ronbetty2001

Wondering if you did Ankor Wat on your own? How did that go? Did you fly from Singapore? Do you need a visa?

Forgot about the Visa. Yes, you'll need a Visa, you get at the airport. The cost is $30.00/each US Dollars. You must bring a passport picture also, we had 2 just to be safe. There were a lot of planes landing on Sunday, so it took about 45 minutes to get processed. Airport does have A/C. FYI: It is the most expensive airport around. Buy in Singapore not at Siem Reap.

Capt. Ron

Wondering if you did Ankor Wat on your own? How did that go? Did you fly from Singapore? Do you need a visa?

After the cruise we left early at 6:00am, easy immigration in Singapore, open 24/7. Flew SilkAir, one of the only direct flights from Singapore to Siem Reap. We have a driver and a guide. Thank God for the car with A/C and ice cold towels upon our return. I highly recommend you do this as the heat and humidity get really take a toll on you. The sites are to far a part for Tuk Tuks I think and the A/C is a lifesaver. No way I would do this trip without a guide, regardless of what others say, I paid less for 3 days with driver/car and guide then I paid for just 8 hours of a guide in Europe.

Let me know I could send our guide companies info.

Happy Planning,

Capt. Ron

What were the all-aboard times in the ports?

 

The dailies from the identical cruise in 2014 showed 15 mins before sailing. Am mostly planning to get back to the ship an hour before departure but think 45 minutes would be plenty for Thailand day two as our last stop (Sanctuary of Truth) is only about 12 miles away.

Sail Away:

Day 2 Hong Kong: 8:00pm

Day 2 Hanoi/Ha long Bay: 1:00pm (only tendered port, IMHO, so get back maybe 1 hour prior to sailing)

Da Nang: 7:00pm

Saigon: 8:00pm

Day 2 Bangkok: 6:00pm. Traffic shouldn't be bad as your not goiong to Bangkok, if so really watch out as the traffic is nuts there.

Also was the lifeboat drill at 7:30 on day 2 (thinking about dinner plans) and when and where was the cruise critic get together? Yes it was, good catch. The Cruise Critic meeting was on first sea day about 10:30 on deck 11 in Quine. Well attended, drinks and some snacks offered.

 

Thanks for any help.

Happy Planning,

Capt. Ron

Hi, looks like you have started two message strings for questions so I figured I would post my questions here too. :D

 

Did you use private tours, if so what companies? Of the places you stopped at we will be in the following ports in April 2018 on Royal's Ovation so anything on tours for these ports will be appreciated.

 

Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) Used Vu another great tour guide, left a review on Tripadvisor, web site: saigonstreeteats@gmail.com

Chan May Port (Hue/Danang)Used Shaun and Expat from the states, left him a great review on Tripadvisor, web site:danangfoodtour.com

Hong Kong (overnight) Did a free walking tour first day, really pretty good, very informative. Web site: http://hkfreewalk.com/partnership/#

Singapore Did another free walking tour, was excellent. Length 5 hours, VERY informative. Felt guilty only giving a tip, group size was a little big, maybe 12 people. Very good none the less. Web Site: http://www.sneakpeeksingapore.com/register

 

Thanks a lot

Happy Planning,

Capt. Ron

We will sail in the opposite itinary.

We plan to do shiptours in Vietnam. What is your opinion do we need to change US$ to local money?

We will in Singapore, Bangkok and Hongkon as we have either a private tour or we will use cabs etc.

We found that in the tourist places they price things in both Dong and US dollars. In a couple of the off the beaten track places our guide took us, like the pharmacy they requested Dong. I would not change dollars for Dong, you can't even get Dong from your bank before leaving as Dong is not internationally traded. I had private guides for Da Nang and Saigon. I can get you their e-mail if you want. They both specialize in food tours, though.

Happy Planning,

Capt. Ron

Did you get your Vietnam visa thru Celebrity/TA or by your own?

 

 

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The ship provided all visas for all countries. For overnight stays you'll need an over night Visa for Vietnam and a passport picture, ship will again provide Visa. We took some with us, otherwise the ship photographer will provide, I'm sure at some additional cost. Vietnam had raised the Visa cost (for overnight ONLY) to $140.00UD per person. Which really hit us, BUT they only charged our on board account $28.00US each, which is the Canadian rate. The Visas are pretty screwy in this country. Regardless the ship will provide all Visas and if there is a cost, they'll inform you in advance and charge your on board account. Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore there was no charge. We stayed over night in Bangkok and don't remember if we needed an additional passport picture or not for that overnight Visa, suggest you bring one anyway. We took four extra passport pictures with us for Siem Reap also. When you leave for Vietnam the ship will require you to give them your passport to hold, required by Vietnam law, no worries, if your staying over night. They return your passport for overnight stays in both Vietnam and Thailand. Once you return you give them back your passport while traveling in Vietnam. After Thailand I believe we kept our passports in our cabin safe.

Happy Planning,

Capt. Ron

Just back from 2 week Asia Immersion Cruise on Celebrity Millennium. Willing to answer any questions I can to try and pay forward for advise given by others to help make our trip so special.

Itinerary:

Hong Kong, overnight (one night before cruise)

Hanoi (La Long Bay)

Da Nang

Siagon (Ho Chi Mind)

Thailand (Bangkok overnight)

Singapore overnight

5 nights Siem Reap after cruise

Capt. Ron

I forgot to put in my Millennium review something about internet usage I found pretty disturbing. We got 60 minutes free internet for attending the Connections Party for Cruise Critic members, which I thought at first was pretty cool. Then I find out it's not really 60 minutes, it's 60 minutes of one time access. Which means once you log on the 60 minutes have to be used in one session. There is no roll over of these minutes, once you log on you have a total of 60 minutes to use but at that one time only. So if you log on with these minutes on say, Monday morning, you have 60 minutes Monday morning weather you use them all or not, you can not save them. They expire after that Monday morning. Also they sell 60 minutes of use for like $24.60 which is the same way. Who needs 60 minutes of internet at one time for almost $25.00?

Just trying to let people now about the new Celebrity corporate mind set of not being upscale but all about revenue enhancement. Looks like Celebrity has been taken over by the bean counters, instead of people that care about experience. Seems they have been lowered to Carnival Cruise standards.

Capt. Ron

Aside from the water issue, the issues have to do with cutbacks and attitude....which are independent of the ship. Sorry the op encountered less than excellent service, but welcome to today's celebrity.

 

 

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I only hope that you're wrong and at the same time I feel you may be right, that it is a corporate wide change in direction.

May have to give Celebrity one more chance to make sure either way.

Capt. Ron

Thanks for the review and also for answering some of my questions on the Asia board, Ron. Fingers crossed our Millie sailing is a good one over Christmas and New Year ;).

I'm sure you'll have a great time. FYI: Singapore was already decorating the stores, streets, the airport, Gardens by the Bay etc. for Christmas. Kind of caught us off guard but looked wonderful, from what we saw

Capt. Ron

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your cruise with us. I really appreciate it! Do you prefer the Solstice class over the M class? After 5 M class cruises we are finally sailing on our first S class in January.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marie

M class ships in their day were great. Good layouts, storage in the cabins etc. State of the Art in their time. On our cruise on the Summit in 2005 it was great. But, that was then, this is now. The M class ships are old, not outdated, just old and showing wear and tear.

We do like the Solstice Class of ships. They have some really nice features. Glass doors on showers, more storage space, larger cabins, larger TV's, buffet layout etc. Lawn club is nice with the grass and all with cabanas for rent. Wife likes the bar for leg shaving in the shower. The Solstice class is newer and much more modern, also in the decor.They also have some draw backs, bigger which means more passengers, don't like the elevator locations being in only 2 locations. There are more available elevators so you don't wait much, but if your forward or in the aft cabins, it can be a walk to get to them. Stay around Mid Ship if possible. To each his own, we go with itinerary more then the ship. We feel all cruises are great. I'm sure you'll find the Solstice class just fine for a cruise.

Capt. Ron

Hi

 

 

What was Celebrity Definition of a Immersion Cruise seeing as this was an immersion cruise, not a regular cruise in terms of the entertainment, food and the activities on board?

 

Thanks.

I guess it means that all the ports were Asian. Ports were: Hong Kong, Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Bangkok and Singapore. Didn't have any real different entertainment or a lot of Asian type food really. Just all about the itinerary being all in Asia.

Capt. Ron

Us:

Sailed the Asia Immersion Cruise on Celebrity Millennium from 10/30/16 to 11/13/16

We have sailed on 2 x Princess, 6 x Carnival, 1 x RCCL, 2 x Azamara, 5 x Celebrity and 1 x NCL. Azamara is our favorite and Celebrity 2nd. We sailed on the Summit in 2005 (which we liked, same Class ship as Millennium), things have changed on this class of ship in 10+ years, since then we have sailed the Solstice Class ships until the Millennium. I’m not quite 60 and wife is a young mid 50’s girl. We are Elite Members on Celebrity.

Celebrity Experience:

Ship seemed to be in good shape for being 16 years old. Some signs of wear and tear here and there. All in all not bad for an old ship. Easy to maneuver around the ship with a good layout. Didn’t have long waits for elevators most days, except when everyone is trying to get off the ship and trying to get to deck 4 or 1. There were some problems with water on the ship that we don’t think they handled very well. Some people we met on board didn’t go ashore one port day. They told us the water was off during our time ashore. They said it was off for more than 4 hours, with no notice or announcement. He went to the lobby desk to ask about the water being off and they said there was only a small problem and would be back on very soon. 3 hours later he asked again to see when he’d be able to take a shower. Again, he was told it would be back on soon. He said he had the impression that they either didn’t know or were just lying to him. He said every one of the staff he asked, he would get a different answer. I believe Celebrity handled this situation very poorly and didn’t communicate to the passengers what was going on and didn’t give an announcement when it was back on.

My wife said the hot water for the public restrooms was off several times during the cruise, she reported it but didn’t get much of a response.

For the first week and a half of the cruise we didn’t see one person around the pool area serving drinks. While at the pool area if you wanted a drink you had to go to the bar yourself and order one. Is this because of all the “Drink Included Packages”?

MDR seemed shorthanded of staff, 2 times my wife’s vegetables were served cold and it took over 10 minutes or more to get them heated. On the MDR menu they have added some extra pay for items like Lobster and prime steak etc. (up selling?) Someone mentioned that the assistant for the cabin stewards had been done away with. Is this because of all the “Gratuities Included Packages”?

Martini bar bartenders provided no show making drinks like we experienced on Solstice Class ships. They simply were pouring $15.00 martinis.

Ocean View Buffet ran out of coffee at a few locations on the mornings everyone was trying to leave ship early. How does that happen? At least 2 times we had to search for coffee, surly the management must know on early morning ports someone should be staffing the coffee machines. The food was Okay at the buffet, again just seemed short staffed.

I noted I had run out of minutes for the internet when I know I had 67 minutes left when I logged out. I went down to see the Ilounge person and she argued with me that I hadn’t logged out, when I know I did. Let’s face it internet on the ship is a total profit item as they have it anyway to help run the ship etc. Why would this person argue with me as an Elite Member and just give us some more minutes. I even went over the account with her, you could clearly see all my use (360 minutes total) was 5 minutes here, 10 minutes here, 4 minutes here etc. Then the last one usage was 67 minutes, out of character based on prior use. This was on a sea day after the Saigon port. We used the ship offered tour of a bus into Saigon to meet our food/city tour guide (who was great). Before leaving for the cruise I checked with Captains Club about the drop off location for this bus trip. They had ShoreX e-mail me (I still have it) that said we’ll be dropped off at Union Square (a central part of the city), our tickets delivered on board said drop off was Union Square. Just so you now this was the first time I’ve used a ship excursion ever, always DIY. They put us on a nice bus, with a tour guide telling us about Saigon, hard to understand, I would say her English was much better than my Vietnamese, no big deal. Well of course they dropped us off to another location. I called my guide who was waiting at Union Square, he grabbed a taxi and came and got us. Main problem was some people didn’t carry a cell phone that would work in Vietnam. Our guide was kind enough to call the other passengers guides and let them know the new location. Here you are in a strange city and do not speak or read the language which can really throw off some older people. The new location was about a half a mile or more from Union Square. Why the change, I’m starting to think as my guide told us in Da Nang (another great guide) that the guides get paid a few dollars for every guest that they bring to certain stores/locations, wondering now if Celebrity was getting more from this new location by out biding Union Square to deliver 100s of people to them, or was the tour people in on it and Celebrity didn’t know, makes me wonder. The Captians Club rep said maybe due to traffic for the change in drop off location, this just didn’t sit right with me, as the new location wasn’t all that far and the traffic around there wasn’t all that bad. Well, with the Ilounge person and the mistake in the drop off location I got pretty mad. So I went down to talk with the Captains Club rep. and brought this up to them and asked when the corporate model for Celebrity had changed from the attitude of “yes” to the attitude “we just want your money and increased profits”. I explained that my wife and I are not too old yet and have spent 10s of thousands with Celebrity in the past and could spend 10s of thousands in the future on cruises. Why would someone think it a good idea to argue over a few internet minutes? As management for my company I really wanted to know why, is it that your staff is not properly trained in customer service? Do you not empower your people to make simple calls like this? I don’t blame the staff, I blame management. The rep did offer a 10% discount on the Saigon bus trip and to return some minutes, she asked what would be fair. I said I had 67 minutes left when I last logged out, but would leave it up to her. They returned 26 minutes, which I used doing 2 emails with pictures from my Iphone to the kids, internet very SLOW. Everyone we spoke to that we met had the same feelings, that the Celebrity standards they were used too were not shown on this ship.

Some people mentioned that the Cosmos Lounge was not available as a quite reading area or meeting place during the day as they always had art shows going on, didn’t bother me, but some people didn’t like losing that open space on sea days. Another sign of revenue enhancement?

I’m not sure if Celebrity standards have fallen this fast since our last cruise just 2 years ago to Italy and Greece or is it just this particular ship. If this is the new Celebrity, not sure I’ll travel with them anymore. Really hoping it’s just the Millennium and not a corporate wide decision, if it is I hope their management understands that destroying the brand may not increase revenue in the long run. Cruising is personal and customer service is what separates you from the crowd. My company is very successful because we empower our people to make the customer happy (within reason) and we understand that we don’t have any kind of lock on the market and are not the only company providing our type of service. There are many companies our customers can use, what separates us is our superior customer service. Well, I’m glad I got that off my chest. These are just my personal thoughts and I don’t mean to demean anyone who loves Celebrity.

Food:

Nothing to really remember, Buffet was Okay and had some varied food available. MDR seemed under staffed, but Hostesses were very good in trying to get us seated at busy times using “Anytime Dinning”. We aren’t nor claim to be foodies’. If we aren’t cooking it or cleaning up we’re okay with whatever. In the MDR they did have Escargot every night which I love. Steaks ordered were cooked right and of good quality. Lines a little long in the buffet in the early port mornings, that’s pretty much expected. The buffet did have some empty coffee and juice dispensers on the early morning busy port days, why wouldn’t management figure on this and have them better staffed, running out of coffee is a BIG time mistake. Is this due to staff cut backs or poor management? Wife did have some cold veggies a couple times in the MDR, which took longer to get reheated than on other ships in the past, these things happen when you’re trying to feed a few 1,000 people in a few hours. Didn’t bother with the upscale pay for restaurants, so no comment. All in all everything regarding the food was okay; nothing stands out as really good or bad. Just not up to the standard we’re used to with Celebrity.

Smoking:

Okay, no judging here, don’t want to hear about it, just want you non-smokers and smokers to know a little bit. First smoking is allowed on Deck 4 port side, where the life boats are towards rear of ship. On Deck 10, port side near the Ocean View Buffet entrance and Deck 11 port side near the Mast Bar. Being smokers we always get to know a lot of other people that smoke as we’re confined to certain areas. So you meet people and over time get to know them pretty well. On this voyage there were 51 different nationalities among the passengers. We got to know people from Germany, England, New Zealand, Australia, Zimbabwe, Canada, Scotland, Ireland, even New York (LOL) from all over. Now, what’s funny is once they found out we were American, all they wanted to talk about was the Presidential election. Being news junky I was in heaven. Loved getting all the different views and being asked all kinds of questions they asked. I tried to answer as best I could, hoping I didn’t set back world relations too many years. Greatest time ever, so hard to understand how foreigners pay more attention to our politics those most Americans do. Oh well, bad education system I guess.

Cabin:

Deck 9, 9024, 2B, Balcony, forward on starboard side.

Standard cabin, standard balcony, unobstructed. Cabin had enough storage for cloths and luggage fit under the bed. Shower had curtain instead of glass doors. Did have enough storage space in bathroom for our needs. Bathroom provided with soap, body lotion, hair dryer, shampoo and conditioner. Cabin was pretty quiet as above the cabin is the SPA so no noise at night etc. Cabin was well maintained and clean at all times. Had to request ice for the cabin, which is now standard on Celebrity, they say to save water, I suspect now after this cruise is just another cost savings or revenue enhancement.

Entertainment:

Shows were pretty good and varied in the theater. The comedian was pretty darn funny, saw him once during a sea day. They had a gal that played the Violin that we enjoyed. The house band was really good. The other couple of bands that played around the ship were not great by any means. One band seemed to be a couple of beats slow for most of their songs. They did have daytime shows on some sea days, which we thought was a nice touch.

Over-all:

I would suggest that others be prepared for a little lower standard for this ship as it was all about the itinerary and not the ship or service. Having taken our last cruise with Celebrity 2 years ago, not sure if standards are now lower overall with them or it’s just this ship. I won’t expect to be Wowed by anything on this ship, if another cruise line offers a better price and itinerary, I would take that. As this ship from our personal experience was just nothing special. Really sorry to have to put out this type of sad report. I would do this cruise again even knowing what we know now, but only because of the itinerary and for NO other reason.

Happy Planning,

Our ship docks in Laem Chebang for the Bangkok port on our itinerary in January. We will be there from 8am to 6 pm. I know that Laem Chebang is about 1.5 hours from Bangkok. Can anyone suggest a diversified itinerary that is not all temples and palaces? Must sees would be great.

 

Any suggestions on a private guide and minivan driver would be greatly appreciated.

We just returned last weekend from the Millennium, 2 week Asia Immersion Cruise. Were over night in Laem Chabang port and stayed over night in Bangkok, 2 day tour set up. I would figure closer to 2 hours each way into Bangkok with the traffic which is VERY heavy at times, almost unbelievable and we're from Los Angeles. Also figure 3 hours to get back to the ship, too make sure you make it in time. Usually need to be back to the ship one hour prior to ship leaving. This being said, you'll have only about 4 to 5 hours of time in Bangkok. Best to have a guide and transport set up, do the Grand Palace, Royal Temple, Reclining Buddha and maybe a long tail boat ride, these are the MUST see's in my opinion. Check with your tour company for what makes the most sense with your limited time. We used a very good tour company and had a great guide and driver. Web Site: http://www.thaitourguide.com. Our tour guide Ms. Pookie was one of the best we used during our 3 weeks in Asia. The company is also highly rated on Tripadvisor and rightly so. This is just my opinion and nothing is guaranteed as far as the traffic. Just be careful about timing, due to traffic in Bangkok. Ride in is easy until you hit the city limits, then it gets very heavy within the city itself. On the first night the tour company was taking us to the hotel, which they said was about 10 minutes away, without traffic, it took us over an hour to go the few miles at about 6:00pm with the heavy traffic. Just be careful.

Capt. Ron

We are returning on the Constellation Of the Seas on March 19th (we arrive in Singapore on the 18th and overnight on the ship), and have an early morning flight home on the 19th. Are customs etc. available 24hrs a day for our disembarkation?

We were there just last week and immigration as per immigration is open 24/7 while Cruise ships are docked. We self carried our luggage off on Sunday morning at 6:00am with no problem. Takes longer to walk through then to get through immigration. Singapore is great.

Capt. Ron

Capt. Ron, Where did you stay in Siem Reap and would you recommend it? We are going pre-cruise in January and are currently booked at Le Meridien.

Thanks

 

 

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Here is the review we gave Booking.com

Chateau D’ Angkor La Residence

Address: Street Oum Chhay, Village 1, Svay Dangkum, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Phone: +85-563-966-060

5 nights, approximately $350.00USD total.

Review:

Stayed here for 5 nights after a 2 week cruise on Millennium from Hong Kong to Singapore. Flew from Singapore to Siem Reap on Sunday 11/14/16. Took a while to get through immigration as there were several planes landing at the same time that time of the morning. Total about 45 minutes. Cost $30.00USD per person for Visa's and required a passport photograph for Visa for each person, please take one with you as we did. Plane was a little bit late arriving, used Silk Air and with immigration timing we were about one hour late. Hotel provided pick up with a car (not a Tuk Tuk) and driver, driver was waiting for us upon arrival even though we were late. We found driver just outside of arrivals with our name on a sign, loaded luggage and off we went. Hotel about 15 minutes from airport with light traffic (low season we were told). Check in very easy and fast, gave credit card for deposit on room. Room was #212, on second floor above lobby right off the staircase(1st floor in Cambodia, as lobby floor is not counted like in USA), good location. There is no elevator/lift at this hotel, being on 2nd floor was fine. We had a one bedroom suite, which included a kitchen with:

3 burner or 4 burner stove (need to request a propane tank for stove before use), which we didn't use.

Refrigerator, came stocked with some sodas and water (at extra charge) which we didn't use. Cost of items was explained by a list on top of refrigerator. Cheaper to provide your own. Only one small ice tray in freezer, hard to find ice at markets so ordered from restaurant at no charge.

Kitchen had a hot water maker and 2 bottles of water provided daily. Coffee was provided, instant coffee, with tea, sugar and powered milk etc.

2 water bottles provided daily with instant coffee etc.

Washing machine for cloths with detergent, dish washing liquid. No softener. No dryer. Dishes done daily by housekeeping.

Bathroom:

Tub/shower and a shower. Large bathroom, American Toilet with plenty of toilet paper.

Shampoo, no conditioner

Towels were okay, not too thin, with wash cloth by the way. Replaced daily.

Came with tooth brushes, razor, comb, shower cap, soap etc., very nice.

Didn't use water from faucets for teeth brushing, used bottled water (again 2 bottles provided daily).

Great water pressure in shower, good hot water at all faucets.

Bedroom:

Very large room, plenty of closet space and 6 to 8 drawers in closet, with a safe.

Queen to King size bed, 4 pillows (small). Mattress was a little hard and thin, no box spring. We slept fine. Sheets changed daily with bed made.

2 night stands and NO dresser. Not a lot of furniture, none really needed.

A/C and ceiling fan in bedroom. Both worked great.

No TV in bedroom only in front or living room.

Tile flooring throughout entire apartment.

No balcony in bedroom, only off living or front room. Did have windows and blackout curtains.

Front Room:

30" +/- LCD TV, with English channels: 4, 29, 30, 32, 34, 35 - 39, 42, 43 (Fox Movies), 44 (CNN), 45 (BBC News), 46 (American TV shows) and 47 (Cartoon Network). Some with subtitles in Cambodian some without.

One coffee table, small sofa and 2 chairs (thin padding) and 5 chair dining table. Again not a lot of furniture, no more needed. Large room and a decent size balcony with table and 2 chairs. FYI: A/C compressors on balcony pumping out hot air when running. Our balcony overlooked street, not to noisy and not heavily traveled. Another Hotel directly across the street which had many buses taking tourist around on tours.

Room had ceiling fan and good A/C unit.

Room was quite for us.

Breakfast:

Was included in price, I believe it is included for everyone. You can order eggs or omelets made to order. Cereals, chicken sausage, bacon, noddles, rice, juices etc.

There are cheaper and more expensive, we liked this place as it is more of an apartment than a Hotel room.

Capt. Ron

Dear Capt. Ron;

 

I followed your advice and asked my guide to come into the port and meet me next to the cruise terminal.

There is a port entrance fee but I am happy to pay for it if it means not having to walk through a huge containers filled yard and hot/humid weather.

She quoted 650 bht for 2 days ( which comes to around $26 CDN). A very reasonable price for port fee when compared to what we'll have to pay in Da Nang port ( almost $12US/person).

Capt. Ron

Thanks for taking time to do this.

 

I have just one question: in Laem Chabang, how long and far is the walk from the ship to the port gate? I just reviewed my information on Laem Chabang and Google Earth. There is a Cruise Terminal at the port, the ship docks here and not tendered. The road is about 1,600' away from the terminal and you'd have to walk through the area where they park the importing cars. Our guide met us inside the terminal. You may want to check again with your guide as they may have meant they'll meet you at the terminal. Not sure you can walk out and not sure where they would meet you.

My tour guide is waiting for me at the gate so I want to plan accordingly.

 

Thanks

Capt. Ron

Aloha Capt. Ron,

 

You posted in reply to ep1987 question, "Also not asia board related but did any of the food onboard stand out as being either really good or pretty poor?"

 

Capt. Ron response, "Not really, food was Okay in MDR, had better on other Celebrity ships. Veggies cold twice for wife in MDR. Lobster one night without extra cost. They have added extra cost food items to order from the MDR menu which was new to us. Lobster, prime steak etc."

 

 

 

We are going on 8 day Celebrity Millenium in April 2017. We've sailed on Princess twice & RCCL once before. The food on our Princess cruises was very good. RCCL, not so good. Food was Okay, nothing to write home about. Sorry, we're just not foodies, so as long as we didn't have to cook it or clean up after we're Okay. We aren't good judges by any means.

 

Please, could you expand on your experience of the food on the Millenium.

 

We've looked at the limited information provided on the Celebrity page for this cruise and it is very limited. We've read other reviews on CC that the food on the Millenium was not very good and that the staff keeps trying to upsell meals in the MDR and the pay restaurant packages. We've also read that people that have purchased the pay restaurant packages were dissatisfied with the wait to get into the pay restaurants & the quality of the food served there. :( :mad:Sorry we didn't use any of the fancy pay to use restaurants, so no comment. We met people who had suites and allowed to use the Blu restaurant and said it was fine. We had Dining Anytime and did have to wait 2 or 3 nights about 15 minutes for a table, they give you a pager and we'd go have a drink to wait. If you do want to upgrade for dining, I would wait to book on board and see if you can't get a better price.

 

We've also read that there is very little variation in the buffet food & drink items (kind of like our experience with RCCL) and insufficient seating for the number of passengers trying to use the restaurant. :( We were always able to find a table, but we only used the Buffet once or twice at night. During the morning it can be hard as everyone is trying to leave the ship early. We were not overly impressed with the food or service on this ship. I have had better on the Solstice Class ships. It almost seemed to be a training ship for personnel. Food and service is such a subjective thing, some people like or dislike what they like or not. I think this trip was all about the ports and not about the ship, food or service.

 

I look forward to your reply.

 

Aloha, rak :D

Capt. Ron

On the day you left the ship at the end of the cruise what time were you able to leave and had you already been through immigration the day before? We left the ship in Singapore at 6:00am. They staff immigration 24 hours a day the immigration officers told us. We had no trouble, just carried our own bags off the ship. Showed our passports, said we had nothing to declare and we walked right out without bags being checked except for being sent through the X-Ray. We were able to leave with our cigarettes and liquor we purchased on board. A lot of people were worried about leaving with cigarettes as Singapore and Hong Kong place a heavy tax of cigarettes being brought into their countries. We had NO trouble at either city entering or exiting. Fastest immigration at both Hong Kong and Singapore we have encountered.

 

How was the smog/heat humidity in the ports? Be prepared for it being hot and humid, both day and night. Smog was not a problem, I understand it can be drafting over from other countries burning forests to clear land. I really didn't note it during our time there at all.

 

I was thinking of wearing capri pants at the temples is this acceptable for women or do we have to wear long pants or long dresses. Are longer shorts OK for men? That's what they're called, Capri's, this is what the wife wore going to the temples. Also sleeves on your tops, no bare shoulders. Men also have to have covered knees, so bring long shorts or wear pants. I wore light weight pants.

 

We are also going to siem reap any tips for which temples to visit and at what time of day. Have read about the sunrise tours there but not sure if they are worth it. Best tip is to get a private guide and a car with a driver. I know a lot of people do it on their own and use Tuk Tuks. Wife was so happy we had that car and driver with A/C going from Temple to Temple, driver will also provide ice cold towels when you return to the car, God Bless him. We really felt sorry for the people using the Tuk Tuks, they are slow and open with no A/C. They had no relief from the heat or humidity. Right now is the cool/dry season, it was in the middle 90's to just over 100 degrees with 80%+ humidity each day. At night maybe it would cool down to the 80's. It just wore on us after 3 weeks, day in and day out. Everywhere in Hong Kong and Singapore there is A/C indoors. Vietnam and Cambodia not so much.

 

Did you find all the places you visited felt safe or are there areas we need to be more aware of or avoid in your opinion? We felt very safe everywhere at all times. We did always have private guides in every port. In Siem Reap for 5 nights, we also felt safe to walking around during the day and night time also. Do be careful crossing the streets with all the scooters. Just pick an opening and plow ahead and they'll steer around you. The traffic is pretty crazy there, along with the broken sidewalks, trip hazards etc..

Many thanks for taking the time to answer all our questions.

Capt. Ron

Hello Ronbetty2001

 

How is the internet in celebrity ? is it fast? One of our people thought it was pretty good and had bandwidth enough for Skype. I thought it was still slow, took many minutes to load and e-mail a few pictures from Iphone 5. Should have sent them from the computers in the I lounge.

 

Is there any (lot of?) chinese food in celebrity buffet restaurant? something like fried chicken, stir fried noodle and so on? Yes, they did have food related to the countries we were visiting. Stir-Fry, noddles etc. IMHO they didn't go overboard and had plenty of Non-Asian food available.

 

Many thanks!

Capt. Ron

Hi Capt. Ron;

 

Is there a specific dress code in Pattaya and Bangkok ( the KIng's mourning period)? Either white or black clothing, no real restrictions on colors. We wore white or black tops as a sign or respect for their morning. They REALLY loved their King

Are we allowed to wear color? And short dresses ( summer dress, spaghetti straps)? Wife was told to not wear her shorts by our guide. They were above the knee's. She wore her short pants that stop at the ankles (can't remember what you girls call them).

 

And do we need ot have shoulders, knees and head covered inside the Sanctuary of Truth? All temples have a dress code. Keep dresses or shorts below the knees and tops must cover your shoulders. This applies only to the temples not everywhere of course. The Vatican has the same rules by the way for St. Peters, but not the museum.

 

Thanks

Capt. Ron

CABIN #: 9024

DECK #: 9

CLASS: 2B

AREA: Forward, Starboard

BED NEAR: Away from Balcony

QUIET?: Yes

BALCONY VIEW: Good, unobstructed

BALCONY SIZE: Standard

WIND A PROBLEM?: No

SOOT A PROBLEM?: No

PROBLEMS/COMMENTS:

Standard Balcony room. Very near elevators, so easy access. Under the SPA on deck 10, so no noise from above. Liked the location easy to get to pool deck on 10 and a walk across deck 10 to Buffet. Being forward gives easy access to theater for shows. But a walk to get to MDR.

I'm doing the identical itinerary in February.

 

Can i ask how long it took from going down to collect a tender ticket to arriving at the port in Halong Bay on day one? Wasn't a big deal, tickets are given out in the morning of, we were off the ship at 10:00, so didn't need a tender ticket by that time. Ship tours leave first. There is a floating dock they attach to the ship to load people into ship tour Junks directly, which made it very fast and efficient. Shouldn't be much of a wait at all, maybe 30 to 45 minutes is my guess.

 

Were there any delays getting on or off the ship at any ports due to immigration? None at all, all handled on board the ship. You give them your passport upon boarding. They will give it back for any overnight tours. Upon returning from overnight you'll need to give back to the ship personnel. Otherwise you don't see it until Singapore.

 

I'm specifically wondering what time to arrange to meet our tour guide at Laem Chabang (in Thailand we're doing Bangkok on day one and the area around Pattaya on day two because i really want to see a monastery and museum there)? We arrived port at 8:00am and met our guide at 8:30am without problem. This is a docked port, so you get off very fast.

 

Anything you recommend or don't recommend doing at any of the ports? Private overnight Junk for Ha Long Bay by indochinajunk was a high light for sure.

 

Also not asia board related but did any of the food onboard stand out as being either really good or pretty poor? Not really, food was Okay in MDR, had better on other Celebrity ships. Veggies cold twice for wife in MDR. Lobster one night without extra cost. They have added extra cost food items to order from the MDR menu which was new to us. Lobster, prime steak etc.

 

Thanks for any help.

Capt. Ron

Thanks for taking time to do this.

 

I have just one question: in Laem Chabang, how long and far is the walk from the ship to the port gate?

My tour guide is waiting for me at the gate so I want to plan accordingly.

 

Thanks

Our guide picked us up at the ship directly. As I remember about 15+/- minute walk through the industrial port. Level ground and on pavement, but keep eyes out for the movement of the containers etc. Lots of people seemed to be doing it, so it should be pretty safe. I don't remember it costing more in Thailand for pickup directly at the ship, I guess each tour guide is different.

Keep the questions coming,

Capt. Ron