dporter

We were just in a suite on revolutionized Celebrity Millennium in June 2019 and we have done 2 Haven trips with NCL.  

Your experience will likely depend on the other passengers also onboard.  We found the service on both ships to be fantastic.

These things are more similar than different from my point of view, however our Haven experience was on a Jewel class ship which is smaller than the Escape and had less people that could take advantage of the Haven areas.  Onboard both the Millennium and the Jade, we often found enjoying the suite/Haven areas, we were often by ourselves; it was almost like having a private retreat.  All employees were friendly and very accommodating to any requests that we had on both ships.

One difference that we noticed with Celebrity was the visibility of the officers onboard and that they pitched in wherever needed.  They also were genuinely interested in hearing your opinions on what they are doing well and how they can improve, we appreciated the pride that they showed!

On NCL we were able to book speciality restaurants around 60 days from sailing.  We didn't eat in speciality restaurants on Celebrity.

9 hours ago, loudoncruiser said:

We cruise mostly on Celebrity but just booked the Escape to Bermuda.   We booked an accessible forward penthouse cabin.  If anyone has been in this cabin or similar in this location can you tell me if there's a lot of movement sailing to Bermuda.  How does this cabin compare to a sky suite  on Celebrity?   Is the Haven as nice as the suite only areas on the revolutionized ships?  How is the Haven restaurant and when can you book the specialty restaurants?   Is the ship handicapped friendly?   Any other helpful info appreciated! 

Mitsugirly, i am enjoying your review, thank you. I am sorry to hear about your injury and wish you a speedy recovery.

I have followed many of your reviews and they are always spectacular! You give tons of information and take fantastic pictures. I agree with others that you should have some sort of cruise blog.  Have you ever followed John Heald on Facebook, he is with Carnival, I don’t know his title, but his English humor keeps me laughing. You should pick your favorite cruise line and get the same type of job with them, you would be fantastic!

You are the reason we did a NCL cruise a few years back and loved it, even repeated the ship the following year. We will be on the Epic in February, I contemplated the Breakaway but based on some of what you shared in this review I am glad we opted for Epic. We know the bathroom  layout is a little weird but who cares someone else is cooking and cleaning so that’s a win in my book.  We pick cruises based on itinerary more than ship or cruise line so I will probably never be platinum or whatever anywhere. I can remember when loyalty meant a free cruise, gone are those rewards.

following

If you are on deck and want to use a lunger, just take one off the stack.  You could even ask one of the crew members to get one for you, they are very accommodating

js,

You are welcome.

As Platinum you still get the dinners.  

These are per stateroom, so if you have 1 stateroom it would cover only 2 people, 2 staterooms would cover 4 people.  

Dinner For Two At Cagney's Or Le Bistro With A Bottle Of Wine6 (per stateroom)
Dinner For Two At Moderno Or La Cucina6 (per stateroom)

So if you had 3 staterooms, all of you would at least have 2 specialty dinners.

If you were in the Haven, you would have 3 specialty dinners for 2 people. Might be able to use all 3 at once so you could all eat together at 1 specialty restaurant.  The rest of your included meals would be the Haven Restaurant unless you purchased additional specialty dining.

I know what you mean about the beverage package, they are pricy.

Since the cost is pretty close you have to decide whether the Haven amenities are worth paying for additional beverage packages.  

We have experienced Haven on Norwegian Jade twice and enjoyed having the more private/less crowded space.  There isn't a Haven restaurant on the Jewel class ships and found the main dining room had great food.  We are going on Epic and Haven pricing seemed a little high for the port intensive trip so we opted for a spa balcony this time.  

The specialty dining is based on the number of days you are sailing:

Specialty Dining Package

CELEBRITY MOVE UP TRACKER (effective April 19, 2019; but can back-fill data, if available)

• Ship:                                                                                                 Millennium
• Length of Cruise:                                                                           7 days
• Cruise Sail Date:                                                                            6/21/2019
• Date email offer received:                                                            6/4/2019
• Captain’s Club Tier [“PREVIEW” = first Celebrity Cruise]:          Select
• Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA:                              Celebrity Direct
• Current Cabin:                                                                                 Concierge
• Bid?  Yes/No:                                                                                  Yes

If YES -  Bidding Details:

• Cabin Category:                                                                              Sky Suite
• Bid Offer:                                                                                         $500pp (minimum)
• Notification Date:                                                                           6/5/2019
• Accepted / Rejected                                                                      Accepted

General Comments (offer details, etc.) 

Offer allowed for minimum $1000pp for Celebrity suites, $1500 pp for Royal suite.

We were fortunate to take advantage of price reductions earlier. Then invitation to bid for a move up was only $200pp more than our original booking for a balcony cabin.  Money well spent for us as we only take 1 vacation a year.

1 hour ago, h20cruzer said:

Just using my iphone XS for photo's.  So convenient gave up my 35MM long ago.

Thanks Norma, 

i have an old iPhone o my pictures would never be as nice as yours, maybe I will upgrade.

Norma,

I am glad you are feeling better!  Thank you for all of your pictures and review, we are looking forward to our upcoming cruise.

Your pictures are fantastic!  Were you using your phone or a camera for pictures?  What type of phone or camera?  

Thanks

Thanks Sue

Hi Norma,

I am sure you have already answered this but I cannot find the answer.  What type of camera and lens were you using to take your Alaska pictures?

Also, did the ship ever serve crab legs or could you only get that in port?

Thanks!

Thank you!

Thank you for doing this live report, we will be embarking in June.

Do you know what the Persian Garden costs per day or week? What amenities do they have?

We have some onboard credit and are considering checking that out, but there are no prices online.

following

Try alaska train dot com, it lists a train and bus option. I also found alaska dot org was a great source

Thank you for sharing, we will be on this ship over the summer!

We haven't tried them, I was just beginning to do some looking for a 2020 cruise maybe I will start there....

I think the biggest draw is adult only, many people have been asking for this type of a cruise.  It will be interesting to see if they do well or not.

I am happy that Celebrity is investing the money to do upgrades/changes, we will sail on Millennium June 2019.  I would recommend getting trip insurance so that if schedule changes happen your out of pocket expenses will be covered.

I have sailed on NCL in the Haven 2x, we absolutely loved the experience, unfortunately since those cruises the prices have dramatically risen.  However, on the NCL Jewel class ships they do not have a dedicated Haven restaurant, if that is important.  They do open their steakhouse for breakfast and lunch just for Haven guests, but dinner would be in the regular dining room.  If you are in the Haven you get all the perks currently being offered, that usually includes the best beverage package option they have, a few nights in speciality restaurants, gratuities and what ever additional perk they have.

If you sail in a non-Haven room you can purchase perks, they often have 2 perks included with your room but they then add on the tax and gratuity, so for a 7 day that is about $300 total for 2 people.

We didn't experience too many kids in the Haven but we were on a Jewel class ship and sailed during wave season (between New Year and Spring Break).  The Haven areas on the larger ships probably have more families in the Haven because they have more Haven rooms.

The up to $15 price for the Premium package is before the 18%.  The package already includes the gratuity, you do not pay that when you get a drink.  For example, if the drink price is $15 or less its include no charge, no signature.  If the drink price is $18, you pay $3 + $.54 (18% gratuity).  Your package covers the first $15.

My BF and I will be on Millennium June 2019 to Alaska and one thing I cannot find information on is the spa, any information you can obtain would be appreciated.  I know they are supposedly making some changes to the spa but knowing what is there now will give us an idea.  Persian Gardens, what does that mean, heated loungers, saunas, steam room? Is that included with a spa treatment or entirely separate? Is it accessible for a fee by the day or do you have to buy for the week?

On 11/10/2018 at 3:32 PM, miched said:

I think everyone with a premium drink pack at first has the intention of going down the list on the Martini Menu and trying or having every drink 

 

I will try a few and then look at the list and skip some  because they just don’t appeal to me  because it looks the same as the one that I had  except for using gin instead of vodka or vice versa and I didn’t like it  

 

After trying a few it it is narrowed down to a short list of a very few that I end up with because I like the classic or something that isn’t a variation of a fruit punch that uses vodka or gin instead of rum.  I do occasionally enjoy one of the desert martinis or a espresso martini.

 

Have any of you ever went down the entire list trying all of them, or do you do the same as I do?

 

Now the World Class Bar is a lttle different as there aren’t many to chose from and the list gets short very fast because I will take a walk and dump it if I don’t like it.   I have also done the same at the Martini Bar.  I don’t want to drink something that I don’t like.  

 

That brings up another question.  If you ordered a drink from the Martini Bar and didn’t like it, were you able to tell the BT that you didnt like iable to order  a different one? 

 

Drink up 🍻🍺🍸🍷🥂🍾

 

I have ordered a drink from the Martini Bar, as well as other bars on board, and didn't like it.  I told the bartender and they were happy to make me something else, no questions asked.  Of course, I did this after one or two sips of the drink and gave them the one I didn't like.

We usually have a favorite bar on our cruises, but it isn't always the same one.  On our last Celebrity cruise we loved the Martini Bar and did not experience what others have said about loud music/drumming.  However, there were times that it was full but we found a nice corner table and enjoyed it very nicely.  We also loved Cellar Masters, we spent a lot of time here as well and found some new favorite wines, never found this area to be overcrowded.

Your pictures are stunning and your writing style is a joy! Thank you for sharing.

Enjoying your review, thank you for sharing.