Celebrity Millenium --- what I thought

[phoenix_dream]

This was our first time on Celebrity and we were not impressed at all. The ship was ok, the staff fair. I really felt it was a step below Royal Caribbean and Carnival.. Much more to offer for your money and staff and food is great. This was a port intensive cruise and for some too much. We have seen some of the ports so we didn't get off on many. Yet ship goes silent when in port. Activities are minimal and at times I felt lacking even while at sea. Connection party was timed for 10am port day. Nobody on ship. Wouldn't change it.

 

Select dining was very confusing for the staff, tables crowded and took to long to finish. Not efficient in this area. Beverage waiter only came around once to each table. 5 star service it was not.

 

I also felt on the last sea day things started shutting down to get ready for the next sailing and we had to leave our room by 8am and sit around for over 2 hrs before disembarking.

 

We did meet a lot of friendly fellow cruisers and enjoyed their company. Our favs for islands was Aruba and Curacao. BVI was loved by many as it has the best snorkeling.

 

We have sailed alot and all over the world. We both will be staying with Royal and Carnival from now on.

Wow - this review just blows my mind. I have been on Celebrity many times, and also on Royal and Carnival a couple of times. In my wildest dreams I would never compare either of those two lines to Celebrity (especially Carnival). I think it is head and shoulders above them in most categories (perhaps entertainment and nightlife being the exception). I am guessing you had some really high expectations for Celebrity (it is still a mid-line cruiseline after all) or you just happened to be on a cruise that was an exception. The Millie is of course one of their older ships so it is showing it's age a bit. Other than that your experience seems the exception rather than the rule. You also seemed to be pretty dismayed about all the ports, but that is the cruise you chose so not sure why that was even mentioned (save for your comment about not alot of activities while in port - isn't that true for all the lines?)

 

Everyone is of course welcome to their own opinion. But if you tried one of their newer ships (on a cruise with more days at sea) I am guessing you would have a whole different response.

[HappiTravels]

We just returned last night from the Jan 3rd sailing on the Millenium and I had to be forcibly removed from the ship. I never wanted our vacation to end. Every aspect of it was wonderful. We had our 8 year old DD with us and she absolutely loved the Fun Factory. The staff were phenomenal with her. We ate in the Olympic twice and we truly enjoyed it. Both meals were very memorable and once again the staff helped to make it that way.

If I were to say anything negative about the ship it would be the size of the stateroom. We always stay in a regular balcony room and this was by far the smallest room we have ever had. It was a quad room and it would have been a nightmare with 4 people in the room. Also, when the water was rough our bathroom smelled like raw sewage. When we called about the smell we were told that this happens in rougher water. Fortunately we only had about 3 nights like this.

As commonly mentioned, the staff are the most accomodating and friendly crew that we have ever encountered. I wouldn't hesitate to sail on her again.

[monkeyinhat]

Thank you for your review, which I thought was very balanced and provided me with some valuable information.

 

We will be sailing on the Millenium in January and I was wondering about the bourbon sampling: Is this an event or a regular offering at one or more of the bars? If the former, do you have to sign up in advance? What were the bourbons?

 

Cheers,

 

Would also like to know.