'll pay the price to check up on the flames

Thats about all I can muster out of the ol' memory box about taking a cruise.

Oh yeah, don't worry about sea-sickness. They have fancy stabalizers (sp.. i know.. im tired) that prevent the ship from swaying.

If you have a history, take some of those things to put behind your ears just incase.

Google the hell out of it for reviews, more to just get you pumped up for the trip.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/....cfm?ShipID=15

http://cruiseclues.com

http://www.cruisereviews.com/Celebrity/Century63.htm

[Prototype]

Originally Posted by Jayems

Oh yeah, don't worry about sea-sickness. They have fancy stabalizers (sp.. i know.. im tired) that prevent the ship from swaying.

My wife and I were fine until the last day. The waters were very rough. We basically slept the rest of the day after calling it a day at about 11am. Not much to do that last day other than pack anyways. IIRC, everything was pretty much closed except for the food, which our stomachs were having nothing to do with.

[Jayems]

Originally Posted by Prottotype

My wife and I were fine until the last day. The waters were very rough. We basically slept the rest of the day after calling it a day at about 11am. Not much to do that last day other than pack anyways. IIRC, everything was pretty much closed except for the food, which our stomachs were having nothing to do with.

We didn't actually hit rough seas, so maybe I shouldn't be commenting on that then

[trudinator]

I used to work for carnival cruises (also out of New Orleans until Katrina – then FEMA took our ship and fired us all – but that’s another story)

Here r my tips for new cruisers

- Purchase your liquor in the ships liquor shop – it is duty-free and a hell of a lot cheaper than the drinks you buy. Just buy one fancy drink in a plastic cup and then go to your room for refills – it will save you a lot of money.
- Most ships have a card that you get and you use that to buy drinks and such, this way you don’t really know how much money you spend till the last day. So just be aware!
- Boat Drill –Shut the hell up and sit quietly, do not blow on the whistle on your life jacket – everyone does and it never gets cleaned – gross, The caption will not end the drill until everyone is quite, so just shut up and let us do our job. – Sorry a little venting there
- Sea sickness—don’t wait till you are sick, pills don’t work if you already feel sick, take them first thing in the morning if you hear the seas might be rough. (the captin should anounce this in the mornings)
- Port days – talk to staff (not crew they don’t get much time off) Staff is entertainment, kids program leaders, social hosts, gift shop, Spa. These people get time off on port days and know the area well (remember they go there every week) – they can tell you the good places to go, and the crappy tours to avoid. This is their job, most staff get to go on tours for free or for pretty cheap so then they can recommend them to the guests
- Have fun—eat lots!

[TimSJ]

my understanding with the Booze was when you bought it at the duty free they keep it until the end of the cruise and then deliver it to you room.. Obviusly wanting you to buy there drinks.

But if i can buy a bottle of rum and take to to my room i will be a happy boy

[trudinator]

There is a gift shop on board -- staff were allowed to purchase liquor on board and take it to our rooms, but maybe guests have to wait till the end of the crusie I can't recall what the passengers did.

[Prototype]

Originally Posted by trudinator

There is a gift shop on board -- staff were allowed to purchase liquor on board and take it to our rooms, but maybe guests have to wait till the end of the crusie I can't recall what the passengers did.

IIRC... there were boxes with guest's names on them in the gift shop. I think they were to be picked up at the end of the cruise, not when it was purchased.

GO TO THE FIRST ORIENTATION MEETING. They usually run down eveything, including duty stuff, the tours, stuff on the boat, etc. That was the most informative thing of the whole trip.

[boobaloo]

We cruised on the Celebrity Mercury. It was a nice ship, a bit older, but still OK. I personally think cruising is the best bang for the buck. The food is great, the service unsurpassed. You do have to pay for your alcohol, and I believe that you are not allowed to bring your own, including the duty-free stuff. They give that to you when you disembark. I don't drink, so I can't tell you this is for sure, but I seem to remember reading it on one of our cruises. The only complaint I had about the Mercury is that they allowed smoking. One side of the ship was non-smoking, and one side was smoking, but I think it used to be universally smoking, because there was an odor of it on the non-smoking side. I, personally, think smoking should be banned everywhere, especially places that are confined like cruise ships.

Cruising is still the most relaxing vacation I've ever been on.

[IGGYRULES]

Just went on a cruise (carnival). We took 2 bottles of wine with us and kept them in the room and had a glass before and after the meals. At the meals we still bought a glass of wine each, drinks aren't a whole lot more than you would pay at a nightclub anyways. We walked right on the ship with the wine in our hands in brown bags (apparently you can bring on some wine). If you want to bring the wine to the dining room they will charge you a corkage fee. We ended up buying a fountain pass which gave us unlimited juice and softdrinks for the duration. We would get our juice and go back to the room and in our checked luggage we had some hard stuff hidden away. Just buy a 40 or 2 and throw them in your checked luggage, wrapped very to prevent breakage of course. The liquor of choice was vodka, we would just fill a water bottle and carry it around with us throughout the day.