Do NOT TAKE A Celebrity Land Tour or Alaska Cruise on the Millennium

I was a die hard Celebrity supporter having taken 16 cruises between RCCL and Celebrity

I just took a Celebrity Land Tour # 3B on 5-14-18. Possibly the worst 1 week land tour I have ever taken. The people running the Tour did not handle the problems well and the Tour was a bust. The hotel choices are poor and could not handle the crowds. The Tour was virtually unguided and not worth the money. I raised the issue along with 70 other Tour participants. It fell on deaf ears at Celebrity and we received no compensation. I would have expected a future cruise voucher but nothing was forthcoming . That is partially why I am posting this so no one else get's suckered into this Tour. The ship is set for a $70MM renovation in Jan 2019. It is tired and old. There are better choices for Alaska than Celebrity. Although Alaska is beautiful and some of the ports were great. I would go with Princess out of Whittier before considering Celebrity with this ship and Tour. If you have already purchased the TOUR Cancel It Clearly not worth the money and self book

You might get better advice here with more details. At the moment, you’ve given us some very subjective information. We were on Millennium for a month last September and found her to be in extremely good shape, with work ongoing to keep her looking good. For example, our shower floor was retiled while we were on the ship. She’s not a new ship, so our expectation were very reasonable, but they were far exceeded. Is it possible that your disappointing land tour jaundiced your whole experience?

"Do NOT TAKE A Celebrity Land Tour or Alaska Cruise on the Millennium"

This is a rather broad statement. What specifically was wrong with the cruise portion? We were on the Millennium to Alaska for two weeks (May 10th and May 18) --- the only thing we found lacking about the ship was the poor quality and choice of food options in the buffet and the poor layout in the buffet. We have sailed the Alaska itinerary a total of 10 times with the Millie and the two items mentioned were the only disappointments we have.

What has a messed up land tour to do with a cruise?

We were on the Millennium in March 2018, OK the l ship looks a bit tired in some places (but who wouldn't after giving such valiantv service over the years). But we had a fabulous time, food was very good, staff out of this world and the dinks very wet.

Question. How many human years equals a cruise ship year?

Have you written the CEO about this?

Which hotels did Celebrity use and at what locations?

Not sure what you mean by self guided. I can say for sure that Princess tours are also pretty much self guided with the bus drivers taking you between locations with little commentary. A little more information during the train portions, but still mostly transportation. The only really guided portion was during the tour of Denali or optional excursions.

You might get better advice here with more details. At the moment, you’ve given us some very subjective information. We were on Millennium for a month last September and found her to be in extremely good shape, with work ongoing to keep her looking good. For example, our shower floor was retiled while we were on the ship. She’s not a new ship, so our expectation were very reasonable, but they were far exceeded. Is it possible that your disappointing land tour jaundiced your whole experience?

I love it that you got to be on the Millie for a month. :)

Jealous too... a month!

Actually, any ship for a month would do me just fine, for the most part... LOL

bon voyage

I love it that you got to be on the Millie for a month. :)

It was fun! We hadn’t been on Millennium for 13 years, so we expected it to look older, of course, but it looked great. “Solsticizing” the M class ships seems to have worked well. A lot of the public spaces work better now than they did before, and better than they do on the S class ships. My only pang was the loss of the Olympic restaurant and that beautiful panelling,

Hmmmm, my daughter is on Millennium right now, and staying in Alaska with a land tour for a few days. She is posting all kinds of photos on FB and having a great time. She has been on an older Carnival ship, Equinox in 2014, Silhouette in 2015 and Silhouette again in 2017. If she isn't happy, she won't be smiling.

Can you give us something specific as to what your issue was?

I’m sorry you had such a bad time. I was on Millie less than 2 years ago and can’t imagine how she has gone downhill in such a short time. I am also curious, I don't see in your signature that you have done Princess for Alaska, yet you recommend them.

We were on Millennium last August in Alaska, and did 2 cruises prior with land tours. All 3 trips were fine except for one hotel in Denali on our first trip.

If you have already purchased the TOUR Cancel It Clearly not worth the money and self book

I was a die hard Celebrity supporter having taken 16 cruises between RCCL and Celebrity

I just took a Celebrity Land Tour # 3B on 5-14-18. Possibly the worst 1 week land tour I have ever taken. The people running the Tour did not handle the problems well and the Tour was a bust. The hotel choices are poor and could not handle the crowds. The Tour was virtually unguided and not worth the money. I raised the issue along with 70 other Tour participants. It fell on deaf ears at Celebrity and we received no compensation. I would have expected a future cruise voucher but nothing was forthcoming . That is partially why I am posting this so no one else get's suckered into this Tour. The ship is set for a $70MM renovation in Jan 2019. It is tired and old. There are better choices for Alaska than Celebrity. Although Alaska is beautiful and some of the ports were great. I would go with Princess out of Whittier before considering Celebrity with this ship and Tour. If you have already purchased the TOUR Cancel It Clearly not worth the money and self book

As another has suggested, you mention the poor Alaska cruise in your title but mention nothing of what was wrong with the cruise, The comment regarding the tired look of the ship and the upcoming refurb is somewhat self serving as the reason they are spending $70MM on a refurb is because she is due - and good for them in doing so!

I appreciate your venting here so as to warn others, but really you should be following up with Celebrity. But understand that the land tours are not owned or operated by Celebrity, they are contracted by them. So they would want to understand if there were real and legitimate issues that impacted your ability to enjoy the product. That would bring more credibility IMO to your recommendation if you could support it with facts or documentation of Celebrity's response - other than to say it fell on deaf ears. Who did you talk to, when, what was the response, etc.?

But if you do follow up with them, I wouldn't lead with looking for compensation - especially if you do not provide cogent detail about specifically what occurred and when - and what the impact was to you to leave such a negative impression. And really - all 70 on the tour with you raised the same issues of complaint as well and had the same reaction to their experience? If so, I would think someone would respond from Celebrity.

As to better choices for Alaska than Celebrity, you mention one - Princess - but no reason as to why. Other than them, who would be the others and why?

Just trying to offer some perspective to your post.....

Our Alaska trip with Celebrity was 2 years ago, and we really loved our land portion. We chose to have most of our legs by train, so that in itself was a lot of fun.

I would agree that the hotel in Denali was HORRIBLE. Far from town and very poor rooms, but the hotel in Talkeetna was fantastic.

The tour guide was "ok". But, there was guiding, not just a bus driver.

One additional comment. Princess has been doing Alaska longer than most other lines and they own their own hotels, which are supposed to be quite good. They use the same trains as Celebrity (each have their own cars).

And, while it is true that Celebrity does not actually run the land tours, I do believe that they have to take responsibility for them since they are the ones marketing them as "part" of their Cruisetours.

All that said, I would go again with Celebrity, as we are Elite, but if not, I might try Princess next time

What has a messed up land tour to do with a cruise?

 

 

We were on the Millennium in March 2018, OK the l ship looks a bit tired in some places (but who wouldn't after giving such valiantv service over the years). But we had a fabulous time, food was very good, staff out of this world and the dinks very wet.

 

 

Question. How many human years equals a cruise ship year?

We were also on Millie Jan 2017 and March 2018 overall everything we fine. Food and service was great. What was it that happened?

I am also wondering what your expectations were, and exactly what went so wrong?

We did the land tour to Denali, and other than the Hotel in Denali , everything was spectacular! Our guide Devin did a fantastic job, as did our bus driver . Talkeetna Lodge and Alyeska were incredible, and can’t wait to go back. The only downside was the amount of money spent for food, since meals are not included on the land tour.

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Pilot Fish...

The people running the Tour did not handle the problems well and the Tour was a bust. What were the specific issues and how was each handled?

The hotel choices are poor and could not handle the crowds. What were the hotels and exactly what happened concerning the crowds?

The Tour was virtually unguided... Describe "virtually unguided."

So, you were more upset with the tour than the ship? Did you research both the tour and the ship before making reservations? I have only done one tour with Celebrity and it was from the Millie in Alaska. I disliked the tour, but knew I would due to not enjoying long bus rides and large groups. In addition, I knew about the condition of the Millie, but two years ago it was much better than you are describing. Since you have done so many trips with Celebrity, I am surprised that you chose Millie and an entire week land tour too, but you may have done tours before and been perfectly happy. I always do my homework, but that does not mean my cruises are all perfect. However, land tours are not IMO Celebrity's strong point. If you can come back and answer some specifics, I think it would assist others with understanding your dilemma.

I am sorry that you had a very poor experience, but at least come back an explain the entire situation in more detail. It seems like you posted to vent some of your concerns, but I also agree that Princess does it better!

......explain the entire situation in more detail. I also agree that Princess does it better!

To your point - please explain. What, does Princess do better? How? Why? :)

We were also on Millie Jan 2017 and March 2018 overall everything we fine. Food and service was great. What was it that happened?

Bigbenboys, you lost me with your question "What was it that happened?

Besides having a great time, one of the best cruises we have had.

My husband and I took the land tour before we boarded the Millennium on

May 18, 2018. After reading some of the past reviews, I was concerned that we had made the wrong decision. With the exception of the Denali Lodge, it was a excellent tour and cruise. Our tour guide, Debbie, and bus driver, Jeff, took very good care of us. They sincerely wanted us to enjoy the tour, and appreciate Alaska in every way. The Denali Park bus driver, Alan, pointed out creatures in the wild we would never have seen. If you have the opportunity to take the tour, do it.

The Millennium is a older ship, but she treated us with luxury and style. The crew, from the Captain down, always had a smile and every request was taken care of without a problem. Our cabin steward, Zam Zam. Was the best we have ever had. The food service was good, and the ship was spotless. We are Elite members, in our 70’s and enjoy sailing. If you have any questions, please free free to ask.

The OP, Pilot Fish, provides a good example of a post with a sensationalized title that makes a strong negative statement and then provides no back up details in his/her post. Some call it venting or bashing. I call it a post without any value to the CC community.

We were on the Millenium 6/1 - 6/8/22018, and did the 3 day land tour before. Our tour guide Dylan was awesome, constantly engaging with all of us, even had dinner with the six of us, and told us stories of how he came to love Alaska. The bus driver, Ron, saw wildlife before we did, and always stopped so we could get pictures. We were fortunate to see the entire Denali mountain, and he pulled over so we could get good pics.

In my opinion, the hotels were fine, but we really loved the Talkeetna Wilderness Lodge.

As far as the ship, we loved everything about it! Crew was always cleaning, painting, etc. to keep it shining, the food was good, even the entertainment, which I read was not always the best, was great!

Just my thoughts.

Just did a B2B on Millennium and I strongly disagree with any advice about not taking this ship (cannot speak for the land tours). We had a different cabin on each leg and it is true that one of our cabins was not in the best of condition. That said, everything else about that cruise was just as good if not better than any other Celebrity cruise we have ever taken (and we have taken 43). Millennium has the best Alaska itinerary on Celebrity right now and I would not hesitate AT ALL to take her again in a heartbeat.

In my opinion, the hotels were fine, but we really loved the Talkeetna Wilderness Lodge.

 

Isn't that place just the best. I so want to go back there for more than 1 night. It was one of the highlights of our land tour along with flying to and landing on Ruth Glacier.