BeachTunes

Thanks again to all for your input here. I received a second email about the offer from Celebrity that is much clearer. The first one didn't mention dates or cabin category which was frustrating. The second email specifically states the qualified stateroom categories (inside and oceanview) which is much more helpful to those of us perusing the website for options! 🙂

I believe you are correct as that is what I'm seeing. I've scanned through several dates and plugged in verandas of all types and no dice. Also, BOGO won't apply if one tries to select the All-Inclusive option. But yes, the promo does work for select inside and oceanview staterooms on certain June and July dates. So, not 100% bogus after all! That said, we prefer all-inclusive and balcony staterooms. I suppose we could book an oceanview and press our luck on a Move Up bid, but I doubt we be saving much in the end after the upgrade fees, paying for drinks, wifi and gratuities. Sorry to dis Celebrity. I just wish hotels, cruise lines, etc would be more transparent about these kinds of promotions. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Sandals is the worst for this having had their 65% off sale running for the past decade and a half! LOL! (And we have enjoyed several lovely Sandals vacations!) Happy cruising, everyone!

Thank you @NorthStarStateCruiser! They sure don't make it easy to figure out which rooms on which dates apply! Tooling around the website, I managed to find a true BOGO deal on an inside stateroom on Millie in July. Too bad the deal isn't valid for balconies and above! 🙂

Seems like smoke and mirrors at the moment. For example, there's a Sunset Veranda available for a July Southbound cruise showing a price of $2865 Canadian plus fees/taxes of $370 (Not All-Inclusive). So, in theory the BOGO price *should* equate to $3605, assuming the the 2nd guest still has to pay the taxes and port fees. But, when I click though to book, the final amount is $6470 Canadian. (Still have to pay for gratuities and optional wifi and drinks.) Meanwhile I had a concierge stateroom on hold for a similar itinerary a few days ago AND All-Inclusive that was less than $5500. So BOGO appears to be BOGUS! LOL! Should my TA come up with anything more impressive, I'll be sure to share the success story here. 🙂

Ah, just what I thought. As they say, nobody rides (or sails) for free! 😉

Hello! I just received an email from Celebrity advertising a weekend flash sale on select Alaska sailings. Supposedly the 2nd Guest Sails Free! But, when I do mock bookings on the advertised dates, it's not a deal at all. I've put a call into my travel agent to see if she can access a special booking code. My husband and I have been eager to sail to Alaska but our summer work schedules have made it challenging to lock down a date. If this sale was a true blue "BOGO" then I might be able to more easily convince him to throw caution to the wind and book it! LOL! (Thanks again for everyone's previous answers to my many Alaska cruising questions!) I'm thinking this promo is just another bait and switch type thing where prices are jacked up on the 1st cruiser to appear like the 2nd cruiser sails free when (aside from some extra OBC with the promo) it's not a special rate after all. If anyone has insight on these kinds of deals, especially if you've had success booking one, please share! Thanks so much!

Rohit! He's lovely! We were on the March 25th Millie sailing and the Mast Bar was our fave spot to hang out, chat with the bartenders and people watch. George and Uros at the bar are also gems! If you have a chance, please tell each of them that Ellen and Jamie from Canada say hello and that we miss them! 🙂 Thank you for sharing your journey with us. It feels like we're back on board! I'm overdue to post our trip report. Will get to it this weekend when everyone will be in withdrawal from your wonderful live posts. 😉

Hello! We returned from the Millennium and LOVED Le Petit Chef! I giggled the entire evening. The show was really cute and fun, in our opinion. At some points the animation almost looked like it was in 3D. Service was excellent and the food was very good. I can see why some people may not appreciate it but we would definitely consider going again, especially for a different show. Apparently there are three or four different shows and menus across the fleet. Incidentally, here in Toronto Le Petit Chef is running a pop up at an event space. I did the math and it's $129+ gratiutiy per person Canadian. So $150 Canadian or approximately $110 US per person. That's before drinks. Add in Ubers or taxis to and from the venue and the Toronto version could easily tally $300 Canadian or $220+ USD. So the value is definitely better on the ship. Here are some photos and a video from our March 27th experience. 🙂 IMG_5645.MOV

Thank you for your input Coral! And wolfie11, that photo is stunning! I know whichever week we choose, it will be a magical one! 🙂

Wow, thank you all so much for the helpful input! I figured getting Aqua Class for Concierge pricing would be a long shot but it's great to know that we can score a C1 for C2 pricing. (Or a V1 for the price of a V2.) That will help with flights and excursions! 🙌

Hello! First of all, thanks to everyone for answering all of my questions here! I promise that our March 25th Millennium trip report is coming soon! 🙂 We're now considering an Alaska cruise on Millie. I currently have a Concierge (C1) stateroom on a courtesy hold. We love Aqua Class/Blu but given how much we plan to spend on excursions, pre-cruise, flights, etc, current pricing isn't quite a match at the moment. That said, I'm confused about the Captain's Club One Category Upgrade... Does it mean that we could upgrade to an Aqua (A2) stateroom for the current C1 pricing? I'm thinking that is not the case and that it's a category upgrade within the actual category (Inside, Outside, Balcony, Concierge, etc.) If indeed we could get an A2 for C1 pricing, I'd be booking immediately! LOL! (I do use a travel agent but thought I'd get some opinions here first.) Just wishful thinking here before I make the final decision! 😊 Thank you!

Thank you very much for your input. 😊 Of course, a three-week weather window isn't the only deciding factor for this journey's date. There are many other things to consider. Given this is a bucket list trip I thought I'd put the weather question out there. Being a Canadian, I know weather predictions are rarely reliable. A prime example is that it was 86F in Toronto today while April averages are usually 50F! So indeed I AM a fool for asking a weather question. LOL! The above said, the September sailing is looking better all the time... You had me at "fewer crowds" and "Northern Lights"! ⭐ I will be blessed to sail on either itinerary!

Thank you! That makes sense. I need to do more research on this forum! 🙂

Hello! We have narrowed down two cruise departure dates for a 7-night sailing from Seward to Vancouver and can't decide which one to choose! If anyone has insights on which one is more ideal, it would be appreciated! 🙂 1. August 25-September 1 (Seward to Vancouver) 2. September 8-15 (Seward to Vancouver) I'm leaning toward option #2 because our preferred hotel in Anchorage is available pre-cruise (Historic Anchorage Hotel) and also because the Goldstar service on the train to the ship is available. Do those things even matter? I feel like the September date would mean less crowds but I wonder if the August departure date might give us potentially better weather? As I always say, these decisions are good problems to have to solve! Thanks to all for your input!

Thank you all so much! I truly appreciate everyone's input! 💙 We're leaning towards the Concierge Class room with the extra space but a couple other interesting/well located staterooms have opened up for another sailing. With that said... Between these two dates, is one more ideal than the other for Alaska? 1. August 25 - September 1 2. September 8 - 15 I'm thinking August weather *might* be better? I also thought the September date may be less busy but this particular sailing looks quite booked. So who knows? I know, I know, I know... I'm overthinking everthing! This will be a very special trip for me as Alaska will check the box off for having visited all 50 United States! 🙂

We boarded the Millennium in San Juan on March 25th. No sparkling wine was offered to us when boarding. We weren't bothered as we had the premium drink package and knew we could grab a bevy easily in no time. (We eventually enjoyed a few TOO many on embarkation day! LOL!) What I LOVED about embarkation is that upon walking onto the ship, we were swiftly directed to our muster station where we confirmed with a crew member that we'd completed watching the safety video, answered about two questions and moved on! We then dropped our carryons in our stateroom and then grabbed lunch in the buffet! Easiest embarkation afternoon EVER! To answer the OP's question, all of this is to say that if one has a drink package, you'll be able to find a glass of bubbly very easily and quickly all the while checking off the formerly mundane tasks of embarkation day! 🙂

Hello! First of all, I am long overdue to share our trip report from our March 25th to April 1st Southern Caribbean ABC Islands cruise on The Millennium! Spoiler Alert: I'm asking about ANOTHER Millennium cruise in this post so we obviously loved it! 🙂 I promise to share our March trip report over the weekend! SO... WE ARE NOW LOOKING TO POTENTIALLY BOOK A SOUTHBOUND ALASKA CRUISE ON THE MILLENIUM IN AUGUST OR SEPTMBER! YAY! We're watching a few dates and while we adore Aqua Class it's looking like a Concierge or Veranda stateroom will be in the cards for this Southbound Alaska trip. That said, we're interested in feedback on the following staterooms. Note: Pricing is VERY similar for each option and dates are within two weeks of each other. Please feel welcome to share your feedback on: 1. Concierge Class 8046 (On the forward bumpout with a larger balcony). 2. Deck 10 Veranda Staterooms: These look interesting for Alaska as we could pop up to the Sky Lounge while at sea but are they noisy being underneath the lounge? We're eyeing 1014 or 1016. 3. Aft Veranda 7200 - A Veranda Stateroom on the aft starboard side. Thank you all in advance for your input. I am sorry to come off as so neurotic but I have benefited from everyone's insights here so much! Cheers!

We just returned from the Millennium on Saturday and were pleasantly surprised by the reasonable volume levels of music on board. On our first Celebrity cruise on the Reflection was in 2014 and the volume levels/playlists were among our only criticisms. The band on that cruise played somber sad ballads or screechy alt-rock songs at intolerable levels in the atrium most nights. It was odd. Last week on The Millennium, not only were the music levels reasonable, the song selections of the bands and DJs were very itinerary appropriate: Lots of Caribbean music, Bob Marley and Latin tunes since we sailed out of San Juan. We LOVED the Celebrity Orchestra's sets in the evenings! There was an appropriate mix of current hits, pop, oldies, etc to appease all ages and preferences. The sound in the theatre was impeccable. Kudos to the sound tech team! The above said, I did mention in our cruise survey that the stateroom hallway music could use a volume adjustment overnight, as there was a ceiling speaker right in front of our stateroom door. It was only an noticeable when certain songs with high pitched notes/instruments played but it woke me up the first night. Once I realized what it was (And not a noisy neighbour!) I was fine with it but extremely light sleepers may have been more affected. I suggested they turn off the hallway music between 11pm and 6am. (All in all a great cruise that I'll review here on the weekend when I have more time! 🙂)

As per above our bid was sadly rejected. Oh well. More funds to save and maybe spend to help local businesses in port!

I will be on the Millennium on Saturday and will check out the Pelotons there. I'll also ask about the Solstice. On another cruise forum, someone shared that the Millennium Pelotons don't have the "clips" for Peloton's branded shoes. They do have clips for another cycling style, apparently, which seems odd to me. However they apparently also have cages for regular workout footwear. I'm new to the stationary bike world so I apologize for my lack of proper terminology. I think you should be OK with regular shoes as per posts by Arizona Wildcat and others! Stay tuned for an update in a few days! 🙂

@greekprincess: Thank you for that info! Our flight is departs at 5:15pm so it's good to know if we go with the group tour that the wait wouldn't be unbearably long. 🙂

Will do! I plan to share an overview of the whole cruise with lots of pictures when we get back. I'd love to commit to a live thread but alas, I know I will too distracted on board and in port! LOL!

Thanks for sharing your experience! 🙂

@jean87510: Thank you for your input! We have dropped our bags off at Barranchina before and found it to be an excellent service! We are now tempted to go with the private tour option but renting bikes sounds like fun as well as it's something we haven't done. 🙂

Thank you @LeeW. That's a very good point about checking bags and waiting around SJU's sparse check in area!