Celebrity Millenium in the Far East

[mactire]

My wife and I are considering a trip on board the Celebrity Millennium in January 2015 from Singapore to Bali and Malaysia. Has anyone been on this trip and have any suggestions as to this ship or itinerary.

Thanks for any help.

:)Patrick

[lj77346]

We were on the Millennium with a similar itinerary in January 2013 and had a great time. The ship is one of Celebrity's oldest, but we think that it provides everything we need on a cruise. We are sailing on her again in about 2 months on the China - Japan itinerary.

 

Prior to our January 2013 cruise we had not been to Indonesia, Malaysia or Thailand. At Komodo Island, we went to see the komodo dragons - it was an easy walk and it was interesting to see the big lizards wandering around. In Bali, we hired a driver/guide and he took us to see a few temples, the picturesque rice paddies in the center of the island, and a lot of the countryside. Hiring a driver on Bali is relatively inexpensive and allows you to set your own itinerary without having to do shopping stops if you are not interested in doing that. In our first port in Malaysia we went to see Batu Caves and some sights in Kuala Lumpur on one of the ship's tours. It's a long ride from the port to KL and our tour was late returning so we were glad that we took a tour that we booked on the ship. Penang was an interesting port for walking - lots of temples and local markets and the ship docks right in town. In Phuket, we just took a ship's tour and did touristy stuff - an elephant ride and a visit to a very elaborate Buddhist temple complex. In Phuket you tender from the ship so if you want to go to the beach, when you get off the tender, you are there. It was rainy when we were in Singapore so we didn't do much there - however, the airport in Singapore is pretty amazing and a train runs from the airport to the city. Overall on the ship and in port we had an excellent time - a nice sampler of this area of the world.

Edited August 9, 2014 by lj77346

[4774Papa]

We stopped two days at Bali on the Solstice on our Top End Australia cruise last year. Bali is interesting, but the traffic is heavy. Also, January is the rainy season, so take your raincoat and umbrella.

[ghstudio]

We did b2b cruises starting Singapore to Bali...then Singapore to Hong kong. It was an excellent 28 days...a wonderful combination. We did all private tours, most arranged in roll call for the cruise. We booked a few tours for just us...drivers of distinction in Bali was excellent and very reasonable... and I may find some of the others.

 

Don't worry about the ship...our last five cruises were on m class ships. I do recommend aqua class and try to get one of the 5 rear facing a1 cabins (at the a2 price thanks to captains club).

 

 

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[mum and son]

I also did this cruise last year - awesome holiday. As stated above, different destinations and cheap and easy to get around. Maybe post some specific questions and we can answer for you. I didn't do any excursions via the ship - all of mine were organised privately and all were a big success.

[jgoldchain]

We will be on the Millennium on January 18, 2015 and are very interested in the private tours you did. Please email at jerigoldchain@gmail.com the names of the tour companies, prices if you remember and information on what you thought of the tours. Also, any hints based on your experience would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Jerilyn Goldchain

[PROCRUISE]

My wife and I are considering a trip on board the Celebrity Millennium in January 2015 from Singapore to Bali and Malaysia. Has anyone been on this trip and have any suggestions as to this ship or itinerary.

Thanks for any help.

:)Patrick

 

We did S.E. Asia, 2 week, Singapore to Singapore on The Millennium in January 2013. Fabulous trip!! One thing we did do to save a little was to get one of new, at the time, oceanview cabins located mid ship, port side on the main floor. They have 6 ft circular windows and we loved the cabin. We took ALL private tours that we joined from the cruise roll call thread, for our cruise, that was VERY active and tours filled fast and were generally limited to no more than 20 persons. I suspect this would be the case now if you took this cruise, already being August, you'd need to join private tours as soon as possible. If you wanted to start your own private tour, check CC Asia ports for suggestions.

[wales4ever]

lj77346 - Great answer :)

You just provided me with some excellent info for my November cruise on the Millennium.

[mum and son]

A brief synopsis of my cruise:

 

Singapore pre-cruise - stayed Holiday Inn Orchard City Centre - one of the best value hotels I have ever stayed at. Booked Exec Club rooms and ate all meals in the Club Lounge. All this for under $200/night (booked direct through IHG and they matched all price drops after I booked).

 

I might get these ports out of order but hopefully cover them all...

 

Lombok - didn't have anything pre-booked. Found a driver at the dock and spent the day driving around the countryside, temples and batik stalls etc.

 

Komodo - excellent day. Pre-arranged tour with Jeffry Buana. Did the Komodo dragon tour for the morning and then cruised around to Pink Beach and enjoyed lunch and some snorkelling time. We paid about $90pp plus $10 camera fee and $7 to hire snorkelling gear. We had a great time.

 

Bali (we were there overnight). Stayed in a beachfront hotel at Seminyak. Just booked it when we got there. Pre-booked 2 days with a driver from "Bali with Dean". We had Caca. Highly recommended. He was at our disposal for the 2 days plus pick up and drop off from the ship. We went to markets, monkey forest, temples etc. Basically we could go anywhere we wanted for 2 days. From memory our 10 seater van cost about $100 total for 2 days.

 

KL - didn't go into the city - but there's absolutely nothing to do/see/buy at the port. Nothing!

 

Penang - found a driver at the pier and did the main touristy things. Visited a range of temples, went to the beachfront markets and visited the bufferfly farm (which was surprisingly enjoyable). We also made an effort to learn about the impact of the tsunami and the re-building that has occurred since.

 

Phuket - pre-booked a van (can't remember who they were). Went elephant riding and did the James Bond Island, Phang Na Bay and Muslim Fishing Village on a long boat. There was a little bit of trouble getting a long boat as there was another cruise ship at Phuket that day, so I suggest if you want to do this trip then it might be best to secure the boat in advance. I enjoyed going on a long boat as opposed to a more modern "cruiser" - but it's a long day on a hard wooden seat, so maybe take a pillow!!

 

Singapore post-cruise - stayed in a Club Room at Marina Bay Sands. Definitely worth it - but more like an amusement park that a hotel. Wouldn't stay here for a long stay but it was fun for a couple of days.

 

Ummm... that's about all I can remember for now. Happy to answer any questions you might have.

[mactire]

Thanks to all who posted and the great comments in those posts. We are now down to two cruises in January 2015, one on the Millennium and one on the Sapphire Princess. Decisions, Decisions, Decisons. :):):)