My boyfriend and I will be going on a cruise in April on Celebrity's Millenium. We're in our early 30s and have never cruised before. We have a few questions we hope could get answered before we set sail. Excursions: do we need to book through the ship or can we get by trying things out on our own - taxis, ferries, etc. I feel pretty comfortable doing this in San Juan and St. Thomas (we're sailing around the Eastern Caribbean), but not sure what there is to do on our own in the Dominican Republic...Seatings: initially, I had booked us a table for two, but after thinking about it, I changed us to a 6-top, so that we can have an easier time meeting people. Is this recommended? Is even a bigger table better? I hear you have to wait for your entire table to arrive before they can serve you. Is this true?... The ship: any recommendations on what we must do while on it? Are the spas worth it? The specialty restaurants worth the extra $$? I'm sure there are other things I don't even know to ask about, so any other tips would be welcome! Thanks.

My husband and I cruised last March and we were assigned a table for four which we thought was going to be ok.Turned out we were sitting with a mother and son who found the dining too formal so they only showed up for dinner one night.Usually we sit with six or eight which was really nice.We got to meet people some of which we have stayed in contact with.When we cruise again I will make sure I request a table for more.It was ok to have dinner alone one night but I really envyed the people around us who were sitting at bigger tables.They seemed to be having a lot more fun.They won't make you wait till everyone is seated before they serve you.As far as excursions go we just did our own thing.We just wanted to get up when we felt like it and come back to the ship at our leisure.Most of the excursions seemed to leave quite early in the morning.It's a personal preference I guess but signing up for a lot of excursions to us was just too scheduled.We were on vacation and didn't want to have a schedule! I don't know what part of the D.R. you will be visiting.We were in La Romana.Again we just left the ship and walked into town and didn't have any problems.Another great thing about having people to dine with is you will probably meet another couple who are interested in going splits on cab fare to do some exploring.Be sure to take in the on board entertainment.I have never gone to a show that wasn't worth seeing.Get there early for a seat though.I could go on and on I soooo love to cruise and you will too Have a great cruise.Wish it were us!

We just came back from my first cruise (my SO's second). We had anytime dining with Princess which was great so we didn't have assigned seating. If I had to pick assigned seating, I would likely go for a table of 6 or 8...what happens if you're at a table of 4 and you don't like the other 2 people???? As far as booking your own tours, we booked a couple trips that we really wanted and played it by ear on the other days. We were concerned about not having booked in case there were a number of ships in port and we couldn't get the tour we wanted if we waited until we docked. Worked out well for us. The Coral Princess that we were on had two speciality restuarants. The Italian one was worth the $$ for the experience; the Cajun one was was worth the $$ for the food. Although they billed it as a Cajun restuarant, it was really more a steakhouse. Both restaurants post their menu so we knew what we were ordering before we even went for dinner. I didn't try out the spa as I thought the prices were way too high however I talked to a couple women who used the spa and they loved it.

Just came off the Millie on Sunday. It was our first cruise (I am 49 DH is 54)and we loved it. We ate at a table for 6 and we had two very nice couples. They will serve you as soon as you sit down if you want. The food was great. There is open seating for breakfast and lunch. We met many really nice people during those meals. The Oplympic was well worth the extra money. The service and the food was great.The stop at the DR was a town built for the cruise ships not worth the trip.I guess you could go off on your own with a taxi drives. The other stops we just got a taxi and saw the sights. I am busy planning my next cruise with Celebrity. Go to cruisecritic.com and join a roll call for the cruise. I will be happy to answer any other questions. Have a great time. I wish I was going.

Sorry for the typo it is the Olympic.