Embarkation was very fast. The porter accepted our luggage and all the luggage was delivered to the cabin without any delays. Aqua Class Cabin was on Deck 11 AFT. Aqua Class has it own dining room and some additional perks. There is Concierge for Aqua Class. The Blu Dining room has a limited menu and the portions are smaller than the regular dining room. The Internet connection was very good. The Port of Incheon was fogged in and the ship could not leave. The ship arrived one day late to the Port of Tianjin (Beijing). The Port of Shanghai was closed due to fog and the ship was 8 hours late docking. The Captain and crew updated the passengers on the delay. One hour before docking the Wi Fi was disable and there was no way to contact anyone waiting at the port for the arrivals. The Entertainment was very good. The dining in all the restaurants were very good. The crew was outstanding. The tram service in Nagasaki made it very easy to visit the area of the Atomic Bomb. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the itinerary,which was exactly as expected.It is an older ship and could use some work. It was kept very clean. Unfortunately we had one bad sea day and 2 fog delays which made for boring days on the ship which didn't have much going on during those days.The embarkation was fast and easy.The cabin was tight and ordinary with just enough space.The conceriege class, as we have had before,is a waste.The snacks in the afternoon were not so great. The food was good,although desserts at dinner were terrible and dull. The buffet dining was ok if you could find a table to sit at. Very frustrating. All the staff were very pleasant,polite and more than helpful. The casino was average for a ship this size. No exceptional features to the ship make us feel that it was outstanding. So,If you want the itinerary take this ship. Read Less

Disappointing Weather Beleaguered Odyssey to the China Seas This was out tenth cruise with Celebrity plus a further three more with the RCCL Group, and overall, this was by far our worst cruise experience yet. It is difficult to pinpoint precisely why we came away so disappointed but there was something distinctly odd about this cruise. We are relatively experience travellers and fully accept that one must accept the rough with the smooth while traversing our glorious planet and as such find it somewhat churlish to complain when things do not always go to plan, but from the get go the cruise lacked any atmosphere. Perhaps this was due to the scheduled 20h00 departure time when most guests were either at dinner or in the grand theatre, so the usual sail away party that encourages guests to get into a party mood never effectively happened. A further contributing factor could well have been the highly diverse demographic on this cruise where passengers of the various distinct nationalities tended to stick to themselves. Of course, the strange weather we experienced on the trip did not help sailing through a major storm on the second day of the cruise and then effectively losing two days anchored either in a harbour or out at sea due to dense fog that restricted access to or egress from a couple of the ports we were scheduled to visit during the cruise. The general feeling of discontent that permeated the ship, shared by many other passengers whom we interacted with throughout the cruise, inevitably had a dampening effect on the overall cruise experience. Yet the cruise ship management team seemed to be quite blissfully unaware of the obvious malaise developing among their passengers. Based on this cruise, we can only infer that the standards of the Celebrity brand generally are slipping. In virtually all aspects a clear deterioration of their product offering was notably detected. Some random observations in this regard include: Entertainment: Apart from the ship’s hard working orchestra, a really top notch card magician and an energetic female singer who really knew how to work a crowd, the quality of entertainment offered was very poor. Indeed how some of the acts could possibly ever have been contracted frankly beggars belief and suggest Celebrity is scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to attracting cruise ship performers. Food: The quality of food in the main dining room was always well presented but generally somewhat bland. The same could be said of the buffet dining option in the Ocean View Café which was in the main uninspiring and very much of the sameness day after day. However, in the defence of the F&B team, it must have been extremely difficult to cater for the tastes of the multicultural demographic on board. The obvious conclusion the typical passenger must come to is that the notable decline in the “for free” restaurants is but a not too subtle way of persuading guests to use the speciality restaurants, most of which did not seem to be that well patronised. We object paying what we consider to be an excessively exorbitant couvert charge for the speciality options, the Tuscan Grill and QSine, a sentiment that is shared by most other passengers as neither of these two venues seemed to be that well utilised. In the event, we did sample the fare of Sushi on 5, the speciality Japanese venue and were well satisfied with the meal which was well presented, tasty and good value. Guest Speakers: We usually enjoy the “On the Podium” enrichment lectures of the guest speakers on board. On this occasion however, the talks namely a series on Buddhism and another on oriental art were clearly not of much interest to the rank and file passenger and were extremely poorly attended. Apart from the first lecture in these series which were held in the Cosmos Lounge, subsequent lectures of both series were offered in the huge main Celebrity Theatre. On one occasion the art history lecturer had an attendance of less than ten in the Celebrity Theatre venue, while on the occasions we attended either of the speaker’s offerings, we never counted more than thirty to forty people in attendance. Surely seeing these enrichment talks were being so poorly patronised, The Cruise Director should have offered the speakers a more intimate venue? Cruise ship management: As mentioned previously, the cruise ship management did not seem to be able to gauge the level of non-satisfaction that enveloped the ship. Ship officers were seldom seen around the ship, and the Cruise Director did not seem to understand that the poor attendance at organised activities on board could mean that passengers were not all that happy with what was being offered, and communication with passengers (especially during times when the ship lay anchored off shore or in port – on two occasions for almost a full 24 day) was woefully inadequate. Even the affable Captain Alex, whose humorous daily admonitions of peace and love often did provide sound food for thought, was found wanting in this regard when passengers were kept completely in the dark for almost 24 hours while the ship was anchored at the port of Incheon which was closed due to excessively reduced visibility. Communication from the Cruise Director did improve when the ship was again anchored off shore outside Shanghai for a further extended period, so perhaps the ship’s management did learn from their previous shabby performance after all. Itinerary: We chose this cruise because of the itinerary as a visit to Beijing, in particular, had long been on our bucket list. While completely out of Celebrity’s control, the delayed arrival in Incheon, the full day lost while the ship was anchored in Incheon because of the port’s closure and the further delay while Shanghai port remained closed, all had the effect of severely constricting the limited time available to see the attractions in Seoul, Beijing and Shanghai . Specifically, we had booked a three day two night ship excursion to Beijing which was to be the highlight of our trip. Unfortunately because of the weather, this excursion had to be reduced to a two day, one night offering which meant that the attractions and sites to be visited had to be concertinaed into two not three days resulting in minimal time being spent at some key attractions such as the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square, or to some attractions such as the Summer Place not being visited at all. Most disappointing. Similarly we had a half day hotel drop off ship excursion in Shanghai at the end of the cruise. This too had to be curtailed as the excursion which was scheduled to be completed by about 13h00, only started at 16h45 because of the ship’s late docking. However, all’s well that ends well as the excursion enabled us the see the Bund in Shanghai at night. Awesome! The ship: The Millennium was ostensibly refurbished only two years ago. Clearly this refurbishment was focused primarily on upgrading the experience of suite class passengers as the refurbishment seems to have been restricted to reconfiguring the speciality and suite class restaurants and to upgrading suite class staterooms. Very little attention was paid to the more frequently used public areas such as the Ocean View Café and surrounds which are in a particularly bad state, or to the standard staterooms. Our Concierge class stateroom while clean and adequately equipped was drab and in dire need of upgrading. However, while ageing and in urgent need of a complete makeover, the Millennium was always kept clean and well maintained. Service: The one enduring positive of the cruise was the generally good to excellent service we received from most of the service staff with whom we interacted be they stateroom attendants, barmen, waiters or stewards. It is really one area where the RCCL Group have got it right and staff invariably are attentive, well trained, obliging and cheerful, always seemingly willing to go the extra mile and undertake their duties with a smile. By contrast, we found some of the more professional staff in Guest Relations and particularly Shore Excursions to be surly and off-hand. Perhaps this was because a lot of extra work was thrust on them to amend or rearrange a number of excursions that were affected by the weather issues. But they should acknowledge that the passengers were also significantly inconvenienced during this cruise. It is after all, their job! Despite these obvious shortcomings, the cruise nevertheless presented us with opportunity to exploring some unique parts of the East and to view many iconic sites first hand. Some highlights included: • Exploring the beautiful temple and gardens of Zhongheng Park in Keelung (the port city for visits to the capital Taipei), site of the majestic 25 metre high statue of the Goddess of Mercy – the biggest such statue in SE Asia • Visiting Peace Memorial Park and Atomic Bomb museum in Nagasaki, a most moving experience and a timely reminder that we have to keep the nuclear weapons out of the hands of hardliners wherever they may exist • Traversing the ultra modern city of Busan by hop on – hop off bus. Unfortunately a rushed visit so we did not have the time to see the famous fish market, apparently one of Busan’s main attractions • Viewing an ancient volcanic crater site followed by a close up view of centuries old village life on Jeju Island • Visiting, albeit in a somewhat hectic fashion in view of the delay in arriving in Tianjin, most of the major iconic attractions of the city of Beijing including the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven • Staying for one night in the glorious China World luxury hotel (as part of the included Beijing experience). Certainly one of the best hotels we have yet stayed at • Viewing the lights of Shanghai at night • A most interesting post cruise a private day long tour of the ancient village of Su Zhou and the unique 900 year old water village of Zhou Zhuang. We have been loyal Celebrity cruise passengers for over ten years where we have been privileged to enjoy many wonderful experiences. This only further serves to heighten our concerns at the apparent (but notable) decline in the quality of the Celebrity product. Had we not already have booked and fully paid for a further Celebrity cruise of Canada and New England this coming September (which we seriously considered cancelling), the Millennium cruise of China and South Korea would probably have been our last with Celebrity. Hopefully, our experience on the Summit in September will restore our faith in the Celebrity brand. However, whatever the outcome we feel the time has now come for us to explore the products offered by competitor cruise lines so, in all probability, we shall be bidding a fond but sad farewell to the Celebrity brand after our Canada/New England cruise. Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the itinerary and based on past experience with Celebrity. We (2 adults and a 10-year old plus other family memebers) spent most of a week before embarkation exploring parts of mainland China as well as Hong Kong. Embarkation and disembarkation were both smooth and efficient despite Celebrity having warned just a week before departure that disembarkation would be problematic and no outbound flights should be booked before 1830hrs. Celebrity's late and not very explicit warning on this point probably generated more problems for guest relations than it was worth. How easily this matter was managed when discussed with guest relations staff seemed to vary depending on which staff member you spoke to, an issue which came up in other contexts as well. The ship itself was clean and seemed in good repair although there were also some signs of wear (e.g., a cabin mirror with the glazing worn off in one spot). We had an inside cabin and in most respects it was typical of those on other cruise lines though perhaps a bit smaller or less well designed. Navigating from the bed to the bathroom when the sofa bed was open was almost impossible. Dining was a mixed bag and I wonder if the proliferation of private dining options has come at the expense of the main dining room. Food in the main dining room was just average at best. Food in the buffet was very good. In combination the result might be average but poor to average might be a better classification. Entertainment was very good but other on-board activities though quite good seemed a bit anemic in terms of quantity. Food service staff were very good (kudos to Chang, Adi and the others) as was our cabin attendant. Guest relations staff were a bit variable (occasionally difficult) as were excursion staff. Service from landside Celebrity staff (their call centre) was poor (non-responsive even on simple inquiries like prepaying gratuities). Great ports despite weather issues and we enjoyed the shore excursions we purchased. We were surprised to find Celebrity offering a separate set of small group excursions on-board which were not mentioned among the excursion offerings available online prior to sailing. Some of these small group excursions offered superior experiences at similar cost to the large group excursions. We would do the trip again because of the itinerary but we would not use the same cabin again under any circumstances. Overall this Celebrity experience was more like a 'Holiday Inn' experience which is OK provided your expectations align with that reality. Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the destinations. We have travelled before to Asia in February. It is interesting as it’s the Chinese New Year celebrations. Halong bay is awesome. The weather in all destinations was pleasantly hot ho chi min was the hottest at 33 degrees. The millennium is a lovely ship the food was lovely and the theatre very comfortable with excellent shows. Cafe el bacio served speciality coffees and cakes. Often musicians played there in the evenings. Our outside cabin was spacious and the bed and pillows very comfortable. We took two of the ships excursions which seemed good value for money, the outdoor pool seemed to be salt water and quite warm. They had an indoor sanctuary pool very warm with massage jets and jacuzzis. The staff and cabin stewards was so pleasant and helpful nothing was too much trouble. The ship was very clean and the dining rooms very pleasant and appealing. This is our third celebrity cruise and each time we have had their classic drinks package. It covers most good quality wines and spirits as well as bottled water and speciality coffees. Our embarkation and when we disembarked went smoothly. We waited 15 minutes initially to board and when we left walked straight out to pick our cases up. There are always plenty of staff around to help with questions and queries. Read Less

We cruised on Reflection a few years ago and several other cruises on another cruiseline, must say Millennium does need a refurb it is well maintained, but, it does need work. We upgraded to Aqua class, as I love spas... most disappointing, went in and out... it was dark, not a place i would go back to, what a waste of $$. Must say would not chose this ship again. The crew, our steward, restaurant staff and front office wonderful. Entertainment, not enticing nor interesting. We chose this ship for the itinerary, should have checked more. The beverage package no worth if you only have a couple of drinks as a cocktail or wine with dinner, especially when you can not use it per cabin, only per person... not even for ones birthday drink. Specialty restaurants were great. Sushi on 5, Blu, Tuscan and Mediterranean all wonderful, service, food was yummy. Tour Itineraries were good, well priced and tour guides were knowledgeable and informative. Read Less

We chose this because of previous experience of Celebrity and also the itinerary. We were a little worried about the ship because of some reviews but she's a nice ship, in generally good condition despite her age and a good size. Food in the suite restaurant, Luminae, was very good and the staff very pleasant although appeared a little rushed sometimes. We ate once in Qsine and had an excellent experience. MDR was less successful. Food wasn't great and neither was service. Maitre D's seemed quite inexperienced. Top deck buffet was always packed with a lot of the customers using it as a meeting area not just a restaurant. As for the bars, the staff in the suite club, Michael's were all excellent and we enjoyed being in there. Cellar Masters was pretty good too. Cosmos lounge was not our favourite; service not grea and they charged me extra for a drink that was already included in our drinking package. I was never asked to sign for the charge. Rendezvous, a through lounge, was quite poor, especially table service. No danger of over-drinking waiting for service in there. Martini bar was good. We didn't use the main pool but did use the 'adults-only' Solarium pool. It was a Thalassopool that seemed very salty. Canyon Ranch spa was, as usual, an horrendous rip-off. The worst part of this cruise was the entertainments/enrichment activities. A new cast arrived on the ship the same day as us and two weeks later they's done two show, both of which were mediocre at best. The singers couldn't harmonise although the dancing was ok. Invited acts ranged from very good to poor. 'House' acts also varied. Violin duo, Lado Strings, was excellent and Groovity were ok but the house band was awful. Shore excursions, we thought, were very good value for money especially considering the distances involved. Tour guides, whilst having limited English, were good. Overall we enjoyed our cruise. It appears to me that Celebrity have cut back on staff. There's no assistant room steward and some of the bars seemed bereft of staff. Maybe we'll look to try another line soon. Read Less

Great crew and amusing approachable captain--all so keen to be pleasant and help--we cruised by North and South Vietnam and 3 ports in Taipei Food was so good than no need to use speciality restaurants, No lectures on port visits despite being to such an interesting part of the world. Visits to many temples and more temples which seemed old fashioned Compared to the countries we bussed through--why not trips to university or computer/chip production facilities or one of many ship yards. So much more to countries than old temples! A bit of imagination needed here! Perhaps the boat being American stopped too much introspection about past history as far as Vietnam is concerned. We visited the Chain Kai-chek memorial in Taipei and later research revealed that it might be in the process of being closed down by a government with less than glowing memories of the General! All interesting themes for a good lecturer. Read Less

This was our first Celebrity Cruise but we have cruised with other cruise companies in the past. If I’m being honest I have to say that I expected a bit more from a 5* company especially with regards to the food in the main dining room. The positives were definitely the places we visited in Vietnam and Taiwan (which we loved) and also Hong Kong. I see that Captain Alex gets lots of comments about being seen around the ship but my husband didn’t see him once and I only saw him once at the opening of the sale in the shop. He wasn’t there when we disembarked but we were one of the last. His announcements are very amusing. Ourselves and most of the other guests we chatted to or dined with were disappointed with the food in the MDR. It was often cold and not worthy of a 5* ship. The starters were very poor most nights and we weren’t impressed with the desserts and mostly chose from the standard choices were were offered every night. The size of the portion of vegetables was tiny but we did find out that you could ask for extra veg and when someone on our table did it was always broccoli and green beans. Food in the Oceanview buffet was excellent. Lots of choice at breakfast and lunch. We ate there one evening towards the end of the cruise and wished we had done it more often as we enjoyed our meal more than most of the meals we’d had in the MDR. Cafe Bacchio served great coffee and cakes and was a lovely place to go in the afternoon when you returned from a trip or for a nice coffee after dinner. ( coffee in MDR wasn’t nice ) The crew everywhere from your cabin steward to the little girl on the hand gel going into the buffet and those on the public desks were all brilliant and very helpful. We saw some amazing places met some lovely people and overall had a brilliant time but not sure that we would pay Celebrity prices in the future. Being from the UK we have had better food and entertainment on the smaller ships like Thomson and Fred Olsen. Read Less

We wished to revisit Halong Bay but the weather was grey most places we went so maybe not a good time of year to visit. The main dining meals were the worst out of our 20 cruises.We usually eat in the main dining but we tried it several times. The service was good but meals were not. Eg french onion soup was a bowl of soup with a slice of bread on to with cheese which was inedible. Meals in the buffet were varied with a good choice but the cakes were all soggy. They had layers of filling which made the cake wet. The ice cream parlour was brilliant. We would have liked to watch movies but they were hidden away on deck 12 with only a few seats in the shade plus the movies were old. There was not much going on around thr ship during the day. A big plus was a heated hydrotherapy pool in the solarium which we used daily. Read Less