Otis McNatt wrote:
Hi,


We're not into flashy entertainment or
fancy dinners where you have to dress up to enter. We're more into
working out and relaxation in an environment different from our daily
round.

Any of the newer Royal Caribbean or Carnival Ships would have better
workout facilities than the Century.

This ship and cruise seems to maybe be for us. But I've read
that on this ship, there are two formal dinners per week, where formal
dress is required.

Not really required but a suit of tux is suggested.

Now I know that I must look incredibly uninformed,
but what do the people eat who don't want to participate in such a formal
dinner? Are there other alternatives?

Yes, you can have dinner in the buffet restaurant casually dressed.

And as far as the roughly $20/day
tipping that I've read is to be expected from us, how does this work?
Some cruise lines apparently pre-charge the customer (at booking I guess)
for the expected typical gratuities, and there was another option that
was similar. Why not just tip as you go, as we do normally on land when
we get service for something? As you can probably tell, I'm totally in
the dark on this whole thing.

On some ships, tipping is customary on the last evening aboard. More
and more on others, tips are added to your shipboard account, but these
can be adjusted.


I know that there are lots of differect types of cruises attracting
different types of people. Have any of you ever been on this particular
trip with this line?

Yes. It's a nice ship.

Just what is the dress code, or am I making too much of this?

The suggested attire will be 2 nights formal, one informal (jacket and
perhaps tie, but not strictly adhered to), and the other nights will be
casual (slacks and shirt).

Are there lots of hidden charges I should know about
beforehand? Do most of these lines offer shuttles to/from the Ft. Lauderdale
airport? Anyway, I think we'd probably get a kick out of this, but I'm
just wondering if it's too much of a hassle for a vacation...
Many thanks for anyone with good advice.

No other hidden charges, but they do charge for alcohol and carbonated
soft drinks. Yes, they provide shuttle service for a fee, but you are
better off and will pay less taking a cab from the FLL airport to the
pier (about $13).

Howie