Mrs_Whatsit Posted September 13, 2008 #1 Share Posted September 13, 2008 We booked a 7-day Alaska cruise today on the Millennium for next September. It was sort of an impulse choice; I originally went to the travel agent intending to book on Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas, which is a ship we've sailed on and loved. While I waited to talk to the agent I happened to look at a Celebrity brochure. I was impressed with the ships, and have only heard good things about the line. However...after just having read through the Celebrity threads, I fear I may have made a mistake in booking the Millennium. It seems like it might be more formal than we like. On our last two cruises (NCL and RCCL), we only went to the main dining room twice in 7 days, and spent the rest of the time at the casual dinner options. My husband and I just don't enjoy dressing up that much, and we really do enjoy having dinner alone, without anyone hovering over us. But besides the Ocean Grill (which appears to be sit-down dining at dinner?) it looks to me like there aren't any other casual dinner options such as a buffet on this ship. Can anyone fill me in on whether we have other casual choices in the evenings? This will probably be our only Alaska cruise for many years, so I want to make the right choice for us. It's a lot of money to spend on a cruising style that might not suit us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatka Posted September 13, 2008 #2 Share Posted September 13, 2008 Selebrity can be as much or less formal as you want it to be. Overall X is more pleasant experience than Rccl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECCruise Posted September 13, 2008 #3 Share Posted September 13, 2008 Celebrity does not have a traditional buffet at dinner, although it is available for breakfast and lunch. Instead, a section of the buffet area is designated for casual dining with sit-down service with several entree choices. A $2 per person gratuity is requested. In addition, during dinner hour you would also have access to pizza and sushi in the buffet area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs_Whatsit Posted September 13, 2008 Author #4 Share Posted September 13, 2008 I've read good reviews of the Millennium, so we'll think about it over the weekend. I just want to balance my desire to try a new--and nicer--ship with my husband's fondness for buffets and our general lifestyle. And I don't want to have to run out and purchase things like a sport jacket for my husband, or a more formal dress for me (I'm strictly a slacks sort of girl), that we'd only use for this one week. We're both professionals, and know how to behave in polite company :) but our jobs let us dress very casually all year round and events in our life generally don't call for dressing up. Thanks for the information! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muushka Posted September 13, 2008 #5 Share Posted September 13, 2008 We have very similar cruising preferences as you do, not big fans of formal. We cruised the Millennium last Dec with the intention of skipping the dining room most of the time. We ended up missing it for 3 nights. Two were at casual dining (which we enjoyed very much) and one was dining out on the balcony. My favorite moment was formal night. We were swimming in the Thalassotherapy pool and an older gentleman arrived wrapped in his robe. He said "Sure beats a tuxedo" and kept walking. Priceless. Some might say that you shouldn't bother to sail this cruise line if you don't go to the main dining room. But I disagree. We were very happy with our choice.;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs_Whatsit Posted September 13, 2008 Author #6 Share Posted September 13, 2008 Thank you, Muushka! That makes me feel loads better. I didn't even think about the balcony dining option. Which, granted, might not be possible in Alaska in September, but we could easily have dinner in our room one night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveFr Posted September 13, 2008 #7 Share Posted September 13, 2008 I've read good reviews of the Millennium, so we'll think about it over the weekend. I just want to balance my desire to try a new--and nicer--ship with my husband's fondness for buffets and our general lifestyle. And I don't want to have to run out and purchase things like a sport jacket for my husband, or a more formal dress for me (I'm strictly a slacks sort of girl), that we'd only use for this one week. We're both professionals, and know how to behave in polite company :) but our jobs let us dress very casually all year round and events in our life generally don't call for dressing up. Thanks for the information! I'd suggest booking the Millennium cruise. Five of the seven nights of your cruise will be what Celebrity is calling "Smart Casual or Above." Your husband could wear Dockers and a golf or Hawaiian shirt in the main dining room. You could wear slacks and a blouse or sweater. On the two formal nights, you can dine in one of the casual areas or in your stateroom from the regular room service menu or from the main dining room menu. Hope this helps. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjb415 Posted September 13, 2008 #8 Share Posted September 13, 2008 Just to clarify, the area of the buffet with the $2 gratuity, is an area where you are served from a menu by waiters and is set up with linen, glassware, and tablecloths. On the Millennium in Alaska last week it was very popular & reservations are taken. If the OP wishes to have buffet-style for dinner, that is completely possible as the entire area of the buffet (not set up for $2 gratuty or linen) is open for seating during the dinner hours. In addition to the pizza & sushi that ECCruise mentions, the salad bar, stir-fry section, pasta bar, and dessert sections are available every night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs_Whatsit Posted September 14, 2008 Author #9 Share Posted September 14, 2008 Thank you all for your replies--I think we're going to go ahead and keep our booking on the Millennium, and now we're looking forward to it. Thanks to the helpful information you've given me, I'm satisfied we'll be able to find dinner alternatives that fit with our cruising style. We do enjoy going into the main dining room and meeting new people; we just like to have other choices available to us as well. Especially since part of the reason we go on a cruise is to get lots of good alone-time with each other, without work or family things getting in the way. I appreciate your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruise Junky Posted September 14, 2008 #10 Share Posted September 14, 2008 Just to clarify, the area of the buffet with the $2 gratuity, is an area where you are served from a menu by waiters and is set up with linen, glassware, and tablecloths. On the Millennium in Alaska last week it was very popular & reservations are taken. If the OP wishes to have buffet-style for dinner, that is completely possible as the entire area of the buffet (not set up for $2 gratuty or linen) is open for seating during the dinner hours. In addition to the pizza & sushi that ECCruise mentions, the salad bar, stir-fry section, pasta bar, and dessert sections are available every night. Thank you for posting that. I thought I was going mad. So many people kept saying there was no buffet on Celebrity and I couldn't figure out where I was eating most nights as I was certainly not served by waiters. To the OP, we only ate in the dining room about 50% of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holidaybound Posted September 15, 2008 #11 Share Posted September 15, 2008 On our recent cruise on the Infinity we ate most meals in the casual dining venue. We thought the food and service there was much better than the dining room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkjretired Posted September 15, 2008 #12 Share Posted September 15, 2008 Thank you for posting that. I thought I was going mad. So many people kept saying there was no buffet on Celebrity and I couldn't figure out where I was eating most nights as I was certainly not served by waiters. To the OP, we only ate in the dining room about 50% of the time. Although you do have the options mentioned, Celebrity does not have and never has had a buffet for dinner if you compare them to the lunch and breakfast buffets. This is what people are reporting and they are absolutely correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruise Junky Posted September 15, 2008 #13 Share Posted September 15, 2008 Although you do have the options mentioned, Celebrity does not have and never has had a buffet for dinner if you compare them to the lunch and breakfast buffets. This is what people are reporting and they are absolutely correct. I agree they don't compare to the usual breakfast lunch buffet, but a lot of the posts here when questioned about an evening casual place to eat only mention the table cloth, being served by a waiter option and that's definitely not what we had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoreless Posted September 16, 2008 #14 Share Posted September 16, 2008 the entire area of the buffet (not set up for $2 gratuty or linen) is open for seating during the dinner hours. In addition to the pizza & sushi that ECCruise mentions, the salad bar, stir-fry section, pasta bar, and dessert sections are available every night. I had no idea this existed (or that there was a new dress code). Thank you for posting. We've been thinking of going back to Alaska next summer and this gives us another option to choose from. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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