Brilliance or Millenium to Med.???

[CruisingMemories]

My husband and I are cruising in 2006 to Med. My question is do we stay in our comfort zone with RCL, who we've have loved, or take a chance and try another line? The line we are considering is Celebrity- The Millenium which is owned by RCL. Even though they are one, I am hearing they are very different.

I have read many reviews and it becomes a bit confusing after awhile. Everything is so subjective to each person. Food seems to be something Celebrity makes claim to be superior in, is it really? or are they talking about the restaurants which have added fees pp? of course those would be better, they are on RCL too. Why is this so I ask? not sure, I always felt the quality of food should be equal, that's another issue.

Any thought would be welcomed, thanks for listening.

 

Angie

Med.-2006- not sure which ship?

[MVPinBoynton]

You will be getting many opinions on this question. We went on the Brilliance, but I would prefer to go on a Celebrity cruise. The good news is you can’t make a bad choice. Either way you go you will have a great time. The Millenium does one-way trips, which is perfect if you have the time to do a pre and post cruise stay. When we had to decide, the original Brilliance itinerary was exactly what we were looking for, plus the price was much better. Good luck

[josiem]

I too debated between the Brilliance and the Millinneum for our Med cruise. Have cruised both RCL and Celebrity but decided for this particular cruise would stay with Celebrity although I believe the cost is a little higher. Our group really liked the Venice/Barcelona itinerary. I cruised on the Millie in 2003 and although I really can't recall anything specific about the ship, the fact that I didn't have any bad comments/impressions was good enough for everyone. I really don't think you can go wrong with whatever choice you make.

[Bruin Steve]

I am a Platinum level Crown & Anchor member on Royal Caribbean and a Select level Captains Club member on Celebrity...So, as you can imagine, I like both lines...I just like Celebrity MORE...To MY taste, the food is better on Celebrity IN THE MAIN DININIG ROOM...and the service, all the way around, is superior as well...The ships have a more elegant and less crowded feel...

 

We decided to do our 2003 Mediterranean while we were sailing on the Grandeur of the Seas in July 2002...We almost booked the Brilliance while on board, then held back...

 

When we finally got around to booking, we carefully researched two alternatives: The Brilliance on a Barcelona Round Trip itinerary and the Millennium on a Venice-to-Barcelona one way...As it turned out, the cost of the two cruises were pretty much comparable...

 

From my analysis, the Millennium itinerary was far superior...

Brilliance Itineraries, being round trip, need to backtrack to Barcelona and have to make up the time somewhere...They alterante between going up the Adriatic to Venice or out to the Aegean...and they tend to give you shorter times in port...

The Millennium, OTOH, gives you BOTH Venice and the Adriatic AND the Aegean...

 

It is hard to choose between Venice and Dubrovnik versus Athens and Santorini...Royal Caribbean forces you to choose, Celebrity gives you both...

 

The other outstanding feature of the One-way is the ability to extend the cruise on both ends with port stays in both Venice and Barcelona...We spent an extra two nights each in BOTH Venice and in Barcelona and would not trade those experiences for anything...It also extended the otherwise 13-night sailing into a 17-night vacation...And being in Venice for two NIGHTS...enjoying the restaurants and the nightlife and the canals under the stars is like nothing else...Likewise, winding down for two nights after the cruise, touring and relaxing in Barcelona is a nice alternative to just flying home...

 

Most people THINK there is some added cost to flying into one city and out another...but, from our experience, this is simply not true...We did it cheaply enough by booking it through Celebrity...but, at other times, we've booked these type of trips directly with the airlines or by using frequent flyer miles--at no more cost or mileage usage than an ordinary round trip...

 

That Mediterranean cruise on the Millennium still stands as my favorite cruise of all the cruises I've ever taken...

[Robin G]

We debated, too. We've only cruised with Royal, but decided to go with Celebrity in the end.

 

I always thought, and I don't know why, that Celebrity was a "step down" from Royal. But after reading these boards found out I was wrong. We started with the itinerary first. I preferred the itinerary of Celebrity, my husband preferred the Royal itinerary better. Then, it was on to cost: we chose a suite from the Royal ship and a suite from the Mille. The only thing we wanted in each was a balcony and a tub -- the actual square footage wasn't that important to us. The Mille had what we wanted in a smaller square footage, so it was actually cheaper, much cheaper -- by about $2,000 - $3,000 cheaper, so we went with the Mille. We'll miss Turkey, which my husband really wanted to see, but we'll visit Venice and save a couple of thousand dollars.

 

I don't know if this helps you or not. Just do some research on the different ports and see what interests you. Then figure out the costs. That's about all you can do. Good Luck!!

 

Robin G

[Leejnd4]

Angie,

 

Although you may hear many different opinions, in general the travel industry ranks Celebrity a step above RCI. In many definitions of cruise lines, you will see RCI listed as "Mass Market" and Celebrity listed as "Premium".

 

Having cruised on both (but not NEARLY as much as Bruin Steve!), I can tell you that in my experience, there is a marked difference. Definitely the food (all of it), but also the service, the ambiance, the cabins, etc. There are many "little" things that make the difference. To get a better idea of the distinctions between the two lines, I would go to the Celebrity and RCI boards and do a search on "Celebrity vs. RCI" or "Celebrity vs. RCCL" and vise versa. I'm sure you will come up with various threads that offer much more detail.

 

The single area in which I feel RCI excels over Celebrity is in entertainment. We found the shows to be of higher quality, with better talent, choreography, etc. But we enjoyed them on Celebrity as well, so in my mind that does not trump all the other things that are better on Celeb.

 

Also, I will ditto everything Bruin Steve said about the benefits of going on a one-way itinerary vs. round-trip. In fact, I ditto everything he said! (I usually do.) ;)

 

LeeAnne

[WeBeCruisin']

My wife and I recently had to make the same decision between the same two ships. We had been to the Med in 2001 on RCCL's Legend of the Seas and it was an amazing trip, with two days in Venice. We wanted to do the eastern Med this time, with the Greek Isles and Turkey. The Brilliance included these two areas, but didn't include Venice, which was my wife's favorite port on the previous trip. The Millenium didn't include Turkey. We finally let the itinerary decide for us and booked the Brilliance for July 23.

 

The ships are almost identical in size, but the M-class Celebrity ships seem less crowded. Part of that is because of ship design, and another factor is that the Brilliance carries up to 2501 passengers in the same are in which the Millenium carries only 1950. The Millenium cabins are a minimum of 172 square feet, which is very comfortable. I think the Brilliance cabins are similar in size, perhaps minimally smaller.

 

This will be our fifth RCCL cruise, although the first on one of the larger ships, and we've been on Celebrity three times, including the Summit, and the Constellation, which are the same size as the Millenium. Overall, the M-class ships, to us, are perfect. They combine layout, service, food, decor and the little touches, such as mimosas or champagne when you board, cold towels when you return from excursions, sorbet around the pool...etc. The ships are large enough to give you a myriad of options, yet uncrowded enough to let you find your own nook or cranny to curl up with a book or just watch the ocean go by. The specialty restaurants are outstanding. Also, the M-Class Martini Bars and Champagne Bars are the best anywhere. They also offer a martini tasting on the first night, where you get five different specialty martinis for a total of $5.00. That gives you a chance to check out the traditional gin martini against such creations as the espresso martin, the chocolate martini, the green apple martini, etc.

 

As I mentioned earlier, the larger RCCL ship may change our mind, but right now I can't picture anything being better than Celebrity's Infinity, Millenium, Summit, and Constellation. We've been on SeaDream (the former Seabour Sea Goddess) and we prefer Celebrity to them, and the price is far, far more reasonable.

 

Allen

[csk47]

Has anyone sailed the two ships. Princess is a little less expensive and we like the itinerary on both. Planning for a Sept. 05 cruise.

[Petert]

Hi Angieann,

 

We have sailed on both the Brilliance and the Millennium, and love both ships. The Millennium would be our choice for several reasons. The Windjammer on the Brilliance can be bustling at times, and the seperate serving areas can be daunting. The Millennium has a much better service pattern, and you will have someone to take your tray to a table. The daily ice cream, Belgium waffles, omelet station and sushi bar are hard to beat. In addition the Milli casual dining room is not as crowded and has beautiful views all around. Celebrity offers more amenities such as a glass of champaign as you embark for your cruise, a dish of sherbert served to bathers around the pool each day, ice cold lemonade at the dock when you are waiting for your tender after a visit to Villefranch, Santorini or Mikonis. A complimentary umbrella when there may be rain in Naples as we experienced.

 

We made the Mediteranian cruise on the Millenium last spring, and felt the itinerary was the best we have ever experienced. We were especially pleased with our visits to Dubrovnik, Mikonis and Santorini and would not miss any of them if we had a choice. Our visit to Livorno let us see The tower of Piza, Cilivecchia for Rome, Naples and Capri, Athens and of course Venice and Barcelona. While I might have agreed with Leeanne at one time the Millennium had a couple of additions to the Celebrity singers and dance company that were absolutely fabulous. They performed some acts using flying hoops and ropes that were beautiful. In addition they now have the Bar at the Edge of the Earth. You have a great treat in store whichever ship you choose!

 

Peter

[Leejnd4]

While I might have agreed with Leeanne at one time the Millennium had a couple of additions to the Celebrity singers and dance company that were absolutely fabulous. They performed some acts using flying hoops and ropes that were beautiful.

Hey, that's great to hear! That now effectively eliminates the only area in which I felt RCI surpassed Celebrity. I wonder if Celebrity has made an overall improvement in their entertainment, or is it just this one ship?

 

LeeAnne