Miaminice

We just booked our fourth cruise to Japan - on Millennium. Two of the previous cruises were on Millennium, one on HAL Westerdam. We wouldn’t do HAL again. Didn’t like the layout and we were pretty disappointed by the food. Our last cruise to Japan was in October 2023 on Millennium and we really enjoyed the refreshed ship. Yes, she’s still a M class ship - but they did a great job. She feels fresh and modern. Review can be found here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2970853-celebrity-millennium-japan-10242023-liveish-report/ For our fourth Japan cruise we were looking at different itineraries and looked into NCL and Princess. Further investigating the different ports of their itineraries soon brought us back to Millennium. Celebrity’s ports of call offer many different opportunities - even though we have been to all of them before more than once. Some of the smaller ports visited by NCL and Princess just don’t offer a lot - with some I’d even say nothing. So in a nutshell: even though we were open to alternatives we gladly chose Millennium again. And we also prefer E class or S class - but think M class is a perfect size for the Japan cruises.

Japan is always worth a visit and cruise 👍 Maybe our reviews help... Japan Millennium 2023 https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2970853-celebrity-millennium-japan-10242023-liveish-report/ Japan Cherry Blossom Cruise HAL Westerdam 2019 https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/HAL-Westerdam-Japan-01/hal-westerdam-japan-01.html Japan Millennium 2017 https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Celebrity-Millennium-Japan/celebrity-millennium-japan.html

no, not a problem at all. We always do.

Yep! Which is why the comparison to Apex is irrelevant 🤷🏻 And the question was about Constellation.

Since the question was about Constellation, your dislike of Blu on Apex does not really relate to the topic and shouldn´t unsettle the OP. That being said, we enjoyed Blu on 4 cruises on Apex. We go for service and food and not for the view. When we go to dinner it´s dark anyway. The noise in Blu is relative - since it´s always more quiet than any MDR, I can live with it.

No, my experience is that E-Class has no fixed dining times... although still a part of their IT system.

Blu is our main reason to always book Aqua. Not because we think the food is that much better, but because we like the more personal service and less rushed ambiance. Especially breakfast is a treat. You can come to Blu any time you like and you can get your prefered service team if you let them know. IMHO Blu is much nicer than the MDR - especially the unrefurbished one of Constellation. As Aqua guests you can also dine at the MDR any time you want - but in the Select Dining section, not in the fixed seating part.

You can find info on Kagoshima in our travelogues. It´s a port easy to do DIY. Part 10 of this one http://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Celebrity-Millennium-Japan/celebrity-millennium-japan.html Beginning Post #136 of this recent one https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2970853-celebrity-millennium-japan-10242023-liveish-report/ We have also done this cruise to Japan but Kagoshima wasn't a stop. However you might still find it interesting. http://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/HAL-Westerdam-Japan-01/hal-westerdam-japan-01.html We absolutely love Japan - so much that we just booked our 4th cruise to Japan :-) Millennium May 2025

We also started on Royal many many years back and jumped over the fence 3 points shy of being Diamond. So we worked our way up to Elite Plus on Celebrity - because we were never really tempted to go back to Royal. I don’t think the perks are bad but tbh we don’t care for them anyway. We cruise because we enjoy cruising and the destinations. THE perk of Celebrity for us is that they are (still) our favorite cruise line and still better than others - within the same price range - which we tried. And certainly better or more grown up than Royal. Points are also not a factor for us. We are Elite Plus and we will never reach Zenith anyway in this lifetime. 🤣

you will be Elite on Celebrity but you can’t transfer the points! So you‘ll have to start your way to the next level - Elite Plus - with zero points.

M class A1s are quiet, S class A2s are quiet, the ones we had on E class were quiet. Even the A1 on M class - although I don’t like the overhang - were quiet. We have done over 20 cruises in Aqua.

not true! Some are, some aren’t… just like other staterooms. M class A1s are fabulous - nothing above. S class A2s under Spa or Persian Garden. I can’t even list all the good ones on E class. Maybe you are thinking about the A2s on M class under the overhang and pool deck. But that not all of Aqua 🤷🏻‍♂️

Enjoy your future cruises 👋

Yes!

we booked Millennium again for 5/2025. We compared X, Princess and NCL and decided to go with Millennium again. Mostly because of the itinerary.

We did one day in Bangkok and took a Grab (Asian Uber) to Pattaya on the second day. Yes, the ride to Bangkok is far - but there´s a lot to see along the way and in Bangkok. So for us it was worth the drive.

David, we also received an information - I think it was before the cruise - mentioning one copy per port. Hence the confusion. I printed a few - because it was easy - but expected to just need one single copy to show if required. It was good to have, but noone even wanted to see the single copy - except the hotel.

we had ONE in our pockets and it was enough for the entire cruise. Except for Hanoi, where we stayed overnight at a hotel, noone requested to see them. Print a few spares and save a pic on your phone and you are fine.

We stayed at the Oakwood Suites for a very good rate. Fabulous hotel.

Yes, and that’s more confusing than on M and S class - where we never had a problem. On one cruise on Apex we were told no - and staff blamed it on the Maitre of Blu. 2 months later on the same ship but different Maitre, the waiter (same as the cruise before) gave us a thumbs up. BTW, we enjoyed our Vietnam cruise so much that we booked a Mekong River cruise last week. 😁

Hi David, I was just going to write the same and then saw that you answered. I ordered from the MDR menu as well - no problem.

Fully agree to what kwokpot said! Bali is beautiful and we have been there twice on land vacations but the itinerary you mentioned would not be my choice for an Asia cruise. Yes, nice beaches - but why fly so far for a beach when Asia has soooooo much more to offer? We just returned from our (2nd) Southeast Asia cruise. This was our report https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2980155-celebrity-solstice-12222023-thailand-vietnam-liveish-report/ We enjoyed it so much that we cancelled a cruise to NZ on Edge and booked a Mekong River cruise for 9/2024 instead. We also love Japan and have done 3 Japan cruises. This is the report of the most recent one. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2970853-celebrity-millennium-japan-10242023-liveish-report/ And guess what? We just booked a 4th cruise to Japan for 2025. Actually the one shown above. Compared some of Princess but decided to do Millennium again. As a first time in Asia I‘d probably recommend the Vietnam & Thailand cruise. Nice and diverse itinerary. Singapore is fabulous, Thailand and Vietnam are great and if you haven’t been to Hong Kong before, it’s also nice. That being said, this is the view of a non-beach cruiser 😀 We love culture, history, local food… but would never spend time on a beach. Hence we never cruise in the Caribbean as well.

I am not sure about the solarium - but as much as I know there´s a certain time when kids are allowed. The buffet had some Japanes dishes sometime and one Ramen day. Otherwise no. But the restaurants in Japan are great - go try local.

@Dr. Pam See here:

We have done three Japan cruises already - 2 on Millennium and 1 on HAL. We just booked our fourth - on Millennium again (05/14/25). I was tempted to book the one on Princess to see something new. However, I compared the Japanese ports and quickly found out that the little known ports of Princess have much less to offer. So I don´t just say I´d book Millennium, but I actually did. Plus, the refurbished Millennium is really nice. On our last cruise in October - Japan as well - we really enjoyed our time on her.