Recently, most of the excitement for Celebrity Cruises has been surrounding the line’s newest Solstice-class and Solsticized Millennium-class vessels, and for good reason: those cruise ships are standouts for certain. But Popular Cruising is currently excited about the most mature in Celebrity’s fleet – the Celebrity Century – since she will host our next Live Voyage Review onboard a pleasurable 4-night California Coastal roundtrip from San Diego, California leaving next week on April 18, 2013.
The Ship
My parents and I have sailed extensively on Celebrity Cruises over the years onboard two Solstice-class ships, four Millennium-class ships and two Century-class ships – the since retired Galaxy and Mercury. So, it was quite a treat for us to explore the Celebrity Century – the last remaining Century-class vessel in the fleet – for the day earlier this year to capture one of our signature cruise ship video tours. Our first impression of the ship was so positive that we decided to book this cruise from our homeport to experience it further.
Murano Specialty Restaurant (Copyright © Celebrity Cruises)
The Century is the smallest and oldest of the three original ships in her namesake’s class, and yet curiously, she was the one to continue sailing under Celebrity while the Galaxy and the Mercury have since become Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2 respectively for TUI Cruises, German corporate cousin of Celebrity Cruises. Built in 1995 by Meyer Werft, the Century is most notably shorter in length and height than her two sister ships that followed. Thus she is missing a magrodome-covered pool at her stern and her observation lounge has a lower ceiling.
The Pool Deck (Copyright © Celebrity Cruises)
Century is a bit of a nonconformist to Celebrity and is quite unique as a result. She has not been Solsticized but was essentially Millenniumized in 2006 to sport more verandas and the additional Murano specialty restaurant among other refurbishments. As a result, she represents the new Modern Luxury brand well while also hearkening back to the Celebrity Cruises of old.
The Itinerary
If only to avoid the hassles of flying, there is nothing quite like a roundtrip cruise from your own hometown, and this California Coastal itinerary represents just that for Popular Cruising, leaving from our homeport of San Diego, California. It is also a very relaxing way to visit the Pacific coastline and its many iconic ports of call in a short duration. Santa Barbara and Catalina Island are some of our favorite destinations and are both tendered ports of call, making for a bit of an added adventure.
The Coastal Route (Copyright © Celebrity Cruises)
We’ve sailed many times to Catalina Island, and although we have visited Santa Barbara before too, this will mark the first time we have cruised there. The itinerary lastly includes Ensenada, Mexico as a foreign stop to fulfill United States legal requirements. We have no shore excursions planned as the cruise will primarily be a casual relaxed stroll for us, but we will continue to bring you photos from the ports as we explore them on our own.
The Itinerary (Copyright © Celebrity Cruises)
We invite you to join us as we enjoy the Californian ports of call and the Celebrity Century. We’re happy to share our experience with you on this all new Live Voyage Review. Do you have any questions about this itinerary or ship? Feel free to ask away in the comments section below, and we’ll be happy to answer your queries…
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