A Millenium Month review from 30.3.14.

[harz99]

I am just about to post a review on this thread of our Singapore to Shanghai cruise on Millie earlier this year. Unlike another recent reviewer we enjoyed our time on Millie and the places we visited; yes some things on board and ashore could have been better, but we didn't get sick and saw all we came for, so well worth the effort and cost.

 

Feel free to ask any questions and i'll do my best to answer them;).

[harz99]

A Millennium Month.

 

Not quite a month but B2B from Singapore 30.3.14 to Shanghai 28.4.14. Our trip started off with Manchester to Singapore flights via Dubai with Emirates, arriving on embarkation day (not our normal day to arrive but okay as departure was 1700 the following day). We knew that boarding would be delayed due to the ship being in Code Red mode (not unusual in Asia) and requiring heavy sanitisation on turnaround. We arrived by taxi from the airport at 4.30pm (being a Sunday only 30 minutes drive), and by 5pm were on ship, and in our cabin shortly afterwards.

 

Cabin type and location are very subjective, so all I will say is we were in our preferred location of deck 3 midship, with easy access to the foyer, theatre, and Olympic restaurant for the Elite Coffee Break breakfast. Our only issues with our cabin proved to be some amenities not being available due to Code Red, slight daytime vibration when the stabilisers were used a couple of times, and the loss of suction on out toilet due to some kind person elsewhere putting foreign objects into the system, otherwise all fine and dandy.

 

As regards dining; breakfast for us was mainly the Elite offering in the Olympic, with the usual small buffet and drinks, but all served to us due to the Code Red. Quite simple to use if only our fellow passengers could just stand at the serving point and say “one of this, two of that” etc., that proved difficult for some who still wanted to help themselves or put hands under the glass cabinet covers to point at the exact portion they wanted! For the early starts we used the door cards to order room service, which proved okay for simple food like omelettes. Lunch we don’t often do, except maybe the MDR on sea days or a very occasional sandwich from the back of the Oceanview. Dinner was Select in the deck 5 MDR, at which Maria the hostess managed to sort out our table for two nightly – we prefer the few tables on the walkway into the restaurant for both privacy and to keep away from the frequent coughing and sneezing of others.

 

It was in the MDR we really notice the impact of staff cutbacks. There simply were not enough waiters/assistant waiters to cope with both meet and greet, and the on-demand nature of Select Dining. Not helped by some of the Assistant Maitre D’s seeming reluctant to “muck in”, something I have not seen on past cruises where all have been happy to lead by example at busy times. The MDR food; well it was good, not great as we have had in the past. Some dishes were not fully as per menu description, so we had a few disappointments, but not enough to spoil our enjoyment completely as we still both gained a few pounds!

 

Entertainment varied from the very good Celebrity cast in Simply Ballroom/Boogie Wonderland/I Broadway all of which we had seen before but still thoroughly enjoyed, to such delights as a local Thai Folklore show with 5 or 6 dances and a sword fight, or Mario D’Andreas a very, very good guitarist/vocalist who excelled on both counts. There was no farewell show, nor crew show, presumably due to Code Red demands. The theatre had a film showing instead of the farewell show.

 

We didn’t attend much else as most things simply did not appeal. The “Beyond the Podium” speakers seem to be another area of cutbacks – gone were the Smithsonian style speakers and Naturalists. In their place we had a gentleman talking about Buddhism – surely a minority interest – and another billed as a destination expert whose information was out of date in parts, and in some cases wrong, so I was glad to have done my own research before the cruises.

 

Our Captains club host was very nice, but he seemed to be invisible at times – never at the Olympic when Elite Coffee Break opened, so no meet and greet. We had drinks vouchers instead of the evening cocktail hour for the first two weeks, although this was not to do with high numbers of Elite and higher guests, but due to Park West Galleries having hired the Sky Lounge several nights for private art viewings/talks. Thankfully the second two weeks saw normal service resumed in the Sky Lounge!

 

Our Cruise Director, Steve Gayda was his usual happy, busy and helpful self (hi Steve) – we put him up there with Sue Denning and Rich Clayson as the best that Celebrity have – we all wished him happy birthday on the appropriate day.

 

So, now to the ports of call:

Singapore - a place we visited a few times before so we had already decided a HOHO bus was the best option after our long flight. Only decision being which of the two companies City Sightseeing or Funvee to use as both needed a taxi ride to reach – as it happens City Sightseeing had taken the initiative and come to the Marina Bay Cruise Terminal with a shuttle service to their start point, so they got our business at 33SGD each for the day over their two routes (yellow and red).

 

Laemchabang (for Bangkok). Having also previously visited Bangkok, we opted for day tours off ship to local places nearer the port. We used the services of “Oriental Escape” to arrange tours online, although the port does have a desk in the terminal offering taxi/van tours at good prices. On day one we had a car and driver, visiting Pattaya and the Nong Nooch Gardens. Day two our car took us to the Sri Racha Tiger Zoo (actually tigers, elephants and crocodiles) to see the animals and shows, and later we visited the Sanctuary of Truth at Pattaya, an absolutely spectacular all wood building on the seashore.

 

Phu My – we opted for the ship’s “on your own” tour/transfer to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), which turned out to be a mistake as the 6 hours we had in the city centre proved too long for us in the heat and humidity. We visited the Post Office, Reunification Palace, War remnants Museum, Jade Emperor Pagoda and Cathedral (outside), had refreshments and still had over an hour to wait for the coach which was late back to pick us up.

 

Chan May – my 65th birthday. We had booked with a private group via our roll call (thanks LJ), using a company called Eco Travel or Eco Nature Travel. Our tour took us to Da Nang, the Cham Museum, Marble Mountain, and Hoi An Ancient Town, all of which proved really interesting and an excellent day out.

 

Ha Long Bay – we had received an invite from the HD to go out onto the helipad for the sail into the bay, the weather didn’t co-operate so we arrived at 1pm in rain and a dense mist with the helipad closed, something we later found out is not unusual here. By the time tendering started the rain had stopped so ashore we went. Nothing much in the vicinity of the tender dock, however turn left and walk for 25/30 minutes (5 minutes in a taxi) keeping the water on your left and you come to the market, where you can have fun haggling for souvenirs or exploring the many live seafood cafes along the beach (maybe not eat at one though). Day two we were with another roll call party (thanks Matt) on a full day Junk Cruise via South Pacific Travel around the Bay and its sights. After tendering we met on the quayside and were transported up to the Bai Chai wharf where all the tourist Junks leave from and 16 of us were duly deposited on a very comfortable Junk that could probably have held at least 50 so loads of room. The weather had cleared from the previous day, but it was still a (normal) grey day without sun. The beautiful bay, caves, lovely food on board and comfy Junk made this an excellent experience – just no sun.

 

Hong Kong – another place we have been to many times, so we had a loose plan to visit either Ocean Park or Disneyland on day one (changeover day for non B2Bs). Disneyland won due to allowing Seniors entry for only 100HKD each, which combined with the free port shuttle to Hollywood Plaza (Diamond Hill MTR) and an Elder Octopus Card for the MTR rides to the park made it a cheap and easy day. Disneyland HK is fun, hot and very busy with few western faces to be seen. For day two we had planned on getting to the tram system and having a ride, however the ship offered B2Bs a free excursion to Wong Tai Sin Temple and the Hollywood Plaza Mall for 2 hours shopping etc. it seemed churlish not to take the offer so we did!

 

Keelung – again we had a private tour via our roll call (thanks Nancy) to Taipei. It is possible to use the train to reach Taipei, BUT, you may then struggle to get around the sights on your own as the city is biggg. Our tour was with Alido Travel Services and took us to the Martyr’s Shrine, Palace Museum, Chiang Kai Shek Memorial, Confucius Temple, Pao-an Temple and Taipei 101, which in 2004 was the world’s tallest building with an observation area (paid) near the top. A well organised and interesting day was the verdict.

 

Nagasaki – this call evoked very mixed feelings for us, however having visited Pearl Harbour a few years back, I had always felt the need to come to either Hiroshima or Nagasaki, so here we were. We opted to use the tram system to get around, and so headed for the information desk in the cruise terminal to buy day passes at 500Yen each (you CANNOT buy them on the tram). The tram pass has a useful guide map within its cover printed in both Japanese and English. On leaving the terminal, exit onto the main street, then turn left and walk along until you see the tram lines join from the right and the stop for line 5 is a little further ahead of you. From here go either to stop 31 Tsukimachi for line one, or to stop 39 Suwajinamae for line three, both changes mean crossing platforms and then travelling in the opposite direction to the tram you just got off. Either line one or three will take you to stop 19 Matsuyama Machi for the Peace Park, Epicentre, and Atomic Museum, all of which we visited. Return as outward.

 

Busan – little around the Cruise Terminal except the National Maritime Museum which is free to visit, fortunately the Busan City Tour (HOHO) departs from the bus stop outside the museum starting at 1020. There are two routes which meet at the Busan Rail Station. Tickets are bought from the driver, and you SHOULD be able to get a discount (8000 Won instead of 10000 Won) by showing your cruise card. The port also provides a free shuttle service from the parking lots to city centre (Phoenix Hotel) from 0830 every 30 minutes. The ship had a useful map and suggestion list of places to visit available on request from guest relations, tourist maps were available in the terminal.

 

Jeju Island – we took the ships “Jungmun” day tour. I was glad we did because the weather was cold and wet! The tour turned out to be one of the better ships tours we have been on, and took us to a variety of cultural and natural sites, as well as the Botanic Gardens and a top quality hotel for a super lunch. Lots of walking though!

 

Tianjin – as expected immigration here was horrendous, with some guests not getting ashore until 1230, the ships tours had preference debarking. Whilst many people went off to Beijing for 1 or 2 night stays, we stayed aboard and went out on day trips because we had covered all the sights on a previous Wendy Wu land tour. We managed to get off on the first wave of non ships tour guests and were outside at 1045. I had previously put together my own itinerary which involved using taxi’s, metro, and main railway to visit various places, and eventually found a company willing to provide a guide to travel with us and book the rail travel – well done China Highlights and its local agents! Day one we met our guide who was still patiently waiting, and after she had negotiated hard in Mandarin with the local taxi mafia set off for the Tanggu metro station, took the metro into Tianjin (an hour + ride mostly overground), then local taxi’s to visit places including Ancient Culture Street, Italian Street, Food Street, the Jingyuan Garden Residence and more. The same taxi picked us up and returned us safely to the ship. Day two was more ambitious and involved the same taxi, this time to Tanggu Rail station, first class tickets collected from the ticket hall and the Bullet Train to Beijing Nan (South), and a hour or so on various metro trains to Olympic Green station. We visited the Bird Nest Stadium, Water Cube, National Centre for Performing Arts (outside), Tiananmen Square, and before heading back, the small China Railway Museum in the former Zhongyangmen Station. This is a small rail museum, and not the main one out of town. Going home we looked for our taxi at Tanggu; no car but our driver was there – his had broken down so he came with another driver to meet us, and get us back!! Day three we had opted for a shorter trip, this time using a private a/c car as taxis would have been impractical with waiting times at sites. Visited the Chaoyin Temple, Dagokuo Fort Museum and Ruins, and the Tanggu Bund (riverfront), and not another western face to be seen! Our guides proved invaluable in negotiating the language barrier as very few people speak English, and I certainly don’t speak Mandarin, and in ensuring we went where/when/how we wanted – many, many thanks to Eileen and Katrina.

 

Baoshan – our debark port greeted us with rain and an hour delay debarking, we were pleased to have booked a car transfer with Tour Beijing to our hotel, Holiday Inn Zhabei Downtown, about an hour drive away in Shanghai. The next day and a half was spent on the Big Bus HOHO routes visiting all the sights and traffic jams! On our final day we had a full day shared bus tour, again via Tour Beijing, from our hotel to Suzhou for the temples, silk factory/showroom and lunch; then on to Zhouzhuang, one of the ancient water towns, and its delights. Returning to our hotel we had time for a shower and some food, before our assisted transfer via car and Maglev to Pudong Airport for our 0005 flights home via Dubai. The transfer was booked via Viator.

 

And that was that, after around 5400 nautical miles and heaven knows how many flying miles we were nearly home, and I could go off on a steam loco hauled special train the very next day – but that’s another story!!

Edited June 23, 2014 by harz99

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review.

[harz99]

Before anyone says it; yes I know Rich Clayson is really Rich Cleson! Thought I'd got all the typos out!!:o

[diamondj]

Thanks for this report, it will be very useful when we do our HK to Shanghai cruise next Spring. Always good to get tried and tested names of tour operators and guides.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise (in the main)

[Susie51]

Thank you for sharing your review with us.

[sacramentoox]

I am just about to post a review on this thread of our Singapore to Shanghai cruise on Millie earlier this year. Unlike another recent reviewer we enjoyed our time on Millie and the places we visited; yes some things on board and ashore could have been better, but we didn't get sick and saw all we came for, so well worth the effort and cost.

 

Feel free to ask any questions and i'll do my best to answer them;).

 

 

Dear HARZ99, This is Cary from Sacramento, Ca. My wifw Kathy and I were on the Millennium for two weeks from Hong Kong to Singapore before you got on the ship on March 30. We were under code-RED all two weeks and the Captain never utter a word about the situation. I see you have mentioned that code-RED still was on the ship whe the ship was moving towards Hong Kong. Was the ship under code-RED when you leave the ship on the 28th April ? Good luck, Cary:)

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed your report/review.

 

Keith

[harz99]

Dear HARZ99, This is Cary from Sacramento, Ca. My wifw Kathy and I were on the Millennium for two weeks from Hong Kong to Singapore before you got on the ship on March 30. We were under code-RED all two weeks and the Captain never utter a word about the situation. I see you have mentioned that code-RED still was on the ship whe the ship was moving towards Hong Kong. Was the ship under code-RED when you leave the ship on the 28th April ? Good luck, Cary:)

 

Hi Cary, yes still under Code Red and having a deep clean when we debarked; the following cruise was a charter and I seem to remember reading that the ship lifted the Code Red a few days into that sailing, or perhaps that was the later trans - pacific.

 

It is an unfortunate fact of life that GI outbreaks occur regularly on Asia and South America sailings. Sometimes brought on ship by pax who have done a land tour prior to boarding, sometimes from pax who eat on shore from places that may not have the same standards as the western world, and sometimes caught from simply breathing the germs in the air.

Edited June 24, 2014 by harz99

[srpilo]

Thanks for sharing

 

 

 

Srpilo

[mum and son]

Thanks so much for posting your review. It was great reading as I am currently planning shore excursions for my December cruise on the Millennium that matches the first part of your B2B.