Is Celebrity pulling out of San Juan again?

[Guest TopoChico]

On 11/30/2022 at 11:28 AM, fedexretiree said:

I was looking to book a 7 night out of San Juan on the Millennium for Oct 2023. It appears that after April 2023 there are no more sailings from San Juan listed anywhere.

 

 

These current Millennium sailings were added on in 3rd week of April 2022 as the ship was supposed to be elsewhere but moved to SJ due to Covid. Millennium is going back to its original itinerary after spring 2023. No one knows what will happen is what we were told onboard by future cruise desk.  

 

 I booked this sailing the day they were released. There are a little more than 1000 people on currently.  The ship is noticeably empty, the specialty restaurants are empty. San Juan resident said he paid $350 for the week. 
I’m not a financier but this route currently is not a money maker. I brought up food because that’s important to know if you’re looking to book a cruise out of SJ right now expecting a pre-Covid dining experience.  
I apologize for providing more detail than what was asked. I wish I had known what I know now when I booked.  I would not repeat this cruise. 

Edited December 2, 2022 by TopoChico

[fedexretiree]

23 hours ago, TopoChico said:

 I’m on a Celebrity ship out of San Juan right now giving observations about the current experience. I’ve been on Summit 7x out of San Juan. I guess don’t read the comments you don’t want to see.

Thx for the food comments..

Sorry to hear that the food isn't up to par.  Gosh that was 1 thing we were looking forward to in April.  Last cruise on the Summit a few yrs ago food was decent.. not 5 star but better than Golden Corral. Hope they are still serving crispy bacon for breakfast or I will really be upset..lol. As long as I don't have to grocery shop, cook, or wash dishes I'm fairly easy to please food wise.  Maybe I can drop a few pounds that would actually be a bonus.

 

[Guest TopoChico]

8 hours ago, fedexretiree said:

Thx for the food comments..

Sorry to hear that the food isn't up to par.  Gosh that was 1 thing we were looking forward to in April.  Last cruise on the Summit a few yrs ago food was decent.. not 5 star but better than Golden Corral. Hope they are still serving crispy bacon for breakfast or I will really be upset..lol. As long as I don't have to grocery shop, cook, or wash dishes I'm fairly easy to please food wise.  Maybe I can drop a few pounds that would actually be a bonus.

 

Yeah, there were four of us, we all agreed that stuffed cabbage,  beef stew and steamed cauliflower were very weird options for a Caribbean cruise lunch buffet.  My son commented he didn’t recall ever eating stuffed cabbage in his bathing suit at 12:30 in the afternoon 😂😂

 

And I don’t know what the deal was with the Mortadella, but they had it every day, all day, breakfast lunch and dinner as the only option with the humongous blocks of hot sweaty, greasy cheese that were always out (without a knife to cut a piece.)  Mortadella is very expensive so they must have gotten a deal on a boatload of it haha
I should mention, we loved the ports and the ship looks great.  The crew are amazing as was the coffee bar.  We also had some really, really good room service meals! The room service chicken yogurt skewers, Caesar salad and salmon were super good.  And the Turkey club and burgers were great too.  🙂  have fun when you go and please report back if the food improves!!!

[Redtravel]

I love San Juan. It’s great to start a cruise in San Juan where you always have warm weather.   Just got into Miami to board a cruise. Nice weather, but cool. However, plane fares to San Juan are much more expensive than planes to Miami.  It is easier to get to mainland USA ports. Many people during pandemic are more comfortable not flying.  Our first post pandemic cruise was from Bayonne, a quick drive from my home in NJ.  It took us a long time to fly again.  After my flight today on a sold out plane, driving is a good option.  

[davekathy]

1 hour ago, Redtravel said:

I love San Juan. It’s great to start a cruise in San Juan where you always have warm weather.   Just got into Miami to board a cruise. Nice weather, but cool. However, plane fares to San Juan are much more expensive than planes to Miami.  It is easier to get to mainland USA ports. Many people during pandemic are more comfortable not flying.  Our first post pandemic cruise was from Bayonne, a quick drive from my home in NJ.  It took us a long time to fly again.  After my flight today on a sold out plane, driving is a good option.  

Port intensive cruises is a huge plus. Also fewer sea days, is another bonus for us. For us long flights, 13+ hours is a bummer.

[tartana]

We sailed on Millennium Nov 19-26 out of SJ.  We like sailing out of SJ.  You get to the more Southern Caribbean without a bunch of extra sea days.... And we enjoy spending time in OSJ. We found the food on Millie just fine.  I agree there seemed to be some "extra" odd food stations at the buffet that didn't seem to get touched too much, but we had no trouble finding food choices we liked at all our meals. I do wonder why they shove all the main food stations way down at the back of the buffet, though.  Everything seems to get congested this way.  We decided to opt out of Tuscan Grille  - the price (especially when converted to our CAD dollar) seemed a bit over the top for us...when we enjoy the MDR anyway.  Sometimes, I wonder if it's the foods people choose too - and the regions where many of the guests are from (depending which foods get cleared out more quickly).  We had a very large Spanish percentage out of SJ on our cruise. Thankfully, the bread and Cafe El Bacio are still pretty much the same as well! 🙂❤️  

[fedexretiree]

2 hours ago, tartana said:

We sailed on Millennium Nov 19-26 out of SJ.  We like sailing out of SJ.  You get to the more Southern Caribbean without a bunch of extra sea days.... And we enjoy spending time in OSJ. We found the food on Millie just fine.  I agree there seemed to be some "extra" odd food stations at the buffet that didn't seem to get touched too much, but we had no trouble finding food choices we liked at all our meals. I do wonder why they shove all the main food stations way down at the back of the buffet, though.  Everything seems to get congested this way.  We decided to opt out of Tuscan Grille  - the price (especially when converted to our CAD dollar) seemed a bit over the top for us...when we enjoy the MDR anyway.  Sometimes, I wonder if it's the foods people choose too - and the regions where many of the guests are from (depending which foods get cleared out more quickly).  We had a very large Spanish percentage out of SJ on our cruise. Thankfully, the bread and Cafe El Bacio are still pretty much the same as well! 🙂❤️  

Do they still have the grill at the very back of the buffet area where you can get grilled chicken, steak or fish?

[Guest TopoChico]

2 hours ago, fedexretiree said:

Do they still have the grill at the very back of the buffet area where you can get grilled chicken, steak or fish?

No.  They had pans filled with tepid precooked burgers and hot dogs. Very low quality. 

[Guest TopoChico]

4 hours ago, tartana said:

We sailed on Millennium Nov 19-26 out of SJ.  We like sailing out of SJ.  You get to the more Southern Caribbean without a bunch of extra sea days.... And we enjoy spending time in OSJ. We found the food on Millie just fine.  I agree there seemed to be some "extra" odd food stations at the buffet that didn't seem to get touched too much, but we had no trouble finding food choices we liked at all our meals. I do wonder why they shove all the main food stations way down at the back of the buffet, though.  Everything seems to get congested this way.  We decided to opt out of Tuscan Grille  - the price (especially when converted to our CAD dollar) seemed a bit over the top for us...when we enjoy the MDR anyway.  Sometimes, I wonder if it's the foods people choose too - and the regions where many of the guests are from (depending which foods get cleared out more quickly).  We had a very large Spanish percentage out of SJ on our cruise. Thankfully, the bread and Cafe El Bacio are still pretty much the same as well! 🙂❤️  

I’m just curious, what did you eat at the buffet that really wowed you? 
I remember on Celebrity Summit there were so many good choices it was overwhelming deciding what to eat first. I remember afternoon sushi, and a make your own sandwich bar with really good cold cuts and fresh shrimp and chicken salads. None of that exists now. 
I’m half-Puerto Rican and there were very few foods I grew up with on our sailing.  Mostly beef/chicken stews and leftover based items. 
Did they have Mortadella all over the place on your sailing? 😂

[fedexretiree]

1 hour ago, TopoChico said:

No.  They had pans filled with tepid precooked burgers and hot dogs. Very low quality. 

OH NO... That was the one thing that we really enjoyed about the buffet.  Everything that was grilled back there was pretty good.   We would also go back there every morning to get our omelets made there was ..never..a line.

Please tell me they are they still making fresh to order omelets??

[davekathy]

2 hours ago, TopoChico said:

No.  They had pans filled with tepid precooked burgers and hot dogs. Very low quality. 

 

4 hours ago, fedexretiree said:

Do they still have the grill at the very back of the buffet area where you can get grilled chicken, steak or fish?

Skip the buffet and go out to the mast/pool grill. You can order your 'burger your way. We always have and no complaints. Cooked to order and hot. 

[Guest TopoChico]

4 minutes ago, davekathy said:

 

Skip the buffet and go out to the mast/pool grill. You can order your 'burger your way. We always have and no complaints. Cooked to order and hot. 

I know.  But he asked if they’re still doing the grilled meats and chicken at the buffet and they’re not anymore and are subbing pans of already cooked burgers and dogs.

[Guest TopoChico]

1 hour ago, fedexretiree said:

OH NO... That was the one thing that we really enjoyed about the buffet.  Everything that was grilled back there was pretty good.   We would also go back there every morning to get our omelets made there was ..never..a line.

Please tell me they are they still making fresh to order omelets??

Yep, omelettes are good, bacon crispy, corned beef hash was good too.  We had no problems with the breakfast buffet at all, it just didn't offer the elegant options it once had, like Eggs Benedict, a muesli bar, etc, Huevos rancheros - all gone.

It’s what I would have expected on a Carnival ship when we were  cruising Princess and Celebrity, if that makes sense.  
 

I don’t eat breakfast, just Cappuccino and a croissant for me, but my family did most mornings and they enjoyed it. 

Edited December 4, 2022 by TopoChico

[davekathy]

11 minutes ago, TopoChico said:

I know.  But he asked if they’re still doing the grilled meats and chicken at the buffet and they’re not anymore and are subbing pans of already cooked burgers and dogs.

And that's why I said go out to the mast/pool grill as you also mentioned 'bergers and dogs. 

Edited December 4, 2022 by davekathy

[Guest TopoChico]

3 minutes ago, davekathy said:

And that's why I said go out to the mast/pool grill as you also mentioned 'bergers and dogs. 

They’re not grilling steaks and chicken anymore. In place of that- they are offering precooked burgers and hot dogs in metal pans. 
 

If you want to do the buffet and then also stand behind 20 people waiting in line for a burger, then yes, go outside.  I preferred the grilled station ON the buffet line.  It was better.  
 

 

[davekathy]

14 minutes ago, TopoChico said:

They’re not grilling steaks and chicken anymore. In place of that- they are offering precooked burgers and hot dogs in metal pans. 
 

If you want to do the buffet and then also stand behind 20 people waiting in line for a burger, then yes, go outside.  I preferred the grilled station ON the buffet line.  It was better.  
 

 

Yes there may be a line at the pool/mast grill depending on the time of day. Well worth the short wait as we always request our 'burger cooked our way. Maybe you were standing behind us. 😂 I've also  seen the OVC and the mast/pool grill have pans of precooked 'burgers. Never had one. Better is subjective. If yours was in your opinion, that's all that matters. 

Edited December 4, 2022 by davekathy

[Guest TopoChico]

15 minutes ago, TopoChico said:

They’re not grilling steaks and chicken anymore. In place of that- they are offering precooked burgers and hot dogs in metal pans. 
 

If you want to do the buffet and then also stand behind 20 people waiting in line for a burger, then yes, go outside.  I preferred the grilled station ON the buffet line.  It was better.  
 

 

I don’t eat burgers or fries or hot dogs. My husband does.  But the line for the burgers was crazy busy - maybe because no one wanted stuffed cabbage for lunch.
 

 I liked to have grilled chicken or slice some steak on a nice big salad. To get that now, you can get chicken but have to order it from room service as there’s no chicken or steak in the buffet lunch or buffet dinner on the 7 days we were on.  Also, there was never any lettuce. So weird. 

Edited December 4, 2022 by TopoChico

[davekathy]

4 minutes ago, TopoChico said:

I don’t eat burgers or fries or hot dogs. My husband does.  But the line for the burgers was crazy busy - maybe because no one wanted stuffed cabbage for lunch.
 

 I liked to have grilled chicken or slice some steak on a nice big salad. To get that now, you can get chicken but have to order it from room service as there’s no chicken or steak in the buffet lunch or buffet dinner on the 7 days we were on.  

Why did you quote yourself. Never mind. You can also get grilled chicken breast at the pool/mast grill.  

 

Back to the topic of this thread. IMO, cruises leaving from OSJ have some of the best Caribbean itineraries. Port intensive and very few sea days. First leg of our March B2B Caribbean cruise had zero sea days and the second leg had two. 

Edited December 4, 2022 by davekathy

[Guest TopoChico]

3 hours ago, davekathy said:

Back to the topic of this thread. IMO, cruises leaving from OSJ have some of the best Caribbean itineraries. Port intensive and very few sea days. First leg of our March B2B Caribbean cruise had zero sea days and the second leg had two. 

The topic of this thread was Is Celebrity Pulling Out of San Juan again. The OP did seem interested in the current situation on the Millennium. 
 

Also, if you were on 11/26 sailing, you would know there was no grilled chicken at the pool grill. I was there. 
 

 

[davekathy]

51 minutes ago, TopoChico said:

The topic of this thread was Is Celebrity Pulling Out of San Juan again. The OP did seem interested in the current situation on the Millennium. 
 

Also, if you were on 11/26 sailing, you would know there was no grilled chicken at the pool grill. I was there. 
 

 

Like you I was only sharing my experiences on our recent Summit cruise. I must have missed you on that cruise. 😉We cancelled our March 2023 B2B cruise on the Millennium out of OSJ. 

Edited December 5, 2022 by davekathy

[tartana]

Still off the main topic LOL, but back to the food.... Nov 19-26 Millie out of SJ.... We love the itineraries out of San Juan.....We didn't eat in the buffet a lot other than breakfast every day, a couple lunches and one dinner.  I had fresh baguette with smoked salmon, cucumber, cream cheese, fresh fruit every morning....and made to order eggs Benedict 3 mornings- at the buffet.  At lunch one or two days, we had grilled chicken, pork, fish, make your own sandwich with ham/cheese/etc,; pizza...and we often just added a bit of finger food/salad items to a burger from the Mast Grill by the pool - which were very good and made to order. We enjoyed the Mexican food station with beef or chicken fajita grill and the ingredients to make your own taco/fajita...nachos, chill, cheese, etc....My husband had bacon, eggs, hash browns, roasted potato, sausage, fruit most days for breakfast. There were stations for made to order eggs and omelettes. French toast, waffles, pancakes.... We also had no issues with the lovely meals at the Main Dining Room.... 

[tartana]

11 hours ago, fedexretiree said:

Do they still have the grill at the very back of the buffet area where you can get grilled chicken, steak or fish?

I can't tell you for sure if there was an actual grill they were serving from because that was never what I was really looking for, but I did pick up some of those grilled meats from a serving tray one day at lunch time...with rice and potato. 

[fedexretiree]

55 minutes ago, tartana said:

I can't tell you for sure if there was an actual grill they were serving from because that was never what I was really looking for, but I did pick up some of those grilled meats from a serving tray one day at lunch time...with rice and potato. 

Thx for the food info....when we were on the Millennium in Alaska and the  Summit ..back in the day ..Jan. 2020..

In the evenings we would go to the aft buffet and they had chicken, minute steaks and fish that they would grill every evening.  Also the steam tables would have some grilled vegetables and I can't recall what else but there were usually good options.  

I think they had salmon as well.  I will miss that for sure.

 

[cw2go]

9 hours ago, fedexretiree said:

Thx for the food info....when we were on the Millennium in Alaska and the  Summit ..back in the day ..Jan. 2020..

In the evenings we would go to the aft buffet and they had chicken, minute steaks and fish that they would grill every evening.  Also the steam tables would have some grilled vegetables and I can't recall what else but there were usually good options.  

I think they had salmon as well.  I will miss that for sure.

 

 

By "grill' I think you mean a flattop? There wasn't a grill on any of my Millie sailings in Alaska. They did have a station at the year of OVC where they cooked exactly what you describe to order but it was on a large flattop. If I remember correctly they always had stainless steel trays with precooked meats and sides available along with the cooked to order option. I honestly can't imagine that being gone. I also would enjoy this after a long day in Alaska. 

 

Post #71 sounds like what I've always experienced on Celebrity. 

Since you are the OP, I felt it would be on point to respond without going too far off topic. 

 

Patty 

[fedexretiree]

2 hours ago, cw2go said:

 

By "grill' I think you mean a flattop? There wasn't a grill on any of my Millie sailings in Alaska. They did have a station at the year of OVC where they cooked exactly what you describe to order but it was on a large flattop. If I remember correctly they always had stainless steel trays with precooked meats and sides available along with the cooked to order option. I honestly can't imagine that being gone. I also would enjoy this after a long day in Alaska. 

 

Post #71 sounds like what I've always experienced on Celebrity. 

Since you are the OP, I felt it would be on point to respond without going too far off topic. 

 

Patty 

 Yes it was a flat top.. Had that on the Summit too.   No worries about getting off topic.  Thanks to everyone that has responded about everything.