Lialovestotravel

9 hours ago, Arzeena said:

Thank you for the review and pictures. Enjoyed reading. You and BF make a great looking couple.

Thx!  It was a great trip & that is such a nice compliment..thank you!

44 minutes ago, D. B. said:

We will be om Mille. out of San Juan Feb. 2023 for B2B cruises. Thank you for all the Photos! 😊

 We have grown tired of going through MIA airport and thought we would try a B2B out of San Juan because you are already closer to the Islands when you sail from there?

 Mille. is one of our Favorite X ships and we must have sailed her a lot (5 times in 14 months) because some of the staff have started to recognize us an greet us. 

Enjoy!  One of the couples we met stayed on for this week too, we were a bit jealous, lol.  The staff was always lovely to us!

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

Can you answer a question for me?  In comparing Millennium with Eclipse, it seems the rooms are smaller on the Milli for the same category room, e.g. Aqua vs Aqua, Sky Suite vs Sky Suite, etc.  Was that your experience as well? 

I’m sure someone else will be able to help you, but I have only been on Millie..sorry!

2 hours ago, BruinBuckeye said:

Love your review, Lia!  We will be sailing on the Millennium for the first time in March.  Our 1st Celebrity voyage.  It's a 7-day itinerary out of San Juan - Tortola, St. Maarten, Dominica, Barbados & Grenada.  We haven't been to any of the ports except San Juan, so it will be nice to see some new places we could potentially return to later...

 

We're kind of pale folks, so it's a mixture of beach time (in the shade!) and hiking/walking for us...  Did some nice hikes on a recent visit to St. John, USVI - lovely trails there.  As far as shipboard activities go, we kind of like to do our own thing.  I'm neutral on shows - have seen some good & some not.  How were the activities on the Millennium?  Any favorites or duds?

 

Thanks again for the amazing review!  Glad you had fun!  🙂

Those sound like some great ports!  Hope you love Millie!  I didn’t feel like the shows were as good as Norwegian, but I’d take a smaller ship with mediocre singers over big with better entertainers any day of the week.  And they weren’t terrible, it just seemed like the 3 or 4 theater shows were basically all very similar revues.  Could we get something besides a medley of popular songs?  One the plus side, the aerialists were beautiful to watch, the comedian was decent, and the live music at the pool and around the ship was good.  The movies on the top deck were fun & there was trivia and games.  We didn’t join in on a lot..tended to be in port or at the pool, but we were happy with that.  As a pale person I loved the solarium pool!  I’m sure you will find plenty (or nothing if you wish) to do.  Happy travels!

5 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 We are doing 12 Day Best of Japan on Millie next November.  We've rescheduled this cruise a couple of times but looks, at least for the moment, this time is a go.   So looking forward to it. I've not been to Japan since 1990. 

 

 

Wow!  Have a fantastic time!

1 hour ago, dreamforever said:

Thanks for the great reviews and beautiful pictures. We will be on the same cruise  in 2 weeks. Our last cruise on Celebrity was on this ship in April 2019 in Japan. It was really interesting to hear about all the various activities you participated in. 

 

Thank you!  Japan would be such a cool cruise. 😍  Enjoy your cruise!

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

Thank you for your review. 

 

We have not sailed on M Class yet and our first will be on Millennium in April.  We are looking forward to finding out if we enjoy the M Class as much as we have the S Class of ships. 

 

 

 

 

It’s a good question!  I may have to try the S class to compare too. 😬

Ultimately tho, I think the crew & ports matter more to me anyway.

Enjoy your trip!🐬🐢🐚🌅

44 minutes ago, aml3679 said:

Nice review.

 

The millennium will always have a special place in our heart. It is where we took our first cruise and we renewed our vows after 25 years.

 

We went on a West Coast wine cruise that sailed from Vancouver British Columbia to San Diego.

Thx!  It is a beautiful ship..if feels very “classic” ship.  Hope you enjoyed the Pacific Northwest, I grew up north of Seattle.  Planning a combo cruise to Alaska/family visit soon.❤️

3 hours ago, Scottishclover said:

I loved your review, thanks for taking the time to post.   I prefer reviews like yours which focus more on ports than the ship and food and drink. We have always avoided Caribbean cruises, as we are not beach people and like to spend lots of time hiking while on holiday. You may just have sold me on this itinerary with your suggestions for hikes. Btw Norway is a great cruise for hikers, would recommend if you’ve not been.

 

I am very jealous of your Azores trip. Have been looking at going there for a while but it’s quite tricky to get there from Scotland. Another Portuguese island, Madeira, is also great for hiking and a favourite of ours. Enjoy your trip in February and thanks again for the fantastic review.

Thx & glad you enjoyed!  There is definitely a lot you can do besides beaches in the Caribbean.  You can actually hike on water island too, although it is small, just google water island hike.  The hardest part for me is the sun & heat but I dealt..take lots of water & a big hat & go deep into the rainforest.  I’ve been working a lot the last couple of years and am not as fit as I’d like, but turning that around before February.  Can’t wait to hike in the Azores, it’s been a bucket list item!  My boyfriend & his sons are planning on hiking Scotland next summer too.  Norway & Alaska cruise/hikes are on that bucket list too.🙂

4 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Re the medical evacuation, they can land on some ships..if you see the words “winch only” on the helipad, no landing, only winch up the stretcher. 

Interesting!  Would not be my choice to move a patient or be the patient but clearly it works.  

4 minutes ago, Smmessineo said:

Thanks for this review and great pictures! You've given me good ideas . I'm on the Equinox next month stopping at these ports.

And it brought back fond memories of the times we sailed out of San Juan.

Ahh..enjoy!  And glad it was helpful.  Love these islands!

Oh, I do not know what night it was..but we watched a movie on the rooftop terrace one night instead of going to a musical revue.  Its a good option if you’re over the shows.  It’s very nice it a warm, windy, dark way on a night at sea.  Was a bit scary getting up the steps in heels in the dark on a rocking boat but it was cool once you got up there.  Cute movie too..Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris.  During the day in the sun I’d actually die from heat stroke up there tho, so night was good.

51 minutes ago, bunnyette said:

Fantastic review!  I’m going to check out the hotel you stayed at in San Juan.

Thx!  It was a great trip!

Loved the location of fortaleza suites but I probably would only stay there again if we had a suite.  The bathroom was just too small in our room and had no storage space at all.  Casablanca & the Convent both looked super cool and hopefully had bigger bathrooms.  
 

Happy planning!

44 minutes ago, tartana said:

isn't that interesting because that was my opinion as well. We'll see what our days brings in a couple weeks lol. 

Please enjoy your trip & then come back and tell me your favorite.  I’d love to know!

Sadly, we now had to head ~600 miles north to PR.  

For any medical peeps out there..I did learn how they medivac patients at sailaway.  I work at a hospital that is the regional burn center, and the helicopters land at our helipad, so I guess I thought that would be the same.  Going up to the helipad I was trying to figure out how they manage to land & get a stretcher up there.  They don’t..they put the patient in a basket from the area below the helipad while it hovers over and then lift them up from that level.  Personally, I don’t want to ever do that as the nurse or patient, so I was very careful on the stairs after that.  I hope I don’t sound too naive about how they evacuate patients, but I thought it was interesting.  
 

Time to get dressed up for dinner after our beach day in Barbados.  I know..I can’t pose for a pic without looking awkward, oh well.  🤷🏻‍♀️  The beef Wellington and lobster tail were both excellent, as well as the baked Alaska.  Not my fav dessert, but it feels like a ode to cruising in the past that is sweetly nostalgic.  Have to give all kinds of praise to our servers Rhys & Tiyiso..they were both professional & personable.  I don’t think they made a single mistake.  We had prepaid tips, but ended up leaving extra for them & our room steward.  Aside from wanting to recognize their service it also felt like the right thing to do to help them when the ship is half full.

 I think we went to the late night comedy show this night, not sure..it may have been the prior night.  They moved it to the sky lounge so we would have heard it in our room anyway, so why not go lol.  Funny, but same issue of kind of failing to connect to the audience.  He seemed frustrated, but I can only imagine how hard stand up is.  Kinda felt sorry for him.  
 

We slept late on our sea day, went to the captains talk, had lunch in the dining room (seems wrong to say this, but best mozzarella sticks ever!), and spent the afternoon at the pool.  Saw dolphins for a few minutes while chilling on our balcony too!  Had dinner in the dining room with our new friends from Kentucky & Toronto.  Had not been looking for friends but it was so nice to learn about them, they were very interesting people, and see what they had done each day.  It’s good to be open to chatting with your neighbors even if you have a table for 2.  

It was a wonderful trip & we were sad to leave Saturday morning.  I do hate the ridiculous chairs by the window, lol..but they were an exception in a beautiful ship.  Would love to go on celebrity again!

 I sincerely appreciate all the ideas I found on here and it helped to have trip reviews to read til it was our turn, so I hope this (novice) review can provide one or both for others.  We are off to the Azores for a hot springs/hiking trip in February if anyone has any suggestions for there.  I don’t believe there is an “Azores critic” sadly enough.  Happy travels!

3 minutes ago, tartana said:

We adored Barbados in Nov 2019 - pics almost exactly the same as yours.  We actually walked from the ship - it's really not very far.  I love ports where you can just walk off and enjoy your day 🙂 There was a place at the very beginning of the beach I think called the Boatyard where we rented chairs and an umbrella.  It was such a stunning, easy day. (From what I'm hearing, that place is closed, but there are others along the same beach) 

Loved it too..I always have a “winner” for a cruise..the place I want to come back for a land vacation and Barbados is the winner for this cruise lol.  They were all nice tho in their own way.  Felt a bit like Bermuda and I love Bermuda.  We considered walking but it was SO hot.  I don’t think I was made to live below the arctic circle.  🤷🏻‍♀️ 

Made it to port day 5 of 5, whew!  Woke up parked next to a beautiful Aida ship.  Barbados has the bluest water & the coolest flag! 🇧🇧
 

We had booked a diy excursion to Harbor Lights on Carlisle Beach that was chairs, umbrella, and shipwreck/turtle snorkeling.  I had seen on here that it was easy to get a taxi for $10 rt, so although new to this..we went with it.  I don’t think I’ve seen more beautiful water!  Prefer quiet beaches, but although this one isn’t quiet, it is spectacular.  The snorkeling was quick but enough..lots of fishies and a couple of turtles.  Fun to Bob around in the waves and just admire the shades of blue in the water.  

41 minutes ago, tartana said:

Following along...we do the same cruise later this month! We stayed at the 352 Guest House in Old San Juan Pre Covid when we did a similar cruise on Summit.  Loved that experience and can't wait for the next one! Just curious who the captain and Cruise Director are on Millennium currently?  Thanks! 

I remember seeing that place too, looked like a nice option.  I’m drawing a blank on the captains name, hopefully I’ll remember later..he was young, recently promoted and from Malta.  I’ll think of it!  The cruise director was also young and her name was Brittney and from Canada.  Both were nice & did their jobs well.  Enjoy your cruise!

St Lucia!  (Aka 4th port day)..what a beautiful island!  Originally I had wanted to climb a piton but I got cold feet.  I bit afraid I might have to turn around I guess.  Hike a lot in NJ, but it’s NJ🤷🏻‍♀️.  So, after some deliberation we decided to do a waterfall/anse la raye/beach excursion.  The waterfall was awesome, we had cloudbursts & crossed rivers that were running very fast.  Felt a bit “Indiana Jones” lol.  Our tour guide was very informative.  You don’t have to be in great shape to do this tour but I wouldn’t recommend this one though for anyone not to steady on their feet, those rocks are slippery.  And take the walking stick when they offer you one, it’s good for figuring out what water is waist deep and what is knee level when you are crossing rivers.  I’d do it again tho..how often do you go waterfall hunting in a tropical jungle?!?

3 hours ago, tompeter said:

Great report so far!

Thx, I was wondering if anyone was reading it or if I was just wasting my time lol.

Our 3rd day was Antigua and it started out with a large band as we pulled in, turned out it was their Independence Day and there was a large party happening at the parade grounds.  I think they were practicing..it sounded like Mardi Gras at 7am.  Tempting to go try to find the party, but also no idea if we’d be welcome or where to go, so we stuck to our original plan of a walk about and rest day.  Everything was pretty much closed since it was a holiday but we found St John’s church open with a volunteer who was very informative.  It was also HOT so we headed back to the ship after a few hours.  We had felt like 5 port days in a row was a lot, so we had decided to declare this our own sea day anyway.  Sorry about the upside down pics..is there a way to fix that?  The water was a beautiful bright turquoise!

Our 2nd stop was St Kitts & our original excursion, a cruise to Nevis was cancelled due to low numbers, so we chose to do a rainforest hike excursion instead.  We both enjoy hiking although way more used to temperate weather.  I was always looking for shade lol.  It was fun & informative.  Learned a lot about medicinal plants, saw some monkeys & learned some about the sad history of sugar/rum plantations on the islands.  Not gonna lie..hot & tired after, lol. But I’m fifty and marginally fit, so you can take that with a grain of salt.  Our tour guide was very good & it’s a beautiful island.

Went to the shows last night and this night and have to say they seem like bad Las Vegas lounge acts.  But, the last time I was on a cruise it had a very good Rock of Ages show & cirque de soleil dinner.  I attribute the difference possibly to it being a much smaller ship & I’m withholding judgement due to that.  Not a deal breaker for me anyway and the aerialists were beautiful to watch.

So we took a very long time to cover a very short distance to StThomas, lol.  Saw the comedy show that first night and felt sorry for him, there were less than 100 people in the theater.  He kinda floundered when he didn’t get much of a response from the audience.  I think about 1/2 of the guests on this cruise were primarily Spanish speaking and there were definitely times where the language barrier was an issue.  The comedy shows were one of them.  We also saw times where Spanish speaking guests were confused and the staff wasn’t able to help them well.  My little bit of hospital Spanish wasn’t much help either.  It’s good motivation to learn more Spanish. Fell to sleep to club music, lol.

Pulling into St Thomas was cool..I always love seeing a bit of the land as you come in.  We had decided to go to Water Island and it was the best day!  Highly recommend it.  The water taxi is right in the port and it was less than $100 for water taxi, shuttle to Honeymoon beach, chairs & some excellent drinks (Paddlewhacker is a must if you go) There were turtles and it’s super calm, warm water & a nice quiet beach.  Lots of shade too..a must for the pale people.  We stayed for about 4 hours and then rain helped us decide to catch the 215 back instead of the 315.  We kind of developed a pattern this day of breakfast before getting off the ship, getting something on land to drink/eat to support the local economy, late light snack, pool, shower, dinner, show that working really well for us.  Tonight was “chic” but the dress code was definitely not enforced..saw a guy at dinner in tshirt/shorts.  I’m sorry..I don’t know why a couple of pics are upside down.  Anyway..definitely go to Water Island!

20 minutes ago, cyntil8ing said:

Following along. We are doing (sort of) this cruise in six weeks. Our's starts in San Juan, but ends in Ft. Lauderdale on Christmas Eve.  I've done the Southern Caribbean on Summit a couple of times before, but this will be our first time on Millennium.

Hope you enjoy the review & have a great trip.  Highly recommend spending a day in OSJ before the cruise if you can.  Loved the Millennium and the southern Caribbean!

4 minutes ago, sweep2907 said:

Saw your ship on 2nd November, must have been St Lucia as we were moored opposite on Britannia. Was it a quiet cruise as we didn't see many up on deck at all as you sailed away?

Yes, it was only about 1/2 full.  Super easy to find a deck chair and no queuing..we were wondering how you find 1/2 full cruises after enjoying this one lol.  Perhaps Barbados?  Britannia looked beautiful, hope you had a good trip!