Review of Millennium Asia Imersion Cruise

[ronbetty2001]

Review

Us:

Sailed the Asia Immersion Cruise on Celebrity Millennium from 10/30/16 to 11/13/16

We have sailed on 2 x Princess, 6 x Carnival, 1 x RCCL, 2 x Azamara, 5 x Celebrity and 1 x NCL. Azamara is our favorite and Celebrity 2nd. We sailed on the Summit in 2005 (which we liked, same Class ship as Millennium), things have changed on this class of ship in 10+ years, since then we have sailed the Solstice Class ships until the Millennium. I’m not quite 60 and wife is a young mid 50’s girl. We are Elite Members on Celebrity.

 

Celebrity Experience:

Ship seemed to be in good shape for being 16 years old. Some signs of wear and tear here and there. All in all not bad for an old ship. Easy to maneuver around the ship with a good layout. Didn’t have long waits for elevators most days, except when everyone is trying to get off the ship and trying to get to deck 4 or 1. There were some problems with water on the ship that we don’t think they handled very well. Some people we met on board didn’t go ashore one port day. They told us the water was off during our time ashore. They said it was off for more than 4 hours, with no notice or announcement. He went to the lobby desk to ask about the water being off and they said there was only a small problem and would be back on very soon. 3 hours later he asked again to see when he’d be able to take a shower. Again, he was told it would be back on soon. He said he had the impression that they either didn’t know or were just lying to him. He said every one of the staff he asked, he would get a different answer. I believe Celebrity handled this situation very poorly and didn’t communicate to the passengers what was going on and didn’t give an announcement when it was back on.

My wife said the hot water for the public restrooms was off several times during the cruise, she reported it but didn’t get much of a response.

For the first week and a half of the cruise we didn’t see one person around the pool area serving drinks. While at the pool area if you wanted a drink you had to go to the bar yourself and order one. Is this because of all the “Drink Included Packages”?

MDR seemed shorthanded of staff, 2 times my wife’s vegetables were served cold and it took over 10 minutes or more to get them heated. On the MDR menu they have added some extra pay for items like Lobster and prime steak etc. (up selling?) Someone mentioned that the assistant for the cabin stewards had been done away with. Is this because of all the “Gratuities Included Packages”?

Martini bar bartenders provided no show making drinks like we experienced on Solstice Class ships. They simply were pouring $15.00 martinis.

Ocean View Buffet ran out of coffee at a few locations on the mornings everyone was trying to leave ship early. How does that happen? At least 2 times we had to search for coffee, surly the management must know on early morning ports someone should be staffing the coffee machines. The food was Okay at the buffet, again just seemed short staffed.

I noted I had run out of minutes for the internet when I know I had 67 minutes left when I logged out. I went down to see the Ilounge person and she argued with me that I hadn’t logged out, when I know I did. Let’s face it internet on the ship is a total profit item as they have it anyway to help run the ship etc. Why would this person argue with me as an Elite Member and just give us some more minutes. I even went over the account with her, you could clearly see all my use (360 minutes total) was 5 minutes here, 10 minutes here, 4 minutes here etc. Then the last one usage was 67 minutes, out of character based on prior use. This was on a sea day after the Saigon port. We used the ship offered tour of a bus into Saigon to meet our food/city tour guide (who was great). Before leaving for the cruise I checked with Captains Club about the drop off location for this bus trip. They had ShoreX e-mail me (I still have it) that said we’ll be dropped off at Union Square (a central part of the city), our tickets delivered on board said drop off was Union Square. Just so you now this was the first time I’ve used a ship excursion ever, always DIY. They put us on a nice bus, with a tour guide telling us about Saigon, hard to understand, I would say her English was much better than my Vietnamese, no big deal. Well of course they dropped us off to another location. I called my guide who was waiting at Union Square, he grabbed a taxi and came and got us. Main problem was some people didn’t carry a cell phone that would work in Vietnam. Our guide was kind enough to call the other passengers guides and let them know the new location. Here you are in a strange city and do not speak or read the language which can really throw off some older people. The new location was about a half a mile or more from Union Square. Why the change, I’m starting to think as my guide told us in Da Nang (another great guide) that the guides get paid a few dollars for every guest that they bring to certain stores/locations, wondering now if Celebrity was getting more from this new location by out biding Union Square to deliver 100s of people to them, or was the tour people in on it and Celebrity didn’t know, makes me wonder. The Captians Club rep said maybe due to traffic for the change in drop off location, this just didn’t sit right with me, as the new location wasn’t all that far and the traffic around there wasn’t all that bad. Well, with the Ilounge person and the mistake in the drop off location I got pretty mad. So I went down to talk with the Captains Club rep. and brought this up to them and asked when the corporate model for Celebrity had changed from the attitude of “yes” to the attitude “we just want your money and increased profits”. I explained that my wife and I are not too old yet and have spent 10s of thousands with Celebrity in the past and could spend 10s of thousands in the future on cruises. Why would someone think it a good idea to argue over a few internet minutes? As management for my company I really wanted to know why, is it that your staff is not properly trained in customer service? Do you not empower your people to make simple calls like this? I don’t blame the staff, I blame management. The rep did offer a 10% discount on the Saigon bus trip and to return some minutes, she asked what would be fair. I said I had 67 minutes left when I last logged out, but would leave it up to her. They returned 26 minutes, which I used doing 2 emails with pictures from my Iphone to the kids, internet very SLOW. Everyone we spoke to that we met had the same feelings, that the Celebrity standards they were used too were not shown on this ship.

Some people mentioned that the Cosmos Lounge was not available as a quite reading area or meeting place during the day as they always had art shows going on, didn’t bother me, but some people didn’t like losing that open space on sea days. Another sign of revenue enhancement?

I’m not sure if Celebrity standards have fallen this fast since our last cruise just 2 years ago to Italy and Greece or is it just this particular ship. If this is the new Celebrity, not sure I’ll travel with them anymore. Really hoping it’s just the Millennium and not a corporate wide decision, if it is I hope their management understands that destroying the brand may not increase revenue in the long run. Cruising is personal and customer service is what separates you from the crowd. My company is very successful because we empower our people to make the customer happy (within reason) and we understand that we don’t have any kind of lock on the market and are not the only company providing our type of service. There are many companies our customers can use, what separates us is our superior customer service. Well, I’m glad I got that off my chest. These are just my personal thoughts and I don’t mean to demean anyone who loves Celebrity.

Food:

Nothing to really remember, Buffet was Okay and had some varied food available. MDR seemed under staffed, but Hostesses were very good in trying to get us seated at busy times using “Anytime Dinning”. We aren’t nor claim to be foodies’. If we aren’t cooking it or cleaning up we’re okay with whatever. In the MDR they did have Escargot every night which I love. Steaks ordered were cooked right and of good quality. Lines a little long in the buffet in the early port mornings, that’s pretty much expected. The buffet did have some empty coffee and juice dispensers on the early morning busy port days, why wouldn’t management figure on this and have them better staffed, running out of coffee is a BIG time mistake. Is this due to staff cut backs or poor management? Wife did have some cold veggies a couple times in the MDR, which took longer to get reheated than on other ships in the past, these things happen when you’re trying to feed a few 1,000 people in a few hours. Didn’t bother with the upscale pay for restaurants, so no comment. All in all everything regarding the food was okay; nothing stands out as really good or bad. Just not up to the standard we’re used to with Celebrity.

Smoking:

Okay, no judging here, don’t want to hear about it, just want you non-smokers and smokers to know a little bit. First smoking is allowed on Deck 4 port side, where the life boats are towards rear of ship. On Deck 10, port side near the Ocean View Buffet entrance and Deck 11 port side near the Mast Bar. Being smokers we always get to know a lot of other people that smoke as we’re confined to certain areas. So you meet people and over time get to know them pretty well. On this voyage there were 51 different nationalities among the passengers. We got to know people from Germany, England, New Zealand, Australia, Zimbabwe, Canada, Scotland, Ireland, even New York (LOL) from all over. Now, what’s funny is once they found out we were American, all they wanted to talk about was the Presidential election. Being news junky I was in heaven. Loved getting all the different views and being asked all kinds of questions they asked. I tried to answer as best I could, hoping I didn’t set back world relations too many years. Greatest time ever, so hard to understand how foreigners pay more attention to our politics those most Americans do. Oh well, bad education system I guess.

Cabin:

Deck 9, 9024, 2B, Balcony, forward on starboard side.

Standard cabin, standard balcony, unobstructed. Cabin had enough storage for cloths and luggage fit under the bed. Shower had curtain instead of glass doors. Did have enough storage space in bathroom for our needs. Bathroom provided with soap, body lotion, hair dryer, shampoo and conditioner. Cabin was pretty quiet as above the cabin is the SPA so no noise at night etc. Cabin was well maintained and clean at all times. Had to request ice for the cabin, which is now standard on Celebrity, they say to save water, I suspect now after this cruise is just another cost savings or revenue enhancement.

Entertainment:

Shows were pretty good and varied in the theater. The comedian was pretty darn funny, saw him once during a sea day. They had a gal that played the Violin that we enjoyed. The house band was really good. The other couple of bands that played around the ship were not great by any means. One band seemed to be a couple of beats slow for most of their songs. They did have daytime shows on some sea days, which we thought was a nice touch.

Over-all:

I would suggest that others be prepared for a little lower standard for this ship as it was all about the itinerary and not the ship or service. Having taken our last cruise with Celebrity 2 years ago, not sure if standards are now lower overall with them or it’s just this ship. I won’t expect to be Wowed by anything on this ship, if another cruise line offers a better price and itinerary, I would take that. As this ship from our personal experience was just nothing special. Really sorry to have to put out this type of sad report. I would do this cruise again even knowing what we know now, but only because of the itinerary and for NO other reason.

Happy Planning,

[FlorenceItaly]

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your cruise with us. I really appreciate it! Do you prefer the Solstice class over the M class? After 5 M class cruises we are finally sailing on our first S class in January.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marie

[ronbetty2001]

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your cruise with us. I really appreciate it! Do you prefer the Solstice class over the M class? After 5 M class cruises we are finally sailing on our first S class in January.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marie

M class ships in their day were great. Good layouts, storage in the cabins etc. State of the Art in their time. On our cruise on the Summit in 2005 it was great. But, that was then, this is now. The M class ships are old, not outdated, just old and showing wear and tear.

We do like the Solstice Class of ships. They have some really nice features. Glass doors on showers, more storage space, larger cabins, larger TV's, buffet layout etc. Lawn club is nice with the grass and all with cabanas for rent. Wife likes the bar for leg shaving in the shower. The Solstice class is newer and much more modern, also in the decor.They also have some draw backs, bigger which means more passengers, don't like the elevator locations being in only 2 locations. There are more available elevators so you don't wait much, but if your forward or in the aft cabins, it can be a walk to get to them. Stay around Mid Ship if possible. To each his own, we go with itinerary more then the ship. We feel all cruises are great. I'm sure you'll find the Solstice class just fine for a cruise.

Capt. Ron

[FlorenceItaly]

M class ships in their day were great. Good layouts, storage in the cabins etc. State of the Art in their time. On our cruise on the Summit in 2005 it was great. But, that was then, this is now. The M class ships are old, not outdated, just old and showing wear and tear.

We do like the Solstice Class of ships. They have some really nice features. Glass doors on showers, more storage space, larger cabins, larger TV's, buffet layout etc. Lawn club is nice with the grass and all with cabanas for rent. Wife likes the bar for leg shaving in the shower. The Solstice class is newer and much more modern, also in the decor.They also have some draw backs, bigger which means more passengers, don't like the elevator locations being in only 2 locations. There are more available elevators so you don't wait much, but if your forward or in the aft cabins, it can be a walk to get to them. Stay around Mid Ship if possible. To each his own, we go with itinerary more then the ship. We feel all cruises are great. I'm sure you'll find the Solstice class just fine for a cruise.

Capt. Ron

 

Thank you! We are forward on the Eclipse(A2), but, we don't mind the walking. We typically strive to take the stairs to help offset some of the calories. I have a feeling we are going to love the Solstice class and there will be no turning back. We DO have a Panama Canal cruise booked on the Infinity in October we will keep. We are cruising with friends. Like you, I think the M class is showing wear and tear. After our PC cruise, I am no longer willing to pay premium price for a M class ship. If I can get a deal, I will cruise M class.

 

 

Marie

Edited November 24, 2016 by FlorenceItaly

[easyboy]

Thank you for your review.

 

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[villauk]

Thanks for the review and also for answering some of my questions on the Asia board, Ron. Fingers crossed our Millie sailing is a good one over Christmas and New Year ;).

[ronbetty2001]

Thanks for the review and also for answering some of my questions on the Asia board, Ron. Fingers crossed our Millie sailing is a good one over Christmas and New Year ;).

I'm sure you'll have a great time. FYI: Singapore was already decorating the stores, streets, the airport, Gardens by the Bay etc. for Christmas. Kind of caught us off guard but looked wonderful, from what we saw

 

Capt. Ron

[ghstudio]

Aside from the water issue, the issues have to do with cutbacks and attitude....which are independent of the ship. Sorry the op encountered less than excellent service, but welcome to today's celebrity.

 

 

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[ronbetty2001]

Aside from the water issue, the issues have to do with cutbacks and attitude....which are independent of the ship. Sorry the op encountered less than excellent service, but welcome to today's celebrity.

 

 

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I only hope that you're wrong and at the same time I feel you may be right, that it is a corporate wide change in direction.

May have to give Celebrity one more chance to make sure either way.

Capt. Ron

[h20cruzer]

Thank you for your honest review. I love the M class ships, and it will certainly bring a tear to my eye when Celebrity retires these 4 ships.

Norma

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[SHIP TRAVELER]

Thanks so much for your review.

 

We will be sailing on the Millie May 2017 transpacific from Japan to Vancouver. We have never sailed on an M class ship and found that your review answered some of our questions. We have been on 5 cruises an the last two years but all of them have been on the really big new ships so this will be a change for us.

 

Hopefully they will keep us entertained and well fed on all those sea days across the Pacific.

 

Again Thanks for an honest review.

[Grumpy7]

Ron

Thanks very much for your extensive review. We are looking to book for Feb 2018 either Celebrity or Princess. After reading your review, we are skeptical. We haven't been on Celebrity for several years, having gravitated to Princess. One reason is their itinerary seems to match what we want. I just mentioned that on our transatlantic cruise on Princess in September there was never a line on the customer service area. This told us that the passengers were happy. We will investigate fully. Thanks again for spending the time and giving us an honest review.

[Dawg67]

We will be cruising Hong Kong to Singapore 29 Oct. we will take the 2 night Angkor Wat excursion. My question what time of day do we get to Bangkok? Do we get there with enough time to do the overnight tour? Appreciate any info on this.

 

 

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[shipfriend_max]

Hello,

 

Thanks for the review.

 

I ahve just one question regarding the new Rooftop-Terrace being installed on the M-Class-ships:

Do the passengers get served FREE snacks (popcorn, cookies etc) like on Princess' Movie Under the Stars?

[drew69]

Review

asked when the corporate model for Celebrity had changed from the attitude of “yes” to the attitude “we just want your money and increased profits”. I explained that my wife and I are not too old yet and have spent 10s of thousands with Celebrity in the past and could spend 10s of thousands in the future on cruises. Why would someone think it a good idea to argue over a few internet minutes? As management for my company I really wanted to know why, is it that your staff is not properly trained in customer service? Do you not empower your people to make simple calls like this? I don’t blame the staff, I blame management. ,

 

If I had been the person you were speaking to, I would have stopped listening when you said this and written you off as an self-entitled complainer trying to throw their weight around and not realizing they are only 1 of thousands of equal passengers - who probably didn't log out correctly

[busby]

If I had been the person you were speaking to, I would have stopped listening when you said this and written you off as an self-entitled complainer trying to throw their weight around and not realizing they are only 1 of thousands of equal passengers - who probably didn't log out correctly

We will be cruising Hong Kong to Singapore 29thOctober2017, a couple of queries did you need to sort visas yourself for vietnam, did you use private tours or ship excursions thanks

[cachouonacruise]

Thank you very much for that review! I really appreciate the time you took in concretely explaining what was enjoyed and what was not, using concrete examples of situations encountered. I find this type of review, based on facts, rather than on a subjective appreciation, more helpful for future cruisers.

 

 

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