Millenium 12/17 Another Review....

I've commented and questioned many of the negative reviews and comments prior to our cruise and took it all in and want to add my 2 cents....

No I did not meet the Hotel manger, CD nor was invited to the Captain's table for dinner.... There is no doubt a number of cost cuttings since our last cruise November 2004 I hate to say... They ran out of escargot the third day, which was very disappointing for the kids and frankly inexcusable considering they were in drydock for a week. If you care about activities and prizes for participating they also have been scaled back.... In 2004 I did get visors and t-shirts and this time I saw lot's of luggage tags. The grand buffet had no shrimp or baby lobster tails, but somehow we survived... Prettier to see then eat imo...

Yes some chairs showed wear as did some tiling in our bathroom.

Staff very efficient and first class with our room always clean and the Dining Room staff attentive, polite and very personable.

Food

Breakfast Buffet - Good, loved fresh waffles strawberry's and whip cream.... Pecan Buns (2 days) were incredible.... Rest as expected, made to order omelettes or eggs, cereals, eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, muesli, smoked salmon....

Lunch - Spa was very nice, buffet okay, plenty of choices, good desserts (particularly pecan Pie, Tiramisu, Croque en Bouche).... Pasta bar & Pizzas Sandwiches, some neat choices, Philly Cheesesteak, Cuban, Croque Monsieur were specials each day along with wraps.... Hamburgers, Dogs & Fries poolside.... Average, but fine...

Afternoon Tea - Nice idea, well done, good choices, some better then others.....

Sushi - 5:30-9:30 Very decent, above average.... Tuna & Salmon stood out for me.... Included Miso soup.

Ice Cream - Hard & Soft serve.... Approximately 8 flavours changed daily a little soft.

Dinner - Happy every night, except the lobster tail was badly over done and tasteless. Ordered meat rare and except for one occasion served properly (maybe medium rare). Nothing exceptional, but all above average and as expected when serving 1,000 per seating.

Entertainment - Shows were quite good, the first comedian was very funny, the other who sang, played instruments was fair to good....

Found the Entertainment staff a little distant or hard to find and almost non-existant. Poolside band was below average (okay at best). Other entertainment seemed quite good .

Lots to do, very nice ship.... Smooth embarkation (shuttle stopped first at Priness and there was a line that looked 200 yards long) and then at Celebrity we were on in 15 minutes. Disembarkation was delayed 30 minutes.

Every time I ask is 11:00-11:30 too early for a flight and always told not to try it... We were off (45 minutes late), called and changed our flight and still at the Airport, checked and through customs @ 10:45.

Used the gym and did like it.... Brand new eliptical trainers and treadmills (with tvs).

300 kids on board, including our 2, and I seldom saw any problems or acting up, which was actually more obvious from some seniors on board, who complained and never seemed happy.

Wine.... Brought 2 bottles on board no problem and twice bought cheaper bottles for the room because if they wanted me to check them I did not want to bring them back. Was not stopped.

As for dress.... People do dress casually and I will agree there are some (very few instances) where I would have asked them to leave the room. Otherwise in the Carribean I wore slacks on the 5 non formal nights, three times with Tommy Bahama shirts, twice long sleeve shirts and sandals (closed toes) and never felt out of place. Wore dark suit formal night, spouse did not wear pantyhose.... So tell those who keep over and over crying over the dress code to stuff it....

These are just some quick thoughts and I certainly think Celebrity does a great job and is a first class line for the price paid.....

Let me know if you have any questions....

On a 1-10 scale it was an 8+ as we did have almost perfect weather.

Anthony,

I don't need to write a review. You summed it up pretty well. That poolside band was pretty pathetic. Never heard Evita played and sang poolside! Hope you all had a great Christmas.

As for dress.... People do dress casually and I will agree there are some (very few instances) where I would have asked them to leave the room. Otherwise in the Carribean I wore slacks on the 5 non formal nights, three times with Tommy Bahama shirts, twice long sleeve shirts and sandals (closed toes) and never felt out of place. Wore dark suit formal night, spouse did not wear pantyhose.... So tell those who keep over and over crying over the dress code to stuff it...

Was on the same sailing and had one MAJOR complaint concerning dress. Formal night I saw one man come in wearing shorts. I felt this was uncalled for and staff should have nicely ask him to leave. Staff should enforce dress code

I also feel that the dining room should inforce the policy of closing the dining room door after 1/2 hour. At early sitting (6:00pm) I saw a couple walk in at 7:20pm. This is unfair to the waiters as the next sitiing is at 8:30 not giving him much tinme to serve them and clean the table.

Used the gym and did like it.... Brand new eliptical trainers and treadmills (with tvs).

What can you watch on those TV's?

We were on the same cruise and I have to agree with Poppop1507 - while most passengers adhered to the recommended evening dress, too many did not. Passengers in shorts and jeans and other inappropriate attire should have been turned away from the dining room, especially on formal and informal nights, but were not. Just an observation - but after almost forty cruises, it seems to me formal has now become informal; informal has evolved to casual and casual has been dumbed down to backyard sloppy.

Hi lysol, It would have been a pleasure to meet you. I was

also on this cruise.

Hi Anthony and Becky, nice meeting you both:)

Becky, I see you booked next year!

but yes there were some very bad examples where the boundaries were pushed too far and indeed crossed.... I saw the person in shorts on formal night and on another night a 12 year old in flipflops t-shirt and shorts.

Personally I think people are too caught up in the dress, but simple rules such as no shorts or t-shirts should be easily enforced. For formal night, just say a tie & jacket is required for gentlemen and leave it at that. Other nights as long as no shorts, jeans & t-shirts and that should be the extent of the rules imo....

As for the poolside band, their song selection was weak and until Tuesday and the evening fruit party I had no idea who the Social Head was.... Just seemed off to me....

What can you watch on those TV's?

Plug in your earphones and you get the same that is on in the room. There is CNN, TNT, ESPN (sporadic and eventually ESPN Spanish, which means soccer and then you lose the signal), a channel that did about 2-3 hour loops of popular shows, different each day, Numbers, King of Queens, Stacked, Arrested Development and others, a Movie Channel and National Geographic). The treadmills, one recumbent bike & a Stairclimber had them....

Plug in your earphones and you get the same that is on in the room. There is CNN, TNT, ESPN (sporadic and eventually ESPN Spanish, which means soccer and then you lose the signal), a channel that did about 2-3 hour loops of popular shows, different each day, Numbers, King of Queens, Stacked, Arrested Development and others, a Movie Channel and National Geographic). The treadmills, one recumbent bike & a Stairclimber had them....

Aw, shucks! I was hoping that the gym had BETTER TV than in the cabin!:p