Millennium 10/27 Review

[sail2day]

I did not know what to expect when I boarded the Millennium. Based on a few of the reviews that I had read on the boards I thought that the ship might not be up to Celebrity standards. Well my assumptions were not correct. The ship was in relatively good shape for its age. There initially was confusion as to what our itinerary would be based on Hurricane Rina. The Celebrity website was updated the day before our cruise with a revised itinerary. The revised itinerary was supposed to be in Key West on Friday from 7:00 to 5:00 as opposed to 7:00 to 1:30, a sea day on Saturday and Nassau on Sunday from 8:00 to 5:00 pm. Unfortunately, Celebrity changed the itinerary upon check-in to the original port times in Key West from 7:00 am to 1:30 pm.

 

Embarkation

 

The embarkation process was efficient and professional. We were checked in and on board within 15 minutes of our arriving at the terminal. We took the obligatory embarkation photo and were handed our glass of sparkling wine once onboard.

 

The Millennium

 

We found the Millennium to be in excellent and in a well maintained condition for her age. She really does not show her age of 11 years. The public areas were spotless and for the most part did not show the passage of time.

 

Our concierge cabin was in good shape, except for the bathroom where you could see that the ship needed a refurbishment. The sink showed signs of wear and tear. Also, my daughter remarked that the bedspread smelled "old".

 

Other than these two minor issues I found the cabin to be in "good" shape. All other soft goods were in excellent condition.

 

The Food

 

The food in the MDR was excellent. We were fortunate to have a great waiter and assistant. I took his suggestions every night and was not disappointed with the selections. The food in the Lido was also very good with a great variety of choices for all. I especially enjoyed the pasta station with made to order pasta dishes.

 

Service

 

I frankly did not know what to expect in regards to service. I had read on the boards that the bar service was spotty. Well, I was plesantly surprised to find that the service in all bars, including the martini bar was good.

 

The service by our cabin steward was also very good. It was great to go in with relatively low expectations and be surprised with good service. I think that the crew has found its place on the new itinerary.

 

Entertainment

 

We only attended one show-- Boogie Wonderland. The show exceeded our expectations. We actually found it to be better than the shows on the Eclipse. The music on board was good with a calypso duo in the Sunset bar, as well as the Philippino cover band playing on the Pool deck, as well as at various lunges on board.

 

Ports

 

Key West- we walked Duval street and enjoyed the Fantasy Fest street fair.

 

Nassua-- We went to Atlantis and paid the $120.00 per person to enjoy the aqua adventure. It was good, but overpriced.

 

Final Thoughts

 

A short 4 night cruise brings an unexpected passenger complement to Celebrity. There was a group of passengers on board who thought that the cruise was a "frat party". Needless to say that they were obnoxious and created an issue for fellow passengers. They were drunk during most of the cruise. Some of their behavior was so beyond the social norm that I cannot go into detail on this board. Their behavior resulted in one passenger being forced to debark in Nassau.

 

If not for these passengers the cruise would have been an excellent experience.

 

If you are planning to cruise on the Millennium you will have a wonderful experience. My daughter wants to plan another short 4 night cruise before the vessel is repositioned to Asia.

[dmwnc1959]

THANK YOU for the review.

 

I do wish Celebrity Cruises would get away from the 4-night cruise market and stick with 6- and 8-night cruises for the Celebrity Millennium and later for the Celebrity Constellation. RCI and Carnival do these out of Fort Lauderdale. Nothing like pricing to the lowest common denominator to fill up a ship, which it sounds like what they are doing with some of these frat party crowds on these 4-nighters.

[LadyBerard]

I too just returned from the 10/27 cruise on the Millenium. We have been on over 30 cruises....we've sailed on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, NCL, Regent, Premier, Holland, and Princess. Although this was just a 4-night little getaway, it was an outstanding trip. It's been about 5 years since I've sailed on Celebrity. Food in the main dining room was excellent, as was our wait staff. We enjoyed sushi from the buffet every evening too. We did eat dinner on the last night in Olympic Restaurant, and the venison was outstanding. And yes, bar service at the pool bar was a little slow, but they were mobbed up there when we went. We met many wonderful couples on board. Yes, we also met a bunch of partying 20 somethings. But everyone was having fun and mostly well behaved. There was a wedding group on board too. I, personally, enjoyed being able to do a QUALITY 4-night cruise. We did purchase the premium drink package for my husband, not for me, as I only had two to three drinks per day, so it didn't make any sense. He definitely got his money's worth...and then some!

 

We enjoyed the comedien on board. And although I don't get offended by "dirty" comediens as some people do, his show was very clean and quite enjoyable!

 

The ship never felt full; in fact, it felt like at least 25 percent must have canceled. There was no problem getting seats anywhere. I always had a lounge chair right by the pool, and I did not have to get there by 8 a.m. to get it!!! That was nice for a change.

 

If you have some free time and are looking for a little getaway, this trip is awesome!!!

[LadyBerard]

One more thing.........do not miss the brunch in the main dining room on the sea day! It was spectacular!!!!!!!!

[LegalCat]

Thanks for your review, we are booked on this cruise on 11/10 as our first Celebrity cruise and are really looking forward to it...I'm a very easy going cruiser, any day on a ship is better than a day at work as far as I'm concerned, so I'm anticipating a great time... One of my co workers was on your same 10/27 sailing and she was NOT a happy camper at all... but she also had small children, she found the ship to be very child unfriendly... she said she will be posting a review as well... I don't have small children so most of her complaints actually made me happy because I'm the kind of opposite demographic lol... It would take a lot for me to have a negative feeling about a cruise so we will see..

[Porter20]

Thank you both - Sail2day & LadyBerard for your reviews. As a future cruiser on the Millie I am glad to hear some positive reviews vs the ones that have posted early last month. And like LegalCat, I can have fun anywhere - especially on a cruise ship but equally, we all have choices of how to spend our limited vacation time & want to make sure we are meeting expections of that vacation.

[LegalCat]

Oh Porter I agree completely, also I hope I didn't come across as being dismissive of anyone elses bad experiences or anything like that... we should all have the experience we deserve for our hard earned money, I just mean that stuff like a little stain on a hall carpet won't make my vacation a living hell ;)

[Miss SeaBee]

I personally hope Celebrity keeps at least some 5 night cruises. I am grateful to have a really good job, but unfortunately my schedule does not allow me to take off more than 7 days at a time, Monday through Sunday. I am forced to take a Millenium 5 day, because I will not be able to do another 7 day as long as I am in this job.

 

I would hate to have to step down to the mobs of kids and frat party experience of other lines just because of my work schedule. Just because I have a difficult work requirement does not make me "lowest common denominator!" I appreciate having a quality choice that fits my scheduling needs!

[dmwnc1959]

Just because I have a difficult work requirement does not make me "lowest common denominator!"

 

I have a difficult job too, average one day off out of ten, and have had one vacation in over 6-1/2 years. I prefer Celebrity Cruises because it doesn't attract the frat party crowd I was referring to when I mentioned the 'lowest common denominator'.

 

When Celebrity Cruises drops their price to compete with Carnival Destiny and Norwegian Sky, that's when they get the 'booze cruise' atmosphere that is going to attract crowds like we may have already heard about on some of her 4-nighter's.

 

This year I picked Celebrity Millennium because it offered the timing and flexibility of combining 2-5nt cruises to 'make a cruise' that fit my schedule, and of the length of cruise I prefer.

 

Nothing wrong with working hard, and playing hard, just as long as we respect each others vacations. We all work hard for our money, and deserve the best quality vacation for our money. And for me this year it is Celebrity Millennium.

[Miss SeaBee]

So true! I am sold on Celebrity, and I'd rather not cruise at all than to go Carnival or NCL. Just hope they keep around a 5 night Caribbean for me! We aren't even allowed to use vacation time off on my 7 on/ 7 off schedule, unless I can pay another temp MD, NP or PA from an agency about double the usual rate to work my shifts. Would be a very expensive vacation indeed!

[Andy]

I personally hope Celebrity keeps at least some 5 night cruises. I am grateful to have a really good job, but unfortunately my schedule does not allow me to take off more than 7 days at a time, Monday through Sunday. I am forced to take a Millenium 5 day, because I will not be able to do another 7 day as long as I am in this job.

 

 

Hi Greensuz,

 

The current 4 & 5 night itineraries will continue during the Winter Season through at least Mid-April 2013. Constellation is scheduled to replace Millennium for the short itineraries. Her first sailing is scheduled for December 15, 2012. I hope this helps !

[clo6216]

I just saw a couple of reviews of the same cruise we took on Millenium. I sent my review in to the "Member Review" section earlier this morning, but since it might not be posted for a while, here's what I said:

 

Our 4-day Millenium cruise was very enjoyable. I didn't expect much from a short cruise, and I'm happy to report this far exceeded expectations.

 

Embarkation:

We arrived at the Port of Miami on October 27 around 12:30pm and were aboard by 1:00pm, just in time to drop off our suitcase at our stateroom.

 

Stateroom:

We were in concierge class cabin, #9137 and found it to be clean and comfortable. It was a very good location, aft but closer to midship. Although there was a public area above us, we did not hear any noise at night. The complimentary hors dourves were not very good. The daily fruit was old and bruised. Our steward was… okay.

 

Dining:

Our waiter and assistant waiter in the main dining room, late seating, were excellent. The food was good, but not up to the quality and variety we've enjoyed on other Celebrity ships. We ate in the Olympic restaurant one night and it was by far the best ship specialty restaurant we've been in. The service was impeccable and the cuisine outstanding. We had lunch at the Aqua Café (so-so), the buffet (great variety and very clean) and at the pool grill (good hamburgers and hot dogs, but was not bussed well). We had breakfast delivered to the room, always prompt and preceded by a phone call. We also had club sandwiches from room service around 2:00am once. It was delivered quickly and tasted great.

 

Bar Service:

There were many negative comments on Cruise Critic boards about the bar service on Millenium. Well, someone must have been listening because we always had prompt, excellent service. (To be honest, though, we always added a dollar or two to the gratuity on the bill, so that may have helped.)

 

Entertainment:

The music around the ship was very good. We particularly liked going to the Rendezvous Lounge when the 4-piece band was playing. The a-capella group was very good, too, as was the singer in the Cova Café. I'm sorry I'm not sure of the names.

The casino is large for a ship and extremely well run. Tables, craps and roulette were always busy. It was nice to see some $5 tables. Many casinos don't have those anymore. Bar service in the casino was excellent, too.

 

Ports:

The ship stopped in Key West during Fantasy Fest. It was a lot of fun seeing all the costumed (and costume-LESS!) people, but it certainly wasn't appropriate for children. The ship stopped in Nassau instead of Cozumel because of storm conditions. We've been to Nassau many times and did not get off the ship. Instead, we spent the time at the Thasso-whatever pool. Nice!

 

Miscellaneous:

The shops on board were very ordinary. We did not use the spa or fitness center.

 

Overall, the best thing about this ship was the staff. It started at the top with the cruise and activities directors and filtered all the way down. Everyone smiling, welcoming and doing terrific jobs. If people did not enjoy themselves on this cruise… they just weren't trying!

[bbdqsony]

I was on same cruise :)

 

It was amazing 4 days cruise... We really enjoy it. I put together quick video together of this cruise. it can be found here.

[Duanerice1]

I personally hope Celebrity keeps at least some 5 night cruises. I am grateful to have a really good job, but unfortunately my schedule does not allow me to take off more than 7 days at a time, Monday through Sunday. I am forced to take a Millenium 5 day, because I will not be able to do another 7 day as long as I am in this job.

 

I would hate to have to step down to the mobs of kids and frat party experience of other lines just because of my work schedule. Just because I have a difficult work requirement does not make me "lowest common denominator!" I appreciate having a quality choice that fits my scheduling needs!

 

Agree, I don't have your work schedule but I do enjoy the shorter Celebrity cruises. I am booked on the 5 night Jan 14. We took a 7 night Carnival in November (due to price) and while it was OK, it was just OK. Couldn't wait to get back to Celebrity then I saw a great deal on a short cruise I jumped on it.

 

Based on what Andy posted, I'll probably do it again next year. So here's hoping they will keep the shorter cruises.

enjoy,

Duane

[Lois R]

Agree, I don't have your work schedule but I do enjoy the shorter Celebrity cruises. I am booked on the 5 night Jan 14. We took a 7 night Carnival in November (due to price) and while it was OK, it was just OK. Couldn't wait to get back to Celebrity then I saw a great deal on a short cruise I jumped on it.

 

Based on what Andy posted, I'll probably do it again next year. So here's hoping they will keep the shorter cruises.

enjoy,

Duane

 

Hi Duane, see you 2 weeks from tomorrow:D

[misha1]

All good news as DH and I prepare for a 5 night on the Millie, we have been away for awhile too, trying other cruise venues and itineraries. We are highly looking forward to our return, albeit only 5 days. This is as last minute as I go, planning a cruise 3 months in advance. Had to be quick, inexpensive, and easy to get to (fly to that is). We have select dining, first time for that on Celebrity but we enjoyed anytime dining on Norwegian very much, and we are NOT aft concierge (which is our preferred cabin choice) but, instead, went for one of the Sweet Sixteens to save a little more dough. 71 days till we leave, 73 days till we cruise.

[fleckle]

Overall, the best thing about this ship was the staff. It started at the top with the cruise and activities directors and filtered all the way down. Everyone smiling, welcoming and doing terrific jobs.

I think that great attitude starts at an even higher level, with their boss, and filters down from there.

 

Whenever we have been lucky enough to be on a cruise that had Andrew Harris as Hotel Director, we have been very pleased with just about all aspects of the cruise experience that he directs. He is a caring "can do" type of guy who works quietly behind the scenes to keep everything rolling along smoothly.

 

What impressed us most was that when little problems would arise, he would take control and get them straightened out instead of making excuses.