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Southbound Millennium Cruise and Excursions Photo Review

Aquahound

By Aquahound,
in Celebrity Cruises

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Aquahound

Aquahound

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We flirted with the idea of booking one of the 2 specialty restaurants during this cruise. We thought the MDR food was great throughout this entire cruise and we were very happy. I just couldn't swallow paying $45 per person when we found the MDR food so good. To be honest, I was a little shocked when I heard both restaurants were $45. Here is the MDR. The views of the mountains out those huge aft windows were really nice.

 

ry%3D400

 

 

ry%3D400

 

Our Waiter, Darry, and or Assistant Waiter, Valeria, were awesome. Here is Darry doing a balancing act with some forks.

 

ry%3D400

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Aquahound

Aquahound

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Time to throw in a cleanliness complaint. The MDR ceiling had some sort of mold or something on the ceiling. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but it was fuzzy and it was growing, so I know it couldn't be good. I noticed it on the first or second night and pointed it out to our Head Waiter. I again pointed it out one day during lunch. It was never cleaned. This picture didn't come out too well because it looked a lot worse in person. Plus, you can't really tell in this picture that it did have a little length to it.

 

ry%3D400

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Aquahound

Aquahound

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Entertainment. I have mixed feelings on this one. Some of the live entertainment was excellent. The dance band, Majestic, was awesome. They were so good, you could have sworn it was a DJ playing. We had a lot of fun on the night they played in the main atrium.

 

There was a solo guitarist named Justin Wade who was also awesome. He played in Cafe al Bacio and in Michael's.

 

On the other hand, the band that played nightly in Rendezvous was awful. They were just terrible and I think I got crabs of the ear listening to them. The only reason I stuck around once or twice was, Rendezvous was the only lounge that could make my drink of choice, a real espresso martini.

 

What really disappointed me was, while there was plenty of live music, there was no other form of entertainment in the evenings. This was the first cruise I have been on that didn't do any type of game shows in the evenings. They did do Family Feud on the last sea day but it was scheduled at the same time as entering the Inside Passage. Otherwise, nothing, nada. In fact, the first day's Celebrity Today daily planner could have just been reprinted daily because it never seemed to change.

 

I also missed the acapella act. There was none. Did Celebrity do away with this all around? :confused:

 

The comedian, James Stephens, a Celebrity regular, was hillarious. His act hasn't changed since we saw him a couple years ago on Summit, but he still had us laughing. I did pay the price though for sitting up front. My buddy and I were called on stage to do a Temptations act.

 

ry%3D400

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Aquahound

Aquahound

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All in all, I had a fabulous vacation. The sights and experiences were priceless and this goes down as one of my all time favorite trips. In my first post, I said that in hindsight, I would prefer to have gone on Radiance of the Seas. I still stand by that. Don't get me wrong. I still had a great time on the Millennium and there were some areas where they really shined. But I think I would have enjoyed the activites on ROS better and I would be very surprised if they put on a kids talent show in the Viking Crown Lounge during a scenic part of the cruise.

 

On the other hand, Millennium hit a home run with the MDR food and service, with the Captains Club perks, and with the visibility of senior officers.

 

I did point out the cleanliness and maintanance issues so, while nothing was done to correct them during our week, hopefully corrective measures were taken to make the ship look a little better for future cruisers. I'm sure this review will help that also.

 

Speaking of clenliness, our room attendant, Dodi, was excellent. What I found weird was, if we didn't eat our chocolates, he took them. That was a little odd but otherwise, he was great. The daily snacks and fruit for being in Concierge Class was also a nice touch.

 

 

ry%3D400

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suncityga

suncityga

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Our cruise ended in Vancouver where we rented a car and drove down to Seattle. We had a pretty good time there walking the market and riding the ferris wheel.

 

Great review and awesome photos ! ! !

 

We may want to also rent a car in Vancouver and drive to Seattle... we would appreciate additional details.

 

Are the car rental companies near the port arrival area?

 

Any car rental drop-off charges Vancouver to Seattle?

 

Any traffic delay issues crossing the US/Canada border?

 

Did you do any sightseeing near Vancouver?

 

Any other info you could share would be appreciated.

 

Thank you :)

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Aquahound

Aquahound

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Hi suncityga. I'm not sure where all the car rental companies are located, but we used Hertz at the airport. We did this because after Seattle, we came back up, spent one night, and flew out of Vancouver.

 

It was about a half hour taxi ride to the airport. The cost was $36. They accept both Canadian and American cash, and credit cards.

 

Sorry, I can't help with drop off charges in Seattle due to coming back to Vancouver. However, Hertz did charge a mileage fee. Though our quote for 2 days was $90, our final cost was $160.

 

We had about a 20 minute delay at the US border. From what I'm hearing, that is typical. The total drive time was 3 hours. I'm not sure if you heard about the bridge collapse on 5, but they did replace it and there were no slow downs there.

 

Traffic in Seattle was very heavy, even though it was the weekend. Traffic tended to move slow. Allow yourself plenty of time to get around.

 

When we returned to Vancouver, we did a little touring, but not much. Our hotel was near the airport, so instead of eating downtown, we drove over to the mouth of the Fraser River in Richmond. We ate at a restaurant called Blue Canoe and loved it. It was a nice area to walk around.

 

Afterwards, we drove up to Stanley Park in Vancouver. Driving across Vancouver takes some due due to the lack of a major highway. It's pretty much all city streets.

 

Hope this helps. Any more questions, please ask. :)

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BEAV

BEAV

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Thank you very much for taking so much time and effort to share your vacation with us. You certainly captured all the high points well in both photos and words. Excellent!

 

Doing a north or southbound is definitely on our bucket list, especially since the ships sailing from Seattle and SF miss the Inside Passage.

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GeorgiaPeach51 "Live from...." Rare

GeorgiaPeach51

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Wonderful review and a nice, balanced critique of what bothered you....I'm really torn about the shape of the ship. We noted the same things about maintenance and the ship being less than spiffy in some places. Trying to balance knowing it's an older ship vs. how much it impacted our trip (it didn't). However, I would say that just because you live in an older house doesn't mean you let it go and don't do maintenance on it....you expect to spend more on the maintenance in both time and money. So, perhaps Celebrity is not willing to invest what is needed to keep the ship looking as good as it should?

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suncityga

suncityga

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Hi suncityga. I'm not sure where all the car rental companies are located, but we used Hertz at the airport. We did this because after Seattle, we came back up, spent one night, and flew out of Vancouver.

 

Paul,

 

Thank you for the information... we appreciate it. :)

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Aquahound

Aquahound

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Wonderful review and a nice, balanced critique of what bothered you....I'm really torn about the shape of the ship. We noted the same things about maintenance and the ship being less than spiffy in some places. Trying to balance knowing it's an older ship vs. how much it impacted our trip (it didn't). However, I would say that just because you live in an older house doesn't mean you let it go and don't do maintenance on it....you expect to spend more on the maintenance in both time and money. So, perhaps Celebrity is not willing to invest what is needed to keep the ship looking as good as it should?

 

You make a really good point and I agree that it did not impact the enjoyment of our trip. I noticed someone else pointed out these issues in another thread and they are getting a little beat up over it, saying its a saltwater environment, etc. That may be true, but in my experience, it has not been the way Celebrity does things. Even the Century seemed well maintained when I sailed her, as did the Summit pre-Solticizing. I'm not sure what the issue is. The mold on the MDR ceiling for example, I pointed it out twice. They never cleaned it.

 

Be that as it may, it was still a fabulous vacation because for the most part, these are little things. Hopefully the flurry of recent complaints will predicate action on their part. :)

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FRMPEI

FRMPEI

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I also missed the acapella act. There was none. Did Celebrity do away with this all around? :confused:

 

Hi Paul,

 

I am pretty sure Celebrity has not done away with them. Lots of folks love them but, I am not one of them. My wife loves them while I can't get way from them quick enough.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

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