Gradelady Posted April 25, 2014 #1 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Am considering an Alaska cruise in 2015 on the Millenium. Most of the reviews mention that the ship is very rundown/dated. Or the $$$ we are paying, this concerns me...any other thoughts about this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Frances Posted April 25, 2014 #2 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Am considering an Alaska cruise in 2015 on the Millenium. Most of the reviews mention that the ship is very rundown/dated. Or the $$$ we are paying, this concerns me...any other thoughts about this? The M Class are older than the S Class but they are lovely ships. We just spent 28 days on the Millie Jan/Feb and had a wonderful time and we thought she was in great shape:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beh789149 Posted April 25, 2014 #3 Share Posted April 25, 2014 I loved the Millie and Infinity. They are great! Take all the complaints with a grain of salt, a lot of these people have nothing better to do. Avalon Scenery Burgundy and Provence-June 2010 Celebrity Infinity Alaska-May 2012 Celebrity Century Pacific Wine-Sept 2012 Celebrity Millennium N Alaska-July 2013 Celebrity Century Pacific Coastal-May 2014 Celebrity Millennium Malaysia and Indonesia-Nov 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gradelady Posted April 25, 2014 Author #4 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Thank you for your comments. Really enjoyed the "celebrity Experience" on our cruise in January on the Reflection, so was hoping to enjoy the Millenium, just a bit put off by many of the current reviews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrcruiser Posted April 25, 2014 #5 Share Posted April 25, 2014 A totally new engine was placed in millennium last year ,after the engine problem in Alaska last year ;). Should be no problems now:D . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascol Posted April 25, 2014 #6 Share Posted April 25, 2014 (edited) Am considering an Alaska cruise in 2015 on the Millenium. Most of the reviews mention that the ship is very rundown/dated. Or the $$$ we are paying, this concerns me...any other thoughts about this? I honestly think this depends on what you compare it to... We have done about 10 Celebrity cruises on several classes of their ships. After doing two of the newer Solstice class ships when they were each less than a year old, we went back to try the Summit after it was refurbished. While it did not seem 'run down' by any means, it did certainly feel much less impressive than the newer ones we had just sailed. I see you mentioned being on the Reflection so you may be in a similar situation. There were places that even after the refurbishment needed a little more TLC. Had we not done the Solstice class ships and not had those to compare to, we probably would not have noticed some of the things we saw on Summit. There was nothing overly bad. Just things like window coatings scratched and chipped, chips in paint (inside and out), well worn deck flooring, somewhat worn furniture/carpet. We like 'shiny and new' and while I can't speak to the Millenium, Summit definately did not feel that way. Edited April 25, 2014 by Sascol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyClan7 Posted April 25, 2014 #7 Share Posted April 25, 2014 We did the Alaska itinerary in June of 2013. We liked the ship, etc., but the overall experience is not quite as fulfilling as the S-Class ships. A key consideration is whether you are looking to do a round trip (i.e., start and finish in Seattle), or the full northbound or southbound leg (Vancouver-Whittier or Seward). The new large ships cannot run the legs via Vancouver because of the bridge height restrictions. We really wanted to take the northbound leg to slowly adjust to the time zone differences, and to be able to combine a land-based component via Seward to Anchorage and Denali. Most of the other options do round trips out of Seattle. That takes the Alaska mainland out of the equation. We found Millie to be enjoyable and a perfect fit for our overall goals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gradelady Posted April 25, 2014 Author #8 Share Posted April 25, 2014 We did the Alaska itinerary in June of 2013. We liked the ship, etc., but the overall experience is not quite as fulfilling as the S-Class ships. A key consideration is whether you are looking to do a round trip (i.e., start and finish in Seattle), or the full northbound or southbound leg (Vancouver-Whittier or Seward). The new large ships cannot run the legs via Vancouver because of the bridge height restrictions. We really wanted to take the northbound leg to slowly adjust to the time zone differences, and to be able to combine a land-based component via Seward to Anchorage and Denali. Most of the other options do round trips out of Seattle. That takes the Alaska mainland out of the equation. We found Millie to be enjoyable and a perfect fit for our overall goals. We are looking to do southbound, with 5 day cruisetour prior to cruise. Have other friends going and just didn't want them top dislike the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyClan7 Posted April 25, 2014 #9 Share Posted April 25, 2014 We are looking to do southbound, with 5 day cruisetour prior to cruise. Have other friends going and just didn't want them top dislike the ship. Well there ya go, if you want to be able to do the cruisetour, your options are more limited, before going into it, we felt Millie was our best option and Celebrity proved us right. I think they will you too. Its 13 years old, but you would never know it. Elegant, practical, and not too large to figure out the deck plans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HokiePoq Posted April 25, 2014 #10 Share Posted April 25, 2014 I loved the Millie and Infinity. They are great! Take all the complaints with a grain of salt, a lot of these people have nothing better to do. Very glad to hear that as we have a cruise booked on Infinity and getting ready to return to the Millie. I thought it a beautiful ship when we were on it a few years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olemissreb Posted April 25, 2014 #11 Share Posted April 25, 2014 As you can see by my signature, we were on the Millie last year in Alaska and we thoroughly enjoyed the ship. Yes there was some rust on the balconies above us that they were trying to repair, but other than that, we didn't really notice anything else. The only reason we noticed the rust was because of some stains on our balcony furniture and we looked up and noticed where they had removed the wooden hand rail and were sanding and repainting the metal. We also did 7 days inland prior to our cruise. We did it all on our own though as the more relaxed pace and ability to do our own things appealed to us more. Enjoy Alaska! We sure did and we want to go back, but there are so many other cruises we want to do first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeaBag Posted April 25, 2014 #12 Share Posted April 25, 2014 We did the Alaska itinerary in June of 2013. We liked the ship, etc., but the overall experience is not quite as fulfilling as the S-Class ships. A key consideration is whether you are looking to do a round trip (i.e., start and finish in Seattle), or the full northbound or southbound leg (Vancouver-Whittier or Seward). The new large ships cannot run the legs via Vancouver because of the bridge height restrictions. We really wanted to take the northbound leg to slowly adjust to the time zone differences, and to be able to combine a land-based component via Seward to Anchorage and Denali. Most of the other options do round trips out of Seattle. That takes the Alaska mainland out of the equation. We found Millie to be enjoyable and a perfect fit for our overall goals. Solstice is sailing Honolulu to Vancouver Apr 28. The funnel is being changed to fit under the Lions Gate Bridge. I don't know if this has been done yet or if it is going to be done during the 3 days she will be berthed in Honolulu. The May 8 sailing to Alaska will be from Vancouver but ending in Seattle from where she will sail round trips for the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gradelady Posted April 26, 2014 Author #13 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Are the Aqua Class rooms on Deck 11 on the Millenium different from those on Deck 8 (or is it Deck 9?). I know they were added with the refit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexdisic Posted April 26, 2014 #14 Share Posted April 26, 2014 We too were in Asia Jan/Feb. Tired and dated decor some might say, I would say akin to a comfy armchair, nothing of any consequence to complain about. Kept spotlessly clean, Aqua cabins deck 11 new. Staff wonderful, Olympic outstanding, May not be glitzy like the other ships but the fares are not like them either - very reasonable. We may soon be booking B2B 2016 for 33 days on her. Go for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gradelady Posted April 27, 2014 Author #15 Share Posted April 27, 2014 We too were in Asia Jan/Feb. Tired and dated decor some might say, I would say akin to a comfy armchair, nothing of any consequence to complain about. Kept spotlessly clean, Aqua cabins deck 11 new. Staff wonderful, Olympic outstanding, May not be glitzy like the other ships but the fares are not like them either - very reasonable. We may soon be booking B2B 2016 for 33 days on her. Go for it Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjm34957 Posted April 27, 2014 #16 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Am considering an Alaska cruise in 2015 on the Millenium. Most of the reviews mention that the ship is very rundown/dated. Or the $$$ we are paying, this concerns me...any other thoughts about this? I have sailed Millenium, Constellation (2), and Infinity. I have also sailed Solstice(3), Eclipse and Equinox. I personally think the Solstice Class ships are built better. The quality seems better on Solstice. For example, the public restrooms are much nicer on Solstice class. I like the staterooms better on Solstice class. Solstice class has more dining choices. The improvements made to the millenium class ships are very nice, martini bar, cellar masters, bistro on 5, and Qsine are well done. We really enjoyed the experience in Blu, the restaurant for Aqua Class, much better on the millenium class ships than on the Solstice. We have enjoyed our cruises on both classes of ships. We are sailing on Millenium class ships for our upcoming trips. Have a great time on your cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordiej Posted April 27, 2014 #17 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Recently did Constellation, although I believe that's been more recently renovated. That said, they're always doing "minor" stuff like carpet replacement and maybe some furniture refurbs not tied to a whole ship drydock/upgrade. I thought the ship was in great shape. I had been on Infinity about 10 yrs ago. As long as you understand that it is a smaller ship and doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the newer ones (though it has some!) You should be fine. Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamrag Posted April 28, 2014 #18 Share Posted April 28, 2014 The M Class are older than the S Class but they are lovely ships. We just spent 28 days on the Millie Jan/Feb and had a wonderful time and we thought she was in great shape:) We have booked the same 28 days Jan/Feb 2015. Would you mind answering a couple of questions please? Firstly, did you experience a lot of rain across the 28 days, or was it mainly dry? Secondly, is 2/3 days in Bali worthwhile i.e. is there much to do...it seems to be in a particularly tropical (i.e. rainy) latitude. Many thanks, in anticipation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexdisic Posted April 28, 2014 #19 Share Posted April 28, 2014 We have booked the same 28 days Jan/Feb 2015. Would you mind answering a couple of questions please? Firstly, did you experience a lot of rain across the 28 days, or was it mainly dry? Secondly, is 2/3 days in Bali worthwhile i.e. is there much to do...it seems to be in a particularly tropical (i.e. rainy) latitude. Many thanks, in anticipation. We were on that cruise and yes it rained on the first leg quite a bit. On Komodo Island we were told it was the rainy season. We were in Aqua on deck 11 and it even came through the balcony door. It got very hot on the second leg around Thailand until we went to mid/north Vietnam and Hong Kong where it was unusually cold for that time of year. Bali was very nice place - had to dodge the showers, but would like to go back there someday. The weather didnt spoil it too much for us. Its a wonderful itinerary and glad we did it. Enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamrag Posted April 28, 2014 #20 Share Posted April 28, 2014 We were on that cruise and yes it rained on the first leg quite a bit. On Komodo Island we were told it was the rainy season. We were in Aqua on deck 11 and it even came through the balcony door. It got very hot on the second leg around Thailand until we went to mid/north Vietnam and Hong Kong where it was unusually cold for that time of year. Bali was very nice place - had to dodge the showers, but would like to go back there someday. The weather didnt spoil it too much for us. Its a wonderful itinerary and glad we did it. Enjoy Thanks you for response. Like yourselves, in Wales, it will feel a little like home to us with so much rain....but much warmer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexdisic Posted April 28, 2014 #21 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Thanks you for response. Like yourselves, in Wales, it will feel a little like home to us with so much rain....but much warmer! Exactly :D I would take an umbrella if you're not in AQ with the use of one. All the tours we went on provided plastic rain mac type things. Vietnam was chilly that they even served chicken soup when we got back to the ship. In HK it was the same, but someone we spoke to who lived there said it was very unusual for it to be that cold. We had no warm clothes at all and was going around Hanoi in shorts and T shirt :( We did have an adventure though. Great part of the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamrag Posted April 28, 2014 #22 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Exactly :D I would take an umbrella if you're not in AQ with the use of one. All the tours we went on provided plastic rain mac type things. Vietnam was chilly that they even served chicken soup when we got back to the ship. In HK it was the same, but someone we spoke to who lived there said it was very unusual for it to be that cold. We had no warm clothes at all and was going around Hanoi in shorts and T shirt :( We did have an adventure though. Great part of the world. Did you do ship tours (and how did you find them), or your own thing, or a mix of both? Any overnight tours, as I know a few of the ports are a 3 hour drive away and some hotel overnight rather than travel 6 hours in one day...which makes a lot of sense to me! Thanks for help so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johhnnyt Posted April 28, 2014 #23 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Was on Millie Last Week....Looks Fine Even carpeting looks good, didn't see any signs of any run down spaces Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexdisic Posted April 28, 2014 #24 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Did you do ship tours (and how did you find them), or your own thing, or a mix of both? Any overnight tours, as I know a few of the ports are a 3 hour drive away and some hotel overnight rather than travel 6 hours in one day...which makes a lot of sense to me!Thanks for help so far. Because we were late in booking the cruise, we did the ships tours for the first leg. Had we had more time there were plenty of operators on each stop. On our own in Bali twice - Lombok waterfall - waste of space - 10 hours of driving for half hour of not an inspiring waterfall - worst tour of the lot. Komodo island tour with ship, Phuket we did ourselves, Kuala Lumpur took the city tour with ship - Penang, wasnt feeling too well so stayed on ship. Bangkok did our own thing and because of the troubles we came back to the ship the first day and went to Pattaya the second. Taxi to Bankok took us just over 2 hours to get there and hour and half to get back but was late at night, Ho Chi Minh and Hue used Smile tours - used them before on previous cruises - very good. Same with Hanoi - overnight trip with them http://www.smiletoursvietnam.com/ If you need any info you can e-mail me at flatfootsam at btinternet dot com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMLAalum Posted April 28, 2014 #25 Share Posted April 28, 2014 (edited) Was on Millie Last Week....Looks FineEven carpeting looks good, didn't see any signs of any run down spaces Agree with you, Johnny! We enjoyed our cruise, loved our roomy OV cabin 7003, and found the ship to be very well maintained. Edited April 28, 2014 by TMLAalum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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