Review of Sydney to Auckland 14 night Millennium Cruise. LONG

[Aussie Cruisers]

Review of 14 Day Australia and New Zealand Cruise on Millennium

Hi Friends! We’re back, and here is a quick synopsis. I will post later about the ports, but wanted to get this down. I have kept my style informal, so sorry about grammatical errors – I am still on holidays!

 

Overview – We had a wonderful holiday and all issues aside, the ship was lovely and our holiday was enjoyable. Our issues are not with the staff on the ship, but rather the failure of the company to honour its “product,” that is, to enforce rules that are clearly stated in the dailies, and treating noisy passengers who demand things differently as “special” and therefore above the rules. I believe that if Celebrity had faith in its own product, they would stick by it as the silent majority (including us) happily obeyed all rules, no matter how seemingly inconvenient as this is the cruise we wanted. Sadly, we did not have the elegant cruise, but rather a very casual one. I suppose the rumours were true for us, and the Olympic Waiter did tell us that they were no longer intending to enforce rules, as was very clearly shown to us on the last night. More of that to come – sadly.

 

1)Boarding.

Sydney Port Authority tried their best, but sadly the process was drawn out and arduous. It took us an hour to simply get through customs and security (which naturally has nothing to do with Celebrity). My parents who were cruising with us followed us a few hours later and it took them three hours to get on board. There were frayed nerves, but once onboard, we were so glad to see the smiles of the crew.

 

2) Condition of the Ship

As I said above, Milli is lovely. I deliberately looked for flaws and made mental notes. I honestly found so few I feel embarrassed to mention them, but I will. There are many spent light globes in the Platinum Lounge, and the light fittings are very dusty. The carpets are serviceable. The seats are very comfortable, and I really like the décor of the Metropolitan and my favourite place is the Platinum Lounge. The art is excellent and in good order. We were in CC Cabin 6143 amongst the suites. The curtains were new, and the balcony door also looked very new. I know this as I compared the décor with three other cabins I saw. So – as I said, I am embarrassed to mention the minor details, so considering the wear and tear on this ship, it feels very new. However, to give you a different view, I met very briefly an American couple at “Brunch” and they had cruised on NCL, RCCI, HAL and Disney and when I asked about the ship, their exact words were “The ship is shoddy.” I was honestly surprised, but as I had a sick son wriggling next to me and wanting to have a hold, I could not ask for specifics. After this comment I gave it more thought as I wanted to see what they meant. It then dawned on me what they may have meant is that the main carpets are a mixture of peachy apricot colours with dusky blue. A very dated combination that really was not my cup of tea. While the carpet was clean and not worn, it looked old and tacky – which does make the ship look old and ugly in places. This is my idea of why people feel that the ship is in need of repair – some colours are more desirable than others. I may be wrong.

 

3)Food

I have been on two cruises – Infinity and Millie. As we all know, sister ships, so I have a fair comparison. The food on board was hit and miss. Now, in no way am I being ungrateful. I am grateful that I was blessed enough to cruise and the food was decadent and plentiful. What had changed in the years between the cruises however was the temperature of the food and the quality. I noticed that hot food was actually very cool. I even went to the pool grill 10 minutes prior to it being opened and was first in line to see if the food was hot. Well, the hot chips (French fries) were stone cold. They had obviously been sitting there for a while and I assumed that they would be fresh but I ended up throwing them away. This is what happened consistently. Food would be wasted not for the taste, but the poor preparation. Also, I noted that the pastries were not “fresh” but were often two days old, and this makes a big difference to the flavor profile. I believe that if Celebrity simply made sure that food was fresher and not sitting around for 24-48 hours prior to serving, it would have made a very big difference. One last point. The ice-cream. The only thing you could count on is that it was melted before you got it to your table. This is so sad as the waste was making me feel so guilty. I asked for one scoop and after two mouthfuls, it was already liquid. Clearly the fridge was not working. I did ask about it and was told it needed to be replaced. I was not sure as any electrician knows – freezers are so easy to repair. Surely the sparky onboard could have gone ashore in Sydney to get the spare part? Mate – I would have gone to grab it! The waste was heartbreaking. Plus – I loved the icecream – for the few moments I could eat it!

 

The Metropolitan. This was the area of the greatest variance. We ate there at breakfast once and decided to not return. It is hard to put my finger on, only that it didn’t taste very good. I sat there trying to work out why things had slipped, and I can not figure it out. It was not the best, so we stuck to the buffet for breakfast.

Lunch – it was worse than breakfast.

Dinner – hit and miss. The food was well presented (not as good as M.Roux) but was bland and the descriptions were unclear. The desserts were the biggest let down for me. I am a pastry cook buff and cook all our desserts at home, so while I have no idea about cooking mains (entrees) I know a lot about desserts. They were poorly prepared. For example, the NY Cheescake -very poor. Obviously not prepared properly as it was too heavy and the base was awful. Also, I imagined a tall/deep one, but it was not really a NY cheesecake, but rather a regular vanilla cheesecake. May be a minor detail, but any pastry chef worth his salt would not have been proud. I ate a bite and didn’t bother with the rest. Every night I hoped for a winner, and was disappointed.

I went for the “Elegant Tea” with my 14 month old son and wife, and while we had a lovely time, I was very saddened with the experience. The rules for the restaurant dress was clearly stated in the daily as well as on a sign when walking in. For the elegant tea, think back to the “Informal” dress code. Jackets and the like. Well, we spent 20 minutes getting ready and my wife wore a beautiful Summer dress and 4 inch heels. What a sight! Well, we didn’t need to bother. We were the minority. I saw too many to count – people in jeans, flip flops, sandals, sweat pants and sweat shirts (we call them tracksuits in Australia) as well as slightly better. The whole bottom floor was packed and the noise was amazing. Again, I am comparing it to my last elegant Tea on Infinity. A small group of people, plenty of service. I was actually turned away as I was wearing trousers and a tie but I had forgotten my suit jacket and was told to go back and get it. HORRAY FOR THE PAST! Well, I wish all the people who disobeyed last week were sent back as with the restaurant full, the servers were inundated and the service was terrible. They also ran out of food. So, I guess they still cater for a small group, but as they are not enforcing the rules, they need to rethink the catering. I raised the issue with two waiters I was familiar with and they both said that dress codes were no longer to be enforced at all.

 

CC Class Room Service Breakfast. This was hit and miss. The first time it was ordered it was very ordinary and we barely touched anything. I felt awful at the waste, so didn’t think of reordering. After a week into the cruise, we tried again and it was all delicious. We thought it lived up to the hype! Well, we decided to order it for the day of disembarkation. BIG MISTAKE. It was awful. The toast shattered. No, I am not kidding. This is not a problem as we only had to run upstairs, but it was clearly made hours before or even the night before and had been sitting under a heat lamp. Too funny. The freshly squeezed OJ which the time before was the best juice I had had in a very long time, was now so watered down I could not drink it. It was like water with pulp and a bad taste! Not a problem, but talk about inconsistency of product!

 

The Olympic. We went twice. The third and last night of the cruise. Both times were lovely and I have no complaints about the food (I am dreaming about the G.C.S) except for the clear breach of policy. While eating, in walked a family with two children. As I am a teacher, I immediately guessed 10 and 12. I was right (as I was told later). Yes, they were behaved (as they should be for all the people ready to defend children!!!) but this is still wrong. I have a child and yes it would have been nice to have him with us blah blah blah. Rules are rules, and I wanted to dine in an area WITHOUT children. I am not a bad person for this. A few minutes after the children in walked “Lady in Jeans.” Sigh. I spoke at the end with the door man (sorry, I am not sure if he was the MD or not) and he said in relation to “Lady in Jeans” that she told him that they were designer jeans, so as it was the last night of the cruise and it was quiet, it was fine. Well, no one asked me if it was fine. I then said I was very disappointed that children were in the restaurant as it was my understanding … you know the rules – blah blah blah I explained to him very nicely. He said that this particular family had been hounding them all cruise and they had denied them all cruise, but it seemed they had worn them down, and they allowed them on the last night as it was quiet. He then said as they were well behaved and dressed nicely it was all okay. I said (again nicely) that it was not okay, and that I was disappointed.

 

A note on this “special” family. I have three clear instances with them and it is very sad that =X= are sucked in by people like them. When we boarded we headed to the Fun Factory to get a treasure chest of toys for DS. Well, in walked “Mr and Mrs Special with children” who after being told their children didn’t qualify for pagers stated that they wanted one for many reasons. Yeah, they got one. They were “special.” Later on the cruise, I heard about a group of 4 boys terrorizing Deck Seven. My wife and Mum were nearly knocked down by them – heaven forbid they knock over an elderly person or person with a disability. Well, while in their cabin I heard them “Knock and Run” us accompanied by clomping feet down the hall. I put on my teacher voice and followed them. There they were pulling out an emergency door to block the hallway. I spoke with them, only for “Master Special” to tell me it was not him. Are his parents so gullible? Then, in Auckland on the afternoon after disembarking, I was descending the escalators to the Auckland Tower entrance and was looking into the gift shop to see small footballs being tossed high up into the air against the wall, making a huge mess. Guess who? “Master Special.” Well, “Mr Special” went to talk to him, and no, there was no cleaning up or dressing down of “Master Special.” I am so glad that “Master Special” is not in my class as he would be in for a rude shock. Back to the cruise…

 

Cova Café. I really enjoyed this area. The drinks there were excellent and very well priced. Even taking into account that they are more expensive for us (due to currency conversion) they were a little cheaper than drinks in Sydney City. We loved the pastries too.

 

4) Staff.

I found them to be good to excellent. So I was really pleased and they were better than the staff of our last cruise. As DS needed lots of naps, we stayed on the ship a lot (well, our excursions ashore were short) so we got to know Valerie and Ben from the activities staff and they made our cruise. If you see either of them, take the time to chat as they are both wonderful people. Also, Shirley (from Melbourne) who is the HR Manager is lovely and we ran into her in the Cova Café a few times.

 

5) Entertainment

This was AWESOME. I don’t use that word too liberally. My favourite was the couple from Melbourne, STRING FEVER. They received STANDING OVATIONS! Yes, they were so amazing. Also, =X= have a new production of dancers and singers from the UK, and they are terrific as well. I don’t know why they had to put on American accents (as they were awful imitations IMHO) but maybe that is what American cruisers want to hear? I also enjoyed the other smaller groups that are scattered around the ship! My only gripe was that I didn’t get to see enough as I was being a Dad (which is my job after all!) looking after DS. I did enjoy the casino – I am not a gambler, but I enjoyed the “vibe.” DS loved the blinking lights, and I did enjoy the vibe on busy nights.

 

6) Other.

Okay, one small thing (that was rectified – thanks =X= !!!) was that when the cabins were opened, our bathroom was not cleaned. While the towels were new and the amenities were all full, there were tell tale signs of “previous inhabitants” in the shower and toilet. I won’t go into details. Let’s say there were MANY signs! Well, our attendant admitted he didn’t clean it (I love honest people – so refreshing) and we had it scrubbed and bleached from top to bottom – it took one chap 45 minutes to do the job. So, we were chuffed as there is no way that is ‘normal’ for all cabins on changeover. We had a very very clean bathroom!

 

Smoking. We had some lovely neighbours from America and sadly they loved to smoke and they were upwind of us. I don’t feel it is my job to enforce the rules – that is the job of the staff right? Well, we all know where this is going. Sadly we didn’t use the balcony as much as we wanted as it was strong and as DW is pregnant we felt we would be better off staying away from the smell. I didn’t want to complain as they would have known it was me, and they were so lovely! Anyway, it is not my job to enforce it – it would have been obvious to the butler as I knew that he knew – but obviously he didn’t say anything as he would have been told that =X= doesn’t enforce the rules. That is wordy…. Basically it seems the old smoking policy still goes – amongst the suites anyway.

 

I will post about the ports later when I have time!!!

Please post questions!

Mark.

[English muffin]

Thanks Aussie Cruiser for your report.

We are on the Millenium on 1 March same cruise so we know what to expect. I always comment on the desserts , I use to teach Cookery and the desserts on cruises are always very disappointing you can tell straight away what they will taste like, easy cooking using packet ingredients. i can never quite believe it when people say that the desserts are delicious I just keep my mouth tightly closed.

Looking forward to reading your review on the ports.

[Aussie Cruisers]

Thanks Aussie Cruiser for your report.

We are on the Millenium on 1 March same cruise so we know what to expect. I always comment on the desserts , I use to teach Cookery and the desserts on cruises are always very disappointing you can tell straight away what they will taste like, easy cooking using packet ingredients. i can never quite believe it when people say that the desserts are delicious I just keep my mouth tightly closed.

Looking forward to reading your review on the ports.

 

No worries, glad to help. I will get to the ports in the next day or two. I forgot to say one more thing on the dress code. I was so embarassed. On the morning of the "Brunch" in the Metropolitan Restaurant, I was eating some toast when in walked three ladies (sadly they were Aussies) in their swimming costumes with one of the light cotton long tops over the top of the costumes. They were damp and see through. Now I am not talking about Elle with two of her supermodel girfriends either. I am so disappointed they were allowed in, and it was not a pretty sight. So, there you have it, even when the rules say that swimmers are NEVER allowed, they were on our cruise. VERY SAD!!! :(

[cruiseyguy]

To some extent, the near tasteless food now found on cruise lines seems to be what many passengers requesting---salt-free, no spice, no trans-fats, no msg, no this, no that.

[burchan]

We did the cruise to New Zealand on Millenium. It was wonderfull. If you are negative then even the perfect cruise can turn out to be disapointment. Please be positive and enjoy your cruise. It is the best value holiday you could ever have.

[Aussie Cruisers]

Um, thanks....

 

Did you not read my first sentence? "We had a wonderful holiday and all issues aside, the ship was lovely and our holiday was enjoyable"

My issues of this cruise is not the ship, or the staff. It is =X= not enforcing their own policies and giving in to people who are noisy, claiming that the rules don't apply to them.

Good to see you are positive though.

[nps001]

Thank you for your very detailed review. I enjoyed reading it.

 

I loved the part about the shoddy condition. I have been in your same shoes--looking for things that other reviewers have said are in a disastrous state-and wondering if we were talking about the same ship.

[CathyCruises]

I totally agree about the carpeting--I think we had the exact same blue and orange carpet in our cabin on Summit. While apparently clean and serviceable, it was horridly ugly and made the room appear to be shoddy when in fact it was in fine condition. I was disappointed on first entering, thereafter just chose not to notice it. The drapes were also some bizarre Old English fox hunting print from what I could tell. . .but just like at home, after a while you don't 'see' those things anymore.

 

Unfortunately they leave some pax with the impression that the ship is 'shoddy' and then they come home and tell the world "the ship is SHODDY"!

 

I appreciated your review, but what in the world is your pregnant wife doing in 4 inch heels???? :eek:

 

Cathy

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Interesting that there are new drapes in our favorite stateroom. There was a mark on the back of them when we cruised last February that someone had loudly complained about. I would never have thought to look except for the complaint about how bad the drapes were. I thought they were just fine. They had obviously been caught in the sliding door. So, if these drapes have been replaced, how can people complain about lack of maintenance?

 

I'm sorry you did not give breakfast more of a try. Things are not always perfect the first morning (I got all the pulp and none of the juice), but we persevered and it was great the rest of the trip, one of the highlights of our day.

 

Sorry about the smokers next door. I would have had a conversation with the hotel director about that. They will not enforce the rules unless passengers ask for it.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise in spite of the rules enforcement lapses.

[Coadysmom]

My husband and I were on the same cruise as Aussie Cruiser and his family, and we couldn't agree more with his review.

I love cruising (husband goes along for the ride). And while I had a great time on the cruise, that was mostly due to the great Activities staff (Hi to Ben, Val, Drew and Marialicia).

Our greatest disappoinment was with the quality of the food in both the Main Dining Room and buffet.

The descriptions of the food on the menu left a lot to be disired. Whatever happened to explaining what the dish is? There were a lot of fancy names for the food but sure hated asking the same questions each night (what is this?) The food was not hot. My beef dishes were always overcooked and DH fish was overcooked and dry. The galley ran out of broccolli, asparagus, and avacados three days prior to the end of the cruise. The Shrimp Cocktail appetizer offered each night, became a bowl of small canned shrimp during the last 5 days of the cruise.

The pasta that I got twice on the buffet was crispy. Very short of Al dente.

But we wouldn't rate the cruise a loss because of the food. It just wasn't up to the past experience.

Our experience was that the dress codes on board were simply too casual. Too many swimsuits in the indoor dining areas. Too many jeans at the main dinner.

I still had a great time and loved being aboard. The staff was always friendly courteous and most helpful.

[celle]

My husband and I were on the same cruise as Aussie Cruiser and his family, and we couldn't agree more with his review.

I love cruising (husband goes along for the ride). And while I had a great time on the cruise, that was mostly due to the great Activities staff (Hi to Ben, Val, Drew and Marialicia).

Our greatest disappoinment was with the quality of the food in both the Main Dining Room and buffet.

The descriptions of the food on the menu left a lot to be disired. Whatever happened to explaining what the dish is? There were a lot of fancy names for the food but sure hated asking the same questions each night (what is this?) The food was not hot. My beef dishes were always overcooked and DH fish was overcooked and dry. The galley ran out of broccolli, asparagus, and avacados three days prior to the end of the cruise. The Shrimp Cocktail appetizer offered each night, became a bowl of small canned shrimp during the last 5 days of the cruise.

The pasta that I got twice on the buffet was crispy. Very short of Al dente.

But we wouldn't rate the cruise a loss because of the food. It just wasn't up to the past experience.

 

Our experience was that the dress codes on board were simply too casual. Too many swimsuits in the indoor dining areas. Too many jeans at the main dinner.

 

I still had a great time and loved being aboard. The staff was always friendly courteous and most helpful.

 

Maybe we're easy to please, but we managed to have a great time without worrying about what other people were wearing, or where they were smoking etc. If other people had disadvantaged us by smoking on their balcony, we would have politely asked them not to, especially if we had a small child with us.

 

As for the food - we only had one meal where the soup was warm instead of hot, and our meat was cooked medium-rare, as requested. If we didn't know what the menu meant, we asked our waiter to explain, and he did. We did not expect the buffet to offer gourmet cuisine, but found the meals there to be good quality considering the mass catering.

 

We. too, thought that the staff did a magnificent job. We struck no-one who was not doing his/her job cheerfully, politely and efficiently

[MDPB]

We too were onboard the Millennium with Aussie Cruisers, and in fact we were in the cabin above them and often said hello over the balcony...."hello" again to Aussie Cruisers. I hope your little one is feeling better.

We had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed the cruise immensely. The staff were very friendly and it was delightful to see waiters carrying trays for older passengers and retrieving food from the buffet for mothers with small children.

The other passengers particularly the 1000 or so North Americans were great to travel with, being so polite and courteous in all the correct places and times like getting in and out of elevators, sharing the buffet lines and giving up seats on the shuttle buses for older passengers. They certainly added to the enjoyment of our holiday.

We would consider ourselves 'foodies' and love to wine and dine all the time, and as such did not have high expectations for the onboard food experience. We were expecting the buffet standard and were not too disappointed because it is consistent with our experiences on RCCI. The Sushi was a great addition and a very enjoyable pre-dinner snack.

I would agree with the previous posts that the inconsistency of the MDR experience was paramount in any list of possible issues that need to be addressed by -X-. Some dishes were excellent and would be worthy of any five star restaurant and then the next would be downright awful and not palatable at all. I am not sure of the reason for the inconsistency, but my guess would be inadequate staffing to meet the demands of a complicated menu and 1000 impatient guests.

Having said all that, it is still delightful to be waited upon and be served by willing and helpful staff. If the kitchen could match the MDR staff then –X- would be on a winner!!!

Consistent with what everybody else has been saying, the food standards are slipping but so is the price so we only get what we pay for at the end of the day.

The dress standard was not enforced which didn’t bother us, but our packing would have been significantly different if we knew beforehand. However, I would not want it to deteriorate too far because the sight of me in Speedos at dinner may put a few people off their food!!

2 things to watch if you are cruising in future with –X-;

1 The fuel surcharge refund was for us a nightmare. We willingly spent the expected OBC only to be told after many attempts that we would not be getting it back at all because we did not pay it (wrong). Then we were told that it was already paid to our TA on December 8(wrong), and then finally from our TA that it was to be paid at some future date to them and that ‘at some stage’ in the future we would receive it back. I am glad that it will somehow make it back to us, but I would have preferred to know about it before cruising so I could have made different arrangements for its use ie I would have either saved it or spent it onshore and not on the boat. I would check the status of this before sailing because not even –X- seems to know what is going on with the refunds.

2 I checked my credit card today to find that - X- had converted my onboard account from USD to AUD before charging my Credit Card even though I told them on three separate occasions that I did not want them to convert the amount before charging my card (on-line, at embarkation and at guest relations before the end of the cruise).

Why would they do this after telling me till they were blue in the face that they were not going to do it? My bank has informed me that they will not credit me the bank charges associated with reversing the charge and getting –X- to do it again so I am left with no option but to let sleeping dogs lie. To make matters worse they have not even used the exchange rate they quoted on my final account slipped under the door of our cabin, but another rate much to my detriment. Please check this, but after my experience you wonder why we even make the effort!!!

How can a company be this inadequate at Customer Relations and still make a profit? The mind boggles, or maybe the executive chef is making all the meals in the MDR himself to cut costs....now I am onto something !!!!!!!

[The_Big_M]

2 I checked my credit card today to find that - X- had converted my onboard account from USD to AUD before charging my Credit Card even though I told them on three separate occasions that I did not want them to convert the amount before charging my card (on-line, at embarkation and at guest relations before the end of the cruise).

Why would they do this after telling me till they were blue in the face that they were not going to do it?...Please check this, but after my experience you wonder why we even make the effort!!!

 

How can a company be this inadequate at Customer Relations and still make a profit?

 

I did put similar commentary down on those comment cards at the end that they promise to read.

 

An issue I had there was similar, in that I registered when I checked in online, then had to repeat when I checked in at the pier, and then still got presented a statement at the end saying that Celebrity would charge my credit card. However, I had stated at each of those occasions that I wished to pay by cash.

 

I don't see the point of online check-in when check-in staff then ask you to fill everything out all over again. When they checked me in, they may have made a mistake or maybe the system didn't override some previous values. Not sure, but I agree that it's annoying to do what is asked and then have to repeat, and then still find that the details aren't set up as entered. (The Guest services staff member then argued that they couldn't have made the mistake, which didn't add to my impression.)

[Aussie Cruisers]

 

I appreciated your review, but what in the world is your pregnant wife doing in 4 inch heels???? :eek:

 

Cathy

 

 

Looking amazing! Anyway, she says they are the most comfortable shoes she can wear. :)

[HokiePoq]

Thanks for the review. We, too, were there and saw your delightful three generation family a couple of times.

We had no issues with the food except for the pool grill food tasting like the school cafeteria (I am a retired teacher.) HAL cooked the burgers fresh to order and I guess I was spoiled and surprised to see a big steamer full of hot dogs and hamburgers just like at school. We went only once to that. I agree that the ice cream was not so great. My DH discovered that a different grade is served after six in the dining room. At least I didn't stuff myself with ice cream although we ate plenty in the Metropolitan for dinner.

The staff was excellent and perhaps our wonderful waiter and assistant made the experience so nice that any imperfection was unimportant in the Metropolitan.

My big issue was with shore excursions. One of our bus drivers said it best, "These tour operators don't know what the hell they are doing." I made a complaint onboard after someone told me you had to ask for a complaint form. (I was used to getting a eval form for every excursion with the guides anxious to get good ratings.) I am drafting a letter to their head office. What we experienced in that department to the tune of $3000 US dollars was totally and completely unacceptable. Live and learn, I guess.

The one night we did not follow dress code in the dining room was when we were so late getting back from a ship excursion that early seating had already started and it was a choice between not coming to dinner and dressing for dinner. It's not like you can get the same food on the buffet line as we were used to.

After reading CC, I expected a rundown ship. This was not the case although it showed its age in spots. I would give the toilets good marks for their powerful flushing!!! Water pressure in the shower, hot water, etc. were good.

We too loved Valerie who did a great job with her activities.

Bingo on this ship is a money maker, not for entertainment. I say this based on the huge crowd at the first game when we played. We could visually calculate how much they took in and the payout was a fraction of that. I think people realized this as the week went on and the crowd on the last day was very light. We are not bingo addicts but played on our other cruises as the jackpots and prizes grew, based on how many people played and what they took in. After they gave away the suite (which had not sold anyway), there was little incentive to go. We only played the one time based on high cost versus payout. I was a bit disappointed in the entertainment except for String Fever which was fabulous. The dynamic singer from opening night left in Melbourne and it took until the last week to get the new singer up and running and I understand several of the performers had been ill as well. She was to have performed in a show but was ill and then left as her contract was up. Dancers were excellent and the singers were very good in the last show when they were full strength. I missed having a standup comedian. Does Celebrity never have one or just this cruise?

Several longtime Celebrity cruisers told me that this cruise was not up to their usual standard. I'd been reading the comparisons between HAL and Celebity on CC and perhaps my expectations were too high. Had we not spent so much on it, I would not have expected so much.

We DID have a good time, just are absent the good value for the money feeling we usually have.

[The_Big_M]

I missed having a standup comedian. Does Celebrity never have one or just this cruise?

 

We had a combined magician/comedian the previous cruise. Although his magic was decent (and he was billed as a magician) the tricks were dragged out for jokes and I thought the comedy was better than the magic. I did enjoy the performance as it was a lot faster than, and broke up the other performances which were musical.

[stereo]

To aussiecruiser--I just hope that a special family does not spoil my march cruise. As for the dress code.!!!! I like to follow rules--not all people do. If they are at my tasble I will change my table asap. --And if it gets bad I wonder whether i would tip those who allow dripping women into the dining room--except for swimsuit models.I guess I could smoke a fine cuban cigar during and after dinner--assuming that my table mates wore cut-offs and jeans.--rude people seem to be the norm in the us of a--and I hope that most of them were not my countrymen

[bestz5403]

To Aussiecruiser:

 

First, thank you so very much for taking the time and energy to write your cruise review. I would like to make a few comments.

 

Ann and I are Elite Captain's Club members, and as you can see below, we have cruised with Celebrity and on the Millie a number of times. We are doing B/B/B cruises leaving Sydney on 29-Mar-09 and finishing in Vancouver Canada on 8-May-09. We reserved this trip about 18 months ago, because of the itinerary and our desire to have the same cabin. In addition to this 40 day trip, we also have a 27 day trip on the new Equinox this fall.

 

We 'loved' Celebrity because it was the top of the large ships, a real step above HAL and because it maintained a more 'formal' atmosphere. Our love affair was severely tested on our Transatlantic cruise on the Century in 2007. We had done the same crossing on the Century in 2006, and the degradation in the experience was remarkable. The food was inedible, the service poor, and the enforcement of dress code (especially on formal nights in the Dining room) a major change from a history of excellence.

 

I believed it was an attempt by Celebrity to provide differentiation with its newly acquired Azamara brand, but my wife said they couldn't be that 'stupid'. None the less, I kept my reservations on Celebrity, but, as you can see below, cruised extensively this year on other brands.

 

A friend of Ann's has just returned to the states from the last sailing of this itinerary, and left a telephone message -"If you haven't made the final payment, cancel the trip." Unfortunately, final payment has been made.

 

Celebrity has had a major advertising campaign in the States, talking about its no smoking policy as well as its dress code and requirements. It is outrageous that this crew violates this policy and denies its passengers the experience they expected and were promised.

 

Since we are 'stuck' and going ahead with the hope that someone will get to the Hotel Director and get him to fix his problem, we will arrive in Sydney on 21 Mar, planning to spend a week about Sydney and its environs. Do you have any good suggestions.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Ira

[Aussie Cruisers]

To Aussiecruiser:

 

First, thank you so very much for taking the time and energy to write your cruise review. I would like to make a few comments.

 

Ann and I are Elite Captain's Club members, and as you can see below, we have cruised with Celebrity and on the Millie a number of times. We are doing B/B/B cruises leaving Sydney on 29-Mar-09 and finishing in Vancouver Canada on 8-May-09. We reserved this trip about 18 months ago, because of the itinerary and our desire to have the same cabin. In addition to this 40 day trip, we also have a 27 day trip on the new Equinox this fall.

 

We 'loved' Celebrity because it was the top of the large ships, a real step above HAL and because it maintained a more 'formal' atmosphere. Our love affair was severely tested on our Transatlantic cruise on the Century in 2007. We had done the same crossing on the Century in 2006, and the degradation in the experience was remarkable. The food was inedible, the service poor, and the enforcement of dress code (especially on formal nights in the Dining room) a major change from a history of excellence.

 

I believed it was an attempt by Celebrity to provide differentiation with its newly acquired Azamara brand, but my wife said they couldn't be that 'stupid'. None the less, I kept my reservations on Celebrity, but, as you can see below, cruised extensively this year on other brands.

 

A friend of Ann's has just returned to the states from the last sailing of this itinerary, and left a telephone message -"If you haven't made the final payment, cancel the trip." Unfortunately, final payment has been made.

 

Celebrity has had a major advertising campaign in the States, talking about its no smoking policy as well as its dress code and requirements. It is outrageous that this crew violates this policy and denies its passengers the experience they expected and were promised.

 

Since we are 'stuck' and going ahead with the hope that someone will get to the Hotel Director and get him to fix his problem, we will arrive in Sydney on 21 Mar, planning to spend a week about Sydney and its environs. Do you have any good suggestions.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Ira

 

Dear Ira,

 

I understand how you feel as I love to dress up as well, and to be honest, it can be inconvenient as we had a very active 14 month old, but we believe in abiding by the rules too.

 

I was grossly disappointed with the attitudes of the staff to refuse enforcing the rules. I don't get it, as it is their "product". It is like me buying a business class seat on a SYD - LAX flight, only to find that the flight attendant allowed an economy person my seat, and refusing to remove the person, saying that I had to go to economy, even though I paid for my business seat. That is how I felt anyway.

 

Although, the rest of the cruise was wonderful, and the staff were terrific. I did find the food had faltered, but I thought maybe it was me and that in 4 years, my tastes may have changed. As my wife and I live in the Aussie Outback, we have honestly changed our diets from rich foods to much more simple ones (due to necessity). I thought the changes was more my palate rather then the kitchen. Some other CC members we got to know assured me it was the kitchen. :rolleyes:

 

I hope you have a great time, and please ensure that you spend some time with Valerie (from Activities) as she is a true gem. I hope the =X= looks after her as she treated all passengers regardless of age or temperment (and you know what I mean with that!!) as her own family. We wanted to wrap her up and bring her home with us.

 

Thanks,

 

Mark.

[HokiePoq]

We, too, encountered some rude cruisers....more so than ever before. We would say, "They must be from (insert name of rude state here)."

This was new to us as we'd not met a rude cruiser prior to this cruise. Maybe it was being on a bigger ship. I don't know or with a crowd that was not dominated by the elderly. I do know that I'd have been very unhappy had someone been smoking near our balcony and would have complained. Did they ignore your complaints, Aussie Cruiser? I called Miami today to get the name of the person to address the excursion complaints to.

[celle]

We, too, encountered some rude cruisers....more so than ever before. We would say, "They must be from (insert name of rude state here)."

This was new to us as we'd not met a rude cruiser prior to this cruise. Maybe it was being on a bigger ship. I don't know or with a crowd that was not dominated by the elderly. I do know that I'd have been very unhappy had someone been smoking near our balcony and would have complained. Did they ignore your complaints, Aussie Cruiser? I called Miami today to get the name of the person to address the excursion complaints to.

 

We were on this cruise too, but our experience was so different that I am beginning to wonder if we imagined it all!

 

We did not meet any rude people at all. To us, everyone seemed polite and helpful. In fact, we commented how nice it was to see someone holding the elevator doors open so that someone in a wheelchair could get in. On another occasion, I had coffee in each hand and another passenger not only pushed the elevator buttons for me, but also held doors open for me.

 

If someone had been smoking on a balcony near me, particularly if I had a young child, I would not have complained, but would have politely asked the offender to consider the health of my child, and to limit their smoking to the permitted smoking areas.

 

Dress code? Most people we saw complied and we refuse to get our knickers in a twist over the minority who did not.

[CathyCruises]

I was on Summit in the Med and thought almost everyone was well dressed. Never saw anyone in baseball caps, wifebeaters, dripping wet, whatever.

 

But it led me to think about =X='s position. Do they lose more business by enforcing the dress code, or not enforcing it? If they tell "Ms. Swimsuit" that she cannot come into the dining room, does that cost them more than by letting her in and having her go home and tell everyone what a great cruise she had on =X=? I don't know the answer, I am just wondering.

 

I know the dress code inside and out. We had brunch one sea day in the dining room. I had on nice shorts and flip flops as we planned to go straight to the pool from there. I know the dress code says "no shorts or flip flops after 6" and this was about 11AM. I did notice, selfconsciously, that no one else had on shorts. So maybe people complained about me, but I was actually following the code, although once we got there I did feel out of place. So I wonder about people who are underdressed for dinner--do they realize it, do they care, do they act differently on subsequent nights???? I can tell you that if we had been offered brunch again, I would have dressed differently.

 

I'm not sure of the answers to any of these questions--just speculating.

 

Cathy

[CathyCruises]

We, too, encountered some rude cruisers....more so than ever before. We would say, "They must be from (insert name of rude state here)."

.

 

HokiePoq, your name reminds me of my very favorite bumper sticker: "What if the Hokey Pokey really IS what it's all about???" :eek: Cathy

[curiouscat]

Could you please tell me how many formal nites on the 14 day sailing..

 

Thanks

[Coadysmom]

Could you please tell me how many formal nites on the 14 day sailing..

 

Thanks

 

There were 3 formal nights on our 14 night cruise.