Christmas 2010
Celebrity Millennium Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern
Sail date: December 01, 2010
Ship: Celebrity Millennium
Cabin type: Balcony
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 13 years ago
Review summary
I selected this cruise based upon date, itinerary and price. This is my 5th cruise in the past 3 years, my first on Celebrity. My previous 4 cruise were all on Carnival including 3, 4, and 7 day cruises out of San Diego and a 7 day out of Miami this past August. For good or bad I will be making a lot of references to Carnival when making comparisons. Though they are different in their approach to cruising it still is helpful I think to see how each line handles the customer. I am a solo cruiser and this was the first time I sprang for a balcony cabin. On my previous 4 cruises I had cruised twice inside and twice outside. I booked under a Veranda guarantee. Celebrity must have been having a special as instead of the usual 100% single supplement I was only charged 40%. I was assigned to an A1 cabin but 6 days before we were set to sail I was upgrade to the Concierge Class C2 cabin (more on this later). My first impression from the air as we were coming for our landing was the ship needed a cleaning. Even at 5,000 feet it looked drab. Compared to other ships we docked with in our travels the paint is dull, lots of rust. EMBARKATION: I arrived in San Juan the morning of the cruise and had booked the airport transfer through Celebrity. The wait was about 20 minutes while all of the other passengers on my flight got their luggage. We dropped off our baggage at a waiting truck and we boarded the bus straight away and were dockside within 20 minutes. We proceeded immediately into the terminal and within 20 minutes I was on board. I HIGHLY recommend you use Celebritys service as the line to check bags at the terminal was at least 300 people deep. I have no doubt that using the shuttle saved me at least an hour of waiting in line. SHIP: While some areas of the ship have had upgraded upholstery and carpeting the Millennium is a tired ship in much need of maintenance and upgrades. A tour around deck 4 exterior is very telling. Windows that look like they havent been washed in weeks, missing panels and locks, motor housing completely rusted away and miscellaneous junk piled up forward on the ship in clear view of the passengers. This is something really different than on my Carnival cruises. Everything was always put away and the doors to the crew only areas were always closed. Not so on this ship. We were given the opportunity twice to go on the heliport and saw rolls of carpeting, chairs and tables piled up. There was a whirlpool for the crew that we were told hadnt worked in months. I liked the layout of the ship a lot compared to the Carnival ship I had been on. It was cramped in places, especially the casino areas but lots of nice spaces to hang out in especially on deck 5. Without a doubt the star of the ship is the adults only warm salt water pool, under glass and air conditioned. I spent at least an hour there every day of the cruise, sometimes two In fact all of the pool and whirlpool areas were superior to any on Carnival. The chairs in the adult only area were particularly nice and many of the chairs on the main pool deck were padded. The other chairs scattered about were in various states of disrepair. CABIN: My cabin was on deck 8, forward starboard. About the same size as the ones on my Carnival cruises. As with the ship common area, parts of the room, in particular the bathroom and balcony were VERY tired. This is my biggest gripe. Rust stains and mold in the bathroom everywhere, balcony railing you almost didnt want to touch for fear of splinters, paint splatters everywhere on the balcony, furniture, and glass. There was a nice flat screen TV. My other big gripe was the quality of the linens. I never did have a matching set of towels the entire trip. The bath mat was worn and faded, with holes in it and wasnt changed daily. Most of the sheets and pillow cases had stains as well as the bed skirt. Even the robes provide were stained. And thereShip experiences
Food and Dining
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Pros: Adults only salt water pool
Cons: Showing its age
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