This was our first time on the Millennium, but our 7th cruise with Celebrity. This cruise went to Puerto Rico, Tortola, Dominican Republic and Haiti. We went with another couple whom we have cruised with before. We had fantastic weather and a fantastic time!!!
Embarkation: The ship was moved from its usual dock to another one in Fort Lauderdale, and the embarkation took very long. A lot of moving from place to place, to only wait on line in the new place. The ship had come from Spain, and we were told that U.S. customs held up the embarkation. Even if this is so, this is not the first time the ship has come from Europe, and Celebrity used to provide cold drinks for people who were waiting, and this time, when it was really needed, there was nothing.
While the cruise was superb, and the beaches truly were some of the most beautiful in the world, it is apparent that Celebrity is cutting back. While most of the changes were really minor, and if you had not cruised before you would still think you were in the lap of luxury, it is still evident that the rise in fuel prices (Celebrity's major expense) has resulted in them trying to cut back in small, but numerous ways. In addition, going to the prepaid gratuities really had an impact on the caliber of service provided. It was rare to hear the chant that used to accompany any request to any staff member: "It was my pleasure". We only found one staff member with an attitude, all the rest were polite and smiling: but they just did not go that extra mile. We asked for 4 bath towels in our cabin, and we got 4 one day, two the next, three the following and then back to two. A minor issue indeed, but things like this were frequent. The computer training room was closed throughout the cruise, and the one computer person on board was unable to handle some of the questions. She reported there were over 50 users who signed up for wireless, but the speed was abysmal: it tool over 20 minutes to download some emails. Time in ports seems to have also been dramatically reduced - perhaps to save fuel costs allowing going at slower speeds between ports?