We had cruised with Celebrity once before and had enjoyed the experience.This cruise was to take us to destinations we wanted to see in Southern Japan and Taiwan. Boarding in Singapore alerted us to how seriously Celebrity was taking the Corona threat. We had been advised the previous evening of possible itinerary changes and the rules for boarding,depending on your recent whereabouts in Asia. We were OK and boarded! Celebrity kept us fully informed as the situation changed daily. It soon became clear as more port visits were being denied, that early termination loomed. Top marks to everone at Celebrity who really could not do enough to keep passengers comfortable and up to date, help make new travel arrangements and importantly, stay relaxed. The on-board customer service was exemplary, with staff available to help throughout and extra, complimentary facilities laid on to make the experience as pleasurable as possible. We left Millenium on February 10th in Singapore to continue our revised travels, with the feeling that the onboard staff and the planners had done a sterling job, in an evolving crisis, to get us all back safely on dry land with somewhere to go. This must be one of the best examples of good customer service we had ever been part of! Read Less

Two years ago I booked 3 back to back cruises on the "recolutionzed" Celebrity Millennium. The cruise started in Singapore on Janusry 18,2020. I was so impressed by the beauty of the decor, the layout of the ship, and how comfortable my inside cabin was. As cruise affiocnados all know, things do not always turn out as expected: the corona virus changed our plans. The January 18th cruise unfolded as advertised, but by February 1st the people I met and I all knew that the corona virus was a serious, world-wide issue. And on February 8th, we sadly read that the cruise would come to an end on the 10th. We wwre lucky. No one on the Millennium was hit by the corona virus. The staff used gallons and gallons of sanitizer, and the ship was cleaner than most people's homes. But above all was how hard the Millennium employees worked to make our unplanned departure as easy as possible: we were allowed to make free phone calls, a bank of computers were set up so that we could make alternate flight plans, and someone from the Millennium team was always around to answer our questions and help us. I have never seen anything re customer service at this high level in my entire adult life. At this point, while I sit in my condo jn Victoria B,C. writing this review, and thinking that today I should have been enjoying a Saturday in Saigon, I am also thinking that Celebrity Cruises has my undying loyalty. A huge thank-you to everyone on the Celebrity Millennium, and in the U,S. offices, for all your efforts. I wish you all the best that life has to offer, and cannot wait to return to the Millennium in April 2121 for 2 back to back cruises. Read Less

This was our first ever cruise, a pretty bold step to take for your honeymoon, especially when one of you (me) gets sea sick. I really wanted to show my husband this part of the world though and he isn’t one for travelling from place to place so a cruise seemed like a good idea. Off I popped to the chemist and stocked up on all of the drugs, and with everything crossed for smooth seas we set off for Singapore and enjoyed a few days there to get used to time difference, temperature etc. On embarkation day we excitedly made our way to the cruise terminal where we were impressed with the efficiency. We dropped our bags kerbside and within about twenty minutes we were zig zagging back and forth on the gangway to get to the ship. First impressions were good, we were offered a drink and told our room was ready so we went to see it and grab our cruise passes. We had booked Aqua class room 1117. The room was pretty much as we expected. Still pretty clean and new looking from the refurb. Jimmy, our cabin steward, was an utter delight from the moment we met him. Always smiling and happy, nothing too much trouble and the room was always spotless when he had been. Five stars for Jimmy then. We enjoyed using Persian Garden but occasionally staff let teenagers in unaccompanied which spoiled it a bit, still it was a nice perk. The spa treatments are a ridiculous price so we didn’t do any of those, and the gym was often rammed at all the times you would want to use it. So what else was good - food in Blu was pretty good, although it felt like it tailed off towards the end and I thought they made such a kerfuffle over breakfast I only tried it once (twenty minutes to get a cup of tea). We loved Cellar Masters and the staff there, and we loved the Mast bar, Dimitry always had a smile and a banana daiquiri for me whenever he was on duty. We ate at the sushi restaurant and enjoyed that although the curry night there was pretty poor. Tuscan grill was OK, nothing ground breaking but a decent Italian and steak offering. We tried Qsine twice, the whole concept is great fun but we thought the menu the first week was better, which was a shame as the second week we went for NYE. So what wasn’t so good then? Basically the itinerary. I already knew that most of the ports were nowhere near the big cities advertised on the itinerary and we had already decided three hours each way on a coach was not our thing, but I had hoped there would be more to do around the ports than there was. Essentially we visited a series of container ports which was interesting for about the first thirty minutes. At one of them (Chang May I think) the ship’s newsletter even said “there is nothing here”. You basically have to go on one of their trips or stay on board, there is no nice nearby village to wander too. It wasn’t quite as bad at other ports but still meant you didn’t really get much of a flavour for the areas we visited. At Laemchabang we took a taxi to the nearby town of SriRacha to eat at Moom Aroi. This restaurant was recommended to us by some of the bar staff and it didn’t disappoint. However the cost of the taxi there was the same as a meal for four with beer. You get stuck having to use the taxis outside the boat as Grab (Uber) are not able to come in to collect you. We did the Ba Ria trip at the second port which wasn’t too bad. I was really looking forward to Halong when we got there as at least there was something nearby however the town appeared to be shut and the weather was grey so not quite the scenic beach experience I was expecting. The Celebrity organised boat trip was good, not least for playing bumper cars with all the other boats trying to dock at the same place. The other hugely irritating thing was immigration in Laemchabang where the whole ship had to disembark, commencing at 7am, to show their passports. It was Christmas Day and the constant tannoy announcements rendered all hope of a relaxing start to the day null and void. I appreciate these are Thailand’s rules but there has to be a better way for Celebrity to run it than this. For example why not do all people leaving on trips first, leaving the rest of us (and there were not many at all, maybe 20% of the passengers) until afterwards. We were not going on a trip yet were given a time of 7.30 am for our slot. And you only find this out the night before it happens, via a bit at all clear letter left in your room. We actually ignored our official slot and went at about 8am where we saw many of our friends who were off on trips queuing up behind us. Process them first and let those staying behind have the 9am slots. Oh and once you are down to the inevitable five families who think it doesn’t apply to them, don’t tannoy the whole ship including the bedrooms. Go look for them, ring their room, tannoy the public areas but leave the rest of us in peace. Sorry, rant over. Anyway, what else - the sea was a bit choppy round Vietnam so bear that in mind if you suffer as I do. Apparently that is often the case though we wondered if it was particularly bad as there had been storms in the Phillipines the day before. The buffet is a completely unacceptable thing in this day and age - open for 18 hours a day, the amount of food wasted is astronomical as all food must be disposed of after four hours (we did the kitchen tour, they told us this). This amount of food waste just to pander to the desires of a group of customers who lets face it, could do with eating less, is ecologically and economically appalling. If you shut the buffet there would still be multiple food outlets where you could eat almost interrupted, from morning to night. Come on celebrity, be brave and make that change. We didn’t rate the entertainment. The Cruise Director was annoying and insincere and his number two was a bit out of his depth. Some of the musicians were good but the house band was terrible, often too loud, out of key, and set up in inappropriately small areas at odd times of day. The bar manager was a legend though, far more visible than the Cruise Director, always friendly and at the same time always had an eye on his staff. So, would I go on another cruise - maybe. Would I go round this part of the world on a cruise - not unless it was a smaller ship that could get closer to the interesting sights. Would I choose Celebrity again if I did cruise - probably as their staff were great and the ship was nice enough. Read Less

We cruised on the Millennium, from Singapore to Hong Kong, over Christmas and New Year. And we had an amazing time… The itinerary was just brilliant, giving us time to have a taste of Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong. Yes, some of the places you might want to visit are a long way from the ports, but if you’ve done your research you’ll know this and be prepared for some long coach rides to some of the most evocative places in the East- Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Hue Imperial City, Hanoi… We were surprised by the number of passengers who didn’t seem to realize this. Don’t people research anything before booking? The delights of Singapore are within a short MTR ride from the port; you can almost touch the Marina Bay Sands Hotel from the ship! And when you arrive in Hong Kong you can see the skyscrapers from your balcony! One of the many highlights for us was our approach into Ha Long Bay as we seemed to weave between these mysterious islands, spotting fishermen in their sampans as we passed. Magical! We took Celebrity excursions in very port, not brave enough to go our own way and book independently, but judging by the number of minibuses and cars waiting for passengers as we boarded our coaches, quite a few had done. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the ancient kingdom of Ayatthua, our ‘Private Journeys’ trip around Ha Long Bay (three boats- sampan, small rowing boat and speedboat), and our Highlights of Hong Kong. Expensive, yes, but worth every penny… The Millennium looks fine and dandy. We’d been dreading it, to be honest, after reading some reviews which described her recent refit as cheap and nasty. Not according to us. And it’s one of the cleanest ships we’ve been on, not just the cabin but everywhere around the ship. After what must have been a difficult night for the cleaners on New Year’s Eve, there wasn’t a piece of evidence the next morning that there had ever been a party… What often makes a cruise, of course, is the crew. This was one of the best we’ve had- smiles, greetings, good humour and outstanding service from almost everyone made it a pleasure to be on. We felt that many went out of their way to make a difference and to make passengers feel they were in good hands. Thanks to all the crew members- especially those in the Metropolitan Restaurant and in the Sky and Rendezvous Lounges, too many to list here- who made our Christmas cruise so special. We thought the food was superb. Finding a table in the Oceanview Café was never a problem, and we enjoyed breakfasts here with too many choices for a mere fortnight’s trip. Special mention to the Eggs Station, where it wasn’t only entertaining to watch three pans being juggled with everyone’s ridiculously specific requests, but the omelettes and eggs over-easy were always cooked to perfection! We chose the Metropolitan for lunches on sea days (great choices/rapid service) and for dinner (we made a 7.45 reservation for the whole cruise despite being on a Select Dining basis) where we enjoyed the many dishes on offer with whatever special/extra requests we fancied. We heard a few passengers complaining about the food. Really? What on earth do these people eat at home? Do they realize the sheer numbers these kitchens are catering for? We loved the entertainment, both during the day (quizzes hosted by a super-friendly team) and in the evening around the ship. Good Vibes, who more often than not could be found in the Rendezvous, were top notch, and the pop band which played up on top deck for the New Year’s Eve party (apologies- name forgotten) were great. The production singers and dancers, together with the ship’s orchestra in the main theatre, were the best we’ve seen and heard. Some passengers rave: “They’re just like West End shows!” No, they’re not actually, but they’re very good given their limitations and given the fact that the stage is sometimes moving more than was intentional! As this was a ‘Holiday Cruise’ we felt the entertainment team, together with the cruise company, had made a special effort to make it one to remember. A particularly nice touch I thought was finding a card and a complimentary bottle of sparkling wine left in our cabin on my birthday. And I hadn’t even told anyone…! There were a couple of negatives, of course there were- children in Adult Only areas which went unchallenged, too many areas for exclusive use of Aquaclass or Suite guests, too many upscale shops with too few customers, and the fee paying restaurants too pricey and unattractively squeezed into pokey little nooks. We also found some staff on the Excursions Desk rather officious. But any negatives were completely outweighed by the positives. We came home with hundreds and hundreds of photographs, with many many memories of the most wonderful places we’d been lucky enough to visit, with even more of the charming people we met, both fellow passengers but mainly crew members whose paths we chanced to cross. Overall- five stars. Read Less

This was a two week Christmas and New Years cruise Singapore to Hong Kong. We were excited to see the Millennium after her last major refurbishment in Feb. I last sailed on Millennium in 2001 and the ship was hardly recognisable. The changes were gorgeous! We were in an extra large ocean view cabin 9000. Prior to the renovation this cabin had two small sofas, after the redo just one and a chair. There was a lot of floor space (at least 225 sq ft) but I felt the two sofas would have worked better. Other than that, the cabin was fabulous! I had heard that there might be noise from the door to the bridge next to the cabin but we never heard anything. The Ship Starting at the top, the outdoor movie area was lovely and we watched one movie up there during the cruise. There was no bar service there however and I felt there should be. Also, there were many movies shown there during the day when it was much too hot. Qsine which is now only used for Le Petite Chef, is a lovely space but under-utilised. We had one specialty lunch there that was underwhelming and one night at Le Petite Chef. While entertaining, it is a one time thing never needing to be repeated. I think Qsine would be more popular. At our seating at Le Petite Chef there were only 2 tables occupied and that made it somewhat awkward. The Oceanview Cafe was wonderful. Spacious and well organised, it was the nicest I have found on any ship. We literally never had to search for a table. The redo looked wonderful except foe an unfortunate choice of fabric for the backs of many of the chairs. A light blue fabric, it was looking dirty and stained after only 10 months. The seats were vinyl and the whole chair should have been. The food was very good and varied. The outdoor seating and bar was wonderful except as others have noted, not enough shade most of the time. The pool area had plenty of seating and towels laid out on each lounger, a nice touch. However, the cushions on the seating in the smoking area on the port side was worn out and shabby. Being a big guy, i loved that the main pool had stairs to enter the pool which is way better than a ladder. The solarium was lovely but usually very hard to find a lounger. I felt they needed lounge chairs on both sides not just the port side. The Spa cafe was disappointing in its offerings. Pretty much the same selection every day and not terribly interesting. The Sky lounge up front was still large enough even after taking some of the space for the kids area on the port side. You could tell it had not been renovated but it was still lovely. The theatre on decks 4 & 5 was one of my favourites. Large and impressive, there is not a bad seat in the house. The shows however were very hit and miss. We liked the production numbers done by the entertainment staff better than the featured performers. The shops were adequate and varied but small compared to larger ships. The Apple store was disappointing. We were thinking of buying a new iPhone but they didn’t sell them! Cafe Al Bacio was lovely but hard to find tables available. We only had one coffee there in two weeks. The Martini Bar, lovely with good cocktails, was always too noisy with loud conversations. We never had a drink at Cellar Masters or ate at Sushi on 5 and felt these areas could be re-thought. On deck 4 the photo gallery was too large and a waste of space. The Retreat lounge seemed to be empty all the time too, although we obviously couldn’t use it. The casino seems bland after the redo but nice that it is non-smoking. The Rendezvous Lounge is absolutely lovely and we had drinks there several times. We felt that the band that was usually there was too loud for conversation however. We ate in the lower level of the Metropolitan restaurant which looks fabulous after the redo. We had anytime dining but went at the same time every night and had the same servers who were wonderful. We found the food to be exceptional and really make the Specialty restaurants a moot point, being overpriced and not that special. The atrium starts on deck 3 and was lovely with the amazing onyx staircase. We were only able to see and use the staircase after Christmas however since they had decorated the staircase with a Gingerbread village. It was a real miss. Other than that, the Christmas decorations were lovely and understated. The Tuscan grill on deck 3 was a bit out of the way after the addition of cabins during the redo. It’s a beautiful space however. We had one lunch and one dinner there and as noted already, not appreciably better than the main dining room so not worth it in our opinion. The itinerary was ok but we felt we didn’t need so many overnights in ports. Five ports on a 14 night cruise seems like not enough. In fairness, I have done a similar cruise before so the ports weren’t as important to me. The staff was generally wonderful and top notch! We had an Internet package which was great. We also had the Classic drink package which was fine. When the servers saw what package you had they knew what to offer you that was included. We only paid an up charge a couple times This review probably sounds nit-picky but the negatives were mostly very tiny things and we had a fabulous cruise! I wouldn’t hesitate to sail on The Millennium again for a third time! We Loved It. Read Less

I make it short Ship is old but very clean U find everywhere a quite place Food in Restaurant was good not the best but good. Service in Restaurant was great. Shows was ok Steve the Cruisedirector was great The coffeeplace was real good..thanks to that team The cabin is modern and very nice After every excursion it was like coming back home The captain is a real person that u see every day around the ship on any place and he talking to u without making a big thing out of it. The buffet is ok.. not the best but for shure not the worst ..u find all time something to eat. The new years party was super The drinks and cocktails was super The internet was slow but we had lot of kids and teens on board so there were all online what made the internet slow.. It was great time Read Less

1) Background Info We chose this cruise for the itinerary and timing as this was a major-milestone birthday celebration. 2) Travel to Port / Embarkation "Our flight out of our originating city was delayed so we missed our connecting flight. We had pre-arranged and pre-paid for an airport transfer to the cruise port through Celebrity. Since we arrived so late, we missed the last transfer. Therefore, we needed to exchange money to local currency at the airport and take a taxi to the cruise port. That process was easily done and our cab driver did a great job getting us to the cruise port in a very timely manner. We arrived at the cruise port at approximately 11:00 p.m. the evening of the first Hong Kong day. There was virtually no one around the cruise port. The gangway was open 24 hrs and there were folks there to check us in with no problems. Again, since it was so late, we had to take our own luggage through the cruise port and to our cabin (no porters this time of night). The cruise port is quite large, so it was a long trek working our way through the port and finally to our cabin. Since we did miss the airport transfer (which we pre-paid to Celebrity) and had to pay for a taxi ride to port upon our arrival, I notified the front desk of our situation. She verified that we did indeed not use our transfer so she refunded our money for the pre-paid airport transfer. I'm not sure if we were refunded the money because we had booked Celebrity Air and they could see that we missed our connection - hence the missed airport transfer. In any event, I was pleasantly surprised and happy to receive the refund hassle-free." 3) Muster Drill (General Emergency Drill) The Muster Drill (or General Emergency Drill) for our cruise was actually done on the second day we were in Hong Kong.  The drill was as follows:  All Aboard on Sun. 12/8/19 at 5:00 p.m., Muster Drill at 7:30 p.m. and Departure at 8:00 p.m. So no need to worry about missing Drill on day one since it is held on day two. The drill was not held outside and life vests were not required.  We just needed to meet at our Assembly Station as indicated on our stateroom door - which is also listed on the SeaPass cards.   4) Ship Information "The Millennium was recently refurbished, and we were quite pleased with the facelift. The décor was bright and airy and the ship never felt crowded. We could always manage to find space to ourselves somewhere on the ship. We liked the outdoor rooftop movie area. However, during the day it was quite hot there. Later in the day on beautiful days it can be quite lovely. I would like to see more hand sanitizer stations set up around the ship, especially in the back of the Oceanview Cafe. When sitting Aft outside of the Oceanview Cafe, if you want to wash your hands, you have to walk through the Cafe again and to the front of the Cafe. 5) Activities The ship had the typical activities such as pool volleyball, bean bag toss, ping pong, basketball, trivia games, etc. You could do as much or as little as you desired. 6) Service All of the employees were extremely helpful, pleasant and courteous - from our room steward, dining room waiters, Guest Relations, Shorex Desk - everyone was great to work with. On the day of the milestone birthday, we received a bottle of champagne in our cabin from the ship. I thought that was very nice and unexpected." 7) Visas for Vietnam There was a lot of confusion pre-cruise about obtaining a Vietnam Visa. As soon as I got on board, I asked Guest Relations if there was any paperwork that we needed to fill out for Vietnam as we did not have a Vietnam visa. She stated that as long as we weren't spending the night in Vietnam (i.e. for example spending the night in Hanoi) or we weren't leaving the country (i.e. flying over to Cambodia) there was nothing we needed to do - the ship would take care of the paperwork. Since neither of those scenarios applied to us, the ship took care of the paperwork to obtain a Vietnam landing card for us and charged our shipboard account a one-time fee of $6.00 per person. Those folks spending the night off of the ship were charged $28.00 per person - but I'm not sure what process they had to go through. I heard there were a few folks that did the Cambodia trip from our cruise, so most folks didn't spend the night off the ship in Vietnam. 8) Port & Shore Excursions Hong Kong - We took a Celebrity Shorex via motorcoach. We took the tram to Victoria Peak for truly beautiful views of the city, visited the fishing village of Aberdeen for a sampan cruise ride and lastly visited Stanley Market. We still had some Hong Kong dollars from our taxi trip to the cruise port, so we used that for a little souvenir as US dollars aren't widely accepted. At sail away, go to the top decks and just take in the harbor views. Everything is lit up and is really pretty. We were docked at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminals, which is the former runway of the Hong Kong airport. There is a laser light show at 8 p.m. nightly. However, it is located at the foot of the Kowloon Peninsula and is better seen from the Ocean terminal. You won't be able to see much of the laser light show from Kai Tak, but the harbor views are beautiful nonetheless." "Hanoi / Halong Bay Day 1 - We did an all-day Halong Bay Excursion with Authenticasia. We put down a deposit of $25 USD. Dong was our guide and did a great job. He was very knowledgeable and personable. This was a very, very enjoyable day. The weather and scenery were gorgeous and loved that we went to a part of the bay away from tourist crowds. Loved the rustic row-boat ride rowed by a local - the area was very quiet and peaceful. Lunch was delicious and there was plenty of it. There were 16 of us on the junk boat so there was plenty of room to move around. USD is widely accepted throughout Vietnam, so we paid for the tour in USD at the beginning of the tour. This tour was very well organized, the company sent very good and detailed instructions and I would highly recommend. Day 2 - Did a Panoramic Halong Bay by bus through Celebrity Shorex. Visited Quang Ninh Museum, visited Long Tien Pagoda then stopped at Hon Gai market. Did not really care for this shorex. Although the museum was ok, the Pagoda was not really worth it and I didn't care for this market. I wouldn't recommend it. "Hue / DaNang (Chan May) A group we met on the cruise invited us to join their group. No deposit was required. Payment was required at beginning of the tour. The highlights of the tour included Hai Van Pass which is claimed to be the most scenic hillside roads in Vietnam, a stop at Marble Mountain and Monkey Mountain and Hoi An Old Town. The town was approximately 1.5 hours from the cruise port. The tour van was not very comfortable, and I felt very unsafe with this driver. He drove very, very fast, was always over the center yellow line, passing traffic in no-passing zones on these wet mountain roads. I was not impressed with the tour guide either. She did not keep the group together and just didn't take command of the group. She took us to some local shops (I'm sure for commissions) keeping us there for an inordinately long amount of time until someone in the group got on her to get our tour moving. Lunch was included in this tour but was so anemic we all left hungry. We didn't want to order add'l food as we had already spent too much time on lunch. When talking to the guide to ensure we got back to port in time, she made a comment that it wasn't really up to her, it was up to the driver to get us back in time. That was an inappropriate comment and not reassuring. We really enjoyed Hoi An and would have liked to spend more time there. I was so glad when this tour ended and we were safely back on ship. If I had this port to do over again, I would book the Celebrity Shorex Hoi An On Your Own where Celebrity provides transportation to/from Hoi An and you can explore the town on your own." "Ho Chi Minh / Saigon (Phu My) We did a Saigon Highlights Tour with Smile Tours. This too was a very enjoyable and organized tour. No deposit was required. Payment due day of tour. There were 16 of us on the tour that contacted the tour operator individually. This tour was very well organized, the company sent very good and detailed instructions. The provided bus was very comfortable, the driver was very safe, the tour guide Tam was very knowledgeable and organized. He did a good job facilitating our tour and giving us precise instructions throughout the tour. He kept the group moving and kept us on time and according to the itinerary. We visited China Town and participated in a Trishaw ride through the hustle and bustle of the city. That was a hoot! We all loved this! We visited the Reunification Hall, Notre Dame Cathedral, Old Post Office and City Hall. Lunch (not included) was at Pho 2000. It is a very small and busy restaurant but the food was good and we left stuffed. I would highly recommend this tour company." "Bangkok We used Thai Tour Guide for a private tour of Bangkok for both days for just the two of us. No deposit was required. They did an outstanding job for our two-days. This was a very well organized tour. Tour operator Mr. Chob was great to work with in setting up the tour details prior to the cruise and provided great detail of the tour. Tour must be paid in Thai Baht at the end of each tour day. USD is not widely accepted. The van was very clean and very comfortable. Our tour guide was Ms. Pookie who was excellent at keeping us informed, comfortable and kept our needs first. She held her umbrella over me to keep the sun off of me, and would use the umbrella to shield my camera from the sun when taking pictures. The driver was "Mr. Happy" who did a great job driving safely through the hectic Bangkok traffic. They were very prompt both days in picking us up at the Laem Chabang port and again at our hotel on Day 2. We requested a change to our itinerary and they were very accommodating in our request and went out of their way to accommodate us. It was very hot and they kept plenty of water on hand and each time we visited a location and returned to the van, Mr. Happy always had clean wet towelettes for us which was much appreciated. Ms. Pookie knew all of the spots for great pictures as well as knew where to stand for pics and keeping us safe at the railway track. The ship cleared immigration and we disembarked at 8:35 a.m. Ms. Pookie was waiting for us when we exited the cruise terminal, we were off to Bangkok at 8:40 a.m. and arrived in Bangkok at 10:55 a.m. (2 hrs 15 mins). We visited the Royal Grand Palace & Royal Temple, and Wat Pho (Reclining Buddha) in the morning. In the afternoon, we had a Private long tail boat canal tour (Chao Phraya River) which was really something to experience. We passed on the Flowers & Vegetable Market and instead went to Siam Paragon mall which was all high-end shops and interesting to experience. We were dropped at our hotel at 5:00 p.m. We stayed at the LeMeridien hotel which was quite lovely and elegant. Ms. Pookie and Mr. Happy were very prompt on day 2 in picking us up at the hotel at 7:00 a.m. We arrived at the Maeklong Railway market at 8:20 a.m. (which is even further from the cruise port than Bangkok). From Maeklong, we experienced the Damnern Saduak Floating Market which was very interesting to experience. Since we were so far from port and the traffic is so heavy, we headed back to port at 11:15 a.m. and arrived safely back at port at 2:40 p.m. (3.5 hours). When staying overnight at a Bangkok hotel on your own, you must have your original passport with you or you will not be able to check in to your hotel. One last nice touch was when we pulled into the cruise port on our return, Ms. Pookie and Mr. Happy stopped and brought out birthday cake and a candle from the back of the van and sang happy birthday to our milestone birthday. I suppose after hearing us talk about the birthday, they went out and got the cake and candle which we felt was so sweet and thoughtful. Ms. Pookie and Mr. Happy did an outstanding job of facilitating our tour, keeping us comfortable and safe, and getting us back to port on time. I would highly recommend this company and wouldn't hesitate to use their services again if ever in Bangkok. "Singapore We booked the Celebrity Ultimate Singapore and Airport Drop-off. Water was not provided on this tour. Since it was an all day tour, it would have been nice if water had been provided since it was quite warm. Fortunately, though, we did have water on us. Lunch was not included which we felt probably should have been included for the price. We visited the Botanical Gardens, drove by Little India and colonial-style buildings, ate lunch in China Town, took a bumboat ride on the Singapore River and spent time at the Marina Bay Sands complex which was interesting to see in and of itself. Take the elevator to level 2 of the Casino to overlook the Casino floor - HUGE. Overall, a way to spend the day sightseeing instead of sitting at the airport for 10 hours. On our last overnight stay on the ship in Singapore, from the top deck we watched the light show at the Gardens by the Bay about 7:45 p.m. If you're on the ship at that time and not out and about, you might enjoy it. Although you can see the light show, it is a little ways away. 9) Cabin "We were in an outside cabin on Deck 2 Forward. We were a little apprehensive initially about noise and motion due to our location on the ship. However, it was unbelievably quiet and smooth. Granted we did have smooth seas during our trip, but I still expected to hear ship noises and hear the waves pound the bow. There were numerous times throughout the cruise that I looked out the window to ensure we were still moving because it was that quiet and smooth. Our cabin was brightly decorated with plenty of storage for us. The bathroom was very nicely done with a nice sink and shower. Liked the automatic night light in the bathroom - really helped in the middle of the night. The provided shower gel seemed watered down and we didn't really care for it. We used the hand soap in the shower as it seemed to do a better job at cleaning. The provided shampoo seemed watered down as well. The cabin had a nice flat-screen TV in our room. However, there were times at sea (due to the location of the ship) that there was no signal. So catching the news was a hit and miss at times between Vietnam and Bangkok. We had a great room steward who took really good care of us and helped with all of our needs. 10) Dining "We liked the open concept layout of the Oceanview Café and really liked the bar seating at some of the Café windows. It gives more people a chance to sit at a window. We always went to breakfast early so we didn't have any problems with seating. Findng seats at lunch time from approx 12 noon to 1 p.m. could sometimes be challenging. I felt the service staff kept the tables cleared in a very timely manner. Lights are dimmed in several areas of the Cafe at dinner time, which I thought was a nice touch if you want more of an intimate atmosphere in the Cafe for dinner. Although we ate most of our meals at the Oceanview Cafe, there weren't as many vegetables as I was expecting, and it seemed like a lot of the food was fried. The soups were mostly broths as opposed to hearty soups. Loved their breads in the Bakery and they had a nice selection of ice creams - sometimes offering sorbets and frozen yogurt along with the ice cream. Although I didn't eat any of the desserts, they did look really good. Hamburgers at the Pool Grill were just ok. We've been on other cruises where the burgers at the pool were made to order. These burger patties were pre-made and the servers just put the patties/cheese on the bun. There were condiments that you could add yourself to your burger (i.e. lettuce, tomato, onion, etc). These burgers just didn't have the same flavor as made to order burgers. We did eat at the Tuscan Grille, and my dinner was delicious. Ordered the filet with plenty of vegetables and the lobster pasta and enjoyed it immensely. The meat was very tender and cooked to perfection, and the service was excellent." 11) Dress Code / Formal Wear (Evening Chic) "The dress code per night for our cruise was as follows::  1=Smart Casual; 2=Smart Casual; 3=Evening Chic (day at Sea); 4=Smart Casual; 5=Smart Casual; 6=Smart Casual; 7=Evening Chic (day at Sea); 8=Smart Casual; 9=Smart Casual; 10=Smart Casual; 11=Smart Casual; 12=Evening Chic (day at Sea); 13=Smart Casual; 14=Smart Casual Below are the dress code guidelines per Celebrity: The Code: Celebrity's website states that you'll need two types of evening clothes for a cruise. Most nights are "Smart Casual and Above," meaning sport shirts and slacks for men, while women will be comfortable in skirts or pants and blouses, or casual dresses. On "evening chic" nights, both men and women may prefer more dressy attire, though it is not required. Nor are jackets and ties required for men. Number of Evening Chic nights: Cruises of four to six nights have one evening chic night, those of seven- to 11-night cruises have two, and those with 12 or more nights have three. Written Restrictions and Jeans: T-shirts, swimsuits, robes, tank tops, caps and pool wear are not allowed in the main or specialty restaurants. Shorts and flip-flops are not allowed during evening hours. As long as jeans don't have holes, rips or tears, they are permitted in the main dining room. 12) Entertainment The entertainment was average. There wasn't really any one performance that wowed us. But we do appreciate the effort put forth to provide the entertainment. 13) Disembarkation "We took an all day Singapore tour with airport drop-off Shorex through Celebrity. We got our envelope with disembarkation instructions a couple of days prior to disembarkation. The envelope had a letter with disembarkation instructions but did not include our tickets. I went to Guest Relations right away (since the Shorex Desk wasn't open at that time) and they provided me with tickets with no issues. I'm just glad I caught this prior to disembarkation so that we wouldn't have any potential issues and/or delays at disembarkation. Day of disembarkation went smooth and we had no issues. We found our luggage in the terminal immediately and got to our assigned bus in plenty of time. " 14) Summary Overall, we had a safe and fun cruise. Everything turned out great and we had a very enjoyable journey with many amazing memories. Read Less

My husband and I were on Celebrity Millennium’s Dec 7th cruise, going from Hong Kong to Singapore. We’ve always wanted to take this itinerary and it did not disappoint! Celebrity took care of all our visa requirements. You need to bring with you 2 passport size photos and 2 photocopies of your passport. Make sure your passport’s expiration date is at least 6-month from the last date of your trip. GETTING THERE: Celebrity arranged our flights. It took over 25 hours to get from New York to Hong Kong, with two stopovers. They also booked our airport transfer from HK Airport to Kai Tak Cruise Terminal. We shared a van with another couple. There were no visible signs of unrest throughout our 40-minute drive to the pier. THE SHIP: Millennium is a beautiful ship and perfect size for us – not too big, not too small. Check-in was the fastest we have ever experienced -- we just walked to our stateroom! (We checked online prior to leaving home.) Our room was an Aqua category on the 11th deck. We found a couple of Celebrity freebies on our bed and a bottle of bubbly (perks for being past guests!) Our room steward was Jimmy who was very friendly and efficient. Bathroom no longer had small amenity bottles. Everything was in large, eco-friendly refillable bottles. Shower had a holding bar that was awkwardly placed. Every time I showered, I bumped my elbow to it. TV has limited channels, but it shows your onboard account so you can check it daily. Every day Steve (the cruise director) and Tim (the activity director) appeared on TV to guide the passengers on the day’s activities. Captain Theo gave daily update on the weather and the condition of the water. Laundry service is offered the 2nd week and it’s charged by the bag. The trick to stuffing laundry bag to its max is to fold each piece of clothing and rolling it into a tight burrito. You’ll be very surprised at how much you can stuff into that little bag! ENTERTAINMENT: The nightly show is at 7PM and 9PM --- all very well done! We didn’t go to every show, however. Some evenings, we just took our time over dinner. There are many talented musicians scattered throughout the ship, including the ship’s very own band. Every single person in that band is an accomplished musician! There are lectures on the culture and religion of the cities we will be visiting – all interesting and informative. SPA & GYM: Aqua category passengers have access Persian Garden, which has the fewest spa amenities we have ever seen on any cruise ships! The steam room was very dark. When we went in, we didn't know if there was anybody else in there. Sauna and salt room are the size of closet. We only went to Persian Garden twice. Right outside the Persian Garden is the Solarium. The pool had so much chlorine in it that we spent more time rubbing our eyes than swimming! We only went there once. Gym is always crowded on the sea days (as expected) but has plenty of other equipments to keep you fit. FOODS & DRINKS: The advantage of booking the Aqua category is the exclusive dining at the Blu restaurant. We enjoyed eating there for quality of foods & services. They only served breakfast and dinner. Alex was the Maitre D and he was very attentive to his customers' needs. For lunch, we ate at Oceanview Café, which was always crowded. But our stateroom was conveniently located right above, so if we couldn’t find a table, we could easily take our plate back to our room and eat it there. Luckily, we never have to do that because we always found a table somewhere. We ate at several specialty restaurants. Our favorites were Sushi on 5 (fresh fish!) and Le Petit Chef (a unique entertaining dining experience!) Our least favorite was the Chef’s Table, not because the food was bad, but because we didn’t get to enjoy it. We were forewarned to have light lunch when we booked this dinner. They changed our reservation at the last minute to the very day when we had LATE and HEAVY lunch! With sincere apology to the many chefs who meticulously prepared each dish, we left a lot of food on the plate. We were simply not hungry that night. (In hindsight, we should’ve cancelled our reservation because it was the most expensive meal of our trip!) Dining at Chef’s Table came with Daniel Boulud’s cookbook that weighs 5-lb. It was a miracle that I was able to fit it into my over-stuffed suitcase! Our booking included Premium Drinking Package. Be advised that the drinks in your room’s fridge are not included in the package. We asked Jimmy to remove everything so we could put our own drinks in there. The best part of this drinking package is the specialty coffee, tea, and fresh pastries at the Café al Bacio! We always get our morning coffee from there and bring it to Blu for breakfast. The coffee there is so much better than anywhere else on the ship! PORTS: We docked at every port, so there was no need for tender. HONG KONG (2 days): Embarkation was from here. Having the ship docked here for two days mean we don’t have to worry about arriving late. There are plenty of taxis at the pier. There is also Forex counter nearby but it’s expensive. It’s cheaper to get HKD at the airport ATM. We were jetlagged the first day so did not venture out. But on the second day, we took a taxi to Kowloon and had breakfast at One Dim Sum. Afterwards, we took the MTR to Lantau Island to see the Big Buddha. The weather was perfect and the day was perfect! On the second day, everybody must go through the HK Immigration Inspection on the ship. It started with Deck 2 for the 3 PM inspection. For Deck 10 & 11, it was at 6 PM. The line moved fast and it was well organized. After the inspection came the Emergency Drill at 7:30 PM. Our assembly station was very crowded and noisy. We couldn’t hear any of the emergency instructions, but since we’ve been to so many cruise already, we knew it by heart. HA LONG BAY (2 days): This is the Millennium's first port in Vietnam and you will receive a pink “Passenger’s Landing Card” from Celebrity. You will need this card to visit all the ports in Vietnam. The visa fee is $6 pp if you booked any shore excursions with Celebrity. It’s $28 pp if you are going independently. You need a visa even if you are staying onboard. Our stateroom was on the port side and we saw beautiful sunrise from our balcony. The cruise ship docked in Halong Int’l Cruise Port in Bai Chay. The Bai Chay Bridge (an impressive multi-lane cable bridge) connects Bai Chay to Quang Ninh Province. Passengers are provided with complimentary shuttles to go to the main terminal. If you need Vietnamese currency, walk through the terminal and go outside. You’ll find the ATM kiosk on your left. December weather in northern Vietnam was chilly in the morning but warmer in the afternoon. We booked o/n cruise on our own and our driver was waiting for us. Ha Long Bay and its neighbor, Bai Tu Long Bay (less touristy and just as beautiful), are both accessible by small boats. Overnight stay is highly recommended to experience the sunrise and sunset over hundreds of limestone karsts and isles up close. This place is sublime! CHAN MAY: This port is to go to Hue, Da Nang, and/or Hoi An. We booked “Hoi An on Your Own” with Celebrity. The weather was warmer here than in Ha Long Bay. It took almost 3 hours to get there because we got stuck in heavy traffic just before entering a long tunnel. The ancient city of Hoi An was worth the trip and our excursion included a city pass which allowed us to enter five historical sights. It drizzled most of the day. Our guide gave us poncho and a bottle of water before setting us free to explore Hoi An. This town is small; you can walk around on your own. You don’t need a guide, but have a map and some knowledge of the history will make this visit more interesting. The iconic Japanese covered bridge is the main attraction of Hoi An. It’s a small 16th century stone bridge (rebuilt multiple times) that span over small murky river. It’s free to view from outside, but if you want to go inside, you need a city pass. Have some small local currency handy. I paid 2,000 VND ($.10) to use the bathroom. Another tourist did not have any and was charged $1 (23,150 VND). Not having to worry about transportation was very convenient and stress-free. PHU MY (pronounced “FOO MEE”): This port is to go to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon and still called by this name by many people. This port is very industrial. We booked “Ho Chi Minh on Your Own” and it took a little over two hours to get to the city. The bus dropped us off in front of the Bitexco Financiall Tower. This city is very congested with motorcycles everywhere – including sidewalks! Crossing the street in Ho Chi Minh City is not for the faint of heart. The trick is to keep walking straight and don’t make any sudden, unpredictable movements. The motorcyclists and cars will see you and go around you. Followed the flow of traffic and you’ll be fine. We came back early to the BItexco building because we wanted to visit the Skydeck on the 49th floor. You need a ticket to go up. Let the cashier know that you are with Celebrity and you’ll get 10% off. We paid 360,000 VND ($15.50) for two tickets. They will take a photo of you in the lobby, and when you get to the top, you can buy it for $5. The Skydeck has panoramic view of the city and there is gift shop and restroom and benches to sit. The best part of staying here is that it has A/C -- because outside was HOT HOT HOT! This was our last port in Vietnam. When we returned to the ship, we are required to drop our Landing Card in a box by the gangway. LAEMCHABANG (2 days): This port is to go to Bangkok. We booked Celebrity’s “Overnight Bangkok on your own (Hotel Not Included)”. The bus ride took almost 3 hours and we were dropped off at the Central World Plaza, a large shopping complex in the city. We booked our o/n hotel with Millennium Hilton, which was conveniently located on the bank of Chao Phraya River where the Grand Palace and Wat Pho are located. Unfortunately, the Grand Place close at 3:30 PM, so we went to Wat Pho (home of the Reclining Buddha), which close at 6:30 PM. That evening, we had authentic Thai dinner at Thara Thong Restaurant, conveniently located across the river from our hotel. The following morning, we had a FANTASTIC Thai Massage at the Health Land Spa & Massage that our guide recommended! We had a couple’s massage and it only costs 1,200 Baht ($39) for TWO HOURS for BOTH of us! We left the place feeling very relaxed. My husband’s masseuse even fixed his backache (caused by sitting on the long bus ride to Hoi An.) Next time we come to Bangkok, we will make this place our destination. We took the skytrain (Bangkok’s public transportation) back to the shopping plaza for our 2:00 PM departure from the city. The time spent in Bangkok was definitely too short. SINGAPORE (2 days): This was our last port and we were scheduled to disembark the following day. We knew we had a lot to do here, so we decided to check out a day early when we were planning our trip. For tech-savvy city like Singapore, we were surprised they had computer glitch the morning we arrived. No one can get off the ship until it was fixed and it took a long time. After we got the green light to get off, we walked some distance to take the MRT (Singapore’s public transportation) to our hotel. There were some people walking to the train station ahead of us, so we followed them with our luggage. We stayed o/n at the Conrad Centennial. The MRT station is conveniently located two blocks from the hotel. We did a lot of sightseeing and eating that day and got back to our hotel close to midnight, but we got to sleep late the following morning. (Had we stayed on Millennium, we would have to get up early to disembark.) After our leisurely breakfast the following morning, we took the train to the Changi Airport for our flight home. We paid 5 SGD ($3.70) for two tickets and it took about 45 minutes to get there. The airport has several places to store your luggage so you can walk around JEWEL, Singapore’s newest nature-themed retail complex, and home to the world’s tallest indoor waterfall. (It’s free to enter but the attractions have fees.) There are a lot of restaurants here, but it’s cheaper to go to the basement for their Hawker-style dining. Just be prepared for the crowd (think Grand Central Station at rush hour!) SOME FINAL THOUGHTS: This SE Asia trip was rather expensive when you add the cruise, the flights, and the excursions. To minimize our costs, I only booked the transportation with Celebrity and did the sightseeing on our own. (This required a lot of research on our part.) I also booked our excursions when Celebrity was running a sale -- a total of 15-20% saving. Our stay at Hilton Millennium in Bangkok, and Conrad Centennial in Singapore were both free because we are Hilton Honors members and we used our points. We used public transportation wherever we could. It was not only cheap and efficient, but also a lot of fun to ride with the locals! All the cities we visited are safe and people are friendly, but do use your common sense and be aware of your surrounding. Have fun sightseeing but don’t miss your meeting time with your guide. It’s a long way back to the port by taxi. Be careful of where you eat and what you eat. If the place has a lot of people, chances are food there is fresher. Drink from bottled beverages. Bring a lot of wet towels and napkins because these commodities are lacking in many places we ate. (If the wet towel packets are on the table, ask if they are free; a lot of times they are not.) Lastly, I bought travel health insurance for both of us, which is good anywhere in the world (except Afghanistan and Yemen.) It covers doctor and hospital visit and medical evacuation and repatriation. It’s affordable – an extra expense to be sure, but a small price to pay for peace of mind. (I bought my insurance from Squaremouth.com and no, I don’t work for the company!) CONCLUSION: We’ve never been to SE Asia before and enjoyed each city for its culture and food. We loved the extra day’s stay in ports that allowed us more time to explore. Even when our flight home was delayed by 4.5 hours, it didn’t ruin our vacation. We arrived home a few days before Christmas and shared our AMAZING memories with our family and friends! Read Less

My son and I took the Celebrity Cruise to Southeast Asia on Dec 7th. I would like to share my horrible experience with everyone, hoping it will not happen to anyone anymore. After I came back, I literally had nightmares about Celebrity's deceptive behavior and dishonest business practices. Excursions All of my friends who took cruises to Southeast Asia from other cruise ship companies informed me that I did not need to schedule any tours in advance because there would be plenty of taxis  and tour buses at the port looking for business and they would be happy to drive anyone to their destination. Therefore, I did not book any tours in advance. After we got on the ship, they kept announcing everyday that there were not going to be any taxis or tour buses at any of the ports we stopped at, so we would be stuck on the ship if we did not book any excursions with them. After hearing this alarming announcement, a lot of people  started to schedule an excursion. Though, we found out it was not true and there were in fact plenty of taxis and tour buses waiting for us at each port. Luckily, we overheard this information from some other guests who signed up for an excursion which they scheduled through Trip Advisor's recommendation to Ho Chi Minh City , Bangkok and Pattaya and we later joined the same tour and we were very happy with those tour companies' service. A lot of people on our cruise were not happy with  their shore excursions from Celebrity because they were charged five times more than if they were to plan their own excursion and they went to fewer places. Since, I did not find any guests who already booked a tour at the Chiang Mai port, so afterward I was scared by their announcement in the morning. I rushed to purchase an excursion because I did not want to be stuck on the ship for the whole day. I had originally wanted to visit Da Nang or Hue, but the bus had already left . For that reason, I paid $69.00 to book the tour" Hoi Ann on our own". Unfortunately, we missed the bus, and the check-in lady said that we could not get refund, but she could book another tour for us since we missed the last bus even though we did not want to go to that place, and I did not want to waste $69, so we got on that bus with another couple who also missed the original bus. The only activities we did from that tour was to take a 15 minutes cable car ride to a small village to eat a self-paid buffet. After I came back, the other guests told me that they wanted to take a risk to walk out from the port even they heard that threatening announcement again. After they walked one minute from the port, they found a lot of tour buses there. The bus they took even came with a tour guide, which took them( five people) to the two main cities, where I had intended to go for that day and each person was only charged $30. I felt horrible that I missed the chance to visit the two main cities which I wanted to go to just because I fell for celebrity’s misleading announcement. Moreover, I found out that instead of charging the tour price we paid of $69, they charged us $159 ( the total price for two of us was $318). I told the shore excursions department that we were not told that tour will cost $159 for each person and we would  be charged the additional difference, otherwise, we would rather give up the $69. We requested that they refund us for the additional charge ($159 - $69 = $90); even though they knew that they did not inform us of any additional charges. Instead, they insisted that we should be charged the full amount of $159 because we agreed to get on that bus.  Afterwards, I argued with them several times, but there was no result, so I almost gave up.The short excursion manager finally agreed to refund the additional charge but with a very unhappy attitude. I don’t think I should have to go through such an unpleasant process in order to get my refund.  Hidden charges for water bottles Another issue I had was with the room service attendant who put two water bottles on our table almost everyday and I did not know that we would be charged for those two water bottles, so I even said thanks to the attendant for providing us two water bottles everyday, but she did not tell us that we would be charged $13.20 for the two water bottles. That was, until I requested the bill from guest relationships on the last day, that I found out that I was charged $13.20 for two water bottles each day. I asked our room service attendant about it. She apologized that she did not tell us that we would be charged for two bottles ( even though we met her everyday and said thanks to her for her kindness by giving us the two water bottles). Then she showed us that there was a small slip against the back of the wall with the itemized prices. We did not see it since the paper was put out of view and we did not bother to look for that paper since we did not plan to drink any wine or coke from the refrigerator. On the last day, even though we read through the list, we could not find the price for the water bottles. We only noticed Evian on the bottom of the list, and we had no clue what Evian meant. Then we suddenly recalled Evian is the brand name of the water company.  Even if we had seen the price slip on the first day,  we would have not realized Evian was the water bottle. Why they did not write “water bottle” on the price list, but wrote “Evian” instead? All in all,  I think Celebrity intentionally meant to mislead us, so we could pay $13.20  for two water bottles each time. I requested the refund because of this deception, but my request was denied. How are people who are not familiar with that brand of water, supposed to know that they were going to be charged for water in their room? In addition, when my son was in the buffet area, a waitress  came by and asked my son if he wanted to order any drinks and my son asked her if he could have water. He asked if it was free; and she said it was. Although, after she brought the water to my son, she presented him with the bill, and he found out the water was in fact not free.  This is unethical and unacceptable business practice. Shortchanged when exchanging currency Upon arriving in Singapore, I exchanged 58.20 USD in cash for 70 Singaporean dollars at the guest relations counter. Instead of counting the money out to us, the representative gave us the money altogether. I trusted that the amount was correct, but right afterwards when I purchased the MRT ticket, I found out that I only had 40 Singaporean dollars. I am willing to let it go and not question it. But to top it all off, I found that they charged my credit card $58.20 for the currency exchange, even though I had already given them the $58.20 USD in cash!( I have the printed summary) They also charged me $70 USD which matched the amount of the Singaporean Dollar I was supposed to get in full. I really could not believe my eyes when I saw I was charged $58.20 and $70 on my credit card after I came home.  Spurious credit card charges Besides that, I also found that they charged many other unknown items to my credit card besides of charging me the total amount from the invoice they emailed to me.  Even though the mandatory daily gratuity was already included in the overall invoice, they charged the gratuity again to my card, thereby double-counting the gratuity. I cannot tolerate people who are deceptive and who only think of themselves and not others. I do not blame the employees personally for their behavior, since I believe they were told by the company to act in such a way. I hope they will not deny that they engaged in these business practices, and in writing this review, I hope others can see this and be forewarned about Celebrity's dishonest behavior. Read Less

We have been to Bangkok, Viet Nam and Hong Kong before but we wanted a chance to visit Singapore. Celebrity has always been good for us so we decided to use Celebrity for this cruise. It did not start well, as the Hong Kong hotel provided by Celebrity was close to the HK cruise terminal, but it was located in a very plain neighborhood that was basically a large local area of small store, cafes but nothing very attractive. It was a good 15 minute cab or shuttle to the main shopping areas and luckily the hotel provided a shuttle bus that ran regularly. The hotel itself was very plain but clean. It would be a place for a one-night stay before a cruise but a two-day stay would have been painful. We had a Concierge class cabin that was large and very comfortable. There was plenty of storage space and the bath room was plenty large. The room was very nice and we had plenty of space to spread out our papers, computers, etc. The food on the first two or three days of the cruise in the buffet was good but repetitive. By the fourth day or so more variety was added and things got better. We ate in the Metropolitan about four times for dinner and the staff was wonderful and we want to give Chiang (spelling?) and her crew were terrific and the food was just fine. Entertainment in the main theater was excellent with a very good line up of entertainers and an excellent shipboard musical company of a very good house band and some great dancers and singers. The cruise director, Steve, was the best we have ever had on any ship on our 30+ cruises. There were not enough exercise activities like workout classes although the gym was very nice. There was a port lecturer but perhaps one more would have made things more interesting especially if it was one relating to the local economies, history and biology of the regions we visited. I thought they should have put the main theater to use by running movies in that room rather in a more distant venue. Service was uniformly excellent everywhere from the room stewards, restaurants, passenger services and excursions and things were planned very well for the excursions and pre-excursions and boarding and exiting the ship when on excursions. Read Less

I chose this cruise based on the itinerary. This was my 32nd cruise not all with Celebrity. I like the size of the ship. Not too big that you get lost in the hoards. We were upgraded to Concierge class partly due to the prices falling after we booked. If there was any negative to this cruise, it was the way in which Celebrity handled the Chinese Visa question. So much misinformation and non-communication on the part of the cruise line. From my research, all qualifying passengers could apply for a Visa-Free Transit permit. Celebrity declined to accept this. Rumors were flying that Celebrity may deny boarding in Yokohama if proper documentation was not shown. This did not happen. We were required to bring 3 copies of our passport which was taken at embarkation. These were used for China and Taiwan. The irony was that if you booked a Celebrity tour off the ship, no visa was required. That seemed pretty strange. We ended up booking a ship tour of Shanghai (against my better judgement) and it was very disappointing. Embarkation was very easy for Concierge class and went smoothly. There was a special lunch that was very nice. The Millenium had just gone through a refurb earlier in the year and was looking very fresh and well appointed. Our cabin was roomy enough. There was no large table making the room appear smaller. Lots of room to move. The bathroom was small but doable. I like the under counter lighting that served as a night light. Great idea. The food in the dining room was very good with lots of choice. Service was spotty at times but overall would rate good. Portion size was also good. Nice that shrimp cocktail and escargot were daily features. The entertainment was excellent and varied. The local Japanese geisha and drum performers were well received. Well done Celebrity. Activities were numerous and something there for just about everyone despite your taste. The bar staff at the Martini bar were entertaining and friendly. I am giving this cruise an overall rating of 5. The few negatives did not were present did not deserve a lesser rating. Read Less

We booked this cruise due to its itinerary, price, and perks. With departure from Tokyo and overnight stops in Kobe, Taipei, and Hong Kong as well as a stop in Shanghai it was a great way to see Asia's major cities on one cruise. Also, having never cruised with Celebrity before it was a chance to experience what Celebrity promises to offer, "a premium cruise with outstanding service and taste culinary excellence, all while on board ships with stunning designs and luxurious accommodations." Before we even boarded, however, issues started to crop up with our booking that caused us to have concerns about Celebrity's standard of quality: 1. The two perks that we chose on booking were changed to some other options (twice) and had to be reinstated after calling my cruise agent 2.On the reinstatement of the perks, Celebrity would not use the discount price used to book shore excursions as date was passed expiry until intervention again by cruise agent. 3. The original itinerary with overnight stop in Taipei was revised to eliminate the overnight stop. Celebrity tried to sell this with corporate speak. "We’re always looking for ways to create the best possible vacation experience, so we've modified your itinerary with an additional port of call in Japan. Our schedule now allows us to visit Kochi, Japan". And oh, by the way we had to make a technical stop in Korea because you can't sail directly from China to Taiwan. Oops. We hope it doesn't inconvenience you. Whoopie...Although lovely, we didn't need to see another Japanese port (4 already) What that really did was wreck any plans to be able to see Taipei as the one day in Taipei is short and since Taipei is 1 hour away from the port, left only 4 hours instead of 1 1/2 days. 3. Celebrity sent out emails advising getting a Chinese visa unless a Shanghai tour was prebooked. This was erroneous as Shanghai had a 144-hour visa-free transit policy for over 3 years. With the technical stop in Korea, the cruise met all the requirements as it was in transit between 2 foreign countries. More on this later. Embarkation: Went fairly smooth as filling all preboarding information meant everything was ready at registration desk. However, there was confusion regarding visas as those with visas were directed to another line. That's when we overheard someone shouting that "the 144 hour policy" was not being accepted. We had booked a private tour ourselves and that raised a concern: are we now stuck on board? Stateroom: Renovation of the rooms was nicely done with large shower and glass door, which was nice. Lots of storage space and bed was high enough that suitcases can be slipped under. TV had limited selection of free movies and some TV channels. Main Dining Room: Major disappointment as menu was not inspiring and repetitive. Food choices were bland, relatively tasteless, and quality varied. Some days the salmon was cooked just right and the next overdone and dry. Same with the pasta. Seems like all the quality had been transferred to Specialty Dining and the masses given cafeteria food. Far from the "culinary excellence" that Celebrity was hyping. Our server was good but dining room appears understaffed as dinner took 2 hours from sitdown to dessert. Our server can be seen running around and was hard to flag down. Additional requests took 15 to 20 mins to be fulfilled. Oceanview Cafe: Lots of options but as in dining room, menu was repetitive and not inspiring, just dressed up differently. Had fish, pork, and chicken available to freshly grill, which was nice rather than sitting around under hot lamps drying out. Also there were stations for make your own pasta and stir-fry. For an Asian cruise, there weren't a lot of Asian options and what options there were, wasn't very good. Lack of fresh vegetables as broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, carrots, corn were provided sporadically and most times were not available. Fresh uncut fruits like red/green apples, oranges, bananas were provided sporadically and what was provided was soon gone. Also appeared to be understaffed in Cafe as tables with dirty dishes were often not cleared for sometime. Entertainment: Boring lineup...few productions and too many vocalists. There were some wonderful acts such as the Taiko drummers and DuoSoleil but other nights filled with singers. They might be cheap to book and be great for lounges but for a large theatre stage?? What happened to the days when big productions filled the theatre...cruise lines have gone cheap. Shore Excursions: Ran pretty smoothly. Pricing was fair as not much more than what a private arrangement would cost. Easy to book with the Celebrity App as we were forced to book a Shanghai excursion after learning that the ship would not honor the 144-hour policy - not exactly the tour we wanted. Tickets delivered to stateroom by next day. Regarding the "144 hour policy", after hearing that the policy was not being accepted we went to Guest Relations to find out why. Their response after checking their backroom was that "it was due to government policy and only applied to those with airline flights" Informed them that this was nonsense as we had checked with our tour operator and they informed that based on our itinerary (with the Korean stop) that we were good to go. Had to email and cancel our private tour at last minute as we would not have been allowed off the ship. Was not happy to say the least. IT: No onboard screens anywhere on ship to access deck plans, menus, activities, etc. Celebrity wants you to install their Celebrity App on your device (free download). While onboard App also allows you to text other passengers that you can invite (free connection to ship wifi for this purpose, thumbs up for that option). However, there were glitches as some text messages weren't delivered and ship itinerary has errors such as showing Hiroshima as one of our port stop when it should have been Kagoshima. More quality issues. Disembarkation: went smoothly as ship pretty much cleared by 9:30AM. On the last day at sea Guest Relations offered a "Customer Satisfaction" future cruise booking credit in response to my complaint regarding their handling of the 144-hour policy. No explanation given and still unclear why they didn't honor it. Was it a Corporate issue regarding interpretation or ship procedure wanting to streamline processing passengers and not wanting complications? Unknown but leaves uncertainty for other future passengers in similar situation. Will we be book another cruise with Celebrity? With the future booking credit, we will give Celebrity one more chance. We are hoping they have upped their game on their other ships, otherwise, it would be our last as their level of quality and service on this cruise was a major disappointment. It does not come close to a level that matches that of other cruise lines we have sailed on, let alone "a premium cruise experience" that they promote. Read Less

We were attracted to this cruise because of the comprehensive itinerary that took us to Japan, Shanghai, Taiwan and Hong Kong in 14 days. We had sailed on the larger S class ships before, but found the smaller Millennium equally as good, not lacking anything except a specialty restaurant similar to Murano. The ship was in beautiful condition after its recent refurbishment. Our aft cabin had a huge balcony and the cabin itself was spacious. Our attendant Oliver, was perhaps the best we’ve had. There are plenty of quiet places on the ship to read or talk, a variety of bars ranging from the buzzy Martini Bar to the more sedate Cellarmasters or the in between Rendezvous. We varied our evening dining between the main dining room, specialty restaurants and the Oceanview buffet. The food in the main dining room was very good, the sommelier excellent and the staff very attentive. The only gripe is that the tables for two are much too close together. This was often awkward depending on who your neighbours were and a real turn off. The Tuscan Grill lacks the view of S class ships and the food whilst good, was not worth the surcharge. Le Petit Chef was great fun and very clever. Loved Cafe Bacio. Now we get to the Oceanview Cafe - although the food was good and there was a wide variety available, the behaviour of other guests turned this venue into a zoo at breakfast. Breakfast in the main dining room was an option for a more civilised meal. The Chinese visa issue was a big one for many guests, We opted to get a visa so had no problems leaving the ship in Shanghai. Chinese officials however denied entry to a number of passengers - even though technically they didn’t need a visa. Celebrity had sent confusing emails about this, but in the weeks before stressed the need for a visa. We complied and had an amazing day in Shanghai. We took one ship tour as it included free time, all other tours were organised via our roll call. Tours in Japan are not as easy to organise as in other parts of the world and are quite expensive. Distance from some ports is also an issue, so for some a ship tour may be best. The cruise director was one of the best we’ve had. We found the variety of shows in the main theatre very good. The drummers, acrobats, pianist and the male vocalist were standouts. Daytime entertainment on sea days was poor. Overall, Celebrity lived up to its reputation as a premium line in the mainstream market. Read Less

Joined friends on a 14 day cruise. Sailed on this ship 16 years ago and recall better food, more food choices with longer hours. On this cruise the food choices and hours for food are more limited and the technology is essentially the same including very slow WiFi. Very frustrating pre-cruise on-line experience with obvious outdated IT systems with obvious priority on revenue and not on customer of today experience. The employees are very good at what they do and are very welcoming. Definitely Celebrity’s best asset and strongest suit. Activities are well organized and run smoothly. Celebrity’s lack of IT capability makes things like linking dinner reservations with friends or even making a speciality dining reservation a very manual and time intensive process. The bottom line is the traditional onboard experience is a good one.. but Celebrity hasn’t moved into the 21st century with their systems to accommodate today’s customers. This could be my last cruise with Celebrity until they improve their booking and pre-cruise and onboard planning experience. Read Less

An easy way to see quite a lot of Japan. We had 3 nights in Tokyo prior to the cruise at the Royal park Canvas in Ginza. Lovely new hotel within walking distance of the fish markets and lots of restaurants. Embarkation and disembarkation at Yokohama was probably the most efficient I have ever experienced. Unfortunately the immigration procedures on board re entering Japan at Hakodate after South Korea really let the side down. Japanese officials were very slow despite the cruise director's attempts to instill a sense of urgency. Cabin was lovely except for the noise. [ see review ] Dining room food and service was excellent. Very considerate of my elderly friend, making sure we were close to the entrance and even giving her slightly larger portions when she decided just to have starters and not a main meal. The Oceanview cafe never felt crowded and I love the stools and bench table arrangement along the windows. Great if you are eating by yourself and do not need a whole table. I never go to the production shows having discovered along time ago that they are not my thing. However I loved the Taiko drum performance and the aerialist duo were fantastic. The classical pianist one afternoon was a real treat and his concert was very well attended. I would love it if Celebrity provided more entertainment of this standard. Apart from an excursion to the bamboo forest outside Kyoto and a trip to Nara, we did our own thins with a combination of shuttle buses and taxis. Read Less

Took the opportunity to take this cruise because of the stops at China and Japan, it was great to get a taster of these countries. Ship has had a full refurbishment since we last cruised on the Millenium and it looks much better although some did not like the color choices we thought they were ok. Cabins are fitted out much better and have a little more room thanks to the shorter couch. The bathroom is better and feels like it has more room and the shower head is much better and you get a much improved flow of water. Interesting that in general areas floor coverings were done but ceilings and edging, doors and some furniture remained the same. We noted the reduction of the gym size and the loss of the library for more more state rooms. The buffet restaurant layout has improved and the food good. We were disappointed with Blu restaurant we felt the quality of the meals had dropped from our last cruse how ever the staff were excellent as always. Staff service in general was excellent and it was great to see the crew just as pleasant and happy as the last cruise. Entertainment was ok as was the ship tours that we did do. The self organised tours we did with the cruise critic forum groups were great, smaller groups and set to the specific interests of the group. We also did a few shore based tours ourselves which were also very good and cost effective. All in all the cruise was very good and what we expected. Read Less

Traveled October 26-Nov 9 2019. Party of 7 (6 adults 1 child). Overall the cruise was great. Here is a breakdown: Pre-Cruise: Did a lot of planning. Booked 10 months in advance. Chinese Visas were needed for everyone despite the cruise ship saying differently. Live in NJ so went to Consulate in NY and got Visas done. One person was able to drop off Visa applications for everyone and they were ready 3 days later for pickup. Note: if you work for nonprofit, educational institution, sales, etc. they will only approve a 3-month visa so timing is important. Onboard: Went back and forth with the type of cabin to book. Came down to suite, concierge class (CC), and Family Veranda (FV). Ultimately went with FV and so glad we did. FV is actually larger than sky suite and CC rooms. Although the ship considers FV a step down from CC, the extra space was wonderful for party of 3 (2 adults and 1 child 5). Food: Food in main dining rooms was good. Specialty dining food was lacking. Kid Club was amazing. Since went during the school year not a lot of kids onboard maybe 10 but the staff did a great job keeping them entertained. My DD had a blast. Excursions: Booked all through Tours By Locals. Given our party size was able to book fully customizable private tours. Again booking early is key as their tour guides get booked early. Tour company was great. All tour guides showed up on time, and contacted me prior to confirm. (Used whats app) The one problem we had was easily corrected. No complaints. My family and I got to enjoy so much of Asia. Read Less

My husband had been wanting to return to Asia, and I suggested this cruise. It was supposed to be 14 days, but typhoon Hagibis delayed our departure for two days. Pro #1, Celebrity was very generous with the compensation they offered, including refundable on-board credit and future cruise credit. However, this brings me to my first con, which is misleading e-mails. After booking this cruise, a blanket email was sent out stating that we needed a Chinese visa and we would need to be fingerprinted. I had already looked into the requirements for a Chinese visa and believed we didn’t need one with our itinerary. Upon calling Celebrity, they confirmed that we would not need a visa. When I suggested that perhaps their email should mention other options, they explained they prefer to have individual customers call in and confirm their personal requirements directly with Celebrity. (Upon reading posts from our cruise and similar cruises on Cruise Critic, this issue is a cause for concern for many travelers.) We received another misleading email after our cruise was postponed, saying we had missed the ship and giving us information on how to catch up with it. This email was sent out accidentally to everyone, and again it caused a lot of concern. Getting to the ship was also a bit of a nightmare, which is con #2. We had booked transfers from the airport in Tokyo. There was no dedicated place to sit and wait for the bus. We landed at about 2:30 and around 4:30 an agent took us to an outdoor area where we waited another half hour. It was windy and raining lightly and not very warm. Upon getting to the port, there was no canopy to unload under, so we waited in the rain while the bags were being unloaded. The actual process of checking in and boarding was quick and easy, which was a plus! This was a very busy cruise of 12 days, with only one sea day. There was a free shuttle to the center of town in many of the ports. We did a variety of shore excursions; two private, two through the ship, two days where we just got taxis, and days where we used the shuttle service and explored on our own. I have no complaints about the ship excursions. When we hired taxis, our taxi drivers had a translator program on their phone, and they got us where we wanted to be. We were very happy with the service they provided. I thought that there was lots of variety in the main dining room, and I was happy with most of the dinners we had there. The servers and wine steward were friendly and personable. We had select dining, and we didn’t have any trouble reserving the same time and table for every night. Breakfast and lunch we ate in the buffet, unless we were out and about exploring a port. As a sandwich and salad kind of person, I was very happy with the selection and freshness of the ingredients. My husband often had pasta cooked to order, and he seemed happy with his selections, too. The pizza was also a favorite. We enjoyed the Sunset Bar on the back deck, and the Rendevous Bar on deck four. We loved the servers in both bars. Con #3, however, is that sometimes it seemed that options for bars during the day are limited. For example, the bar on deck twelve, forward on the ship, (I always call it the Crows Nest!) did not open until 7:00 or 7:30 at night. One night when we stopped up there, it was open for Elite members only. We’ve cruised a lot on Holland America, and we’ve enjoyed having bloody Mary’s in the forward bar during the day. We really missed that! One of my favorite things on a cruise is to connect with the crew and staff, and Celebrity did not disappoint in this area. The cruise director and many crew members were very visible throughout the cruise, and as always, I was amazed at the staff members that remember our names almost immediately. So even though there were some cons, the wonderful staff, comfortable cabin, and satisfactory food made our overall experience very good. P.S. A word about disembarkation. I feel that Celebrity did a good job of preparing us for disembarkation in China. But we still waited in line a long time at immigration. Just be patient; everyone is in the same situation. Read Less

First time traveling with Celebrity Cruises and first time traveling to Japan. SHIP The ship is newly remodeled and they did an excellent job. It's a smaller ship so I found it easy to navigate. - 10th floor: spa and buffet - 4th floor: casino, theater and main dining EMBARKATION/DISEMBARKATION Easiest embarkation process EVER! We had checked-in online and had our Celebrity express pass. After going through security we literally walked onto the boat and our card keys were on our cabin. We got on the boat around noon. - Taxi from Yokohama station to Daikoku Pier was roughly $45 - We used the free shuttle on the disembarkation that took us from Diakoku Pier to a Sakuragicho station. I would recommend this route for both directions. NARITA AIRPORT - We got to/from the Narita Airport using Narita Express. - We purchased the roundtrip for roughly $40 (requires foreign passport). Its very quick BUT there are some hiccups with this - Because our return date change due to the typhoon, we had to wait in line at the JR office to change the dates. For some reason the Nagasaki office couldn't change the date but she stamped our tickets so we could take them to the Yokohama office to change the dates. This was stressful. Some agents speak english and some do not. I had to use google translate to communicate with the agent and she also had some device in which she spoke Japanese into and it output English on the screen. The queues were long - You don't have to put your luggage on the front of the car, you can take them to your seats and squeeze them in with you. For some reason I thought I had to put the luggage up front and those were always full. - On my return to Narita the train, the train was on was stopped due to a human-related accident. I had no idea what the agent was saying but the person next to me spoke English and helped me. I had to leave the train and exchange my ticket with the operator and catch the train across the platform...or I could have stayed on the train until service resumed which was estimated to be 30-40 minutes later. CABIN We stayed in cabin 2102 (ocean view) and were very happy with it. - plenty of charging ports - plenty of space for 3 people - replaced the typical shower curtain with an actual glass door. - I didn't hear much non-standard noise like banging or anything so I think this is a pretty good room if you require more quiet for sleeping. - Cabin provided blow dryer, umbrella and reusable bag - TIP: the only outlet in the bathroom is for a shaver, so you may need an extension cord if you use anything like a waterpik or some other things. - TIP: the body soap is worthless, bring your own. - Our cabin had no plumbing or A/C issues, but I did notice that cabins on the 2nd floor towards the back of the boat did smell like sewage in the hallway when I walked by. DINING I felt that the food was great on the ship. The buffet has many options, including gluten free. The french fries are excellent (available outside by the pool). There's also more healthy options by the solarium on 10th floor. For dinner we mainly took to the main dining room. We had no problems with poor service or cold food. We enjoyed main dining very much, but also ate at the 6pm hour which is earlier. We only did one specialty dining - crab platter during lunch at sea. It was $45 a person and you get 2 alaskan crab legs, 2 crab cakes, crab bisque and garlic bread. It was too much crab to eat all at once. I would pass on this again if I could. ENTERTAINMENT There's a nightly free slot tournament at 8, in which I won $50 free slot play. Also lost my own money on the slots but it was fair give & take and worth the entertainment. The nightly shows are excellent. The singers are strong performers and always in tune. And the performances themselves are mature and not too gimmicky. TYPHOON We went during typhoon hagabis and our trip was rerouted to Nagaski and extended 2 days. It was chaotic on the boat with everyone trying to reschedule their flights/hotels and not knowing what was going to happen. Celebrity handled it well. They opened the satellite phones and reimbursed all calls. Also they setup a computer station with 8 laptops and gave free internet access for the remaining cruise to help everyone. I was very happy with how they handled the situation. I fortunately booked with Celebrity using Flights by Celebrity. Going forward I will always use this option. I booked with them cause the price was $50 less expensive than booking directly with the airline. But during the typhoon, Flights by Celebrity automatically rescheduled by flight and provided free hotel, and hotel & airport transfer for the change. It was a true blessing and I would suggest you use them for this single reason alone. There were plenty of people who could not get in touch with their airlines or had issues rescheduling. CELLULAR DATA Originally I thought I wouldn't need cellular data if I had prepared enough. Looking back I'm glad I didn't go that route. I changed carriers in the US from cricket wireless to google FI. Google fi offers free cellular roaming in the standard package. I had service most days except for At Sea Days. And I used the service at every port, especially google Maps. My phone bill for the month was only $35.53 which also include 2 short international calls during the Typhoon. ($0.20 per minute) I highly recommend you have data. TIP: I have a iphone SE and use google hangouts for texting family so that communication would be on the data plan and not international rates. I plan to switch to google pixel in the future to take advantage of all of the Google Fi features. PHONE APPS - Google translate - Google Maps - Google hangouts - Zoho Notebooks: I used this for destination addresses to show taxi drivers - I had downloaded but did not use: Maps.me, Google Duo, Japan Direct PORTS/SHORE EXCURSION - Best sushi was eaten at Tsukiji outer Market in Tokyo at Sushizanmai. Everything I read said the market opened early but I would suggest you not go till 8am when most things were open. We went at 6am and most stores were closed. - Best dim sum was in Yokohama chinatown. The soup dumplings were the best. - Favorite port was Osaka because I love street food and shopping. We took the subway to Dotonbori. Plenty of consignment shopping too if you are looking to purchase luxury items. - In general we did most ports on our own and used the subway. We purchased IC Cards from Narita Airport. - If you do any excursions I would recommend you book through Celebrity so that they can adjust your excursions as necessary 1. In Aomori we were scheduled to dock at 9am but didn't get in till 10:30 cause of high winds. It took hours to disembark cause we had just come from Busan and everyone on the boat had to be processed by immigration. We did not get off the boat till 2pm. I'm sure they handle this better for people who had excursions. 2. In some stations we got an extra hour which was nice Read Less

I choose to go on a cruise due to everyone saying what a great time and quality of food you get and as I am in remission from cancer I thought that this would be a great way to relax and be pampered how wrong can one be first the port we were told to get to was wrong we had to get a second taxi to the correct port then on boarding we were told that the lunch was in the ocean view restaurant but as we were with the concierge room we should have been sent to the main restaurant for our embarkation meal and as this seemed to be the only advantage with concierge class room what did we pay the extra for we were informed by another passenger that we could have had our meals in our room but we're not told that this was free we assumed that as in hotels this is at a cost. The next problem was that when while in the ocean view restaurant this first time we tried to get a drink we were asked to sign for them as we did not have a drinks package although we had paid for this so I had to go to pasangers relations desk to find that we had been given cards without the correct information on it so had to have them replaced. When ever we wanted a drink it always seemed to be a problem finding a waiter to order it from and this happened for the whole cruise. Now we come to the dinner we always needed to que for the main restaurant on the 4th deck and wait to be seated and when we asked if we could book a time for the next day we were told that we should do it the next day as they could not do it at the desk but when we phoned the next day all we could book when we finally got through all we could get was 6:30 or 8:30 as all the rest we were told were booked before the cruise on line, as for the meals and service this was one of the most disappointing parts of the cruise as the meals were poor and not the fabulous experience we had been told to expect the meat was always a small quantity but the vegetables consisted of a small scoop of mashed potatoes 4 or 5 sticks of carrots and a piece of broccoli and on one occasions I ordered a pork chop and was given a lamb shank and my wife ordered ravioli she got three under Cooked packets then to get a glass of wine to go with the meal was always a chore and twice I could not get the waiters attention to order it so went without. On one visit to the restaurant we were taken to a table only to be asked to sit at opposite end of the table as the six that were sitting down had only left the seats this we refused to do and then were asked to stand by the plate collection station to be seated at another table but after 10 minutes we went back to the entrance and asked to speak to a manager who came and took us to another table where we sat for another 10 minutes on our own and we were asked for our order which we did and our starters came up just as the remaining six turned up to be seated of coarse we waited for out main coarse for everyone to eat together, this ment we were in the restaurant for well over 2.5 hours but we never managed to get out for under 2 hours and this meant that if we wanted to see a show we either missed the start or as we did on two occasions leave without a desert as the service was always so slow. The cabin was ok if it wasn't for the fact that one time I went onto the balcony when the door came of the runner trapping me outside and if it had not been that my wife was inside and with the help of the cabin boy managed to lift it onto its runner how long would it have been to release me the only other fault with the cabin was that the door closer/restrictor was not connected this was corrected very quickly The ship had been refurbished in the last year but had more faults that should have been fixed other than our cabin one of the doors to the deck one day was tied up with tape but this did not stop water coming through it and across the passage this we pointed out to staff but they did not even say thanks for pointing it out another much more worrying thing was when in the solarium I noticed that one of the roof glass panes was moving I moved away but when I looked up a little latter this pane was missing one assumes that it when out to sea as if it had come in then someone could have been killed but the crew did not rush to move people out of the area just asked them to move back and as there was quite a wind if it had got inside all the glass could have come down and one shudders to think what would have been the result the deck should have been shut as it was at the end of the cruise this would not have been too much of a problem When walking throughout the ship areas varied in the heat some were ok but a lot including the theatre were cold When we were to disembark as concierge class we thought that we got preferential treatment but no we had to stay in the theatre for two hours for our turn to get off. If I had know about Cruise Critic before booking I would not have taken this cruise as there were 4 reports about the poor quality of the food and service they were on Alaskan and transpacific cruises taken In September just before this one. Read Less

Having done a number of Transatlantic cruises we opted for a Transpacific cruise to Tokyo, and the eight days at sea did not deter us. We flew from Toronto to Vancouver at 7:00am, arrived at 9:20am, took the Canada Line train from the airport to the port, and were ready to board the ship for the Concierge lunch in the dining room. While our cabin #8177 was not quite ready, the “touch” Seapass was on the door and we could drop off our carry-on bags. First impressions of the refurbished cabin were very positive. Fresh, clean décor, large TV screen, clear view from the balcony (with slight obstruction to the far left where the window cleaning ladder was stationed). Good number of wood hangers in the closet, soft closing drawers, ample lighting, USB ports. What we didn’t like: unable to regulate the fan speed, undersized sofabed for the available space, unable to angle the TV for viewing when sitting on the sofabed. As for the bathroom, while the shower stall has a nice door, it opens inwards, almost hitting the oversized grab bar leaving little space to maneuver. The grout on the tiled shower floor had many cracks which resulted in water leaking on to the floor. We asked to have this fixed, and we were given access to another cabin for half a day while the shower stall was re-grouted and re-caulked. Concierge Violetta Joson took charge of this case, sent us wine, strawberries and gave Future Cruise Credit for our inconvenience. This commitment to customer service in a friendly and honest manner was also demonstrated by many of the crew, including cabin steward Ronnie, assistant Maitre d’ Eric and waiter Limon to mention a few. The captain and senior officers were visible throughout and very approachable. The Elite breakfast, which was served in the Tuscan Grill on prior cruises, was moved to the MDR. In the new design, Tuscan Grill has shrunk in size, and access blocked off from the mid-ship lobby. In the first two days the breakfast was plated menu service and very disorganized. From the third day onwards it was a buffet service. Hot items were also included, which was a welcome addition to the Elite breakfast, but the pathetic so-called bagels need a new recipe. The Elite cocktail hour 5pm-7pm, allowed unlimited drinks in the Skylounge as well as the other bars. We had Select dining, and booked 6:45pm well in advance. Only once we had to wait with a buzzer, since we changed the reservation from 2 to 4 persons. The food and service in the MDR was up to Celebrity standard – good to very good. The Oceanview Café was nicely re-designed with a variety of seating options. Pizzas and fajitas bar were very good, but there is no stir-fry station, available on the Solstice class ships. Our days at sea were filled with many activities ably supplied by Cruise Director Steve Gayda. The guest speakers were excellent, the Asia Film Festival screened good quality movies. Evening entertainment was good to very good, with notable highlights of Tom Franek (piano acrobat and sing-along), aerialists Julia and Alan, and Scottish soprano Elaine Gray. Weather was pleasant on our port days. There were a couple of moderate seas and windy days on the crossing, being on the edges of a passing storm. Clock were set back one hour almost every night. After a few days it was difficult to stay awake past 9pm. We “skipped” Friday the 13th when crossing the International Date Line. Upon arrival to our first port in Japan we had to get through immigration process. Celebrity and Japanese officials were very efficient and quick. Lines were short and within minutes we were done and ready to go ashore. The ports of call offered a good variety. Sitka in Alaska with its wildlife and forests, and Japan’s destinations with the small town of Otaru, a larger city Hakedote, and metropolis Yokohama. Celebrity provided free shuttles at all the ports except for Otaru, where we docked within walking distance of town centre. Disembarkation was also well organized and efficient. We were off the ship, with the Captain and the senior officers lining up to bid us farewell. What a thoughtful and heart-warming gesture. How can you not want to sail with them again. Read Less

I'm looking to be as honest and balanced as I can in this review so that it helps prospective cruisers who are considering Celebrity. I'll do this in 3 parts... Summary… the Good… the Bad. Summary My view is that Celebrity is living off its reputation (& messaging) of ‘premium’. My experience is that they are looking for ever 'sneaky' ways to drive up revenue (as any good business should), whilst minimising the product (which is cancerous). Sure push the envelope for a few dollars here and there, but don't reduce the product at the same time. We cruise Royal Caribbean and Celebrity a lot… and enjoy the loyalty reciprocity and we are finding the gap between the 2 becoming more and more insignificant. Royal are getting better, whilst Celebrity are slipping. So would I cruise Celebrity again? Yes. I’ve seen Celebrity really good, and quite average. Considering this cruise might have been an exception, I’ll go again… but that may be the last if it remains under-whelming. The Good: - Crew: The 'Worker bees' were all so generous and courteous... nothing but good things to say - Tuscan Grill: Personalised and accommodating… even modifying the menu upon request (The Maître d was brilliant) - Stateroom: Remodelled room (Balcony Concierge Class) was very good… décor was modern and warm, whilst storage space was plentiful and practical - Beds and pillows were so good… slept like a baby (despite some rough seas) - Ocean View Café – Lunch and Dinners were amazing in terms of quality & choice. And the pizza… the BEST on the open seas! (In contrast the Main Dining Room’s food was a complete let down) The Bad: So before looking like I’m just whining, I respect that everyone has different tastes so I’ve left entertainment, enrichment and excursion off the ‘bad’ list. Most of my ‘bad’ is centred around how I’ve seen Celebrity go from ‘WOW!’ to ‘’MEH!’. - Casino: I thought I was being a little too negative, until I heard many guests in there complaining. Apart from 2 to 3 dealers, the rest were inexperienced and most impersonal. There was a strong contingent of Texas Hold’em Poker players onboard, and the availability, service and games structures were amateurish at best. A 10% rake (yes..10%) should come with incredible dealers… instead we had trainees who did not know the rules, and continually exposed cards whilst dealing. - Outdoor hot tubs were lukewarm at best. I know many folk were requesting for the temperature to be increased. Each time was met with a shrug of the shoulders saying ‘it was just the way it is’. Considering the weather outside was cool, this was most disappointing. - Concierge Class: This is pretty much a bluff... (It is anything but personal, group phone messages, line up for 30 minutes, call the service desk and we could never get through). On sea days the concierge was ‘closed’ from Midday to 4:30pm every day. This is an absolute oversell... save your money!! The Concierge Class left me questioning why we did it… just couldn’t see the value. - Embarkation: 1.75 hours kerb to ship! - (And we were concierge class)… absolutely dreadful - 'Premium' Drinks Package - You can't get a glass of wine with your room service order (you can pay for it though). I think this is a nasty slap in the face and really lost Celebrity lot of points in my book. (Using the 'we must see your stateroom card upon ordering' is so condescending). - 'Premium' Drinks Package - Take a Coke from your mini bar - you'll get charged. Again just thoughtless. (So instead I go to the bar get a heap of unopened soft drinks and put them in the bard fridge). - 'Premium' Drinks Package - with a dreadfully limited selection by the glass of basic wines. If you are a wine drinker (primarily) I strongly urge you to give the drinks package a miss. The selection is very, very limited and anything but ‘premium’. - 'Premium' Drinks Package - in the specialty restaurants the wine by the glass choices are a contradiction (to align to 'specialty')... limited in terms of choice / country / region / variety / quality. - When I first cruised celebrity the wine experience was great. The Sommeliers were experienced and knowledgeable. They really should not use the term Sommelier for the wine crew on this cruise… can you believe we were served corked/off red wine in one of the specialty restaurants (because it had been left open for a few days), and the Sommelier just didn’t get it! - Main Dining room - Can't tell the difference between Celebrity and Royal Caribbean anymore. This has sadly been dumbed down to mass production without the culinary prowess the once defined the Celebrity difference. So the main dining experience is the centre of ‘Premium’ cruising. It’s where the nostalgia lives… Celebrity have absolutely dropped the ball here. The main dining room is pretty much sitting back in the industry pack now… so very disappointing!!! Bland, unseasoned, cold, huge variance from one guest plate to the next, lack of imagination (sides were pretty much boiled carrot, broccoli & a bit of mash with most meals). Also the dress standard Celebrity have held to all but disappeared… formal nights were really just neat casual. It’s not good when the buffet is way better than the main dining room. - Main Dining Room - can you imagine getting your 1st drinks order half way through your main course? (twice). - Constantly pushing up the prices on specialty dining (Tuscan now up to $45 US!!). But then at the bottom of the menu offering premium steaks for an additional $18... Really!! - Disembarkation… It’s amazing how much colder and unhospitable the crew became on disembarkation morning. We went to guest services to see if I could exchange some US for YEN... got an abrupt NO... with an immediate reminder that we had to get off the ship! In closing I was surprised at how aloof and closed off the managers and above were... almost like the guest were annoying them. But again the core crew were so great! Read Less

The Good: Great staff, everyone from the room attendant up to the waiters, Concierge, Captains Club representative and Hotel Director couldn't have been nicer. The Ship is in good shape. The Cruise Director Steve is everywhere and enthusiastic. The Captain is everywhere (who's steering the ship??) but is very pleasant and does his best to communicate with the passengers even though his heavily accented Greek/English almost requires a translator. The Average: This was a re-positioning cruise through the Gulf of Alaska known for its difficult weather so when the weather is bad, you can't enjoy the outside. On bad weather days, the buffet is so crowded you can't find a seat because the overflow that usually sits on the deck by the pool are inside due to the weather. Best to go to the formal dining room. The Not so Good: While there is a difference of opinion between my spouse and I, I found the Entertainment second or third rate and the production shows boring. We have experienced much better entertainment on re-positioning cruises including on Celebrity. The food was only average or worse. Breakfasts were good, we rarely ate lunch but the dinners were another story. The appetizers at dinner were good and some of the main course meals (Prime Rib of Beef, Duck, Lamb Chops were good) the rest was not. This is not a problem with the quality of food, it is how it was (over) cooked and sometimes, had little flavor. Don't order the chicken or fish unless you want shoe leather texture. One woman at our table loved fish and ordered it every night only to be constantly disappointed by the tough overcooked fish they served her. She complained with no success, even sending it back for a replacement only to receive the same overcooked tough fish again. I lay this on the feet of the Head Chef who has been on this ship for some time and is responsible for supervising the cooks. Some people say that fish, poultry and pork should be cooked right through (tell that to the Sushi Chefs) but good restaurants and chefs have been producing juicy versions for years. Quite disappointing! On the subject of restaurants, the Specialty Restaurants were overpriced and in the case of the Sushi restaurant not popular. They were heavily discounting this one at the end of the cruise and most of the time we passed it during the dinner hour there were only a handful of couples in it. Read Less

About me: 7 prior cruises. Full-time wheelchair user. Somewhat active, wheeling several miles on a typical day. Middle-aged. I found the Millennium surprisingly UNaccommodating to passengers who, like me, need a wheelchair to get around: 1) My wheelchair-accessible cabin had a ramp to get out to the balcony. Great. But NO ramp on the balcony side, just a 3.5" drop, making it unusable. I had to contact our cabin attendant, who then called engineering, who built a wooden ramp for me. Great, but shouldn't this have been done from the beginning? 2) Our table in the Metropolitan dining room was lovely. But didn't it occur to ANYONE that a table in the farthest corner from the entrance, with two heavy high-backed chairs (photo attached) might not be the best fit for someone requesting an accessible cabin?? 3) There was NO seating set aside in the Oceanview Buffet for wheelchair diners. Again, didn't it occur to ANYBODY on the dining staff that we might need tables that were easy to get to? (Again, after speaking to the maitre'd, by the end of the cruise there were heavy plastic "reserved for accessible seating" signs on 3 tables at the entrance, but I'm amazed I had to bring this to somebody's attention.) 4) We were invited to check out the Spa, but upon inspection I found the most (all?) of the therapy rooms had a 2 inch lip on the bottom of the doorway, blocking anyone with a wheelchair from getting in. Come on, guys, now you're actually BUILDING barriers preventing me from using your facilities. Deck 10, the pool deck, had automatic doors to the outside. But all the other doors on decks 4 and 11 were doorknob doors, making it challenging to get outside. And most of the hallway and large-room carpeting was like wheeling on velcro. I will say that the crew was extremely accommodating and more than willing to help out however they could, but my feeling was that Celebrity Corporate gave mere lip service to the concept of accessibility and couldn't care less about anyone actually needing accommodation. Read Less

I have to say that this was probably not the best Cruise Experience.. The specialty dining was not any better than going to the regular dining. I find it to be a waste of money. I did three specialty dining on this trip and did not find them to be any better than going to the dining room. Also, the main dining room the service is poor. The guys are overworked and overwhelmed. Did have one experience that was not good with the Shores excursion department. Over an excursion purchased through them. The spa service is not very good when it comes to doing your nails. I find that they overcharge. The most positive thing that I enjoyed was having Captains Club Desk. Always very kind, helpful to take care of any issues. This trip on Millennium ship has made me think that I would consider now trying other cruise lines. We are elite members of Celebrity and have been very loyal to Celebrity. Through the years I’ve seen Celebrity changing and not for the good. Read Less