Jim_Iain (with and Eye) - B2B Millennium 10/11 and 10/19 Pacific Coastal

[GMoney]

10 minutes ago, KAE27 said:

Why wouldn't it be?  I don't mean that as a snarky question; just legitimately confused.  We were on the Millennium in August and of course it was open at dinner, but I wonder if I'm misreading the question.

 

Because it’s been closed for dinner on the 7 cruises I’ve been on since June

[KAE27]

13 minutes ago, Laurab23 said:

Does the Royal Suite have just one bathroom?

 

Laura

 

On the Millennium, it does.  

 

On the S class ones I've been in, there were 1.5 baths.

Edited October 3, 2021 by KAE27

[KAE27]

12 minutes ago, GMoney said:

Because it’s been closed for dinner on the 7 cruises I’ve been on since June

 

Wow, that's a lot of cruises.  Which ships?  That's really surprising.

Edited October 3, 2021 by KAE27

[KAE27]

Sorry, @Jim_Iain, didn't mean to hijack.  Really looking forward to your blog/vlog!

[cruzzzinma]

21 minutes ago, GMoney said:

Because it’s been closed for dinner on the 7 cruises I’ve been on since June

I heard that the buffet was closed for dinner on Royal but I hadn’t heard that about Celebrity. We cruised on Celebrity in September but never tried the buffet for dinner.

[brucefann]

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

That would be so nice to drive to the port.   If I recall the port isn't really pretty.

What? Are you talking about the port in San Diego? Firstly, the port is a five to ten minute drive from the airport. Coming from the north look out the right side window of the plane to appreciate the charm of the area. Sure there is the heavy military presence of the north island of Coronado, but the view of downtown San Diego from the water is spectacular!. The actual  port area is small and within walking distance of a lot or tourist attractions. You could easily walk to the Midway Museum, Seaport Village, and The Gaslamp District. The port is actually pretty!
 

 

 

[abbydancer2003]

I'll follow this.  DH and I are doing a coastal on the Millennium in September - it's the repositioning one from Vancouver to LA I think.  I'm most excited about Catalina, as I've never been there.

 

By the way, I'm in San Diego from the 16-22.

 

 

[upwarduk]

We missed the port of San Diego 🙈on our Hawaii to San Diego cruise on Century in 2012.😱
We had to disembark in Ensenada and be bussed to San Diego, due to the Passenger Services Act.

All hand luggage had to be taken off at the border and after the bus had been driven through we had to reclaim our cases, which had been taken out of the boot, so that they could be put back in.

Century was already in the port when we were taken to the airport.😱

I wonder if you will go through any protocols, or whether you will avoid the above, as it is a closed loop cruise?

[jimbri]

Looking forward to your newest adventure!

[Valentin53]

Thank you very much Jim_Iain for sharing your experiences. I follow them from very far away, from Bulgaria, and I empathize and get excited with you. We will be at the Millennium from February 21, 2022 and therefore I will follow with even greater attention all you posts. I know that it is very likely that the crew, the singers, the musicians will change by February, but I would be grateful if you publish something in this regard. It strikes me that no one publishes anything about trivia. Have fun and wait for the news.

[Laurab23]

10 hours ago, KAE27 said:

 

On the Millennium, it does.  

 

On the S class ones I've been in, there were 1.5 baths.

Thanks for the info. I thought just one from videos I have seen.

 

Laura

[megfla]

I look forward to following along again!

 

Hopefully the house band Magnifica is still onboard!  An all female band that was one of the entertainment highlights of our June Millennium sailing.

[chamima]

Jim

How are your daughter and her MIL?

[garyl62]

Looking forward to following along Jim, it will be great to hear some thoughts about this itinerary as it's something I'd like to explore sometime, and really looking forward to your thoughts on the Millie and the refub.  We leave on the Summit just after your second trip ends, so while not the same ship, but it will still be interesting to hear your thoughts on the M class.  I don't remember, did you already sail on the Millie once since the refurb?

 

I have re-read the thread a couple times and can't find a post where you said what type of cabin you booked so can you post that (again if I missed it, sorry) and if you will have to move on the switchover day.  Assuming you are also considering a "Move-up Bid" unless you got a PH already.  Enjoy!!!

[Jim_Iain]

16 hours ago, GMoney said:

Thanks so much for this thread. I booked the 10/19 cruise today (while on RC Ovation for 3 weeks). I already had the 10:27 canal sailing booked, so now I’m on for 23 nights. 
 

Millennium and Summit are my favorite ships. 
 

anyone know if the buffet is open for dinner? I’m guessing it’s not. 

A good resource is the Celebrity App.   I had to look it up because I never went up there at night. 
 

For the upcoming cruise it is showing open even for late dining. On Equinox they had no self service and staff to place items on your plate. 
 

 

[Benthayer Gonbak]

It’s interesting to see a B2B for identical cruises.  When I recently did that for a cruise in Jan my agent thought I’d lost my mind!  Of course, there was still on port difference published that actually made the different, but it had been removed.  Now we wait to see what happens with the home port, Barbados,  next month when the itineraries begin.  Or rather are planned to beginning! 
 

Looking forward to what you experience that is different from visiting foreign ports, I’m thinking a lot!  

[Jim_Iain]

14 hours ago, Laurab23 said:

Does the Royal Suite have just one bathroom?

 

Laura

 

Yes on the M-Class just one bathroom.   Nicely appointed with both a Jetted Tub and a large stand up shower.  To provide for privacy if traveling with others the bathroom has 2 doors one from the Living Room area and the other from the Bedroom.     It is handy if one in your party likes to sleep in and others are up and need to use the bathroom.

 

Both S and E have 1 1/2 bathrooms. 

[lovecruzin]

We’re on the 10/11 cruise and currently in SF celebrating my birthday, I’m looking forward to coming back and not having to pay for hotel and parking!  We used to live in Sunnyvale and SJ before moving to Sacramento area.  Look forward to following along whilst on the cruise!

 

Were also flying Alaska in First, it was a no brainer as the checked luggage fees would have almost brought us up to the fare we paid!

[Jim_Iain]

14 hours ago, GMoney said:

Because it’s been closed for dinner on the 7 cruises I’ve been on since June

Sorry to hear it was closed.    Which ships were you on?   I'm wondering if this was due to early protocols being worked out.    I checked Apex and Edge and they are both showing the same hours. 

[Jim_Iain]

13 hours ago, KAE27 said:

Sorry, @Jim_Iain, didn't mean to hijack.  Really looking forward to your blog/vlog!

 

No problem.    Jump in anytime.    As long as we all respect each other I love others to participate.

 

[Benthayer Gonbak]

10 hours ago, upwarduk said:

We missed the port of San Diego 🙈on our Hawaii to San Diego cruise on Century in 2012.😱
We had to disembark in Ensenada and be bussed to San Diego, due to the Passenger Services Act.

All hand luggage had to be taken off at the border and after the bus had been driven through we had to reclaim our cases, which had been taken out of the boot, so that they could be put back in.

Century was already in the port when we were taken to the airport.😱

I wonder if you will go through any protocols, or whether you will avoid the above, as it is a closed loop cruise?

i believe we were on the cruises just before yours that did return to San Diego.  I saw the changes you experienced but they made no sense!  The port was under construction and a mess to navigate.  As I recall, th port was temporary while the main terminal was being refurbished.   We were on the cruise just after the one that missed a port in Hawaii because they answered a request from the coast guard to assist with a rescue of a small vessel whose captain was injured and the crew was running out of food.  Oh yeah, and a broken mast!   I was dumbfounded to here all the complaining passengers as we boarded.  Don’t remember why we even overlapped to hear them though, perhaps transportation. 
 

 

[Jim_Iain]

13 hours ago, brucefann said:

What? Are you talking about the port in San Diego? Firstly, the port is a five to ten minute drive from the airport. Coming from the north look out the right side window of the plane to appreciate the charm of the area. Sure there is the heavy military presence of the north island of Coronado, but the view of downtown San Diego from the water is spectacular!. The actual  port area is small and within walking distance of a lot or tourist attractions. You could easily walk to the Midway Museum, Seaport Village, and The Gaslamp District. The port is actually pretty!
 

 

 

 

I was referring to the Sea Terminal  specifically.    I haven't sailed out of SD for many years and last time was a REALLY BAD EXPERIENCE.    The terminal was an old open warehouse. 

 

Because of the restrictions on foreign ports, our ship docked let off passengers and then sailed to Ensenada.      They corralled  all of us in the terminal with excursion type numbers loaded us on buses to Ensanada.     We had to wait 3 hours with limited seating and no food or drink to get  our bus.    We got held at the boarder by Mexican Authorities as we were officially an "IN-TRANSIT" BUS and took us until 10:00 PM to get to the ship. 

 

I'm in no way disparaging San Diego and their beautiful sea front. I love it and have vacationed there numerous times.   I'm specifically remembering the terminal which may have been tainted by my experience.  

[Jim_Iain]

10 hours ago, upwarduk said:

We missed the port of San Diego 🙈on our Hawaii to San Diego cruise on Century in 2012.😱
We had to disembark in Ensenada and be bussed to San Diego, due to the Passenger Services Act.

All hand luggage had to be taken off at the border and after the bus had been driven through we had to reclaim our cases, which had been taken out of the boot, so that they could be put back in.

Century was already in the port when we were taken to the airport.😱

I wonder if you will go through any protocols, or whether you will avoid the above, as it is a closed loop cruise?

 

I experienced the same as you on a cruise originating San Diego to Hawaii.    This cruise is a little different.    We  stop in Ensenada to fulfill the PSA and spend a full day there.   Celebrity and other cruise lines use to play a game of going to Ensenada dropping anchor for an hour and call it a stop to fulfill the requirements of the act but the government put an end to it.

 

Both of these cruises originate and end in San Diego and then head to San Francisco. 

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, Valentin53 said:

Thank you very much Jim_Iain for sharing your experiences. I follow them from very far away, from Bulgaria, and I empathize and get excited with you. We will be at the Millennium from February 21, 2022 and therefore I will follow with even greater attention all you posts. I know that it is very likely that the crew, the singers, the musicians will change by February, but I would be grateful if you publish something in this regard. It strikes me that no one publishes anything about trivia. Have fun and wait for the news.

I will check with the crew and get an idea as to how long their contracts are.    While every cruise is different many of the things remain the same with different shows and entertainment as well as new crew.

[KAE27]

18 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Yes on the M-Class just one bathroom.   Nicely appointed with both a Jetted Tub and a large stand up shower.  To provide for privacy if traveling with others the bathroom has 2 doors one from the Living Room area and the other from the Bedroom.     It is handy if one in your party likes to sleep in and others are up and need to use the bathroom.

 

Both S and E have 1 1/2 bathrooms. 

 

The two Royals we had on Millennium in August (6134 and 6133) did not have this configuration of two doors to the bathroom.  There was only one door, which was located directly across from the door to the bedroom - in other words, if you're coming from the living area, you enter a small alcove with the closet right in front of you, and then the doors to the BR and BA on the left and right facing each other.  Perhaps what you're describing was on non-Revolutionized ships?

 

Agree with you that the bathroom is terrific!  It has double sinks, too, which are handy.