Hi, my husband and I will be spending the night before our cruise at the Westin Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. Can anybody tell me whether there are any shops nearby (a mall) and if so, are they open on a Sunday? Also, will there be places to get a meal close to the hotel? Speaking of food, when we are on the ship, is it possible to get something to eat between our main meals. Thanks.

Hello Liverpool Lass, and welcome to cruise chat. I am so sorry no one has answered your post, I have not stayed at the Westin, but checked some other sites for you, seems like a lovely hotel, but in a corporate area, popular with business travelers vs leisurely like me. The pool and spa sound wonderful, but you are about 3-10 miles away from malls and beaches. If its a relaxing, upscale pre or post night cruise stay, it is a good choice. Any other questions, I would be happy to try and answer best I can.

Hi Liverpool lass, and welcome to cruise-chat.com!

I am also sorry I didn't see your post sooner. As far as eating on the ship between meals, no worries. There is a buffet on one of the upper decks that serves a variety of food and snacks throughout most of the day. Enjoy!

LOL...one thing not to worry about on a cruise, will there be enough food ??? Between buffets, room service (still a great bargain), and the scheduled meals, your darling hubby will NOT be hungry, he will just find FAVORITE places to snack. I am also considering that ship, and I love Tom Ogg's reviews, so thorough. Try here...
http://www.cruisereviews.com/Celebrity/Millennium.htm

Thanks for the answers. Only a week left to go, we can't wait! Can anyone tell me how the men usually dress on the informal nights? I know the ship's info. says if it's informal then a shirt and jacket are still expected, is that right? Other people have said most of the time, other than the formal nights, they just dress casually.

A jacket is not required for men on informal nights. There are really two kinds of dress these days in the dining room: formal, and not. On the not formal nights, something you'd wear to go out to a restaurant is fine. They don't like shorts in the dining room in the evening, or ragged looking jeans. Other than that, you'll be ok.

Sandy

I DON'T KNOW WHAT CRUISE THESE OTHER PEOPLE WENT ON, BUT MY WIFE AND I ALONG WITH 8 OF OUR FRIENDS JUST SAILED ON THE MILLENIUM ON FEB. 10 2008. THE WORST CRUISE OF OUR LIFE. MY WIFE IS A RETIRED TRAVEL AGENT AND THIS WAS THE WORST CRUISE EXPERIENCE OF OUR LIFE. THE RESPONSE FROM CELEBRITY IS TERRIBLE.

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This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dave Beers,

Liverpool Lass, although Complete Scales seems to have a problem, don't worry. You'll have a wonderful time. I'm sorry I didn't see your post earlier as well. The Westin is a very luxurious hotel, but it is away from the city. About 15 miles west of the ocean and port. With that being said, there is a mall off of University Boulevard north of State Road 84. The Westin will probably offer shuttle service there. It used to be called the Broward Mall, but don't know what it's called now. There are plenty of stores and restaurants there. However, the Westin has some marvelous restaurants within its grounds. Not sure what your ports of call will be, but any place in the Caribbean is beautiful. There's good snorkeling in many islands, good shopping in St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Curacao, and Cozumel. Best wishes for a marvelous cruise!

Asking people to call you for a fax is not the way we work here. This is a forum not a bulletin board. If you had specific problems on your cruise then please post them here so everyone can see them and respond.

quote:

Originally posted by COMPLETE SCALES:
I DON'T KNOW WHAT CRUISE THESE OTHER PEOPLE WENT ON, BUT MY WIFE AND I ALONG WITH 8 OF OUR FRIENDS JUST SAILED ON THE MILLENIUM ON FEB. 10 2008. THE WORST CRUISE OF OUR LIFE. MY WIFE IS A RETIRED TRAVEL AGENT AND THIS WAS THE WORST CRUISE EXPERIENCE OF OUR LIFE. THE RESPONSE FROM CELEBRITY IS TERRIBLE.

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Complete Scales, I hope you're coming back to follow up with the issues. I for one, would like to know more. I just went back to my bookings and had three clients on that sailing on that date. The worst complaint I recieved was that the ship was probably due for a refurbish. The carpet and linens and such were looking a little shabby and one reported that the food wasn't quite up to Celebrity's normally very high standards on this sailing. Hardly a scathing review but shows some room for improvement.

Liverpool Lass, I'd also like to hear your report on how your trip went.

Cheers, Neil

Neil, I don't know if this will help you in booking clients on future Millennium cruises, but we were on the 2/3/08 Eastern Caribbean sailing on Millennium, and our cruise was very pleasant. There were a few areas on the ship that could probably use a refurb, but isn't that the case on all ships? If one is looking for "brand spanking new", why choose ships that are 8 years old. Our stateroom furnishings were in very good shape (including linens)and even though there were some signs of mildew on the shower curtain (it was replaced without our asking on the 2nd day)it was certainly nothing to ruin the cruise. The Millennium is a stately ship and very roomy. We never felt crowded in any venue. The biggest area for improvement, IMHO, is the service inconsistency. For the most part, however, employees went out of their way to make our cruise a pleasant experience.
I would recommend Celebrity and the Millennium to anyone considering a cruise.
Moonie

Moonie, Thank you very much for your input. Was delighted to read your review and it confirmed what I suspected, that some are overly critical. Not to put down legitimate issues, they do happen with all the lines from time to time. It really helps to know as much of both sides as possible in choosing a cruise and steering folks to the right cruise.

Thanks again, Neil

My husband and I have now returned from our cruise. It seems that the person who is complaining about the Millennium was on the same cruise as us but it's hard to believe as I can only say what a fantastic time we had. The only negative things I can think of were that there were one or two minor cosmetic blemishes in our room. Also, we had asked to have a table for two in the restaurant which we didn't get (even though it was stated we would on our reservation confirmation and the maitre'd said he couldn't change our seating when we asked him). Other than that,the staff were amazing and played a big part in making this such a special holiday for us. We wanted to bring our assistant waiter, Ozgur, home with us he was so lovely. The places we visited were fantastic. I remember reading somewhere that it wasn't worth getting off the ship at the Dominican Republic and when we saw what looked like an industrial area with black smoking chimneys etc. I thought they were right but that would have been such a mistake. We booked an excursion to Bayahibe beach and it was such a beautiful place it would have been a shame to have missed it. I must recommend the excursion we took at Labadee, it was to be "Castaway" at Mafini beach. This was just so amazing I wanted to stay there forever! The nearest thing to paradise I have ever seen (and my husband agrees). We were also very brave (I think) and did the BOSS underwater scooter tour at St. Thomas. I was terrified but wow what an adventure. I'm so glad we did it. I loved the Millennium. The staff and other guests were so friendly. The food was great. I adored having a balcony which I went out on early each morning to watch as we arrived in another beautiful place and which we stood on at night marvelling at how peaceful it was.

Most of the other guests we spoke to seem to have been on many cruises. My husband and I are not able to do this, unfortunately our finances do not allow it, so this may be the only time we ever get to experience such a wonderful holiday. We did this, with the help of family and friends, to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, so a big THANK YOU to them. I'm hoping that someday we will be able to do it all again and I'd have no hesitation in booking with Celebrity (though the Millennium will probably be gone by then!) Finally, thank you so much for all the info. you gave me before the cruise, it was so useful.

Welcome back Liverpool Lass! Very happy to haer you have such a great cruise vacation. I do hope in the future you get the oppt'y to cruise again. Also, thanks for coming back to share your experience with us and I hope you hang around and visit some more.

Cheers, Neil