Sort of LIVE Celebrity Millennium Nov. 28 and Dec. 3rd B2B's

[Orator]

Several Millie cruises willbe on sale next Tuesday and I may hop on a few. Does anyone know who is the current Cruise Director,Captain's Club Host/Hostess/, or Restaurant Manager?

[SugarLover]

dmwnc1959 -

 

Have been away for 2 weeks, and just found your thread, so I haven't had a chance to read through the whole thing yet, but your pictures are great! We were on the Millie just last month; your photos are bringing back fond memories. I particularly love that familiar view of the Miami skyline at dusk/night when the lights of the city are coming on, and the bridge lights up purple.

 

Forgive me if someone has already asked this, but what camera/lenses are you using?

 

TIA

- Sugar

[dmwnc1959]

Does anyone know who is the current Cruise Director, Captain's Club Host/Hostess/, or Restaurant Manager?

 

It was announced at the beginning of my cruise that the then current Cruise Director Rich Clessen would be leaving the ship soon and the Activities Director Caissie Stafford was become the new Cruise Director. This all effective beginning with the Dec. 12th sailing. Rich would remain onboard for another sailing or two after being replaced to ensure an overlap in their turnover but not in the capacity as CD.

 

I am not sure about the others...sorry.

[Orator]

Thanks. Rich is a fine CD.

[dmwnc1959]

Hi SugarLover -

 

The camera is a Olympus SP-600UZ. Not sure if it's considered a 'point and shoot' but I operated it in Program Mode (manual settings) most of the time as opposed to Auto Mode.

 

 

 

 

The thread is a bit long, sorry, but there are also well over a hundred pictures taken with my iPhone and posted using the Tapatalk iPhone app that are not as clear but still a lot of fun to look through!

[martiniren]

Several Millie cruises willbe on sale next Tuesday and I may hop on a few. Does anyone know who is the current Cruise Director,Captain's Club Host/Hostess/, or Restaurant Manager?

 

Not to hijack this thread, but here is some of the information you were looking for, Orator. We were on the Millennium for the October 31 and November 5 sailings.

 

October 31 sailing

 

Captain Emmanouil Alevropoulos

Chief Engineer Dimitrios Sakellariou

Staff Captain Damianos Xenakis

Guest Relations Manager Philip Holmes

Hotel Director Andrew Harris

Cruise Director Rich Clesen

Food & Beverage Manager Michael Bramlett

Executive Chef Prashant Wibhaw

Concierge Kevin Thummiah

Captain's Club Hostess Mellissa Snow

 

November 5 sailing

Captain Zisis Taramas

Chief Engineer Dimitrios Sakellariou

Staff Captain Damianos Xenakis

Guest Relations Manager Philip Holmes

Hotel Director Andrew Harris

Cruise Director Rich Clesen

Food & Beverage Manager Michael Bramlett

Executive Chef Prashant Wibhaw

Concierge Kevin Thummiah

Captain's Club Hostess Galyna Kulykova

 

For both sailings

Party Band: 60280

Guitar & Vocal: Justin Wade

Caribbean Band: B Sharp Trio

Jazz Band: The Cooler Kings

Piano Music (Michael's Club): Carlos Avalon

A Cappella: Metropark

[dmwnc1959]

I just found the In The Spotlight that references the same info posted by martiniren but there were several changes:

 

Staff Captain - Xenofon Livanios

Food and Beverage Manager - Thomas Kassner

Executive Chef - Jason Banyon

Chief Engineer - Georgios Karlis

 

And as previously mentioned Rich Clesen was being replaced as Cruise Director.

 

.

[Orator]

Not to hijack this thread, but here is some of the information you were looking for, Orator. We were on the Millennium for the October 31 and November 5 sailings.

 

October 31 sailing

 

Captain Emmanouil Alevropoulos

Chief Engineer Dimitrios Sakellariou

Staff Captain Damianos Xenakis

Guest Relations Manager Philip Holmes

Hotel Director Andrew Harris

Cruise Director Rich Clesen

Food & Beverage Manager Michael Bramlett

Executive Chef Prashant Wibhaw

Concierge Kevin Thummiah

Captain's Club Hostess Mellissa Snow

 

November 5 sailing

Captain Zisis Taramas

Chief Engineer Dimitrios Sakellariou

Staff Captain Damianos Xenakis

Guest Relations Manager Philip Holmes

Hotel Director Andrew Harris

Cruise Director Rich Clesen

Food & Beverage Manager Michael Bramlett

Executive Chef Prashant Wibhaw

Concierge Kevin Thummiah

Captain's Club Hostess Galyna Kulykova

 

For both sailings

Party Band: 60280

Guitar & Vocal: Justin Wade

Caribbean Band: B Sharp Trio

Jazz Band: The Cooler Kings

Piano Music (Michael's Club): Carlos Avalon

A Cappella: Metropark

 

Thanks! Milessa Snow spent some time on Constellation and is now on vacation in Australia. Galyna has replace Melissa on Constellation. Thanks again.

[momto3gr8boys]

ENJOY!!!! You're more than welcome! Have a GREAT cruise and please let us know how the TCM Cruise goes?

 

 

The TCM cruise was fun! It was a different experience in that the charter company (Sixthman) was in charge of all the activities onboard. There were none of the typical cruise type activities as all were focussed on classic movies. They did set up a movie theater up on the pool deck, so we had a version of movies under the stars as well as movies in the theaters. There were plenty of activities with the celebs on board. Ernest Borgnine, Eva Marie Saint and Tippi Hedron were very social and would mingle and chat with the passengers. Wink Martingdale did all the trivia contests and you definitely felt like a kid again watching him on tv when you were home sick from school! There were interviews, exhibits (The Brown Derby - great memorabilia), Casablanca night in the casino, movies, contests, karaoke, etc. People got really into it, dressing up in vintage clothing and assuming movie personalities.

 

The one big upside to this cruise (for me) was that most passengers were die hard fans, so hanging out by the pool was not a priority. The pool deck was practically empty the whole cruise (except at night when movies were playing) and I was thrilled to have any lounge chair I wanted at any time. I like the classics, but I was really on this cruise because I was with a group celebrating a friend's 50th birthday, so lounge time by the pool was still high on my list and it was so nice to enjoy an empty pool deck despite a sold out ship.

 

The big downside to this cruise was that most of the time there was only one event going on at a time. For instance, there would be only one showing of an after dinner activity, instead of one for early seating and one for late seating. This in turn made someone make the decision to forgo seating assignments for dinner. You just showed up whenever you felt like eating. Problem was, activities started at 8 so everyone (on the sold out ship) showed up at 6 for dinner. A bit of mayhem and the service was lacking in the MDR because of this. I haven't sailed Celebrity before, but I really think this was not the fault of the staff - I think they just had their routine thrown out the window and it was difficult. And by only having one activity at a time, things would fill up quickly. People would wait for over an hour on line to see an interview. The Sixthman crew did rapidly adjust and added events and moved things around, but I think it should have been planned out a little better from the getgo. Again, can't fault the Celebrity crew as this was a chartered event.

 

If you are a classic movie fan, this was a once in a lifetime experience. I would definitely recommend going if they do it again in the future and you are able to attend.

[dmwnc1959]

The TCM cruise sounds like a real hoot!. I'm glad you had a great time. It would have been right up my alley, but when the price more than doubled from what I was paying Celebrity to book through Sixthman my little budget just would not allow it. My loss apparently! Maybe next time?

 

It's hard to believe that my long awaited and dreamed of vacation is actually over. Tonight is my first night back to work and I just needed one more day to mentally prepare. ;)

 

Yesterday as I finished unpacking, washing, cleaning, putting away the suitcases for another year, and sorting through all the Celebrity Today's and souvenirs from the cruise, I wondered if it was all worth it? All that planning, saving, penny pinching, counting down the days, the anticipation and the buildup, and then...poof, it's all over. But as I took my new refrigerator magnet and placed it next to last years souvenir, I smiled and muttered the answer to my own question: Man that was fun!

 

 

 

Here's to another year (or more) of 'waiting', and the next refrigerator magnet.

 

:)

[ammaoftheseas]

David I enjoyed the pictures. I see you went out of the gated area in Jamaica. Looked scary to us we didn't try that. I lost the little piece of paper that I wrote the app u told me to download to add pictures to cc. Help please. Thanks for sharing. Was a great cruise.

[dmwnc1959]

David I enjoyed the pictures. I see you went out of the gated area in Jamaica. Looked scary to us we didn't try that. I lost the little piece of paper that I wrote the app u told me to download to add pictures to cc. Help please. Thanks for sharing. Was a great cruise.

 

Falmouth wasn't all that bad. Just have to be very persistent in saying NO if you didn't need their guide or tour services. It would not be a place I would want to go back to though.

 

The iPhone app is called Tapatalk.

 

Once you have downloaded the app find the Cruise Critic forum and then narrow it down to whichever sub-forum (Celebrity Cruises, Princess Cruises, etc.) you want.

 

In the upper right corner is an arrow, tap it and choose New Topic.

 

Once you have a thread going, or want to post in any thread, hit REPLY and open the little bar at the bottom of the Reply Field that says Open Advanced Option.

 

Either take a picture using the camera or upload from your album and choose Tapatalk Hosted.

 

You can upload up to six pictures, then hit SEND.

 

Also, to earmark a thread as a Favorite use that arrow in the upper right corner again and tap SUBSCRIBE. It will then show up by tapping the MORE button on the bottom o the Tapatalk screen and look in Favorites.

 

Hope this helps!

[dmwnc1959]

Thank you so much for the info. I remember how relaxing the t-pool is (yes, a lot easier :) ).

 

Happy to hear it is still no charge.

 

Not sure I would call the T-pool relaxing. Most sea days I walked through it was very crowded and very loud, few empty loungers, rarely an empty table (lots of people playing cards), no where to sit and eat.

 

Here are some pictures I posted earlier in the thread:

 

 

 

 

[ammaoftheseas]

Thanks David. Hope we meet up with you again. One other thing what was the app you showed me that you could see all the ships coming in to port?

[dmwnc1959]

Thanks David. Hope we meet up with you again. One other thing what was the app you showed me that you could see all the ships coming in to port?

 

It was a pleasure meeting you. We all had great fun didn't we!

 

The iPhone app you're looking for is called MARINE TRAFFIC. It used to be free but I think it's $2-3 now.

 

Here's a screen grab I got on the morning of Dec. 3rd, my Turn-Around Day:

 

[cruiseacecat]

Hi David,

 

I am just back from 2 weeks on summit, where I fed my almond croissant habit, :) and have just caught up with your "live from" posts on Millie.

You have truly written one of the most informative, entertaining and just plain fun "live from" reports I have ever read. And your pictures were the icing on the cake. Just wonderful.

 

I will be on the Millie in 3 weeks and you have heightened my anticipation.

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your vacation to do this.

 

Anne

[Lois R]

Hi David,

 

I am just back from 2 weeks on summit, where I fed my almond croissant habit, :) and have just caught up with your "live from" posts on Millie.

You have truly written one of the most informative, entertaining and just plain fun "live from" reports I have ever read. And your pictures were the icing on the cake. Just wonderful.

 

I will be on the Millie in 3 weeks and you have heightened my anticipation.

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your vacation to do this.

 

Anne

 

Hello Anne:) you are cruising as much as ever...you are my idol:D

When are you going on Millennium????

[dmwnc1959]

Hi Anne!

 

I hope you had enough of those delicious almond croissants for the both of us. ;)

 

THANK YOU for the very kind comments regarding the thread. It was a LOT of fun writing it and posting the pictures and comprehensive details of everyday life aboard the fine Celebrity Millennium. It also gives me a chance to relive the experience when there's 6" of snow on the ground!

 

Unfortunately my personal almond croissant cravings will have to wait a while. My next cruise will most likely be something close to home (no more flying for a while) which restricts me to NCL or RCI out of NY or Carnival out of Baltimore. Wish me luck! ;)

 

Enjoy the Celebrity Millennium. She is a wonderful ship and among my finest ever cruise experiences. It was an amazing 10-nights, and meeting so many new friends onboard only added to the incredible experience.

 

I do hope someday to get back to Celebrity Cruises. Until then I can dream a little dream of almond croissants at the Cova Cafe.

 

Until then...

[C 2 C]

Just a question:

 

Are you the one who has been accused of using other people's pictures as your own or do I have you confused with the poster who had his Live thread removed for copyright violations?:confused:

[dmwnc1959]

Just a question:

 

Are you the one who has been accused of using other people's pictures as your own or do I have you confused with the poster who had his Live thread removed for copyright violations? :confused:

 

Absolutely not!!!.

 

Every single picture in this entire thread was taken by ME, no one else. I have the memory card, the iPhone, the Tapatalk account, and many witnesses to prove it. :)

 

The pictures taken and downloaded during the actual cruise and LIVE thread where by using my iPhone and Tapatalk. The pictures posted after the cruise was over were those downloaded to my personal Flikr account from the memory card.

 

These pictures are something I am very proud of and wanted to share with all of the members here at Cruise Critic. I worked very hard at trying to take good pictures and would be very upset if someone tried to steal them from me.

 

I spent an awful lot of personal time and dedication, as well as money (over $200 in internet packages) soley for the purpose of conducting this single LIVE thread.

 

I won't mention the screen name or real name of the person who was accused just for the sake of privacy rules.

 

.

[mla1962]

Hi David,

I think you should enter the "Celebrity Cruises Captain’s Club Reporter Contest" and submit your posts in this thread. "You could win a trip to Freeport, Bahamas during Celebrity Summit’s dry dock where you’ll do video reporting of the ship’s progress during her final days of renovation. She’ll be enhanced with new venues such as the iconic Martini Bar and Crush, Qsine® and Celebrity iLoungeSM. Get the behind-the-scenes stories and final results of the ship’s Solsticizing enhancements, and report to all our interested viewers what you’re experiencing. Plus, you’ll win a 7-night Caribbean cruise aboard Celebrity Summit" I am certain you would win.:)

Laura

[dmwnc1959]

Hi Laura! THANK YOU for the encouragement and kind words. I actually started to enter the contest and submit my essay last night, but got discouraged when I thought of the countless others who are so much more experienced cruising Celebrity (in both Solstice- and Millennium-class ships), doing LIVE threads, and taking pictures, than I am. I honestly don't think I stand a chance when compared to all the Elite and Ultra-Elite, when I just have a handful of Celebrity cruises under my belt.

 

But maybe now I'll reconsider! ;) Who knows, I might get lucky!!!

[Lois R]

Hi Laura! THANK YOU for the encouragement and kind words. I actually started to enter the contest and submit my essay last night, but got discouraged when I thought of the countless others who are so much more experienced cruising Celebrity (in both Solstice- and Millennium-class ships), doing LIVE threads, and taking pictures, than I am. I honestly don't think I stand a chance when compared to all the Elite and Ultra-Elite, when I just have a handful of Celebrity cruises under my belt.

 

But maybe now I'll reconsider! ;) Who knows, I might get lucky!!!

 

David, yes, reconsider!:):D:)...why would you be discouraged?

Your review and photos are fabulous! And not everyone does "Live

From" stuff anyway. I agree with Laura, submit it.....:)

[dmwnc1959]

David, yes, reconsider!:):D:)...why would you be discouraged?

Your review and photos are fabulous! And not everyone does "Live

From" stuff anyway. I agree with Laura, submit it.....:)

 

Will do! Good thing i didn't delete the email from Celebrity.

 

I work midnight shifts, tonight midnight to 10am, and was just about to call it quits for the day. Getting old and need my 'beauty sleep', not that it'll help. ;)

 

Have to get my thoughts together again and draft up something nice for Celebrity Cruises to consider.

 

THANKS for the encouragement!

[Lois R]

Will do! Good thing i didn't delete the email from Celebrity.

 

I work midnight shifts, tonight midnight to 10am, and was just about to call it quits for the day. Getting old and need my 'beauty sleep', not that it'll help. ;)

 

Have to get my thoughts together again and draft up something nice for Celebrity Cruises to consider.

 

THANKS for the encouragement!

 

Glad you changed your mind:) and hope you win too:D