Millennium needs to be dry docked!!!

[TMaine]

I wish the TA's would post where they are so travelers could make educated decisions as to whether or not they should use them.

[charlotte5]

Again, I'm amazed at the heated discussions taking place over a ship's condition. It should really be very simple -- a cruise ship should be kept in good condition for all cruises, not just some and just as with a hotel, if there are rooms that have not been maintained, a passenger should be told before hand. As on poster said, when a room in a hotel is not up to standards, you are usually offered another or told in advance. This standard does not apply to cruise ships -- once onboard, you're stuck! We may all be "blessed" to afford a cruise (as another poster said), but we should certainly all be entitled to basic levels of maintenance and service befitting a "premium" ship (even if the cost is the same or less than another cruise line). Oh, and Drew B, Celebrity's website and promotional material do indeed refer to themselves as "premium" -- check out their website and look under our company at bottom of website. I'll quote for you: "Celebrity Cruise was founded... with the objective of fulfilling the need for a HIGH-QUALITY, PREMIUM cruise product at an intelligent price. The company was determined to set a new standard for cruising and to create a distinctive experience of superior quality... Celebrity continues to reap stellar rewards including Conde Nast's World's Greatest Ships which deemed seven Celebrity ships as top 10 large cruise ships!" These are in Celebrity's words, not mine. Even if people were not hung up on semantics, the condition of our room, level of service and overall experience was NOT premium, or even average. Again, I will repeat, we had a WONDERFUL time and enjoyed our cruise overall! However, the other ships (and hotels) we've been on were all in MUCH better condition than the Millennium. I have pictures of the ship's condition which I'd love to post -- as soon as I figure out how to on this web site. The simple argument here is that regardless of everyone's "individual" experiences (some may have different standards than others, we've all agreed!), there are enough people who have had issues with the Millennium as there are those who haven't . The public areas were fine for the most part. But I for one, don't understand how the only public pool for families is not maintained for one of the busiest weeks of the year -- I'm not talking about missing tiles, but tar repairs on the wood decking that rubbed off on any person's bathing suit that chose to sit around the pool deck (many on any given day!). Playground equipment that was falling apart and closed for the entire cruise, dirty, worn stateroom, old broken deck furniture on balcony, splintered railings -- if this is picky, than the cruise industry is in luck! They should just maintain the status quo as there are clearly enough people who are not "bothered" because they are "blessed" to be able to afford a cruise experience! The last time I checked, I "Paid" for this trip with my hard-earned money and would be embarassed to offer this level of service and maintenance to any client in my industry. Maybe this should just be an area where those who are satisfied with the Millennium and those who aren't should just agree to disagree!

[florisdekort]

Again, I'm amazed at the heated discussions taking place over a ship's condition...

 

... after which you throw oil on the fire by pointing out that everybody has to agree with your opinion and by totally exaggerating Millennium's condition. Very helpful in taking the heat out of the discussion :rolleyes:

 

Well, I am looking forward to spending 26 nights on the floating garbage dump that is called Millennium very soon. I am confident that she will look just as great as she did in November :D After all - Conde Nast listed her as one of the top 10 premium cruise ships in the world for the 6th year straight...

[lets talk cruising]

After all - Conde Nast listed her as one of the top 10 premium cruise ships in the world for the 6th year straight...

 

Travel magazines are infamous for giving the highest ratings to the one who advertises the most.

 

Why are Millenium and the other Celebrity ships not even mentioned in Porthole Magazine - why of course Celebrity does not advertise there.

 

I agree with the OP - why is it when somebody posts their opinion that is negative that so many of you get all up in arms and say they are just nit picking or lying. The responses here seem to be as if you were being personally insulted.

[JCDeck]

My question is why there are some people who ONLY post negative,regardless of the subject matter?

[florisdekort]

Travel magazines are infamous for giving the highest ratings to the one who advertises the most. Why are Millenium and the other Celebrity ships not even mentioned in Porthole Magazine - why of course Celebrity does not advertise there.

 

Conde Nast rankings are based on votes from their readers. Conde Nast is read by the general public.

 

Porthole is mostly read by people working in the cruise industry and by travel agents. Most of these travel agents are still very upset with Celebrity because as of late 2006, they are no longer allowed to pass on their discounts to their clients (in other words, they are no longer allowed to sell below the tariffs on www.celebrity.com). Those are the same people who are always negative on these forums, regardless of the subject. It is called revenge.

 

Best Regards,

Floris

[JCDeck]

Conde Nast rankings are based on votes from their readers. Conde Nast is read by the general public.

 

Porthole is mostly read by people working in the cruise industry and by travel agents. Most of these travel agents are still very upset with Celebrity because as of late 2006, they are no longer allowed to pass on their discounts to their clients (in other words, they are no longer allowed to sell below the tariffs on www.celebrity.com). Those are the same people who are always negative on these forums, regardless of the subject. It is called revenge.

 

Best Regards,

Floris

 

Well, there you go! Thank you.

[TMaine]

I think that, in consideration of those who will soon be boarding Millennium or any other ship for that matter, should not be subjected to lines such as "Millennium needs to be drydocked!" unless it is truly warrented. In this case it certainly is not. I am sure those folks may now be feeling uneasy about their choice and shouldn't be. If you want to post a review, then post a review. I went through this anxiety right before the Easter cruise only to find most everything an earlier poster had written to be false.

[florisdekort]

I think that, in consideration of those who will soon be boarding Millennium or any other ship for that matter, should not be subjected to lines such as "Millennium needs to be drydocked!" unless it is truly warrented. In this case it certainly is not. I am sure those folks may now be feeling uneasy about their choice and shouldn't be. If you want to post a review, then post a review. I went through this anxiety right before the Easter cruise only to find most everything an earlier poster had written to be false.

 

Amen.

 

I have promised myself countless times not to get involved in negative topics any more - and find myself breaking that promise each and every time for one single reason: the people who come back from a cruise and post: "I was so worried because of what I read on Cruise Critic, but we had such an amazing experience!". I feel very sorry for those people... my pre-vacation fun (the preparation, the anticipation, ...) is half of all the fun!

 

I can't stand the fact that certain people on here seem to get pleasure out of ruining other people's pre-vacation fun by blowing every small problem way out of proportion. No cruise is 100% perfect, but no cruise is 100% bad either. Again - Millennium has been in the Conde Nast Top 10 for 6 years straight... How bad can it really be?

 

I have spend close to 100 wonderful nights on Millennium and never ever has my experience been even remotely close to what a travel agent who has only walked around the ship for 3 hours (without ever taking an actual cruise!) is claiming here...

 

Floris

[wolfshadow]

I second that Amen! Especially since I'm one of those that will be boarding her soon.

[Drew B]

Oh, and Drew B, Celebrity's website and promotional material do indeed refer to themselves as "premium" -- check out their website and look under our company at bottom of website. I'll quote for you: "Celebrity Cruise was founded... with the objective of fulfilling the need for a HIGH-QUALITY, PREMIUM cruise product at an intelligent price. The company was determined to set a new standard for cruising and to create a distinctive experience of superior quality... Celebrity continues to reap stellar rewards including Conde Nast's World's Greatest Ships which deemed seven Celebrity ships as top 10 large cruise ships!" These are in Celebrity's words, not mine.

 

Thank you for pointing that out for me. I maintain that that word is at best too vague to have any real meaning and at worst misleading and damaging to prospective passengers. I sent X an e-mail telling them I think it should be removed. I'm sure that will change nothing, but I've at least gone on the record...

 

I've never been on Millenium, but I considered the condition of Mercury and Summit to be absolutely acceptable given what I paid. I'm guessing I would feel the same about Millie. However, if I had gone aboard with unrealistic expectations about the "premium" experience I was going to receive (despite having paid mainstream prices), I might be more disappointed. I never bought into that silly word, but I understand why others do and why it influences their perception of the cruise...

[OrlandoD]

YIKES! I've been off the boards a week, having a lovely cruise and found a real hornet’s nest here. Last week my family and I were on Millie. Yes, she is an older girl. I can see they are trying very hard with the extremely limited turn around to maintain what the ocean and hordes of waddling tourists can beat up. I mean the last passenger off must almost pass first one on for the next cruise! We saw some rust (horrors!), plenty of carpet being replaced and I noticed a broken window in the hydropool area. I also noticed the friendliest crew I have ever seen who seemed to be genuinely working hard for my vacation. Relax your over-expectations that everything will be perfect (it won't!) and just go with an open mind to have a good time. The main dining room food was extraordinary - best I've ever had on a cruise - BUT unfortunately we sat next to family with very young children who parents and grandparents had decided what ever makes their little darlings happy is just ducky with them including when the blond moppets torn laps around the table dodging the waiters and singing endless Old MacDonald in loud little voices. But what bothers me, others may find charming.

 

This is an ocean going vessel, not a land based hotel. If little things are going to bother you – book new!! Book truly premium.

[Sky Sweet]

Find an auto discussion forum, jump on the 'Ford' board, and start dissing Fords. See if that helps the education process.

 

Hi Tbelian :)

 

You raise a very interesting point about auto discussion groups which is relevant to this thread.

 

A year ago I bought a new car that came with run flat tires. I had no choice because they were standard on the car that I wanted.

 

On a number of auto boards people had posted about serious problems they had with run flat tires, which was very upsetting to me. Then I read a professional review of them and learned that there were a lot of problems with the run flat tires made by one tire company that did not exist with the ones made by another tire company. It turns out that my tires are made by the company that had no problems, but an earlier model of my car had tires from the other company.

 

The reason why I think this is relevant to this thread is because it illustrates that even though some people had a bad experience with a product, it doesn't mean that everyone will. It also shows that a product is constantly changing and we shouldn't question the validity of someone's bad experience, just because it differs from ours.

[lysolqn]

...dirty, worn stateroom, old broken deck furniture on balcony, splintered railings...

 

Charlotte5,

 

I don't know about anyone else but neither on land nor at sea, not on a premium cruise line nor on another would we ever accept the accommodations as you describe them above. Why did you?

 

You said you've written to the president of Celebrity and to Conde Nast, but how many times and to whom did you voice your disgust while actually on your cruise? Not one of your posts mentions anything about your having contacted the chief of housekeeping, guest relations or the hotel manager - not to mention saying something to your cabin steward who, if you are correct, was clearly a non-starter. If we'd been shown to a "dirty stateroom," you can bet we would have contacted all of the aforementioned as often as necessary until the problems were resolved to our satisfaction. If things were as bad as you insist they were and no one was willing to make them right, you can bet we'd work our way to the master of the vessel, if necessary, to get things corrected. The one thing we wouldn't do is keep mum until we got home.

 

As someone who works in the hospitality industry as you do, one would imagine you'd be the first to find someone in a postion of authority who could make the unacceptable better and smooth your ruffled feathers - but it appears you did nothing until you returned home. That's puzzling, to say the least and might just leave some to question how bad things actually were.

[charlotte5]

Ironically, I was not trying to create such havoc with my initial post. I was responding to an earlier post created by another person entitled "Don't Sail the Millennium If...." In fact, he had many complaints that I did not notice on my cruise but I did have an experience that was far less than my previous cruises on RCI and Disney. I was only trying to point out that the maintenance and service on this ship was much worse those on so-called "non premium" ships. Even if Conde Nast and Celebrity didn't extol their "superior" product, I would have still been surprised at the condition of the ship. It is an older ship, but I felt that it was a shame it was not maintained better. To be clear, I was not expecting a Ritz, or a Crystal cruise -- I understand this is a mass-market cruise line, but I did pay a price that would have allowed me to enjoy a week at a 5 star resort, with meals included in that price! Again, I have many photos which point out the condition of our ship and I was only hoping that a company which prides itself on providing a stellar cruise experience would keep things maintained for future passengers. The irony, here, is that there were so many comments made during the week of our cruise about the condition of the ship that we we felt we were being generous with our review! (One night my husband heard a woman telling a first time cruiser not to base their future cruise experiences on this ship, which she referred to as a "dump") Again, that may be her personal experience, but when too many people have similar experiences, it begs to be addressed. For those spending 26 nights on board this ship, I have no doubt that your expectations will be met, if not exceeded! I did not ask anyone to "agree with my position" -- in fact, I said it might be best to agree to disagree. I also did not expect a "land-based" hotel experience -- but I do know that standards are standards for many cruises and hotels alike. And in our experience, we felt that RCI and Disney did a better job with maintenance and service. Although, ironically, (as I've stated before), we preferred the size and clientele of the Millennium over the other ships -- which was why we chose her in the first place. Everyone, however, is entitled to their opinion and I am certainly not out to ruin anyone's "pre-cruise anticipation". I read many negative reviews before I boarded the Millennium (many of them here on Cruise Critic) and was able to distinguish between the petty and serious complaints. There are many who view my complaints as petty and therefore, there should be no concerns for their cruise. (I think one thread talked about problems with dessert trays and swans being available after dinner -- that, to me, would fall in the petty category!) Good luck to all with their future cruises!

[charlotte5]

In response to why I didn't raise my concerns earlier, in fact, I did. But I chose not to take it up the chain of command on the ship because I was hoping to enjoy our cruise. I had one of six family view suites and did not want to be moved. I was unaware that carpeting could be changed during the cruise, but did not expect or need that. Quite frankly, I'm surprised at the inference that the problems we encountered were not that bad. They were, but I was not looking for anything more than a response from Celebrity. I was surprised at Conde Nast's review and will absolutely take issue with this ship being named number 3 or 4 in the world of large cruise ships! Again, I have never seen such a vigorous defense of a product before -- you've all clearly seen the ship, love her and will have a wonderful cruise. But please, don't insult those who give their honest opinions -- you may not agree with them, but you certainly shouldn't imply that we are exaggerating!

[micmacmissy]

Just one more thing...

 

...it isn't only Conde Nast that rates Celebrity well. The whole reason we found and chose this cruise line years ago was because some of the independent books (Unofficial Guide to Cruising and Frommer's Cruises and Ports of Call) also rate Celebrity as consistently better than HAL, Princess, RCI, etc.

[lysolqn]

In response to why I didn't raise my concerns earlier, in fact, I did. But I chose not to take it up the chain of command on the ship because I was hoping to enjoy our cruise.

 

I don't understand how not getting what you clearly felt were serious problems with your accommodations remedied could possibly have interferred with your enjoyment of your cruise. If anything, I should think a clean cabin would have made you far happier than the one you described as "dirty" and in a state of disrepair. It just doesn't make sense - you bemoan the shortcomings of your accommodations but chose to stay in a "dirty" cabin because you wanted to enjoy your cruise? Wouldn't it have been well worth a five minute conversation with housekeeping or someone at guest relations to make your cruise more enjoyable? To say the problems you encountered were bad but you were "not looking for anything more than a response from Celebrity" is, at the very least, perlexing.

[marle7]

I don't understand how not getting what you clearly felt was a serious problem with your accommodations remedied could possibly have interferred with your enjoyment of your cruise. If anything, I should think a clean cabin would have made you far happier than the one you described as "dirty" and in a state of disrepair. It just doesn't make sense - you bemoan the shortcomings of your accommodations but chose to stay in a "dirty" cabin because you wanted to enjoy your cruise. Wouldn't it have been well worth a five minute conversation with housekeeping or someone at guest relations to make your cruise more enjoyable?

 

I haven't sailed on Celebrity yet (waiting for November!), but I can sort of understand this. On one of our cruises on RCL, we had a serious problem that we felt worth "taking up the chain of command". Unfortunately that meant three days of continual follow up and the next rung up. During that time, we spent a great deal of time being very unhappy with the situation, although we did still enjoy our cruise, it bugged us to have to be doing that sort of thing on a vacation. So I can understand that on a 7 day cruise (sorry I don't know if this was a 7 day or longer), why one might not want to take up three of those working on an issue. Especially I guess since you shouldn't have to. Reporting it to Guest Services should have been enough and they should have taken it from there.

 

Having said all that, we've picked Celebrity for our next cruise because we've heard so many wonderful things about her and we are looking forward to the Connie in November, and the Solstice in March! Since cruise reviews are much like restaurant reviews, in that they are very subjective, I gain as much information as I can here, then reserve my own judgement and go with an open mind every time I sail.

[lysolqn]

I haven't sailed on Celebrity yet (waiting for November!), but I can sort of understand this. On one of our cruises on RCL, we had a serious problem that we felt worth "taking up the chain of command". Unfortunately that meant three days of continual follow up and the next rung up. During that time, we spent a great deal of time being very unhappy with the situation, although we did still enjoy our cruise, it bugged us to have to be doing that sort of thing on a vacation. So I can understand that on a 7 day cruise (sorry I don't know if this was a 7 day or longer), why one might not want to take up three of those working on an issue. Especially I guess since you shouldn't have to. Reporting it to Guest Services should have been enough and they should have taken it from there.

 

Having said all that, we've picked Celebrity for our next cruise because we've heard so many wonderful things about her and we are looking forward to the Connie in November, and the Solstice in March! Since cruise reviews are much like restaurant reviews, in that they are very subjective, I gain as much information as I can here, then reserve my own judgement and go with an open mind every time I sail.

 

The OP's complaint was about a "dirty" cabin that was in a state of disrepair and I don't care which cruise line we're talking about, "dirty" just doesn't cut it. Agreed, reporting it to guest relations should have been enough but it doesn't appear she did even that. Problems can't be remedied if they're not brought to the attention of those who can remedy them. Why someone would opt to stay in a dirty cabin and then complain about it afterwards seems a bit strange. If it were THAT dirty...

[marle7]

The OP's complaint was about a "dirty" cabin that was in a state of disrepair and I don't care which cruise line we're talking about, "dirty" just doesn't cut it. Agreed, reporting it to guest relations should have been enough but it doesn't appear she did even that. Problems can't be remedied if they're not brought to the attention of those who can remedy them. Why someone would opt to stay in a dirty cabin and then complain about it afterwards seems a bit strange. If it were THAT dirty...

 

I agree, dirty doesn't cut it and wouldn't for me. I guess I misunderstood. I thought she had said she did report it but didn't go up the chain of command. Muy bad.:)

[TRadle]

I think the misunderstand on this thread is a result of the title. While a dirty cabin is unacceptable it does not mean that the entire ship is dirty nor does it mean that the ship needs to be dry docked.

[Drew B]

I don't understand how not getting what you clearly felt were serious problems with your accommodations remedied could possibly have interferred with your enjoyment of your cruise.

 

 

You don't? I certainly do! I agree that it's worth nicely pointing out the problems to your cabin steward. If it requires a fight beyond that, it becomes more trouble than the actual problem.

 

You posted this earlier:

 

If we'd been shown to a "dirty stateroom," you can bet we would have contacted all of the aforementioned as often as necessary until the problems were resolved to our satisfaction. If things were as bad as you insist they were and no one was willing to make them right, you can bet we'd work our way to the master of the vessel, if necessary, to get things corrected. The one thing we wouldn't do is keep mum until we got home.

 

I admire that kind of tenacity, but I couldn't do it myself. The stress and the damage to my stomach lining would be unbearable. I would literally rather stay in a cabin that was smeared with feces than have to fight the way you described. Of course, I would then never cruise that line again...

 

 

* Of course, I'm also a person who buys something that then breaks while under warranty, but I won't try to get it replaced or reimbursed because I don't like to "make waves" and it's easier to just buy a new one. I'm probably just weird...

[charlotte5]

If you read my posting at all, you would have noticed that the dirty carpets were one problem that we did not think could be remedied (ironically, one we expected based on all the posts we read before our cruise). We chose not to focus on that at the time, trying instead to keep an open mind that this is an older ship, etc. Also, we had one of only 6 FV staterooms with a great, large corner balcony. However, as the cruise progressed and we encountered such "nitpicky" things as broken and closed playground equipment, tar repairs around pool deck, and all the other items I mentioned, it began to get frustrating. When we encountered a specific problems (like the one I had with our spa and the sewage issue), the issue was addressed and we may have received a curt apology. I quickly realized that complaining would get me nowhere and frankly, with 4 ports to visit, I did not want to waste any more time on these issues than I had to during my visit. There were too many problems and too many other people complaining during the cruise to make us want to take it all the way to the top. I will never again waste this amount of time explaining myself to people who clearly have an axe to grind with anyone who criticizes their preferred cruise line or chooses to handle things in a way not deemed appropriate. If you want to talk about nitpicking, take a look at all the responses to my original post. Rather than address any legitimate issues, these posters chose to rip apart anyone that had anything derogatory to say.

[marle7]

You don't? I certainly do! I agree that it's worth nicely pointing out the problems to your cabin steward. If it requires a fight beyond that, it becomes more trouble than the actual problem.

 

You posted this earlier:

 

 

 

I admire that kind of tenacity, but I couldn't do it myself. The stress and the damage to my stomach lining would be unbearable. I would literally rather stay in a cabin that was smeared with feces than have to fight the way you described. Of course, I would then never cruise that line again...

 

 

* Of course, I'm also a person who buys something that then breaks while under warranty, but I won't try to get it replaced or reimbursed because I don't like to "make waves" and it's easier to just buy a new one. I'm probably just weird...

 

 

You're not weird.:D I'd rather just replace something that breaks too. By the time I call the company, pay for postage to send it back, wait for a replacement, several weeks can go by. If I could have waited that long for the thing, I probably didn't need it in the first place.:D