Jim_Iain (with and Eye) - B2B Millennium 10/11 and 10/19 Pacific Coastal

[Jim_Iain]

I have decided to fire up this thread a week early this time as I am actively planning since we booked on such short notice.  Something we have never done before.

After returning from our last cruise I still had the itch to get back to cruising.   When I saw the Pacific Coastal cruises I suggested to Iain that we take one and he responded only if we can do a B2B.  Minutes later I was contacting a new agent and getting some quotes.   

 

We had a problem with an agent we used for the past 4-5 years and decided to use an agency we booked 4 cruises with that were cancelled.    The problem was that neither Agent OBC credits ever showed up and I eventually had to contact Lisa's office to help out.   Near the end of our cruise with time running out they gave me a "Good Will" non-refundable credit and applied to a couple cruises in March 2022.  Not ideal but was a good solutions to a problem that had gone on for 2 weeks.

 

Enough of that and on to brighter subject.

 

The two Millennium cruises are identical.     Embarkation and Disembarkation are in San Diego with an overnight in San Francisco then stops on Catalina Island and Ensenada.   We live about 35 miles south of San Francisco. 

 

 

 

 

It seems crazy to visit a port so close to home but we always have a great time and sometimes you have an opportunity to do things only tourists do in you own backyard.

 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

Looking forward to following along. 
 

we did a Mexican Riviera cruise on RCL years ago and have been talking about doing something on the Left coast other than Alaska, we have B2B RCL for next year. 
 

[Jim_Iain]

15 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

Looking forward to following along. 
 

we did a Mexican Riviera cruise on RCL years ago and have been talking about doing something on the Left coast other than Alaska, we have B2B RCL for next year. 
 

 

It will  really be nice to fly in the day of the cruise instead of the long haul coast to coast flights.  

[maggie.1008]

We live near Palm Springs. We have done the Pacific Coastal many times. So nice to drive instead of flying. All signed up for the May 2022 cruise. 

[Jim_Iain]

My first tasks after booking was to get the Flight arranged.   We are luck in the Bay Area and have 3 airports withing about 40 miles.    Our closes is San Jose which is 8 miles away.

 

I usually use flights.Google.com to do my initial research on air fares.    They show the best flights and also the trend on pricing.   You can also set up alerts.

 

For this trip I chose Alaska as they fly about every other hour.    Google suggested for the best price to buy the tickets separately.   Which I did.   Got round trip in 1st class for about $300.   The flight down is about 2x the price of the return since it is within 2 weeks.

[chemmo]

Sincere best wishes for a fantastic b2b cruise…I must confess much as we loved (and were grateful for) our staycation cruise in the UK it leaves us longing for our next on board experience….

 

Enjoy!

[FLCruiser97]

Following you guys. Millennium is my favorite Celebrity ship. 1st sailing on her 2002. The Olympic dining room at that time was the best restaurant at sea. I haven't sailed on her in some time but have a Thanksgiving cruise on her in Nov. Looking forward to your review.  

[Laurab23]

What cabins did you choose for this cruise? I will be following your adventure.

 

Laura

[Covepointcruiser]

If he is traveling first class for the short coastal flight, you can bet he is in a high level suite.   At least Alaska has First Class, United only has Business First and even on a five hour flight you just get a bag of chips or pretzels and alcoholic beverages.   The wine we had came from a small single serve wine bottle.   

[Vandyv]

We too will be following this thread, as we board Millennium after the second half of your b2b.  Looking forward to cruising again..it's been two and a half years since our last onboard adventure, and we sorely miss it!  Crisi and Vandy.    

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, maggie.1008 said:

We live near Palm Springs. We have done the Pacific Coastal many times. So nice to drive instead of flying. All signed up for the May 2022 cruise. 

That would be so nice to drive to the port.   If I recall the port isn't really pretty.

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, chemmo said:

Sincere best wishes for a fantastic b2b cruise…I must confess much as we loved (and were grateful for) our staycation cruise in the UK it leaves us longing for our next on board experience….

 

Enjoy!

 

I have to agree.   At least after our first cruise we feel much more comfortable cruising.   

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, FLCruiser97 said:

Following you guys. Millennium is my favorite Celebrity ship. 1st sailing on her 2002. The Olympic dining room at that time was the best restaurant at sea. I haven't sailed on her in some time but have a Thanksgiving cruise on her in Nov. Looking forward to your review.  

 

I agree.   It was a real shame that they took Olympic out.    It was such a beautiful dining room and the memories are so good of the dinners we have had.  

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Covepointcruiser said:

If he is traveling first class for the short coastal flight, you can bet he is in a high level suite.   At least Alaska has First Class, United only has Business First and even on a five hour flight you just get a bag of chips or pretzels and alcoholic beverages.   The wine we had came from a small single serve wine bottle.   

LOL --- the choice of Fist was a no-brainer.    First was only $34 more per person.   It is an Embraer ERJ-175  74 passenger regional jet so not expecting much in the way of service for the 1 hour 15 minute flight.    

 

 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2021 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Vandyv said:

We too will be following this thread, as we board Millennium after the second half of your b2b.  Looking forward to cruising again..it's been two and a half years since our last onboard adventure, and we sorely miss it!  Crisi and Vandy.    

 

 

Fantastic.    Ask away if any questions pop up.   I'll try to answer or I'm sure some of the other CC members will help out and we will find the answer.

 

 

[Maggie North]

Thank you for starting this thread…we are booked on Millie out of Fort Lauderdale next month in Aqua Class. Looking forward to your fabulous reviews. Bon voyage!

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Maggie North said:

Thank you for starting this thread…we are booked on Millie out of Fort Lauderdale next month in Aqua Class. Looking forward to your fabulous reviews. Bon voyage!

Will try my best to report all I can from this sailing.    Feel free to jump in at anytime.

[Jim_Iain]

I was just playing around.  What I do when bored.     I looked at Flights by Celebrity for what they would charge for the same flights I booked.   Obviously something is wrong with their pricing --

 

My Booking direct with Alaska -  Round Trip in First

 

$288 Round Trip

 

 

Flights by Celebrity ----    Good example of a warning to do your Research.  Flights.google.com recommend buying tickets each way separately, which I did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2021 by Jim_Iain

[runningprophet]

We absolutely love your spirit ... we will be following your B2B and will welcome you off the Millenium as we board the ship for the the Panama Canal crossing ... or should you choose ... join us  ...

Paul & Candy 

[GMoney]

Thanks so much for this thread. I booked the 10/19 cruise today (while on RC Ovation for 3 weeks). I already had the 10:27 canal sailing booked, so now I’m on for 23 nights. 
 

Millennium and Summit are my favorite ships. 
 

anyone know if the buffet is open for dinner? I’m guessing it’s not. 

[Jim_Iain]

15 minutes ago, runningprophet said:

We absolutely love your spirit ... we will be following your B2B and will welcome you off the Millenium as we board the ship for the the Panama Canal crossing ... or should you choose ... join us  ...

Paul & Candy 

 

I was really tempted to add the Canal trip on but we have some plans that conflict.  It's a great trip and interesting to watch the operation.    A good set of binoculars is a good idea as there is lots of things to see.  We saw gators, monkey's and lots of beautiful birds.

[Jim_Iain]

11 minutes ago, GMoney said:

Thanks so much for this thread. I booked the 10/19 cruise today (while on RC Ovation for 3 weeks). I already had the 10:27 canal sailing booked, so now I’m on for 23 nights. 
 

Millennium and Summit are my favorite ships. 
 

anyone know if the buffet is open for dinner? I’m guessing it’s not. 

 

That sounds like a fun trip.     I guess we aren't the only ones adding last minute cruises. 

[Jim_Iain]

Let's compare Millennium to Equinox -  The pictures do not reflect their current hull colors.

 

 

 

Attached -  if it works was the original Fleet Guide to the Revolution - Really interesting if your into details.    It shows how they planned the revolution and capacity which is why Aqua only allows 2 pax per cabin. 

 

Even though they added cabins in the Revolution the Maximum Capacity had to remain the same due to their certification and life raft capacity.    Number in pink shading show the number of new cabins of each category added.

 

12030112_CEL_FleetGuide - Ship ship comparison.pdf

Edited October 3, 2021 by Jim_Iain

[KAE27]

1 hour ago, GMoney said:

Thanks so much for this thread. I booked the 10/19 cruise today (while on RC Ovation for 3 weeks). I already had the 10:27 canal sailing booked, so now I’m on for 23 nights. 
 

Millennium and Summit are my favorite ships. 
 

anyone know if the buffet is open for dinner? I’m guessing it’s not. 

Why wouldn't it be?  I don't mean that as a snarky question; just legitimately confused.  We were on the Millennium in August and of course it was open at dinner, but I wonder if I'm misreading the question.

 

Looking forward to joining the second leg of this B2B.  I'll be in a Sky Suite solo, but I was also in a Royal Suite on my August trip, so I can help answer any questions on those, the Retreat, and anything else!

[Laurab23]

8 minutes ago, KAE27 said:

Why wouldn't it be?  I don't mean that as a snarky question; just legitimately confused.  We were on the Millennium in August and of course it was open at dinner, but I wonder if I'm misreading the question.

 

Looking forward to joining the second leg of this B2B.  I'll be in a Sky Suite solo, but I was also in a Royal Suite on my August trip, so I can help answer any questions on those, the Retreat, and anything else!

Does the Royal Suite have just one bathroom?

 

Laura