This is the first of a 2-part review of our recent trip to Alaska. We began that first real Alaskan experience for either of us by first flying into Anchorage. We stayed there for five days before taking a train to Seward Alaska and then setting out on a 7 day cruise on the Celebrity Millennium.
Both of those elements of this trip had both positive and a few negative experiences. I will begin with this review of the Celebrity Millennium because at this point, I have posted a few extensive reviews of our experience to a number of cruising web sites. I will soon follow up with a review of our time in Anchorage.
Cruising on the Celebrity Millennium
We took the 7 day southbound cruise from Seward Alaska to Vancouver in September 2023. This was our first time cruising on a large ship and the entire experience was quite positive. We chose the Millennium based upon the recommendation of friends who had recently taken it on a cruise from southern California to Mexico.
There are many positives about this cruise and only a few negatives, which are really just recommendations of things to be aware of when you book a future cruise.
The Boarding & Debarkation Process
We took the Golden Dome train from Anchorage to Seward on the day we boarded the cruise ship. We were able to drop our luggage off right away when we boarded the train, only having to keep a few carry-ons.
Our luggage was delivered directly to our stateroom so we were able to check-in in Seward, get lunch aboard ship at the Oceanview Cafe, look around the ship and still get access to our stateroom by around 2PM even though the cruise did not depart until after 7PM. It was a very smooth process and not having to lug around anything but carry-ons was definitely nice.
The night before we debarked in Vancouver at the end of the cruise, we left our luggage out in the hall, waiting to be taken by staff, prior to leaving the ship the following morning. The next morning, we were assigned a number and time to debark and our luggage was waiting for us, and very easy to locate.
A tip: Look on Amazon for special plastic bag tags specifically for Celebrity. You will be sent a PDF by Celebrity that you can print out which has as many bag tags as you want. But the plastic tags are inexpensive and much preferable to trying to staple the paper tags onto your luggage.
Meals and Beverages While On Board
It had been recommended to us to upgrade to an Aqua Class stateroom and one of the main benefits we were told was access to the Blu restaurant. That was most definitely worth it for us. We had our evening meal there every night except for the last when we booked a special dinner at Le Petite Chef. More on that in a bit. There is really no comparison between Blu and the Metropolitan Restaurant which is the large area included in the meal program for general guests. Blu is much more intimate (about 25 tables or so), the waiters are very attentive, and the menu is good and varies each night. Portions are small but the quality is excellent.
The Oceanview Café is the large buffet area located near the top and at the rear of the ship. It was open for lunch on the day of departure while we were waiting for our room. We went there for breakfast each morning and the quality and variety was very sufficient.
The Mast Bar and Grill was a nice option open most of the time where you could get a grilled burger or hot dog and soda.
There are a number of other dining options that are available for an optional fee. The one we dined at on our last evening was Le Petit Chef. It was in an area called QSine. Once again, this was recommended by our friends. It was lots of fun. There were four courses, and two options for each course. Your table was completely white and, before each course, an animated, very French, “petite chef” and various other characters were shown on our table as they talked about each course and often demonstrated how the course was being prepared and delivered to our plates.
It was all very colorful and quite fun. The extra fee for us was $60/person but I understand it might have been less had we booked before boarding. We found out that there are five other Le Petite Chef restaurants around the world and that the one in Toronto goes for about $150/person.
Beverages
We had the all-inclusive drinks and tip package. It included soft drinks and all alcohol priced at $10 or less. If it was more than $10, you just paid the difference. After seeing a recommendation to try Proseco Zonin as an alternative to champagne, we did that and were quite satisfied. We never did pay any extra for drinks, even while dining at Blu and Le Petit Chef.
There are many different places on board where you can get both soft drinks and alcoholic drinks so you are never far from any one. Tip: Locate the one closest to your stateroom so you can quickly get a soda when you want it.
Entertainment
We found the Sky Lounge, located near the top and front of the ship, a while after we boarded, but it was quite nice. There is a small stage and dance floor where they have various activities each night. We saw a magician perform his up close show there. There are also board games and daily Sodoko cards that you can use.
The main theater is an excellent venue. It holds a lot of people and there is comfortable seating with tables at the higher levels where you can set your drinks. No reservations. You just show up and we never had any problem with seating. If you’re worried about that, the doors open 30 minutes early.
We saw the ship naturalist present a very interesting talk about all things whale and Orca. We also saw a comedian, both for an earlier evening family oriented comedy show, and also for a later night more adult show. We also saw an excellent magician named Gabriel, from Venice Italy. Unfortunately, we were told these were his last appearances on the Millennium, but I am sure they will be able to find another magician equally as talented for future cruises.
We saw two, excellent Ukrainian dancers and gymnasts perform a Cirque-du-Soleil like show. There were also other song and dance and Broadway type shows that we chose not to see.
On Shore Tours
We chose to book our tours with operators recommended on Trip Advisor, rather than booking the ones provided by the cruise. We batted .500 as one whale tour in Icy Strait Point was excellent, and another in Ketchikan that was a complete waste of time. We did speak with other guests who booked the cruise whale tour at Juneau and they spoke of it as highly as the one we booked at Icy Strait Point.
If you do book anything directly with the cruise, do it early to get a discount. However, most cruise tours have limited cancellation ability, so be sure to check that out ahead of time. Shore excursions can usually be booked and cancelled, if necessary, a day or two before the tour departs.
The small Alaska towns – Juneau, Skagway, Hoonah and Ketchikan – at each of which we docked for a day, were nothing particular to write home about (or on your blog). Ketchikan had perhaps the most interesting downtown of the four.
Here are the reviews I wrote about both the Icy Strait Point and Ketchikan whale watching tours …
Spa, Pools and Whirlpool
There is a large, open air pool and whirlpool area that we did not use because, well, it WAS September in Alaska! There was also an enclosed Solarium, which also had a large pool and multiple whirlpools. We paid extra for a very nice Swedish massage at The Spa.
The Stateroom
We were in Aqua Class on the 9th deck. As I mentioned earlier, this was recommended to us in part because of the nicer room and also access to the Blu restaurant. There are also some other perks which you can find out for yourself on the internet.
There are many You Tube videos that explain the benefits and show you what the stateroom looks like. Make certain that you are not just viewing Celebrity, but specifically the Celerity Millennium, because the rooms do differ depending upon which Celebrity ship you are on.
Blu was absolutely a nice perk exclusive to Aqua Class. The room was nice but I’m not sure it is really any bigger, or much bigger, than other lower class staterooms. We had a separate balcony with a sliding door. We really did not end up using it much at all. Check it out on You Tube and make the decision for yourself to determine whether or not you think the extra cost is worth it.
A Mild Disappointment
One of the few disappointments I initially had was that since we were on the 9th deck, we had a roof extended out beyond our balcony overhead. This made it only possible for us to see straight out. There was no opportunity to see up, either to the sky or even to see mountains when we were relatively close to the shoreline. That said, we really did not find ourselves using the balcony much at all.
Also, when I made the reservation, I made sure to get a stateroom not only with a balcony, but also with an odd number. That ensured that as we were cruising south from Seward to Vancouver, we would always be on the side facing land.
In retrospect, that was not really a big deal. I would not let that be a deal breaker for me if I booked a future cruise. The best viewing from our stateroom balcony would have been when we cruised the Inside Passage, just before getting to Vancouver. However, we cruised the entire length well after dark, so that was a non-factor.
In fact, if you don’t believe that access to the Blu Restaurant sounds like a big deal, then I could see taking a cruise and booking a much less expensive stateroom, maybe even one without a balcony. Although at least having a window looking out toward the ocean and land seems like a minimum requirement. But there are even less expensive inside cabins as well.
The Staff and Crew
We found everyone to be very professional and friendly, but not invasive of our privacy. Our room attendant was very accommodating and ended up emptying garbage and making the bed three times daily, and almost never while we were there.
The Ship Layout
If you have not cruised before, you may be surprised at how confusing it can be to locate areas, even if you know on which deck they are located. I think it took me about three days before I was relatively certain that if I wanted to walk to the front of the ship, I had to turn left out of my room. Before cruising, you might want to familiarize yourself with the ship layout by reviewing the maps that are available on the internet, specifically You Tube.
General Impression
As with our time in Anchorage, we were disappointed that we were not able to see much if any wildlife, even during our extended shore excursion up into Canada while docked in Skagway. We also did not check off that major bucket list item of ours – seeing the Northern Lights.
But we did enjoy our cruise very much. The Millennium was likely nice to begin with and has relatively recently been renovated. Everything seemed very clean and new. The staff was great and there were multiple options for eating, drinking and entertainment each day.
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