Millenium Alaska Anybody Onboard now?

[Zebby90210]

Folks aboard a recent cruise posted reviews while onboard and at the completion of the cruise. We're hoping to keep this going with current cruisers. Anybody out there?

[Ridget]

Well, for me, I think that if I didn't have enough things to do while on my trip so that I had time to post reviews during the trip I would take up something else to do for holiday. :confused:

[Tookie]

This was my 10th cruise with Celebrity and RCL. The cruise tour was wonderful. It was well run and our tour guide and driver were the best. Of course Alaska is spectacular. Unfortunately the cruise was not quite up to our previous trips with Celebrity. The new menus, made up by a committee, seemed to think one stalk of asparagus (without the tip) and three grape tomatoes were an adequate side dish. The baked potato was a size I have never seen before. The meat was as tough as shoe leather. The food improved when people started to complain. I guess little food and smaller portions is someones idea of being in style. But Celebrity is known for its food and service. Neither our waiter nor our assistant waiter had any personality. At least the Olympia was still okay. I found the cruise director to be annoying and over the top. How many times do we have to see the same broadway show, not to mention Classique? Oh well, at least the costumes were different. The excursions were generally good and well run. We had charges on our bill that weren't ours and it took 3 days for them to remove the charges and get to the bottom of the problems. The breakfast and lunch buffets were poorly organized: cream cheese no where near the bagels, waffles that were premade and cold, food stations that were closed early or on the side of the ship that you couldn't enter on. I was offered coffee at breakfast twice out of seven days. I think one of the problems seemed to be a language barrier. Of all the years I have been cruising, I have never run into staff that had problems understanding or speaking English. I don't know if the problem was a new crew, or adjusting to a new port but this just wasn't the Celebrity that I have sailed with before. If this is there idea of being treated like a star...On the bright side, having sailed on Millenium before I thought the ship was in pretty good condition. Cleaning of the ladies rest rooms was a bit spotty but the ship looked better than I thought it would. If you are going to Alaska on Millenium tell yourself that the most important part of the trip are the ports. You really aren't on the ship all that much. I will say that the Captain did an amazing job of getting us close to Hubbard Glacier. So all in all I'm glad we went on this trip. I'm not sure I'll book with Celebrity again because I paid Celebrity prices for a Carnival experience.

[Gogetters17]

We were on the Millie last month and being our first ever cruise loved the X singers and dancers immensely!! I do agree James was way over the top but mostly everything was good. I had waffles twice - the first time I watched them cook and the second time they were still pretty warm. We tended to have breakfast earlier than most of the ship which probably helped.

 

Our waiter and his assistant were very nice and helpful and we thought the smaller portions were good for our waistlines!!! I did hear of one man who ate everything single thing on the menu!!!! He wasn't small.

 

I do agree about so many non English people working but they were very helpful considering language problems. I would've liked the Guest Relations people to have better English though but they did their job well anyway.

 

It was all good and Alaska was amazing.

[lysolqn]

I'm reminded of the song, "What a Difference a Day Makes" - or in this case, a passenger makes. We were on Millie to Alaska May 5 - 19 and experienced none of the problems you mention. In particular, we found food and service to be at least as good, if not better than that we've experienced on 30+ Celebrity cruises.

[Addict]

I'm reminded of the song, "What a Difference a Day Makes" - or in this case, a passenger makes. We were on Millie to Alaska May 5 - 19 and experienced none of the problems you mention. In particular, we found food and service to be at least as good, if not better than that we've experienced on 30+ Celebrity cruises.

 

I absolutely agree with you. We were on the sailing immediately prior to yours and the food and service was absolutely outstanding. The staff all over the ship, from the bars to the dining room to the cabin crew were simply amazing and could not do enough for you. And the food? Oh, well I put on nearly a stone in 2 weeks so not quite sure what that says!!:eek: Either I am a complete piggy or the food was just wonderful. :D

 

Sue

[mkbruce]

I absolutely agree with you. We were on the sailing immediately prior to yours and the food and service was absolutely outstanding. The staff all over the ship, from the bars to the dining room to the cabin crew were simply amazing and could not do enough for you. And the food? Oh, well I put on nearly a stone in 2 weeks so not quite sure what that says!!:eek: Either I am a complete piggy or the food was just wonderful. :D

 

Sue

 

DW and I, along with another couple, were on the May 19th sailing and also agree wholeheartedly - food and service were outstanding in the main dining room, Aquaspa and Olympic. We stayed away from the buffet for breakfast and lunch as much as possible, but when we did eat there, it was OK. The Aquaspa did repeat lunch entrees over the course of the cruise, but it was all so tasty that it didn't matter.

 

I do agree that the production shows were not the best and James the cruise director was a bit much. However, I have never encountered a cruise director that wasn't a bit too enthusiastic about his job :)

[Zebby90210]

To Ridget,

 

If you read the thread I was speaking of "Live from the Millenium June 2" you would see that some folks on Cruise Critic were very caring and took a great deal of time to post about daily events both on and off the ship during their vacation. These are the people we learn so much from and who are willing to take the time to share ideas and experiences so that all of us waiting for their cruise can dream that they are already on board and others can gather great ideas and tips to improve their upcoming vacations.

 

I see from other posts that you've cruised Alaska and have an upcoming cruise in a few weeks.

 

If you think posting while on vacation or afterwards would bore you so that it would lead you to "take up something else to do for holiday" then I feel bad for you. Did you pick up anything of value from pre-cruise, post cruise or during cruise posts? I didn't see any posts with reviews from you after your prior Alaska cruises. This is what "Cruise Critic" is all about.

 

That's unfortunate!

 

Zebby

[windermere]

Wow Zebby Well Said! I love ALL the info I get from this boad. I have seen TONS of post from people currently crusing. I thank every one of them!

[wolfshadow]

This was my 10th cruise with Celebrity and RCL. The cruise tour was wonderful. It was well run and our tour guide and driver were the best. Of course Alaska is spectacular. Unfortunately the cruise was not quite up to our previous trips with Celebrity. The new menus, made up by a committee, seemed to think one stalk of asparagus (without the tip) and three grape tomatoes were an adequate side dish. The baked potato was a size I have never seen before. The meat was as tough as shoe leather. The food improved when people started to complain. I guess little food and smaller portions is someones idea of being in style. But Celebrity is known for its food and service. Neither our waiter nor our assistant waiter had any personality. At least the Olympia was still okay. I found the cruise director to be annoying and over the top. How many times do we have to see the same broadway show, not to mention Classique? Oh well, at least the costumes were different. The excursions were generally good and well run. We had charges on our bill that weren't ours and it took 3 days for them to remove the charges and get to the bottom of the problems. The breakfast and lunch buffets were poorly organized: cream cheese no where near the bagels, waffles that were premade and cold, food stations that were closed early or on the side of the ship that you couldn't enter on. I was offered coffee at breakfast twice out of seven days. I think one of the problems seemed to be a language barrier. Of all the years I have been cruising, I have never run into staff that had problems understanding or speaking English. I don't know if the problem was a new crew, or adjusting to a new port but this just wasn't the Celebrity that I have sailed with before. If this is there idea of being treated like a star...On the bright side, having sailed on Millenium before I thought the ship was in pretty good condition. Cleaning of the ladies rest rooms was a bit spotty but the ship looked better than I thought it would. If you are going to Alaska on Millenium tell yourself that the most important part of the trip are the ports. You really aren't on the ship all that much. I will say that the Captain did an amazing job of getting us close to Hubbard Glacier. So all in all I'm glad we went on this trip. I'm not sure I'll book with Celebrity again because I paid Celebrity prices for a Carnival experience.

Were you just on the June 6th sailing? If so, you and I experienced two different cruises! There are always crew that don't speak English as well as you apparently think they should, but then again you are not going to find an all American crew on these ships. We found the food to be fantastic. Excellently prepared and presented. If you were unhappy about the portions you could have asked for something else. They are most happy to accommodate. My DH had no problem getting his shrimp cocktail and caesar salad every night without them being on the menu. All it took was to ask. Our waiter and assistant couldn't have been better. Very friendly and charming. Marlon from the Phillippines and Ernesto from Honduras made our dinner time memorable. As far as James being over the top, he is the cruise director. He was doing his job, that's what they do. The shows were very good. Even though we had seen this show two years ago on the Infinity, it was a different cast and they did a great job. There were more first time Celebrity cruisers than repeat so to change the shows often doesn't make sense. The comedian and magician were new and even though we weren't able to attend their shows, others that we were traveling with said they really enjoyed them. And, Milos, the naturalist was phenomenal with his lectures and guidance. The lounge bands were typical but everyone seemed to be enjoying theirselves. I had breakfast in my cabin every morning so that I wouldn't have to rush to our excursions and it arrived every morning on time and nice and warm. Even got cream cheese for my bagle and cream for my coffee, which many have mentioned wasn't even available. All I had to do was write it down. The shore excursions were run with perfection and the Millennium was in excellent shape. Our room was always clean and in perfect order when we returned. Captain Karatzas was very charming and actually talked to us without the feeling that he had to be elsewhere. So, overall, we feel that this cruise was exactly what we expected and would not hesitate doing again. We had read all of the discounts being stated regarding the Millie and wondered what we would find, but never fear, she is a grand lady and in fantastic shape! And, the price we paid was well worth it.

[Tookie]

Hi Glenda,

We were on the same trip. As a matter of fact we had the room next to you. Everyone has their own opinions as to the quality of their cruise experience. I am glad you were pleased. For my husband and me, we are elite members of Captain's Club so we obviously have been pleased with Celebrity in the past. As for the meals, according to the assistant maitre D of our section they have had so many complaints about the amount, presentation and quality of food since the new menus have started, the committee that came up with the new menus had come aboard to have meetings to try and resolve all the issues that have come up regarding the food. So obviously, our table was not the only one to have had problems. Yes they did bring out more vegetables after we complained, but we shouldn't have had to ask. Yes I had shrimp more than once. But on all the voyages I have sailed I have never had only 3 small shrimp in a serving.

As for the language being a problem, I believe it was an issue with our waiters who never made small talk about the ports, asked us about our day or made recommendations as to food selections. I was never offered soft drinks or ice tea. I do believe that the lack of language skills had something to do with this. I know it absolutly was an issue at guest relations. It should not have taken 3 days to find out why we were charged 2 separate times for wine that wasn't ours or a laundry bill that wasn't ours either. We were repeatedly told that a supervisor would get back to us with answers. That only happened after we got the captains club representative involved.

We too thought the captain was great. We have sailed with him before. However, I know that a cruise director has a job to do. I just found James to be annoying as well as ill informed about the luggage valet program and when we would see our luggage again.

We have been sailing for over 26 years. In that time we have seen many changes in the cruise industry. I think bigger ships, as well as more ships in both RCL as well as everyone else's fleet have made the hiring practices of the cruise lines much less selective than in the past. While that is understandable, I am still being charged for a certain level of service which up until this trip I have always gotten

I am glad that you had a great trip. My only purpose in writing this was to warn people who had the same expectations we had to perhaps lower them somewhat so they wouldn't be as disappointed as we were.

[wolfshadow]

Hi Glenda,

We were on the same trip. As a matter of fact we had the room next to you. Everyone has their own opinions as to the quality of their cruise experience. I am glad you were pleased. For my husband and me, we are elite members of Captain's Club so we obviously have been pleased with Celebrity in the past. As for the meals, according to the assistant maitre D of our section they have had so many complaints about the amount, presentation and quality of food since the new menus have started, the committee that came up with the new menus had come aboard to have meetings to try and resolve all the issues that have come up regarding the food. So obviously, our table was not the only one to have had problems. Yes they did bring out more vegetables after we complained, but we shouldn't have had to ask. Yes I had shrimp more than once. But on all the voyages I have sailed I have never had only 3 small shrimp in a serving.

As for the language being a problem, I believe it was an issue with our waiters who never made small talk about the ports, asked us about our day or made recommendations as to food selections. I was never offered soft drinks or ice tea. I do believe that the lack of language skills had something to do with this. I know it absolutly was an issue at guest relations. It should not have taken 3 days to find out why we were charged 2 separate times for wine that wasn't ours or a laundry bill that wasn't ours either. We were repeatedly told that a supervisor would get back to us with answers. That only happened after we got the captains club representative involved.

We too thought the captain was great. We have sailed with him before. However, I know that a cruise director has a job to do. I just found James to be annoying as well as ill informed about the luggage valet program and when we would see our luggage again.

We have been sailing for over 26 years. In that time we have seen many changes in the cruise industry. I think bigger ships, as well as more ships in both RCL as well as everyone else's fleet have made the hiring practices of the cruise lines much less selective than in the past. While that is understandable, I am still being charged for a certain level of service which up until this trip I have always gotten

I am glad that you had a great trip. My only purpose in writing this was to warn people who had the same expectations we had to perhaps lower them somewhat so they wouldn't be as disappointed as we were.

Well, hello neighbor. I'm sure sorry that you have had to deal with some problems. I guess getting personable, well trained waiters can be a luck of the draw. Just wanted to let people know that they are there though. Did you have Violeta, too? After the first day we only saw her once. But, I did have to call her once and she was right there. The only problem Carl had was with our soda card sticker and the bartendress in the Casino. She didn't seem to want to spend her time filling up his soda mug so she would make him wait for no reason. She knew she wouldn't get tipped because it was prepaid I guess. None of the other bars had any problem with doing it. Other than that, we had no problems. Sorry you guys were disappointed, but since you've been cruising so long maybe it was just the odds for this time. I'm sure many vacationers have their expectations lowered at least once or twice if they travel alot. Hopefully, your next trip will go much smoother for you. :D

[fun2travel]

I agree with wolfshadow, we just returned from Alaska on the same cruise. I went with my mother and sister, we loved it and I got home thinking I can't wait to go again on this ship with my husband. Millie is the favorite of all the ships I have been on. I thought the food was really nice. Service may have been a little off this time, but all in all, I had a very nice time and looking forward to going again.

[bjksgk]

Hi - we have just returned from the sailing after yours, June 13, followed by a 7 day cruise tour 17. I will be posting a detailed review after I recover from my 2 day lack of sleep! I wish I could have posted live from the trip but the internet cost was just too prohibitive and I didn't bring a laptop.

 

Overall I have to say in certain ways I agree with both tookie AND wolfshadow.

 

There were good and bad to our sailing. We felt that all the reports of Millie's condition were a little overblown...yes if you looked for wear and tear you would find it, especially in carpet, etc but overall she is still beautiful (we sailed her on her first year).

 

We thought the food was quite good compared to RCCL which we have been cruising the past few years. Yes servings were small and I agree with the one stalk of asparagus comment, which was exactly what someone at our table said. We did feel that service we received was not up to par with Celebrity's usual standards. That being said, others we met onboard did have terrific service, so its the luck of the draw.

 

I do have to comment in detail right away about one thing. Unfortunately for us, our wait staff was really one of the worst we have ever had on any of our 11 previous cruises. That being said they were not BAD, they were satisfactory. Thats it. NO personality, no small talk whatsoever, and extremely rushed. And language was not an issue as our waiter did speak perfect English he just did not speak to us. I don't know if he was overworked, or what. As soon as we sat down the menu was handed to us and before we even had a chance to glance at it there he was waiting to take our orders. One or two nights, several of the men at the table we considering asking for seconds but were scared to as we were so hurried during our meals to get out of there! Because we did not order wine the very first night (we were still on eastern time and we tired) we never saw the wine steward again the whole cruise and we looked for her. We had a simiar experience as Tookie, never were offered soft drinks, wine etc. By the third day we gave up on getting any type of drink in the dining room and just brought our drinks in with us to the dining room from the Rendevous Lounge before dinner. Sauces, salad dressings, etc were not delivered to the table. And so on...you get the picture. But the worst was that on the next to last night the waiter spent almost 10 minutes lecturing our table about how we had to give him an "excellent" on the comment card. It was insulting. When staff is truly excellent they do not need to ask you for an excellent rating! Needless to say he did not receive an excellent.

 

Another problem was room service. Twice during the cruise, 6AM on the dot, room service was ringing our doorbell to deliver our coffee and danish. Great, right? Only problem was that we did not order room service at all the entire trip!!! And both days were days we did not need to get up early and were woken up at 6AM needlessly. The cabin services people somehow, someway were confusing a 7 with a 9 and going to the wrong floor. Not once, but twice. UNACCEPTABLE in my standards and really but a damper on things for us as we were cranky and tired and could not go back to sleep.

 

Around the ship the service staff was really friendly, and you saw them painting, etc all the time when in port. The cruise director James was a little over the top but that is job. He is supposed to be outgoing and over the top!

 

Wolfshadow I think you were very lucky to have a great experience. I think tookie is just trying to forewarn people who expect a higher standard on Celebrity that things have changed. This was my 5th Celebrity cruise, though its been 5 years since my last one. I was dissappointed in the cruise experience. We did have a wonderful INCREDIBLE time but what made it wonderful was that we were in Alaska, and the ports were fabulous enhanced by the excursions were took in each place. Made even better by the fact that we had perfect sunny weather almost every single day of our trip. Icing on the cake was getting so close to Hubbard (my last trip we did not). The ship was merely the means of transportation. I have a Solstice trip booked, and am seriously reconsidering based on this trip.

[wrl001]

We were overall pleased, however:

 

1) James was way over the top and a distraction;

2) Our wait staff was overworked and behind the curve most nights;

3) Only one really bad meal and they were indifferent to it;

4) Millie is in need of a refit but so am I.

 

Baggage Valet program is a keeper. Bags arrived as advertised.