lourdest

Thank you @Paulchili for the info.

I have a question concerning adding another guest to your dining reservation.  What happens if the group is staying in different categories? Let say one is in a PH suite and the other 2 people are staying in Concierge Room.  Can the PH guest do the reservation for the whole group when it is the PH timeframe  or do they have to wait until the Concierge rooms can make the reservations? 

TIA

Thank you for sharing, we were on the same cruise in July.  It was our first Oceania cruise but it will not be our last.

Something very similar happen to us.  We were doing a pre-cruise stay and somehow we lost my husband medications between the hotel stay and the ship.  We notice as we were unpacking on the cruise.  As soon as the medical office opened we went and spoke to the doctor and he was able to give us enough medication to last until we arrived home. I will say that the cost was very close to what we paid in the states.  Same thing happened to a friend and the ship's doctor was able to dispense the medication.  Tell your friend to visit the ship's medical office, they will help her solve her problem. 

On our July 11th Insignia cruise there was at least two ice cream flavors per day.  Not that I ate ice cream every day to know this.... 🙂

11 hours ago, keithm said:

Wow! I read that review. Either that person is plain out & out lying, or they have some vendetta against the line. I remember this woman (usually on Princess) who bragged about Oceania, but it turned out she cancelled the trip. At least she gave a pretty good review for a cruise she never took! If you read reviews enough, I think you could fake your own review without even setting foot on the ship. Now, about that wonderful 6 mo. cruise we took on the Europa........

I also read the review and most of the 'Terrible'  reviews and noticed that the majority of the reviewers  (which posted a 1 star review) that this was their only post.  

As others have mentioned, I pay more attention to reviews that stated the very good and not so good about a cruise.  I also look at the number of review that a person has posted. I trust the opinion of a person who has participate in CC before than a person who wrote a terrible review and its their only post.  

On 7/11/2019 at 8:11 AM, rollie said:

With all that being said, I think we may like to try out Oceania.  What are your thoughts?

@rollie

We were on the July 11^th cruise (one of the cancelled Cuba cruises) and overall love it.  This was our first time on Oceania after doing approx. 12 in Celebrity.   In Celebrity we have sailed in an inside, oceanview, Aqua (the majority of the times) and twice in a suite.

On this Oceania cruise we were fortunate enough (major price deal) to sail in a PH3.  Love it, Love it.  I can only compare it to the S2 on the Edge (loved the suite) and a S1 on the Revolutionized Millennium this March (#6145).  Even though the cabin size was larger in Celebrity, we thought that Oceania utilize the space more effectively (especially the bathroom).  Room felt larger and airier.   Would love to sail in PH again (I can dream.....)

We thought that Oceania was superior to Celebrity in the food, beverage and service department.  Oceania took food to the next level.  To quote my husband, “the food does not taste mass produced, it tastes fresh”.  We usually don’t eat dinner at the buffet, but Oceania’s Terrace Café was so good that we ate there 4 times and 3 times in the specialty restaurants.  We never made it to the GDR.  On Celebrity we usually book Aqua class for Blu so we can get a table for two easily.  I thought that the food in Oceania was even superior to Luminae.  I know that Luminae has recently revamp their menu, so I can only judge based on my two experiences.  Don’t get me wrong the food in Aqua and Luminae were always good, but we always felt that they focus more on presentation than the quality of the food.  The presentation and food quality in Polo Grill and Toscana where exceptional, far superior to Murano’s and Tuscan Grill.  Also loved that these restaurants were free instead of paying extra for them.  Personal pet-peeve, paying for a specialty restaurant when I already paid you lots of $$$ for being on the cruise.

My husband and I have talked at length about our future cruises after our recent Oceania experience.  We have several cruises booked on Celebrity and one in Oceania.  Since we are still working, our vacation time is limited and so is our budget. Our main decision in booking future cruises is itinerary, cost and then room type.  Since Oceania usually offers a better itinerary we have decided that we are willing to be in an Oceanview (DH does not want to be inside room) in Oceania than an Aqua/Suite class room in Celebrity. Our preference is at least to be in the lowest class balcony cabin on Oceania, but if the itinerary is excellent (2021 Barcelona to London) we might do an Oceanview room. 

Oceania is very different than Celebrity in the activities levels. The activities on Oceania are what I call very low key.  If you are looking for a cruising experience that will keep you occupied at all times, Oceania is not that type of ship.  This is both during the day and in the evenings.  This suits us fine but it might not be for everyone.

Overall I am really happy that I tried Oceania a couple of weeks ago and we will probably be cancelling our cruises on Celebrity and switching them to Oceania. The July 11^th cruise did not have exciting ports of calls (JMO) so I am looking forward to sailing Oceania next year with amazing ports of calls (Portofino, Corsica, Sardinia, Monte Carlo, Ibiza, etc.)

 As of today if itinerary and cost were equal (could include different class of cabin), we would book Oceania. Of course other people will have different opinions and experiences but this is ours.  

Lourdes 

On 7/21/2019 at 3:59 PM, Bxianesq said:

We really enjoyed meeting some of our fellow passengers on Oceania-we have also had good experiences on HAL-but our Oceania cruise had a really nice group of people.  Enjoyed meeting those people that we got to talk with at the Meet and Greet on departure day.  

Thank you Beth for putting together our meet and greet and the collection of school supplies for the children of Honduras. It was a pleasure meeting you, John, Donna, Ken and Lisa (@Go-Bucks who I followed during her RTW adventure).  

I am planning on doing a review of our first Oceania trip but I will say that we had a great time.

Was everything perfect, no, but neither was our previous 15 cruises.  Our preferred cruise line is Celebrity.  

I had booked an Oceania cruise for June 2020 (Rome to Barcelona) for our 40th wedding anniversary.   I chose Oceania over Celebrity because of the amazing itinerary.  With the cancellation of the Cuba stops and fantastic prices it made it possible for us to to see if Oceania would be a good fit for us before going on our big trip in 2020 and possibly in 2021. 

We thought that Oceania was superior to Celebrity in the food, beverage and service department.  Oceania took food to the next level.  To quote my husband, “the food does not taste mass produced, it tastes fresh”.  We usually don’t eat dinner at the buffet, but Oceania’s Terrace Café was so good that we ate there 4 times and 3 times in the specialty restaurants.  We never made it to the GDR.

The issue with the delayed embarkation (due to Coast Guard inspection) has happened to us 2 previous times on Celebrity.  Both times in Celebrity it happened when Reflection docked in Miami after it cross the Atlantic. I am starting to see a pattern of longer inspections times when a ship returns to a major US port after being in Europe for the season.  Just an observation on my part. 

After our cruise, we feel that Oceania is a good fit for us and has the potential to became our preferred cruise line. One of the reason that I was interested in trying Oceania was their itineraries and how they stay in some port much later, until 10-11pm, in the Mediterranean.   We are really looking forward to our next adventure on June 6^th.  Can’t wait to experience Portofino, Cinque Terre (close by), Corsica, Sardinia, Monte Carlo, Ibiza and all the other amazing ports. 

Lourdes and Rene

VT,  I met you in one of the inaugural cruise (Dec 1).  I like/love most of the things on the Edge, but the IVs is not one them.  I have been on a river cruise (love it) so the concept of a drop down window was not new to me.  I think  one of the reasons the concept works better on a river  cruise is because of how close you are to the water.  (this was our room on the river cruise)

We have a booking on the Apex in a Sunset Veranda room.  I will never say never, but I only see my self booking a suite (if the price drops substantially) or a sunset veranda on the E class ships.  For now we are sticking to the S class ships until the prices became more reasonable on the E class ships.

Lourdes

17 hours ago, ggo85 said:

We are doing this trip in December.  Can you tell us a bit about the ports.  Specifically, did you stay on the ship in Bangkok or opt for an overnight at a hotel?  Ditto with Hanoi?  Did you take any ship's tours?  Any info you can provide on ports would be much appreciated.  If you've posted it elsewhere, just direct me to it.  Thanks!

We loved this itinerary, I thought that it gave us the opportunity to see the most in the area within a limited time. 

Our favorite ports were Bangkok and Halong Bay.  I would definitely recommend staying overnight in Bangkok.  We used a private tour guide for two days and made hotel arrangements on our own, it was much cheaper and better than what the ship had to offer.  We used Mr. Chob - Thaitourguide, they were excellent and I was fortunate to find a fabulous rate at the Peninsula Bangkok Hotel.  Both the tours and the hotel were amazing.  When we talked to people who did not stay overnight in Bangkok they regretted it.  All of them said that they spent too much time in traveling back and forth and it made it for very long days and they really did not enjoy what Bangkok and the surrounding area had to offer.

We decided not to go into Hanoi (almost 4 hours each way) since we had done a full day in Saigon and wanted to see Halong Bay.  For us that was a great decision.  For Halong Bay we also had a private tour guide for both days.  On the first day we went to the mountains  and on the second day we spend the day exploring Halong Bay.  All I can say is WOW.  Halong Bay is nothing like I have ever seen and it was magical.  I heard from people who did Hanoi they also recommend staying over night because the of the travel time.  For Vietnam we used the same tour company for the 3 stops, Travel Authentic Asia. All the tours in Vietnam were done as a group that were arranged in our 'Roll Call' board for that particular cruise.  We did a full day in Saigon and really enjoy it.  We did a full day at Hue and we had a good day, but it was our least favorite port.  If I ever go back I would look into going Hoi An. 

The only ship tour that we did was in Hong Kong and that was the night tour that took you to see the light show and Victoria Park.  We did Singapore on our own and most of Hong Kong.

This is a great trip, I would love to do it again with a stay over before and after the cruise.  My husband and I are still working so we could not take the time to do a pre and post cruise stay, which I would recommend.  

Let me know if you need any additional information about the tours.

Lourdes

I agree with most of what @sippican said.  I definitely agree that the room with a slider would look much better.  My mother stayed in another sky suite and compare to room 6145 I would pick our room for the bathroom and the size of the balcony. The balcony in the other sky suites are very narrow.

Since this cruise was so port intensive we used the balcony mostly in the morning and late in the evening.  My understanding is that this balcony never had shade, but I would say that it would be needed if you are sailing the caribbean or the Mediterranean.   Personally what I found the worst was the two wooden chairs that are now on the balcony.  Just horrible.  I sat mostly on the lounger and my husband on the sofa.  Sorry to hear that they would not accommodate your request for a lounger, for us it made a huge difference in the usage of the balcony. 

Concerning the shower leaking at the bottom, that is also true.  We usually cruise on the S type ships in Aqua class and our shower has always leaked.  We always have to put a towel on the floor, I don't even notice anymore.  I thought all showers on Celebrity leaked. 

I thought that having no cocktail table in the room was a huge mistake in the resigned and from what I have read that issue might be fixed in the future.  Since we were on the second cruise after the revolution my husband and I thought that the lamps were just temporary since they looked cheap and were not practical.  I guess they are there to stay.

I prefer the 'S' type ships but would not hesitate to cruise on the Millennium if the itinerary is what we are looking for.  

14 hours ago, lakegirl16 said:

We have 6145 next week from Vancouver to Anchorage.  Thank you for sharing the photos.  I have a few questions, if you wouldn't mind answering. 

Do you have a photo that shows the view outside from the door?  I thought I read it wasn't a slider?

Did you get a lounger for the balcony?

Did you use the shampoo and conditioner?  Was it same type as before upgrade?

Were there two umbrellas in the closet?  Your photo looks like it.  Being Alaska I was bringing them but may not need to.

 

Thank you so much.

Hi Lakegirl,

Below are pictures of the balcony and room.  As you can see this room does not have a slider but a door.  It has it pros and cons.  I loved the size of the bathroom and balcony, so I guess that door wins over the slider since its only available in two rooms.  We asked for a lounger and it was delivered right away. 

We had the new Bigelow shampoo and conditioner,  I liked the product.

There were two umbrellas in the closet, we used them.

We did the Alaska (Anchorage to Vancouver) 8 years ago.  You are in for a treat, one of my favorite cruise.  

Lourdes

I really doubt that Celebrity would cancel the June 8th sailing.  That cruise is the scheduled 'Moveable Feast' featuring Chef Daniel Boulud and Chef Michelle Bernstein.  There is lots of social media coverage for this particular cruise.  I think that Celebrity will proceed with the schedule sailings and scale back the planned changes for Equinox (IMO).

Lourdes

11 hours ago, Alushar said:

So happy you are doing this thank you! Can relive the last 2 weeks (in reverse) whilst chained to my desk!

 

Lovely to see the S2 pics looks like the wardrobe is same as in our veranda but at least you don’t have the dreaded bedside light that can’t be reached without getting out of bed! 

 

Hope you have as great a holiday as we did. 

@Alushar Thank you for your review.  It got me pumped up for our trip.  This is a great itinerary and we are loving our cruise so far.  

Its funny that you mention the bedside light, my husband finds them not practical, cheesy and cheap looking (they are made of black plastic).

Lourdes

Today is our second sea day.  We spent yesterday relaxing and exploring the ship.  Went to the two presentations of 'Beyond the Podium' both were very good. Trivia was offered 3 times during the day, we met really nice people during the sessions.

One of my favorite changes to the ship is the Oceanview Cafe.  I like the new layout, I believe that it makes it less crowed.  Love all the natural light that fills the space.

And yes these chairs are comfortable.

I like the Oceanview bar, but with no shade available we can only use the space early in the morning and later on in the afternoon.  

I found that there is plenty of shade around the pool area.  It was nice to see that chairs were still available around 10 in the morning.

Lourdes

18 hours ago, h20cruzer said:

Lourdest, love all the pictures, is the gray door the bathroom door? I love most everything but those 2 things at the end of the bed look like something I would see if I went camping. Can you also confirm if you can see yourself in the mirror if you are sitting.

Thanks and enjoy your vacation.

Norma

 

Norma, I can see myself in the mirror and I am 5'4".

22 hours ago, h20cruzer said:

Very excited to follow along with your adventure. I am booked on the TP 04/27/19.

glad someone is doing a live review. When I heard about this amazing refurbishment, I was surprised to hear Cafe Al Bacio had no updates as far as chairs.Are the same golden/yellow chairs still there?

Have a great time,looking forward to your review.

Norma

@h20cruzer You are correct they did not changed the furniture in Cafe al  Bacio, and I am glad that they not.  While I love the new look, some (maybe many) of the new furniture are not that comfortable.  Cafe al Bacio has always been one of my favorite places on Celebrity Cruises.  We are early riser and our first stop every morning is at the Cafe to have an espresso and watch the sunrise.  For me it sets the mood for the whole day, I am on vacation, cruising and life is great...

This was this morning sunrise

and to quote my DH, 'Pre-Breakfast of Cruisers'

11 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Looking forward to your review.  Please post pictures of your mother's suite, 8117.  So far all we have seen are pics of the S1's adjacent to the PH suite.

@CHEZMARYLOU Here are the pictures of cabin #8117. Both room are decorated the same, the bathroom is smaller since it does not have a stand alone shower.  Also the balcony is smaller but it does have shade.

I agree that this is a design flow - the chair does not slide underneath the desk.  Drawers are too small

Since the room does not have a cocktail table, they asked for the table in the balcony to be bought into the room.  My mom likes to have coffee every morning in the room.  Hopefully this is something that will be changed in the future.

Both my mom and sister agree that this tub is too high (both of them have knee issues)

Balcony is narrow but the sofa is comfy - they both enjoy sitting out there

Lourdes

On 3/3/2019 at 3:35 AM, Tokyo Carolyn said:

Thanks for the “live” updates.  A few questions about Millenium:

 - I hear they got rid of the library in the refurbishment - are there any quiet, small spaces where you can read or play cards?  And I often leave books onboard after finished and wonder if there’s a “lending library” or leave one/take one shelf anywhere on board? 

- do the cabins baths have a clothesline? 

 

Thank you and enjoy! 

@Tokyo Carolyn  There are many quite places to read during the day.  One of the places is the Rendezvous Lounge and that is also where they have the book exchange.  It is not as big as the library, but throughout the day there were many people looking and exchanging books.  Here is a picture of one of the three cubbie walls 

Our first sea day, finally feeling like my normal self.  Jet lag is over, yay!!  Unfortunately, we did not get off the boat in Singapore, my husband had a really bad asthma attack.  My sister and my mother did and love it.  Here was our view of Singapore from our balcony during the day and night.  Just a gorgeous port.

Here are some pictures our cabin 6145.  Like I mentioned before there are really great things about this room and some ok things.  Love the bathroom, only issue is that there are no hooks anywhere and the lighting is poor over the sinks.  Also love the size of the balcony, even though I wished that it had a cover.  The balcony comes with a very comfortable couch and a table with two chairs (just ok).  We asked for a chaise lounger and now we are super happy sitting in the balcony early in the morning and at night. Love that the bed faces the ocean.  Something special about laying in bed and seeing the sea. 

I believe that the hanging space in the closets are small especially for a 14 day.  I wish that there was more drawer space, most of the cabinets are open shelves.  There is no table in front of the couch only a very small side table.  Nice size room.

Lourdes

Right now I am staying in cabin 6145 on the Millennium.  Can absolutely confirm that the bathroom has a shower and bathtub.  In the other suites (not 6146) has only a tub. This is what the bathroom in 6145 looks like after the 'revolution'.

 

 

 

We finally made it to Singapore and are onboard Celebrity Millennium. We travel for two days, Miami to London on Virgin Atlantic and then London to Singapore on Singapore Air. On Virgin Atlantic we were on Premium Select (would HIGHLY recommend it) and on Singapore Air regular coach.  Singapore Air is definitely better than most airlines when it comes to regular coach, but after flying a total of about 26 hours, I would opt for Premium Select the next time for the whole trip.  Due to work we arrived the same morning as the ship embarkation date of 3/2. 

We booked this trip before the news that the Millennium was going to be the first ship to go through the ‘Revolution’ process.  We picked this cruise because of the itinerary.  This is a 14-day cruise leaving out of Singapore and cruising to Hong Kong.   

3/2 – 3/3 Singapore

2 days at sea

3/6 – 3/7 Port of Laem Chabang (Bangkok) * overnight in this port is reason #1 why we picked this cruise

1 day at sea

3/9 Phu My (Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon)

1 day at sea

3/11 Port of Chan May (Hue / Danang / Hoi An)

3/12 – 3/13 Halong Bay (Hanoi) *overnight stay at Halong Bay reason #2 

1 day at sea

3/15 – 3/16 Hong Kong * overnight in Hong Kong reason #3 

I have been researching and planning this trip for the last year.  Once the Millennium revolution was announced I read all that was available on Cruise Critic to get an idea of those changes.  I know that people are curious about the changes, so I will post pictures of the ship and our cabin in the next post.

Some background, I became an avid cruiser about 10 years ago.  Most of our cruises have been on Celebrity and as a matter of fact our first Celebrity cruise was an Alaskan cruise on Millennium in an ocean view room.  We have sailed mostly in the S class in Aqua class.  We were also on the Edge on its first three-day preview cruise. 

Originally we were booked on Aqua class room for this trip, but when the price dropped (5 months before the cruise) on a suite we grabbed it.   We grabbed room 6145 once it became available about 4 months before the trip.  On this board everyone is always talking about this room since it’s the S1 room right next to the Penthouse suite.  The room is really different than the other S1 suites, my sister and mother are staying in 8117.  There are things that I love about this room and other things that for me personally are OK. This is also our first time in a suite for this length of time.  We were in a S2 suite on the Edge for the preview 3-day cruise.

Concerning the ship, I love the new colors and most of the changes.  They are still working on some things, but nothing that big that takes away from the enjoyment of ship.  Still jet lagged so I have not seen all of the ship.

Later on today I will post pictures of cabin #6145.

If you have questions about the Millennium or about this itinerary ask away and I will try to answer them.

Lourdes

@Alushar, we will board the ship this Saturday.  I am so happy that you have shared your trip with us, it has made me even more excited about our trip.  I am wondering is there a bar (on the Summit there is one) right next to the Gelateria serving great alcoholic drinks.  They serve a very limited menu including some drinks made of infused liquor.  

Thanks again for taking us along on your cruising adventure.

42 minutes ago, Want2Cruise 701 said:

We are in 6146 on the Summit March 30.  Love the bathroom.  I'm a little confused about the sofa.  It doesn't look like it pulls out or is a trundle.  We have a teenager sailing with us.  

I will be on the Mille in the next sailing in cabin 6145 and will do a review of our trip.  I will check out the  the sofa to see if its a pull out (which it appears to be no) or if there is a trundle underneath the sofa.

13 minutes ago, Alushar said:

The food was great We both, as is a tradition for us, had French onion soup

Also my tradition, I usually have one every night when I cruise.  Great photo..French onion soup, yummy!