Asia & Indian Ocean Cruise Reviews

Probably the favorite parts of the trip was the friendly and helpful staff and the wonderful ports of call. The Christmas evening entertainment was disappointing. There were beautiful voices on board and a program of Christmas carols and popular Christmas songs perhaps with some sing-alongs interspersed would have been more much appropriate than the tacky skit. Cruise Director Erik is very talented but he needs to slow his presentations (particularly intercom announcements) down so the older passengers can comprehend the information he is imparting. Lastly, we questioned the scheduling of the White Night party - why not have it during a night at sea rather than competing with shore excursions during a night in port?

I ENJOYED WALKING ON DECK 3.FOOD WAS DONE RIGHT BUT BLASE.DININGROOM SERVICE WAS TERRIBLE.SHIP NEEDS DRY DOCK.MOVIES FOR LIVE SHOWS IS TERRIBLE.SINGERS WERE TOO LOUD.TOURS WERE EXPENSIVE & NOBODY TO HELP YOU..

This was a super fun cruise itinerary for anyone who loves Indonesia or wants to explore Indonesia. Highlights were Bogor, Komodo and Lombok. But we also had a lot of fun in Bali and eating all the wonderful food and experienceing the different large and bustling cities of Java. Singapore was icing on the cake. Loved all the festive activities they had onboard. 

We weren't sure what to expect with this new ship but for the most part it was great.  Of course there were a few glitches but nothing to ruin a good trip.  As always it is the staff that make all the difference.  We were spoiled as usual & felt we made new friends with the crew that we hope to see on our next voyage.  

Of all the places we visited we enjoyed Muscat the best.  That was a huge surprise.  

Bali was very special, very friendly people. The ship staff was awesome, the food, good, and entertainment was very good. Celebrity is a bit low key, if that's what you want.

Disembarking was unorganized, need more signs to get to the bus to airport transfer.

The ship was new and nice and big but we had the worst group of passengers one could ask for... rowdy, impolite, noisy.  The ports selected were not as interesting as expected especially as in Miyazaki and Busan where the ship arrived in the afternoon there was not much daylight left to explore. To make the experience worse food onboard was totally disappointing...the menu in every restaurant was basically the same throughout the 8 days and it was not even good... especially the Chinese menu was completely a disaster compared with the Chinese food we got ashore prior to the cruise.  The only saving grace was the service onboard.. most staff did their best to provide great service. And the shows helped to make the cruise less of a disaster. 

 Misinformed us from the beginning before leaving home that we would be able to go back to the airport on day of embarkation to purchase transfers at the airport, as long as we arrived before 12 noon.   To be sure that we would be able to do so, we arrived much earlier that morning at 10:30am.  There was no Celebrity agents at the terminal as they stated that there would be.   I spent 11/2 hours walking back and forth in the terminal, asking at all the stalls there, if they knew where Celebrity cruise agents were located;  No one knew!  In the main dining room, all the meats were dry and tough, to the point that they could not be cut with a steak knife and a fork could not be used to poke into meats.  Pasta dishes--pasta was overcooked and rubbery and dry because of too little sauce.   Fish was overcooked and dry and tasteless.  No service in the Oceanview Buffet and Guest Relations gave wrong information several times (for example, trying to get to Macau should have taken us 3 hours from the terminal but because we were given incorrect info, it took us 7 hours and by the time we checked into the Sheraton Macau, we were too tired to go sightseeing).  Wrecked our clothing a couple times but they reimbursed us for the damage)   Wrecked our suitcase in which they also gave us an cheap one to replace our Samsonite one.  We got a call from a Guest Relation agent 11:15 pm the night before we disembarked, apologizing for misinformation and hanging up on me, when I told her to hold on, because I had wanted to write her name down.   Accepted her apology for her behavior and mistake and told me that it was not protocol for her to even call us that late in the cabin.   Many, many people that we met on first segment were also upset about the food being so bad and the daily activities in the schedule  were to sell their services and products.  

More time in each port, not enough time to see each country.  Missed seeing Hong Kong because of bad weather, all tours were cancelled.  Bus taken to a huge shopping mall that could be from any big city in the world, complete waste of time!

South Africa was fantastic. The cruise ship was not the best we have been on. On board spend was expensive, £15 four AA batteries, £3 for 8 in Isreal. First time we have had to buy water in the restaurant.

The last week of the cruise the ship was running out of butter, coffee, tea etc.

entertainment was good and the staff was very good.

We were so impressed by the service quality of celebrity cruise. The dining experience was on point, the service impeccable and the talent hired for the shows was as you'd expect paying at a high-end show anywhere in the world. The company has gone out of their way to make us feel like celebrities in sense of the word. I'd highly recommend a trip with them if you have a chance.

We took this short cruise as an easy way to get out of town (we live in China) without taking a lot of vacation days.  I've been on the Millennium before for an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle about 10 years ago, so it was nice to back in a familiar place. My comments are:

Food: Average buffet, Average Dining Experience - There was plenty of food and the variety was exciting (shrimp, steak, escargot, bass, etc.) but the flavor left me with an average feeling.  The included drinks are extremely limited and there is HIGH pressure to buy a drink package from the employees - I'm assuming the employees get a nice commission or the sales manager is pushing them hard; either way it was a big put-off to be pressured so much.  That being said, I bought my drinks a'la carte and the prices were very reasonable ($6 with gratuity for a Mocha).

Entertainment: The acrobat couple were amazingand one night there was a runner up from some TV show that was also very very good.  The house dance troupe is obviously talented, but their show was boring and excessively sensual for a family cruise. We ended up leaving their first show early and skipping the rest. I would personally request more movie options throughout the cruise and more wildlife lectures (or similar type lectures).

Ports: Kagoshima was very disappointing. It was like being taken to a farm village without any tourist amenities. We also arrived VERY early (7 am), so everything was closed until a few hours before departure. Jeju was nice and is geared towards tourists with many good things to do. We hired a private car from the cruise terminal at a reasonable price (US$40) and were taken to three local destinations. (Note: The excursion packages are overpriced but obviously convenient for those that want the extra care.  For example - a one-way downtown bus transfer in Shanghai was going for US$60, but you could hire a taxi to the local subway station for US$3 and then take the nice subway into town for another US$2 ... or hire a private taxi all the way to downtown for about US$30-$40)

We'd take the cruise again, but I'd wait for the last minute deals that most of the passengers were able to get.  We paid around US$600/person for an inside bottom level room when I booked 8 weeks out from the sail date; but most of the people we talked to paid around US$180/person for an upper deck balcony room when they booked 2 weeks from the sail date. We were not offered an upgrade, discount, on-board credit, or ANYTHING to compensate for this gross price difference...this was highly discouraging and I feel like it was bad customer service from Celebrity.

Some of the ports were in the middle of no where which was disappointing with 1.5 - 3hr drives to get to see the sites.(Phu My and Laem Chabang Port Klang. Placing a half day stop in in Malacca was also pointless as tenders could not get everyone off in time.

Fantastic crusie staff very friendly, funny, and very accommodating

Overall a good cruise but an engine fire in the 9th put a downer on the first week and poor communication did not help, second week was fantastic.

The crew, stateroom attendant and butler were outstanding. However, the suite is definitely not worth the extra cost. The food in the Luminae restaurant clearly has dropped in quality from when we last were on the Millenium and the menu is the same (but on different days) as in Blu and the main dining room. No fresh fish even though they were at major fishing ports in Alaska and Japan. Everything is put on the ship in Miami and frozen. No fresh berries. Suites are comparable in price to Crystal which has far better food and amenities.

Celebrity Cruises are the best cruise line we have experienced so far having done 4 other cruises. the food, entertainment, presentation and service were of the highest order. The entertainment and guest speakers were first class. The staff were courteous, friendly and helpful at all times.

We loved this cruise so much, we have reconnected with our friends to do it again in September 23.

Good transpacific cruise, excellent price, excellent service, good captain and cruise director, good speakers. Did not like the lack of a painting instructor, a card room or a library.

Found the people on board this cruise to be rude and ignorant for the most part. We did meet a few nice couples but few a far between. As it was a round the world cruise most had been on it from the start and we boarded for the last leg. Nothing for younger people to do as all geared up for the older, retired ones. Would not do this again.

Loved it and the ship and food was the highlight Ports were interesting except Darwin which was awful.