This was my sixth Celebrity cruise, and this one was the absolute best for so many reasons. I was on the Millie in August of 2004 in the Mediterranean (the Olympics were in Greece that year), when she was only 2 years old. She’s like fine wine - she has aged beautifully. She’s in need of a little love though, so I think the 2019 drydock will be a great thing, and I can’t wait to travel again after the refresh. The updates needed are mainly aesthetic (I always think when I see the color brown in decor that it is outdated - everything is grey now), so this in no way detracts from the cruise experience. Our cabin was spotlessly neat and clean, and our wonderful cabin attendant kept it that way. We wound up in a balcony cabin, which we did not originally book, as we had an electrical issue in our original oceanview room. Not only would I highly recommend a balcony cabin on an Alaskan cruise, I’m now a balcony cabin convert after this trip! The Captain of this ship, Captain Nikolaos - and his crew, are positively stellar. The cruise director, Steve Gayda, has put together an entertainment package that is just superb. We had three - yes, three! - production shows on a 7 night cruise, and they were terrific. The other entertainment was great as well. A comedian, a singer, a fantastic singer who performed a Whitney Houston retrospective show etc. Amazing. MickeyLive was onboard. The best enrichment speaker in the business. People flocked to his presentations. He did a lot of early morning presentations and they were well attended. The shore excursions were very well organized, plentiful and varied. I highly recommend the Mendenhall Glacier and photo safari tour in Juneau (even if you are not a photographer). It is run by a company called Gastineau Guides, and they do a great job. We saw some amazing whales on that tour. The food on this cruise was the best food I’ve had on any Celebrity cruise. I think part of it had to do with the fact that the provisions are loaded in the US, and that Alaska provides a natural bounty of fresh seafood that they were using during the cruise. They had an Alaskan Crab Shack onboard for lunch on the sea days. Delish! The passenger demographic on this trip was terrific - it was a great mix of passengers, predominantly Americans, but also passengers from 42 other countries. Everyone on this cruise seemed like they really enjoyed themselves, and we definitely did! My only negative comment (and it’s really not a negative, but more of a personal opinion thing) is that I miss the Olympic speciality restaurant. Beautiful French cuisine, Gran Marnier soufflés, elegant atmosphere, lovely service. I dined in Ocean Liners when I was on the Constellation in April of 2017, right before it went into drydock to close the restaurant and replace it with Qsine. I fell lucky. I miss it. Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the itinerary. Embarkation and disembarkation went smoothly. The sights were breathtaking especially the Hubbard Glacier. The excursions in Juneau (whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier), Skagway (railway) and Ketchikan (lumberjack show) were great. Saw many whales and eagles. The ship staff were friendly and very accommodating. Steve, the cruise director was so down to earth. Eko, our room steward always greeted us with a smile and a pleasant chat. The food at the Tuscan Grill and Qsine were delicious. The food in the main dining room was okay. There were enough choices to satisfy everyone. We were very satisfied eating breakfast and lunch at the buffet. We visited Cafe Bacio daily for our cappuccino fix. The entertainment was top notch. We thoroughly enjoyed the guest comedians singers. The Millennium singers and dancers were the best we have ever had on a cruise. Standing ovation for all their productions. Overall a great vacation! Read Less

We choose this Cruise to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. Wanted to step up in class for this event. Service was less than impressed. We fly into Anchorage the day pior and took the train to Seward spectacular! Embarkation was uneventful. Ship pushed acholic packages hard. We purchased premium non-acholic package. Long story short beware!! Ship doesn't stock vitamin water in the bars had to wait extremely long time to get service then was a crap shoot if order was correct. Main dinning room- We had open seating was announced you could make reservations. We made reservations for 6:30 everyday sometimes took till 7:15 to be seated. Seemed to be short staffed at some ports on security. Only one person check folks in and out. Had to stand in rain for 30 minutes to board vessel. Entertainment was fantastic! Overall Alaska was amazing. We enjoy cruising Royal Caribbean thought we were stepping up in class but felt like we took two steps backwards Read Less

We so looked forward to sailing with Celebrity again after 2 cruises with them, loved those, and many more with Princess. Unfortunately we were disappointed with the condition of the ship, the quality and variety of the food, and the room also not being well maintained. We understand that the ship will be receiving a huge overhaul in 2019. Since this was an expensive cruise and land tour, we had expected better. Staff was good, but also were surprised that we weren't greeted by dining room staff and didn't see management helping during peak periods, an indication of training deficiencies. No water was brought by the buffet servers, only bar drinks, and were slow to clear tables, always felt they were understaffed. We also were surprised that there were periods where food wasn't available, no desserts. We felt that Princess did a better job of that with delicious desserts being plentiful throughout the day and an amazing variety of food. We saw a lot of repeated dishes on this cruise which was only a week, surprising. Once again, not much variety and just so so as far as taste. Also, internet packages were very expensive, must more than Princess, with not much choice - hope that changes. We will be sailing Celebrity again and hope that we get a much better experience on our upcoming cruise on the Reflection to the Caribbean - otherwise, will be our last. Read Less

Been to Alaska before but wanted to add on the Land portion.Fairbanks and Denali..Great Excursions and Tour Guide for the land portion.....Hotels were OK and shows (optional) was good....Salmon bake and show (that was cheesy)..In Denali went on tour of the park..Saw a lot of wildlife..Caribou, Moose, Bears, Beaver, Eagles , Hairs ..Scenery fantastic Didnt go on any excursions in ports this time..Been there done that.BUT last time...went of Train excursions and Helicopter ride to glacier..should consider doing ...Food was excellent in Blu..Love escargot and onion soup....and the staff always delivered ......Ship was always clean ..cabins and in public places....Most of the entertainment was good but the comedian singer, impersonator was excellent Embarkation and Disembarkation went smoothly..Great crew The only complaint I have was with the Quisine Rest..(which was eventually overcome)...We reserved this rest 6 months ago since I have been on another Celebrity ship and loved the asian fusion food..But that night we went they changed the menu to Indian food...which we didnt want....the manger changed the reservation for the next night BUT in the future you should communicate the change to the guests before hand Read Less

The first week by Celebrity Cruises done on land was the worst land tour we have ever taken and we have probably done 35 land tours all over the world.No food included and no choices on where to eat.Nothing was open, no restaurants , no coffee shops and the train ride of Alaska was cancelled due to weather.They contacted out this one week to an outside company and had no rep there to have a plan B.We spend the whole week going by bus instead of train, from nowhere to nowhere and seeing nothing.No activities were planned and they blamed everything on the weather.They should have sent a rep there a week before and either reversed land and ship, or just cancelled.We spent the week going from Safeway stores to Fred Myers grocery stores to buy snacks and drinks as there was nothing else available.When we got on the ship which is small and dated they said that they would give us each $150.00 as a compensation for having ruined our vacation and week.They now say that they can do nothing more.There were three buses of about 47 people in each. We were all un happy and they did not really care and still do not care.Ship was nothing special, lots of food, none of which was decadent.Gym wanted to charge $11.00 for spinning classes, claiming that they belong to Canyon Ranch, which by the way does not charge for classes once you are staying there.All in all, I will never set foot on any of their ships or trips again.Spoke to the assistant to the President and CEO , who said they have decide to do nothing for us.Very poor show for such a large company .Do yourself a favour , go with another company !I wish I had. Read Less

We chose the Celebrity Millennium because of the route it took from Vancouver to Seward North bound through Alaska. I am so glad we did!! We chose to go the way of Concierge Class. Not really sure it was worth the extra money, but we did get special treatment at dinner and a special viewing of the Hubbard Glacier on the very front of the ship. Our dining experience was amazing. If you can get at Gaynor, Nelson, Alvert, and Rodka table, do it!! They were fun, prompt, helpful in making great choices and checked on our table just the right amount. The food was to die for every single night. One night we did opt to go the Tuscan Grill and all I can say is WOW!! Great food and totally worth the extra money. Our cabin was kept wonderfully stocked and clean by Gusti and the view from 7196 was amazing. I would choose celebrity again in heartbeat. The Millennium Singers and Dancers were very, very talented and fun. Every show on the ship was well worth seeing. Pande took care of our drink orders and was so much fun. No complaints here!! Read Less

We sailed for the second time on the Millenium. We did a Pre Cruise #3B with Celebrity. I have posted a review separately. After reading it you may want to re think/cancel that aspect of your trip. Our first sailing was January 2002. The ship was neat and clean however, it appeared tired. Our cabin and overall service was very good. It took us under 10 minutes to get on the ship. We were Concierge Class. We had a challenging start as Celebrity as Celebrity seated us at a table of Non English Speakers. Why they take all types of information pre-cruise and then don't seat you with fellow cruisers our age remains a mystery. We went to the Dining Head from South Africa- Jayson who was rude and condescending. He placed on a table of six with no additional people and did not solve the problem. We wound up dining with other people who we met on the ship. The first stop- Hubbard Glacier was amazing. As a Concierge member we stood on the Front of the ship on the Heli-pad. Captain Nicholas got us 4 tenths of a mile from the Glacier. You could hear the glacier cleaving. It was amazing. We had dinner in two specialty restaurants - Qsine which was outstanding with a very eclectic menu and Sushi on 5. Jerry mad our visit to the restaurant memorable. My wife took the galley tours which she found interesting along with the sushi demonstration. She has done this on all of the 16 cruises we have been on Why Celebrity does not provide a taste during the tour is a mystery. The excursions were interesting> normally we book with Viatour or a local tour operator. However, in Alaska there is no price differential so we booked on the ship.The next stop was Juneau The Helicopter to the Norris Glacier and a dog sled ride. This was the highlight of the trip The best excursion we have taken and a memorable experience. There is a new Tour operator and they did a great job. The people running this excursion were friendly, know legible and forthcoming. The Musher was very nice and playing with the dogs was a treat. We then took the Yukon excursion. The next stop was Skagway. The literature gives you the impression that this is a 7 hour train ride to the Yukon both up and back. Instead it is a bus ride up to the Yukon. This is really not the way to view the scenery, a stop at the Yukon Suspension Bridge Park which is a Yawn.The bison Chili served was great. Getting your passport stamped was nice. Then to the Yukon rail-head for a ride on a 27 gauge old fashioned train. I thought it was too long and boring. Encourage you to do something else in Skagway. The next stop was Icy Strait Point . We were blessed seeing pods of whales breaching from the ship. The town is nice and the food on the local dock was very good and fresh. We took the Captains choice excursion. This was a 20 person small boat tour with a whale sighting guaranteed. This was also excellent. We saw 10-12 whale pods breaching from 50 yards away A magnificent sight! We also saw sea lions seals and sea otters up close. I would definitely take this tour in Icy Strait Point. The next stop in Ketchikan. If you are a Cruise critic reader you will know the town sucks and you need to do a tour. Unfortunately, our Float plane tour was cancelled due to fog. We viewed the town in a short period of time and re-boarded the ship Overall the Cruise was good this time of year. A little rain, not to cold and NO BUG's or Crowds. Somewaht disappointed in Celebrity's response to our pre-cruise problems but overall I would take and will take Celebrity again Please note this ship goes into drydock Jan 2019 with a $70MM upgrade to Solstice class Read Less

We traveled with another couple that came with us because we had highly recommended Celebrity cruise line after a wI wintonderful Med cruise in 2016. This ship, food and the ship staff were highly disappointing! I personally witnessed two crew members leaning on broom watching and commenting on people in the indoor pool. A supervisor came and chastized them and they both argued with her before moving on, only for me to see them 5 minutes later doing the exact same thing. Everyone looks forward to the food when cruising. This was the first huge disappointment for myself and my traveling companions. The food in the buffet was set up so poorly that in 8 days I never really did figure out the layout of the dining room. The worst part was that the food was set so far back that I witnessed several people getting completely underneath the sneeze guard to serve themselves. When there was an employee behind the line I never saw them offer help or tell someone to NOT lay on top of the food in the buffet. After seeing this numerous times I refused to eat in the buffet again. My experience was there were usually no or very few plates, glasses were not replenished, silverware was in short supply. Most of the beverage stations were closed so you were forced to walk around in circles to find a beverage. The food in the main dining room improved as the week went on but generally I found it to be tasteless and never once served to me hot. Unfortunately, I was also very disappointed in the entertainment offered on this cruise. Seemed to me that everything that was offered to do on a sea day involved me paying additional money. Buy artwork, pay to taste wines or scotch, bingo, casino. We resorted to watching an old movie in the theatre and paying to play bingo. Alaska was an amazing destination and well worth taking the trip. Our captain did an excellent job of cruising through Hubburd. The seas were pretty rough a couple of days and this ship did not seem as stable as the newer ships. I highly recommend taking an Alaskan cruise but I would also Highly recommend that you pick another ship. Read Less

Alaskan culture, wilderness and wildlife (sans mosquitoes) the early May 10-18 Celebrity Millennium was ideal. Quick Embarkation Hint: Print XPRESS PASS. Upgraded one drink pkg. to Premium. First night, specialty dining discounted Qsine eclectic, international food mash-up. Dined other evenings in Blu, spa inspired dining room for Aqua class lovely w/ outstanding service. Hint: Any item on Metropolitan menu can be ordered in Blu. Entertainment: Broadway show great and we especially enjoyed Presto Strings and Danilo Gomes guitarist. For some unexpected frivolity... Silent Disco. The Solarium Spa heat followed by tropical showers. Hint: Work out before using the spa. Saw a whale pod from the sauna in the women's dressing room on our day at sea; spectacular. Ports: Some Hightlights- Ketchikan - took a taxi $14 to Saxman Native Village $5 pp entrance fee = map and explanation of totems; enjoyed the carving shed, rain forest and gift shop with good local artisans works. Sitka: Cruise buses into town, visited St. Michael's Cathedral the Russian Orthodox church. Sitka Tribal Tours $30 pp included entrance to both the Fortress of the Bear and the Raptor Center. Both were informative and gave us our first glance at wildlife. We'd see both bears and eagles in the wild later. Icy Strait/Hoonah: We saw whales bubble feeding on our walk in Icy Strait and joined in Tlingit dancing at the cultural show. Juneau: Took "blue bus" to Mendenhall Glacier Park runs every 1/2 hour so we could take our time to hike. Educational, evocative and exceptional experience. Skagway: local SMART bus $5 pp all day pass out to the Skagway Museum and took a leisurely walk back to port to look, shop and wonder of the mountains. Hubbard Glacier: The crowning glory was the morning in the Yakutat Bay taking in the Hubbard Glacier first-hand. Seeing the striations of white, grey, crystal clear and glacial blue ice was one of those once in a lifetime events. We saw the monstrous ice glistening and calving. Read Less