Bad Sailing on Millenium

[CruisingChick]

We rated our overall cruise experience on Summit last month among our best ever (if I exclude the dining room).

 

The dining room and the buffet were a sore spot with me on our recently completed Summit cruise. Our waiter and assistant waiter were excellent, so it wasn't the service, but some of the food. My DH actually sent back entrées on 3 different evenings. I don't ever remember that happening. The veal chop they served towards the end of the cruise was tough and fatty. Every one at our table who had it could barely cut it.

 

On the other hand the Pecan Crusted Chicken and Mama's Pork Chop were absolutely delicious as were some other dishes. I would always ask my waiter's recommendation especially when I was undecided. His only mistake was recommending that veal chop. There were some other dinners I also did not enjoy and I ordered shrimp cocktail as an appetizer way too many times because nothing else appealed to me.

 

Don't even get me started on lunch.......maybe they can start serving waffles at lunch time also. They were so good, even better than I remember them.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I brought this up back in February HERE asking would the ambiance and atmosphere of the Celebrity Millennium be affected in the short-cruise market, attracting the atypical Celebrity guest. Keeping in mind that Celebrity is more of an upscale cruise line (still mass market), the type of "woohooing" that you mentioned is what most past Celebrity guest fear most. It is still your cruise vacation, but respect those around you that it is their vacation as well. Wohoo-ers are best served on Carnival and NCL, not Celebrity. Nothing personal. Just saying. :rolleyes:

 

I wonder what your problem with Woo Hoo is? Our Woo Hoo buttons were highly sought after souvenirs by the crew last year on our two-week southern Caribbean cruise on the Connie. They brought a smile to everyone's face--including people in port. They were much more popular than our Connie Sparkler buttons.

 

Woo Hoo II is leaving December 3 on the Connie. Some are already planning ahead for Woo Hoo III. Unfortunately, that will have to be on the Eclipse, as the Connie is being pulled for that run and sent on the 4 and 5 day run out of Miami that year.

 

And, yes, I expect the 4 & 5 day runs will have a negative effect on the excellent Connie crew.

 

Woo Hoo!!

[dmwnc1959]

No problem with 'woohooing' in a proper place and time, but the OP did mention those on her cruise felt it was a disturbance and out of place. There are different degrees of 'woohooing': Carnival, NCL, Princess, and Celebrity. I can't imagine there's a lot of woohooing on Holland-America. ;)

 

Anyhoo, since neither of us where there we can't determine the degree in which the OP was woohooing but it was apparently loud enough to disturb fellow passengers. :)

[Thechats]

We were just on the Connie 12-night Turkey & Greece and had a most unusual experiemce in the MDR - we had 6 assistant waiters! We were told several different stories as to what happened to each one. The headwaiter came to us twice only because our waiter was beyond embarrassed and called on him for help to explain. Stories still varied. There were 14 of us at two tables dealing with this every night. The problem with that situation is the rhythm of the service is off for the entire meal. Getting bread and butter became a huge deal.

 

We have always chosen to eat in traditional dining as it's usually a very enjoyable time with excellent service and fun interaction with our waitstaff.

 

We were disappointed and surprised to see how little the whole crew interacted with the passengers. All 14 of us ate in the buffet every morning at the same seats. Waiters only came to our tables to clear used dishes (that often took a long time and we were sitting right across from their cleaning area). They never chatted with us and basically showed no interest. If you asked for something, they would deliver, but never was it offered.

 

On the other hand, our cabin steward went above and beyond. He was fabulous. After our day at Ephesus, my shoes were super dusty. I was just going to wipe them off with a tissue the next day. When we got back from dinner, they were sitting on a magazine on the bed polished and looking as good as when I bought them serveral years ago. I hadn't said a word to him about them being dirty. No towel animals, but a tasty piece of chocolate every night on our pillow.

 

We are on the Equinox Transatlantic next month. Not looking quite as forward to it as we were prior to the Connie. We had always been told that Celebrity was a step above Royal, but I must say it just didn't seem that way.

 

Nancy

I was on the same cruise, Nancy, and we had the best head waiter (Martinho) that we have ever had on our dozen cruises. With regard to MDR service, we've found on any ship that it ultimately boils down to luck of the draw. Interestingly, we consistently found the staff to be very courteous and attentive whenever we needed something. Sorry your experience didn't meet expectations; we had a wonderful time and will be back aboard the Connie next May. Bob

[ClairetoCruise]

Our experience on the 10/17 Millie cruise matches other negative comments regarding the food in the MDR and the Buffet.

 

Our waiter and the assistant maitre d' were gracious and quick in replacing dinner selections that I called "inedible" because the meat quality is substandard, not even of the lowest quality I would buy for stew from the grocery store.

 

I recommend ordering more appetizers, salads, fruit soup, a side of veggies, and a dessert. Yes, order multiples of what looks choice because the meat dishes were lacking. (We have experienced the same disappointments with the food on S-Class.)

 

I'd like to see a chicken soup loaded with vegetables available in the buffet.

 

At least the the dining room staff tried, though they were stretched and stressed to the limit to provide quality service for the passengers.

 

We had a shorter wait in the MDR for lunch. Although, we had the MDR lunch option only once. The second sea day was the Brunch which has been covered as a crowded affair with the same foods we'd seen in the buffet. Well, the positive side is that the buffet area provided trays.

 

Also, the wait stations in the MDR are too far from many of the tables serviced which meant a near constant parade of servers w/trays going back and forth in a narrow space. The dining staff and cabin stewards are given too much work and area to cover.

 

Our cabin steward was always cheerful and did a great job inspite of having 25 cabins to service twice each day.

 

The good condition of facilities and our cabin was a surprise with the exception of the mattress in our cabin.

 

Millie looked as if she'd recently gotten new carpet throughout.

 

There was more smoking on this ship than we have experienced before on any cruiseline except Holland. One side of the pool area was for smokers, and there were lots of them. Crew smoking areas also allow smoke to filter into cabin hallways on this ship.

 

And smoke came into the T-Pool area and into the Aqua Cafe every time the doors opened. The stale smoke in the Cosmos Lounge was too much to endure, even for a free drink.

 

We enjoyed evenings listening to the Cooler Kings and were thrilled to watch the well behaved children dancing.

 

The children in the Buffet a couple of evenings had a happy time under the supervision of the cruise staff. Kudos to the crew staff for the splendid programs and fun they gave the children. They were AMAZING !!!

 

Back to the MDR, after waiting 40 minutes for melted ice cream and "cherries jubilee" w/4 cherries, we gave up on the MDR experience. It was okay to settle for a dinner snack from the poor provisions offered in the buffet.

 

We did not have a problem ordering drinks.

 

We enjoyed the ports of Roatan and Cozumel. And we did have a nice cruise on the Millie (our third on Millie), but we have decided to forego any more Celebrity cruises until we know the food has improved. It was 30 years ago we gave up Denny's but this Celebrity food seems better rated in advertising and worse in reality.

 

It's just too much work and expense to pack and go to the ship unless we are given good accomodations, good service, and good food. This cruise was not good enough for us to want to rebook with Celebrity for a long time.

 

Claire

[Starry Nights]

I hope Celebrity is paying attention to these comments.

[MaryKP]

Yikes. I sold this cruise to my husband as one with good food. I might have to take that back by the time our sailing on Thursday rolls around!

[KKMurphy2]

We are cruising on the Millie in December. What is this about the smoking???? I thought Celebrity was smoke free.

 

We are not going to let the negative posts impact our cruise. I plan on reading and relaxing, of which I'm sure this will be accomplished!

[tuggers]

The crew I talked with were not happy with the 4 night cruise directly before ours. I think some of them were still reeling from that experience.

X has always taken great ships and pimped them out on these 4 and 5 nights out of Miami and FLL. I remember when they did it to Century. Lots of complaints then, too.

I do think we fared better on the 5 night. As I have stated all over these boards (after this cruise), the menus and the lack of anything special on them were my big complaint. To me, Braised Beef is better served at home (and when I make it, its not stringy!). I tried to eat chicken, some fish and shrimp and I did okay. The beef I didn't try past the Prime Rib and the Rack of Lamb might have been better at the Hotel Directors table. A shrimp cocktail, excargot, soup and a dessert made up one meal. You kind of had to step outside the box and make your own meals.

Not totally up to X standards but my friend had never been on a cruise so I agreed to go with her. Otherwise I wouldn't have been on a 5 night. It blew her away so I'm happy about that.:rolleyes:

[dmwnc1959]

The crew I talked with were not happy with the 4 night cruise directly before ours. I think some of them were still reeling from that experience.

X has always taken great ships and pimped them out on these 4 and 5 nights out of Miami and FLL. I remember when they did it to Century. Lots of complaints then, too.

 

With this in mind I wonder why Celebrity Cruises didn't do 6- and 8-night cruises like some of their counterparts out of FLL? I think it would have worked out better as well as allowing longer B2B's.

[mbsilk]

Tuggers:

 

I have read the passengers take on it, and I was on the cruise. What issues did the crew voice to you?

 

The crew I talked with were not happy with the 4 night cruise directly before ours. I think some of them were still reeling from that experience.

 

 

 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

No problem with 'woohooing' in a proper place and time, but the OP did mention those on her cruise felt it was a disturbance and out of place. There are different degrees of 'woohooing': Carnival, NCL, Princess, and Celebrity. I can't imagine there's a lot of woohooing on Holland-America. ;)

 

Anyhoo, since neither of us where there we can't determine the degree in which the OP was woohooing but it was apparently loud enough to disturb fellow passengers. :)

 

I guess we were a Celebrity kind of Woo Hoo. :) We didn't go around the ship yelling Woo Hoo, we just wore our buttons and brought smiles to everyone we encountered.

[tuggers]

It was more of a party crowd, a weekend with a lot of drinking, more messes for the crew to clean up, later nights, 'no respect' is what one said. And there was something about beer bottles in the hot tubs but I just over heard that comment.

I don't think its the kind of crowd they are used to. More a case of arrested development than X is used to! You know how it is, a cheap cruise out of Miami and you only have to take one day off from work.

[dmwnc1959]

I guess we were a Celebrity kind of Woo Hoo. :) We didn't go around the ship yelling Woo Hoo, we just wore our buttons and brought smiles to everyone we encountered.

 

I bet your woohoo buttons are cute. We had some woohooing going on last year on Celebrity Mercury at the Salsa Party which was a hoot.

 

I guess the issue I'm afraid of is that the low rates on the short market cruises will attract the louder 'yelling at the emergency drill shirtless guys' and other Carnival type of woohooers, then they'll take this wild Animal House type of mentality to the longer, more sedate cruises and eventually change the upscale Celebrity Cruises demographics, and not necessarily for the better.

[ptiprof]

I am amazed and saddened by these reports of unhappy experiences on the Millie. We were on the "West Coast Wine Cruise" (alias repositioning cruise from Alaska to Mexico) last May, and it was perhaps the most delightful cruise we have ever been on. The MDR food, service, everything and everyone was there to make our cruise as special as possible. This was a 10 night cruise with an older demographic (closer to HAL than Carnival or even Royal). Virtually no children (school still in session), considerate rule-following passengers, and a lovely ship. Having sailed on almost every line from Carnival to Regent, I have to conclude that I agree with the posters who mentioned the importance of itinerary, demographics (age range etc.), and cruise length. We will be on the Silhouette in the Med next May/June for 13 days. I would anticipate (and hope for) a delightful cruise like the one we had on the Millie.

[excitedofharpenden]

I picked up on a couple of comments about how poor the bar service was on this cruise and also on the previous one that Host Anne was on. Reading this thread I wonder if that is a deliberate decision the Food and Beverage Manager is making to try and limit excessive drinking and rowdy behaviour by some.

 

To the OP, this was not a typical Celebrity cruise. I've never been on one like it. Pick a longer cruise and you should be able to avoid this kind of thing. Hopefully you'll come back.

 

Phil

[Daphne Starr]

I'm a little worried about my upcoming cruise. Based on some of the comments in this thread Celebrity doesn't seem like the most welcoming environment. I'm traveling solo to have a few days peace and quiet, but I also don't want to be surrounded by a bunch of judgmental passengers.

 

I don't enjoy shirtless drunks either, but it seems Celebrity is encouraging this type of behavior with the drink packages. Unlimited alcohol is never a good thing. It even turns people with 'class' into a bunch of animals. Anything more than a cocktail by the pool and glass of wine at dinner is too much.

[Lsimon]

I picked up on a couple of comments about how poor the bar service was on this cruise and also on the previous one that Host Anne was on. Reading this thread I wonder if that is a deliberate decision the Food and Beverage Manager is making to try and limit excessive drinking and rowdy behaviour by some....

 

Phil - I doubt this is the case. Regardless of crew sentiment Celebrity, like other cruise lines, is all about the bottom line. Food and beverage, like other revenue departments, will have stiff goals set for every cruise and rewards set for both management and crew if they meet the revenue goals.

[gimletgal]

We are cruising on the Millie in December. What is this about the smoking???? I thought Celebrity was smoke free.

 

Celebrity is not smoke free. There are designated smoking areas. Not sure where you got this idea. :confused:

[excitedofharpenden]

Phil - I doubt this is the case. Regardless of crew sentiment Celebrity, like other cruise lines, is all about the bottom line. Food and beverage, like other revenue departments, will have stiff goals set for every cruise and rewards set for both management and crew if they meet the revenue goals.

Good point Larry. You are probably right. I was just trying to figure why the drinks service had been noted as poor by a few people on consecutive sailings.

 

Phil

[wwcruisers]

I am amazed and saddened by these reports of unhappy experiences on the Millie. We were on the "West Coast Wine Cruise" (alias repositioning cruise from Alaska to Mexico) last May, and it was perhaps the most delightful cruise we have ever been on. The MDR food, service, everything and everyone was there to make our cruise as special as possible. This was a 10 night cruise with an older demographic (closer to HAL than Carnival or even Royal). Virtually no children (school still in session), considerate rule-following passengers, and a lovely ship. Having sailed on almost every line from Carnival to Regent, I have to conclude that I agree with the posters who mentioned the importance of itinerary, demographics (age range etc.), and cruise length. We will be on the Silhouette in the Med next May/June for 13 days. I would anticipate (and hope for) a delightful cruise like the one we had on the Millie.

 

So glad to hear this! We are booked on Millie's Sept 2012 Wine (Pacific Coastal) cruise. We're really looking forward to sailing on this beautiful ship -- especially since she is scheduled for her "Solsticization" dry-dock, a few months beforehand. :cool:

[chirowedoc]

I wonder what your problem with Woo Hoo is? Our Woo Hoo buttons were highly sought after souvenirs by the crew last year on our two-week southern Caribbean cruise on the Connie. They brought a smile to everyone's face--including people in port. They were much more popular than our Connie Sparkler buttons.

 

Woo Hoo II is leaving December 3 on the Connie. Some are already planning ahead for Woo Hoo III. Unfortunately, that will have to be on the Eclipse, as the Connie is being pulled for that run and sent on the 4 and 5 day run out of Miami that year.

 

And, yes, I expect the 4 & 5 day runs will have a negative effect on the excellent Connie crew.

 

Woo Hoo!!

 

I will Woo Hoo with you any day. They only time we did WooHoo was for about 2 hours on a cloudy pool day after the excursion was cancelled in Rotan when there were only about 10 people at the pool. It did get busier as tours came back, but we did go to our room as it did out of respect for our fellow passengers. Most of the people at the pool were having fun with us, my apologies for those that were offended by our behavior.

 

Once again for those that want faster bar service, a $1 bill will get you everywhere! The service staff on these ships do not get paid well and if you reward someone for their service, they will be back sooner rather than later. Our drinks were never empty or warm.

 

I totally agree with Tuggers, you can make a great meal out of different combo's. I loved the french onion soup and steak I had in the MDR one night, very tender and flavorful.

 

The Millie is a great ship, I did not meet one disgruntled or unhappy employee, either with passengers or their bosses. Most are excited to talk to you and befriend you. We had several employee's from various departments stop by and say goodbye the last evening and tell us how much they enjoyed having us.

 

Your cruise is what you make of it, and if you look for faults you will find them, if you look for joy you will find it also! I loved my Millie cruise and would go back again! I hope you future cruiser's on there choose to find the Joy, not the faults and celebrate the fact that you are travelling the world in style and comfort with fun all around you!

[helen haywood]

Hey, for a different perspective, try reading the thread entitled "Live B2B From the Fabulous Celebrity Millennium."

 

I've never posted a link but here goes:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1501849

[leonardofan]

That is exactly my fear. :eek: Looks like the more experienced people are being transferred to the S class, leaving the M class, and especially the short Millie cruises, staffed with the new people. It would be a real disappointment to those of us who do not really care for the S class. Very much hope I am wrong about this.

 

Anne

 

Can't comment on recent Millie problems (she was fine when I sailed on her a few years ago), but it doesn't seem that good staff are being

pulled off the older ships-- Century in December had the best food, service and entertainment of my 5 sailings with X

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I bet your woohoo buttons are cute. We had some woohooing going on last year on Celebrity Mercury at the Salsa Party which was a hoot.

 

I guess the issue I'm afraid of is that the low rates on the short market cruises will attract the louder 'yelling at the emergency drill shirtless guys' and other Carnival type of woohooers, then they'll take this wild Animal House type of mentality to the longer, more sedate cruises and eventually change the upscale Celebrity Cruises demographics, and not necessarily for the better.

 

I suspect that those folks are highly unlikely to book a 2-week cruise which is the shortest I'm really willing to do now.

 

I do feel sorry about the excellent staff on the Connie having to deal with those folks next year. I suspect that will cause many of them to leave the ship. Some of them have been together for quite some time now. Too bad Celebrity chose to take the low road and pimped its excellent ships out, as Tuggers so aptly put it.