Ken

My wife and I just returned from a 10-day Western Mediterranean cruise aboard the Millennium. I would be happy to answer any questions people might have regarding this ship. <BR> <BR>You may contact me directly or via the forum. <BR> <BR>Ken

Paul Therault

<BR>Hi Ken, <BR> <BR>Has the vibration been corrected? <BR> <BR>Paul

Theresa

I think the vibration is being fixed when it arrives back in the US - November time frame. <BR> <BR>Can you compare it to any other ship? Will I like it better than the Grand Princess, Sea Princess, etc. . . . <BR> <BR>Was the Olympic Restaurant worth it. I just read an article on MSNBC's web page - about the restaurant being haunted - can you believe it. <BR> <BR>I am sailing her in February. <BR> <BR>Theresa

Ken

Paul-The vibration is being fixed once it has done its Transatlantic crossing. And in all honesty, the vibration is hardly noticeable to the passengers. Apparently, the vibration occurs when the ship is moving into and out of port and not anytime else. Having sailed on the Grand Princess, I can tell you that I noticed nothing different. The vibration people feel is the same we felt aboard the Grand. It may be a different vibration than they are used to on other ships due to the size of these two ships, but it is no big deal at all. <BR> <BR>Theresa-We liked the Grand better than the Millennium. The fact that the Grand has a 24-hour buffet is appealing because when you get back at 6 or so and have late seating (8:45), you have few to no options other than room service. The Grand has one more pool and 2 more hottubs than Millennium and they stay open longer. The photography department was better on the Grand. The food was no better on Millennium than on the Grand BUT The Olympic is a fantasic experience. Well worth the effort to make the reservation for it as soon as you arrive onboard. As for it being haunted, in 10 days onboard, that topic never came up, so it must just have been a good story to run for publicity. <BR> <BR>The service was excellent on the Millennium and we had no major problems at all. There are just some small things that we thought Princess did better than Celebrity. <BR> <BR>Everyone expects something different when travelling, but all-in-all it was a good vacation. We would, however, choose the Grand over the Millennium if the itineraries were the same. But that is just our choice. <BR> <BR>Ken

Paul Therault

<BR>I did not mean the vibration when the ship is leaving port. I was talking about the extremely bad vibration at any operating speeds. <BR> <BR>According to Celebrity the vibration was fixed right after it's original trans Atlantic crossing. It arrived in NYC and turned around and sailed back to Europe. <BR> <BR>If you did not hear it, it was fixed. <BR> <BR>The vibration you hear at lower speeds is common for the newer Celebrity ships. <BR> <BR>Paul

Theresa

Ken - thanks for your response. <BR> <BR>I am sailing on the Grand on 12/3 and on the Millennium in Feruary. <BR> <BR>I thought you may enjoy this article: <BR>http://www.msnbc.com/news/481258.asp <BR> <BR>Here is the reference to the ship being haunted - it is probably a hoax but I thought it was cute: <BR> <BR>CRUISE SHIP SPOOKS <BR> <BR>Want a floating haunted hotel? No problem, and in at least one case, <BR> it’s actually a new ship. <BR> The Millennium may be a new cruise ship, but already it may be a floating ghost ship. Where do you find the spirits? In the private Olympic dining room. Officially, the special dining room (seats only 134) is open for dinner only and staffed by 10 chefs, 10 waiters, five sommeliers and five maitre d’s. But what makes the restaurant truly special is that it is in fact more than 89 years old. When it built the new ship, the company discovered that the original carved French walnut paneling was from the first-class a la carte dining room of the RMS Olympic, sister ship to the <BR>RMS Titanic. <BR> A few bits about the RMS Olympic: <BR>RMS Olympic entered service in June 1911 at 45,000 tons and 2,400 passengers in three classes (735 in frst, 674 in second and 1,000+ in third). The Olympic’s first- class a la carte dining room was on the ship’s B Deck, one level below the palatial smoking room, main lounge and writing room. The dining room was so popular that the ship’s architects more than doubled the size of that space on the ill-fated sister ship, the Titanic. <BR> The Olympic’s dining room was sumptuously decorated in the style of Louis XVI (Millennium’s Olympic dining room is remarkably similar). Following <BR>the tragedy that was Titanic in April 1912, the RMS Olympic was withdrawn from service for six months for renovations <BR>designed to avoid a similar catastrophe. The vessel re-entered service in December 1912, and waseventually refitted to serve as a troopship throughout World War I. <BR> After 24 years of continuous service, the RMS Olympic was withdrawn in the fall of 1935, largely the result of the Depression’s severe impact on passenger revenues. <BR> But somehow, the wood from that dining room remained, and was installed in the new Millennium. <BR> That’s the good news. However, even though the ship is new, a number of crew members have reported seeing visions late at night — in the dining room of waiters serving elderly first-class passengers, dressed in the original uniforms from 1911!

Theresa

Sorry that didn't come through cleaner.

Ken

Paul, <BR> <BR>You are incorrect about the order of events. Millennium was launched from France and has yet to do a Transatlantic crossing. This will occur in early November after its current Eastern Mediterranean voyage. Once across, it will dry-dock in New York for repairs. It has yet to be done at this time. I have e-mailed you the press release from Celebrity separately. The crew with whom I spoke all stated that it does not occur at cruising speeds and it is a mild vibration in particular portions of the ship. Might be the company line, but that is what I was told.