live from Millennium - Asia

[SuwaneeCard]

We'll be sailing this itinerary on 5 Jan 2014, so we really appreciate all of the info here and on the RC for use in planning.

In that regard, could someone please tell us how required visas were handled for US citizens? Did you get them on your own, in advance, or did the ship handle everything and bill your stateroom account?

Thanks for your help...now back to your regularly scheduled cruising...:)

[balticcruiser01]

Depending on the nationalities of the passengers (and the language abilities of the International Hosts aboard!) announcements are made in English ,French, Spanish and German.

[Christine Frances]

Were Malaria meds recommended/required for this itinerary?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Skyrules]

8) They have Indonesian, Malay and Thai money on board if one wants local currency. One atm…BB&T which dispenses $’s.

 

Unless they removed one of the ATMS on the the cruise between our cruise & your's there's 2 ATMs on board. One near the Casino and one was between the Guest Relatons Desk and the Future Cruise office & Shore Tours Office.

[Skyrules]

Depending on the nationalities of the passengers (and the language abilities of the International Hosts aboard!) announcements are made in English ,French, Spanish and German.

 

We had them all at Christmas. Announcements went for ages!

[Skyrules]

Hi does the 35dollars cover the three stops in Vietnam

 

Yes, unless you are staying ashore in the overnight ports, in which case you need to apply for a different Visa, which can also be done on board.

[ghstudio]

More from the millennium….

a) Normal breakfast in blu is 7:30-9:00am; elite breakfast in Olympic is from 8:00-10am

b) They continue to disinfect around the ship…today, they were spraying hallway walls and railings

c) Passengers: strikingly few walkers or wheelchairs, perhaps 10-15 kids under 15 or so. I’d guess the average passenger age is much lower than most Celebrity cruises we’ve been on….many more than usual in their 40’s and 50’s...very nice mix.

d) Casino is very quiet….almost no one played blackjack/21 last night and the craps table was unused as far as I could see. They had $5 tables this afternoon….not sure if they will up that again to $10 tonight.

e) We definitely have chair hogs….and the pool attendants are doing nothing about it. This isn’t a problem on a nice day..,plenty of chaises/chairs, but if it’s a rainy day, there are only a few under cover so it was a problem. No officers to be found …

f) We haven’t heard from the captain….once again today the captain’s announcements were given by the cruise director. They also moved the Meet the officers event off a day. Perhaps some of the officers (and captain) are sick…but that’s just my guess.

g) Seas continue extremely smooth…if you don’t look out the windows, we could still be tied to the dock in Singapore……we are in an area of light rain and some wind so you can see waves breaking but the ship itself is extremely stable. We’re averaging 17mph.

h) Aqua..they leave two bottles of water a day, even if you haven’t finished those from the day before…good because that gives extra water for shore excursions.

i) Buffet lunch: sadly, I saw one man standing waiting for a sandwich just reach into the tray of French fries and pick one out with his fingers to eat. That’s why we avoid buffets. However, you can get lunch without touching tongs that others have touched (or dropped into the food) etc. Pasta, Pizza, sandwiches, carvery, and some more….but I wouldn’t go near the salad bar. Seating at 1PM wasn’t difficult to find if you were willing to wait a couple of minutes. No trays.

j) Buffet food: pasta was too dente J, crème Brule was runny and no carmelized topping, two types of small fruit tarts with something white and gummy in the middle….I was disappointed.

k) Daily announcement is at 10am…it’s the only pa announcement of the day

l) The flowers in our room were replaced today with some lovely lilies

m) There is a clothes line in the shower (not sure if this is just aqua class)

n) The public restrooms really need to be updated/refurbished

o) No loud music today anywhere except the martini bar. Actually it was much quieter than yesterday around the pool, but it isn’t a swimming day so maybe they adjusted it for the weather (good)

p) Formal night: we saw only one gentleman with a sports shirt in Blu….I fit right in with my blue blazer and some nice slacks..no tie….but the majority were wearing suits with some tuxedos mixed in. Dress code is smart casual in blu, but most wear blazer or above, although not required.

q) Meeting lots of nice people from the UK, Australia, Canada, etc. and of course meeting many nice Cruise Critic folks who were on our roll call and associating the screen name with a real face..

GH

[vermonter16]

Fantastic updates! I would have been a little aggravated with someone reaching in with their hands to the french fries...and probably would have said something....or tried not to say something. That's unfortunate about the chair hogs....when we were on the Solstice, we just alerted the attendant and he would watch the chairs and pull the towels from them. Was there anyone to say anything to? Enjoy your trip! Sounds like you are having a great time - and thanks for the updates.

[miami2013]

Hello,

We will be on the Feb 17th cruise. Thanks Doug for all the information.

[JoePDX]

thanks for the updates. We'll be on board for the transpacific in April.

 

Joe

[CruisinMaterial]

GHStudio - Thanks for the updates. I'm truly liking the information you're passing along. While I'm not on the same itinerary as you the information is truly helpful! :) Please keep facts and tidbits about the ship coming.

[ghstudio]

Although they changed all our Indonesian ports at the last minute, we were able to contact our private drivers and change the dates...so we are in Bali a day early but with our driver.

 

Ore on this later...and I'll have another update on the ship tomorrow. Excellent cruise so far...but with no visible or audible captain....strange.

 

We are eating lunch in Ubud...on a main highway and the roads in Costa Rica are better....but fantastic hand made art everywhere.

 

Good cruise..

 

Gh

[emileg]

... Excellent cruise so far...but with no visible or audible captain....strange....

Good cruise..

 

Gh

Glad you were able to rearrange tours with your guides. Does anyone know what happened to the captain?

[Yertiz1883]

Yes, unless you are staying ashore in the overnight ports, in which case you need to apply for a different Visa, which can also be done on board.

 

We are on the SE Asia cruise in Feb 2014. Is it easy to get the Vietnam visa on the ship. What process do you need to go through. At this stage we are researching each port of call but we normally tend to do our own thing rather than the ships excursions. :rolleyes:

[Briggers1]

We are on the SE Asia cruise in Feb 2014. Is it easy to get the Vietnam visa on the ship. What process do you need to go through. At this stage we are researching each port of call but we normally tend to do our own thing rather than the ships excursions. :rolleyes:

Thanks for the infomation , we don't plan on doing celebrity tours we like to adventure ourself , do you know if we need passport photos for day visits we dont plan to Stay overnight.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Briggers1

[panama pete]

No celebrity don't go big on entertainment, just the odd pianist /singer in most venues

[Aloha 1]

It is obvious from the several posts you have made on various threads here that you have a personal issue with Celebrity. Please post your issues on a separate thread for all to comment on and allow the OP to continue their excellent review of THEIR cruise.

[Skyrules]

Thanks for the infomation , we don't plan on doing celebrity tours we like to adventure ourself , do you know if we need passport photos for day visits we dont plan to Stay overnight.

 

No, as long as you stay on the ship overnight you're covered by the blanket Visa. Photo's are only required for overnight stay Visa's.

[jt2cruise]

We were on the January 6th sailing. The Captain made the daily announcement once and messed up the name of the port - Lombock. It took him three tries to get it right. After that Steve, "your" cruise director, made the announcements on his behalf.

[Robb]

We were also on the Jan 6 cruise and found the Captain to be very personable, met him several times. Also, it seemed that officers were very visible. Had conversations with several of them. One of them even commented on the Oceania tee shirt that I was wearing one day, took my cabin number and that afternoon I had two Celebrity tee shirts show up in my cabin.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.:):)

[cheffip]

We were also on the Jan 6 cruise and found the Captain to be very personable, met him several times. Also, it seemed that officers were very visible. Had conversations with several of them. One of them even commented on the Oceania tee shirt that I was wearing one day, took my cabin number and that afternoon I had two Celebrity tee shirts show up in my cabin.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.:):)

 

Thanks for your comments. What were your impressions of food, service, cleanliness?

[CruisinMaterial]

We were also on the Jan 6 cruise and found the Captain to be very personable, met him several times. Also, it seemed that officers were very visible. Had conversations with several of them. One of them even commented on the Oceania tee shirt that I was wearing one day, took my cabin number and that afternoon I had two Celebrity tee shirts show up in my cabin.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.:):)

 

Uh oh... that's going to be interesting since I'm an NCL loyalist (don't tell them I'm doing a Celebrity cruise)... :eek::p:rolleyes:.. my t-shirts are all NCL cruises. I was trying to arrange some t-shirts to wear on sea days which didn't have the NCL logo on them. Port day shirts I wear other types of shirts. Let's see what this gets me for Celebrity cruise wear! :D

[Skyrules]

We were on the January 6th sailing. The Captain made the daily announcement once and messed up the name of the port - Lombock. It took him three tries to get it right. After that Steve, "your" cruise director, made the announcements on his behalf.

 

Yes, Captain Taramas wasn't good with the Public announcements... Cruise Director Steve did most of the Announcements "from the bridge" on the Christmas/New Year cruise too. But we met the Captain on the Bridge when we did the 'Access All Areas' tour, and he was much more comfortable, talkative, and quite humourous. He obviously struggles with the PA Announcements.

[Skyrules]

We were also on the Jan 6 cruise and found the Captain to be very personable, met him several times. Also, it seemed that officers were very visible. Had conversations with several of them. One of them even commented on the Oceania tee shirt that I was wearing one day, took my cabin number and that afternoon I had two Celebrity tee shirts show up in my cabin.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.:):)

 

Hmm, I obviously talked to the wrong people when I was wearing my P&O t-shirts on board!! I had to buy my own Celebrity shirts!

 

But I agree with you, the officers were certainly very happy to mingle with the passengers when out and about around the Ship.

Edited January 26, 2013 by Skyrules

[patty1955]

Thank you for the running updates. 89 days and we'll be aboard and I can hardly wait.

I know it's subject to change, but can you give us some idea of the entertainment and lecturers? Also, are they showing movies again? There were no movies on our Panama Canal cruise and since we have over a week of sea days on the Transpacific, movies would be nice.