The Mllennium

[Chicago Boy]

I just curious. Friends just came off the Asia cruise on the Millennium and while they loved the food they thought the ship was in need of maintenance. There were areas of rust, many of the lockers in the mens area had broken locks and the entertainment was poor. They could not find seats in the Martini Bar most nights so they gave up trying. What is going on? This does not sound like the Celebrity I am use to sailing on. Answers anyone?

[baldercash]

Not finding seating in the Martini bar is likely a sign that the area is popular? I don't think you can fault X for having a popular venue.

Been on a lot of ships and they all had rust that is why they tend to be painting them all the time. Salt air is tough on steel.

Getting good solo American entertainers may be tough in the far East. What part of the entertainment was poor?

Broken locks on the lockers, I don't want to even hazard a guess on.

 

Did your friends mention if they enjoyed their cruise?

 

I believe the Millie was in dry dock a year ago so she should be in general good shape.

[Project_gal]

If the OP's friend had just come off a Millennium Asia cruise, it seems that they would have been on a cruise with sickness on board [not uncommon in Asia in the winter and, according to the reviews, Noro and coughs on the last two cruises before Millie arrived in Vancouver]. The crew would have been distracted from basic maintenance by the extra sanitation on board.

 

Sue

[Kevnzworld]

I sailed on the millennium in October , and though it isn't my favorite Celebrity ship, it was fine. I prefer the S class ships.

I'm sailing on it again for a seven day Alaska cruise in three days.

[sandancer]

We spent 28 nights on the Millie in Jan/Feb this year and did not find the ship to be in poor condition. It is an older ship and therefore will have signs of wear and tear. They were painting continuously and both our balconies were painted (we had to change cabins half way thru the b2b) whilst we were off the ship. We don't worry too much about the entertainment so could not comment on that, we were so tired from long days on tours and early starts that we just wanted to chill in the evenings. It was a fantastic experience and for us the ship was secondary to the amazing ports and the Asian experience. An incredible journey. It was no major problem that the carpets are a little worn or the towels are not bright white. Good food, good company and friendly staff are far more important.

[C 2 C]

They could not find seats in the Martini Bar most nights so they gave up trying. What is going on? This does not sound like the Celebrity I am use to sailing on. Answers anyone?

 

"Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded." Yogi Berra..;)

[Chicago Boy]

Not finding seating in the Martini bar is likely a sign that the area is popular? I don't think you can fault X for having a popular venue.

Been on a lot of ships and they all had rust that is why they tend to be painting them all the time. Salt air is tough on steel.

Getting good solo American entertainers may be tough in the far East. What part of the entertainment was poor?

Broken locks on the lockers, I don't want to even hazard a guess on.

 

Did your friends mention if they enjoyed their cruise?

 

I believe the Millie was in dry dock a year ago so she should be in general good shape.

 

Yes, my friends did enjoy the cruise and loved the itinerary. They were on the ship for 36 nights as they put together three back to back cruises. They thought the staff was excellent and their stateroom was more than adaquate and the food was very good. They did not care for some of the acts and there very few movie nights, a least to suit them. As I said, my friends thought the ship was suffering from deferred maintenance. They will sail on Celebrity again but not on the Millennium . Anyway, we sail on Celebrity once or twice a year. and so far we have alwasy been happy. I was just curious what others thought. Thank you for taking the time to share. We are doing the Trans Atlantic from Barcelon to Fort Lauderdale in November. It's something we do every year and love it.

[cruzeluver]

Haven't been on a ship yet that did not have some visible signs of rust. Its going to happen. What about the entertainment did they find lacking? The Martini Bar appears to be a very popular spot across the fleet. It does get crowded, however, there are other venues.

[smellywax]

Interesting, on the may 10 Alaska cruise, there wasn't a sole most nights at the martini bar....I had never seen the martini bar so empty as in the past it was always crowded and lots of fun.

[Hampi10]

i was been on the May 17 cruise out of Vancouver, no problems with seating at the bars.

And the social hour with the Elitemembers, there was only about 40-50 Members.

 

On sunny days group of blue workers are painting allways part of the ship with the white color. But painting will also made on each ship daily if the weather will be ok

[JoePDX]

We just did the transpacific (16 nights) on Millennium. Although not our best Celebrity cruise, it was fine. The ship is older, no getting around that, but in my opinion well maintained and the public rooms still in good repair and quite beautiful. Our stateroom was just fine. Is there rust, yes, did it cause any enjoyment problems for me? NO! Food was good to very good overall. Buffet food options at breakfast and lunch, quite poor. Thankfully we had alot of sea days so we used the MDR for lunch. Breakfasts and dinners in Blu.

 

It is correct that there were only 5 available lockers in the mens changing room. That is a real letdown by Celebrity. Those locks cost a few $$ each.

 

Embarkation is Shanghai was unforgivable and completely Celebrity's fault. It took us over 2 1/2 hours to embark, most of that standing in a long line in a un airconditioned tube. I could almost touch the ship! Although it steamed me good and was unlike anything I've ever experienced on Celebrity, I can't believe how people were still talking about it 10 and 15 days later. As for fellow passengers (and I'm generalizing just a bit) it was a complainers carnival!!!

 

I thought the entertainment was quite good. But I guess a personal opinion. Lecturers were excellent overall.

 

Yes there was a noro and upper respiratory outbreak. I think Celebrity did an excellent job of educating and cleaning. But you can't get to everyone - can't tell you how many times I saw people exiting the restrooms without even a cursory (let alone - Happy Birthday to me length) washing of their hands.

 

Staff was wonderful all the way around - despite some downright RUDE passengers. Although others have raved about the CD, Steve, I thought he was just OK. Rarely saw him around the ship or any of the senior officers for that matter. But that didn't ruin my cruise either.....

 

Would I sail an M-Class ship again, depends on the itinerary. Would I sail the S-Class ships - anytime.

 

For me the cruise was all about relaxing and I stepped off quite relaxed. So mission accomplished.

 

Joe

[Lois R]

The Martini Bar does not have a lot of tables and chairs...some, yes....

"many? nope"......the bar itself? Chairs all the way around....so once

it gets busy? The seats fill up.

When you ask what is going on? The Martini Bar is a very popular

venue.

[We're The Groupnors]

there wasn't a sole most nights at the martini bar....

 

Or a salmon...or a tuna...haha.

 

We were on the Milennium for two weeks in March and thought it was in pretty good shape. The Martini Bar was also very popular on our sailing, and most nights was taken over by a large tour group from Australia. Luckily the Elite cocktail venue was not very busy, nor was Cellarmasters, so we had other places to go.

 

I would agree that the entertainment was somewhat lacking. The Singaporean magic duo was less than "magical", but the Celebrity singers and dancers were good, as usual.

[baldercash]

We just did the transpacific (16 nights) on Millennium. Although not our best Celebrity cruise, it was fine. The ship is older, no getting around that, but in my opinion well maintained and the public rooms still in good repair and quite beautiful. Our stateroom was just fine. Is there rust, yes, did it cause any enjoyment problems for me? NO! Food was good to very good overall. Buffet food options at breakfast and lunch, quite poor. Thankfully we had alot of sea days so we used the MDR for lunch. Breakfasts and dinners in Blu.

 

It is correct that there were only 5 available lockers in the mens changing room. That is a real letdown by Celebrity. Those locks cost a few $$ each.

 

Embarkation is Shanghai was unforgivable and completely Celebrity's fault. It took us over 2 1/2 hours to embark, most of that standing in a long line in a un airconditioned tube. I could almost touch the ship! Although it steamed me good and was unlike anything I've ever experienced on Celebrity, I can't believe how people were still talking about it 10 and 15 days later. As for fellow passengers (and I'm generalizing just a bit) it was a complainers carnival!!!

 

I thought the entertainment was quite good. But I guess a personal opinion. Lecturers were excellent overall.

 

Yes there was a noro and upper respiratory outbreak. I think Celebrity did an excellent job of educating and cleaning. But you can't get to everyone - can't tell you how many times I saw people exiting the restrooms without even a cursory (let alone - Happy Birthday to me length) washing of their hands.

 

Staff was wonderful all the way around - despite some downright RUDE passengers. Although others have raved about the CD, Steve, I thought he was just OK. Rarely saw him around the ship or any of the senior officers for that matter. But that didn't ruin my cruise either.....

 

Would I sail an M-Class ship again, depends on the itinerary. Would I sail the S-Class ships - anytime.

 

For me the cruise was all about relaxing and I stepped off quite relaxed. So mission accomplished.

 

Joe

 

Thank you for your candid evaluation, we are doing a 35 day Honolulu to Singapore and have concerns.

I value your comments.

[Umbarger]

I cruised on the Millie in November and the ship was beautiful. I saw no sign of excessive wear (I sure would have noticed). I also found the food and entertainment to be on par with other cruise lines I have been on. I'll be cruising on the Millie again later this year. Can't wait!

[lais]

The Martini Bar does not have a lot of tables and chairs...some, yes....

"many? nope"......the bar itself? Chairs all the way around....so once

it gets busy? The seats fill up.

When you ask what is going on? The Martini Bar is a very popular

venue.

So where is the Martini Bar?? I have been looking at the deck plans and can't find it. :confused:

[WestLakeGirl]

Martini Bar. Deck 4 across from glass elevators

[GeorgiaPeach51]

I am in the process of writing a long review in installments on the Millenium, Vancouver to Seward. We just returned on Monday. Possibly it might give you some info.

 

We enjoyed the cruise tremendously, mainly for the beautiful state of Alaska and its' inhabitants, both two and four footed. We did feel the ship was showing its' age, mainly in cabin areas, not so much in the public areas. It didn't bother us enough to say we'd never sail the Millie again, it was more of a footnote. I agree with the poster who said he prefers S class...me, too, but we've been on only one S class, the Equinox...and have now been on the Summit, Millie and upcoming in March 2014 is the Infinity...so obviously the M class is not an issue for us. It is very easy to get around, and easier, I would say, than the S class. We know they're older, and have our expectations set accordingly.

 

We are not fans of the entertainment except comedians and sometimes a magician, so cannot comment. On our recent cruise we didn't attend a single show.

 

The Martini Bar is like a subway car, the population ebbs and flows...sometimes it is jammed and suddenly it is as if a gong rings (the call of dinner) and everyone is gone. Then wait a bit, and another bunch will come in. So, if they tried to go to the MB each night at the same time they probably saw the same crowd. Had they given it 15 minutes they might have had seating. It's a fun place, and would have been worth the wait.

 

BTW, no noro issues on our cruise that I was aware of...

[vermonter16]

We sailed Millie back on 10 May and I suppose if I'd been onboard for over a month I could really start finding areas needing improvement. I don't think I will ever sail on a cruise coming off an ocean crossing because it seemed that many of the folks had been on a long time and the 'cruising' had kind of worn off.

 

DH and I went to the Martini Bar 6 out of the 7 nights on the cruise. Marko was my 'go-to' man for drinks. We never had a problem getting a seat at the main bar and the overflow area next to it was always available and we were at the bar at different hours. It is true that it was probably more attended right before the late dinner seating and after that....everyone disappeared for the most part.

 

The staff was definitely overworked since everything had to be served to customers in the buffet, including the drinks. I don't think those folks saw any breaks until they went to bed.

 

Anyway, the Millennium was a fine ship, yes, a bit older but it didn't impact how we felt about the cruise. Again, I would just never cruise when the ship is coming off an ocean crossing and more than half those folks are staying on board. There definitely wasn't the overall excitement of passengers that one normally feels upon first boarding and that would make sense when most folks had been on it for a month already, lol.

[lais]

Martini Bar. Deck 4 across from glass elevators

 

Thanks but maybe they took it out last night. It's not showing on several deck plan web sites (or Celebrity's). Maybe I should go back to bed and try again later.

[Lois R]

Thanks but maybe they took it out last night. It's not showing on several deck plan web sites (or Celebrity's). Maybe I should go back to bed and try again later.

 

Hi, originally the Martini Bar was just forward of the main dining room,

starboard side. When Millennium was "Solsticizied", they moved it...

it is further up (forward and still starboard) but maybe that is why it is

not showing up correctly on any of the deckplans.....

[cruisestitch]

It's on the Celebrity website's deck plan:

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/explore/ships/detail.do?shipCode=ML#deck_plans/explore/ships/deckPlans.do%3FshipCode=ML

 

Deck 4. Starboard. Martini Bar/Crush.

[bv52139]

Interesting, on the may 10 Alaska cruise, there wasn't a sole most nights at the martini bar....I had never seen the martini bar so empty as in the past it was always crowded and lots of fun.

We remember you two from the Eclipse and the van to Heathrow. Our next cruise is October 5th Canada/New England on the Summit which we booked on the Eclipse. My username has changed thanks to CruiseCritic.

 

Linda & Bill