On Millennium. A few thoughts

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

5 hours ago, Alushar said:

Was musing over the weekend, again, that I must do an Alaska cruise. Thinking about this it occurred to me that surely the front of the ship must be a popular vantage point went scenic cruising and as this is being closed off for The Retreat maybe I need to look at another line?

The Retreat is on the deck above the Sky Lounge.  You can look all you want from the Sky Lounge.  Although I prefer to be on deck as one can move from side to side, depending on the scenery.  I've done three Alaska cruises on Celebrity and they were all excellent.  About to embark on my fourth.

[Alushar]

4 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

The Retreat is on the deck above the Sky Lounge.  You can look all you want from the Sky Lounge.  Although I prefer to be on deck as one can move from side to side, depending on the scenery.  I've done three Alaska cruises on Celebrity and they were all excellent.  About to embark on my fourth.

That was my thinking that I'd reather be on deck

[jkgourmet]

Question:  Is the Sky Lounge still closed for 2 hours each evening for the Elite cocktail parties?

[Rina155]

9 minutes ago, Alushar said:

That was my thinking that I'd reather be on deck

 

They used to open up the HeliPad area for viewing when going to Hubbard Glacier or through the Panama Canal.  Do they still do this?

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, Rina155 said:

 

They used to open up the HeliPad area for viewing when going to Hubbard Glacier or through the Panama Canal.  Do they still do this?

Usually opened at the discretion of the Captain.   Last visit to Hubbard it was open but for the Panama Canal it was closed due to rain.

[Merly]

On 3/10/2019 at 4:53 PM, Jim_Iain said:

Not on the M-Class.    There has been no change to the size of the Cosmos Lounge.    They will be taking a chunk out of the lounge on the S-Class ships but hardly noticeable.  On the S-Class they will be adding the Reflection Suite and about 6 Signature suites and will be similar to the layout of Reflection.  

 

The major change is one deck above where the rarely used sun deck Sports Deck Forward was transformed into the Suites only Retreat and Lounge.

 

We used to use that area as it was nice and quiet with comfortable loungers. We were sad that it is now suite only.

[Merly]

6 hours ago, Laurab23 said:

I have a question about the shampoo in the cabins. Looks like there are dispensers on the wall of the shower now. I always worry that the guest before us might put stuff in it. Do those dispensers have some sort of lock that only the cabin stewards can access? 

I know,crazy to worry about something like this but it always crosses my mind.

 

Laura

 

Dont worry, you can’t get them out.  The only issue I had was when the cabin steward filled them up and placed them back in a different order.  I don’t wear my glasses in the shower so didn’t see they had moved. !

[Merly]

3 hours ago, jkgourmet said:

Question:  Is the Sky Lounge still closed for 2 hours each evening for the Elite cocktail parties?

Yes.

[Merly]

22 hours ago, hcat said:

 

 

Does the Solarium pool still have the bench seats in the pool and shower sprays?  Any big changes to the Solarium area or cafe?

 

 

 

 

The Solarium area hasn’t been changed. 

[jkgourmet]

1 hour ago, Merly said:

Yes.

 

☹️    I'm disappointed to hear that.  It's unfortunate that they close off one of the nicest lounges every night to first time Celebrity passengers (our friends) and those who are on the fifth cruise with X, 40+ days, but still don't qualify for Elite (like us).

 

I was happy when I read that Elites were getting vouchers that they could use at any bar/lounge.  I Wish that all ships  would have this policy. 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

2 minutes ago, jkgourmet said:

 

☹️    I'm disappointed to hear that.  It's unfortunate that they close off one of the nicest lounges every night to first time Celebrity passengers (our friends) and those who are on the fifth cruise with X, 40+ days, but still don't qualify for Elite (like us).

 

I was happy when I read that Elites were getting vouchers that they could use at any bar/lounge.  I Wish that all ships  would have this policy. 

Depending on how many Elite and above cruisers are on board, they might only close off part of the lounge for the CC event.

[jkgourmet]

4 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Depending on how many Elite and above cruisers are on board, they might only close off part of the lounge for the CC event.

 

Obviously, that's much more equitable for ALL passengers.  And I hope it's what they do on our April 13 2019 Japan cruise. 

[Laurab23]

2 hours ago, Merly said:

 

Dont worry, you can’t get them out.  The only issue I had was when the cabin steward filled them up and placed them back in a different order.  I don’t wear my glasses in the shower so didn’t see they had moved. !

Thank you. Less stuff to pack.

[Silkroad]

3 hours ago, Merly said:

 

We used to use that area as it was nice and quiet with comfortable loungers. We were sad that it is now suite only.

We used that area too. We’ll miss it.

[Anita Latte]

20 hours ago, Rina155 said:

 

They used to open up the HeliPad area for viewing when going to Hubbard Glacier or through the Panama Canal.  Do they still do this?

 

For our June 2018 sailing, the HeliPad was an invite only for Hubbard Glacier. Not sure who all was invited, my parents were invited...I know they are at least Diamond...not sure if they are Diamond+.

 

I was on deck 12 for Hubbard. I was very happy there because we went out on deck to see the approach to Hubbard from leaving the Gulf of Alaska. Very early in the morning. I am sad to think that there might not be a forward facing outside deck for me in the future, if the suites have the retreat and the higher loyalty levels might have the helipad...they have taken away the forward outside deck for those of us in "coach". Extremely disappointing when I think about how our Hubbard viewing was so different from every other viewing I've read about. There was very little time with the sides of the ship facing the glacier...we slowly approached the glacier...spun around in two quite zippy donuts and then left. Had I not been on deck 12, I feel like I wouldn't have really seen the glacier much.

 

Edited to add...

 

ALSO...since they have added the glass at the rail on the upper part of deck 12 in the retreat...there isn't a forward view outside the helipad that is glass free. That kind of makes me sad too.

Edited March 12, 2019 by Anita Latte

[Alushar]

I need to stop thinking about this as I'm finding it quite off putting. I love Celebrity don't eally want to sail on any other line. That said DW doesn't really want to do Alaska it looks like she will get her wish!

[Kellerb]

I'm hesitant to ask after all of the 'kid's don't belong on Celebrity' posts flowing lately but does anyone know if they made any upgrades to the arcade or kids / teen club?

[smtcan]

We are finishing our cruise on Millennium tomorrow.  I can answer a few questions.

 

Only part of Cosmos Lounge is used for the Elite happy hour.  Drinks in there are unlimited and also unlimited drinks are loaded on cards for use in other bars from 5 to 7.

 

One side of the solarium has sofa type seating and tables and chairs.  The other side has a few loungers.

 

Elite and Elite + were invited to the helipad for the sail into Halong Bay.  Concierge class was invited too, which made it quite crowded.

 

We had no AC issues in our Oceanview. Cabin.  The wardrobe was quite adequate for our needs, but I didn’t take any long dresses.  The number of people wearing gowns or tuxes was minimal.  I really didn’t like the provided toiletries, the shampoo and shower gel barely lathered.

 

I don’t know why the fixed lamp and telephone were on the same night table.  I moved the phone onto the sofa every night  and the cabin steward moved it back every morning.  Thankfully he left the extra cable I had managed to find by lifting the night stand up and pulling.

 

Apart from these small niggles I liked the cabin.  The bed was comfortable, the decor was soothing and the towels were thick and fluffy.  There were plenty of outlets, two USB and two US by the bed, the same by the desk with the addition of two European sockets there too.  We didn’t miss a coffee table.

 

All in all, we have had a great cruise.

 

Sheila