BeachTunes

Hello! On the topic of upgrading the drinks package on board, is there a cut off day to do so? We currently have the classic package and only 2 sea days on a 7 night cruise. We're thinking about using the classic package for the first 2 or 3 days to decide if the upgrade is worth it. Day 1 is embarkation, Day 2 is a port day and Day 3 is a sea day. We'd likely upgrade on Day 3 or Day 4 if possible. I thought I had read somewhere that one has to upgrade by a certain day... Please correct me if I'm wrong! Thank you!

Thank you both! We haven't set him up for his own account/cruise planner so I guess that explains it! I'll set one up for him. I appreciate your help. 🙂

Hello again! (I promise this will be my last question for a while! 😊) It turns out that I might have to participate in a couple of Zoom calls during our week-long cruise on the Millennium. Looking for some advice from anyone who has used Zoom onboard. 1. Will I need to upgrade to the premium WIFI package to use Zoom? If so, may I upgrade for just a day or two? 2. Does Zoom tend to work in staterooms? (We will be on deck 11 unless our suite upgrade bid is accepted.) 3. If Zoom can't be relied upon in staterooms, can anyone suggest a quiet, somewhat private place to make a business call on the ship? (My job doesn't entail discussing secrets of Area 51 or anything. LOL! I just prefer to not be that person who announces their business to everyone around them!) I do plan to temper the expectations of my colleagues accordingly so worst case scenario, if the calls get dropped, I get more free time on deck! Thanks a bunch!

Hello! My husband and I booked an "Always-Included" Aqua Class fare which comes with the Classic Drinks Package for both of us. However, when I look at the cruise planner and click on my Order History and scroll down to our drinks package, it only shows my name. For reference, when I click on Le Petit Chef, which I reserved online, it shows both of our names. Looking again, I see that my name is the only one listed for basic WIFI as well. I'm expecting both my husband and myself will receive the drink package and WIFI so I'm not terribly concerned. Just wondering if this merits a call to Celebrity to clarify or if this is the norm until check in/boarding. (I'll call if I have to but would rather not spend the time on hold! LOL!) Thanks everyone for helping with all of my random questions. This forum is helping bide the time until the cruise and I appreciate everyone's feedback and commentary very much!

Thanks @bookitdanno for sharing this fun tidbit. It's the top news story north of the border! LOL! 🍺🧉🍷🍾 As a Canadian following this "announcement" I am both perplexed and amused. Mostly amused. I think with pandemic woes easing, they're looking for something else to make us fear living the good life! I used to work in the beer industry and can assure you, this new radical recommendation won't be supported by suppliers or consumers. My goodness, here in the province of Ontario our alcohol sales are strictly sold mostly through *government* owned and managed stores. And the handful of grocery stores with licenses? Well they have to purchase through the government body. Ontario is the #1 purchaser of alcohol in the world because of this monopoly. 1.1 billion litres of alcohol were sold in Ontario in 2021 alone with a value of $9.6 billion! Taxes on alcohol in Ontario are among the highest in the country meaning in some way, drinking helps pave roads and fund health care here!?!? Oh, how ironic that the government is both telling us to enjoy responsibly and refrain? Oh, Canada! 😊 (66 days until I will be enjoying many more than 2 drinks a day on the Celebrity Millennium!) Edited to add: Kudos and respect to those who do not drink. 💙

This question actually makes me feel for the crew. If there are cuts being made to the cuisine of paying customers, undoubtedly cuts are being made to crew meals. I was a crew member aboard a Disney ship over 20 years ago when the line was brand new. The crew mess was "something" to put it nicely. I was told the budget per crew member per day for food was a measly $1.00. Not sure if that was true but I believed it at the time. I hope dining has improved for crews on all fleet. They work so hard, many of them with zero accolades or recognition. Ah, now I'm reminiscing! Pig tail and pig feet were featured multiple days of the week! Lots of "mystery fish" in sauce. The majority of the crew wasn't North American/Western European/Australian so most meals weren't catered to what we were used to. I completely understand having to cater for diversity but I lost a LOT of weight during those two 6-month contracts! LOL! The officer's mess, the few times I was invited as a guest, was much better. The best time to eat in the mess was around 10pm when the extra steaks and other MDR mains were sent down for the crew. I will say that the line did an excellent job for festivities like Christmas dinner and various cultural celebrations. (I will save tales from the crew bar for another thread! 😉) Back to the topic... We'll be on the Millennium in Aqua Class this March for our first Celebrity cruise since 2015. We enjoyed the food and service on two previous X cruises on The Reflection and The Summit. We're hoping for the best as we sailed with Paul Gauguin and Crystal pre-pandemic and were totally spoiled. (Alas, what happened and is happening to Crystal is another story!) I'll be sure to post lots of foodie photos when we return!

@Jim_IainI appreciate your input and honest feedback. If only the bid for a Royal Suite was significantly lower. 😉 PS: I loved your live reports from the Solstice last month. We haven't cruised with Celebrity since 2015 so I enjoyed the refresher!

@If only: Thank you very much for this! I appreciate your info about Sky Suites on the Millennium. I'm only 5'2" so maybe not having a tall tub to scramble out of would be a benefit after all? 😆

Thank you @jelayne! That is good to know so we can be prepared for whatever upgrade we are granted, if any at all. I'm sure I can do my makeup at the desk and just won't pack the bubble bath. 😉 I think we will keep our offer as the Retreat and Luminae would be an excellent experience if our bid is accepted. Please feel welcome to share any thoughts on the room, if you like! 🙂

Thanks for everyone's insight and advice here so far! We're counting down the days to our March cruise on Millie! We're currently in an assigned A1 Aqua Class stateroom and have put in a Move Up bid to a Sky Suite. I see that there appears to be only one Sky Suite on deck 6 available at the present along with around 6 Accessible Sky Suites on other decks available. I'm wondering if Celebrity would assign an accessible stateroom to someone who doesn't need the amenities? To be honest, I am not a fan of the bathrooms in the Accessible Sky Suites on Millennium from what I have seen as the sink storage space is limited, they don't have a bathtub and have a shower with a curtain. I know, know, this is a problem of privilege! I'm sure we would really enjoy the rest of the suite, Retreat and Luminae, but I'm wondering if the bathroom set up would disappoint given our circumstances. (I feel like a bit of a heel even asking about this!) I like the room location we have currently and have enjoyed Blu in the past so I'm weighing the pros and cons of keeping the upgrade offer. The price I've bid is within our means. And who really spends a lot of time in the bathroom while cruising? (Well, I usually do getting ready in the evenings! LOL) I must share that I have a great deal of respect for those who travel with mobility devices and physical challenges. I'm hoping Celebrity reserves at least a few accessible staterooms per cruise for any last minute travellers who truly need them. 💙

Nice to "see" you two as well! We really wanted to try out the E-class experience but the price and itinerary to the ABCs on Millie won us over. We were on the Summit in 2015 and loved its size. I've been obsessively watching post-revolution ship tours on YouTube - LOL - and think she looks beautiful! Hopefully we will cross paths at sea again! (Will send a Facebook note later this week! XO) *And now, back to regularly scheduled Grand Cayman programming... 😉*

Pure speculation but I'm wondering if this is a new regulation by Grand Cayman to attempt to lure passengers off the ship to spend money ashore? Like many other islands that rely on tourism, they were hit really hard by the pandemic and I believe it was one of the last Caribbean ports to reopen in 2022. On top of that, before the pandemic Seven Mile Beach suffered a period of severe erosion diminishing its picture-perfect appeal. The handful of charming beach bars (like Calico Jack's) and some of the beach clubs formerly available to cruisers have since closed. Again, just guessing. 🤷‍♀️ Side Note/Grand Cayman Lunch Ideas: We were looking at an Apex itinerary that visited GC and were sad to see that beach lounger options seemed limited. We since chose a different itinerary on the Millennium but when we do return to Grand Cayman we plan to go for lunch at this cute new restaurant: Ms Piper's Kitchen and Garden. It has fun retro Floridian decor with a great Caribbean/fusion menu. Not on the beach but has a gorgeous little pool. Apparently a delight for foodies and Instagrammers! 🙂 We were last on Grand Cayman in 2016 and had lunch at the casual beach restaurant at The Kimpton Hotel. It was brand new and beautiful. The menu was Mexican-inspired at the time. Highly recommended for the views alone! (No chair/lounge rentals there though as they're for hotel guests only.)

I should clarify that the minimum bids are in Canadian funds! This approximately converts to USD as: Royal Suite $1510 USD Min p/p Celebrity Suite $1000 USD Min p/p Sky Suite $500 USD Min p/p

Ship: Millennium Length of Cruise: 7 Nights Cruise Sail Date: 3/25/23 Date email offer received: 1/10/23 (Checked online via the MoveUp site daily and it showed up today!) Captain’s Club Tier: Classic Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA: TA Current Cabin: A1 Aqua Class Bid? Yes/No: Yes If YES - Bidding Details: Cabin Category: Sky Suite Bid Offer: Will reveal the offered amount later. Notification Date: Accepted / Rejected: TBD General Comments (offer details, etc.) Min/max bids: Royal Suite $2030 Min p/p Celebrity Suite $1345 Min p/p Sky Suite $670 Min p/p We will be very happy in our Deck 11 Aqua Class stateroom but would LOVE to experience a suite, Luminae and The Retreat! Fingers crossed! 🙂

Hello Fellow Canadians! How fortunate that you escaped YYZ in the nick of time! Pearson is still a mess. The local news is reporting that the baggage conveyor belts broke due to the cold temperatures leaving thousands of bags stuck in terminal 3. I feel terrible for everyone affected by lost luggage, delays and cancellations. On a happier note, we booked a March cruise on the Millennium yesterday! So we will definitely be following along. We've cruised aboard the Reflection and the Summit and enjoyed both experiences. I was eyeing an Apex itinerary but the pricing on "Millie" in Aqua class for our particular sailing just couldn't be beat. It also includes two new ports/countries to cross off our bucket list. I'm glad you got your medication situation sorted out! 🙂 I hope the dining situation improves for you. I laughed out loud - literally - reading your description of the French Onion Soup Kid. I would have been scolded (or removed from the premises) had I behaved like that as a kid. LOL! Thanks for sharing your journey with us! Happy travels!

@phoenix_dream and @kruzerci: You both have sold me on Deck 11! Thank you! Being close to the Oceanview Cafe, Sunset Bar and a short few flights of stairs to Blu will be very convenient! @hampshirelad Thank you for that pointer! I can only imagine how loud a cruise ship pool filtration system must be! LOL!

Thank you for sharing this. That makes me so happy! We're so close to making it an official booking! 🙂

Noted! Thanks for the link! 🙂

Thank you all very much! @alcpa1 That info is just what I needed! We put a courtesy hold on a deck 11 room! 🙂

Thank you for your thoughts! This is the dilemma! On The Millennium, Aqua Class staterooms appear to be either on Deck 9 below the pool deck or on Deck 11 below the newer rooftop deck with movies playing at times. I have faith that some rooms have to be quiet! LOL! We have enjoyed Blu in the past and it also turns out that regular balcony cabins are actually pricing out more than Aqua right now. I don't think I could justify paying more for a regular verandah and missing out on the AQ perks. As I always say when planning vacations, this is a good problem to have to solve...

Hello! (Again!) Looking at Aqua Class rooms on the Millennium it appears that some are either underneath the Oceanview Cafe or below "Movies Under The Stars"... QUESTION #1: Upon doing some research, I see the following rooms might be available for our preferred cruise. I'm curious if anyone has insight on the "peacefulness" of these rooms for morning Sea Day sleep-ins and late afternoon for naps. I sense they're all OK but would appreciate affirmation as I overthink everything. LOL! AQ 9127 AQ 9175 AQ 1100 AQ 1107 QUESTION #2: I think I read that deck 11 AQ rooms are newer. Is there a big difference between the new and older staterooms? NOTES: -Balcony Overhang vs No Overhang doesn't matter to us so that doesn't factor in our room selection. -Aqua is pricing out LESS than every other balcony category for this cruise. Go figure! Thanks yet again for all of your help here. I'm determined to book something with Celebrity soon! What a treat it would be to have a winter cruise to look forward to!

Excellent! Thank you both for the info! This is great news ! 🙂

Hello! We are still kicking tires trying to figure out which cruise to book in March 2023. We had our eyes set on an Apex cruise but I just spied a nice itinerary on the Millennium for half the price! Both cruises are in Aqua Class. We have been on M-Class and S-Class ships before and enjoyed them both. I really wanted to try the "new ship" Edge-Class experience but the pricing on this particular M-Class cruise is almost a no-brainer. It would allow us to bid more on a MoveUp to a suite, potentially! (I know, I know, no guarantees with Move Up Bids! LOL!) So having rambled on here's my question: If I were to book online today or tomorrow, could I transfer my booking to my travel agent later/before final payment? I ask because I believe she is away this week. She always makes herself available so I could reach out to her even though she's on vacation. I just thought if I can book it on the website and not hassle her while she is enjoying her time off, then great! If not, all good. 🙂 Thanks to you all, as always, for your insight! Happy Holiday Season, everyone!

Thank you both @TravelingCircusof5 and @Jeremiah1212! Both very interesting perspectives. I think if the SV was less than Aqua class, it would be an easier decision. It turns out that even regular verandah IV staterooms are almost as much as Aqua class! So it's definitely down to the SV at a higher price or Aqua... Not a bad problem to have to solve! LOL!

Thank you for your feedback @wineoclock and @Cruise a holic! It is appreciated. A proper balcony definitely is something we have enjoyed during our previous cruises. Now a new question has popped up! The only available SV for our preferred dates is on Deck 12 right below the Sunset Bar. I fear that stateroom would suffer from noise from above. Any thoughts on this location are welcome. Thanks!