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We weren't quite sure what to expect, or if we would even like being on a cruise. Based on the great experience we had on Celebrity Millennium we'll certainly do this again. We were consistently impressed with the quality of the service, the food, the general condition of the ship, and the personal attention that we received.
Boarding was simple and pleasant. We arrived at the cruise terminal at about 11:00 AM and were aboard within 20 minutes. Our stateroom was available by 1:15, and our luggage arrived not to much later than that. We were surprised at how smoothly that all went.
We were lucky enough to be in a Sky Suite in cabin 9121. At first I had some concerns about our location - right by the elevators on the Sky Deck. I had read about noise from the pool deck, the large overhang, and elevator noise. None of these things turned out to be wrong, but never did we feel they were "problems." Noise was very infrequent and never bothersome in the evening. The large overhang cut off a view of the sky, but it actually made the veranda feel very cozy, and a nice alternative from being up on deck exposed to wind and sun. We didn't hear the elevator at all.
We thought the Metropolitan Dining Room was very good. We are both "foodies" and were expecting something on the order of good hotel banquet food...this was far better! We really liked the portion sizes; they were small enough to allow us to sample all the courses without feeling stuffed. One of the high points was the service we got from our wine steward, Hari. We were on the premium beverage plan and didn't buy any bottles. In other reviews I had seen that some passengers felt ignored by their wine person because they were not buying fancy bottles. Our experience was the opposite. Hari made good recommendations for glass selections, kept them filled, and made us feel like special customers because we took time to talk about the wines with him.
Entertainment was good. The "Stars of the Millennium" revue was only OK...but still fun. Also featured were a great juggler (Mike Price), a very good a cappella group called Metropark, and a comic named Louis Johnson. All three of the guest acts were excellent.
We received excellent butler service from Claudio, a really nice fellow from Romania. He brought us coffee and breakfast every morning (except for our arrival this morning), and did other little things like helping me exchange the shirt for my tuxedo rental.
My biggest (and happiest) surprise was how easy it was to find a quiet spot, either on the deck or somewhere below. My fear was that we'd be surrounded by people unless we stayed in our stateroom, but it's a BIG ship for 2000 passengers. I never felt like I couldn't find a spot to relax.
All in all we really enjoyed our trip on the Millie!
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