A cruise to remember on MILLENNIUM (Celebrity Cruises)

Member Name: petercaulf

Product:	Celebrity Cruises
Date:	08/09/03 (137 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: total chill-out, Total pampering, Total WOW factor with the food

Disadvantages: expensive excursions, watch the bar bill

Celebrity Cruises has a new beast on the block - The Millennium. Launched about a year ago, this is their biggest and best liner yet.

2300 passengers and 1000 crew ensures a ratio of almost 2-1, so the level of service is extraordinary.

The broachure price for our med cruise was £3500 per person. We booked at the last minute and used some airmiles which knocked the price down to just £1100 per person.

We are new to cruising and sailing the Med on the millennium was our first taste of a holiday afloat. Experienced cruisers all told us we had made one BIG mistake. We had started with the best cruise line and all other cruises would fail to match up with Celebrities high standards.

I believe them! The theme on board the millennium is one of total relaxation and pampering.

The ?top of the range? presidential staterooms each have nearly 2000sq ft of living space with another 1000sq ft of patio. They boast a grand piano in the lounge, two Jacuzzis and, believe it or not, a butler with his own kitchen area.

I wish I could say we had one of those, but instead we had a standard outside stateroom with a panoramic window. One wall was entirely mirrored which made the room look huge. Our attendant looked after us well, ensuring that all our needs were met and that the room was kept spotless.

Eating on board was a gastronomic assault. It should be made illegal! 5 course breakfasts ? 5 course lunches ? 5 course dinners ? gourmet snacks ? midnight buffet - afternoon teas?. I put on pounds.

I have nothing but praise for the dining room staff. My wife is a vegetarian and found the veggie choice on the menu limited. So what did the Maitre?d do? Every evening he would come to discuss the next days menu and if something did not appeal, he would prepare any dish my wife desired. What service!

There are many restaurants on board offering different eating styles. The Olympic restaurant is top notch. The dé
cor is fascinating. The wood panelling came from the Olympic, which was the TiTanic?s sister ship.

Here's an important tip.. buy the soda-package. It's about $50 but worth it. It gives you all your soft drinks for free and you only need to drink more than 3 a day to be in profit!

For me the best part of life on board was the entertainment. The theatre seats 1000 guests and has two circles. The shows are west-end or broadway standard and are faultless.

The casino was great fun, even if they did manage to take all my money.

The trips ashore were largely a rip off. It is a lot cheaper to do your own thing in most cases. Taxis are readily available in most ports and the public transport systems are cheap and generally reliable.

For example, the trip to Pompeii was about $400 for four of us. We hired a taxi for the day and paid for our admissions. The driver took us to other sites too and the cost?? $100!!

You have just got to try this ship. You wont be disappointed.

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