Millennium Class vs Radiance Class

We have been in the extremely fortunate situation this year to have taken 2 cruises only 6 weeks apart, one on Celebrity’s Millennium and the other on RCI’s Brilliance of the Seas. Both cruises were 12 nights, with similar itineraries in the Med, one starting in Venice and the other in Barcelona. Approximately half the ports of call were also the same. FYI we are both in our early 40’s and have taken these cruises purely as personal vacations. On the Millennium cruise, we cruised just the 2 of us, but on Brilliance we took our 2 teenage sons.

Whilst we have cruised before on both these classes of ship, it is much easier to compare the two having sailed on them both in such a relatively short space of time. Be warned though, I will cover dress code so those of a nervous disposition should probably look away now. That said, these are my ACTUAL observations, rather than what I think SHOULD be observed and are based on very recent cruises (we returned only this week from Brilliance).

Millennium vs Brilliance

Brilliance is a much more modern design of ship, with much use of glass. We particularly liked the open atrium at the centre of the ship. We preferred the art work and general more modern design of Brilliance.

Millennium is the older of the Millennium class ships and she is starting to look a little tired around the edges. Nothing major, however in terms of general ship maintenance/appearance, the Brilliance is probably slightly better.

The outdoor swimming pool on Brilliance is more pleasant as there is a very shallow 10ft ledge, which is wonderful for relaxing. However the sun beds on Brilliance were literally crammed in one next to the other with absolutely no space in-between. On Millennium you have a great deal more ‘personal space’ around you, including small tables etc. Also the sun beds on Millennium were padded, whilst on Brilliance they were the plastic, slat variety (very uncomfortable)

Brilliance had many more daily ‘activities’ around the pool area, which again would appeal to younger cruisers.

The one thing on Brilliance which drove me mad was the constant announcements, whereas Celebrity have a minimum announcements policy. For example, in a morning it would be announced at 7.15am that tenders were open, it was then announced every 10 minutes for 2 hours that tender tickets were or were not required – we had turned down the announcement volume in the cabin, but it was still loud enough to wake us from the speakers in the corridor. One day I particularly wanted to lie in bed later, however it was impossible to sleep with the almost constant announcements. I actually complained about this whilst onboard and was told it was a common complaint!!

Whilst the staffs on both ships were fabulous, there is clearly a higher ratio of staff per passenger on Millennium, which makes it much easier to get service during busy periods.

The shows on Brilliance tended to appeal to us more than Millennium, with more light-hearted performances. Also, approximately half the shows on Brilliance were before dinner for late seating, which I much prefer.

Food

This is one area in which we found there is absolutely no comparison. Whilst there was nothing actually wrong with the food on Brilliance, Celebrity outshone them in every area.

We much preferred the layout of Windjammers buffet on Brilliance, they have separate stations for example for salads, hot food etc. whereas on Millennium you had very long queues forming around the central buffet area.

We ate at both Chops and Portofinos on Brilliance and The Olympic on Millennium. Again, nothing wrong with Chops or Portofinos, however The Olympic is far superior, both in terms of food and service, which is much more formal. The Olympic is $10 more expensive at $30 per person however it really is silver service and the quality of food is as good as the very best land-based restaurants.

Dress Code

First of all I would say that we both conformed to the ‘recommended’ dress code on both ships and whilst much has been debated somewhat heatedly on here regarding dress codes, this is what we ‘actually‘ found.

Brilliance was certainly a more casual cruise, whereas on Millennium, guests tended to get dressed up even on the casual nights. Personally I preferred the Millennium dress however DH preferred the relaxed dress of Brilliance so it really is a matter of personal preference. If you REALLY like to dress up every evening though, Celebrity is probably more the cruise line for you. That said, if you would prefer to be able to wear jeans some evenings, RCI is probably more your cup of tea.

Formal Nights

Brilliance – only 25% of men wore tuxedoes, approximately 50% wore suits and the remaining 25% wore casual pants/shirts. Of the ladies, only about 20% wore full length with the remainder opting for cocktail type dresses. I would say though that from comments read on here previously; I was expecting to feel the odd one out by being dressed up; however this certainly was not the case.

Millennium – a much higher percentage of men wore a tux – probably as high as 50-70%. Again more ladies wore full length evening dresses.

Smart Casual & Informal

We had 2 ‘Smart Casual’ nights on Brilliance, however quite honestly, you could not really tell the difference from ‘casual’ nights. The majority of men wore smart pants and short sleeve shirts, however there were also a large number in much more casual dress, ie jeans and t-shirts. The ladies wore a variety or clothes ranging from cocktail dresses to cropped pants.

On Millennium the Informal night was definitely more formal that the casual. Most men wore smart trousers, jacket and tie, with the ladies wearing cocktail type dresses.

Casual

We have cruised on Brilliance once before, approximately 3 years ago and this is one area in which we found a huge difference. This time ‘casual’ really did mean CASUAL on these nights. Probably half the men wore jeans and t-shirts with the remainder in cargo pants with polo shirt. The ladies wore anything from jeans to summer skirts & t-shirts.

Millennium – casual night is much more formal than on Brilliance, with the majority of passengers still dressing in smarter clothing.

Summary

We would not hesitate to sail again on either ship, should the itinerary, dates, prices etc. etc. match our requirements at the time. However, should we have any choice in the matter, we both agreed at the end of the cruise, that all in all, we had preferred Millennium and that Celebrity would be our first choice in the future.

The key aspects of the Celebrity experience that swing it for us are : superior food and speciality restaurants, ratio of personal space and the ‘no announcements policy’.

Wonderful review and comparison of the two ships. Thank you.

I'm currently trying to decide between Celebrity Infinity and Royal Caribbean Jewel/Radiance/Brilliance/Serenade to Alaska for next season...so this was very timely.

With 2 kids (14 and 12) I've been leaning towards Royal C....but we just got off an Alaskan 'HAL' sailing, and they loved it so I'm back to being indecisive.

I don't like the constant announcements or crowds....but I'm more into 'modern' so I guess it's gonna come down to price/itinerary.

We also took our boys on Infinity about 18 months ago & they absolutely loved it. Don't be mistaken in thinking that X isn't family friendly, it certainly is.

Our boys would love to cruise on any ship any time, they are fast becoming addicted to cruising, to the point where they don't really want any other sort of vacation.

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Same here. They've been 'bitten' by the cruise bug.

I know that Celebrity is family friendly...to me, they're on a similar level to HAL...they both cater to a somewhat tamer crowd (same w/Alaska).

We're comparing Royal/Penthouse suites right now, and Celebrity seems to sell out waaay in advance (fewer ships) so we might not have a choice, as the Radiance Class ships have plenty of availability.

I don't think I'd be making a mistake either way....

How did you cabins compare?

How did you cabins compare?

Celebrity Penthouse is huge...1400+ sq ft...with a tremendous deck, looks very sophisticated. You could get lost in this thing.

Jewel of the Seas Royal Suite is somewhat smaller at just over 1000 sq ft... and warmer looking IMO. A little bit more 'family friendly' from the pics that I saw.

I could do w/o the pianos in the suites....replace it w/a rollaway for my family:D.

cavkc,

You pretty much nailed it right on the head...What I've been saying for years...

We are Diamond level C&A members on Royal Caribbean and Elite Captains Club members on Celebrity...So, obviously, we like BOTH lines...

But we CLEARLY prefer Celebrity--for all the same reasons you state...

Food and Service and the spaciousness of the ships...

Obviously, there are things we like about RCCL as well. I prefer NOT to get dressed as formally (but my wife LOVES it)...and the entertainment and level of activity on RCCL may be a touch better (though it's really not that far off on Celebrity). And for kids, those RCCL amenities (like rock climbing, etc.) are great...of course, I'm getting too old for most of them.

But, what really skews the comparison to Celebrity for me is this:

Both the Brilliance and the Millennium (and their sister ships) are of virtually identical size (a little over 90,000 gross tons)...Yet the Brilliance sails, at double capacity, with around 2,500 passengers while the Millennium sails with 2,000...This means that, on Millennium, there are not only 500 fewer people, there is also 250 fewer cabins, with the space being used largely for public areas instead...Fewer people, more space...translates to fewer lines, less crowding...You can get a great seat in the showroom walking in minutes before the show...and finding an open deck chair on at sea days is far easier...as is finding a table at a bar or lounge...

So, given an otherwise even choice of RCCL vs. Celebrity, I'll go with Celebrity...

But, of course, I'll still book based on itinerary, timing and other factors and still find Royal Caribbean to be a good alternative when needed...

Well the reason I didn't compare cabins was that we actually had the Penthouse Suite on Millennium - absolutuely wonderful, loved every minute of it. Long story but it was for our postponed honeymoon. On Brilliance we had a category D1 balcony cabin so we couldn't really compare the two !!

That said, we had a balcony cabin on Infinity about 18 months ago & I think it was slightly smaller than on Brilliance.

Oh but if just once in your life you have the opportunity to have the PH just go for it, it is worth every single cent :D even if we never do it again (as DH keeps telling me!) we have some wonderful wonderful memories.

Thanks for the review. Have been on Brilliance and Radiance a few times. We are actually off to the Med on 8/15/06 for 12 days on Brilliance. We are going to Hawaii on Infinity in April and we were interested in a compare/contrast. Again, thanks for the review.

Mark

We sail RCI and Celebrity and haven't felt the need to try any other lines. I love all the ships I've sailed and normally I would say the food is a bit better on Celebrity. However, last June we sailed RCI's Jewel and the food was better than we've had on any of our cruises, including Celebrity. Everything about that cruise was absolutely fabulous. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend that ship. We loved Explorer, Adventure, Summit and Galaxy,too.

We are leaving on our 3rd Celebrity cruise in two weeks and plan to book the same ship to Aust./NZ for next Jan. during the cruise. Our choice of ships is usually itinerary-driven.

1/02 Explorer E. Carib.

1/03 Explorer W. Carib.

8/03 Summit Alaska cruise/tour

2/04 Adventure S. Carib.

2/05 Galaxy Panama Canal

6/06 Jewel Brit. Isles/Nor. Fjords + 3 days in London

1/29/07 Mercury Mexican Riviera

Hey Bruin Steve--

Was hoping you could give me some insight into which of the Celebrity ships you would recommend. I have only been on RCCL's, my 12-year-old daughter accompanies me, and I tend to prefer the larger vessels. Any suggestions?

I am shocked that there were jeans in the main dinigroom. I have seen maybe a couple of people do it in the past and they were asked to not wear them in the diningroom, but they refused to change and ate like that. Is this something new that is allowed?

Why not Princess. They were the first line in Alaska and are able to go to places that other lines can't go to. We did it a couple of years ago and loved it.

How did you cabins compare?

We've done both Brilliance and Millineum in comparable verandah cabin. I think size-wise they are about the same square footabe but IMO, the layout of the Brilliance cabin was better. It seemed to me to have more storage space. Also, the TV in located in the "sitting area" on the Brilliance. On Millenium the TV was positioned so that the best viewing area was from the bed. I like to watch movies late at night, DH likes to sleep...It was a bit bothersome for him.