Celebrity Millennium

The Celebrity Millennium is actually the oldest ship in the Celebrity fleet but despite entering service at the turn of the Millennium, hence her name, she continued to prove a popular ship for the line.

Thanks to a major revamp, you will not feel you are sailing on such an old ship although there were a few issues on our sailing with her that kind of reminded you that she wasn’t a modern ship, but they were only minor things such as a leak and dodgy shower door.

We had already sailed on her sister ship, the Celebrity Summit, so we didn’t get that excitement of entering a new ship when we boarded her, but for the sake of this review we will not hold that against her and will try not to constantly compare her to the Summit but rather give you our honest thoughts on the Millennium as a stand alone ship.

Celebrity Millennium Current Location

We boarded the Celebrity Millennium in Singapore, so regular readers of this website will know that we were off to a great start as it is one of my favourite destinations in the world.

The boarding process wasn’t as straightforward as it should have been but that was down to Indian immigration rather than the ship.

Once onboard, we were greeted by friendly staff, our room was ready for us, and we headed off to the buffet for some lunch.

Our itinerary took us from Singapore, up to Port Klang (for Kuala Lumpur) and Penang in Malaysia, then to Phuket in Thailand before crossing the Indian Ocean and to the ports of Hambantota and Colombo in Sri Lanka before ending in India and the ports of Kochi, Mormugao (Goa) and Mumbai, where our journey ended with an overnight stay.

This itinerary goes by the name of the Spice Route, due to its historic links to the spice trade and ships sailing between Asia and Europe.

If you have sailed on any of the Millennium class of ships before, you will likely understand what onboard life is like for this ship, as they offer the same experience.

Things tend to be quite relaxed onboard as the smaller nature of the ship means there is less to do onboard than larger ships, so things are a bit slower paced and on sea days, you do tend to get into a certain rhythm.

On an itinerary such as the one we did, where many of those onboard are far from home and on an adventure, there is a bit of comradery between passengers.

You do tend to find the same people, doing the same stuff as you day to day, so you get to know many of your fellow passengers and can swap stories.

During the day, things are very relaxed onboard the Millennium, especially when you are on a port intensive itinerary such as the one, we did and with people from across the globe onboard.

If you have sailed with Celebrity before, it tends to be quite standardised across there fleet, with laid back days, relaxed evening and then a mix for chic nights.

Some people go overboard and will wear full penguin suit, but most will just dress smartly and with the heat of the destinations we visited, few wore jackets or suits.

Day time activities are a bit limited, so most tend to just head somewhere to relax but the evening are a bit more structured, with main entertainment taking place in the theatre at 7 and 9pm, with late night entertainment taking place in the observation lounge.

We purchased an extra package for our trip that included tips, internet and basic drinks in the cost of the holiday, so for us there was plenty included in the cost of the trip.

One of our favourite things about sailing with Celebrity is their Café Al Bacio, a traditional style tearoom where most drinks are included for those with a drinks package and food is included for everybody.

On the Millennium, it has a large seating area and musicians providing background music at different times during the day.

Each bar onboard the ship offers a range of drinks that were included in our drinks package and there are plenty of places to just grab a can of soda, which is so much better than some lines that just poor some of a can into a glass for you- it just always seems so wasteful and pointless.

If you don’t have a drinks package included, there are plenty of drinks machines in key places, such as the buffet, pool deck and the solarium where you can get free water, juices, tea and coffee.

There is a large two-level main dining room which offers high quality meals for everybody, and you can also get some free drinks in their including water, tea and coffee.

The Millennium has a large buffet, known as the Oceanview Café, which has plenty of seating and lots of different options including made to order pasta, sandwiches, eggs as well as freshly made pizza until late at night and a bakery for Danishes and sweet breads in the morning.

Next to the pool, is a grill offering included burgers and hotdogs during the day whilst the spa café offers healthy food option at breakfast and lunch time.

Away from food and drink, there is plenty of entertainment included in your cruise price including a full activities programme during the day and early evening, whilst on a night it tends to be the theatre and observation lounge that are the places the head.

The theatre features 2 shows a night, at 7 and 9pm, which are either productions show from the ships own cast of performers or shows from guest performers.

To the huge credit of Celebrity, we also had a local cultural dance group come onboard in the port of Kochi, to give us an insight into Kathakali dancing.

We had singers and a magician duo on our trip, although it was a bit repetitive with numerous acts and shows featuring tributes to Elton John.

The observation lounge is where late night fun happens including the likes of karaoke, sing-a-longs, adult quizzes and more.

Around the ship, most bars and the atrium will have musicians playing at different times and there were also some acts who performed on the pool deck, with this been a warm weather cruise.

On the top deck, there is a large video screen that features films during the day and into the night, which can make for a fun night.

The Millennium is not a ship for those wanting flumes, crazy golf courses or ice rinks but it does offer a sports court that is free for all to use and features football, basketball and pickleball.

There are also 2 table tennis tables somewhat hidden at the back of the pool deck.

The ship has a relatively large gym which is included in the cost of your holiday

As is the case with just about every cruise ship you sail on, not everything is included in the cost of your holiday.

If you haven’t paid the extra for a drinks package, everything aside from the basic free drinks found at self service machines around the ship will cost extra.

That includes sodas, speciality tea and coffee and all alcoholic drinks.

Whilst you will never go hungry onboard the ship, there are a few extra cost restaurants onboard including the Tuscan Grille (steak), Sushi on Five and Le Petit Chef, an interactive dining experience.

A trip to the spa will also cost you money and whilst use of the gym is free, a lot of different classes come at an extra cost, whilst every trip to the casino will need you to money.

Lastly, much of deck 5 is given over to a number of different shops, from alcohol to jewellery and gifts to fashion, all of which come at an extra cost and often an incredibly overly expensive cost.

For a relatively small ship, there is plenty going on around the Millennium and I should start this section by giving huge credit to Celebrity for still using actually musicians onboard the ship, including in the theatre when so many other lines are replacing them with backing tapes.

The theatre acts were all of a high quality but there was some repetition in them as we had a Elton John tribute act followed by a pianist playing the hits of Elton John and Billy Joel and then one of the production shows also featured Elton John songs.

The in-house production staff could all sing but some of their interacting on stage was a bit painful and one of them forget her lines on more than one occasion.

As mentioned, it was great for the line to bring a local dance troupe on to get an insight into the local culture of Kochi.

The singers who performed in bars, cafes and stages around the ship were also excellent and really does add to the experience when sitting down for a drink or a bite to eat.

The activities onboard didn’t really push the boat, so to speak, but did seem to go down well by those participating, which is all that really matters.

The food on Celebrity ships tends to be constantly good and that was the case for our journey on the Millennium as no matter if we ate in the MDR or the buffet, it was an enjoyable experience.

We did mainly eat in the buffet and for the size of a ship such as the Millennium, there was good variety and much of the food was tailored to the region we were sailing in, with only limited ‘Western’ offerings.

That was great for us as eating local food is part of travelling for us and that is one of the things we always appreciated from Celebrity as they do also have a section of the buffet that features local dishes for the port you are in.

If you did want ‘Western’ food that was always on offer in the main dining room and there was aways pizza and a carvery option.

There are plenty of cook-to-order options in the buffet so if you normally don’t like eating in them as the food has been sitting their too long, that doesn’t need to be the case.

The deserts did get a bit repetitive and popular ice cream flavours soon ran out, but we never struggle for a meal in the Oceanview Café.

We did eat in the MDR for a couple of lunches and evening meals, and it lived up to expectations with great service and high-quality food, with the duck a l’orange been exceptionally good.

The café al bacio tearoom offered the usual range of teas and coffees but the food options were a bit more limited than usual on this one.

Our cabin was number 097 on deck 7, which is a centrally located inside cabin that offers a great place to stay for getting around the ship.

You are next to the main glass lifts and just a couple of decks above the main entertainment decks and 3 below the pool deck.

For an inside cabin, it offers lots of space including a seating area, a big screen tv and a large, comfortable bed, so basically everything you really need from a cabin.

There is also plenty of storage, a decent sized bathroom and just about enough plug sockets and charge points.

The only real issue we did have was the shower door just would not stick so whenever we out at sea, we needed to prop it up with a bottle to stop it from banging, something that was a bit startling on the first night when it woke us up.

As a ship that is on the smaller end of cruise ships and that is also on the older side, it is arguably better for those who like a more relaxed holiday and who don’t mind a slower pace on holiday.

Whilst there were quite a few kids on the ship and it does offer kids clubs, it maybe a bit boring for most with little for them to do- although that doesn’t matter to much on a more port intensive itinerary.

That for us is where the ship does excel and what makes this class ideal for us as it tends to visit more ports than larger ships and goes to smaller destination away from the main tourist hotspots.

There was plenty to enjoy on the ship, including the tearoom and we love the theatres on these ships that feel like you are in a West End or Broadway theatre and not in an auditorium style one that are on bigger ships.

The live music acts around the ship and having musicians in the theatre are huge plusses for us when sailing with Celebrity.

We also appreciated the number of guest performers, especially when on a itinerary such as this one it can be difficult for people to join or leave the ship.

As mentioned a couple of times already, bringing on a local dance group was also a huge plus and a good treat especially on what turned out to be a poor day for us in Kochi.

The ship was showing its age in a few places and the service levels were a bit below other Celebrity ships we have sailed on, especially in the Café al Bacio where you could often end up waiting 30 minutes or so, but they are just minor gripes.

We did have a number of issues with immigration and organisation but it’s hard to blame that on the ships staff as it seemed to be more about the unprofessional Indian immigration system than Celebrity and the Millennium staff.

The history of the ship can be traced back to 1998, when the Royal Caribbean group signed a letter of intent with Chantiers de l’Atlantique to build two new ships, which would go onto become known as the Millennium class of ships, with the first ship been the then named Millennium.

She was launched in November 1999, was christened in June 2000 and entered service on 1st July 2000 where she sailed from Amsterdam and visited a number of Baltic Sea ports.

She headed over to Florida for the winter season and offered cruises of the Caribbean before basing herself in the Mediterranean the next summer.

Since then, she has homeported across the globe including operating is Asia, Australasia, Europe and Caribbean including moving to Singapore in 2012.

Aside from the pandemic era, she has found herself sailing in Asia in the winter and Alaska in the summer.

As an interesting titbit, when she was originally built one of the speciality restaurants onboard was known as the Olympic Restaurant which contained wood panels from the RMS Olympic, the sister ship of the Titanic and there is a wall display dedicated to the Olympic and White Star Line still onboard the ship today.

Overall, we can only have positives to say about the ship and the staff onboard but that’s no surprise as we have never had any major issues with the line and have sailed on sister, the Summit.

If you want an all-action resort style ship, she isn’t for you but if it is all about the destinations for you and you simply want some good food and entertainment as you sail from one port to the next, she offers that and offers it well.

Celebrity Millennium Cruise Review and Guide

The Celebrity Millennium is the oldest ship in the Celebrity fleet but after been taken out of service for 35 days in 2019 when she underwent a full refurbishment, she certainly feels that old and now offers a great option for those wanting an exploration style cruise holiday, instead of a been on a resort style megaship.

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