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We had checked out many cruises as we just wanted to get away and decided since the kids were all grown and it would be just 'us', we thought we would upgrade to Celebrity. I did some research on Cruise Critic so we found the Millenium exactly as rated, a bit dated, in need of some touchups, but overall a very beautiful ship and one on which we would happily cruise again. We spent a little extra on our cabin and opted for the concierge class. Wow, what a nice cabin. This was by far the nicest cabin we have had in 7 cruises. As always, our steward, Edwin, was outstanding and made sure we had everything we needed. The canopes came each afternoon, ice twice each day, fresh fruit each day, fresh flowers. We felt very spoiled from the standpoint of our cabin. Celebrity itself, not so much. Since we were going on a 'just us' cruise, we decided to do something we have never done on a cruise and attend the formal night dinner. It was very nice, except that the food was just okay. And that is what we found every night, just okay food. Sure, the food presentation was excellent, but again, the taste and choices were just okay. We expected more from Celebrity.
The dress code was a little annoying only because it was not enforced. Celebrity let us know on the first day about the dress code, (before we even cruised because I did a little reading about it.) We put on our 'smart casual' garb for dinner one night only to follow a man in shorts into the dining room. Quietly, I mentioned to the Maitre'd (sp) that, "Even though you have a dress code, you don't enforce it, do you?" He asked what I meant and I pointed to the man in shorts. The Maitre'd seemed upset, and since the man had just sat down I assumed he would be asked to dress in something a little more appropriate. NOPE! He sat there and ate his meal looking like he could head straight to the gym after.
At the theatre, they also wanted people following the dress code as notices were posted on the walls outside the theatres. Again, nobody seemed to care about the dress code, and Celebrity certainly didn't enforce it. Now I'm not saying I agree or disagree with the dress code, but if you're going to make such a fuss about having one, enforce it or get rid of it!
Overall, we were a bit disappointed with Celebrity. We believe the special treatment we received in our cabin was because of cabin class and not because of Celebrity. Thinking this cruise line was a little more upscale left us wanting more. Next time, we're going to try Princess Cruise line just for the sake of comparison, (okay, and an excuse to take another cruise!)
Our ports of call were Jamaica and Grand Cayman, which were just as we expected. We didn't do much in the area of excursions, but we did take a little sight seeing junket just to get away from the port to see what the countries were like. Jamaica was poverty stricken in many areas, and I think "Good Time Charlie" was trying to make his entire month's pay from us alone. If you see a taxi that says "Good Time Charlie" on the top of the windshield, we would suggest you RUN the other way. He was way too pricey and didn't take us where he promised. Also, he didn't keep us out for 4 hours as he said he would. But I believe that is because he kept dropping us off at places to shop and we are not shoppers. It is our assumption that he gets a cut of everything we buy! LOL So he kept wanting us to dump all our cash into the local economy and therefore we didn't see much.
In Georgetown, Grand Cayman, it was just the opposite. We got our money's worth there and met some very nice people to boot. We would go again.
So there you have it, our simple cruise in a nutshell. Don't get me wrong. We loved our week on the ship and we have NEVER had a bad cruise. Even after reading a lot of reviews on Cruise Critic and other sites, we expected more than we got. We will definitely cruise again, as it is one of our favorite vacation getaways. But we will probably NOT sail with Celebrity.
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