LONG (and first) Review of 3/15/2010 Southern Caribbean Millennium Cruise

[Cruiser Susie]

Great Way to End A Long Winter!

 

As many others have said when posting a review, the following review is simply my take on our recent cruise; my thoughts and opinions. I am sure others who were on this same cruise may have differing opinions. I hope it isn’t too long; I have not written a review before, although this cruise was our 19th cruise, and our 14th on Celebrity. My husband and I are both 54; we cruise this time of year to get away from the long, cold winters here in Chicago and usually cruise with friends that we have met on other cruises. The friends we have made on cruises are one of the main reasons we keep cruising… and often the people who are going take precedence over the itinerary. Cruise Critic has provided a great forum to meet and chat and get to know others prior to a cruise!

 

We were so anxious to leave our Chicago winter behind when we flew down for this cruise. We left on a cold morning from O’Hare and flew to St. Thomas with a change of planes in Miami. The flight down was pretty bumpy; the pilot informed us that we had to slow down in order to reduce some of the turbulence, so had about 20 minutes to get off the plane and hightail it to the next gate, with barely enough time for a quick restroom stop. We spent 4 days pre-cruise in St. Thomas at the Sugar Bay Wyndham; a nice hotel with a great beach area and several large pools. We ate at some great spots in and around Red Hook, did a day sail and really enjoyed the warm sunshine. We flew from St. Thomas to San Juan the morning of the cruise; a very easy, short flight. Landed, collected our luggage, grabbed a cab and headed to the port. Embarkation was easy, and we were really pleased to see that we had no Noro warning handout after previous cruises had some problems. We entered the ship to see the glasses of welcome champagne and smiling faces of the staff and crew. We were last on the Millennium in the fall of 2007, and were interested to see how she looked compared to back then. The ship looks great; her refurbishment last year enhanced her style and ambiance and I thought she looked beautiful.

 

When the announcement was made, we headed to our cabin, 7202, an aft Family View. Loved, loved, loved the amount of storage... there were drawers we never used. Cabin was spotless, and our room steward, Lawrence, and his assistant kept it that way throughout the cruise. Our luggage arrived around 4 or so; it was easy unpacking with all that extra space... two closets plus all the drawer storage. Requests to our room steward were handled promptly, including set up for one deck party, and although we felt we didn't have near enough time on that large, fantastic balcony, we enjoyed breakfast out there several times and a few glasses of bubbly as well in the evening.The huge corner balcony was fantastic; there was a square table with four chairs near the sliding glass door; there were also 4 lounge chairs, and room for more. We have been in but never stayed in a Family View before, and that corner location is phenomenal!

 

We checked on our dining room reservation and found that not all of us who wanted to eat together were at the same table, and the table was in a very noisy location. (I am somewhat hearing impaired and need a relatively quiet location to be able to hear dinner conversation. We went down to the Rendezvous Lounge, and a very helpful assistant Maitre’d soon had everything fixed and moved us all to a great location. Muster drill was next and it was easy without those icky life preservers... went very smoothly. Changed quickly and headed down to the MDR for our first dinner, our first experience with early seating as the friends we were sailing with much prefer that dining time. Finished our dinner and headed up to the Mast Bar for one of our favorite things on a cruise: sailaway and meeting up with those from Cruise Critic who could make it. The Cruise Critic Party was held at 5, I think, after our first port day; the first sea day didn't come til a week into the cruise!

 

This was also the first cruise in a long time where there were only 2 or 3 staff members that we knew; those that we knew were down in the Olympic, the specialty restaurant. All the staff, however, were friendly, helpful, smiling and always said hello when we met up with them anywhere on the ship. I thought the food in the MDR was as good as the food on the Equinox last November; there were new dishes (at least some new fish dishes, which is what I usually order), salads were a little better; desserts were still pretty familiar, and had lots of chocolate, which I can't do, so I enjoyed the ice cream, which was as good as ever. I happen to like the smaller portions; you don't leave feeling overly full. I often ordered just an appetizer and the main course; sometimes an appetizer as well, but never all four courses, and that amount of food was just right for me. The everyday menu had lots of options; I have to admit I giggled a little when I saw the "size" of the shrimp in the shrimp cocktail were larger; seems to me there was a LOT of grumbling in the last few months about that from multiple posters. Coffee was a little more bearable, but not much. I found there were lots of nice choices at lunch and breakfast... the Aqua Spa food was as fabulous as ever. We ate at the Olympic twice; once on our own, and the waiter we had, Niyazi, remembered us from a prior cruise and made our dinner very special and memorable. The other night we ate there was for the Captain's Connoisseur Wine dinner, which was great. We have been to those on other ships and really enjoy them.

 

The officers’ presence was more prevalent on this ship than on some others we have sailed; the Captain even participated in a show one night in Cosmos; it was called "Dancing with the Stripes" and he was one of the judges! The Hotel Director was very visible and approachable throughout the cruise. I enjoyed talking to her about the changes in the ship and the upcoming "Solsticization" that will happen eventually. We had a really nice dinner at the Captain's Table with her and three other couples the last formal night. The cruise director was originally from Chicago, so we enjoyed our conversations with him as well.

 

There was, (hooray!!), a very easy to listen to guitar player, Don Adamson, on board, who played frequently out on the aft bar, and played lots of music that we love: CS and N, James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, the Eagles, Steve Miller, Gordon Lightfoot and so on... we spent a lot of time when we could enjoying the view and his music. The party band was good, too, but we didn't have as much of a chance with the early dining to appreciate their performance as we normally might have. We did attend several of the shows in the theater; our friends raved about some of the shows. Unfortunately, we didn't get to the Martini Bar too often; but when we did, the bartender, Jaime, was very personable and made some wonderful drinks.

 

This trip was SO port intensive... two sea days out of 11, and one was the last day, so you all know how we spent most of that: packing and getting ready to leave the ship the next morning. We felt like there wasn't nearly enough time to enjoy the ship! We went from Puerto Rico to St. Croix, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Curacao and Aruba, then back to Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, some of the islands are in a very severe drought; St. Lucia, Dominica and Grenada were so brown and the trees were all dying; Grenada had multiple wildfires burning in remote locations that were unreachable, and the smoke was highly visible and the odor prevalent especially as we were leaving. I surely hope they get copious amounts of rain soon. The weather for us on the trip was wonderful... sunny and warm, which made for really good snorkeling, especially in Curacao, where the water was crystal clear. We did 4 catamaran sails/snorkel trips, and also did a day sail in St. Thomas... did one in Grenada we hadn't done before, and the sail back was outrageously fun... wet, wavy and like being on a roller coaster minus the head banging bumps. We sat out front and got totally soaked, but had a blast doing so. If you have any questions, feel free to ask... but I guess you can tell how much we enjoyed ourselves, the warmer weather and the crew and ship.

 

Here is a fairly brief description of what we did in each port; not necessarily in the correct order:

 

We arranged an excursion in St. Croix through Big Beard's Catamaran. http://www.bigbeards.com/index.htm We took a cab over to the other side of the island to Christiansted; checked in at the dock, boarded the catamaran and we were off. The first stop was at a beach to help those who were snorkeling for the first time; we enjoyed just getting in the warm Caribbean water and talking with friends. Next stop was a cove nearby for snorkeling; unfortunately, the destruction from a hurricane years earlier was still very visible on multiple parts of the reef, but the water was clear, the crew member leading the trail did a nice job and there were a lot of fish in a more protected part of the reef. Lunch included a beach stop with grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, fish and salads and beverages. The ride back was scenic, and we just enjoyed sailing in the blue waters.

 

We did another catamaran sail, in St. Kitts; this one, through the cruise line, was called the Fan-ta-sea. Enjoyed the sailing, the crew, the music, the snorkeling and the lunch stop on Nevis. We have done this one several times, so you know we enjoy it. It is a fun way to spend the day here.

 

Barbados, on our cruises, has become my favorite island due simply to the catamaran ride we now always take when we are here. A friend gave us her recommendation 4 years ago, and we haven't done anything else in this port since. (Thanks, Rosemary!) If you google Silver Moon and Barbados, you will find the site. If you can do it, go and have a wonderful time. Gorgeous catamaran, phenomenal crew and swimming with sea turtles. Wow. Great food and drink as well, and I can't think of a nicer way to spend a day in Barbados.

 

We have been to St. Lucia many times, and contemplated staying on the ship for our own version of a sea day, but opted to head out with friends to a beach not far from Reduit Beach. Took a cab, and found chairs (for purchase, of course) and rather flimsy umbrellas (it was very windy that day) and settled in. Went swimming and encountered a very odd thing... tiny little white spiny "things" that became very irritating when they ended up in between you and your bathing suit. None of us had ever encountered anything like this, , and no one on the beach could offer any explanations, either, and so eventually we ended our day early to head back to the ship to get out of our suits.

 

I am adding Dominica here as well; we have been here three or four times and enjoyed our excursions; today we decided to sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast, get off for a bit, and then get back on and enjoy the afternoon on the ship. We needed some down time!

 

We had selected another catamaran sailing in Grenada, again a ship's excursion, which we don't often do in the Caribbean, but it sounded like a good idea. Called Shadowfax Champagne Lobster Cruise, it turned out to be a great choice. We took a van ride from the port to the small harbor where we boarded the Shadowfax. (Yes, I asked, the boat is named after Gandalf's horse in Lord of the Rings) Here’s a link to the direct web site if you would like to take a look at the catamaran:

http://www.bananaboattoursgrenada.com/ A very pretty catamaran, with lots of room to move around in, shade if you need it and room for sitting and enjoying the view from the front of the catamaran near the webbing and sitting on the webbing if you choose to do so. Nice snorkeling stops; a little too well guided for our choice as we are experienced snorkelers and swimmers, but the conditions were good and we saw lots of brightly colored fish. After snorkeling, we headed to a small harbor in a place called Hog's Island, where we ate lunch on the beach... a nice sparkling wine, fish soup, and the main course: freshly grilled Caribbean lobsters that were huge and each person was able to have a half, which was more than enough by anyone's standards, salads and garlic bread, with wine as well if you wanted it... we did! The sail back was a blast... we sat with our feet on the webbing in the front, some of our friends sat on the webbing and we were soaked quickly as the boat rode through and over the waves. It was just like a great roller coaster ride without the head banging bumps! In a little while, the captain turned the boat, the ride smoothed out and the rest of the sail back to the harbor was calmer but still most enjoyable. Highly recommend this excursion; it is relatively pricey, but loads of fun.

 

Our last two stops were Curacao and Aruba. We stopped first in Curacao, and met our friends on the pier about 9:30. We found a cab driver to take us to a beach called Playa Porto Mari, (http://www.playaportomari.com/ ) about a 35 minute cab ride away. Great beach, lots of snorkeling (and the water conditions here were fabulous... crystal clear and smooth, so easy to swim and see so many different kinds of fish including a whole school of trumpet fish that were awesome.) The beach area has lots of chairs and umbrellas, reasonable prices, a great little bar/restaurant for drinks and lunch, and water that was the most incredible shade of turquoise that I have yet seen. We reluctantly headed back to the ship mid-afternoon as we wanted to do some shopping... but I think next time we will spend the WHOLE day here.

 

In Aruba, we headed to Palm Beach about the same time as in Curacao. The beach here was a lot more expensive for chairs and umbrellas, but unlike St. Lucia, at least the chairs and umbrellas were substantial and offered protection from that hot Aruban sun. We floated, swam, chatted with our friends, headed for lunch at a place called Gilligan's, not too far away from our chairs; the spot where we wanted to eat was not open as the island was experiencing a power outage and Gilligan's had a generator and therefore power, so they had ice, fans and more food choices than most of the other spots on the beach. We headed back to the ship about 2:30 as it was formal night and it takes a while to get rid of all that sand and salt!

 

All too soon, it was time to head home. Disembarkation was very smooth. We had breakfast in the dining room; it closed at 8 a.m., but we sat for a little while with our friends, then we headed to our respective waiting areas. We sat in the Olympic (a great place to enjoy a last cup of coffee and pastry before leaving the ship!); the Captain's Club Hostess, Donna (who was absolutely terrific throughout the cruise), would notify people as their colors were called. We left about 9:30 or so... collected our luggage, waited to get through customs, then dealt with our luggage. We used the luggage valet program; unfortunately, there was a glitch (on the part of the airline, btw) and so we had to take my luggage to the airport after we turned my husband's over to the luggage valet. But as we had a flight at 3:30, we didn't want to sit at the airport all day; we checked in, put our baggage through at the check in desk, then headed back outside to catch a cab to Old San Juan for a stroll and lunch at the Parrot Club. One last day of heat before heading back to the colder winds of Chicago. Our flight home was fine; all of our luggage was there, and we climbed in to the cab for the ride home, shivering in the 40 degree temperatures.

 

I have seen many questions about the Millennium recently; I thought I would post this here as well as in the review section, hoping it might answer some of those questions. If not, please feel free to ask.

[ccruisequeen]

What is entertainment like? Food? staff?:confused:

[Ma Bell]

Susie,

 

Great job on your review. I'm so glad you had a great time...but then you always do.:)

 

Joanie

[reklawr]

Sue, Thanks for the review!

[knuyens]

I see from your profile you have been on the constellation many times. We are slated to go next march on the trip before you. Any tips you might have would be greatly appreciated. We have not been on a Millenium Class before. TY in advance. Ken

[FinelyCruising]

Hi Susie - Very nice review. Just the right time to take a cruise to bridge the winter and the spring. :)

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Glad to hear you had such a great cruise, Sue. The escapes from our midwest winters are an absolute must. And how lucky you were to land a corner aft! I've not sailed in one, but have visited them and they look wonderful.

 

Pleased to hear you found the Millie in good condition as we board her shortly. I think the last time we were on was just before her upgrade, so it will be interesting to see what is different.

[Born to Cruise]

Wow, what a great review. Thanks for writing it.

 

JoAnne

[gkm]

Great review Susie. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

 

Garry

[Cruiser Susie]

What is entertainment like? Food? staff?:confused:

 

If you look at the 5th, 6th, and 7th paragraphs, I mentioned those items there; if you have more questions, let me know.

 

 

 

Thank you to everyone else for your nice comments; we had such a good time and did come home to pretty good weather. We can only hope that spring is here to stay.

[sarahc78]

Great review! Glad you guys had a good time :)