Millennium Review: April 9-16

[YaMamma]

***This review is based on my opinions, experiences, observations and suggestions***

Celebrity Millennium

April 9 - April 16, 2006

Eastern Caribbean Itinerary

Our Background

My husband and I are mid-thirties with no kids. Former New Yorkers now living in New Hampshire. We take a vacation every year the week of our anniversary (April 12th). Based on our time available (4/8 – 4/16), and limited itineraries, we selected Celebrity Millennium to the Eastern Caribbean with stops in Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and Bahamas. We are into really good food and Celebrity came highly recommended for their food selection, quality and presentation.

Please note that this is our second cruise, our first being on NCL’s Norwegian Sun in April, 2005.

We chose a cabin with balcony on our first cruise and knew that we wanted the same for our Celebrity cruise. First cruise we booked a Guarantee category and did very well, saved a few hundred dollars. For Celebrity we booked a Guarantee Verandah category (for $1,150 PP) and did very well, landing a BC category room (7102 on Vista Deck, mid-ship/slightly forward, port side). Had we booked this room directly, we would have paid $760 more in total. Participated in a "special offer" and got an iPod Nano thrown in for free. Received it in time to use on the cruise. VERY NICE!

We did a lot of research on the internet within the 2 months prior to the cruise in regards to the ship, the ports, and excursions. I had pages of notes, hints, suggestions, reminders that we brought with us and referred to throughout the cruise. I did not feel the need to book any excursions through the ship and DH and I planned to do our own thing at each port. This really was to be a relaxing vacation and (against my normal mode of operation), I did not plan out every minute of every day. J

 

Travel from home to Ft. Lauderdale

We live in southern NH, very close to the Manchester, NH airport. Unfortunately we were unable to secure flights out of Manchester, so we had to book out of Boston. For those on you in this area, you know the headache L

Flew down direct on USAirways, arriving in Ft. Lauderdale at 10:18am. Grabbed our luggage and got a cab to Port Everglades. We had the cabbie stop at a convenience store so that we could purchase a 12-pack of coke. We were at the port (Pier 18), dropping luggage at the curb with porters, and waiting to board onto the ship by 11:30.

Groups allowed on board in priority status order. We were in the 4th grouping to be escorted to the counter where they scanned our pre-filled documents (to set-up ship board account), and handed us our cards (used for cashless system on-board, room key, and to check you off/on ship at the various ports.) Up the escalator to another line. This line was to take your first souvenir photo and also to take your picture for Celebrity’s record.

On Board!

We were on board by 12:10. We were handed glasses of champagne, a one-page summary of what was available this early on board and we hurried off to find our room. Well it wasn’t ready yet, however, we did get to meet our Stateroom Attendant, Francois. We then set off to find the Maitre’D to check on our Dining Room seating arrangements and to book our Olympic reservations.

The Maitre’D informed us that due to the ship being full to capacity, that we were not at a table for 2 as requested through our TA. Bummer. Ok, well he says we are at a four-top and he would attempt to match us up with a couple around our age. I was a little disappointed, but knew to make the best of it.

We found where they were taking reservations for the Olympic and booked Friday night, (at-sea night, second formal night), at 6:30pm.

Off to find the buffet for some lunch. The Ocean Café (aft, deck 10) is where we ate. I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of food available this early. Full buffet, sandwich bar and pizza bar. There were hardly any people having lunch and we had our choice of seating.

By 1pm we went back to our cabin and found that it was ready for our use. The room did not overly impress me. Adequate space for two people with plenty of storage space, yes, but in need of refurbishing. (I liked my cabin & décor on NCL better). The shower size I did like….much larger than on NCL. Bathroom also in need of updating. Let’s just say, the cabin and furnishings looked 6 years old and used. The balcony was great. Had 2 chairs and small round table. If people were outside next to you, you could not see them, unless you leaned over the railing and purposely looked over.

Muster Drill & Sail Away

Both delayed due to late passengers. In fact, at 4:30 during the muster drill, passengers were still boarding! The drill was painless and informative.

Dinner - 6:30pm First Seating

I was a bit hesitant walking to our table for four, wondering who the Maitre’d had paired us up with. We were seated at table 509A in the upper level of the Metropolitan Restaurant, towards the back, immediately next to a large picture window overlooking the ocean. We were the only ones! For the entire cruise! Our Head Waiter (Vladimir), assistant (Alvan), and Maitre'd did an EXCELENT job throughout our cruise. We never had to ask for anything. There is something about being called “My Lady….” that just makes you feel like you are a princess (or should I say a “Celebrity”)! Every night the maitre’d would come over and chat with us, making sure everything was to our satisfaction. We were impressed that we did get our table for 2 after all. J

This & That – Miscellaneous tidbits

 

Each evening at turn-down, we would receive chocolates on our pillows, and a copy of “Celebrity Today” which highlighted the next days Port of call, activities, dining options, entertainment, attire, etc.

Food: For breakfast we had our routine established by day 2. Hit the buffet for fresh fruit & cream, fresh hot waffles and coffee. Would then stop down at the Cova Café for those amazing fresh out of the oven HOT BUTTERY CHOCOLATELY croissants. MMmmmmmm!!!!

For lunch, we did a variety of things. Either sit-down a'la Carte lunch at the Metropolitan or a quick bite from the buffet, or if we were in port, we would grab a bite of local food. For example, in St. John we went to Woody’s for fresh fish sandwiches and calamari and in Bahamas we went to the Poop Deck and had conch salad and calamari. Mmmmmmm

Dinner was always impressive. I loved everything I had. No complaints! There were so many choices that it was hard to select just one thing. Sometimes we selected 2 J From breadsticks, to fresh bread, escargot, to the various chilled soups and exotic salads, entrees that were out of this world, and dessert….oh man..the dessert!!

When we told Vlademir that our reservations for the Olympic was on Friday night (2nd formal night), he suggested that we change the reservation so that we wouldn’t miss the Baked Alaska parade and the lobster. We’re glad we listened. We ended up simply canceling the Olympic reservation because we were so very pleased with the Metropolitan dining experience.

Sushi: This was another routine established early on! We would finish our dinner around 7:30pm and head on up to the Sushi bar, which I must say, surprised me. The quality of the food was superb; it’s presentation, remarkable. We each made a small dish for ourselves, including the wassabi and soy sauce and took it to our room where we stored it in the mini fridge and would have it for a late night snack. FYI, sushi was available 5:30-9:30 which I think is different from what others had experienced in the past.

Room Service: We didn’t use this service, however in reviewing the menu, it looks as though if you never wanted to leave the room, you would be all set!

Pizza Bar: My DH tried this one afternoon. He wasn’t impressed. He said crust was burnt. Oh well. I’m sure this was not the norm and DH just got it at an “off” time. This is coming from an Italian who makes his own pizzas from scratch! J

Ice cream bar: Of course this was wonderful. Could order ice cream on a cone or in a dish. Always a good and different variety of flavors. The even had “sugar free” options for those who needed this.

One negative experience with the food occurred at Le Grand Buffet. While the display was very beautiful and creative, the thought of the food being out on display for 30 minutes for picture taking prior to anyone eating, and then seeing maybe 400+ people there, turned me off to actually eating. I did try a small spoonful of crab salad, which was very good. My husband on the other hand, had only a piece of mozzarella which ended up being bad and he got sick. Sick enough that he had chills, fever, and cramps, which landed him in bed for awhile. A letter has been sent to Celebrity regarding this incident.

Casino: We are not gamblers, however when on vacation, we like to have a little fun in the casino and never spend more than $20 a night. We came out ahead, which is always fun! On the last night, I played a video poker machine (a .25 machine) and won $100 in one hand. What a way to end the cruise!

 

Entertainment: What we enjoyed the most were the two comedian shows (Thien Fu and Noodles Levenstein). Many evenings after dinner we would hit the Rendezvous Lounge for a cocktail or cappuccino and to listen to Coco Band and watch the people dance. I have always enjoyed watching talented people dance to rhumba, salsa, merengue, and what-have-you. Some of the passengers were quite good!

We participated in a couple “Trivia Pursuit” type games and won twice! We received Celebrity T-Shirts and Celebrity Luggage tags for prizes. We attended the Culinary Demonstration with the Master Chef and head Pastry Chef. Two different martini concoctions were made and each guest in attendance was offered to have one. Master Chef make filet mignon and the Pastry Chef showed how their celebration cakes are decorated. We loved this activity and would have attended one every day if offered (it wasn’t).

 

Pools: We only went in the Thelassotherapy pool. On purpose. I really enjoy that Celebrity limits it’s use to adults 18+. This was so relaxing and enjoyable. It is heated salt water. Fresh water shower is at the entrance/exit of the pool so that you may wash off.

 

Illness: No seasickness experienced by the two of us at all. We are boaters and used to being tossed about on the Atlantic in a small 22’ Four Winns! LOL. I ate whatever I wanted and had no stomach issues the entire trip. DH on the other hand had that piece of cheese that was not “right”. I did notice and hear that a man at the table next to our also ended up being sick from something that same day and he had spent some time in bed as well.

Sewage Smell: We smelled it on several occasions when getting off the elevator on our floor (7th, Vista Deck). It never smelled in our room however, and it would come and go…didn’t seem like any rhyme or reason when it would show up. I never smelled anything bad in the public areas and I didn’t wander on any other passenger floors, so I will only write about the Vista Deck.

 

Tipping: We did the “automatic tipping” onto our shipboard account for shear convenience. This was done by Friday (we would disembark on Sunday). We did the recommended tipping per Celebrity’s guidelines.

 

Stateroom Attendant: Francois was great. The first night I asked him to remove all items from mini bar so that we could use it for our own items. He was friendly and hard-working.

 

Shops on board: There is a large area on the ship dedicated to a variety of shops. Our biggest buy was $55 worth of Tortuga Rum Cakes, which by day 6 had been discounted 25%. These are my husband’s favorites. J Booze prices on board were comparable and sometimes BETTER than in port, which surprised me.

 

Evening Attire: We were prepared, based on my 2 months of research prior to the cruise! We like to dress up. For formal nights DH wore a black suit, and every night I had something “dressy” on….probably more dressy than necessary, but that’s ok! I was surprised by what others interpreted to be “informal” and “casual”……..hmmmmmm.

Ports: My favorite ports were St. Thomas (where we ventured over to St. John on our own…what a great day) and Nassau. I would stay in the Bahamas for a land vacation in a heartbeat! What beautiful water, and great local food. In St. Thomas we got a good deal on Rums, coffee beans, spices and a specialty wine made from Muscato grapes (a favorite of ours).

 

What could have been better: Folks, we had a great time and really do not want to complain (too much). Overall, 98% of this cruise experience was positive. One very noticeable negative (of no fault of Celebrity) was the outright rudeness and condescending tone of some guests to staff. Who do they think they are?? There were several occasions I felt my blood boiling and wanted to go smack these guests. ARG. As far as Celebrity goes, I would like to mention that Celebrity needs to better organize the Immigration process. In San Juan, each and every passenger had to present themselves to customs/immigration officials with their ID and SeaPass. We stood in line for an hour! And we were the compliant ones, who showed up at our scheduled time! Didn’t understand why US Citizens had to do this…? What was going on at Disembarkation once back at Ft. Lauderdale? I’m compliant when it comes to directions given to keep things orderly and smooth. So what about all those people who rushed the gangway?? They delayed our disembarkation by 45 minutes. Thanks! Once we did disembark, we were left to hunt down DH’s luggage, which wasn’t where it was suppose to be based on the colored bands we put on the luggage based on Celebrity’s instruction. We eventually did find the 2 pieces….sitting off to the side, by themselves, with the colored tags missing. How did that happen?

 

What was top notch: Celebrity’s staff is very attentive, sincere and very friendly. They treat you as though you are their only guest! Food was outstanding. The ship is plenty large, enough so that on several occasions I would say to DH, “wow, where is everyone? Aren’t there 2,000 people on board with us?” Staff was always cleaning something somewhere. In port we would see painting being done on the ships exterior. Wow! The cooking demonstration: we love food and love to cook. Getting up close and personal with Master Chef and the head Pastry Chef was an honor and a pleasure. Those hot chocolate/buttery croissants at Cova Café.

Any questions? Feel free to ask!

[Andy]

Hi Yamamma !

 

Thanks for the excellent review. I have to say, you were VERY lucky to get 2 comedians on a 7 day cruise. That is pretty unusual. Not to mention the fact that you had 2 of Celebrity's best comedians in Noodles Levenstein & Thien Fu. I have seen them both several times, and they are hysterical.

 

As for the rude people ? Sorry to say, but you are always going to see that on every Cruise. Some people always feel they have everything coming to them, and have little regard for others. I am a firm believer that you should treat (and respect) everyone the way you hope to be treated. It is a shame everyone does not try to be this way.

 

BTW, I was on Century a month ago, and had a great time as well. Boy, do I need a Chocolate Croissant right about now :)

[YaMamma]

My husband just reminded me of something funny from our cruise.....

There was a table of six seated next to us, 3 couples. We shared the same head waiter and assistant. In any case, he two "older" couples were habitual complainers and quite rude to our waiter and assistant. Trust me, we heard it all for all seven nights!

 

One night one woman called the waiter over and loudly complained/whined how the music was dreadful and boring and how it was putting them to sleep. Couldn't he please find something better or turn it off completely? (it was classical music, IMO nice appropriate dinner music) On and on and on.....the Head Waiter apologized and called over the Maitre'd who then got the same loud earful. Maitre'd responded with an apology...

 

Maitre'd started to head over to our table, and I whispered to DH "watch this". He asked how we were and if everything was to our satisfaction. I gave him a wink and said very loudly, "Sir, I am enjoying this wonderful music tremendously, however it is so very soft. By chance would you be able to have the volume raised a bit?"

 

He chuckled as did we and then he whispered to us that it is impossible to please some people. I REALLY liked him a lot and admire the way he and his staff handled these rude demanding passengers.

 

And Queen Bee? Yeah, she gave me a dirty look......WHATEVER! LOL!

[CaribbeanBound]

Nice review. Thank you.