Just back from millineum 11 day caribbean cruise

[jaybird from SC]

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.:)

Glad to hear of the improvement. On our cruise last month, we had a table of ten and someone had a food issue almost every night which was very unusual for us because that's something we never do. Also, one night seven of us had the veal...five sent it back and two had perfectly cooked veal. So..."nuf" said I guess about the food. Merry Christmas to all!

[I Fly]

While I know food enjoyment is very subjective, we have always eaten second seating. Many nights our waiter has mentioned certain offerings to avoid, while he or she would never say, DON'T get something, their experience seemed to be from first seating. While they do offer the same menu, cruise after cruise, I always seemed to get the impression that for example, "the fish might be as little dry tonight," or "I think you'd enjoy the beef tonight." Maybe they found certain items having more complaints from first seating. We've generally enjoyed the food very much. I also don't like to critic the food too much while on the cruise. Once I'm home, I can look back and make up my mind. I do my best at staying postive of our enjoyment of the food, because one negative thought leads to another and another. With all the food we have served to us on a cruise, if one dish isn't outstanding, I just skip it and go onto the next. Going hungry on a cruise seems unlikely.

 

Steve

[Lois R]

Pilot, was this the 12/7 sailing? Glad you had a good time:) and

enjoyed the food:)

Speaking of subjectivity about food, there is a new review from someone

on this same sailing and they gave most of it C-, D and F....:eek:

 

Looks like it is that same thing we hear about all the time...2 people on

the same cruise with totally different experiences.

[A Sixth?]

Pilot, was this the 12/7 sailing? Glad you had a good time:) and

enjoyed the food:)

Speaking of subjectivity about food, there is a new review from someone

on this same sailing and they gave most of it C-, D and F....:eek:

 

Looks like it is that same thing we hear about all the time...2 people on

the same cruise with totally different experiences.

 

 

Wow... here's a line from the poor starving son-of-a-guns report:

 

"the best thing I can find to eat on a cruise I paid all that money for is a grilled hot dog from the poolside barbecue grill (and ordinarily) I don't even eat hotdogs. "

 

The report is so over the top I discount it. At least I sure hope he's Mr Picky, because I'm dining starting the 11th of Jan and can't wait!

 

 

Food with no flavour.... hmmm what is that a symptom of :rolleyes: Hope the reviewer is okay now:D

[Lois R]

Wow... here's a line from the poor starving son-of-a-guns report:

 

"the best thing I can find to eat on a cruise I paid all that money for is a grilled hot dog from the poolside barbecue grill (and ordinarily) I don't even eat hotdogs. "

 

The report is so over the top I discount it. At least I sure hope he's Mr Picky, because I'm dining starting the 11th of Jan and can't wait!

 

 

Food with no flavour.... hmmm what is that a symptom of :rolleyes: Hope the reviewer is okay now:D

 

Hi,:)is your reply referencing the same review I just mentioned?

Not this reviewer....but Wulf's...I think that is his screen name.

[A Sixth?]

Hi,:)is your reply referencing the same review I just mentioned?

Not this reviewer....but Wulf's...I think that is his screen name.

 

 

Yes Yes, not you... the review just posted.... NOT your post.... sorry I should have provided a link:o

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=60792

[Lois R]

Yes Yes, not you... the review just posted.... NOT your post.... sorry I should have provided a link:o

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=60792

 

Thanks:)

I don't like to critisize others and I wasn't on his cruise but I must say

they didn't seem to like anything Millennium offered.

(that is what I took away from reading it).

[Lois R]

Yes Yes, not you... the review just posted.... NOT your post.... sorry I should have provided a link:o

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=60792

 

Oh..that is not the same review:eek:....the one I read is on this board.

But they both seem to have the same opinion about the food.

[Pilot70D]

Pilot, was this the 12/7 sailing? Glad you had a good time:) and

enjoyed the food:)

Speaking of subjectivity about food, there is a new review from someone

on this same sailing and they gave most of it C-, D and F....:eek:

 

Looks like it is that same thing we hear about all the time...2 people on

the same cruise with totally different experiences.

 

Yes, this was the 12/7 sailing out of San Juan.

As far as my overview goes - I calls 'em like I sees 'em. Although frankly I wonder at times if we were on the same ship.

Here is a fact based observation. Admittedly a capsule view but factual never the less. We deliberately went to lunch at the buffet up on Deck 10 the day we embarked. We wanted to sample the food and see what was in store for us consequently I had smallish portions of several things. They had an antipasta salad which was very, very good. I next tried the shepherds pie which was delicious. After that I went to the Carvery where they were serving beef. It was tasty and tender.

After the main part of the meal I tried one the macadamia nut cookies. Big mistake - the darned thing was REALLY good so I had to try two more just to insure that my first impression was correct. All of this was done purely in the interest of testing you understand. I never enjoyed any of it.;)

[fernem]

Okay ... it's late and I am tired ... but I have to jump in and contribute my two cents. We were on the 11/6-11/16 sailing out of San Juan on the Millennium. The food was so good ... so creative ... so tasty! And the assistant maitre d' Edmund came over every evening during second seating to ask us how we liked it and was there anything he could do to make it better! He was a gem. We also got to know the head food and beverage guy ... Manfred from Austria. He too was always around and always offering to get us anything we wanted. We had two diabetics among us and their desserts ... including cherries jubilee ... were fantastic. Beautifully presented and very tasty. And there were two vegetarians who were given many options to choose from.

 

I know I sound over the top enthusiastic but this really was great. We were on the Constellation to the Caribbean ... out of Ft. Lauderdale ... in March and the food was much better and the staff much more willing to make us happy than during that sailing ... and we loved that trip anyway.

 

Not to mention of course the Olympic Restaurant which was, as always, superb. We had the same waiter as we had last September in Alaska on the Millennium. That was fun too.

 

I hope you all get to have food as good as ours was. If not, ask to speak with Edmund. He will definitely make it right. Some day I hope they make him king.

 

fern:D

[oldbluff]

MillieQ, have you considered Alaska next May (2010)? The Celebrity Millenium departs San Diego 30-Apr and has 7 port days (including Sitka), 2 glacier cruising days (including Hubbard) and 4 sea days. OV's are still only $1099.

 

Feel free to join the happy gang on this early-season cruise. Woo-hoo!

 

I checked yesterday and we are the only ship visiting 3 of the 5 Alaska ports each day. One of the remaining ports has a 70 passenger ship docked with us. We'll have the towns to ourselves and the beautiful snow-covered Alaska scenery as a backdrop.

[oldbluff]

Doh! Should know better than to post late at night. :)

 

Anyway, the 14 night Ultimate Alaska on Celebrity Millenium departing San Diego 30-Apr-2010 will be one to remember. Join us if you like.

 

Regards, Cliff

[TheWulf]

Lois: Yes that would be me! I was also on that sailing and when I read this thread just now I had to triple check to make sure that Pilot and I were indeed on the same ship as I couldn't believe it.

 

This is a good example of how different people's standards make for very subjective reviews. Mine are quite high in the food dept. as I got spoilled on the Crown Princess and somehow expected equal-or-better from Celebrity (big mistake). The 9 of us in our party had a pretty unanimous opinion but you will always find someone to disagree.

 

Nonetheless overall the cruise what worth what we paid for it so I leave satisfied even if I won't return.

[Can'tstopcruising]

Lois: Yes that would be me! I was also on that sailing and when I read this thread just now I had to triple check to make sure that Pilot and I were indeed on the same ship as I couldn't believe it.

 

This is a good example of how different people's standards make for very subjective reviews. Mine are quite high in the food dept. as I got spoilled on the Crown Princess and somehow expected equal-or-better from Celebrity (big mistake). The 9 of us in our party had a pretty unanimous opinion but you will always find someone to disagree.

 

Nonetheless overall the cruise what worth what we paid for it so I leave satisfied even if I won't return.

 

Even if you both had the same standards. The same meal comes out of the kitchen at different times. All is not truly equal. We have had experiences where two people ordered the same dish. One was good and one wasn't.

[A Sixth?]

Oh..that is not the same review:eek:....the one I read is on this board.

But they both seem to have the same opinion about the food.

 

This is interesting... I searched the user name that posted that scathing review "hotspadey" and it came up zero hits.

 

hotspadey has only ever posted this one damning review on the CC?

 

Me smells a duck quacking in a fish stall.

[Spencerspop]

We will be joining you too! Shanyn & David from Texas. Looking forward to soaking up the sunshine, although, it was 74 degrees here today :)

[A Sixth?]

Lois: Yes that would be me! I was also on that sailing and when I read this thread just now I had to triple check to make sure that Pilot and I were indeed on the same ship as I couldn't believe it.

 

This is a good example of how different people's standards make for very subjective reviews. Mine are quite high in the food dept. as I got spoilled on the Crown Princess and somehow expected equal-or-better from Celebrity (big mistake). The 9 of us in our party had a pretty unanimous opinion but you will always find someone to disagree.

 

Nonetheless overall the cruise what worth what we paid for it so I leave satisfied even if I won't return.

 

 

Did you find to food so bad that like hotspadey, the only food you could eat were the grilled hot dogs from the poolside barbecue grill :rolleyes:

 

I've been on the Crown Princess several time totalling a month worth of cruises and the food was very good, but so was the food on most of the cruises we've been on....

[tg1]

How's the part band on the Millie?

[Cruisin Nurse]

Dear Pilot07.

I am looking forward to hearing more about this 11 day Millennium Cruise since we will be sailing the same cruise on Feb 1, 2010. WE would truly appreciate any tips as well as any information regarding the ports. Thank you, AJo

[barbaraandmarks]

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.:)

 

Thanks for your review. It's so helpful! We, 2 adults and 2 teenagers, are cruising on the Millenium in March and are also divers who prefer to book excursions on our own. Which dive operators did you use in St. Lucia and Aruba? Is the El Tigre an appropriate cruise/tour for teenagers? Our stops are Tortolla, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, Curacao and Aruba - we will probably dive on 3 of the islands. Which of the stops do you think would be the best for diving. Tortolla, Curacao and Aruba? We haven't been to any of the islands before. Do you have suggestions for excursions/tours on any of the other islands on our cruise? Thanks!!