Just back from our B2B2B on the Millie... happy to answer questions :)

[nunuc2000]

Just got home Monday night following a month away... 4 days pre cruise in San Juan, then B2B2B on the Millie Feb 11, 18 and 25, (Sunset Veranda cabin 7206) then 2 days post cruise in San Juan. I can't recall all the questions asked here, but can assure you the Millie is in great shape and service was superb throughout our cruise.

 

Starlink is working quite well (we had the basic internet plan included in our fare), but Cruise critic was not accessible at all, weirdly.  It's true that there was no primerib, and lobster night showed a charge of $16 for a second tail, and the Le Petit Chef experience has been reduced to only one show now, whereas we had previously been able to choose from 3 different ones.  We chose to try the buffet one night for dinner so we could see what all the fuss was about, and found it to be perfectly adequate in it's offerings and quality of food - there was a carving station, pasta station, stirfry station, indian fare, along with the usual salads, meats and cheeses, pizza, desserts, breads, etc.  

 

We have cruised multiple times on the Millie (and her sister the Summit) both pre and post revolution, and think they've done a great job with her upkeep and style. You'd never know she's the oldest gal in the fleet!! 

 

But alas, we returned home to 5 foot drifts of snow and minus 20C temps, and perhaps that has me missing her more than I normally would... can't wait to sail on her again in the coming year 🙂

 

Please let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them in between loads of laundry, grocery shopping, and relearning how to cook after so long away! 😉 

 

Edited March 8, 2023 by nunuc2000

[thebutlerdidit]

Thank you for the review! I’m sailing on Millennium next month. She was my first cruise experience in 2010, and for that reason alone - my favorite!

[luv2camp04]

Thanks for sharing.  We board that lovely ship this Saturday!!  I night pre cruise in San Juan and 3 nights post cruise.  

[nunuc2000]

2 minutes ago, luv2camp04 said:

Thanks for sharing.  We board that lovely ship this Saturday!!  I night pre cruise in San Juan and 3 nights post cruise.  

Have a great time!!  And if you enjoy the martini bar, the current group of guys are fabulous!!!  Guna, Cipta (pronounced Chiptah), and Sura are so much fun and made a great new martini that we loved - Raspberry Chocolate... if you're into that sort of flavor, ask Cipta to make the the one he was making for Karen and Celine last week 🙂 

[Laurab23]

30 minutes ago, nunuc2000 said:

Have a great time!!  And if you enjoy the martini bar, the current group of guys are fabulous!!!  Guna, Cipta (pronounced Chiptah), and Sura are so much fun and made a great new martini that we loved - Raspberry Chocolate... if you're into that sort of flavor, ask Cipta to make the the one he was making for Karen and Celine last week 🙂 

What was in the raspberry chocolate martini? Was it clear or more creamy? Creamy ones do me in.

 

Laura

[nunuc2000]

2 minutes ago, Laurab23 said:

What was in the raspberry chocolate martini? Was it clear or more creamy? Creamy ones do me in.

 

Laura

I'm not crazy about creamy ones, so instead Cipta made mine more clear... Raspberry Vodka, white creme de cacao, chambord, and lemon sweet and sour mix... divine!!!  

[Laurab23]

Just now, nunuc2000 said:

I'm not crazy about creamy ones, so instead Cipta made mine more clear... Raspberry Vodka, white creme de cacao, chambord, and lemon sweet and sour mix... divine!!!  

Thank you. I will add that to my list of things to try.

 

Laura

[DaKahuna]

@nunuc2000 How was the live entertainment onboard, especially in the Rendezvous Lounge?  We enjoy sitting in the louges and listening to the live musicians over the larger shows in the theater. 

 

[RichYak]

3 hours ago, nunuc2000 said:

...Le Petit Chef experience has been reduced to only one show now, whereas we had previously been able to choose from 3 different ones...

Do you recall which show it was. The only one I've seen is the one with the seasons. I'm on Millie in 2 weeks and hoping it's a different show.

 

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

@nunuc2000 How was the live entertainment onboard, especially in the Rendezvous Lounge?  We enjoy sitting in the louges and listening to the live musicians over the larger shows in the theater. 

My wife and are the same.

[rosebud513]

I am booked in the same room in May, are there loungers on the balcony?

[nunuc2000]

8 minutes ago, rosebud513 said:

I am booked in the same room in May, are there loungers on the balcony?

It's a great room! Two semi-reclining chairs, two loungers, and two small tables. During our first week, there were 4 of us couples cruising together, and our steward was happy to bring us an additional two chairs. We also used the one from the vanity area when all 8 of us were enjoying a final sea-day deck party out there. 🙂

[nunuc2000]

3 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

@nunuc2000 How was the live entertainment onboard, especially in the Rendezvous Lounge?  We enjoy sitting in the louges and listening to the live musicians over the larger shows in the theater. 

 

Quite honestly, the live entertainment on board was just so-so for us.  There were 5 different live acts that seemed to rotate to different venues including the Rendezvous, the top of the stairs of the Grand Foyer next to the Martini bar, the Skyview lounge, and Cellar Masters on 5. One was their "partyband" that played some top 40 stuff, Motown, disco, etc., and they were okay. Another was a duo (and sometimes trio) that played slower stuff (think Sade, Nora Jones, slow jazz type stuff), another was the Millennium Orchestra band that basically was all horns and did a New Orleans French Quarter Dixieland music kind of set. There was also a Latino band that the local guests from Puerto Rico really enjoyed. Last, but not least, was young lady solo act from Ireland on her guitar playing upbeat and fun sing-along type music at times... The Eagles, Tom Petty, Alanis Morisette, Pink, The Beatles, etc. - we thought she was terrific and really enjoyed her voice and style, especially when she played at the top of the stairs by the martini bar in the evenings 🙂

 

[nunuc2000]

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

Do you recall which show it was. The only one I've seen is the one with the seasons. I'm on Millie in 2 weeks and hoping it's a different show.

 

My wife and are the same.

I'm not positive of the exact title of the show, but it was something like "Art, History, Creativity and Love" or something close to that. We had previously enjoyed the Seasons one, as well as the International Cooking Competition one, and thoroughly enjoyed them both! This one was very good too, especially since our friends who were cruising with us were enjoying Le Petit Chef for the first time, so it was fun to see it through their fresh eyes.  The 4 courses included a caprese salad, a pasta dish, a main of short ribs, and lovely dessert of strawberry Chantilly with a flakey pastry... really terrific meal! 

[RTShaker]

Thanks for doing this. Hope you had a really great time, and welcome back home to the deep freeze. We are on her in 6 weeks. How bad were the lineups at the MDR?

[DaKahuna]

3 hours ago, nunuc2000 said:

Quite honestly, the live entertainment on board was just so-so for us.  There were 5 different live acts that seemed to rotate to different venues including the Rendezvous, the top of the stairs of the Grand Foyer next to the Martini bar, the Skyview lounge, and Cellar Masters on 5. One was their "partyband" that played some top 40 stuff, Motown, disco, etc., and they were okay. Another was a duo (and sometimes trio) that played slower stuff (think Sade, Nora Jones, slow jazz type stuff), another was the Millennium Orchestra band that basically was all horns and did a New Orleans French Quarter Dixieland music kind of set. There was also a Latino band that the local guests from Puerto Rico really enjoyed. Last, but not least, was young lady solo act from Ireland on her guitar playing upbeat and fun sing-along type music at times... The Eagles, Tom Petty, Alanis Morisette, Pink, The Beatles, etc. - we thought she was terrific and really enjoyed her voice and style, especially when she played at the top of the stairs by the martini bar in the evenings 🙂

 

 

 Thank you.  The soloist and the duo/trio both sound like our kind of music.  I hate to think that with the significant change to the itinerary there will be different acts but it seems a lot of those types of musicians are usually tied to specific geographical areas.  I'll just have to take a patience pill and wait until the daily panner in the app gets updated with the entertainment choices for our cruise.  We are inside 45 days and it's still not showing anything beyond day 7.  

 

[DaKahuna]

4 hours ago, RichYak said:

Do you recall which show it was. The only one I've seen is the one with the seasons. 

 

 I have not been able to convince my wife to try Le Petit Chef.  It is a challenge to get her to eat anywhere other than Luminae and Sushi/Raw on Five.  Maybe this cruise I'll have better luck. 

 

1 hour ago, RTShaker said:

. We are on her in 6 weeks. 

 

Hope to bump into you onboard.  Wish we were doing a B2B but was not able to talk her into it.  15 days will be our longest cruise together. 

 

[son3cruisers]

We will be onboard Saturday as well! 
Glad you enjoyed your cruise! 
Would also like to hear about line ups at Main dining. 
In Aug, on Summit there were definitely some staffing issues and also a wait for dinner even with reserved times. 
 

Edited March 9, 2023 by son3cruisers

[nunuc2000]

2 hours ago, RTShaker said:

Thanks for doing this. Hope you had a really great time, and welcome back home to the deep freeze. We are on her in 6 weeks. How bad were the lineups at the MDR?

Each evening we would make our way to the martini bar for a pre-dinner drink, and the lineups were quite long for the early time on deck five as well as any time on deck four. By the time we would head to the dining room on deck 4 for our anytime dinner, it was usually between 615 and 630, and we never had to wait a single time. There was sometimes four or six people in the lineup when we arrived, but they were greeted and seated immediately, as were we. 
 

by the third night, we had fallen in love with the serving duo of Alvin and Ricky, and made a request to be seated in their section each evening thereafter, and it was honoured. Our sommelier was a lovely woman by the name of Jelena, very tall, with a head full of shocking red hair, and a bold and sassy attitude to match! She was delightful!!

 

 

[nunuc2000]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I have not been able to convince my wife to try Le Petit Chef.  It is a challenge to get her to eat anywhere other than Luminae and Sushi/Raw on Five.  Maybe this cruise I'll have better luck. 

 

 

Hope to bump into you onboard.  Wish we were doing a B2B but was not able to talk her into it.  15 days will be our longest cruise together. 

 

I hope you are able to convince your wife to try Le Petit Chef… it is such a unique and fun experience!! So entertaining, superb service , and the food is very good as well! Hope you have a wonderful cruise, no matter where you choose to dine on the ship 😊

[Droink]

We loved the martini ice bar on the Equinox.  It was both a fun show watching the talented bartenders, and delicious drinks.  Since X raised their alcohol package prices to such an extreme, we decided to pay as we go this time.  Will that be a mistake?  I keep reading that it's very hard to get a bartender's attention nowadays.  True?

 

My sister & her DH are on the Millie now.  My DH and I will sail on her next Saturday.  Been on the Summit twice and had wonderful cruises both times. 

[nunuc2000]

13 hours ago, Droink said:

We loved the martini ice bar on the Equinox.  It was both a fun show watching the talented bartenders, and delicious drinks.  Since X raised their alcohol package prices to such an extreme, we decided to pay as we go this time.  Will that be a mistake?  I keep reading that it's very hard to get a bartender's attention nowadays.  True?

 

My sister & her DH are on the Millie now.  My DH and I will sail on her next Saturday.  Been on the Summit twice and had wonderful cruises both times. 

We had quite a bit of OBC, so we upgraded to Premium at the beginning of each week, plus we really enjoy the martini's in the Martini Bar with are an upgrade. If you choose not to upgrade, you can definitely pay as you go... just keep in mind that the those specific martini's are over and above what is covered by the classic package, so you'll need to sign for the overage. We had no trouble getting the attention of the bar tenders and servers at any of the bars, but we also extra cash tip, and they got to know us quite well after the first couple of days of the first week, so that likely helped.  Ultimately, I find if you're really nice and gracious with them, they'll be just as nice and attentive to you 🙂 

 

Hope you have a great time on the Millie... wish we were still on board her!!

[apr0607]

Glad to hear it was fantastic! Haven't cruised in a while, will be in an Aqua Balcony on Deck 9. I have a few questions: 

1- What time were you able to board? I have 12pm on my reservation, but wanted to see if you could get on earlier.

2- Are the tote bags in the cabin? I know they were never the best quality but curious if you needed to bring a proper beach bag. 

3- Did you dine at Tuscan Grille? I thought that menu looked better then Le Petit Chef. 

 

Looking forward to it!!

Edited March 13, 2023 by apr0607

[nunuc2000]

15 hours ago, apr0607 said:

Glad to hear it was fantastic! Haven't cruised in a while, will be in an Aqua Balcony on Deck 9. I have a few questions: 

1- What time were you able to board? I have 12pm on my reservation, but wanted to see if you could get on earlier.

2- Are the tote bags in the cabin? I know they were never the best quality but curious if you needed to bring a proper beach bag. 

3- Did you dine at Tuscan Grille? I thought that menu looked better then Le Petit Chef. 

 

Looking forward to it!!

We had the 12:00 boarding time... but arrived at the pier at approx 11:40 am, and were on board, drink in hand by 11:53am... I've always found the San Juan boarding process to be the fastest and easiest!!

 

Yes, we had the grey canvas type bag in the room in a drawer upon boarding - I prefer my own zippered beach bag, but still bring home the tote bag for groceries... every time I use it, it reminds me of the cruise 🙂 

 

Opted out of Tuscan this time, but have enjoyed it many times in the past - a good steak house restaurant can be had on most other cruise lines, but this was a great opportunity to introduce our friends to Le Petit Chef, so that's why we chose that particular dining experience this time around 🙂 

 

Hope you have a wonderful time!!!

[HSBC]

I have All Inclusive Drink Package, does Celebrity have a  wine and cocktail list which is included in the Drink Package?

Thanks! 

[Jim_Iain]

18 minutes ago, HSBC said:

I have All Inclusive Drink Package, does Celebrity have a  wine and cocktail list which is included in the Drink Package?

Thanks! 

A quick google search will usually answer your question.

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/Celebrity-Cruises-Beverage-Packages.pdf