I say “cabins” plural because I stayed in two very different ones on my recent b2b (back-to-back) cruise aboard the Celebrity Millennium. So different that it left my vision of the fairy, who grants cabin assignments to guests booked in the “guarantee” category, void of any sort of logic or intention – perhaps with an unruly wand that flutters about erratically bopping people on the head as she shouts out cabin numbers at random: “you, 6903 and 7038.”
But if you don’t believe in fairies and think John Calvin may have been onto something when he said, “if God does nothing random, there must always be something to learn,” I suppose this provided a good opportunity for comparison.
The best inside cabins on the Millennium are also the most mysterious, not appearing on many deck plans still available on Al Gore’s greatest, but sometimes misleading invention: the internet. As your professor, I’d be remiss in not mentioning here that you should always check the “last updated” date on web sources before judging their accuracy. For anything on the Millennium “last updated” prior to February 2019 – when she went through a massive refurbishment – would leave you questioning my credibility (more than usual): cabin 6903 doesn’t even exist!
But it does exist! It’s one of the 10 new inside cabins added during dry dock. And, in my opinion, these 10 new cabins are the best interiors available on the Millennium. If you’re cheap enough to book an inside, but not quite Professor Cruise level cheap and willing to folk over a bit extra to select your own stateroom, I would strongly recommend you consider cabins 6901, 6903, 6905, 7901, 7903, 7905, 8901, 8903, 9901, and 9903 (although I do have some minor noise concerns about cabins 9901 and 9903 as they are located right below the pool deck – please chime in if you’ve stayed in either of those). Here’s why:
While I’ll get to some of the things I love that are common to all standard cabins on the Millennium, there are some unique features of the 10 newly added inside cabins that I think make them especially appealing.
All 10 of the new inside cabins are located mid-ship, minimizing motion if you’re prone to sea sickness, and within steps of the mid-ship elevators and stairs – which won’t help you achieve your 10,000 step goal, but will make reaching all areas of the ship from your room easy and convenient.
If you have any concerns about noise from the elevators or stairs, be reassured that this isn’t an issue. There is a wall separating the rooms from the elevator bank as shown in the video below.
When selecting a specific cabin among the 10, consider your deck preference. I loved being on floor 6 because it’s located right above the delicious, free pastries and desserts at the Al Bacio coffee shop and is convenient to the main dining rooms located on decks 4 and 5. However, if you prefer having cabins both above and below you, select decks 7 or 8 and if you like being close to the buffet and pools, select deck 9.
While every cabin on the Millennium was refurbished during the 2019 dry dock, I experienced the difference between a refurbished cabin and a brand new one. They are subtle, and alone not a compelling reason to book one versus the other, but the differences are worth noting and considering as you make a cabin decision.
First, you’ll notice a difference before you even step through your door.
While changes to the Millennium were dramatic and extensive, stateroom hallways still feature outdated trim, doors, and walls (as indicated in the photo on the left above), while the trim, doors, and walls surrounding the 10 added cabins are new and more contemporary looking (as indicated in the photo on the right above).
It’s akin to the below depictions of Mr. Cruise and I two years after having a kid (we’ve deteriorated even further in the four years since then) versus on our wedding day. We’re clearly the same people, but that version of us on the left could really benefit from a trip to the barber, an eyebrow tweeze, mascara, and some clothes less likely to be mistaken for cleaning rags.
After our first night in room 6903 on the Millennium, Mr. Cruise and I asked ourselves this question: “how many post high-school degrees does it take to figure out how to stop this darn thermostat from turning on ‘mood lighting’ in the middle of the night?” As it turns out, more than seven. And trust me, when you’re cruising with a six-year-old you don’t want any kind of lighting coming on in the middle of the night, but especially mood lighting: “our kid is right there, plus we’re WAY TOO TIRED!”
But somehow the fancy touchscreen thermostat featured in the new interior staterooms, with many different custom temperature and light settings, would automatically illuminate our room, come 3am or so, prompting me to throw a shoe at it in a desperate attempt to prevent me having to entertain my kid for four extra hours before pawning him off on the counselors at Camp At Sea, their faces turning ghost white when I told them H would be joining them for a second week: “good news, we’re on a back-to-back!”
However, if you lack useless degrees and posses some practical skills that allow you to function well in the modern world, you’ll probably enjoy the fancy thermostat and your eyes will be pleased at gazing upon the new and contemporary light switches (as opposed to the old, outdated looking thermostat and switches still present in the original interior staterooms).
Below is a video tour of cabin 6903 on the Millennium, a new three person occupancy interior cabin.
Let me briefly mention our second stateroom before moving on to specific features all standard staterooms on the Millennium have in common. Cabin 7038 is a forward, two person occupancy (Mr. Cruise had to return to his real job and couldn’t join H and I on the b2b), horizontal facing room. It was smaller than 6903, without the chair that transformed ala Optimus Prime into a third bed, had the door somewhat oddly positioned in the middle of the room making it impossible for me to sneak out in the middle of the night for a tryst with the Captain (the fact that his wife and three children were onboard during our sailing further complicated matters), and, although outfitted with the same decor as the new interior staterooms, did show some signs of age (old thermostat and light switches and drab walls), not that there’s anything wrong with that (I feel obligated to say that now that I’m in my 40’s).
The location wasn’t the most convenient, being so far forward, but I suppose on days 7-14 of unlimited dessert, a few extra forced steps from the buffet kept me from dragging my ass behind me like a cement-filled tire. Here’s a tour:
If you’re relatively new to Cruising 101, there are a few things you should know about your kindly (more like clumsy, but let’s not get distracted by the details when there’s chocolate forthcoming) professor. First, I love dessert more than almost anything else in life. Second, I like free stuff. And third, I suffer from PCDD or Post Cruise Depressive Disorder. So these free chocolates – placed on my pillow each evening (one per person staying in the cabin) by my room steward, saved (since there are so many other dessert opportunities while onboard), and eaten upon my return home as a side dish along with a giant tub of ice cream to treat my PCDD as I plan my next cruise – were very much appreciated.
Don’t plan on slamming one of these drawers shut with frustration when you learn of rain in the forecast for your port day in Ketchikan, both because it pretty much always rains in Ketchikan and because these drawers have a soft closing feature that prevents them from slamming. Pack an umbrella or slam your stateroom door instead. Trust me, your neighbors will love it.
Actually, don’t pack an umbrella. Just open your closet door to discover a free one provided for your use by Celebrity along with a bag to transport your free chocolates home. It’s like they’ve anticipated your every need.
One other thing you should know about me, I consider dress clothes to be anything not leggings, a faded sweatshirt, or sweatpants and avoid them like a fish would a naked hook. So naturally I mistook the provided robe for a wrap dress which lead to an awkward encounter with the hostess at the MDR. After sending me back to my cabin with instructions to return in something consistent with the dress code and placing a call to the medical unit requesting a mental health check, she whispered to her colleague at a neighboring podium: “just when you think you’ve seen it all.”
In all seriousness though, the robes are comfy and on more than one occasion I opted to order room service so I wouldn’t have to put on clothes.
While the hair dryer had that annoying little button that had to be pushed down the whole time, leading to blisters on the first day and carpal tunnel syndrome by day 14 (I have unnaturally thick hair for someone with such a dessert-heavy diet), it wasn’t permanently plugged into one awkwardly placed outlet necessitating in a limbo-like maneuver, “how low can she go!,” to operate effectively. It could be plugged into any three-pronged outlet – I opted for the one furthest away from the lighted mirror (more on that later). But speaking of outlets…
While I regularly forget deodorant, underwear, and razors when traveling, I almost never leave home without my laptop, iPad, phone, and gym fan. And if “H” and Mr. Cruise are along, better make that two laptops, three tablets, two phones, and a gym fan (I guess we know who the excessive sweater is in the family). We may need an intervention, but instead the Millennium enabled us with her 6 USB and 5 three-pronged outlets. There was no need for me to bring this cruise approved power strip like I normally do.
You can indulge in the contents of the mini-bar if you need a drink to pair with your robe and room service or you can have your room steward empty it out and use it to hide desserts to bust out after your kid goes to sleep.
I used this safe to hide bar bills from Mr. Cruise so he wouldn’t make fun of my drinks. I mean, what’s so fru fru about this?
If I didn’t love staring out at the ocean obsessively looking for whale spouts so much, I’d spend an entire Celebrity cruise in my robe, on the comfy bed with my room service and drinks from the mini bar, watching movies on demand, live TV, and checking Mr. Cruise’s onboard account to see when he wins at the casino: mama needs another cruise!
Now let’s move on to things I loved about the cabin bathrooms on the Millennium.
Every cabin I’ve ever stayed in has included shower gel, shampoo, and conditioner, but sometimes I’ve wondered if my room steward accidentally (or intentionally out of spite after spending 10 minutes in a small, enclosed space with my sweaty gym clothes hanging on a line at nose level) mixed up the shampoo with the Drano he needed for unclogging my toilet after Mexican night at the buffet. Which is to say that the bath products are usually harsh.
But not on the Millennium! I felt like Farrah Fawcett and thought for sure I’d finally have a chance with the Captain until I learned his wife and three kids were also on board and my perfectly soft, shiny, and feathered locks would be wasted on Mr. Cruise. “Can you at least take a photo of me like this for my Facebook profile pic?” “No one will recognize you without the rat’s nest.”
And check out this bar soap. I hoarded them to sell for $30 each to Seattleites at the “organic, artisanal, plant-based” soap stand I’d set up in front of my apartment upon my return home with 100% of the proceeds going to a worthy cause – my next cruise!
You can either use this garbage can as a fidget spinner while sitting on the can wondering when that laxative will kick in or to secretly throw out your husband’s too-short pants, totally inappropriate because “where’s the flood” isn’t funny on a ship. Me: “haven’t seen them, honey.” (He started it with the rat’s nest thing.)
But be warned, after the 3rd day, they’ll dry so stiff they’ll shatter into a million tiny pieces as soon as you mount the spin bike and pretend to turn up the resistance knob, revealing your waist high, hip hugging, nude-colored nylon undies clearly more fit for a granny, but really not that surprising.
Learn from my mistake and rinse your workout attire each day under this rain-style shower head, powerful enough to wash away even Prof. Cruise amounts of sweat, measured in gallons and a major contributor to ocean pollution.
My face is like a piece of poop. No, I’m not being overly dramatic and hard on myself; hear me out. They both serve an important purpose, one to discard of waste from the body and the other to convey outrage to Mr. Cruise when he dares suggest that pulling our kid out of school for a two-week Hawaiian cruise two months after a previous Hawaiian cruise is a bad idea (it’s a rare round trip sailing from Seattle and I’m still working on him). However, you don’t want to shine a light on either one of them unless you swallowed a Lego mistaking it for candy, “oops, let’s hope it passes,” or are my dentist, planning for an early retirement as she illuminates all the cavities in my mouth.
So I was not happy with this lighted vanity mirror.
Keep that sucker in the off position and you’re sure to love your cabin on the Celebrity Millennium. And with that..
Class Dismissed.
Homework (5 points): Read about my initial impressions of Celebrity and what makes it unique here and go here for all the Celebrity menus (bars, MDR’s, specialty restaurants, kids menu, vegetarian menus, AquaClass menus, suite class menus, room service menus, and more!)
And don’t forget to subscribe to the blog (scroll up to the top right if on a computer or keep scrolling down if on a mobile device) and to follow Prof. Cruise on social media:
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