Millennium-- Is the ship up to Celebrity standards?

[CruisinManiac]

We just got off the Millie a week ago. Cabin and public areas were all fine and immaculate. The only area I noticed in need of attention was some of the public rest rooms, loose locks and handles and screws popping loose. We also saw a lot of maintenance going on, such as balcony rails being replaced. The staff was great.

 

Mary Lou

 

I try to stay away from the public restrooms, especially on a ship, so that shouldn't be a problem for me. Do you have any photos of your stateroom you could post?

[CruisinManiac]

If no one has photos, could someone speculate why Celebrity is running such great prices on the Millie 4 and 5 day cruises? Compared to other ships and cruiselines short cruises, these rates are a bargain! :) Is it ship condition? Is there something going on onboard the ship during these sailings, like group functions?

[CHEZMARYLOU]

If no one has photos, could someone speculate why Celebrity is running such great prices on the Millie 4 and 5 day cruises? Compared to other ships and cruiselines short cruises, these rates are a bargain! :) Is it ship condition? Is there something going on onboard the ship during these sailings, like group functions?

 

We did not take photos of the cabin since we have cruised so many times. I'll try to attach one of the balcony, which was a C1 on the Aft on Deck 8

 

Mary Lou

[CruisinManiac]

Very pretty, thank you. When we cruised the Millie, we also had an aft on deck 8 (an HC cabin assigned to us by Celebrity) and the balcony was not covered like they are now. Luckily, my parents were above us in the other HC, so we didn't mind them looking down. However, they had passengers looking down on them from the bar above, plus cigarette ashes, paper, etc. raining down.

[Redtravel]

Been on Millenium many times. It is still nice. Sure it has some worn spots. It is clean and well maintained. I love the aqua spa area which is unlike anything on the S class ships. It is also smaller and easier to move around. All ships, new and old, have good and bad points. Older ships usually have more experienced staff. I like Millenium.

[sail2day]

I am looking forward to my 4 night cruise on the Millennium. I'll post a review afterwards. Thanks again to all for the comments.

 

:)

[CruisinManiac]

We have narrowed our cruise picks to the 5 day Millie (10/31 or 11/5) or the 7 day HAL Eurodam (did the same ship and itinerary almost two years ago. The ship had great food!) We will also look for other specials that may come along for 7 day cruises on some newer ships, either with Celebrity or RCCL.

 

I did find out that Jersey Week (school vacation week for students in NJ) will be 11/5-11/11. We will want to avoid cruising that week, especially out of east coast ports on the newer and larger ships. However, I don't think we need to worry about many kids being on the Celebrity M class or on HAL ships.

[Lsimon]

I asked on another Millie thread, but I guess it is dead. Does anyone have current photos of the stateroom decor?

 

We have narrowed our cruise picks to the 5 day Millie (10/31 or 11/5) or the 7 day HAL Eurodam (did the same ship and itinerary almost two years ago. The ship had great food!) We will also look for other specials that may come along for 7 day cruises on some newer ships, either with Celebrity or RCCL.

 

I did find out that Jersey Week (school vacation week for students in NJ) will be 11/5-11/11. We will want to avoid cruising that week, especially out of east coast ports on the newer and larger ships. However, I don't think we need to worry about many kids being on the Celebrity M class or on HAL ships.

 

Only recent photos, with current decor, I have is of one of the large AFT FV staterooms. The Millie staterooms all were refurbished (soft goods) about 2 or 3 years ago in the same basic style they just redid the Connie in. http://simon-pics.smugmug.com/Cruises/Cruise-Ship-Rooms-and-Features/FV-Family-View-Aft-Cabins/11677184_xMR7cG#823869990_Lr4dC

That should give you an idea of what the decor is like in any event. If you want pics of a CC stateroom with older decor, or on another M class ship then I have those too.

 

Personally, if I were making your decision I'd go for the 7 day trip. I've never cruised HAL but I've got to believe that 7 day beats 5 every time unless the cruise line/ship is extremely off from your style.

[caribou9]

I was on the Celebrity website yesterday. The photos of cabins are accurate according to what we saw on our Millennium cruise last March.

[CruisinManiac]

Thank you, caribou9. I will go on the site and take a look. However, those pics are usually enhanced and don't show the true size of the room.

 

Only recent photos, with current decor, I have is of one of the large AFT FV staterooms. The Millie staterooms all were refurbished (soft goods) about 2 or 3 years ago in the same basic style they just redid the Connie in. http://simon-pics.smugmug.com/Cruises/Cruise-Ship-Rooms-and-Features/FV-Family-View-Aft-Cabins/11677184_xMR7cG#823869990_Lr4dC

That should give you an idea of what the decor is like in any event. If you want pics of a CC stateroom with older decor, or on another M class ship then I have those too.

 

Personally, if I were making your decision I'd go for the 7 day trip. I've never cruised HAL but I've got to believe that 7 day beats 5 every time unless the cruise line/ship is extremely off from your style.

 

Lsimon - Thank you for sharing your photos. The stateroom looks wonderful! I wonder if the white couch has been put in all the staterooms? looks similar to those on the Equinox. I took a look at your CC's photos as well, and the room seems to be a bit larger than what we had on the century. I think we were spoiled with that aft HC several years ago.

 

There is a price difference in the Millie 5 day, and the HAL 7 day. If there were not, it would be a no brainer. ;) Having recently sailed the Eurodam, we thought it might be nice to try the Millie again. We had originally thought about a back to back, but DH cannot make it work with his schedule. If we do go with the Millie, we will spend a couple of nights in Ft. Lauderdale or Miami before the cruise to make it a week long vacation. :D

 

So, there are the Pro's and Con's of both:

 

Millie - Older ship, shorter cruise, non-smoking, mediocre food (at least it was on the Equinox and the Century.) Great food on Millie in 93'! Cost great!

 

Eurodam - Newer ship, longer cruise, some smoking, great food (at least the last three HAL cruises have been great.) Cost double.

 

Both in standard balcony staterooms. Hmmmm

[sail2day]

The posts are all positive. Looking forward to the cruise.

[Leonardo fan]

In defense of the Century's cooking, I sailed on her transatlantic last December, and cuisine was spectacular--even better than the other

four Celebrity ships I've sailed on (Galaxy, Constellation, Millennium, and Infinity), all of which (at least on the sailings I was on) had superb food.

[orlando80]

I was in the Millennium in the May 20 to 27, 2011 Alaskan cruise and while the ship is not new it defenitly was nice and clean. We had some people that got sick with a virus but they managed it very well. I am not sure how it will in the caribbean, but the buffet was a mixed of Asian, Indian, British and Italian food which was great, enjoy your cruise !! :)

[MaryKP]

I had some hesitation booking my October 27 sailing on Millennium after reading a few reviews and seeing the ship's age, but everyone on the boards has been really positive. My 4 night trip is an amazing deal, so a little wear and tear won't bother me in the least!

[dmwnc1959]

I had some hesitation booking my October 27 sailing on Millennium after reading a few reviews and seeing the ship's age, but everyone on the boards has been really positive. My 4 night trip is an amazing deal, so a little wear and tear won't bother me in the least!

 

Definitely don't let the 'age' of a ship effect your decision. Many of us here sailed the Celebrity Mercury's final season before she transferred to TUI in February of this year and she was over 13 years old. I couldn't have had a more perfect cruise! :)

 

Enjoy your cruise on the Celebrity Millennium! I'll be on her for a 10-nt B2B in Nov/Dec and can't wait! Yea... 57 more days!!! :)

[Denny01]

I'm glad the OP is reassured Millie is in good shape. I realize we can be swayed by negative reviews, but I found it interesting the OP felt 'most' of the comments were negative. As I've done when posters say the reviews are negative, instead of just giving my opinion, I go to the reviews and look at the last 25 or so. Of the last 25 dating back to May, 5 were 5+, 10 were 5, 6 were rated 4, 1 a 3, 1 at 2 and 1 rated it 1. That's an average of 4.5. Not a bad rating and certainly with 3 rating it low, not what I would call 'most'.

Heck, the 1-rating was almost exclusively based on their opinion that the entire dining experience was terrible - MDR, buffet and other venues....all of them. Instead of getting concerned over something as subjective as dining, and considering the reviewer said the 'entire dining experience was terrible', I'm afraid I wouldn't really consider that worth getting worried about.

Hope we all enjoy our cruises and not let 3 out of 24 comments concern us.

Den

[TPCRUISER2]

Soo glad celebrity got into the 4-5 day market in last few years with the century. And now the millie. Can't wait to sail her in jan!

[daviddfld]

Just returned from a 4 night sailing on Millie. Booked an oceanview for the first time (instead of a verandah) ... and found the space to be very adequate for the short duration.

We noticed a few areas that show signs of wear on the ship, but overall the old gal was in excellent shape. Service from the staff and crew couldn't have been better ... the crew talent show was amazing. As always, dining was a special treat.

[dmwnc1959]

[quote name='daviddfld']Just returned from a 4 night sailing on Millie. Booked an oceanview for the first time (instead of a verandah) ... and found the space to be very adequate for the short duration.

We noticed a few areas that show signs of wear on the ship, but overall the old gal was in excellent shape. Service from the staff and crew couldn't have been better ... the crew talent show was amazing. As always, dining was a special treat.[/QUOTE]

THANKS for the report. This is also my first ocean view in quite some time. Will be odd not to have a balcony but I got such a good deal (single occupancy) on the ocean view it wasn't worth it for me to spend another $400+ to upgrade to a balcony. Even when I had a balcony I rarely ever spent time out there so I guess I won't miss it too much. ;)