My Cruise Adventures

Afterthoughts

I've always wanted to try Celebrity, as it was billed as a step up from the lines I've cruised before. This cruise had an interesting itinerary - eight islands that I have not been to but have heard a lot about. The price was reasonable for the duration and ship, so we booked an inside cabin and was assigned one on the lowest deck amidships. I was sailing with my 85-year old father, who had visited some of these islands serving in the Merchant Marine in WWII.

I had heard that we should check before the cruise to see if the price had dropped. So, about three weeks before we sailed, I called my travel agent and had her call Celebrity. She found out that the price had dropped, enough so that we were able to trade our inside assigned cabin for a guaranteed outside cabin plus $120 cabin credit. I checked the deck plans and found that this ship had no "obstructed view" cabins, so I thought an outside cabin would be a nice touch.

I called again the Friday before we sailed to see if they had assigned our cabin yet. Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find that our cabin would be a Concierge Class balcony cabin! This class is a step up from a regular balcony cabin, with perks like preferred boarding and debarkation, fresh flowers, fruit, a welcome bottle of champagne, daily canapes, pillow selection, plush robes, and enhanced room service menu. For someone who had never sailed on Celebrity, I thought this was amazing.

The ship, which launched in 2000 (hence the name Millennium), had undergone a refurbishment earlier in the year and was beautiful. The ship has a large amount of public space, making it seem almost empty despite having at lest 2,000 passengers (according to various crew I asked). Unlike other lines I've sailed, Celebrity did not publish the passenger count or country breakdown.

However, all was not perfect. I had heard Celebrity was the cruise line for food enthusiasts. If so, they've seriously slipped lately. The breakfast buffet was better than the other ships I've sailed, with an omelette station, eggs Benedict station, and Belgian waffles in addition to the standard fare. Room service was also good, allowing us to pre-order breakfast and enjoy it on our balcony. Dinner, however, was disappointing. There were no theme nights, and they seemed to have too much Italian food. The food we did have was adequate but hardly inspiring. They seemed to have a problem with steaks - either not done as requested, or too tough to enjoy. They did have two menus - one that is available every meal, and one for that day's meal. We ended up ordering from the everyday menu fairly frequently, especially the appetizers and soups. I particularly enjoyed the escargot. The deserts were typical cruise fare, and not interesting, but we were able to order apple pie and ice cream from the everyday menu. We were even able to convince our headwaiter to make a key lime pie for our table one night. I did manage to take photos of most dinner menus. Click on the link to bring up a high resolution image of the menu.

Menu 1 - Menu 2 - Menu 3 - Menu 4 - Menu 5 - Menu 6 - Menu 7

Our waiter, Wilmar, was from "South Philly", as he said, but that was the Philippines, not Philadelphia. He was an awesome waiter, as was our assistant waiter (Beneliza, who got engaged to him after her first month onboard). He had a good singing voice, great sense of humor, and was generally a joy to be around. This went a long way toward making up for the uninspiring food. I have no idea how we ended up in his section, but I'm glad we did - his happiness was infectious. This was best shown in this photo from the last formal night's Baked Alaska parade.

Will I sail Celebrity again? Sure, depending on the price and the itinerary. But Princess remains my favorite cruise line, and the best food we've had was on the Carnival Celebration.