Has anyone sailed on Celebrity Millennium recently?

[jbinpa]

Hi - I’m looking at an Alaska itinerary on Celebrity Millennium later this year. I’ve heard good things about Celebrity, especially the food, but that Millennium isn’t one of its newer ships (though it has been renovated). Has anyone here been on Millennium since the renovation? What was your experience? Thanks!

[Purplsmurf]

We were on Millennium at the end of July for an Alaskan cruise. It was great! 

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, Purplsmurf said:

We were on Millennium at the end of July for an Alaskan cruise. It was great! 

 

 Any specifics you can provide about why the ship was great?  We are going to be sailing on her in April and I am having a difficult time finding recent live reports or reviews. 

 

[Cruise Gopher]

We were on Millennium over Thanksgiving week. Also sailed on her over Easter in 2022. It’s a great ship and the revolution upgrades are great, all new modern decor in the rooms. 
 

Public areas and bars are in great shape, crew was amazing everywhere on the ship. Food great, no complaints. 
 

We didn’t go to any of the shows so I can’t comment on those. 
 

Martini bar is our favorite and the bartenders there are fantastic. 

[Honolulu Blue]

7 hours ago, jbinpa said:

Hi - I’m looking at an Alaska itinerary on Celebrity Millennium later this year. I’ve heard good things about Celebrity, especially the food, but that Millennium isn’t one of its newer ships (though it has been renovated). Has anyone here been on Millennium since the renovation? What was your experience? Thanks!

I was on the Millie in November.  I have good news and bad news for you.  The good news is that I had a great time on my cruise, what I saw of the entertainment was surprisingly good (the show Boogie Wonderland and soloist Kristina Wells), and I thought the food was excellent.

 

The bad news is that the food situation on Celebrity seems to be in transition.  Room service has, or will soon, increase to $12 per order (with some exceptions); there are reports of the dinner buffet having its selections cut; and some MDR menus have been simplified.  I'm too lazy to link all the discussion threads here discussing these changes, but they're all over page 1 and 2 here.

 

What I will link is my review of my cruise on the Millennium.  Have fun!

 

[jbinpa]

Thank you! This is helpful. 

[scubarn1]

I was on the Millie last week for a 3 night cruise and the ship is beautiful. The last time I was on Millie was in 2014 for an Alaskan cruise. I have been sailing on the edge class ship my last few cruises. Last week the ship was at 100% capacity and It only felt crowded on our sea day when everyone was at the pool. You will not be disappointed. 

[cw2go]

I've sailed Millie in Alaska twice and am returning this July!

Have enjoyed all of my sailings on her. 

 

Patty 

[NutsAboutGolf]

10 hours ago, jbinpa said:

Hi - I’m looking at an Alaska itinerary on Celebrity Millennium later this year. I’ve heard good things about Celebrity, especially the food, but that Millennium isn’t one of its newer ships (though it has been renovated). Has anyone here been on Millennium since the renovation? What was your experience? Thanks!

She’s a great ship that has been revolutionized.  M-Class ships have the indoor whirlpool which is available to anyone.  Only M-Class downside is in AQ, not a enough seating in Blu during peak times and the spa thermal lounger is one giant bench.

 

Food is very subjective, while the MDR/Buffet will be a little bit better than carnival (carnival beats them at desserts), guys burgers blows away celebrity’s mast grill/buffet burgers

[AstoriaPreppy]

When Celebrity "revolutionized" the Summit and Millennium, they went far beyond the typical cruise ship refit. They completely transformed several public rooms, including the Rendezvous lounge, the buffet, and the MDR.

 

Most importantly, they gutted every stateroom down to the wall studs and totally redesigned them... it's pretty extraordinary. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the ship. 

[DaKahuna]

Thanks everyone for sharing their experiences.  We are certainly looking forward to it.  We have two sailing on Millie scheduled for this year -- April Panama Canal transit (East to West) and 12-night Best of Japan in November.  In Sky Suites for both, but may consider an upgrade if the price is right.  Concerned that my DW will have issues with storage on the revolutionized ship the same as we had with Silhouette.  She really missed the shelves behind the corner mirrors in the bathroom.  I missed the decent height table that we could use for in suite meals.  I think I saw a video of one Sky Suite that did not even have a coffee table.  We enjoyed eating lunch on the balcony on port days on Silhouette. 

[Whinenowine]

Sailed on Millie in Alaska this past August.  For a 22 year old ship she's in great shape.  X did a good job during her Revolution in 2019.  It's NOT an E-class ship, it's more traditional.  Sort of the best of the old and the new.  I found all our meals were good and the crew was fabulous (most of them could have gone to one of the newer ships but chose to stay on the Millie).  The shows were better than expected--as good as our Edge cruise back in April.  We chose the Millie for Alaska both because she was was the only Revolutionized ship (now they've got the Edge too) and because her itinerary took us to new places we'd not seen on the closed loop trips.

 

[villauk]

5 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Thanks everyone for sharing their experiences.  We are certainly looking forward to it.  We have two sailing on Millie scheduled for this year -- April Panama Canal transit (East to West) and 12-night Best of Japan in November.  In Sky Suites for both, but may consider an upgrade if the price is right.  Concerned that my DW will have issues with storage on the revolutionized ship the same as we had with Silhouette.  She really missed the shelves behind the corner mirrors in the bathroom.  I missed the decent height table that we could use for in suite meals.  I think I saw a video of one Sky Suite that did not even have a coffee table.  We enjoyed eating lunch on the balcony on port days on Silhouette. 

 

Are you considering completing a review after your Best of Japan cruise? I would be most interested in reading your findings.

[DaKahuna]

6 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

Are you considering completing a review after your Best of Japan cruise? I would be most interested in reading your findings.

 

 Yes, It is my intention to do a live review of both the Panama Canal and Best of Japan cruises.  Be forewarned, my DW has said that depending on how the Panama Canal cruise goes, she may decided to do a land vacation in Japan vs a cruise.  I really want to do the cruise to see parts of Japan that I've never seen before and eat a lot of my favorite foods that I have not found outside of Japan. 

 

[Purplsmurf]

18 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 Any specifics you can provide about why the ship was great?  We are going to be sailing on her in April and I am having a difficult time finding recent live reports or reviews. 

 

Millennium has been revolutionized so the cabins were in great shape. The ship looked wonderful. The staff was phenomenal as was the food and drink. The only thing we don’t really care for is the set up at the Oceanview Cafe. I would definitely sail on Millennium again, although we prefer S class ships. They have a better buffet layout and World Class Bar

[DaKahuna]

1 minute ago, Purplsmurf said:

Millennium has been revolutionized so the cabins were in great shape. The ship looked wonderful. The staff was phenomenal as was the food and drink. The only thing we don’t really care for is the set up at the Oceanview Cafe. I would definitely sail on Millennium again, although we prefer S class ships. They have a better buffet layout and World Class Bar

 

I know i will miss the World Class Bar but not so much my DW.  A glass of wine at lunch every once in a while, a gin & cranberry/tonic, and a glass of wine with dinner is about her limit.  I am a big fan of rum old fashioned (Ron Zacapa please), rum on the large ice cube in the World Class Bar, and do not shy away from wine with meals, Bailey's and Coffee, etc. etc. etc... About the only thing I do not drink on cruises is beer and scotch, unless they have Hibiki or other Japanese single malts. 

 

[Moochi]

3 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

I know i will miss the World Class Bar but not so much my DW.  A glass of wine at lunch every once in a while, a gin & cranberry/tonic, and a glass of wine with dinner is about her limit.  I am a big fan of rum old fashioned (Ron Zacapa please), rum on the large ice cube in the World Class Bar, and do not shy away from wine with meals, Bailey's and Coffee, etc. etc. etc... About the only thing I do not drink on cruises is beer and scotch, unless they have Hibiki or other Japanese single malts. 

 

There is no Hibiki or other good Japanese whiskey on Millie. There is no large ice cube either let alone clear ice. Sounds like you enjoy craft cocktails, go see Marren in Cellar Masters. She will be on the ship until June.

[DaKahuna]

11 hours ago, Moochi said:

There is no Hibiki or other good Japanese whiskey on Millie. There is no large ice cube either let alone clear ice. Sounds like you enjoy craft cocktails, go see Marren in Cellar Masters. She will be on the ship until June.

 

 Thanks for the suggestion.  I will make it a point, if I can remember, to stop by and have a drink with Marren.  I normally hang out at the World Class Bar, Retreat Lounge/Michael's Club, or the Martini Bar. 

[RTShaker]

On 1/12/2023 at 10:21 AM, DaKahuna said:

Thanks everyone for sharing their experiences.  We are certainly looking forward to it.  We have two sailing on Millie scheduled for this year -- April Panama Canal transit (East to West) and 12-night Best of Japan in November.  In Sky Suites for both, but may consider an upgrade if the price is right.  Concerned that my DW will have issues with storage on the revolutionized ship the same as we had with Silhouette.  She really missed the shelves behind the corner mirrors in the bathroom.  I missed the decent height table that we could use for in suite meals.  I think I saw a video of one Sky Suite that did not even have a coffee table.  We enjoyed eating lunch on the balcony on port days on Silhouette. 

It appears that I will be sailing along with you in April and are continuing on to Vancouver.

[Schmoe38]

23 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 Thanks for the suggestion.  I will make it a point, if I can remember, to stop by and have a drink with Marren.  I normally hang out at the World Class Bar, Retreat Lounge/Michael's Club, or the Martini Bar. 

Good Morning John

 

Not sure if you recall…we sailed on Silhouette together in March of 2022. As you are set to sail in a Sky Suite, I can give you a little perspective of the Retreat experience.

 

We sailed on Millennium in May 2022 and are sailing on her again in March 2023. The Retreat Lounge is an open concept and wonderful. We sincerely hope to see some familiar staff faces this year, as they were all fantastic. Genalyn was our favourite server in the Retreat Lounge. We saw a recent YouTube video of the Millennium Retreat and Genalyn was on board. Hope she is still there when we board.  It was quiet in there most times, but really nice. The Retreat was often quiet, but a nice place to go to relax, and have a different experience for lunch. Specialty dining is a little limited, but frankly, since we enjoyed Luminae so much, other alternatives were not as important.
 

Take a stroll by the Sunset Bar. If Pande is on board, and serving…take a seat and stay for a while. He will have your drink of choice under control after 1 day. Zacapa was nowhere to be found, so fingers crossed for March. If it’s not available, Brugal 1888 may be an option if it’s on board.

 

The recommendation of making friends with the Cellar Master is a great one. When we sailed on Summit in October 2022, our sommelier was a nice guy, but did not stray too far from the “old reliables” on the premium beverage package. We like to see what other alternatives are available.

 

The Cellar Master visited Luminae one night to say hello to the guests, and she saved the day. She brought wines (by the glass) that were of similar price without restrictions of us having to buy a bottle. That was impressive!

 

After our sailing in mid March, we will be able to give you a better idea as to who’s currently on board and who might still be on board when you sail in April.

 

If you look hard enough, you will always find something that doesn’t sit right. We really liked the upgrades and the overall feel of the ship. Luminae is a little smaller on Millennium than on Silhouette. There were times at dinner when the room was full, but we never had to wait when we arrived around 6:15pm-6:30pm each night.

 

We’re really looking forward to our next Millennium adventure.

 

Randy

 

 

[DaKahuna]

On 1/13/2023 at 11:46 PM, RTShaker said:

It appears that I will be sailing along with you in April and are continuing on to Vancouver.

 

That's great.  I am really looking forward to the cruise.  I kind of wish we were going on the 2nd leg up to Vancouver but alas, we're getting off in LA.  We've only sailed in/out of LA once before and that was on a Royal Caribbean Mexican Riviera cruise back in 2008 so I am sure a lot about the port has changed. 

 

 

[Guest TopoChico]

We were on in November.  The ship is absolutely beautiful.  Marren is WONDERFUL! She really knows her craft and she is delightful to speak with. 
Hopefully, the food situation will improve from the bad press they’re getting. It was stunningly bad on our sailing. 

[DaKahuna]

@TopoChico Can you expand on the "stunningly bad" food situation?  All dining venue's, OVC, specific restaurants or meals? 

 

 

[sbcs5390]

On 1/12/2023 at 9:18 PM, Moochi said:

There is no Hibiki or other good Japanese whiskey on Millie. There is no large ice cube either let alone clear ice. Sounds like you enjoy craft cocktails, go see Marren in Cellar Masters. She will be on the ship until June.

I'm so happy to see that Marren will be back on! She was great in March/April last year. Thank you for the info. 

[Guest TopoChico]

On 1/16/2023 at 10:01 AM, DaKahuna said:

@TopoChico Can you expand on the "stunningly bad" food situation?  All dining venue's, OVC, specific restaurants or meals? 

 

 

Mediocre food of Applebee’s quality in dining rooms. Specialty restaurants were unimpressive and not worth the upcharges. Italian steakhouse couldn’t do steak or Italian well.  Sushi was about as good as you’d find in a supermarket. 4 people for dinner cost $385 with gratuity. 
 Nonexistent dinner items on buffet. Lunch was a huge disappointment, but they had plenty of  bologna and cheese, avocado toasts on stale raisin bread,..pizza was not quite as good as a frozen DiGiorno. We didn’t go for breakfast. 

Room Service food was excellent but took forever to arrive,

.
 I am not new to Celebrity, nor am I extremely picky, butb this was a shockingly bad experience compared to our others which were always stellar. 

Edited January 28, 2023 by TopoChico