Just back Millenium 1/3/11 S. Caribbean

[martyap]

You should choose Select Dining and the Asst. Matre D Nicolus is wonderful. He will do everything to accommodate you. We decided to eat every night at 8:l5. We enjoy going to the early shows. The shows were at 7:00, got out at 8 and by the time we walked to the dining room it was close to 8:l5. We decided to do Select so that we could meet new people every night. The first night, Nicolus put us at a table with 6 others and we all just connected. We had so much fun that we decided to be a table every night at 8:l5. Try it, I think you will like it and I promise you that Nicolus will take good care of you.

 

marlene

Thank you.....I booked Select....certainly worth a try...Karen

[chuly]

Classic music chamber trio: excellent, acapella quartet (male voices)-poor, Nestor Santoro a Puerto Rican singer/guitarist was my favorite and the poolside late night party he led was loads of fun.

 

You're absolutely right, Nestor Santorio is a most talented guitarist/singer. However, he is from Uruguay, not Puerto Rico.:)

[cruisecriticmember]

You're absolutely right, Nestor Santorio is a most talented guitarist/singer. However, he is from Uruguay, not Puerto Rico.:)

 

Thanks Chuly. Nestor had great rapport with his audience.

[fillmore]

Thanks for the review enjoyed it. Couple of questions, have they started to impose the fuel charge? When did they do the Meet and Greet for CC members?

 

Thanks Lisa:)

[fillmore]

Sorry one more quick question which nights are formal nights? Like to plan dinner times as James usual takes longer than me to get ready for dinner.

 

Thanks Lisa

[OceanCruise]

Thanks for the review enjoyed it. Couple of questions, have they started to impose the fuel charge? When did they do the Meet and Greet for CC members?

 

Thanks Lisa:)

 

No fuel charge yet.

[OceanCruise]

Formal nights were on the second night (Tues.-St Croix) and on the second to last night (Wed. Aruba)

[g8rfan94]

We were on the same cruise in Nov and absolutely loved it. We are considering another Millennium cruise sometime in the near future. Perhaps not the same itinerary, but we are giving a lot of thought to the same ship. The cons were so few and inconsequential, they are not even worth remembering since then. We have nothing but positive things to say about every aspect of our experience.

 

And I think that the a cappella quartet (Blend Tech) and the Mariachi (sp??) performer (Cesar) in the Cova Cafe in Nov have changed, because they were both fantastic.

[MassTraveller]

Hi,

 

I am booked on the March 18th Millennium from San Juan.

 

Could you let me know the embarkation and disembarkation times?

 

I am trying to change my already booked flights due to something that came up in work and want to see the how late I can board on 18th and the earliest flight I could get (within reason) on the 28th.

 

Many thanks.

[TroubleT]

I am planing on writing a review, but want to add my 2 cents now since we were on the same January 3, 2011 Millennium cruise. On the positive note in general the cruise was good and we are still Celebrity fans. However, I am much less excited about the cruise. I don't mean to rain on your parade but it's just my honest opinion about our experience. The biggest disappointment was food/service combination. I can't complain about breakfast in Ocean Cafe - there is nothing you can do to spoil bacon, scrambled eggs, sausages and pancakes. They made it look that lunch selection is much better now: with Asian, Sandwiches, Fish and Chips and Pasta Corner. But the main lunch selection was the same every day: baked fish, chicken, pork and steak. Even my favorite Aqua Spa Cafe went a few steps down in their selection of salads and desserts. The food in the MDR was not bad - it was horrible!!! Besides shrimp cocktail and a few appetizers the rest of the menu didn't look appealing at all. I am not a red meat eater, but after the 5th night I just gave up and decided to order steak. It was dry, tough and tasteless. The guy at our table has been ordering ONLY baked potatoes for the last 8 days!!! For 2 nights we had dinner at Olympic and it was just one step above MDR. Oh, yes, service was very good there. But I don't really care and to be honest with you it annoys me a lot when I am being asked 25 times during my dinner if everything is OK (especially, when it's not OK). I care about food. Especially if they make such a big fuss about it. We ordered some special steak (and it wasn't even on the menu). Apparently, the sauce for this steak has been cooked for 48 hours. There was nothing but pure sodium in that sauce! The highlight of the entire dinner was Chocolate souffle. If it wasn't for Chocolate Souffle I would consider it a complete waste of time and $$$. Now about the service in the MDR. I wasn't surprised by Conanc's comment at all. We had the same issue with service at early seating. Or maybe it was just our table (of 10). But we all noticed that when other tables were already done with their desserts and were finishing coffee or tea, we were still sitting with cold soup in front of us. When other waiters where changing the tables for the second seating we were getting our entree. On the last night we completely lost our patience and asked the waiter what the problem was with the slow service. His answer was: "Sorry, but the kitchen is really busy!" Are you kidding me??? Seven tables around us has been already set for the second seating!!! The guests have already left for the show. The kitchen wasn't busy for them or for their waiters. And like I said at the beginning of this post, the rest of the cruise was pretty good. Just a few words about production shows - probably the best I've seen in years on cruise ships.

[chuly]

Thanks Chuly. Nestor had great rapport with his audience.

 

 

Oh, we loved him too! and he sure kept all the Puerto Ricans (and others) dancing and having a blast the entire time. Would really love to have him on our next cruise! At first I thought he was Mexican and I asked our waiter who said he was a friend of his, that's the only reason I know he was from Uruguay.:)

[cruisecriticmember]

We were on the same cruise in Nov and absolutely loved it. We are considering another Millennium cruise sometime in the near future. Perhaps not the same itinerary, but we are giving a lot of thought to the same ship. The cons were so few and inconsequential, they are not even worth remembering since then. We have nothing but positive things to say about every aspect of our experience.

 

And I think that the a cappella quartet (Blend Tech) and the Mariachi (sp??) performer (Cesar) in the Cova Cafe in Nov have changed, because they were both fantastic.

 

We had Blend Tech on the Jan cruise and both my wife and I thought they were off. We gave them several listens. Perhaps there was a change in one or more of the singers from your cruise to ours. BTW the piano man in Michael,s was also very good and he led a very fun name the tune game with the winning team getting Tee shirts.

[Roxxy]

I am planing on writing a review, but want to add my 2 cents now since we were on the same January 3, 2011 Millennium cruise. On the positive note in general the cruise was good and we are still Celebrity fans. However, I am much less excited about the cruise. I don't mean to rain on your parade but it's just my honest opinion about our experience. The biggest disappointment was food/service combination. I can't complain about breakfast in Ocean Cafe - there is nothing you can do to spoil bacon, scrambled eggs, sausages and pancakes. They made it look that lunch selection is much better now: with Asian, Sandwiches, Fish and Chips and Pasta Corner. But the main lunch selection was the same every day: baked fish, chicken, pork and steak. Even my favorite Aqua Spa Cafe went a few steps down in their selection of salads and desserts. The food in the MDR was not bad - it was horrible!!! Besides shrimp cocktail and a few appetizers the rest of the menu didn't look appealing at all. I am not a red meat eater, but after the 5th night I just gave up and decided to order steak. It was dry, tough and tasteless. The guy at our table has been ordering ONLY baked potatoes for the last 8 days!!! For 2 nights we had dinner at Olympic and it was just one step above MDR. Oh, yes, service was very good there. But I don't really care and to be honest with you it annoys me a lot when I am being asked 25 times during my dinner if everything is OK (especially, when it's not OK). I care about food. Especially if they make such a big fuss about it. We ordered some special steak (and it wasn't even on the menu). Apparently, the sauce for this steak has been cooked for 48 hours. There was nothing but pure sodium in that sauce! The highlight of the entire dinner was Chocolate souffle. If it wasn't for Chocolate Souffle I would consider it a complete waste of time and $$$. Now about the service in the MDR. I wasn't surprised by Conanc's comment at all. We had the same issue with service at early seating. Or maybe it was just our table (of 10). But we all noticed that when other tables were already done with their desserts and were finishing coffee or tea, we were still sitting with cold soup in front of us. When other waiters where changing the tables for the second seating we were getting our entree. On the last night we completely lost our patience and asked the waiter what the problem was with the slow service. His answer was: "Sorry, but the kitchen is really busy!" Are you kidding me??? Seven tables around us has been already set for the second seating!!! The guests have already left for the show. The kitchen wasn't busy for them or for their waiters. And like I said at the beginning of this post, the rest of the cruise was pretty good. Just a few words about production shows - probably the best I've seen in years on cruise ships.

 

 

Sorry you had such a disappointing time in the dining room Trouble T... We (party of 4) were on that same cruise with you and had Select Dining. We showed up 10 nights between 6:30 & 7:30 and always were immediately seated. We sat in 5 different sections all together and I only had a complaint with one night - food did come out a little slow. Otherwise regarding the food and the service I found Celebrity to be outstanding in both those departments! The selection varied greatly and you are right about the steak on the 'everyday menu' - I agree a bit tough. Didn't order that one again.

Everything else on this trip was phenonimal (sp??) ! :p The crowd a little older to my liking but entertainment and service was great.

I would definitely book Celebrity again. :)

[lyjima07]

I just signed up for Roll call, when do we find out when and where the party is? I am so new at this

[lyjima07]

I did sign up for roll call. When do you find out when the party is? Oops! I am repeating myself

[HappiTravels]

[quote name='lyjima07']I did sign up for roll call. When do you find out when the party is? Oops! I am repeating myself[/quote]

Is it safe to assume that you are referring to the official "Meet and Mingle" once onboard. You will receive a letter in your room advising you of the time and place. Ours was in Michaels Club at 7.45 and I think it was on the Thursday but I could be wrong on the day.

[catty]

On RCCL they leave an invitation on your bed the day before the meeting...

[HappyCampers3]

We had Select Dining and found the service was very good, except for the nights we had a 7:30 reservation. Seems like most tables were already full when we would arrive at 7:30. On these nights our service was slow and disorganized. This was especially true on our last night (there again we had a 7:30 reservation). This time, they didn't even attempt to take our orders until they were told to do so (several times) by their fellow crew members. I would be safe to say we waited over 20 minutes for our orders to be taken the last night. It was to the point where I felt we were intruding on them and they didn't really seem to care if they waited on us or not.

We had a good cruise and enjoyed our time in the ports, but found many of the guests on the ship to be antisocial and rather snobby. Many would avoid eye contact with you, and very few would even return a smile. I guess they were just 'serious cruises' ha ha!

[OceanCruise]

[quote name='HappyCampers3']We had a good cruise and enjoyed our time in the ports, but found many of the guests on the ship to be antisocial and rather snobby. Many would avoid eye contact with you, and very few would even return a smile. I guess they were just 'serious cruises' ha ha![/QUOTE]

We found most people would easily engage in conversation. For this cruise there seemed to be a large number of people traveling in small groups so they tended to stick together. There were a lot of international passengers so perhaps there was a language barrier. We found people were always friendly in the various activities such as trivia, tours, etc.

[HappiTravels]

Quite a few people on our roll call were booked into the Sheraton OSJ as we were and had also booked through Priceline. I just noticed yesterday when I was going through my Mastercard statement that we have a charge from the Sheraton for $17.00 and some odd cents. We didnt have any misc charges as we arrived at the hotel at 4.30am due to flight delays and checked out at 11.30am.
I know that there is a resort charge in PR of 14% but I dint think that the Sheraton fell into this category. If nobody else had this charge on their card I will follow up with them but if it is a standard thing then no biggie.

[HappiTravels]

Quite a few people on our roll call were booked in the Sheraton OSJ as we were and also booked through Priceline. When I was going through my Mastercard statement I had a charge for $17.00 and some odd cents and I was wondering if anyone else has this on their cards.
I know if you stay at a resort in San Juan there is a 14% resort charge but I didn't think that this hotel was classified as a resort. We certainly didnt have any misc. charges as we arrived at 4.30am due to flight delays and left at 11am.
If it standard then it is no biggie but if nobody else had these charges I will follow up.
Thanks.

[HappiTravels]

[quote name='HappiTravels']Quite a few people on our roll call were booked in the Sheraton OSJ as we were and also booked through Priceline. When I was going through my Mastercard statement I had a charge for $17.00 and some odd cents and I was wondering if anyone else has this on their cards.
I know if you stay at a resort in San Juan there is a 14% resort charge but I didn't think that this hotel was classified as a resort. We certainly didnt have any misc. charges as we arrived at 4.30am due to flight delays and left at 11am.
If it standard then it is no biggie but if nobody else had these charges I will follow up.
Thanks.[/quote]

Sorry about duplication. I thought that I had accidentally deleted original post:o

[cruisecriticmember]

[quote name='HappiTravels']Sorry about duplication. I thought that I had accidentally deleted original post:o[/QUOTE]

My understanding is that because it has a casino the Sheraton OSJ. Is considered a resort. Our final bill did include a $9 and change charge for our one night stay.