We are both 57, retired since 2002, married for 35 years, lots of grandkids, etc. Don't drink or smoke and prefer to be in bed by 10:00pm. So our perspective on cruising is probably different from the the more lively crowd. We have traveled extensively, often on an expense account so we aren't strangers to nice hotels or fine dinning but other than a few lucky breaks in business, we are fairly simple folks. We consider ourselves primarily Holland America cruisers because we have been on them the most, but have also sailed Princess, RCCL and NCL in the past. Hopefully this personal information will help the reader determine whether our experiences will help them.
We cruised on the Emerald Princess in late January of this year. The Millennium is a fine ship but simply is not in the same league as the Emerald Princess, it is also not nearly as large and caters to a different clientele. The Millennium has two outdoor pools, one fresh and one salt. The salt water pool was the biggest and most fun. When the ocean got rough, the water would slosh back and forth and really made for an interesting experience for us and the younger crowd that dared to jump in. The AquaSpa Pool or indoor pool was very relaxing with the added benefit of no children. We like children but also like an area of refuge. Children weren't really an issue on the cruise, we saw 5 of them dressed up like pirates one night and that was it. My conclusion is that Celebrity is probably not the line for families with small children.
The entertainment was excellent! The 7:00pm shows were never full and many folks missed out on Celebrity's best selling point. The cruise director was very friendly, I met him the second night and he asked for my wife's name. The next day and thereafter, he would address us by name whenever we ran into him. Entertainment is an area where Celebrity has not cut back, but cut back they have if I can believe other previous Celebrity cruisers.
We were on the 9th floor, this kept us in the shade. Upon occasion we could hear joggers on the jogging track. A lower balcony would have been better.