Millenium Review 3/4-3/11

[Dreamin]

Embarkment was a breeze! We drove up at around 1:00 pm, dropped our stuff off at the entrance to the terminal and then my Dad left to park the car. He returned within 15 minutes! We walked right in, went through security and then up to check in. We were on the ship within 15 minutes from start to finish!

 

Our room was nice, but smaller than what I had expected. We had 4 in a standard balcony - room #7062. Two twins pushed together, a chair that folded out into a single bed and a Pullman bed that dropped from the ceiling. The room size was not a concern as much as storage room. Not as much as what we would have liked. But I would have lived out of my suit-case if needed - just to be able to cruise!

 

We ate breakfast and lunch at the Ocean Grill every day and were very happy with both the quality of the food and the service. Lots of precautions taken against Noro-Virus - disinfecting lotion everywhere - nice touch. We ate dinner in the Dining Room every night and again, the food and service was wonderful. We didn’t eat in the specialty restaurant, but I heard comments that that too was wonderful. We tried and loved the sushi and the pizza. We never ate at the spa grill, but it looked wonderful.

 

The chair saving was in full force and other than a comment in the daily paper, there was no enforcement of any kind. In fact the pool patrol didn’t seem to do much of anything. On the second day at sea we saw a woman in the hot tub with a little baby and a toddler. When the pool patrol went over and asked her to remove the kids she refused. They then told her to at least remove the diaper. After they turned around and walked away, the woman removed the diaper and wrung it out in the hot tub!!! We couldn’t believe it! We went over and told the pool patrol gentleman and he didn’t seem interested and wouldn’t do anything about it! After repeatedly pointing out how dangerous this is he continued to seem un-interested until we noticed and brought to his attention that she was doing it again! He then seemed to agree that he had no choice but to ask her to leave. They then closed all 4 hot-tubs. I never saw them empty the water out of the hot tubs or do any other cleansing - but maybe they did at the end of the day. Maybe the pool patrol need to be given a better job description.

 

The shows were great. The singers and dancers were amazing and I would recommend attending every show. The comedian was fantastic and appropriate for all ages.

 

San Juan - Since I’ve been here many times before, we got off the ship and just walked around Old Town a bit. We also visited Senior Frogs - which is never a disappointment! Amazing Pina Colada’s!

 

Dominican Republic - We went to both Altos de Chavon and the Marina at Casa de Campo - transportation via bus provided free by the Celebrity. Both places offered beautiful scenery and a few shops, but not much else. We found the best place to buy coffee and liquor to bring home was at the Grocery at Altos de Chavon. We wanted to go to Bayahibe Beach, but the taxi drivers wanted $50.00 and with only about 1 hour to spend there, we didn’t think it was worth it - maybe next time.

 

St. Thomas - Having been here many times before, and having 5 other ships in port, we felt our best strategy would be to shop first and then go to the beach - maybe less crowded? NOT! During our last visit, we found a great little bar with a wonderful view at the hotel at Blackbeards Castle. Boy could that bartender mix a good drink! We thought we would stop by and say hi. We walked up the 99 stairs (actually 133!) and when we reached Blackbeards, we were told we had to pay $12.00 to enter! We explained that we had done the tour previously and only wanted to visit to have a drink in the bar. She explained that we couldn’t enter the bar/hotel unless we paid the $12.00 - with or without the tour! OUCH! So we ended up walking back down the 133 stairs thirsty! So if anyone else is planning on visiting Blackbeards Bar with the fantastic view - just wanted to give you a heads up before you wear yourself out on the 133 steps! We shopped for a bit and then went to Megan’s Bay. Way too crowded, but still beautiful as can be. The water was wonderful and the sun was shining - what more could you ask?

 

Nassau - Having burned a bit on the ship the previous day, we opted to skip the beach today and walk around and shop. We followed up shopping with a visit to Senior Frogs - what a mad house! Spring Break was in full force. Still great Pina Coladas!

 

All in all - everything was wonderful. Always a smiling face from the crew. Great service from our room steward and our waiter and assistant waiter. The Cruise Director was good and the entertainment staff wonderful.

 

Other than the hot tub incident, the only complaint I have is that the cruise wasn’t long enough!

 

Some hints that come to mind:

- no need for a bungee cord on the balcony doors - they stay open by themselves

- a nightlight worked great

- we took advantage of the great showers at the gym when we were all trying to get ready for dinner at the same time.

-Be sure to run off the copyright release form at http://www.image.com so that you can copy the pics you buy on the cruise. At $20 a piece on board - it’s a little less costly to buy just a few and then copy them at Wal-mart for everyone in your group.

 

Any questions, feel free to ask.

[Muushka]

Thank you for the review and the great tips. It sounds like you had a wonderful cruise (except for that diaper thing!)

[frankathy]

What was the condition of the Milli. I have heard she is looking worn and tired. We were looking at her for next year.

[Dreamin]

Honestly, I didn't notice any wear and tear! I had heard that mentioned prior to our cruise, but I guess I just don't notice those kinds of things unless they are blatant. I'm sure if you really look at every nook and cranny you are bound to see some wear, but nothing was obvious to me.

[frankathy]

Thanks. I appreciate the quick response

[Fuzzy55]

We got off the Millennium on Sunday. The cruise director Derek told us at the CC party that she is going into dry dock for 3 weeks after her transAtlantic cruise that begins 3/18. They are going to replace the pods and refurbish her. We had a great time on her. Everything was great.

[Smitty24]

Thanks for the review! I'm sailing her next Feb!

[RadioPeri]

We got off the Millennium on Sunday. The cruise director Derek told us at the CC party that she is going into dry dock for 3 weeks after her transAtlantic cruise that begins 3/18. They are going to replace the pods and refurbish her. We had a great time on her. Everything was great.

 

I can, unfortunately, vouch for that information. We were booked on the ship with our kids for the first week in April, and had it canceled on us last year for the drydock and itinery change. Celebrity decided to send the ship over to Europe early for a refurb. :(

 

They offered to transfer our booking to another Celebrity ship, but with all the longer cruises the line is doing these days, we couldn't find anything else that worked with our kids' school schedules, and they wouldn't let us move the booking to Royal Caribbean.

 

~ Peri

[shinbal]

What was the condition of the Milli. I have heard she is looking worn and tired. We were looking at her for next year.

 

I have a post that references this problem, but I think it's more of a cabin problem. Our CC cabin was in bad shape. Truthfully, the ship itself in most public areas was quite nicely kept up