Celebrity Millennium Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,739 reviews

North to Alaska, or rather, South from Fairbanks

Review for Alaska Cruise on Celebrity Millennium
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june77
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jul 2010
Cabin: Concierge Class 1

Will start first with land tour from Fairbanks to Seward. Glad we followed advise of other cruisers and took the land tour first - it was busy, the cruise gave time to relax. Landed in Fairbanks, stayed 2 nights at Sophie Station, previously where persons building the Alaska Pipeline stayed. Rooms were actually suites with a bedroom, bath, sitting room and kitchen. Two places nearby for groceries if you wanted to eat in room. Zac's restaurant in the hotel had good food but slow service. Zac's also had early breakfast brunch for tours leaving early. Riverboat Discovery and ElDorado Goldmine tours included in our package. Both are run by the same family. Interesting sights and history. Between these tours, we stopped at the Alaskan Pipeline. We panned for gold, had it weighed and most made into necklaces. One in our group got a nugget worth $60.00. Between these tours, stop in Fairbanks for about 2 hours. Ate at Gambardella's Pasta Bella - lasagna was everything they said it would be. Two of us took the evening "Arctic Circle Air and Land Adventure" which was 6 hours long. Not sure I would do this again, nice scenery, but all the scenery is nice in Alaska. Pricey for the adventure. Rest of group went to the Pump House Restaurant along the river. All said food was great. Next day boarded the Wilderness Express domed train car for Denali. All cruise ship train cars are attached to the Alaskan Railroad. The trip was about 4.5 hours. We got breakfast on board (about $10.00/pp) which was very good. Also had bartender in the car to serve drinks as well as a narrator. We bought the $5.00 book which explained what we were seeing along the mile markers. Arrived in the Denali Park area for lunch, followed by the Celebrity Discovery Tour in Denali which included an excellent movie, lecture on animals and scenic walk near the entrance. Went on to the Grand Denali Lodge for a 2 night stay. Nice rooms, good restaurant that also served a breakfast brunch. The road to the Lodge is long and winding. That night, three of us went on the "Nenanna Whitewater Rafting" trip. The rapids were challenging but not overpowering. Wetsuits necessary due to the frigid temperature (they supply). Scenery was beautiful. Had the entire next day to do excursions. Most of us took the 6-8 hour "Tundra Wilderness Tour". Even though rainy we were able to see moose, bears, Dall sheep and caribou. Bus driver felt we were fortunate to see that many wildlife. Only problem with being overcast was inability to see Mt. McKinley (but only 30% of people actually see it). Others in our group took "Husky Homestead Tour" and "Raft to Cabin Night" which were highly complimented. Next morning (early!) we boarded our coach for the trip from Denali to Anchorage which lasted about 5.5 hours. The tour guide kept us entertained with games and music, even with scenery, it is a long trip. In Anchorage for 1.5 hours to lunch, then back on bus for Seward. This trip took about 2.5 hours in the coach. This scenery was awesome. Arrived at Seward at 5PM and boarded the Millennium for our cruise. Millennium was refurbished last year. It is much like the ships in the Millennium class, having been on 2 others, it was easy for us to navigate around. We were greeted with champagne or mimosas, but not taken to our room as was done on previous cruises. On the advice of our travel agent, took early seating for dinner at 6PM. First night was a rush to get on board and to the meal. For those of you who like to set up spa appointments, try to do this before the first meal. I did not have time, went down at 8PM and was disappointed that desired times were already booked for massage, pedicures, manicures and Rasoul chamber. Did find times, but not my first choice. Evening entertainment was enjoyed by the group. We did not attend all, but felt they were worth attending. There were 3 lectures by the on-board naturalist, Milos. These were informative and entertaining. Milos also did the narration at the Hubbard Glacier. We cruised to within a mile of the glacier and did see calving and hear the thunder. Milos said our viewing was the best thus far this season. It was a sight to behold. The food was good, they appear to be doing more with pasta, which was excellent. My husband always gets beef and was somewhat disappointed until he moved to fish and other mainstays which were fine. The Olympic Restaurant is worth the extra $35.00/pp. The meal was an event with great filet mignon, surf and turf and of course the goat cheese souffle. We had room service twice for breakfast on the deck and found it prompt and what we ordered. We attended two wine tastings, one titled "Wines Around the World" which was paired with samples of food from the various restaurants on the first day. Sampled 12 wines and found some new ones, not previously tried. Attended the Riedel Comparative Workshop on the second sea day. We enjoyed this on our last cruise and now have another set of glasses - there is a difference depending on what glass you serve your wine in! We enjoyed many of the games, singers, line dancing classes and other events on the ship. That's the nice part about cruising, you can do as much or little as you want. Disembarkation was probably the smoothest I have witnessed. We were to leave at 8:15AM and we did. We were taken immediately through Canadian customs and on to a waiting bus that left as soon as it was filled. Our bus driver gave a narrative during the trip from the ship through Vancouver and to the airport. Once in the airport, filled out an American customs form, and found our luggage waiting for us. From there it was check in and the 5 hour flight home.

Cabin Review

Concierge Class 1

Cabin C1

Balconies on the 7th floor aft are wonderful. About 10 x 20 in size, with heavy canvas over most of the area so you can sit out even if drizzling. These are Concierge 1 cabins, well worth the price. We were in room 7203. We did have balcony envy looking down and seeing the balconies for the suites on the 6th floor!!

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