Millenium some very bad reviews

[Germancruiser]

As my next Millenium Cruise is almost around the corner I just checked the latest Reviews and was surprised to read such negativ comments, issues with showing her age, sevage smell all over the ship! One even mentioned that she got to know that the ship would be sold next year.

I do hope X will take notice and handle the issue´s !

[Germancruiser]

Oh dear, I just checked the german reviews - they are just as bad- if not worse! Well let´s hope for the best and that X will take care of the issue´s!

[neverbeenhere]

Reviews are subjective. (Wow, that was profound). But, yes the Millie is not new and likely the lower deck may suffer for problems of the stinky type. I read a number of the reviews and they seemed decent to me. Starting with a great attitude will always make your cruise better, if not great. If all else fails, there is always swimming in front of the ship.

[Project_gal]

Millennium is currently in Asia over the winter. Over the whole time we have been cruising, ships in Asia over the winter tend to get bad reviews. These cruises have a higher tendency to be challenging for both guests and crew.

 

Guests may have had longer flights to reach the cruise than for cruises in other parts of the world. If someone has had a bad or difficult journey before boarding, their mind frame is likely to be less positive makingit easier to find fault.

 

'Flu, other respiratory illnesses and norovirus are more likely in winter conditions. [There is a reason that norovirus used to be known as the winter vomiting virus in the UK.] When illness is prevalent, the crew spend more time on cleaning activities and normal, ongoing maintenance has to be neglected a little. The crew may be tired. Illness can make people [guests and crew] less positive.

 

Not all passengers do sufficient research. It is amazing how many people do not pack suitable clothing for cooler weather when cruising. The weather can be variable in Asia in the winter. [We spent Christmas and New Year in Hong Kong one year. On Christmas Day we picnicked on a beach in 80 degrees F. Two days later, the temperature had dropped to 40 degrees F and people were showing their children frost for the first time in their lives.]

 

While in no way a qualified navigator, I have read many reviews over the years that speak of challenging tides and currents in Asia during the winter. This may result in difficulties keeping to schedule - preoccupying senior crew members on board who then take their eye off the other balls.

 

We are booked on Millennium's repositioning cruise when she ends her season in Asia. With luck, it will be like our repositioning cruise on Azamara Quest from Singapore to Athens. It was an amazing cruise after a difficult season for the ship and her crew. However, I am complete aware that our cruise may also be more challenging and will not let that spoil our cruise. We will not start by looking for problems.

[need2bespoiled]

First, please remember many of the recent reviews are likely from the Gems of Indonesia cruise that didn't actually go to Indonesia. I was on the cruises and the previous cruise, for a total of 28 days onboard. Passengers on the 11/23/14 cruise were told on the even of embarkation no stops in Bali or Komodo, starting off the cruise on a bad note, from which it is often hard to recover. There were a few bad spots on the ship where there were bad smells, my balcony being one of them :( but far from the entire ship.

 

I went and read some reviews before posting the in its entirty. One had a problem with their cabin, another loved their cabin, but hated the food, one complained about the lack of chocolate on their pillow, another complained the ship sailed a day late, when from the beginning the itinerary was schedule to start with an overnight in Singapore, which of course it did. Read closely, and you'll see all kinds of conflicting and miss information.

 

Ports visited were often noisy container ports, far from tourist activities, so a tough thing if you weren't prepared for it and the was a last minute change you had to deal with. They made it well known to try and book excursions onboard. There were however taxis available, at least to go to the beach in Pattaya instead of Bangkok at Laem Chabang.

 

There are issues of maintenance that I can list like the doors on starboard from ocean view to pool are broken no waiting for a replacement motor, carpet on ramp to rendezvous lounge needing repair (not sure why the has not been fixed) and a corridor with bumps and holes under the carpet (literally thought I would break a high heel). We also had some service lapses, for us in specialty dining mostly and the pool deck was extremely crowded.

 

That being said, we had an excellent MDR server, so good, we never had dinner in Blu. It's easy for someone else to have a bad server and have a different experience, or even the same meal, and have their meat not cooked to their liking and have a different perspective. The same types of things can be said for a lot of experiences. Two people walk up to the matini bar for a drink. One is with friends, chatting, having a good time. The other is impatient and eager. They both are approached by servers a few minutes later, drinks take a while as they need glassware. They get drinks at the same time. The person who is having a good time with friends barely notices the wait, the other person thinks the service is terrible. I can see the same scenario applying to the MDR where our meals regularly too 90 minutes to 2 hours, but we barely noticed as we were having such a good time with our table mates.

 

You could make the same type of comparisons to someone who gets an inside cabin on deck 3 vs a balcony on the aft of deck 11, they're going to pay different amounts to cruise and have very different experiences in their cabins. Should they? Maybe not that much, but maybe some?

 

The ship isn't new, and of course there are always rumors, many started here about Millenium's fate though incorrectly as she is scheduled all the way until May 2017. I doubt they'll give up the beds until the new shis are out, but one can never know.

 

I think I've been fair and balanced and in all honestly I think X can do better than they've done with Millenium both on this cruise and with her maintenance but public areas are clean and the issues aren't cruise killing. I also felt there were times that staff were not empowered to perform service at levels we've seen on other ships. I still think overall it was a good cruise and it compares very closely to Summit and Constellation as a ship and the crew in general were the same Cekebrity crew were used to, as we recognized many faces from other ships.

 

The challenges didn't ruin our trip and wouldn't stop us from sailing Millennium or Celebrity again. If these types if issues continued in a ship, or across the line, sure we'd start to think twice.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

Edited December 19, 2014 by need2bespoiled

[gek]

Attitude counts for a lot. The Millie is not perfect but nor is she as bad as some of the reviews make out. If you want to nitpick you can but most of her faults are the sort of things you can easily ignore. I wouldn't say that the sewage smell is one of those but when we sailed in Sep/Oct the smell was only occasionally noticeable in the corridors on one or two decks.

 

Unfortunately she has also had a number of recent cruises hit by outbreaks of Noro which always impact on service levels.

 

As far as the condition of the public areas of the ship is concerned I think anyone who complains really does have an attitude problem. She is clean, and maintained well-enough to satisfy any but those who are constantly on the lookout for minor flaws.

 

I would happily sail on the Millie again. In fact, given the choice I would probably prefer her to a ship like the Solstice which has it's own set of weaknesses.

 

Disclaimer: I always sail Aqua class so I can't comment on things like the MDR or faults in different classes of cabins.

Edited December 19, 2014 by gek

[gek]

Millennium is currently in Asia over the winter. Over the whole time we have been cruising, ships in Asia over the winter tend to get bad reviews. These cruises have a higher tendency to be challenging for both guests and crew.

 

 

This is so true. Some people just don't "get" Asia. Admittedly a lot of ports are not cruise-friendly, being miles from anywhere interesting, and plans can change at the drop of a hat. It's the price you pay for visiting a fascinating part of the world.

 

The Bob and Betty Lunchbuckets of this world are just unprepared for the challenges that Asia throws at them and it colours their attitudes towards the ship that carries them there.

 

Personally I'd rather go on a chaotic, unpredictable cruise to Asia than on a boring, predictable Carribbean cruise.

[need2bespoiled]

This is so true. Some people just don't "get" Asia. Admittedly a lot of ports are not cruise-friendly, being miles from anywhere interesting, and plans can change at the drop of a hat. It's the price you pay for visiting a fascinating part of the world.

 

The Bob and Betty Lunchbuckets of this world are just unprepared for the challenges that Asia throws at them and it colours their attitudes towards the ship that carries them there.

 

Personally I'd rather go on a chaotic, unpredictable cruise to Asia than on a boring, predictable Carribbean cruise.

 

You've made some great points. We like both types of vacations, the adventure and unpredictability of Asia or wherever, new, far away and different as well as the relaxation and pampering of the Ho hum Caribbean. Each have their place in our vacation calendar for now. The challenge comes when Betty and Bob expect Ho hum and get a bit of chaos.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[vulcan1971]

Seems like we went through this not so very long ago about the Century. There was a mix of opinions and experiences on what constitutes a good or bad ship based on the fact that it is older and shows some wear and tear. As another poster said here, "go with a good attitude and the rest will work itself out."

 

Enjoy your cruise

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6 Plus on the T-Mobile 4G LTE Network using Tapatalk Pro

Edited December 19, 2014 by vulcan1971

[need2bespoiled]

Seems like we went through this not so very long ago about the Century. There was a mix of opinions and experiences on what constitutes a good or bad ship based on the fact that it is older and shows some wear and tear. As another poster said here, "go with a good attitude and the rest will work itself out."

 

Enjoy your cruise

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6 Plus on the T-Mobile 4G LTE Network using Tapatalk Pro

 

I think there is even a paralleled thread on the Millennium from the last Asian season. I feel bad for the staff, so far removed from any corporate support and constantly "beat up".

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[Germancruiser]

Thanks all for you posts- I agree- I will go with an open mind- and of course- the Asia experience is far more interessting then the sailing the carribbean for the uptenth time. LOL! In fact the carribbean get´s a little break from us! I sailed Milli twice- when she was 2 month old and just before her Solsticeation.

She is my all time farvorite cruise ship- and was my first X- ship though!

@needtobespoiled- I so enjoyed your review and those amazing pictures you shared with us Cruise Critic Folk- and yes your wrote a very balanced review- Thanks again!

[dalgirl]

We have an oceanview on deck 3 of the Milly, never stayed on a deck lower than 8 before, but thought to try it. I don't worry about cosmetics. But smells do bother me. Is there smells in the cabins?

 

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[florisdekort]

When I first sailed on Millennium in 2003, people on Cruise Critic were writing about pod problems, worn carpets, mold in the shower, bed bugs, sewage smells, slow dining room service, etc. etc. 11 years and 15 cruises on Millennium later Cruise Critic hasn't changed and I have learned to completely ignore the reviews. And I'm getting on board again later today in Hong Kong :)

 

 

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[gek]

We have an oceanview on deck 3 of the Milly, never stayed on a deck lower than 8 before, but thought to try it. I don't worry about cosmetics. But smells do bother me. Is there smells in the cabins?

 

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All the reports I have seen and my own experience indicate that the sewage smell is primarily in some corridors or on balconies, and only very occasionally in the cabins. It seems to be a regular problem but there's a good chance it won't bother you at all. I only noticed it because I was alert for it.

[need2bespoiled]

We have an oceanview on deck 3 of the Milly, never stayed on a deck lower than 8 before, but thought to try it. I don't worry about cosmetics. But smells do bother me. Is there smells in the cabins?

 

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Forums mobile app

 

If you're near the reception area, you should be fine, I never smelled it near there or by the Olymoic. I'm sorry I can't comment on the forward hallways on deck 3 as I never walked them. I do think, without a balcony you're less likely to have a problem. Our deck 6 cabin was never an issue unless we left the door open to the balcony.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[C 2 C]

If you're near the reception area, you should be fine, I never smelled it near there or by the Olymoic. I'm sorry I can't comment on the forward hallways on deck 3 as I never walked them. I do think, without a balcony you're less likely to have a problem. Our deck 6 cabin was never an issue unless we left the door open to the balcony.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

Sometimes it is better to be upwind than downwind. :D

 

Jenna, as always, great summation.

 

We were on Millie in 5 different cabins over a ten week period. We did notice the odour its we walked in various locations but never in any of our cabins.

Asia is amazing, no matter how one gets there.

 

I would gladly trade our upcoming reflection cruise for millennium in Asia.

[Aloha 1]

We spent 31 days on Millie since November 2013 in 2 separate cabins Deck 6 aft. Having cruised extensively (though nowhere near Arno's record) and travelled on S class and M class Celebrity ships, my opinion of Millie is this:

 

Public areas were recently "solstisized" and are very nice. We enjoyed Bistro on 5, the casino, and Cafe al Bacio.

 

Cabins are in need of updating. Broken light fixtures, scratched and sometimes broken paneling and doors.

 

Olympic Grill was very good and consistent each time we dined there. It is essentially the same menu as Murano. We generally dined in Blu and there were several misses in both service and food quality. Never dined in the MDR but heard generally good comments.The Oceanview Cafe was the usual scrum for breakfast and lunch but the food was good.

 

We did notice the "smell" as you approached mid ship on Deck 6. Seemed worse in the AM than later in the day.

 

The ship IS old at 15 years. Celebrity needs to either update the M class ships or farm them out. I have sailed on Regent Voyager, which is even older than the Millie and you would never know it's age as it is absolutely beautiful and looks like it just launched. The lesson here is that some cruise lines take pride in how their ships look, others do the minimum necessary to keep them afloat and producing revenue.

 

The ports of call are why I would choose Millie and after all, isn't that why we cruise? Go and enjoy!

Edited December 21, 2014 by Aloha 1

[tomsafrica]

I wonder if broken items, sad tatty cabins and bad smells are really the image Celebrity want to project? Does anyone know if there is any plan for some downtime/dry dock in 2015 or is this something that they might just try to fix as they go alone? It's beginning to sound like they left too many things undone in the Solsticizing - too much focus on cramming in more money making opportunities and not enough beauty treatment. I hope there's some improvement before we sail on her :(

[hcat]

How sad to have to wonder what cabin to book or where to walk to avoid the smell....would not want that for my corridor or balcony...

 

sounds like what started to happen some yrs ago on Radiance...we lucked out but some of the nearby cabins were really bad

 

hoping we have good luck on Connie and Infinity..all M class,

[need2bespoiled]

I wonder if broken items, sad tatty cabins and bad smells are really the image Celebrity want to project? Does anyone know if there is any plan for some downtime/dry dock in 2015 or is this something that they might just try to fix as they go alone? It's beginning to sound like they left too many things undone in the Solsticizing - too much focus on cramming in more money making opportunities and not enough beauty treatment. I hope there's some improvement before we sail on her :(

 

I don't think either of the cabins I stayed in for 2 weeks was sad or tatty, even with some maintenance issues in one of them. They seem like there was some work done since solstisizing. Surfaces on tables was in better shape than some on Summit, or Constellation. Our shower in the RS on Millennium was cleaner than on Summit. The shower bottom in the CS had damage that was visible, but it was clearn.

 

How sad to have to wonder what cabin to book or where to walk to avoid the smell....would not want that for my corridor or balcony...

 

sounds like what started to happen some yrs ago on Radiance...we lucked out but some of the nearby cabins were really bad

 

hoping we have good luck on Connie and Infinity..all M class,

 

I have no experience on Infinity, but the Constellation was in great shape a year ago, overall a bit better than Millennium with no bad smells at all.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[Aloha 1]

I don't think either of the cabins I stayed in for 2 weeks was sad or tatty, even with some maintenance issues in one of them. They seem like there was some work done since solstisizing. Surfaces on tables was in better shape than some on Summit, or Constellation. Our shower in the RS on Millennium was cleaner than on Summit. The shower bottom in the CS had damage that was visible, but it was clean

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

We also stayed in a RS, two in fact. In both, the shower and general bathroom tiles were in serious need of cleaning and repair ( broken pieces). I suspect you got lucky.

 

The fact is X needs to clean these ships up or get rid of them.

[dalgirl]

Older ships have their problems like older houses, and the main draw on this cruise is Asia. I'll hope for the best, and I am sure we will have a wonderful time. And a small can of air fresher may help :)

 

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[Blue Lagoon]

Older ships have their problems like older houses, and the main draw on this cruise is Asia. I'll hope for the best, and I am sure we will have a wonderful time. And a small can of air fresher may help :)

 

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A can of air freshener will not be allowed onto the ship if it is bought in a port during the cruise. We had a can confiscated (because of the explosive warning) and tagged and could not disembark until we had the item returned to us even though we said it could be passed to the housekeeping department. We could hardly board a flight with this item either, so dumped it in the nearest garbage.

The good news is that when we explained why we had purchased it, the chief housekeeper paid our bathroom a visit and some serious cleaning happened. Now, we use the hanging pine tree deodorizers - jasmine scent is particularly nice.

[Christine Frances]

A can of air freshener will not be allowed onto the ship if it is bought in a port during the cruise. We had a can confiscated (because of the explosive warning) and tagged and could not disembark until we had the item returned to us even though we said it could be passed to the housekeeping department. We could hardly board a flight with this item either, so dumped it in the nearest garbage.

The good news is that when we explained why we had purchased it, the chief housekeeper paid our bathroom a visit and some serious cleaning happened. Now, we use the hanging pine tree deodorizers - jasmine scent is particularly nice.

 

But it is ok at the start of the cruise right? We bring quite a bit of aerosols on board, hair and bug spray, deoderant, small Nilodor for the bathroom etc with no problem. They are in our checked luggage for flights though and always make it on board the ship..

[miched]

As Gek wrote attitude is the main culprit.

 

The first time that we sailed on the Summit we expected it to be like the S class ships because it was Soltiized and we built it up to friends that sailed with us. Wee were really disappointed as we we in AQ and it was not the same as AQ on the Solstice. That plus trying to make sure that our friends were enjoying themselves and then some others issues that they had made it one of our worst cruises ever. The next year we sailed the same cruise by ourselves and it was one of our most enjoyable.

 

We also just got off the Eclipse. We did the same exact cruise with the same cabin 3 times in the last year. It was not as enjoyable as the previous 2 times because we were bored. We have this same cruise scheduled.for Mar 2015 and we are seriously considering canceling. I am sure that the majority really enjoyed it but If I were to write a review it would not be favorable. It is more of a personal opinion as we are getting tired of the same food, entertainment, and ports. We have also noticed many cutbacks in personnel, amenities, entertainment, and activities so that also contributes to it. Plus it appears as if the quality of food is getting worse.

 

If we haven't done this cruise before it may not have been noticeable but for us it is.

 

It is just our opinion and I won't write a review as it is probalby not a fair evaluation because of what we expected from past experience and it is probably due to all the great times we had before and they can't be repeated or lived again. The first time is usually always the best.

 

Happy cruising 🚢🚢🇺🇸🌞

Edited December 22, 2014 by miched