Final version of Millenium review and comparison with RCI

[glgolfer]

This is the combined and final version of my other 3 posts with the addition of the last rwo days and a reiteration and summary.

This was our first Celebrity cruise after 25 with RCI over the span of 20 years. Any and all comments appreciated.

 

 

Review of the Celebrity Millennium and Comparison with Royal Caribbean

Note: I’ve added a couple comments in the first 3 chapters I posted to the boards. They are in red and easily found so you don’t have to reread everything,

New stuff starts on 3 Feb.

26 January 2008: Hit the road about 0800 on Saturday the 26th. Easy drive to Fort Lauderdale from Weeki Wachee. Arrived Hampton Inn at 1430 and settled in our very nice and comfortable room.

Met friends for dinner at Legal Seafoods at the Sawgrass Mills Mall.

27 January, 2008: Took the 1000 shuttle from the Hampton to the pier. (Free shuttle, parking and pickup)

Arrived at the pier, dropped off our luggage and were almost at the front of the line in the elite waiting section. Started boarding about 1140, no problems through the x-ray and Judy & I were the first 2 on the ship.

Found the Ocean Grill for lunch. (**** will denote comparisons between X and RCI)

**** We prefer the separate stations on RCI to the long cafeteria lines on Celebrity.

Did like the trays instead of the dishes on RCI. Food was comparable.

Found our FV (family ocean view with veranda) at 1300. Cabin in good shape and everything was there - coupon books, connections invitation, ice, robes, the “good” lotions and shampoos, (4 lounge chairs, 2 regular chairs,1 small and 1 large table on the balcony), larger TV in the bedroom with the interactive feature with a VCR, small TV with a VCR in the “living” room with no interactive. 2 rooms with 270 sq ft and balcony with 240 sq ft. Loved the cabin.

2 doors to our cabin as we have our own private hallway. Doorbells at each door and the hallway is perfect for storing our luggage,

****We like the cabin storage on the new RCI ships better than X, not enough shelves in the bathroom or cabin, no shelves by the mirror. Otherwise, the storage was more than adequate. Little irritant was when the desk chair was pulled out there was no room between it and the bed. Also, no lights in the closets. Judy says the hairdryer on the wall in the bathroom is not as efficient as RCI’s in the drawer. Also, keeps her in the bathroom so no one else can use it. No full length mirrors.

Bed was very comfortable and our very attentive cabin attendant brought me one of the full body pillows.

We got our luggage before 1500, very fast service.

Rough water leaving port, as I was very tired, the ride was bothering me, so I had to leave dinner before I could try the prime rib. Ordered a club sandwich and some cookies from room service later and it arrived fairly quickly, both the sandwich and cookies were very good.

Put out the breakfast order for 0800 to 0830

28 January, 2008: and it arrived at 0830 (delivered by our cabin attendant). Everything was there, warm enough and all good. The toast was soft, not like the hard as a rock on RCI most of the time.

After a good night’s sleep, no more problems with the ride.

Judy got lunch at the Aqua Spa and I tried a hamburger and hotdog at the pool café.

Judy’s was good, mine was OK, but won’t get them again.

Signed up for a wireless package with Bob in the internet café, got our 20% extra minutes for the elite coupon, no problem. Couldn’t get a connection either in the cabin or the balcony. Went to one of the hot spots in the Ocean Café and had no problem there. Fairly fast connection. Surprised me.

Judy’s report:

Judy went to Elegant Tea. Very elegant. Good choice of teas–unfortunately bags instead of steeped in the pot. Lots of sandwich choices–shrimp, salmon, roast beef, cucumber. Then scones with strawberries and cream, cheesecake, chocolate cake. Many waiters, very attentive. White gloves; the bit. Most gentlemen in jackets. Quite enjoyable.

Back to me:

I watched an old western on the laptop in the cabin. (Brought along a package of 100 old westerns we never have time to watch at home).

Formal night. Surprised most men at early seating in suits instead of tuxes. Actually more tuxes on RCI on the cruises we’ve been on. Dinner for Judy was oysters rockefeller and Romaine with arugula and Celebrity dressing.

Mine was goat cheese and potatoes gratin, chilled melon and mint soup and caesar salad.

Both had a wonderful sorbet and tournedos of beef. Everything was very good and the beef was excellent.

The show was the singers and dancers performing excerpts from various Broadway shows. I thought it was excellent, too loud for Judy even though we were sitting in the top balcony in the last row. Big strike against X as the bar staff continued serving drinks during the whole show. People standing behind us kept getting drinks and talking through the whole show. Believe RCI shuts off bar service during the show.

Comments on the theater. Lot of steps on the main theater deck with 3 or 4 rows without a handrail. Would be difficult to use in rough seas. Much prefer the small tables on X instead of the holes in the arms on RCI that only hold the stemmed glasses.

Back to the cabin to a rose and chocolates from the Captain’s Club.

Water in bathroom/shower only lukewarm, not hot enough.

Done for the night.

29 January, 2008

Today was waffle day. Had mine plain with syrup, Judy had black cherry sauce. Both were good and a nice size. Also sausage links and bacon. No waffles on RCI. X wins.

1000 for the connections party in Michael’s club. Very pretty room. About 20 showed up out of 40+ signed up. Dru, the CD, was there for a few minutes. Very good gathering, some of us stayed and chatted for a while after the end of the party.

****Just had coffee, tea, juice, and water; but no snacks. No raffle or small gifts. RCI wins big time.

Just had some ice cream in the Ocean Cafe.

****Prefer the ice cream service with hand dipped on X to the sometimes very hard to find machines on RCI. Kudos to X.

Stopped at the casino on way back to cabin. Won $10 on 25 cent slot. Same as RCI so far, some machines seem to pay off better than others.

The Ocean Café is one of the wifi hot spots.

****Speed about the same as RCI. Sometimes faster (or slower) than others. Tossup:

When the login screen for the WIFI came up, it showed the charge per minute to be 65 cents. I bought a couple packages, so the cost was always under 50 cents.

Docked in San Juan at 1330. Off shortly after that. Walked to La Mallorquina for lunch. One chicken and one seafood asopao. The seafood one contained calamari, baby octopus, scallops, shrimp (with one whole head on shrimp) and oysters, Shared some of each. Dessert was one vanilla flan and one coconut flan. Measured closely so we had the same amount of each.

We both think this is the best flan we’ve ever had. Not a one time thing, had this flan 3 or 4 times so far.

Then across the street for some chocolate for which I paid a ridiculous amount for some Belgian chocolate.

Off next to the Butterfly People. Bought a couple items for us and a small gift for the neighbors that watch the house and water the plants..

From there to the ship.

Loafed til dinner. While loafing, talked to the folks around the partition on the next balcony.

They’ve only sailed on Carnival. Their next cruise will be on Celebrity. Maybe all the rest.

His two main comments (Paraphrased) were: There’s hardly any kids on this cruise. Nicer than Carnival. There’s a better “class” of people on this cruise. (His words, not mine).

I don’t think he’ll cruise on Carnival again.

Dinner with our nice tablemates. Another good group. Started with escargot, I had gazpacho, Judy none. Both had rack of lamb. Since I missed the creme brulee the first night, asked if I could have some later in the cruise. They brought 2 for me tonight. Wanted more, but too full.

**** Nobody liked the escargot recipe. RCI’s better. My gazpacho was good and the lamb was excellent. Slight edge to X.

Retired to the cabin for the night. Ate too much and tired after walking around Old San Juan.

30 January, 2008: Breakfast on the balcony again. Ordered for between 0630 and 0700. Arrived at 0645.

****Room service about the same as RCI. Tossup.

0700: Arrived Tortola.

My back really bothering me this morning. Decided no to do the tour we had booked as I “hate” buses anyway and had no desire to bounce around most of the morning. Judy went. She will take many pictures and report on the North Shore & Pusser’s Landing tour.

Judy’s tale of the tour.

Tour left right at 0800 as advertised. Bus was little Nissan 30-seater. Shiny and clean. Very narrow between seats. Driver Peter spoke English with such an accent that sometimes we couldn’t understand. Nice of him to circle the island counterclockwise since driving on the left side of the road kept us hugging the mountain instead of overlooking the dropoff to the ocean. Steep roads and hairpin curves kept everyone’s fingers crossed. Stopped just before 0900 for restrooms and giftshop. Unfortunately, it didn’t open until 9. Unremarkable vegetation. View just water and islands. 83F so very nice for the people from up North. Island was pretty clean. People were friendly.

Amazing amount of traffic for an island 4 x 23 with 28000 population. Speed bumps frequently! Several 15 minute stops with island souvenirs. Pusser’s Landing was really classy. 35 minutes turned into 45 minutes then back to the ship. Paul’s back would not have enjoyed this tour today.

Tour tale over.

Judy back and off to lunch. Judy had pasta and a salad. I tried an egg salad sandwich with potato salad from the station where the waffles are served in the morning.

****Personal opinion caveat: much prefer RCI’s egg salad and potato salad. X’s bread was good.

****Aside about the TV programming. Equally bad on both, but X has been using the US feed of ESPN instead of the European ESPN soccer channel (at least it always seems to be the soccer channel). That alone makes X the huge winner (to me).

1600: Leaving Tortola. Judy commented on sewer smell on balcony. Only lasted very short time. First time for that.

On to Casa de Campo.

Informal night at dinner. Mix of jackets & ties, jackets only and short sleeve shirts. No one turned away. Judy had crab cake appetizer, I had vichyoise. We both had the spinach salad and veal chop and crepes suzette. Everything was excellent.

Went to the casino for Judy to use the match play coupons for roulette. She won some, I lost some on the slots.

**** Coupons: RCI no contest for Diamond Members. X coupons virtually worthless.

Tonight we skipped the singers and dancers as it was too loud for Judy the first show and went to one of the lounges for some quiet music. Stayed for the liar’s club and had a good time.

Done for tonight.

As I remember little things, I will add them, not in any order.

**** The classy X menus stomp all over the RCI paper ones.

**** Wifi connection keeps dropping and reconnecting no matter what hot spot I’m in. Very annoying. Has never happened on RCI.

Seems to be because I’m using an older laptop with the wireless B adapter you plug into the computer. Newer notebooks with the internal a/b/g cards don’t seem to have the problem.

**** Tried the pizza while I was surfing at 0030 this morning. It was not as good as RCIs and that is hard to do as RCIs is abysmal. Of course, that’s just my personal opinion. Caveat: all pizza pales in comparison to the pizza from either Marion’s in Dayton or Giovanni’s in Fairborn, Ohio.

****. Bingo ball checker didn’t get anything. RCI gives them a drink of the day and a much sought after and coveted key chain

31 January: Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, Etc.

Breakfast around 0830 in the Ocean Café. Both had made to order omelets, I also had 2 waffles. One with strawberry sauce and one with orange butter. Everything very good.

Ship docked at 0900. We shared a taxi to the golf course with another couple. $15 total one way plus tip. A lady at our table asked if we would get a shirt for her husband if we got to the pro shop. Picked out nice shirts for him and me.

Also got a towel and a sleeve of logo balls.

Asked the taxi driver to be back at 1100 to take us back to the ship. He was there right on time.

Nothing much going on. Stayed in the cabin and on the balcony until 1300. Lunch in the Ocean Grill. I tried the pasta with white clam sauce and black bean soup. The pasta was almost done and the sauce was like water. The black bean soup was not very thick. Flavors were good.

Gave up on the pasta and black bean soup and tried some tuna salad on a pretzel with cheese from the place where waffles are served. The chicken salad was very good and the pretzel was soft and tasty. Much better than the pasta.

Judy had a salad and curry stuff. The curry dishes were about 50/50 as to quality.

Back to the cabin to await BINGO at 1600.

Have I said how great the balcony is?

Did not win anything at bingo.

The casino is on the same deck as the theater bingo is in. So, I stopped and put $20 in one of the 2 credit quarter machines that has the extra win button. Down to my last 2 credit spin. 2 doubles and a 7. Pushed the 2 to 5 times win button and it hit for 9 times which equaled 720 quarters. Tried to play it off with one more spin and won another 30. 2 more quarters for no win and cashed in $187.75. Happy birthday Paul.

Getting ready for dinner in the Olympic Restaurant at 1900.

Olympic restaurant: What we had: Starters - Frog Legs Provencale (me) and Goat Cheese Souffle. (Judy) I left one frog leg for Judy and she left 3 bites of the goat cheese. While we liked each dish, we were both happy with what we ordered.

Then came the palate cleanser of a pear gratine.

Entree: Lobster and scallops for Judy and Filet Mignon for me.

Cheese selection: Told the server to pick his favorite from each family. Served with celery. Sliced pears, grapes and small toast pieces. 4 kinds of cheese, each delicious. The Roquefort just exploded with flavor in your mouth.

Delicious birthday cake for me, the creme brulee for desert.

Sad to say, I did something I never thought I would do. I could not finish the creme brulee as I was too full.

Olympic staff offered to call our cabin attendant to bring a cart to take me back to the cabin. But, I made it on my own (barely).

No contest, Millie specialty restaurant far ahead of Chops or Portofinos.

In for the night.

1 Feb:

The 2 green sofas in the “living room” have to go. They’re an ugly color green and in lousy shape.

Docked at Labadee. Breakfast: I had waffles, bacon and sausage. Judy had salmon on a bagel. Everything was good.

Still much prefer the RCI stations in the Windjammer.

Talked to the future cruise person (Melanie, Dru’s (CD) wife) about Azamara and Antarctica. This is the last year for Antarctica as there wasn’t enough interest in it. She said check the 2010 schedule to see if they bring those cruises back.

She had not heard about the proposed reinterpretation of the Passenger Act by CBP.

Did I say they need new sofas?

I’m staying onboard and Judy is going ashore for a while.

**** We like the 3 sets of elevators forward, midship and aft on X. They are bigger and faster than RCI. Points to X.

**** 2 story very attractive library. Virtually unusable as it’s too dark to read the titles. Bring a maglite. RCI wins by a few light bulbs.

I wandered around taking pictures of the ship with virtually no one around. Will post them on webshots after sorting all of Judy’s and mine. No one on the topless deck, will try again tomorrow on the last sea day before arriving home.

The chairs on our balcony really need to be cleaned..

Two friends from the RCI roll call from Halifax, N.S. stopped by with friends of theirs to see the fabulous cabin and balcony we were in. They paid for entrance with a wee nip of Glenlivit.

Dinner tonight didn’t impress either one of us. I had the Thai scallops appetizer (a little chewy for scallops, the chilled strawberry soup (very good) and the prime rib (good, but not great).

Judy had the endive salad (our server got the salads mixed up) and the duck ala orange (the duck was OK, but dry). (We traded meals halfway through and both our opinions were the same).

Our tablemates conspired to get a bottle of champagne and a cake for my birthday. Paul made a very nice toast. I very much appreciated their thoughtfulness.

Showtime for a comedian, Jeff. As always some things very funny and some not. Worth spending the time listening.

Played computer for a while in the Ocean Grill. Didn’t seem to drop and reconnect so often tonight. Tried the pizza again, still lousy. Found the cookie trays. Liberated some cookies to take back to the cabin. Cookies as good as the pizza bad.

Something we both noticed is that some housekeeping areas are neglected. While overall the ship is clean, the bar tops are covered in fingerprints as well as the glass tops of the small tables in the theater. We had coffee at the specialty coffee place and the bartop there was sticky.

I did see someone in the casino wiping the buttons and handles on the slot machines.

Mirrors in the elevators always clean, but the stairway handrails were not always clean.

It seemed to be hit & miss around the ship as to what they always kept clean and some things they either neglected or did not do on a regular basis.

2 February: Last day. All day cruising at sea

Breakfast in the Ocean Café. Omelet, sausage, bacon and a bagel & cream cheese.

1130: Officer’s cocktail party in Cosmos. Typical ship party. Talked to a nice couple from Ft. Myers.

1330: Massage lesson in the Aqua Spa. Four couples. Interesting as it was on the floor in the gym and the four ladies volunteered before they found out they had to take their tops and bras off. They did have cover-ups for them, so all four managed without compromising their dignity.

$52 for an hour and you get a bottle of oil. Worth it to learn the correct technique.

1530: Tea for elites in the Olympic Restaurant. 15 of us showed up. The rest of the elites don’t know what they missed (if there were any more). It was excellent.

Won a little more in the casino.

Back to the cabin prior to dinner. Our tablemates are coming at 1730 to see the cabin.

Forgot to say who our tablemates were. Paul & Mary from Connecticut and Cindy and Pam from the D.C. area. All very nice people and they laughed at all the right places.

Dinner: Escargot in puff pastry (two snails and a lot of mushrooms, say disappointed), caesar salad and coq a’vin, vanilla & chocolate icecream. Judy had a beet starter, butternut squash soup, tomato salad, pork shop and a pear dessert.

Mostly good.

Back to the cabin to pack.

3 Feb

Dining room open at 0600. First time for breakfast there. Service fast and breakfast was good. Judy asked for hot tea and the poor server had to go to deck 10 for the hot water as the water pressure into the dining room was reduced due to Coast Guard regulations.

We traded the get off the ship tags that they assigned us for the get off first tags as we wanted to get an early start driving home. Disembarkation supposed to start at 0835 but was delayed until a little after 0900. The elite waiting area was in the Olympic restaurant just a few yards from where you get off the ship. Very nice place to wait. Got off the ship, quickly through immigration, found our luggage, whizzed through customs and called the hotel for pickup. First glitch – told it would be 1 to 1 ½ hours before the shuttle picked us up. Had not been told that up front, just that the shuttle would pick us up. Since everyone knows the chaos at disembarkation, coupled with no place to sit and wait, we opted to take a taxi back. Taxi from the port to the Hampton Inn Plantation was $35 including tip. Judy went in to the desk while I was telling the GPS to plot the way home and told them they should tell everyone there would be that long a wait before pickup. Don’t know if they will or not.

Easy drive home with a stop about 1430 at the Rusty Fox in Clermont, one of our favorite restaurants. Judy had prime rib and baked sweet potato and, as always, it was better than on the ship. I had baby-back ribs and a baked potato. We brought half of everything home for dinner on Monday.

Arrived home about 1630 to two kitties greeting us to tell us their food bowls were empty. They have their priorities right. (We had kitty sitters that came twice a day except for the last day. They do an excellent job and the kitties like them).

Overall impressions (reiteration and summation)::

Ship and decor: Wood, fabrics and colors earth-tones. But, overall a very dark atmosphere. The wood and light colors in the Olympic were very good. Not much wear & tear for the age of the ship. Deck space adequate. Typical pool and atrium areas.

Art bland and not very interesting. Judy said the carpets and upholstery blah.

We prefer the colors, art work, decor and large expanses of glass on the RCI ships.

Points to RCI.

Staff: Dinner wait staff adequate, but not as interactive as RCI. Waitress forgot some things and mixed up other orders. Assistant very good and efficient.

All other staff we interacted with was friendly and helpful.

Our cabin attendant was excellent.

Tossup, overall excellent service in all areas on both X & RCI.

Bingo: Just a comment about profit margin. RCI: $35 for 5 games = $7 per game.

X: $30 for 4 games = $7.50 per game. Better odds on RCI.

Very few players on X. Not much in the final game and we didn’t bother to play.

Bingo is bingo. We prefer the five games on RCI. Minor point, X did not give the “bingo commissioner” anything. RCI gives them a “highly sought after” keychain and the drink of the day for checking the balls.

Food: Very slight edge to X only because of some of the dining room food, the waffles and the hand dipped ice cream. Hard to fathom, but RCI’s pizza might be better than X’s. Overall each had things that were better than the other.

Buffet design: X= whoever designed the buffet area should be fired in my humble opinion.

It was extremely aggravating to get some items and a bagel or muffin in one area, then walk past a long expanse of wall (or elevator area) to get to the waffle area. If you started on the “wrong” side, you had to walk past the waffle area to get to the omelet area carrying your tray with your water and iced tea that you got at the first station because the only thing near the waffle and omelet stations is coffee and hot water.

The only time a waiter asked to carry either of our trays was the first day for about 10 feet to a table.

RCI’s stations are much better.

Buffet Food: Based on the food I got in the buffet, RCI’s is better with generally more selection. It might be just what I selected. Example: Pasta with a white clam sauce was a plate full of pasta with a watery liquid with some items floating in it that were almost identifiable as clams. The black bean soup I tried was very runny with no beans.

The best thing in the buffet was the waffles. Very glad everyone talks about them.

As always, evaluation of food is very subjective.

Safe: Prefer the safe on the Millennium with it’s 6 digit combination as opposed to RCI’s 4 digit. Big, easy to read display. One minor problem was no instructions that we found. Had to call CS to find out it was a 6 number combination.

Entertainment: Went to the first show and did not go to any of the other production shows because of the decibel level. It was painful to Judy. Liars Club was absolutely hilarious. One of the highlights of the cruise.

We have found lately that RCI’s production shows have been too loud, too.

Overall impression was that the entertainment in the theater and at the various venues around the ship was about the same as RCI.

Loyalty Program: Talked to the Loyalty person before the Officer’s party and had a discussion re the difference between RCI and X. She hopes X does instigate an elite plus level and improves the benefits for all levels. I think she was a little embarrassed about how bad the benefits were compared to RCI.

Cabin: We haven’t stayed in an equivalent cabin on RCI, but still have some observations. We liked the two rooms. No center drawer in the “desk” area and no space between the chair and the bed when at the desk. Storage areas design much better on RCI. More shelves next to the mirror and in the bathroom. A lot of minor details better on RCI.

The robes were very comfortable, lighter weight than RCI’s. The duvet was lighter weight and more comfortable, but too short!

Aqua Spa: After the massage, there was no drinking water close by. RCI has a very nice area to relax with wonderful flavored water and fruit. Exercise area and equipment is more high-tech, newer, and better variety on RCI.

Did we let anything bother us? NO, we’ve never had a bad cruise and this was a very good one overall. There were many things we liked about the ship. As far as X versus RCI, we thought it was pretty much a tossup. Would we cruise on X again? You bet. Would we cruise on the Millennium again? Sure would.

But, there’s not enough difference to switch our loyalties from RCI to X. I used the word loyalties as that is the deciding factor. The Diamond and Diamond Plus benefits are so much better than X’s with the balcony discounts, the Concierge Lounge and the coupon books. And, we prefer the Radiance and Voyager class ships with the more open feeling throughout.

I will be happy to answer any questions I can.

End of story.

[Andy]

Hi PaulWN !

 

Thanks again for your excellent comparison. I enjoyed reading it. Welcome Home.

[preb]

Wow! Awesome review with tons of detail! We're sailing X for the first time in two weeks and your information was very helpful. Glad you enjoyed it!

[EditorMom]

Thanks, Paul! Sounds like your stateroom was in better shape than mine, which was right below yours. After reading your review, we're looking forward to trying Royal Caribbean. Perhaps we can dodge norovirus next time!

-Sarah

[glgolfer]

Hi Sarah: The only real problem with our cabin was the ugly green sofas that were in such bad shape they should have been trashed a few years ago.

 

Hope your next cruise is noro free. I thought your son did great at the connections party.

[caviargal]

Great review and loved the details!

[Lois R]

Hi Paul:)

 

Thanks for the detailed review:)

Tell Judy hi from me too!

 

Glad you had an overall good time.:)

[ccletzgo]

Paul, WAs the shower in the FV bigger then in a balcony cabin on the new RCCL ships?

Oh how I disliked that shower on the navigator......:(

thank you!

[glgolfer]

The bathroom was about the same as a D1 and the shower was bigger I think. At least I didn't have to fight the curtain. No tub.

[Jade13]

T

 

Talked to the future cruise person (Melanie, Dru’s (CD) wife) about Azamara and Antarctica. This is the last year for Antarctica as there wasn’t enough interest in it. She said check the 2010 schedule to see if they bring those cruises back.

She had not heard about the proposed reinterpretation of the Passenger Act by CBP.

 

 

Paul, I really enjoyed your review. I liked your review on your Norway cruise as well. We may have to decide between Hurtigruten and Celebrity for Norway (maybe next year).

 

I am surprised about Azamara. We know someone who just got off and after over 30 cruises said it was probably their favorite cruise, both the ship and Antarctica. Wonder where the ship is going next year in place of Antarctica?

[glgolfer]

Thank You Jade. I believe Azamara is moving to the Panama Canal. Don't know if a full or partial transit or both.

 

Either one for Norway would be fine. I'm probably prejudiced toward Hurtigruten as it is smaller and can get more places than the big ships. Plus, there's a lot more glass on the Hurtigruten ships than on X.

[sea-cruise]

Great detailed review! Quite accurate IMHO.

One thing I really miss are the elegant teas.

P.S. Did you notice the email from X today offering $500 off balcony and $800 off Suites on Azamara? Seemed like a nice discount.

[rebeccalouise]

That was a fair and balanced review.

 

It is funny though because I prefer Millenium over Radiance. I was disappointed with Radiance because- although there is lots of glass- I felt hemmed in. It seemed like there weren't many places where you could look out at the sea- unless you were behind glass. I thought Millenium was much more open to the sea.

 

The things I liked better about Radiance were the cabins and the buffet.

[glgolfer]

Didn't see the discounts, but they sound good. We're trying to figure out how to pay for the Mariner repo next year. Thinking about sellng pencils on the street corner.

[sea-cruise]

Didn't see the discounts, but they sound good. We're trying to figure out how to pay for the Mariner repo next year. Thinking about sellng pencils on the street corner.

Ahaha!! Can I set up a kiosk next to yours? I'll sell paper :D

[sea-cruise]

Sorry...posts aren't showing up, then suddenly I have two. :confused:

[glgolfer]

CCs being weird for everyone. Double and triple posts and others disappearing into the ether.

[Schplinky]

Great review!

[Sailfish]

Thanks for the awesome review.

 

We were just bumped off of a cruise later this speing and rebooked onto the Millenium that departs 2/17/08 - just happened two days ago! SUffice it to say, I have done virtually no research on this cruise, so your input helped a lot.

 

We cruised on the Mercury a while ago - our only cruise with Celebrity - so we sort of know what to expect. But I find I still have some questions - hope you don't mind me picking your brain a little!

 

Okay here are my questions regarding:

 

1. Coupon Books for Elite Members. We are Elite thanks to our C&A status; based on your input, the coupon books you got weren't of much value. Did they have any of the following:

• drink coupons - free or buy one get one free perhaps
  
• free internet minutes
  
• spa discounts
  
• casino match play

2. Elite Party. Was this scheduled during the day? I thought you said it was a tea. Where was it and did they serve free alcohol? Was it similar to the C&A Diamond Party?

 

3. Officer's Dinner. Were you or other Elie members invited to dive one night with the captain or an officer? Did you notice if this was done at all? While aboard the Mercury, we ate with the Hotel Director.

 

4. Martini Tasting. While on the Mercury, there was a flat price to taste 3 or 4 martini samples - very generous samples. I was wondering if this was availbe on the Millenium.

 

5. Activities. We tend to enjoy sports activities - besides the gym, was there any basketball, volleyball or other competative activities (shuffle board, table tennis, etc)?

 

6. In-Room Drink Package. I noticed that one can buy for $60 or $80 online through Celebrity's Bon Voyage department a drink package that includes a bottle of hard liquor, mixers and snacks. Any comments?

 

7. Elite Perks. We often will find a bottle of champagne at embarkation wating for us in our cabin, and a host of little "gifts" through out the week while on a Royal Caribbean cruise: chocolate dipped strawberries, appetizers, a gift like a photo frame, tote bag, etc. - regardless of the category room we book. Does Celebrity do this for their Elite members also?

 

Thanks again for your review and for your input.

 

Suzi

[Sailfish]

Boy, the boards are really acting funny!! Anyone else notice that postings are not showing up in the threads - once you click on the thread, they are there, but not on the tally!

[glgolfer]

xxxx

 

Thanks for the awesome review.

 

We were just bumped off of a cruise later this speing and rebooked onto the Millenium that departs 2/17/08 - just happened two days ago! SUffice it to say, I have done virtually no research on this cruise, so your input helped a lot.

 

We cruised on the Mercury a while ago - our only cruise with Celebrity - so we sort of know what to expect. But I find I still have some questions - hope you don't mind me picking your brain a little!

 

Okay here are my questions regarding:

 

1. Coupon Books for Elite Members. We are Elite thanks to our C&A status; based on your input, the coupon books you got weren't of much value. Did they have any of the following:

• drink coupons - free or buy one get one free perhaps
  
• free internet minutes
  
• spa discounts
  
• casino match play

Drinks - Buy a bottle of wine and get a 10% discount on one under $100.

Buy a wine flight and get 50% off another.

No liquor coupons.

Specialty coffee in Olympic after dinner.

Spa: One coupon buy a treatment and get a complimentary treatment 3 choices. On for 10% off while in port.Complimentary yoga class. $$$ off acupuncture.

Casino: 3 $5 match play coupons.

Bingo: Set of play cards.

20% off digital printing.

A keepsake book if purchase art from Park West

$15 laundry coupon for all you can cram in the bag.

 

2. Elite Party. Was this scheduled during the day? I thought you said it was a tea. Where was it and did they serve free alcohol? Was it similar to the C&A Diamond Party?

 

There was an "elegant tea" at 1530 for elites. Petit fours and other pastries including scones. No clotted cream, just whipped cream.

 

3. Officer's Dinner. Were you or other Elie members invited to dive one night with the captain or an officer? Did you notice if this was done at all? While aboard the Mercury, we ate with the Hotel Director.

 

There was no Oficers dinner. Not invited to dine with anyone. Don't know if anyone was.

 

4. Martini Tasting. While on the Mercury, there was a flat price to taste 3 or 4 martini samples - very generous samples. I was wondering if this was availbe on the Millenium.

 

We don't do martinis, so if there was we didn't see it. There was a single malt scotch tasting one day. 3 samples for $15.95. We're single malt drinker, but didn't go as we're sure there's no scotch on the ship we haven't tried. They had none of our real favorites.

 

5. Activities. We tend to enjoy sports activities - besides the gym, was there any basketball, volleyball or other competative activities (shuffle board, table tennis, etc)?

 

Probably. Since you can't play golf onboard, we didn't pay any attention to what they did have. I believe there was a basketball court.

 

6. In-Room Drink Package. I noticed that one can buy for $60 or $80 online through Celebrity's Bon Voyage department a drink package that includes a bottle of hard liquor, mixers and snacks. Any comments?

 

Have no idea. Don't drink in the room.

 

7. Elite Perks. We often will find a bottle of champagne at embarkation wating for us in our cabin, and a host of little "gifts" through out the week while on a Royal Caribbean cruise: chocolate dipped strawberries, appetizers, a gift like a photo frame, tote bag, etc. - regardless of the category room we book. Does Celebrity do this for their Elite members also?

 

No champagne in the cabin. There was a bottle of wine on the desk sitting on the price list. We received one yellow rose and a small box of chocolates. The gift was a tote bag of very thin material that was perfect for carrying my laptop to the hot spots and to use as a table mat to put the computer on and as a mouse pad.

Nothing even close to what you get from RCI.

 

Thanks again for your review and for your input.

 

Suzi

[glgolfer]

There was also the "Senior Officers cocktail party at 1130 the same day as the tea. (last sea day). It was for Select and Elite and was something like RCI's repeater party. Same cold hor d'ourves and bloody marys, champagne, etc. Not very well attended and not worth it if you want to do something else.. We were there early and got to talk to the loyalty lady for a while. Regina, very nice lady.

[shirleygr]

Have our first X cruise coming up in April after many cruises on RC. Your review was incredibly helpful. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

[Sailfish]

Thanks, Paul, for the feedback. Now I have an idea of what to expect (or not) from Celebrity's loyalty program.

 

Takre care & Happy Cruising!

[glgolfer]

Don't expect too much and you won't be disappointed.