Celebrity Plans Extensive Overhaul of 1995's Century

Taking a page from the playbook of parent company Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises (tel. 800/437-3111; www.celebrity.com) is planning to give the 70,606-ton Century a $55-million makeover beginning in April 2006, bringing the ten-year-old vessel into the new, well, you know.
The process, which will be completed during drydock from April 28 through June 1, 2006, will significantly modernize the vessel, which was on the cusp of new when launched but has since fallen behind industry trends. New additions will include:
314 new verandas added to existing staterooms, to bring the vessel's veranda count to 393, or something more than a third of its total accommodations
Fourteen new Sky Suites, each suite offering 24-hour butler service
A new specialty restaurant along the order of those on Celebrity's Millennium-class ships, which are among the best at sea
New casual-dining options, including a sushi cafe, a made-to-order pasta-and-pizza bar, and a small ice cream parlor
A Spa Cafe, offering light, healthy spa cuisine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner
A new martini bar offering a menu of more than thirty formulae
A new aft bandstand and bar with tapas carts, designed for romantic sunset sailaways
An expanded Internet center
An expanded children's center, plus a new teen center
An expanded spa
A dedicated home for Celebrity's "Acupuncture at Sea" program, offering guests acupuncture treatments, therapies, and enrichment lectures by licensed doctors of Oriental medicine
The line has begun a bidding process to select the shipyard where the work will be performed. Once done, the new Century will sail a series of 12-night Baltic and 10- and 11-night Mediterranean sailings (with prices starting at $1,600 in the Baltic and $1,500 in the Med), a 13-night "Best of Europe" voyage (prices starting at $2,000), and a 7-night Norwegian Fjords cruise (from $1,100). Beginning in November 2006, the ship will sail four- and five-night round-trip Caribbean cruises from Miami, with fares starting at $330 per person (4-night) and $340 per person (5-night).
Kusadasi Opens New Cruise Terminal
Located on Turkey's Aegean coast, Kusadasi is the country's second largest cruise port (after Istanbul), offering easy access to the ancient city of Ephesus, just 15 minutes away. Since it opened in 1968, the Port of Kusadasi has been a regular stop on eastern Mediterranean cruise itineraries, but now it can do so a bit more comfortably with a new terminal building, part of a multi-million dollar improvement and enlargement project. Opened on April 1, the modern glass-and-sandstone structure is distinguished by soaring interior spaces and (you expected anything less?) a selection of duty-free shopping. Two additional structures still in the works will house a retail and entertainment complex, while a planned lengthening of the facility's two piers will help it accommodate today's super-sized ships.