Tour of Celebrity Millennium - What to expect compared to HAL?

[SilvertoGold]

One of our travel agents has invited us to a presentation, tour and lunch on the Celebrity Millennium.

 

While I could wade through pages and pages on the Celebrity board, I would love to hear what HAL cruisers think of this ship in comparison to HAL ships (Vista, I guess fits best, and we've not been on a Signature Class ship).

 

The tour is comprehensive, lasting about 90 minutes, so what do we watch for, any favorite areas, etc.

 

It will be interesting to compare the food at this lunch with that of the last few times we've been on the same kind of tour on HAL. The food then was much better that a normal cruise lunch or the Mariners Brunch. How does Celebrity's food compare?

 

Any opinions would be appreciated!

[fleckle]

One of our travel agents has invited us to a presentation, tour and lunch on the Celebrity Millennium.

 

While I could wade through pages and pages on the Celebrity board, I would love to hear what HAL cruisers think of this ship in comparison to HAL ships (Vista, I guess fits best, and we've not been on a Signature Class ship).

 

The tour is comprehensive, lasting about 90 minutes, so what do we watch for, any favorite areas, etc.

 

It will be interesting to compare the food at this lunch with that of the last few times we've been on the same kind of tour on HAL. The food then was much better that a normal cruise lunch or the Mariners Brunch. How does Celebrity's food compare?

 

Any opinions would be appreciated!

Things I would ask to see are

 

- a penthouse suite - go walk around out on the balcony

( They will most likely give you a tour of some of the different categories of cabins, but the penthouse suite is special.)

 

- a celebrity suite

(a very nice, lower priced suite)

 

- the thallasotherapy pool near the front of deck 10

and the sauna with the window looking out to sea in the nearby locker room

 

- the gym (all the way forward on deck 10)

 

- views from outdoor seating deck at aft of deck 10

 

- the big, enclosed observation lounge (forget the name) at front of deck 11

 

- the theater (notice the clear, unobstructed sight lines from just about all seats anywhere in the theater)

 

- the main dining room and specialty restaurants, including Blu

(Ask them about aqua class)

 

 

I would not put any importance on comparing one lunch on one ship to a lunch on another ship as it is pretty meaningless.

You can get a good or bad meal on any cruise line.

Have the lunch there a month earlier or later and it may be better or worse.

 

Food preference is so much a matter of personal taste, as is preference in decor.

We have had meals we liked a lot and meals that were not so great on both HAL and Celebrity ships. But we can always find something we like to eat on any ship.

[hypercafe]

iMO you will find a bigger ship with more open space and more of a wow factor.

[startwin]

I toured the Millenium last year with my TA. I found it mainly the same as the HAL ships I've been on, but a general feeling of being more closed in and darker. That's just my own observation. Lunch was very good though:D

[iancal]

The OP was correct....don't judge anything by how good the lunch happens to be on visitor's day.

 

If we were comparing Westerdam to Millennium I would say that Millennium seemed more open. Less dark spaces and easier traffic pattern. Cannot comment on the cabins other to say we never really see much difference between standard verandah cabins on either line....unless of course we luck out and get an extended balcony.

 

We find the real difference is in Celebrity's Solstice class ships. We find these ships stunning. We also find them less crowded than other ships that are considerably smaller. I think this is attributable to design-none of those painful corriders that go no where or where several all end up in the same place. The Millennium has be 'solsticized' in drydock but I do not have a clue what that really means in terms of improvements.

 

Bottom line.....at the end of the day we would happily take a cruise on HAL's Vista or Signature class ships, or on Celebrity's Millennium or Solstice class ships. All we want is the right itinerary at the right time at the right price.

[cruz chic]

I spent 5 days on this ship at the end of May. I agree with other posters that it's like many of the HAL ships. The food was hit or miss, some was really good and some was really bad. Service as not good in many areas.

[startwin]

The OP was correct....don't judge anything by how good the lunch happens to be on visitor's day.

 

If we were comparing Westerdam to Millennium I would say that Millennium seemed more open. Less dark spaces and easier traffic pattern. Cannot comment on the cabins other to say we never really see much difference between standard verandah cabins on either line....unless of course we luck out and get an extended balcony.

 

We find the real difference is in Celebrity's Solstice class ships. We find these ships stunning. We also find them less crowded than other ships that are considerably smaller. I think this is attributable to design-none of those painful corriders that go no where or where several all end up in the same place. The Millennium has be 'solsticized' in drydock but I do not have a clue what that really means in terms of improvements.

 

Bottom line.....at the end of the day we would happily take a cruise on HAL's Vista or Signature class ships, or on Celebrity's Millennium or Solstice class ships. All we want is the right itinerary at the right time at the right price.

 

Just goes to show how subjective opinions are :D- I found it dark and closed=in!

[SilvertoGold]

Wow!!

Now I am really looking forward to this tour.

 

Surprised that this ship is similar to HAL Vista ones. So many more dining and lounge options from the look of the deck plans. And it looks much larger in the public areas.

 

Thanks to fleckle for the detailed must-sees: I am finding them on my deck plan and getting the hang of the layout.

 

Food is certainly subjective, but I am still interested in what they serve and how the service compares to HAL.

 

Thanks to all!!

[cruisetrail]

HAL=Signature Class Ships.

The Signature Class ships provide more spacious open decks, beautiful wrap-around promenade deck (not available on Celebrity), elegant afternoon tea parties (not available on Celebrity), overall better food included in the price.

Extra charge restaurants are better on Celebrity (Solstice Class).

We rank the Signature Class ships above the Solstice Class.

So there is no comparison with old celebrity ships.

[PathfinderEss]

The Millennium is not a new ship, it was built in the year 2000, consequently its name Millennium. I've sailed on the Infinity quite a few times and like that ship. What I noticed about their ships is they don't keep them as clean as Hal does. Their food can be iffy but their secondary restaurant are awesome. There crew is good but not like Hal's wonderful crew. Celebrity is not a bad cruise line and does compare to Hal in type of ships, and price. Now I haven't been on their newest ships, which I hear are very nice.

[LynnObie]

The Millennium is the latest of the Celebrity M-Class ships to be refurbished under their "Solsticization" upgrade project. We've been on 3 of the M-Class ships which, as someone else mentioned, are closest to the HAL Vista Class such as Westerdam or Oosterdam. This is our favorite size of ship both on HAL and =X=. The Celebrity main dining rooms are more elegant than HAL's with (in my opinion) comparable food quality.

 

On your tour of the Millennium, be sure to ask to see the aft Concierge Class and Family View cabins. Both have fantastic balconies about as large as the cabins. The Penthouse cabins are both on deck 6. The Concierge & FV cabins are directly above the Penthouse on decks 7, 8 & 9 with those on deck 7 being my personal favorites.

 

Overall, we consider HAL & =X= to be equal..... but each with their own unique differences. Both offer an excellent cruise experience.:)