Dear KJL: I have sailed the Sun Princess and the Star Princess (sister ship to the Grand Princess) and can tell you that both ships were excellent. I just got off the Millennium and here's an excerpt of the letter I just sent to Celebrity:
"Embarkation on December 14th went quite smoothly. Our cabin was just fine with the exception of the refrigerator not working. I was told that the refrigerator was meant to slightly chill things but it didn’t even do that. The malfunction was reported, but nothing was done about it. Our cabin attendant and anyone else that we came in contact with that worked on the ship were excellent.
The food on the Millennium was a huge disappointment. The steaks were tough and we were unable to cut into the pork chops. We were forced to send several meals back to the kitchen. Most food was served at room temperature or less in all of the dining areas that we ate in (the Metropolitan, the buffet and the grill). At the breakfast buffet, the eggs, bacon and sausage were always slightly warm, if that. The hot dogs in the grill were tolerable, but the hamburgers were so overcooked and dry that they flaked in your mouth when you bit into them. We ate a lot of pizza this trip and even that was never more than barely warm. The people at my table were not the only ones voicing disappointment in the ship’s food. I heard many complaints at various times throughout the ship. It was the topic of discussion amongst the folks sitting in the Celebrity Theater while waiting for the Disembarkation Talk. Several tables at the Mexican buffet called Maitre D’s over to complain about the food (my mother and I opted for pizza, again, for both the Mexican and the Chinese buffets).
In addition to the above, the computers were out of order from Wednesday to Sunday and we were not able to access the Internet for E-Mailing. This was not a minor inconvenience.
Disembarkation was horrendous! The Millennium docked many miles from where our luggage was stored and the shuttle system from the ship to the luggage was extremely unorganized. Getting from the ship to the airport was a very unpleasant experience to say the least.
This was my eighth cruise and I have to tell you I’ve never been so disappointed. This is the first cruise where I’ve come home a pound lighter than when I left"!
Hope this helps you make up your mind.
Penny
