Has anyone sailed on Celebrity Millennium recently?

[D. B.]

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 Did you notice whether or not Sushi on Five was open on Port days?  Was looking at pre-sailing reservations and only showing evening hours available for booking.  Not seeing it open for lunch reservations on any of the days of our sailing. 

 

Sorry I'm not a sushi eater so I didn't notice.

[D. B.]

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

I appreciate your review, but having sailed out of San Juan, I would disagree with this. Pan American pier is only a 10 minute cab ride from OSJ. Not a long way by any reasonable measure.

If we were at the Piers on the other side like Princess uses you can walk off the ship into Old San Juan. 

[RichYak]

2 hours ago, D. B. said:

If we were at the Piers on the other side like Princess uses you can walk off the ship into Old San Juan. 

It's not just Princess. Celebrity also calls at that port, but ships don't embark/disembark there. It is generally used for mid-cruise port stops. The fact that you can't walk to it does not make Pan American Pier "a long way" from OSJ. It just isn't. Please don't double down on misinformation.

Edited March 1, 2023 by RichYak

[Fly and Sail]

10 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 Thanks.  It's not showing yet for our April 21st sailing yet. I will hold off until after check in on March 7 and  check again.  I know we'll want to do it the day we are in Cartagena as all we did the last time we were there was go to the little store at the end of the pier where the Peacocks and Parrots were.  

 

Plenty of things that aren't showing yet for that cruise and I also wait for some offers on beverage packages.

[DaKahuna]

10 hours ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

Plenty of things that aren't showing yet for that cruise and I also wait for some offers on beverage packages.

 

We booked a Sky Suite so that includes beverage package, gratuties, WiFi, and some OBC.   
At the prices these days for the Beverage Package, I am really glad we went the Suite route. 

 

[Fly and Sail]

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

We booked a Sky Suite so that includes beverage package, gratuties, WiFi, and some OBC.   
At the prices these days for the Beverage Package, I am really glad we went the Suite route. 

 

 

True, but the suites for this sailing aren't exactly cheap either. I shouldn't be complaining because my cruise was a BCC comp but still... I can't drink non-alc beverages for $500 in 2 weeks.

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

True, but the suites for this sailing aren't exactly cheap either. I shouldn't be complaining because my cruise was a BCC comp but still... I can't drink non-alc beverages for $500 in 2 weeks.

 

 I cannot say I blame you.  It's gotten to the point we do not book anything other than a suite on Celelbrity and thank goodness my wife loves to eat in Luminae.  I can't image what she would say if I told her the real reason we are booking suites is to get the DBP!  I am happy to let her think I am doing it so she can eat in Luminae. 

 

 

[sbcs5390]

On 2/28/2023 at 11:22 PM, RichYak said:

It's not just Princess. Celebrity also calls at that port, but ships don't embark/disembark there. It is generally used for mid-cruise port stops. The fact that you can't walk to it does not make Pan American Pier "a long way" from OSJ. It just isn't. Please don't double down on misinformation.

 

On 2/28/2023 at 8:52 PM, D. B. said:

If we were at the Piers on the other side like Princess uses you can walk off the ship into Old San Juan. 

The other thing to consider if the nightmare that would be provisioning at the Old San Juan piers. Imagine having to bring in tractor trailers of supplies along the cobblestones? It'd be impossible or very costly. I know the smaller ships like Crystal and a couple others did or do it there, but usually on the opposite week they are in Miami where I imagine they bring most supplies on and many guests do a B2B. The good news is, as @RichYakpointed out, Celebrity always calls at OSJ when it's a port call. 

[Jiminy1955]

On 1/12/2023 at 3:47 PM, DaKahuna said:

 

 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. 

 

We will be on the Panama Canal with you! Our first time on a Millennium class ship, we’ve been on several Solstice class. Also it’s our first canal cruise! Looking forward to this cruise after it was postponed twice due to Covid!

[Jiminy1955]

On 1/16/2023 at 6:15 AM, Guest TopoChico said:

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. 

I’ve heard that about the food recently and have concerns about that since we have enjoyed many meals on Celebrity cruises. In fact the food is one of the reasons we now cruise Celebrity exclusively!

[DaKahuna]

8 hours ago, Jiminy1955 said:

We will be on the Panama Canal with you! Our first time on a Millennium class ship, we’ve been on several Solstice class. Also it’s our first canal cruise! Looking forward to this cruise after it was postponed twice due to Covid!

 

 Yes, it will also be our first  on M-Class and first Panama Canal.  We've been to Cartagena, Colon, and Puerto Vallarta before so I am not sure what we will be doing in those ports. Last April when we were in Cartagena we just went to the little wildlife park at the end of the pier and watched the parrots, peacocks, flamingo's and even saw a deer.  

 

[DaKahuna]

Question - Anyone know the current status of Starlink deployment on Millie?  Last schedule I saw showed it would be sometime in March, IIRC. 

 

[Honolulu Blue]

51 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

Question - Anyone know the current status of Starlink deployment on Millie?  Last schedule I saw showed it would be sometime in March, IIRC. 

 I don't know about the Millie, but I do know Starlink is installed on her twin, the Summit

[RichYak]

3 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Question - Anyone know the current status of Starlink deployment on Millie?  Last schedule I saw showed it would be sometime in March, IIRC. 

 

My understanding is it went live on Millie a couple months ago.

[Keys Kathy]

On 2/28/2023 at 11:22 PM, RichYak said:

It's not just Princess. Celebrity also calls at that port, but ships don't embark/disembark there. It is generally used for mid-cruise port stops. The fact that you can't walk to it does not make Pan American Pier "a long way" from OSJ. It just isn't. Please don't double down on misinformation.

I believe people are referring to the port right across from the Casino and CVS. This port is in the middle of nowhere. You can't walk to anything.

[garyl62]

Not sure I'll solve anything, but I'll chime in since we've sailed out of the Pan American Pier and made mid-cruise stops at the San Juan Cruise Port Terminal along the shoreline of Old San Juan.

 

Mid cruise San Juan stops are done at the pier by Old San Juan and you can easily walk the old town area as well as the historical forts and other sites.  If you're starting or ending your cruise in San Juan you will do that at the Pan American Pier and will need to take some form of transportation to get there.

 

According to google maps it is 10.3 km, or 6.4 miles from SJU (the main airport) to the Pan American pier.  Right now, with the current traffic load, google says it will take 27 minutes for that trip.  I'll let everyone draw their own conclusions about how that fits into your own personal definition of time especially since I appreciate and interact with both @D. B. and @RichYak 😇

[RichYak]

37 minutes ago, Keys Kathy said:

I believe people are referring to the port right across from the Casino and CVS. This port is in the middle of nowhere. You can't walk to anything.

Yes, so am I in the first part of my post that you quoted. No one is confused about which port is which. My point is that Southampton port is a long way from London, Civitavecchia is a long way from Rome, Livorno is a long way from Florence... I could go on. But Pan American Pier is not a long way from OSJ.

[RichYak]

5 minutes ago, garyl62 said:

According to google maps it is 10.3 km, or 6.4 miles from SJU (the main airport) to the Pan American pier.  Right now, with the current traffic load, google says it will take 27 minutes for that trip.  I'll let everyone draw their own conclusions about how that fits into your own personal definition of time especially since I appreciate and interact with both @D. B. and @RichYak 😇

I think the point of the discussion was the distance between downtown Old San Juan where the sites are more so than the SJU airport. It's 4.6km and 10 minutes drive.

 

Also, I just did your example and got 11.7km and 14 minutes. A little further but half the time.

[garyl62]

16 minutes ago, RichYak said:

I think the point of the discussion was the distance between downtown Old San Juan where the sites are more so than the SJU airport. It's 4.6km and 10 minutes drive.

 

Also, I just did your example and got 11.7km and 14 minutes. A little further but half the time.

One photo shows screenshot of Pan Am Pier to Airport time and distance, other photo shows screenshot of Old San Juan Pier to Airport.  Both are about the same distance from the airport.  If you mean Pan Am to OSJ then yes, about 4 km

Edited March 3, 2023 by garyl62

[RichYak]

9 minutes ago, garyl62 said:

One photo shows screenshot of Pan Am Pier to Airport time and distance, other photo shows screenshot of Old San Juan Pier to Airport.  Both are about the same distance from the airport.  If you mean Pan Am to OSJ then yes, about 4 km

Not sure what route you’re getting but I just did it again with the same results. 
 

[garyl62]

4 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Not sure what route you’re getting but I just did it again with the same results. 
 

Looks like my search is picking up some traffic, but it's dropped a little since my first search.  No worries, at least it's not an hour or more like other places.

[garyl62]

Getting back to the original topic, we've sailed the refurbished Summit and are booked on the Millennium this summer in AK.  Looking forward to our trip and the traditional feel, yet updated decor of this ship!  It will be our first sailing in Aqua, after a few Retreat trips and Concierge cabins so that's a new experience for us.

[RichYak]

2 minutes ago, garyl62 said:

Getting back to the original topic, we've sailed the refurbished Summit and are booked on the Millennium this summer in AK.  Looking forward to our trip and the traditional feel, yet updated decor of this ship!  It will be our first sailing in Aqua, after a few Retreat trips and Concierge cabins so that's a new experience for us.

My first cruise on Celebrity 17 years ago was on Millennium. We also sailed her in AK southbound from Seward, it was phenomenal. Sailing on her again in 3 weeks out of San Juan. We're on Summit in August from NJ to Icleand. I really love M-class.

[Keys Kathy]

We originally sailed on her in 2011. We were on her last month.

 

I think they did a great job on the public restrooms, the Retreat Lounge is also very nice. They are starting to pick up some ideas from MSC because they now have a food map in OVC and a special luggage drop-off for Retreat guests. The MDR has a new carpet and chairs that are lovely. 

 

The cabins have had a refresh too. The bathroom has plenty of storage and the decor is lovely. Overall, the Millie is looking good! 

 

Of course, if you look for a bit of rust, you will always find what you are looking for.

[D. B.]

On 3/3/2023 at 9:05 AM, DaKahuna said:

Question - Anyone know the current status of Starlink deployment on Millie?  Last schedule I saw showed it would be sometime in March, IIRC. 

 

We were on a B2B on Mille in February and my wife (a cell phone addict) said the star link based WiFi had some very good times and some weak periods.