When the end is near, as Frank Sinatra used to croon, how do you make sure you go out in style…with a flair? Maybe you get a facelift to capture (or try to) the days gone by. Maybe you put your best foot forward, for as long as you can take steps. Maybe you polish off that bucket list.
It's really no different with cruise ships.
The Celebrity Century is the current case in point. She's the matriarch of the fleet. Nobody is older. In fact, nobody's even close. Her end is near. She's had the facelift and the "plastic surgeon" — named Fincantieri — made it an extensive one, bringing the Century up to Millennium Class in the shipyard's most thorough 
refurbishment ever. That enabled her to put the best foot forward before being sent off into the sunset.
In the Century's case, the sunset is Dubai…and other exotic ports within reach. Nobody knows if Dubai was on the Century's bucket list but Celebrity's guessing it was, and nobody knows this old ship better than the Celebrities. She's been one of them for almost two decades since another shipyard, Meyer Werft, brought her to life in Germany in 1995.
So between now and semi-retirement — which is sailing under the banner of Croisieres de France, a distant cruising cousin — the Century will take her loyal passengers along for her victory lap. Some will go from Singapore to Dubai. Some will go through the Suez Canal and on to Rome. Some will spend almost a month on the old ship…and make the whole trip from Singapore to Rome.
Then it will be springtime of 2015, time for the Century to move on and turn the page in an era. She was Celebrity's first ship and the flagship for the class that bears her name. In her day, she was among the best lookers anywhere.
But when the end is near, isn't that the way it is for humans, too?
Celebrity Reflection
7 nights
March 15, 2014
Miami (return): San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten
Inside: $599
Cost per day: $85
www.celebritycruises.com