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Just off Celebrity Millennium - Review


drychi

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A quick review to address several areas recently discussed on this board. Just spent 10/4 to 10/8 on the "Milli". Ship is in excellent shape. Crew was outstanding in every department. The menus in the main dining room posted on this board are accurate and the food was uniformly delicious. The entertainment staff and performers currently on board are very professional and provided quality entertainment for all persons. The choices included a wonderful classical string trio, a guitar/singer, an acappella group, the ususal party/rock band, and of course the Millennium's orchestra. The production shows on our four day cruise were a Broadway review and a Motown 70-80's disco style show. The ship also hosted a comedian as the other main theatre act. The ship also hosted the "Sizzle" show up on the lido deck under the stars. One thing this ship did that I had not seen before was a variety show built around the crew of the ship. Bartenders, waiters, maintenance workers, ships officers, cooks, etc. performed various types of songs and dances for an appreciative audience. Well worth your time!

 

As always our favorite entertainer was Carlos Avalon in Michaels Club. We have had the privilege of sailing with Carlos before and believe his personality and entertainment skills are unmatched in the Celebrity fleet. We ended most of our cruise nights sitting in the beautiful Michael's Club, enjoying a drink, and listening to Carlos play and sing Broadway show tunes, movie themes, old standards, Elvis songs, etc.

 

My wife and I were sorry to learn that Celebrity is going to change the Michaels Club into a "pub style" venue serving many types of beer. I hope Celebrity will find somewhere else for those of us who prefer a quiet, classic, elegant night club atmoshphere, to congregate after they change Michael's Club into just another neighborhood bar like Carnival and its lines have done. We were pleased to learn that at least Celebrity is going to continue to enploy Carlos to play in other venues on it's ships. Long may he sail!

 

Celebrity continues to hold first place in my personal choice for cruising. I would be happy to answer any questions for anyone.

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Seems to be so much negativity about the ship being 'tired' and not up to par with the newer vessels. We will sail her for New Years Eve this year; just a 5-nighter but can't wait for the fun. We have a CC aft-facing stateroom. Anyone notice vibration back there? Any real CC benefits on this ship? We are doing the Prem beverage package - no one will have to drive home from the New Years Eve party this year!

About the crew show - we've seen them on HAL and I think another line, too.

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Hi, glad you had a good time:) I have seen the crew talent show on

quite of few of my cruises and you are correct, it is very good:D

Seems all the ships have crew who have many hidden talents!

Singing, magic, etc.....I always try to attend that one!

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Thanks for your nice review.

We're going on the Millenium at the end of the month....It'll be our first ever Celebrity cruise, and my daughter and son-in-law's first ever cruise!

We've sailed 4 different cruise lines so far, and are really looking forward to this one!

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I was also on this mini Millie cruise and agree that the ship still looks great and her crew are some of the best!! We were conceirge class ( due to an upgrade from our TA) and the perks were nice but I'm not sure they are worth paying for. We never touched the sparkling wine or the fruit. The afternoon canapes....ummm...We did enjoy the fresh flowers, the towels, the celebrity bag, the early embarkation. One value to the CC is the extended room service menu for breakfast!! Now that we used to the hilt.

 

We chose select dining and this worked well for us.

 

I found formal night to be a little less formal on this mini cruise. Let me correct that. I found formal night to be a lot less formal on this mini cruise as opposed to the the other longer 4 celebrity cruises I have taken. This kind of bothered me.

 

We never felt pressured to purchase anything onboard. We didn't have a single photo taken by the photo crew. Maybe we're just getting to be experts at saying "no thanks". I was never once pressured by the deck bar crew to buy a drink.

 

Interesting note here, just to inform new readers how different posters can perceive the same cruise so differently---we didn't like Carlos. He wasn't our 'style'. Not meaning anything rude to the OP. Both the OP and I certainly enjoyed our mini Millie cruise.

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Do you happen to remember the Hotel Directors name? We have sailed Millie twice in the last year and the HD was Andrew...he runs a great crew! Sailing b2b on Millie in Nov-Dec and the main reason is Andrew Harris. Hoping he is still on...

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The cruise director was Rich ( didn't like him at all), the Captain was 38 years old and what's a CCH?.

 

The activity manager was Maria---she was fabulous.

The cch is captain's club host/hostess. And I agree, Maria is terrific.

Any chance you remember the name of the 38 year old captain? Sounds younger than any I have met. Thanks

 

Anne

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I was also on this mini Millie cruise and agree that the ship still looks great and her crew are some of the best!! We were conceirge class ( due to an upgrade from our TA) and the perks were nice but I'm not sure they are worth paying for. We never touched the sparkling wine or the fruit. The afternoon canapes....ummm...We did enjoy the fresh flowers, the towels, the celebrity bag, the early embarkation. One value to the CC is the extended room service menu for breakfast!! Now that we used to the hilt.

 

We chose select dining and this worked well for us.

 

I found formal night to be a little less formal on this mini cruise. Let me correct that. I found formal night to be a lot less formal on this mini cruise as opposed to the the other longer 4 celebrity cruises I have taken. This kind of bothered me.

 

We never felt pressured to purchase anything onboard. We didn't have a single photo taken by the photo crew. Maybe we're just getting to be experts at saying "no thanks". I was never once pressured by the deck bar crew to buy a drink.

 

Interesting note here, just to inform new readers how different posters can perceive the same cruise so differently---we didn't like Carlos. He wasn't our 'style'. Not meaning anything rude to the OP. Both the OP and I certainly enjoyed our mini Millie cruise.

How less formal was this cruise? Just curious and don't want to be overdressed.

We're leaving in 2 days.

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I found formal night to be a little less formal on this mini cruise. Let me correct that. I found formal night to be a lot less formal on this mini cruise as opposed to the the other longer 4 celebrity cruises I have taken. This kind of bothered me.

 

Would love to hear more, seriously. I am on her for 10-nights (48 days and counting) and wondered how it would compare to my 9-nt last year on the Celebrity Mercury.

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Thanks for the kind comments about my small review of our cruise. I will try to answer the questions so far. The Captain, Cruise Director, and Activities Director have already been correctly identified by other posters. I did not meet the Captains Club Hostess on this cruise. I believe the Hotel director was in fact named Andrew, but not sure of his last name. He was a handsome white middle aged man with white hair, medium build and an American. Just saw him at the Captain's introduction of ship's officers.

Yes the ship's kitchen and servers hosted a brilliant buffet from approximately 9:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on our 4 day cruise. It was in the main dining room and was a great experience that should not be missed.

I agree with Alli's post about different cruisers enjoying different experiences on the same cruise. It is normal and refreshing for different people to like or dislike an experience they shared on the cruise. We love Carlos' brand of entertainment, Alli did not. Both are valuable viewpoints. I would point out that one of the things I like about Celebrity is the variety of musical, entertainment, and enrichment activities on board their fleet. Since I am on my soapbox, I would also state that this is the way Cruise Critic was meant to function, honest views of a cruise from different observers, without the negativity or mean spirited comments that sometimes creep into the board postings when people disagree about something.

 

We were in Cabin 8099 mid-ships, concierge class, near the mid-elevator lobby. Great location and great bed. Slept like a baby.

 

I also noticed a difference in the Main Dining Room experience on this short cruise. We were seated at Table 410 near the Captain's Table at the rear of the deck 4 dining room, right in the center. Most nights I would estimate that 40% of the seats around us were vacant. At our table for 8 we only had seven people one night, the other 3 nights just our new cruise friends Eime and Alan from North Carolina. On formal nights, while the four of us adhered to the dress code, I also noticed quite a few men in the dining room with no jacket and women in what I would call more casual clothing than normal for a Celebrity Cruise line formal night. I did not notice any jeans, shorts, etc. I don't know if the length of the cruise was the reason or not. Just what I observed.

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Thanks for your review. I was a little concerned about the shape of the ship having read some negative reviews. I'll be on a B2B beginning Monday. Can't wait!

 

Have a great cruise:) I am sure eveything will be fine.

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Drychi,

 

I'm so glad you made that statement in your last post about differing opinions. I almost added something like that to one of my posts. Actually our opinions here show that the cruiseline caters to different tastes and works for a variety of people!! Fabulous.

 

Back to Formal night. Can't place my finger on it. I brought my #2 formal dress knowing it was a short cruise. I might have gotten away with a short black cocktail dress looking at others around me and still have been over dressed. My husband said it was worse than some of our Carnival short cruises. It was bad.

 

Please don't follow the trend. Pack your nice stuff and WEAR IT. It's your cruise.

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Drichi,

 

Thanks for the info on the HD. I think that sounds like out friend Andrew the HD!

 

We LOVE the Millennium, so much so that we booked this upcoming b2b for the sole reason that it is the Millie.... not crazy about the Western Caribbean! Did a 10 day Caribbean last November and a 15 day Panama Canal last April (both on Millie) and want to do one more before she goes to drydock and gets "fixed up". We like the M class ships, the size is not TOO big, and there are some excellent cabins, if you know the ones to book. The crew has always been excellent, and I hope these short 5 day cruises do not disappoint. Glad to hear they still have the buffet on these short ones... not to be missed on a sea day! The Captain is the same one we had in April, he is young and VERY good looking!

 

We had late seating in the MDR on the Canal cruise and noticed a lot of empty seats at dinner. We had a table for 10 and most nights there were only 6. Some ate at the Olympic (which is not to be missed) and others chose the buffet a few nights. Looking around the room, it was not that full, but I figured it was because it was late seating and being a 15 day Canal cruise, it was a much older crowd.

 

One more question - what is the demographics on these short cruises? I'm assuming more towards the young side? 25 and up? How about kids, lots or not so many?

 

I'm dressing up on formal nights, don't care what anyone else does...it's the only time I get to anymore, on a cruise!

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I'm dressing up on formal nights, don't care what anyone else does...it's the only time I get to anymore, on a cruise!

 

We always dress for formal nights. We don't care if we would be the only people on the ship dressing, we would still do it. My partner and I have beautiful tuxes and generally the cruises are the only places that we wear them anymore. Actually, we have very nice formal shirts and ties that we wear with them sometimes rather than the regular bowtie and cummerbund. My Mother will be travelling with us on this upcoming sailing and she got a lovely new dress for formal night as well.

 

:) :)

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