Feedback on Millennium

[Merriem]

There are some not too nice reviews on this ship, and I did book the Japan cruise for next year and would really like honest comments on previous cruisers. Thanks.

[HokiePoq]

There are some not too nice reviews on this ship, and I did book the Japan cruise for next year and would really like honest comments on previous cruisers. Thanks.

 

Wow. Those were awful reviews for the most part. Our previous cruise with Celebrity was on this ship and I found it beautiful, clean, and well-run except for excursions. When an opportunity came for a land tour combined with another trip on the Millie, we didn't hesitate. I wonder what has happened in the last few years to change that. I realize that those who love it or hate it are usually the ones who write reviews, but there are way too many negative ones on the Asia cruises. We sprung for Aqua and now I see why it was priced not that much higher than others, given what has been written.

 

Like the OP I'd hope to hear from recent cruisers on this ship. Is it due to dry dock anytime soon?

[Merriem]

Wow. Those were awful reviews for the most part. Our previous cruise with Celebrity was on this ship and I found it beautiful, clean, and well-run except for excursions. When an opportunity came for a land tour combined with another trip on the Millie, we didn't hesitate. I wonder what has happened in the last few years to change that. I realize that those who love it or hate it are usually the ones who write reviews, but there are way too many negative ones on the Asia cruises. We sprung for Aqua and now I see why it was priced not that much higher than others, given what has been written.

 

Like the OP I'd hope to hear from recent cruisers on this ship. Is it due to dry dock anytime soon?

 

It was in dry dock in 2012. And agin I do not know if it was super critical writers or the truth.

[h20cruzer]

Even though its been not quite a year since I was on the Millie to Alaska, I found the ship to be in good shape. Is there rust in places yes, is the ship going to sink because of it NO, did it make me enjoy my time less NO.

An old car or an old house has character, but a ship is ready for the graveyard.

I would sail on her in an instant.

The crew was great, I had one of the new window rooms on deck 3, it was great with the large porthole.

I personally prefer the size of the M class ships, yes there are speciality restaurants, the Martini bar and such. I had a great time. There are those people who's glass is always half empty rather than half full.

I am sure you will enjoy the ship and crew.

Norma

[HokiePoq]

Even though its been not quite a year since I was on the Millie to Alaska, I found the ship to be in good shape. Is there rust in places yes, is the ship going to sink because of it NO, did it make me enjoy my time less NO.

An old car or an old house has character, but a ship is ready for the graveyard.

I would sail on her in an instant.

The crew was great, I had one of the new window rooms on deck 3, it was great with the large porthole.

I personally prefer the size of the M class ships, yes there are speciality restaurants, the Martini bar and such. I had a great time. There are those people who's glass is always half empty rather than half full.

I am sure you will enjoy the ship and crew.

Norma

 

Glad to hear that! I, too, don't mind an older ship, always enjoying our HAL cruises many of which have been on older ships. And I did think the Millie was a great ship several years ago. Hopefully, the leadership on the ship by the time the OP and I sail, will have any issues resolved. Hotel directors, I've recently learned, make all the difference sometimes. We are on the Transpacific and I hope that doesn't cause a problem with changing crews, different itinerary. It never has on NCL but was a huge problem on one of our two such cruises with RCCL. On the latter one, the crew (not the room stewards who were great) just didn't care. Most were getting ready to leave the ship either in Dubai or Rome and the one of a kind cruise didn't seem to be worth their effort to make it excellent.

[shipfriend_max]

I asked the same question days ago because we consider her for Alaska 2015.

People who I asked were satisfied with the ship, clean and good condition, good service and food.

What I saw: the Alaska reviews were mostly good - very good, while some Asia reviews were mixed.

I had very positive experiences on her sster, Celebrity Summit, so I would not hesitate to book Millennium!

[mariners]

Merriem, I wrote one of the reviews on the Millennium Asia cruise. I think that most of the people who wrote the reviews were being honest and it was their experience. There were also many other passengers onboard who did not have some of the same issues:

 

1) Some cabins were in much better condition than others; ours was not in great condition.

 

2) Some people did not have issues with their balcony/balcony door; our balcony was filthy and even the inside of the door was salt encrusted and rusted at the bottom.

 

3) Some people did not have plumbing problems in their bathrooms; our sink would overflow if there was more than a trickle of water from the taps.

 

4) Some people from reports loved the food in the MDR; with the exception of one meal, our food was mediocre. For example, some people stated that they had hot soup; some, like us and other people in our section, never got a bowl of soup that was hot.

 

5) Some people had poor service in the MDR. Our service was fantastic!!!!

 

6) Some people enjoyed the Oceanview Cafe; some people hated it. I thought the fresh pasta was excellent, but did not eat there more than once because of the few rude, pushy passengers who seemed to overtake the area.

 

7) I loved the Oceanview Grill and the food was always freshly cooked when I ate there. Other people said that the food had been sitting around and was cold.

 

8) The ship was under Code Red and, even though it was not reported on the CDC site, the Norovirus was definitely an issue and I knew many people who became ill. The crew were stretched very thin and unable to complete some of the tasks that would usually be done such as cleaning the balconies, etc. From reading past reviews, Code Red is not unusual in cruises that go to this area of the world.

 

9) The itinerary was fantastic, and we loved the ports; but be aware that Celebrity tours have priority in disembarkation and that independent tours might be delayed in leaving.

 

10) It was Celebrity head office who made a decision that has made it so that I am not prepared to sail on Celebrity again. It was not the Millennium.

 

As long as you go in prepared for the issues that people have raised in their reviews, you will have an amazing time despite those issues. Some people would choose to go again; others would not. If the issues were strictly to do with the Millennium, I'm one of the people who would go again, but I would not choose the ship for the family.

 

If you have any specific questions, I'd be glad to answer them if I can.

[Celebrity Cruises]

 

10) It was Celebrity head office who made a decision that has made it so that I am not prepared to sail on Celebrity again. It was not the Millennium.

 

 

Hello there,

 

Can you please elaborate so we can look into this issue. Please feel free to email [concerns] at [celebrity [dot] com. Thank you!

[shipfriend_max]

@mariners:

So, as far, as I understand, the Asia cruises are a source of complaints for the Millennium - I think it is not formerly the Millennium.

As you mentioned, due to the Code Red, the crew was not able to clean the balconies, for example - one user in this board did not stop to complain about that issue... :rolleyes:

 

So I think if I planned to do an Asia cruise on Millennium, there I needed to worry about the reviews - but not for Alaska.

I also think that some things even on the same ship could be very different.

Some people on Millennium in Asia experienced problems we did not experience on Summit in caribbean.

 

So maybe the negative reviews are because of Asia... maybe the crew and the cruise line itself needs to "get used" to the destination, since this region is relatively new for Celebrity.

 

And I think finally:

-different crew

-different destination

-maybe different passengers

--> different situation. :)

[20pluscruises]

Merriem, I wrote one of the reviews on the Millennium Asia cruise. I think that most of the people who wrote the reviews were being honest and it was their experience. There were also many other passengers onboard who did not have some of the same issues:

 

1) Some cabins were in much better condition than others; ours was not in great condition.

 

2) Some people did not have issues with their balcony/balcony door; our balcony was filthy and even the inside of the door was salt encrusted and rusted at the bottom.

 

3) Some people did not have plumbing problems in their bathrooms; our sink would overflow if there was more than a trickle of water from the taps.

 

4) Some people from reports loved the food in the MDR; with the exception of one meal, our food was mediocre. For example, some people stated that they had hot soup; some, like us and other people in our section, never got a bowl of soup that was hot.

 

5) Some people had poor service in the MDR. Our service was fantastic!!!!

 

6) Some people enjoyed the Oceanview Cafe; some people hated it. I thought the fresh pasta was excellent, but did not eat there more than once because of the few rude, pushy passengers who seemed to overtake the area.

 

7) I loved the Oceanview Grill and the food was always freshly cooked when I ate there. Other people said that the food had been sitting around and was cold.

 

8) The ship was under Code Red and, even though it was not reported on the CDC site, the Norovirus was definitely an issue and I knew many people who became ill. The crew were stretched very thin and unable to complete some of the tasks that would usually be done such as cleaning the balconies, etc. From reading past reviews, Code Red is not unusual in cruises that go to this area of the world.

 

9) The itinerary was fantastic, and we loved the ports; but be aware that Celebrity tours have priority in disembarkation and that independent tours might be delayed in leaving.

 

10) It was Celebrity head office who made a decision that has made it so that I am not prepared to sail on Celebrity again. It was not the Millennium.

 

As long as you go in prepared for the issues that people have raised in their reviews, you will have an amazing time despite those issues. Some people would choose to go again; others would not. If the issues were strictly to do with the Millennium, I'm one of the people who would go again, but I would not choose the ship for the family.

 

If you have any specific questions, I'd be glad to answer them if I can.

 

Oh dear...was it the Summit?

[ghstudio]

Not sure that Asia has anything to do with the reviews...we were on the millennium last yeare for 28 days out of singapore and generally had a very nice cruise. We've since been on the infinity twice and also had very nice cruises. Over the years, we've found that so much of our perception of a ship is based on the attitude of the crew and officers. We've been on B2B cruises where the captain and many others changed in the middle and the second cruise (with new officers) was far more enjoyable than the first (you would think it would be the other way around). Perceptions of food quality are related to preparation and a change in seasoning can make all the difference.

 

There is nothing, as far as I know, fundamentally a problem with the Millenium (or any other ship). complaints or platitudes for one cruise may mean nothing on your cruise because there are different celebrity folks on board....and, yes, if there is a code red situation, that colors (no pun intended) the cruise.

 

We would be glad to board the Millennium tomorrow if it were going somewhere we wanted to go....irrespective of any of the reviews, positive or negative.

[20pluscruises]

Not sure that Asia has anything to do with the reviews...we were on the millennium last yeare for 28 days out of singapore and generally had a very nice cruise. We've since been on the infinity twice and also had very nice cruises. Over the years, we've found that so much of our perception of a ship is based on the attitude of the crew and officers. We've been on B2B cruises where the captain and many others changed in the middle and the second cruise (with new officers) was far more enjoyable than the first (you would think it would be the other way around). Perceptions of food quality are related to preparation and a change in seasoning can make all the difference.

 

There is nothing, as far as I know, fundamentally a problem with the Millenium (or any other ship). complaints or platitudes for one cruise may mean nothing on your cruise because there are different celebrity folks on board....and, yes, if there is a code red situation, that colors (no pun intended) the cruise.

 

We would be glad to board the Millennium tomorrow if it were going somewhere we wanted to go....irrespective of any of the reviews, positive or negative.

 

I have to agree...the crew makes a huge difference. There were a lot of shining stars on the Reflection in December.

[TMLAalum]

We had a great voyage on our recent Millennium Dynasties & Dragons cruise even though I'm an s-class "snob". Cabin was ideal- 7003- a forward OV the size of an s-class sky suite, with excellent attendants. MDR wasn't perfect in that our 1st assigned table had to be the worst in the room, and the 2nd, while in a better location, didn't have as attentive servers as we've experienced in the past. Our roll call led to some great friendships. We were on a private tour to Beijing, but since we gathered in Crush with our group, didn't hear any announcements as to who could leave the ship so made our way off the ship when we saw others debarking. We were on our tour bus by @9:30.

 

I enjoyed the food in the MDR and felt the trout and steaks were the best out of all previous Celebrity cruises. Had a great meal in Qsine and Bistro on 5.

 

I think that the chaotic embarkation in Hong Kong was such an unpleasant start to our cruise that it may have colored perceptions of the entire cruise hence the negative reviews. Also, connecting cabins elicited complaints due to poor sound insulation between them, so avoid those if possible!

Edited June 12, 2014 by TMLAalum

[Merriem]

Thanks for the feedback. It is a lot of money, and with the age of the ship, and the questionable reviews, we decided to do London to Miami in Nov 2015. We will fly over a week to 10 days early and do some traveling before we take the cruise on the eclipse. Thanks again for all the input. The Eclipse gets great reviews,

[Merriem]

Merriem, I wrote one of the reviews on the Millennium Asia cruise. I think that most of the people who wrote the reviews were being honest and it was their experience. There were also many other passengers onboard who did not have some of the same issues:

 

1) Some cabins were in much better condition than others; ours was not in great condition.

 

2) Some people did not have issues with their balcony/balcony door; our balcony was filthy and even the inside of the door was salt encrusted and rusted at the bottom.

 

3) Some people did not have plumbing problems in their bathrooms; our sink would overflow if there was more than a trickle of water from the taps.

 

4) Some people from reports loved the food in the MDR; with the exception of one meal, our food was mediocre. For example, some people stated that they had hot soup; some, like us and other people in our section, never got a bowl of soup that was hot.

 

5) Some people had poor service in the MDR. Our service was fantastic!!!!

 

6) Some people enjoyed the Oceanview Cafe; some people hated it. I thought the fresh pasta was excellent, but did not eat there more than once because of the few rude, pushy passengers who seemed to overtake the area.

 

7) I loved the Oceanview Grill and the food was always freshly cooked when I ate there. Other people said that the food had been sitting around and was cold.

 

8) The ship was under Code Red and, even though it was not reported on the CDC site, the Norovirus was definitely an issue and I knew many people who became ill. The crew were stretched very thin and unable to complete some of the tasks that would usually be done such as cleaning the balconies, etc. From reading past reviews, Code Red is not unusual in cruises that go to this area of the world.

 

9) The itinerary was fantastic, and we loved the ports; but be aware that Celebrity tours have priority in disembarkation and that independent tours might be delayed in leaving.

 

10) It was Celebrity head office who made a decision that has made it so that I am not prepared to sail on Celebrity again. It was not the Millennium.

 

As long as you go in prepared for the issues that people have raised in their reviews, you will have an amazing time despite those issues. Some people would choose to go again; others would not. If the issues were strictly to do with the Millennium, I'm one of the people who would go again, but I would not choose the ship for the family.

 

If you have any specific questions, I'd be glad to answer them if I can.

 

Thank you for your comments. After a horrible cruise in Asia on Silversea, the Silver Shadow, I just did not want to risk anything...especially a great trip...hence the chance in plans.

[mum and son]

Hi all,

 

While I realise my post is now somewhat irrelevant because the OP has ditched the Millie as a cruise idea I thought I would comment anyway.

 

I honestly don't understand the complaints. I do understand that sometimes things don't go to plan, and sometimes cabins, decks, meals etc aren't perfect, but that's all a part of the journey. I did a 14 night Asian cruise on the Millennium in Jan 2013 with 7 other family members of varying ages and had a wonderful time. In saying that, I overheard some people whining on one of the tenders about the horrific nature of the cruise and the ship and I couldn't believe that we were both on the cruise! And this was only a couple of months after the refurb :eek:.

 

In January this year I went on my first RCCL cruise on the Voyager OTS. I didn't like the ship as much as I liked others, but I still had a good time. I guess I just don't live in a world where an overflowing sink would ruin my vacation. I appreciate the fact that I'm on a ship (and not at work) and I make the most of the experiences and wonderful people I have met.

 

I'm excited that I'll be back on the Millennium for 14 nights in December to sail out of Hong Kong. Again, I don't expect it to be perfect, but I do expect to have a great time on a great ship :).

[rubyted]

I too was on the 2013 Singapore round trip (think I was on with Mum and Son). Although I love the S class ships, there is something very traditional and homely about Connie and Mille. Tendering could be an issue, but I have also had issues in Australia and the Caribbean - it's one of the things you have to accept to get to some of the locations.

 

We have not long come off RCI cruise over top of Australia and I will certainly be heading back to Celeb (and very possibly Millie) for my next cruise

[SnorkelMoose]

I sailed on the Millennium to Alaska two weeks ago, and she's a great ship! Honestly, it's not the ship's condition or the crew you need to worry about--it's some of your fellow passengers!

 

Seriously, though--there were a few superficial signs of wear and tear (the cushions on the Deck 10 loungers comes to mind), but nothing outrageous or anything that would prevent me from sailing on her again. The crew was washing things down continuously (though, I'm not sure why they didn't wash the windows?). The service was fine, and the food was decent. Crew members very amiable. Cabin Steward pleasant and efficient. As for food, have a veggie panini at Bistro on Five. Best panini I've ever had in my life. No exaggeration.

 

Hope this helps! Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Moobaby214]

We were on for the transpacific, May 10- 23. We found the ship to be great. The carpets were clean, the room (a royal suite) never felt old or dirty, the public areas were well maintained, the staff was absolutely wonderful (especially Maritza in Michael's Club), the food was above average everywhere (except the Olympic, food was consistently overcooked and even at times "crunchy"), the few times we ate in the Oceanview the food was to be expected. Bistro on Five was our favorite place to eat.

 

Code red was a bit tiresome, not only for the staff but for the guests waiting in lines. The code red was removed as soon as we started the journey across the ocean. As soon as it was lifted you could tell a difference in crew and passengers.

 

There was brown water in our room's sink and bathtub one day, but it was immediately repaired and never repeated. They were able to fix the problem with the hot water tanks while we were in port one day.

 

Would I sail on the Millennium again? Absolutely! Send me up there tomorrow and I would stay a month (okay I would be willing to stay longer);). Any day on a cruise ship beats any day at home having to work.

[20pluscruises]

I too was on the 2013 Singapore round trip (think I was on with Mum and Son). Although I love the S class ships, there is something very traditional and homely about Connie and Mille. Tendering could be an issue, but I have also had issues in Australia and the Caribbean - it's one of the things you have to accept to get to some of the locations.

 

We have not long come off RCI cruise over top of Australia and I will certainly be heading back to Celeb (and very possibly Millie) for my next cruise

 

LOL!!! Did you mean homey?