Just back from millineum 11 day caribbean cruise

[Pilot70D]

Currently we are in the San Juan airport having just disembarked after our 11 day Caribbean cruise on the Millineum. It was a really great cruise. This posting is meant to be sort of an overall summary of the cruise. I will do a more thorough review later.

 

First the food - the food aboard was MUCH better than we experienced on our last =X= cruise. There is a new executive chef (the second one followoing the departure of Michael Roux) and this chef has put in all new menus. Furthermore I think that =X= has also procured higher quality raw food ingredients than they did. The food in the MDR varied from very good to excellent. The service matched this in quality. The food on the Deck 10 buffet was also very good with only a minor speedbump ecncountered in the Asain Stir Fry area.

 

The food & service in the Olympic Restaurant went beyond supurb. Postings about the drop off in the quality of the Goat Cheese Souffle are premature. It was so good it would knock SUperman's socks off. The staff of the Olympic is trying very hard to make each and every dining experience there a pinnacle in fine dining and they are succeeding but more about this later.

 

Condition of the ship was terrific. The cheerful service and willingness to help on the part of the crew was universal. The entertainment was also the best we have encountered in four years of =X= cruises.

 

Embarkation was well organized but slow although the slowness depended on what time departing passengers arrived at the terminal. Many had almost no wait and many others had a considerable wait. Like I said it all depended on arrival time at the pier. We arrived around 1:45 or so and had a 45 minute wait just to get our luggage handed over to the porters. After that and once inside the building things went very quickly and took no more than another 15 minutes. Disembarkation ran about an hour late due mainly to a shortage of customs inspectors. Obvioully those groups with the first disembarkation times waltzed through immediately with the delay building as the morning wore on. We were scheduled to disembark at 10:00 and ended up being called to do so just after 11:00.

 

The entertainment aboard surpassed anything we have experienced in ten years of cruising. The broadway type shows were very good and professionally produced - probably not as good as the shows on broadway itself but better than we have seen afloat. There was a trio playing the latest Lawrence Welk tunes in the lounge for dancing. THey sounded OK but this scene was very much like a HAL cruise. Didin't hang aorund there long but the trio was very good. There was a duo composed of an accordian player and a violinist. I know this seems like a strange combination but they made beautiful music together. There was the now standard achapella group signing in many locations around the ship. Great Do-Wop ballads and lots of toehr songs. There was a guitarist/singer doing lots of 60's & 70's music at sail away every day. We liked his voice and the selection of songs he performed. We did wish that he would have performed them at about half the volume though. It is now so hard to hear things post cruise. I saved the best for last. There was a remarkable pianist/vocalist the could play almost anything ever written for the piano and he could do it from memory. AMAZINGLY GOOD. He would poll ten people in the crowd for their favorite song then after creating the list of ten songs would commence playing them without music and filling in with riffs between each song.

 

I will write full review of this cruise later after we get home. In the meantime if anyone has any questions ask away. I will be on-line again tomorrow from home. In the meantime everyone have a great day. :)

[FNDelta]

Thanks for the update on the Millennium!! I will be sailing on a similar itinerary in March. After hearing some of the negative reviews of recent, it had me nervous about the choice, but after yours i regain my confidence in a great cruise choice!

[J & G]

Thanks SO much for the overview. I'm really glad to hear that the food was good....we were beginning to worry, with many negative reviews out there recently. We are on Millie in a few weeks and are really glad to hear your positive comments.

 

What did you so on shore?

 

Looking forward to more of your posts regarding your cruise......

[Cnd_Cruiser]

Thanks for the update, we will be sailing on her in just over a month. Can't wait it was -11 © today.

[portofrome]

Thank you for posting your update. Millennium was my first X ship and I love her.

[whyme]

Any where on the ship for Classical music before dinner???Also will you be posting about the ports??? We are on the Jan 11th cruise

whyme71842@aol.com

[A Sixth?]

Thanks.

 

What time did you arrive at Bonaire? I assume that you left Grenada, had a sea day and arrived in Bonaire in the morning.... Was there another ship there at the time?

[Cruiser Susie]

Thank you for the review so far... we were on the Millennium several years ago in the Med and enjoyed her immensely... and will be back on her in March.

I wonder if the guitar player and pianist will still be onboard then? Do you know their names? I presume the piano player performed in Michael's Club most of the time. Also, do you know if that is where the cocktail hour was held for those who have elite status?

 

We were on the Equinox in November and found the food in the MDR to be terrific... wonderful dishes, great alternative choices and much, much better than in March. Glad to hear you thought the food on the Millennium was delicious, too.

 

Can't wait to be back on her next March... and away from winter!

[mypyr]

I would love to hear about the ports, excursions, etc. Also, which were the formal nights-the at sea days?

[Sskar]

We sailed on the same cruise and also had a wonderful experience. The ship WAS the destination -- the crew members were stellar (nothing they wouldn't do for us); the dining options are varied enough that you will find something to your liking; the Olympic experience was great, especially if you go with the wine pairing option. I know the true dancers on board wanted a bigger and better floor. We hung out in the evenings before dinner at the Cova coffee bar for tapas and coffee/drinks and varied music.

 

We opted for breakfast every morning in the MDR to get away from the craziness of the morning buffet. The only bad experience we had there was sitting with a group of people who b!tched about everything on the cruise - I hope they post their opposing view points.

 

The islands, well, if you have been to enough tropical islands they begin to same very similar, especially if you only have a few hours to explore them. We enjoyed the sailing and snorkeling activities the most, but other folks had fun just taking cabs for tours and many enjoyed the more eco-like tours.

 

If you want to buy items on board, wait long enough and they will probably go on sale the last few days when the concession company tries to clear inventory.

 

Honestly the thing that I disliked the most was that smokers got half of the wonderful aft lounge and the area around the forward pool bar (which was really bizarre since the the smoke wafted into the enclosed therapy pool area.)

[maggieq]

Great review......

 

I am actually looking at the 10 day for March or April 2010. We have been wanting to try Celebrity for a while and absolutely love the southern itins.

 

We have stayed away from cruising out of PR for a while. Our last cruise was just....let's just say not for us.

 

Can you tell me if there was a good balance of passengers? Also, did you take pictures of the interior?

 

Thanks again.

[Pilot70D]

Thanks SO much for the overview. I'm really glad to hear that the food was good....we were beginning to worry, with many negative reviews out there recently. We are on Millie in a few weeks and are really glad to hear your positive comments.

 

What did you so on shore?

 

Looking forward to more of your posts regarding your cruise......

 

We both are divers consequently we went diving in St. Lucia, Dominica, Curacao and Aruba. We make private arrangements for all of our dive excursions. In the other ports (St. Croix, St. Kitts, Grenada) we just wandered around town.

In Barbados we had possibly the most pure fun outing of the cruise when we went on a day snorkle & beach trip aboard El Tigre. El Tigre is a 60' catamaran and we had sailed aboard her some five or six years ago. We had so much fun then that we decided to forego diving in Barbados and once again go out on the cat. Nothing has changed aboard El Tigre over the years and once again we had a ball. It is open bar aboard her once they set sail and it is a booze cruise for many and just a plain good time for others. The first stop is a snorkeling stop to see the turtles. The second stops is snorkeling too but over a barge that was deliberately sunk to make a reef for marine life. The third stop is at a private beach for lunch and swimming. Once again I made the arrangements for this outing privately. There is an El Tigre website and here is the link to that website for anyone interested www.eltigrecruises.com.

Everyone stay warm and have a great holiday.:)

[Pilot70D]

Any where on the ship for Classical music before dinner???Also will you be posting about the ports??? We are on the Jan 11th cruise

whyme71842@aol.com

 

There was classical music in the Cova Cafe before dinner. There also was classical music in the main dining room during the evening meal. The accordian/violinist duo also played a wide variety music including some classical selections at several venues around the ship.

I oveheard them playing a really, reaally good performance of the Toccata And Fugue In D Minor one evening in the Cova Cafe.

I sort of covered ports in my previous reply to a question. We either dive or do nothing organized depending on the port. The exception was our El Tigre outing on Barbados.

I will spend a minute on St. Croix. St. Croix is a beautiful island with many pretty beaches. It has however been bypassed by and large over the last three years by the cruise lines. This came about a cab driver told us because of some disagreement between the governor of St. Croix and the cruise lines. Now there is a new governor and he apparently has patched things up as three cruise lines now stop there. Unfortunately around 80% of the shops went out of business because of cruise line boycott. As a consequence St. Croix isn't a great shopping port.

Hope this info is helful.

[Pilot70D]

Thanks.

 

What time did you arrive at Bonaire? I assume that you left Grenada, had a sea day and arrived in Bonaire in the morning.... Was there another ship there at the time?

 

Bonaire was not one of the ports for this cruise. We did indeed have a sea day after leaving Grenada. Our next stop was Curacao and we were the only ship in port on that day. We docked around 7:20 or so and we were cleared to leave the ship by 8:00.

The diving around Curacao is really good furthermore one of the VERY BEST dive operators, The Dive Bus, is located there. For those interested in the Dive Bus please look for my postings over the years (there have been many) on the SCUBA and Snorkeling board.

Stay warm and havea great week.:)

[Pilot70D]

I wonder if the guitar player and pianist will still be onboard then? Do you know their names? I presume the piano player performed in Michael's Club most of the time. Also, do you know if that is where the cocktail hour was held for those who have elite status?

 

Glad to hear you thought the food on the Millennium was delicious, too. Can't wait to be back on her next March... and away from winter!

 

Suzie, I will attempt to answer your questions in order.

1) I don't know if the guitar player will still be aboard.

However, there has been a guitarist playing this same kind of music on all of our =X= cruises aboard the Connie or the Millie.

2) I don't remember the names - killed too many brain cells.

We did however bring back all the daily pubs from this trip. I will look sometime this week and see if the names are listed.

3) The pianist did play in Michael's Club and in several other venues as well.

4) Yes, the cocktail hour was held in Michael's Club for suite passengers and Elite category Captains Club members.

;)

[Pilot70D]

I would love to hear about the ports, excursions, etc. Also, which were the formal nights-the at sea days?

 

Good morning. I have mentioned several ports already. We have been cruising in the Caribbean for ten straight years now consequently we don't do many tours - been there, done that sevral years ago and got the T-shirt already.

I can tell you about the diving and dive operators for most Southern or Eastern Caribbean ports but not a lot about excursions, tours and tour operators.

This cruise was a VERY port intensive cruise. There were two formal nights, the third night and the ninth night. There were two sea days as well. The last full day was a sea day as was the 7th day.

Hope this info is helpful and that you enjoy your next cruise as much as we did this one.:D

[Pilot70D]

Great review......

 

I am actually looking at the 10 day for March or April 2010. We have been wanting to try Celebrity for a while and absolutely love the southern itins.

 

We have stayed away from cruising out of PR for a while. Our last cruise was just....let's just say not for us.

 

Can you tell me if there was a good balance of passengers? Also, did you take pictures of the interior?

 

Thanks again.

 

The balance of the passengers was really good. I never saw any of them fall during the entire cruise.;)

OK, I'll behave. Yes, there was a good balance of passengers on this cruise but not many children at all. There waere a lot more younger (20's to 40's) on this cruise than on other =X= cruises we have been on during this same time of the year and of similar length. Bear in mind that the length of the cruise and the time the cruise occurs both have great influence on the mix of passengers. The Olympic Restaurant staff told us that the cruise following ours, a Christmas & New Year's cruise would have over 700 children. Kind of glad we went when we did.

We were in a Sky Suite on this cruise and yes, I took several pictures of this cabin, 6131, which I will post over the next couple of weeks. I didn't take any pictures of the ship's interior. Many others have and if you search for Millenium pictures on the Internet there will probably be recent pictures taken after the Millie went through her refurbishing recently.

Just a quick word about crusing out of PR - on all of our prior cruises we had departed out of either Port Everglades or Tampa. Usually I fly us to these ports in our plane but that wasn't economically viable this trip consequently we flew commercially. Even though I HATE flying commercially it wasn't a bad trip at all. We took cabs to and form the ship rather than =X= transfers. This proved to be a lot less expensive and a lot more efficient. Getting through the main airport in PR twice was not a problem. Check in at the port was relatively efficient and not much different than other cruises we have taken. If some future cruise was on a good ship with a good itenerary I wouldn't hesitate to sail out of PR again.

Have a great holiday and a great next cruise too!!!:)

[danacline]

I was on the Millennium 11/16-11/27 and had a great time. The entertainment was...well, odd. We had a banjoist that was awesome, but most passengers I talked to didn't care for him. We traded him in Grenada for a guy who did amazing music on a harmonica, and again many passengers didn't enjoy him. I thought they were both excellent but definitely not normal cruise entertainment. I saw the violin/accordion combo but never seemed to have time to sit and enjoy this unusual combo. And sadly, despite having a great cinema room, the movies were old - nothing from 2009 that I could find despite many of them available now on DVD.

 

As for the food, it was quite possibly the worst I've had in the main dining room. It got to be a standing joke at our table on how they could screw up the night's offerings. We ended up ordering from the left-side (every day) menu quite a bit. It did seem to be hit or miss - the filet mignon and churrasco steak were excellent, other beef items not so good. The fish was good, when it wasn't mixed with "salmon mousse" or other filler. Many of the vegetables were pureed then cast as a hockey puck-sized disk. The shrimp scampi had a total of three shrimp, and the lobster offering was...half a lobster tail, with no melted butter. Odd, to say the least.

 

On the galley tour, we found that the menus were set fleet-wide and made no exceptions for passenger origins or sailing location...it was disappointing to not have a Caribbean dinner or similar location-based food. Despite having a large number of Germans onboard, there was no German cuisine, for instance.

 

Further details on my web site (in signature), click on Southern Caribbean.

[A Sixth?]

Bonaire was not one of the ports for this cruise. We did indeed have a sea day after leaving Grenada. Our next stop was Curacao and we were the only ship in port on that day. We docked around 7:20 or so and we were cleared to leave the ship by 8:00.

 

The diving around Curacao is really good furthermore one of the VERY BEST dive operators, The Dive Bus, is located there. For those interested in the Dive Bus please look for my postings over the years (there have been many) on the SCUBA and Snorkeling board.

 

Stay warm and havea great week.:)

 

 

Ah yes.. Curacao... I love that place... I am sure we'll be in Bonaire in the morning on our cruise...

 

Thank for the feedback

[ccruisequeen]

Thanks for this- we're booked for an April Panama Canal cruise & can't wait- this will be our first Celebrity Cruise!

[ccruisequeen]

are there any Refrigerators available in the OV cabins? don't see anything on the website.

[jaybird from SC]

I was on the Millennium 11/16-11/27 and had a great time. The entertainment was...well, odd. We had a banjoist that was awesome, but most passengers I talked to didn't care for him. We traded him in Grenada for a guy who did amazing music on a harmonica, and again many passengers didn't enjoy him. I thought they were both excellent but definitely not normal cruise entertainment. I saw the violin/accordion combo but never seemed to have time to sit and enjoy this unusual combo. And sadly, despite having a great cinema room, the movies were old - nothing from 2009 that I could find despite many of them available now on DVD.

 

As for the food, it was quite possibly the worst I've had in the main dining room. It got to be a standing joke at our table on how they could screw up the night's offerings. We ended up ordering from the left-side (every day) menu quite a bit. It did seem to be hit or miss - the filet mignon and churrasco steak were excellent, other beef items not so good. The fish was good, when it wasn't mixed with "salmon mousse" or other filler. Many of the vegetables were pureed then cast as a hockey puck-sized disk. The shrimp scampi had a total of three shrimp, and the lobster offering was...half a lobster tail, with no melted butter. Odd, to say the least.

 

On the galley tour, we found that the menus were set fleet-wide and made no exceptions for passenger origins or sailing location...it was disappointing to not have a Caribbean dinner or similar location-based food. Despite having a large number of Germans onboard, there was no German cuisine, for instance.

 

Further details on my web site (in signature), click on Southern Caribbean.

Our sentiments exactly for this cruise....But the ship was great! Our cabin, the crew and service was excellent and we wouldn't hesitate a minute to go again. We never went hungry but the food was quite 'changed" from what it has been in the past. Merry Christmas!

(The SC Bunch from the old Millennium roll call).

[Lsimon]

are there any Refrigerators available in the OV cabins? don't see anything on the website.

 

All the X ships have mini-fridges in all of the staterooms. These are designed to hold the mini-bar. You can have the steward take the items out and store them elsewhere in your cabin if you need the space, but even if you do this they are still really small. They also don't get real cold - mostly just enough to cool the drinks a little. Not sure they'd be cold enough to keep perishables fresh.

[Lsimon]

... the food aboard was MUCH better than we experienced on our last =X= cruise... ...The food in the MDR varied from very good to excellent....

 

...As for the food, it was quite possibly the worst I've had in the main dining room....

 

I guess different expectations and preferences are evident. Not uncommon as we've experienced this in the past when we though the food was pretty good and heard from others on our cruise who were unhappy.

[Pilot70D]

I guess different expectations and preferences are evident. Not uncommon as we've experienced this in the past when we though the food was pretty good and heard from others on our cruise who were unhappy.

 

Food is definitely a subjective thing. However, the OP rendered his opinion for the food two cruises before our cruise.

It's like this. In the MDR we had a table for eight. All eight of us were experienced cruisers and experienced with Celebrity. At no time did anyone voice complaint about the food nor did anyone send anyhting back - ever.

I had some pretty harsh words for the quality of the food in the MDR on our previous cruise. Those harsh words were justly deserved. On this cruise we all or at least all of us at our table experienced really good food which was in fact MUCH improved since our last =X= cruise.

Has management from Celebrity been monitoring these boards and taking heed of was written about food in the MDR? I don't know but it would certainly seem so. I had two steaks in the MDR this time around. Both were thick, tender and flavorful. They both arrived hot and cooked exactly the way I ordered them. Did our waiter run to the kitchen and tell them that Donnie wanted steak so get a good one out? I doubt it. All of us at our table were very pleasantly surprised at the food quality in the MDR.

Based on what we experienced on this eleven day cruise I think that Celebrity improved their product in both the MDR and in the buffet on Deck 10.

Just my $0.02 worth.:)