Travel-and-See

I've been on 2 different Alaska Cruises, both with Celebrity. Last year I took the Solstice on a RT from Seattle, we passed the Dawes Glacier and stopped at Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan. This year I took the Millenium from Seward Alaska to Vancouver, we passed the Hubbard Glacier, and stopped at the same ports with the addition of Icy Straight Point. Both were FANTASTIC trips but I definitely preferred the one-way itinerary. If you sail a round trip then you have 2 sea days (one coming and one going) to get quickly from Seattle up to the Alaska ports. This to me, shrinks your Alaska cruise down to 5 days when you think about it. The Dawes Glacier was beautiful but you had to wake up early in the morning to see it because we passed it the same day we were going to Juneau which also cut our visit to Juneau short. By contrast, the Hubbard Glacier we had plenty of time to anticipate and enjoy it once we arrived. Plus you get an extra port day, Icy Straight Point. By arriving in Seward, or departing from Seward, you can easily add a train ride on the Alaska Railroad which is a wonderful way to start or end your trip. As a bonus... look at the prices. The prices for the one-way trips seem to be much cheaper than the Round trips offered. I've only sailed in Alaska with Celebrity so I can't compare but I had a great time and would certainly go again. I'm honestly considering another trip to Alaska this year if the timing works out, Celebrity has decent deals but right now NCL has some insane deals for the same routes.

Yes! On my last cruise there was even a N/A Happy Hour where you could try various NA drinks at one of the bars (On the Rocks). Test Kitchen has a N/A Cocktail flight that goes with the dishes - I LOVED that. On my next cruise I'm going to see if I can get some of the N/A drinks from the Test Kitchen Bar when I'm not dining there. They were really good. And as others have said you can get fresh juices, specialty coffees, etc. with the Bar Tab as well. You'll love Virgin - it's very relaxed and chill. Such a cool vibe. You take away all the photo packages, art auctions, jewelry sales, and other money grabs and the whole place just seems so much more luxurious.

You know, that reminds me. “Late Night” was only pizza, pasta, salad, and desserts. I’m pretty certain they had more options for late night in the past. The pasta always had a line, the salad was very tired looking, and the pizza wasn’t particularly good (of course nothing compares to the pizza on virgin, I’ve been so spoiled!)

A few stations were closed for dinner but I think they were all open for peak Breakfast and Lunch. Definitely more than 30%... I can't imagine who thought it was a good idea to keep only 30% of the buffet open! Crazy. On the Millenium - where they have the drinks at (cans of soda, beer and wine) - did those used to be food stations as well? They look like they were... if those are cutbacks too that's a shame.

Not abandoned, but Virgin is the prime example. They pay their staff more than other cruise lines and make it clear there is no expectation to tip anyone on board. In the post-cruise surveys it specifically asks if any member of the crew made you feel that you needed to tip. They take it very seriously and I appreciate it. (If you want to argue Virgin isn't mass market that's fine.. just responding. The only 2 lines I sail are Virgin and Celebrity and I consider them pretty similar and think both of them do things right and wrong). I do appreciate that Celebrity will deduct the gratuities from OBC.. so as long as I watch how many drinks I purchase (I never buy a drink package anymore) I don't pay anything extra. So that works for me.

I was on Millenium a few weeks ago and I felt the Oceanview Cafe was a big step down compared to last year on the Solstice. There were no baked potatoes available (these were available for every lunch and dinner last year), the Indian food, which was a highlight last year on the Solstice, was usually just rice and some very water-downed looking stews. The salad bar ingredients and fresh fruit usually looked very tired and on the verge of expiration. Lots of items just looked to be very poor quality items. The Pasta station and Daily Specials usually had very long lines. While you asked about Dinner, at Breakfast they were using some sort of liquid egg to make the omelets. Desserts were not good last year either but they are really bad at Ocen View. If you want a decent dessert go to the coffee shop -the ones at OceanView are really really bad. Now that being said, I was always able to find something to eat - there's plenty to choose from you just really have to walk around and look for the best options.

I can't tell you how much this makes a difference to the overall feel at the end of a cruise. Virgin is so laid back and chill. With Celebrity they want you out of the room by 7:45 AM! Strolling off the ship at 10:00 or 10:30 is the way to go.

There was a white night "Moon Party" in the sky lounge but it was also the PRIDE party as well so it was a mix of people wearing white and pride outfits. The other big party in the sky-lounge was mo-town music and I don't remember lots of people dressing up for it but it was fun because the band, singers, and dancers were all parts of it.

Question - How was the live entertainment on the Eclipse? I took the Millenium a few weeks ago and I would say I had the same experience and thoughts about the buffet and food quality. The seating in the MDR on Millenium was very comfortable though!

Duel Reality and Ships in the Night you would see on regular ships, Ship Show you would see on regular ships if it was labled "adult" (it's the same type of humor I saw on Celebrity's "Adult" Family Feud game show - so it's still very much regular cruise ship stuff - everything else in the show is typical cruise ship variety show). Untitled is the only one that gets a little out there, and that very much depends on the cast. One of the casts performed it very clean, but another cast went WAY more out there with the suggestive dancing. I would also say that overall the quality of entertainment on Virgin is SO much better than other cruise lines. This isn't theme park production show quality, this is an entirely different level of entertainment in my opinion. As I said, Untitled isn't really my style, but it's SO well done that I love it anyways.

There is sex themed comedy on Celebrity, etc. but it's labeled "Adults only" - it's pretty easy to not attend the Drag events on Virgin.

I can't speak for the others, but yes, Miss Behave is definitely R-rated. I feel like some people are annoyed by the question and being overly negative towards the OP who asked a very simple and normal question. I wasn't sure if Virgin would be the right cruise line for me, but I actually find it more chill and laid back than other lines like Celebrity.

Hello there - here's a quick rundown. Duel Reality - This is a Contemporary Circus show with lots of impressive acrobatics and is loosely based on Romeo & Juliet. This would be rated G unless the cast yells out a cuss word or 2 when the 2 sides are "fighting" (different casts play it a little differently). This is also an INCREDIBLE show - you do not want to miss it! Ships in the Night - This is a Dance based production show with lots of amazing choreagrophy, very cool lighting and video tech. and some live singing. The singer, when I saw the show, was somewhat gender-fluid and wore both male and female outfits in different parts of the show. But the show would be rated PG and the only reason I say it's PG is because they cuss out Facebook (and who can blame them! haha.) Ship Show (Dinner Show) - This is a classic variety show / supper club type of experience with an MC, Live band, and variety acts like acrobats, contortionists, etc. The MC / Comedian makes some raunchy jokes. I would say PG-13. Some of the acrobatic acts are played a little bit sexy.. it will depend on the exact cast you see. But I don't remember anything R rated. Untitled Dance Party - This one might not be your style. There is no nudity but depending on the cast there can be some pretty over-the-top dancing and there is lots of language. It's not really my thing but I somehow really like it cause it's just fun so maybe give it a try? It's not a seated show so it's very easy to leave if you don't like it. You stand in the room like a club and the performers dance on various stages all around you and eventually, the whole thing turns into a dance party. Scarlet Night Entertainment - The entertainment for Scarlet Night is very fun. Some performers will wear some flamboyant / sexy outfits but nothing too crazy. The pool party is super fun and again... a little bit of sexy dancing but nothing past PG or PG13. The "Festival Entertainment" in the Manor will be guest entertainers like comedians / magicians. They may have some more Adult humor but nothing worse than I've heard on Celebrity during adult comedy shows. And all of the music throughout the ship is great - I've seen some TRULY incredible musicians on Virgin, way better than your typical cruise ship music. Make sure to check them all out. I've seen more LGBT stuff on Celebrity than Virgin.... Virgin is super chill and laid back - you'll have a great time!

I didn't get around to any specialty restaurants on this cruise. I'd like to try some next time. That was my experience on the Solstice last year around the same time. I guess in June the kids have just gotten out of school so there are more people on summer trips. It may have been a pretty unique situation on Celebrity - I just hit one of the few weeks there are lots of families with teens.

Yes, I was just on the Millenium in June, I had $200 OBC and daily gratuities came out of OBC. I was pleasantly surprised because I wasn't expecting that.

Oh sorry.. I meant that's why I didn't buy all-included, cause I was traveling solo. It used to be a decent value for Solo passengers as well.

Yeah. It was all over the ship too. At the buffet, basketball courts, ping pong tables, Solarium, even at the bars - apparently they let kids sit at the bars and order soft drinks. I was suprised how many pre-teens and teens were on board. All Included is a terrible deal for Solo Passengers and they gave me $200 OBC which was enough to pay the daily gratuities and still have some leftover for a couple of zero proof drinks. The first day I ordered a iced latte with 2 shots of espresso and they charged me $8.25 with the tip. (same thing on Virgin is $4.00 and they use a better espresso). From then on I just made iced coffee in the buffet. I had enough leftover at the end to pick up $39 worth of souveniers from the gift shop. All said, yes this was an INSANE deal - felt like they gave me the cruise! haha.

A couple of weeks ago I jumped on a last-minute deal to sail from Seward Alaska to Vancover on the Millenium. Last year I did an Alaska cruise on the Solstice and loved it so I was excited to return. I'll try to keep this quick but please feel free to ask any questions and I'll go into more details. I flew into Anchorage and took Alaska Railroad down to Seward on the day of the cruise, I've visited Seward before so I had lunch and coffee in the town before I walked over to the cruise terminal. I was the only passenger checking in at the time so it was very quick and easy to get on the ship. Once onboard I checked in at my Muster station (I watched the safety videos at the coffee shop earlier) and then settled in and explored the ship. CABIN - I really like Celebrity Cabins. I had an inside cabin on deck 2 (cause it was cheap $) and I thought it was very well designed and functional. Smaller than inside cabins I've had on other Celebrity and Virgin ships, but still very well laid out and functional. The Cabin was serviced twice a day. I also really like the high quality soap that Celebriy provides. Little details like that really add up. BUFFET - The buffet is well designed with a good mix of seatings. It feels modern, but it also feels a little "modern nursing home" if that makes sense? I don't know... it seemed like it was designed to be both modern and for old people. There was a nice variety of food but the quality varied quite a bit. I felt the quality of buffet itmes was definitely a step down from my trip on the Solstice last year. The "Chef Special" station always had a long line. They used some sort of liquid egg to make scrambled eggs and omlettes, and there were no baked potatoes available except on the last day of the cruise. After being on a few Virgin cruises it did kinda gross me out to go back to self-serve buffets... I'm sad that cruise lines went back to that post-covid. Main Dining Room - I had most of my dinners in the main dining room and I thought the food was a step-up from last years Solstice. The hostess, waiter, and assistant waiter were all exceptional - pretty much perfect. I loved having "Anytime Dining" - it was so nice to have dinner whenever I wanted and still get the same waiter each night. Ship Design - Millenium Class is definitely smaller than Solstice Class but is a decent size. I like the glass elevators that look out over the ocean. The theatre is large and comfortable, nice size casino. The MDR is very nicely designed as well. On Solstice it seemed like the lounges were a bit more unique, on the Millenium most of the spaces looked the same just with different types of seats. The Solstice design seemed a little more intuitve, easier to find everything. The shops on Millenium were small, basic, and flet like an afterthought. The main atrium was also pretty small, and it was hard to find a place to sit and enjoy the bands that played there. Entertainment - Probably the worst entertainment line-up I've ever had on a cruise ship. Granted, I've been spoiled by Virgin, but this was pretty low-bar. Cheaza was the guest singer - she performed 2 nights of the 7 night cruise. She does tribute acts to Tina Turner and Whitney Houston. She's a lively and energetic performer but 2 nights was a bit much, especially when most of the other shows were music based shows. AJ Jamal was the comedian - he was great! Very funny. Duo VVO was the Acrobatic Duo performing in the ships production shows - they performed their own 2-person show one of the nights and it was INCREDIBLE. The rest of the nights we had the ship production shows Boogie Wonderland, Broadway, and Hollywood. - These shows were the quality of 6 Flags theme park shows. They were not very good at all. The sets and lighting were well done but that's about all I can say. Entertainment around the ship was OK.... there was a duo from Brazil that was very good, and the Dixieland Night performed by the ships band was very good as well but everyone else was just average. The strings duo was actually very bad, not sure how they got the job. I was surprised there was not more variety like a juggler, magic show, etc. Lectures - Milos was the on-board naturalist. He was great but they only let him do 2 presentations on a 7 night cruise. He said he wanted to do more. He was always hanging out up in the Sky-Lounge and was a fascinating person to talk to. Not sure why Celebrity wouldn't let him give more presentations. Same thing with the on-board historian, she said she had hoped to give an extra talk as well. Last year on the Solstice there were several presenations. I hope Celebrity isn't trying to phase these out. Kids - There were quite a few kids on the ship, specifically teens and pre-teens that were running around unsupervised. I'm quite surprised that Celebrity didn't put a stop to this, as they were definiely affecting the overall mood of the ship. I love to just wander around the ship, especially at night, but I would often turn the corner and it felt like I walked into a middle school hang-out and it made me feel very awkward. They would wander in and out of the shows in the theatre, the comedian even said "hey who brought their kids along to ruin everyone else's vacation?" and lots of people applauded. Ports - Weather was great! There's nothing like sailing through Alaska with such beatiful scenery everywhere you look. Our first day we sailed past Hubbard Glacier - we were able to get very close and the captain let us out on the Hellapad! It was a sunny day so we could watch the glacier calve.. WOW. We spent lots of time at the Glacier, he slowly spun the boat 3 or 4 times giving everyone multiple views. Seals were on the chunks of Ice. Just a perfect day and honestly worth the price of the cruise alone! Next day in Junea I took the city bus to Mendenhall Glacier - hiked to the waterfall and back. AMAZING. Next day in Skagway I attendned the Soapy Smith Vaudeville Show (very fun!) and rode the White Pass & Yukon train (which I HIGHLY reccomend). Icy Straight Point was a new port for me, I walked around and paid for the aerial tram. At $50 - the aerial tram is WAY overpriced but it was a nice clear day with lovely views so I'm glad I did it. Still feels like a rip-off though especially since they act like there are things to do up on the mountain and it's just a big gravel parking lot. In Ketchikan I took a city bus to the Totem Pole Park... very cool to see all of those poles (and WAY better than the Totem Heritage Center I visited last year). Afterwards I walked around the boardwalk and along the Salmon stream. After we arrived in Vancouver I finished my trip by transfering to the VIA Rail train which I rode from Vancouver to Edmonton. Fantastic train ride with the old dome cars. I bought a coach ticket for under $200 - that's a tenth of the price of the Rocky Mountaineer and the same scenery. This was my first time back with celebrity after taking multiple cruises with Virgin - definitely things I like about both. I prefer the rooms on Celebrity (better designed), and the service is much better and more consistent. But the entertainment is much better on Virgin, drinks are better priced, and the food is certainly better quality over all. I also like how on Virgin there are lots of places to just chill and relax where on Celebrity there was always some activity happening in all different areas of the ship. I really want to travel on the Edge class of ships and see how Celebrity has designed the newest ships.

from that article "This year, the company says it has seen "exponential growth in bookings, including industry leading re-bookings, from customers".

I appreciate that WiFi is not essential to you but for many (including myself) it is. 🙂 I enjoyed my recent cruise on Celebrity, but definitely want to give more of my business to Virgin since they seem to care and value what matters to me.

3 ships. I would definitely include WiFi in the essentials and while I don't think all drinks should be included, I do think drinks should be affordable. An iced latte on Virgin = $4, I just paid $8.25 for the same thing on Celebrity after the mandatory tip.

They are? Says who?

Well.. I'm hoping they do so Celebrity and others have to adapt!

I'm hoping that Virgin can help change the structure - if they continue to take customers away from other lines then the other lines will be forced to adapt and include gratuities, internet, etc. On my recent Celebrity cruise, I was happy that my OBC covered the gratuity and left me with some to spare.

Without writing a full review, I just did a week in Alaska on the Celebrity Millenium (first time back with Celebrity since sailing multiple times with Virgin) - I think Virgin is a way more laid-back and quiet cruise line. With Celebrity, there is always a band playing or an activity happening on all areas of the ship. On Virgin, they have designated areas where activities happen and other areas of the ship are really chill and quiet. There are certainly things I like about both cruise lines (for me, Celebrity has much better and consistent service for example) but if anything the vibe on Virgin is more chill and relaxing unless you want to be at a party and then it's wild and crazy but in a good way (Untitled Dance Party for a great example).