Recently back from Southern Carribbean on the Millennium?

[mistysue]

Hi, was just wondering if anyone out there has any copies of the dailies from the recent Millennium in the Southern Carribbean. Would be great to see what is going on there and what is offered., love to see daily activities going on. Thanks:)

[Cnd_Cruiser]

Would love to hear about it as well, we are sailing on her in Jan.

[snausman]

Will be sailing on her next week for the 10 night cruise. I will try to remember to get those for you.

[caribegal]

Morning all,

 

My dh & I are on this ship/cruise departing Jan 22nd, when do you need your info by? Perhaps this is too late for you, but I will give you any details I can when we return.

[mistysue]

Thanks for the replies., we will be leaving home 12/4 for the bay area then on to San Juan 12/6. Appreciate your words. Have a GREAT cruise:)

[snausman]

Thanks for the replies., we will be leaving home 12/4 for the bay area then on to San Juan 12/6. Appreciate your words. Have a GREAT cruise:)

 

 

Oh darn we will miss you. We will be getting off :(as you get on:). Sorry I can't help you out.

[thatlauragirl]

Hi! We were on the Oct 26th sailing for our honeymoon and had an AMAZING cruise! I saved all the dailies for scrapbooking purposes... I'll try to figure out my hubby's scanner this weekend and get them posted. Also, let me know if you have any specific questions!

[snausman]

Hi! We were on the Oct 26th sailing for our honeymoon and had an AMAZING cruise! I saved all the dailies for scrapbooking purposes... I'll try to figure out my hubby's scanner this weekend and get them posted. Also, let me know if you have any specific questions!

 

Could you tell me what time the muster drill was??

 

Trying to figure out the specialty restaurant times. Thanks

[LIQUIDS]

Muster drill, without life jackets, on the 26 October sailing was at 6pm the day of departure, before we left the pier and delaying 1st sitting diners by 1/2 hour.

[thatlauragirl]

Muster drill, without life jackets, on the 26 October sailing was at 6pm the day of departure, before we left the pier and delaying 1st sitting diners by 1/2 hour.

 

...which therefore delayed the late seating by about the same time. We didn't get to dinner 'til about 9:15 the first night. I think it was a combination of the muster drill and the usual 1st night kinks with everyone trying to find their tables.

[mistysue]

:)Thank you so much., it will be great to see. If you have a problem getting them to scan, you can email them to me if it is easier. e_b_padelford@sbcglobal.net

 

How was the food.?, there has been many bad reviews lately and always ready to hear good or bad. It will be our first Celebrity cruise and looking forward to it very much.

 

What was your favorites about the ports? We are still looking at some tours and is so overwhelming at this point. haha

 

Looking forward to hearing from you:D:D

Bobbie

[snausman]

Muster drill, without life jackets, on the 26 October sailing was at 6pm the day of departure, before we left the pier and delaying 1st sitting diners by 1/2 hour.

 

 

Thank you! We have reservations every night in the specialty restaurant so was just wondering about the first night.

[CINDYSUE]

Just got back Tuesday from San Juan. The cruise was fantastic. Now in saying that I also will say that the food was not nearly as good as our previous Celebrity cruises. I had heard beef was not good and it is not. Some meals just average. Some very good. Celebrity is never going to get the truth about the meals on their survey forms. We were informed, more than once, by the waiter that if we complained about the quality of the food, it would go against him and the assistant waiter. They would not get as many tables on the next cruise, thus not make as much money. I think everyone at our table was in agreement about the food, but we all put it was "excellent" due to the effect it would have on our waiters, which we adored. Since it is your first cruise with Celebrity, you may think it is all okay.

 

As far as excursions go, we booked all private tours. If you look on the port thread, which is what I did, you can find out which tour guides are the best. I would recommend Bernard's in St. Martin, Curaceo Acitef in Curaceo (Howard Newton in particular), Spencer Ambrose in St. Lucia and Silvermoon in Barbados. We were not too happy with Patouche in Tortola and very unhappy with Your Way Tours in Aruba. If you have time, we really like Legends tour in Puerto Rico.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions I might be able to answer. And take good care of my ship!!!!!

[mangetakk]

Just got back Tuesday from San Juan. The cruise was fantastic. Now in saying that I also will say that the food was not nearly as good as our previous Celebrity cruises. I had heard beef was not good and it is not. Some meals just average. Some very good. Celebrity is never going to get the truth about the meals on their survey forms. We were informed, more than once, by the waiter that if we complained about the quality of the food, it would go against him and the assistant waiter. They would not get as many tables on the next cruise, thus not make as much money. I think everyone at our table was in agreement about the food, but we all put it was "excellent" due to the effect it would have on our waiters, which we adored. Since it is your first cruise with Celebrity, you may think it is all okay.

 

As far as excursions go, we booked all private tours. If you look on the port thread, which is what I did, you can find out which tour guides are the best. I would recommend Bernard's in St. Martin, Curaceo Acitef in Curaceo (Howard Newton in particular), Spencer Ambrose in St. Lucia and Silvermoon in Barbados. We were not too happy with Patouche in Tortola and very unhappy with Your Way Tours in Aruba. If you have time, we really like Legends tour in Puerto Rico.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions I might be able to answer. And take good care of my ship!!!!!

 

 

What was your disapoinment with Patouche in Tortola? We were planning on using them.

[snausman]

As far as excursions go, we booked all private tours. If you look on the port thread, which is what I did, you can find out which tour guides are the best. I would recommend Bernard's in St. Martin, Curacao Acitef in Curacao (Howard Newton in particular), Spencer Ambrose in St. Lucia and Silvermoon in Barbados. We were not too happy with Patouche in Tortola and very unhappy with Your Way Tours in Aruba. If you have time, we really like Legends tour in Puerto Rico.

 

 

Would also like to hear about Patouche in Tortola we will be using him next week.:confused:

[neilrr]

Just got back Tuesday from San Juan. The cruise was fantastic. Now in saying that I also will say that the food was not nearly as good as our previous Celebrity cruises. I had heard beef was not good and it is not. Some meals just average. Some very good. Celebrity is never going to get the truth about the meals on their survey forms. We were informed, more than once, by the waiter that if we complained about the quality of the food, it would go against him and the assistant waiter. They would not get as many tables on the next cruise, thus not make as much money. I think everyone at our table was in agreement about the food, but we all put it was "excellent" due to the effect it would have on our waiters, which we adored. Since it is your first cruise with Celebrity, you may think it is all okay.

 

As far as excursions go, we booked all private tours. If you look on the port thread, which is what I did, you can find out which tour guides are the best. I would recommend Bernard's in St. Martin, Curaceo Acitef in Curaceo (Howard Newton in particular), Spencer Ambrose in St. Lucia and Silvermoon in Barbados. We were not too happy with Patouche in Tortola and very unhappy with Your Way Tours in Aruba. If you have time, we really like Legends tour in Puerto Rico.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions I might be able to answer. And take good care of my ship!!!!!

 

CindySue - Thank you for the information, but the service is one thing and the food is another. I always give an honest review of the food and service. I think the waiters said that to avoid having an overall reflection of the ship. I don't believe there is a corolation between the quality of the food and the number of tables a waiter or assistant will receive. We have been on numerous Celebrity cruises and have met with the "Suits" from RCCL and discussed these issues.

I personally will continue to write honest comments on the comment card and write my review of a specific cruise (good or bad). I also am aware that Celebrity (and the other lines) monitor the cruise critic site and is most interested in honesty (after reading between the lines of silly complaints -eg. my plane was late, so the entire cruise was bad, etc..) of its passengers.

 

Neil

[CINDYSUE]

My complaint with Patouche was that they asked us if we had snorkeled before and we said yes, but we do not swim on a regular basis. When we got to the Baths, the swim into shore was about a half a mile. When I said I want to take the dingy, they acted like it was either too much trouble to get it off the boat, or it didn't work or something. We just about drowned going into shore. Then when I said I want to have the dingy take me back to the boat, they said I could swim to meet the boat, another half mile. They just were not going to get the dingy off the boat. Was so winded after the swim, then the obstacle course going through the Baths, it just about did us in. Even a lot younger guy in our group said "I didn't know I was going to get Navy Seal Certification on this tour"!!!! The "lunch" consisted of canned fruit cocktail, raw carrots and some kind of hot pocket like sandwich. Needless to say, for the money we paid, we were disappointed.

 

Neil, as far as the survey, we were told that by the waiter, the head waiter and the busboy. Even in the survey, the quality of the food was listed under the waiter portion of the survey. I even asked the head waiter how that was fair, and he more or less said it wasn't, but that was one of the ways the waiters were rated and their rating was how the tables were assigned. He confirmed that if we rated the food lower, the waiter would suffer. I, like you, really wanted to be honest about the food, but I also did not want our waiter to make less money the next cruise because I said the food was not as good.

[mistysue]

:)Thank you Cindy for your honesty about the dining room. We know not to order the steaks., which is a shame., no more steak and lobster I guess. :mad:

[neilrr]

:)Thank you Cindy for your honesty about the dining room. We know not to order the steaks., which is a shame., no more steak and lobster I guess. :mad:

 

MistySue - Don't despair... I am sure we will all find something to eat on that ship or we will drink a lot.:p See the new beverage system for that boondoggle...:eek:

 

CindySue- If you are correct, I hope that Celebrity is reading the reviews on CC to get the truth. Unfortunately, I will continue to write what is true on the cards and hope for the best. Look at it this way -- if the food is so bad and people do not return and go on other cruise lines, as has been indicated, the waiter is going to be out of a job anyway. My policy -best to be honest and let any cruise line make the corrections needed, rather than masking a bad situation to bring new "suckers a.k.a. passengers" in and hide the real information from Senior Management.

 

Neil:)

[Scrappytraveller]

Sorry to hear about your Tortola experience Cindy. :(

 

I'm just off the Millie too, and I found the food mostly average in the MDR. My only cruising experience is 2 Carnivals plus this Celebrity, and I'd rate the MDR food in order as Glory - Freedom - Millenium. I'd advise you to skip the "lobster" on the second formal night, the whole dish was a miss for me. Should have listened to my waiter, he recommended something else that night.

 

But, on the subject of food, the buffet food was FAR superior to Carnival. Really, FAR superior. So while my evening food wasn't as good, my daytime food was much more satisfying. The MDR wasn't BAD, just not as good. I would have preferred more ethnic variety in the MDR, I found a lot of it rather bland. Best dish of the cruise was the indian tilapia on the last night. Nice and spicy and flavorful.

 

As for excursions, I only did 2 and can't say I loved either of them. I did Spencer Ambrose in St Lucia and Silver Moon in Barbados. I'd recommend Silver Moon if you really are keen to see the turtles, but not the St Lucia one. Not because Spencer wasn't good (he was very nice and very proud) but because it was too much driving around for what little we saw. The day felt very rushed and we were too cramped in his van. The beach at the Pitons isn't great either (rocky, not the cleanest). In hindsight, I'd book a boat based excursion that would allow a view of the Pitons and then a more beautiful beach. It's not a matter of Spencer vs Cosol or anything like that, I just didn't really enjoy the tour itself and my traveling companion was not at all pleased with the amount of driving.

 

My favorite beach day was Aruba. We took a taxi to the end of Eagle beach. It was gorgeous, not crowded at all but with the drinks and food you'd need. Bathrooms are across the street though, so not super accessible if you're desparate. Also really liked Little Bay beach at Divi resort in St Maarten. Also very quiet and clean with facilities, and very close to the pier. We walked back into town.

[snausman]

Sorry to hear about your Tortola experience Cindy. :(

 

I'm just off the Millie too, and I found the food mostly average in the MDR. My only cruising experience is 2 Carnivals plus this Celebrity, and I'd rate the MDR food in order as Glory - Freedom - Millenium. I'd advise you to skip the "lobster" on the second formal night, the whole dish was a miss for me. Should have listened to my waiter, he recommended something else that night.

 

But, on the subject of food, the buffet food was FAR superior to Carnival. Really, FAR superior. So while my evening food wasn't as good, my daytime food was much more satisfying. The MDR wasn't BAD, just not as good. I would have preferred more ethnic variety in the MDR, I found a lot of it rather bland. Best dish of the cruise was the indian tilapia on the last night. Nice and spicy and flavorful.

 

As for excursions, I only did 2 and can't say I loved either of them. I did Spencer Ambrose in St Lucia and Silver Moon in Barbados. I'd recommend Silver Moon if you really are keen to see the turtles, but not the St Lucia one. Not because Spencer wasn't good (he was very nice and very proud) but because it was too much driving around for what little we saw. The day felt very rushed and we were too cramped in his van. The beach at the Pitons isn't great either (rocky, not the cleanest). In hindsight, I'd book a boat based excursion that would allow a view of the Pitons and then a more beautiful beach. It's not a matter of Spencer vs Cosol or anything like that, I just didn't really enjoy the tour itself and my traveling companion was not at all pleased with the amount of driving.

 

My favorite beach day was Aruba. We took a taxi to the end of Eagle beach. It was gorgeous, not crowded at all but with the drinks and food you'd need. Bathrooms are across the street though, so not super accessible if you're desparate. Also really liked Little Bay beach at Divi resort in St Maarten. Also very quiet and clean with facilities, and very close to the pier. We walked back into town.

 

Thank you for posting your review. I like to hear all sides to everything, what one person thinks is great, another thinks its ok.

[porsena]

DW and I are on the Millie's Nov 27 cruise. We've booked with Patouche and I will be posting an update on this thread when we return.

[richsea]

We also just returned from Millennium & while we had a fantastice time, we must agree with others regarding the food in the MDR. While I have no quarrel with the choices, we feel that the QUALITY of the food, particularly the beef, has definitely deteriorated. Also, the "lobster", a 1/2 tail served with shrimp & scallops, as tough as rubber. However, we still feel that the service in the MDR is as good as ever, as is the rest of the Celebrity experience. And the new Elite Captain's Club perks are a vast improvement over the old, non-perks.

[mistysue]

:D Hi Thatlauragirl! I'm so glad to hear you had a great cruise. I was just wondering about those dailies. Sure appreciate your assistance. :):)

Bobbie e_b_padelford@sbcglobal.net Those are undercarriage between our initials in case you were wondering. haha

[Can'tstopcruising]

We also just returned from Millennium & while we had a fantastice time, we must agree with others regarding the food in the MDR. While I have no quarrel with the choices, we feel that the QUALITY of the food, particularly the beef, has definitely deteriorated. Also, the "lobster", a 1/2 tail served with shrimp & scallops, as tough as rubber. However, we still feel that the service in the MDR is as good as ever, as is the rest of the Celebrity experience. And the new Elite Captain's Club perks are a vast improvement over the old, non-perks.

 

I told my husband about all the negative food reports and he said "good, I'll eat less"!