This 91,000-ton, 965-ft cruise liner is a Malta-registered vessel with European officers and international crew members. The Millennium accommodates 2,034 passengers double occupancy and 1,000 crew. Completed at Chantiers de l'Atlantique in France in 2000, this first-in-a-class ship shows off some of the best interior decor to come along in decades. Combined with her European flavor, she exudes a more sophisticated feel than mass-market ships. The three siblings that followed—Constellation, Infinity and Summit—have carried on this design. Outside, she was a complete break from the pleasing lines of her predecessors in the Century class, and from some angles, is less attractive.
While Royal Caribbean ships are exciting with all their bells and whistles—skating rinks, rock climbing walls and the like—Celebrity aims to be, and achieves, a higher sophistication in onboard atmosphere, much better food and generally very good service without being formal or stuffy. The Millennium, now named Celebrity Millennium, became Celebrity's first gas-turbine ship with Azipod propulsion (using variably-pitched propellers instead of traditional rudders). While there is less noise and vibration and the engines are cleaner burning, there was a trade-off with mechanical problems in the initial period of revenue service and occasionally in subsequent ships of this class.
The ship spends its year following the summertime Alaska season crossing to Pacific and cruising Australia and New Zealand waters, and these latter and longer cruises attract an older North American passenger. The seven-day Vancouver-Seward itineraries pull a slightly younger clientele and some families. Other nationalities find their way aboard, too, in small numbers. The ship is dressier than mass-market ships as is appropriate to the surroundings, with formal, informal and casual nights. Dark suits are perfectly fine for the formal occasions and most adhere to the dress code, though passengers who do not wish to dress up can eat dinner quite happily in the Ocean Grill. Tipping is by envelope to individual servers or it can be added to the final bill on the basis of about US$10 per day. Bar tabs have an automatic 15% added.
The summertime program operates along the Inside Passage on 7-night one-way cruises between Vancouver and Seward near Anchorage. Hubbard Glacier is the scenic highlight. Celebrity has its own railroad cars and land trips that can be added prior to or following the cruises. When the Alaska season winds down, the ship makes it way across the Pacific via calls in the Hawaiian islands and the South Pacific to be based in Auckland, New Zealand or Sydney, Australia. From those ports it conducts 9-, 12- and 14-night cruises to North and South Island New Zealand ports, and to Melbourne, Australia, with relaxing sea days crossing the Tasman.
Passengers enter into a subdued, three-deck foyer with marble floors and wood-tone paneling, flanked with white curtains centered around a grand staircase with gold-onyx stairs lit from below. The ship boasts a noticeable collection of dramatic artwork, and throughout are touches of whimsy ranging from statues suspended overhead in stairwells to glass cutouts in the floor in the Lido directly above the ocean. Trademark watering holes are the Cova Cafe rimming the grand foyer for specialty coffees and pastries and wines later in the day, and Michael's Club, a handsome woody piano bar that might have been transported from a London hotel. The 14 elevators, some glass-enclosed external ones, give rapid transit between the decks, so reaching the Cosmos Lounge high up and forward is a pleasure. This spectacular space has floor-to-ceiling glass windows on three sides, giving outstanding views during the day transforming into an atmospheric disco at night. The Coliseum-shaped theater puts on major Broadway-style production shows that satisfy most people. The Celebrity Millennium maintains the tradition of a proper cinema, and though small, the screen does better justice to the films than do the cabin TVs. Special interest lectures take place here when there are days at sea cruising to Alaska and Down Under. Additional public spaces are a two-level library, a sports bar up by the pool named Extreme, a card room, Internet access for a charge, the Emporium for shopping, and facilities for children ages 3-17 in the Sea Mates Fun Factory. The vast AquaSpa provides all the treatments, saunas and steam rooms one would seek in a landside resort plus an elaborate gym overlooking to bow. Sports enthusiasts have a golf simulator, backetball court and a much longer circular jogging track than found on the Century class.
Prior to meals in the main dining room, the Platinum Club, with its Martini and Champagne Bars, and Rendezvous Lounge provide adjacent watering holes. The big window, two-level Metropolitan Restaurant situated aft provides a handsome quasi-art-deco setting for Celebrity's celebrated food services overseen by Michel Roux, a leading chef. Traditional two sittings prevail for dinner with breakfast and lunch at an open window. All the food is tasty, especially the main-course dishes with sauces. For less formal dining at night, a section of the Ocean Grill Cafeteria becomes a wait-served restaurant while still maintaining buffet choices. During the day, there is always freshly made pizza and pasta dishes, and the Riviera Grill dispenses hot dogs, hamburgers and one changing special such as breast of chicken. Light healthy fare is available at the AquaSpa Cafe.
The piece de resistance is the Olympic Restaurant, for gourmet French dining set away from the traffic flow to provide some of the best food available at sea with tableside preparation, and for an extra charge. The name refers to the White Star liner RMS Olympic, built one year before her sister, the Titanic, and one that happily had a full and sucessful career plying the North Atlantic. Paneling and artifacts from the original ship were found in England and they serve to create a very special setting. Passengers will want to spend a bit of time looking at the decor. Cooking demonstrations are held here, too.
The 975 cabins include 780 outsides, of which 590 have private balconies and 195 are insides with no view. They are priced in 20 categories. The smallest is 170 sq ft, so none could be considered cramped. Standard cabins are spacious and inviting, and all feature hair dryers, TV with a wide range of programming and the ability to order room service, play games of chance, and check on the bill. Minibars (for a charge) and safes are in all. Shower stalls are roomy and there is ample closet, shelf and drawer space even for a longish cruise. A step up are the concierge cabins with lots of little extras such as fresh fruit and flowers, a choice of pillows, better quality towels and balcony furnishings, a concierge for making dining and spa reservations, and prioity embarkation and disembarkation and tender tickets. Several suites are stunning, and many of the aft-facing cabins have balconies that seem larger than the cabin itself. The two Penthouse Suites are amongst the very largest afloat at 2,530 sq ft plus a 1,098-sq-ft balcony that wrap arounds from one side to the stern. Suite level provides many extras including butler service. All cabins have 24-hour room service.
The Celebrity Millennium was a major step up in size for Celebrity in the year 2000. The Century and Millennium classes both offer a premium cruise experience that compares favorably overall with Oceania, Holland America and Crystal, and at a very affordable price.
