The first time I saw Celebrity Millennium, I was standing on the walls of Fort Morro in the old section of San Juan. Looking out at the approach to the harbor, I could see a sleek looking ship moving rapidly towards the island. Her shape was reminiscent of an arrow and like the old SS United States, she seemed to have a determined look about her. Even though she must have been slowing to enter the harbor, she still maintained a look of motion as she passed the rocky coast below the fortress - - a fine sight on a sunny early winter morning.
As the name hints, Millennium entered service in 2000. She was the first of four 91,000 gross ton ships built for Celebrity. While they would now fall into the mid-size category, they were considered large when they were built. They also were technologically advanced with azipod propulsion systems and gas turbine engines.
Inside, Millennium was elegant and sophisticated. Although Celebrity was now owned by Royal Caribbean, the ship continued the Celebrity tradition of having an extensive collection of contemporary art.
Millennium was also to host Celebrity’s first true alternative restaurant - - the Olympic Specialty Restaurant. For those interested in nautical history, this venue was and is particularly exciting as it includes carved wood panels from the White Star Liner SS Olympic - - the sister ship to the Titanic.
The Millennium class ships are in the process of going through a transformation. In 2009, Millennium had a $10 million revitalization in which the accommodations were redone and various changes were made to the public areas. Shortly thereafter, Celebrity decided that it would incorporate some of the popular features of its new Solstice class ships into the Millenniums. It began this Solsticization in 2010, with a major refit of Celebrity Constellation. Later this year, it will do an even more extensive revitalization of Celebrity Infinity. Summit and Millennium are to follow. It seems likely that new ideas will flow from each refit and thus the four ships will continue to differ slightly in their features for some time to come.
The refits of Millennium and of Constellation underscore the robustness of this design. It can incorporate new features without losing the sophisticated atmosphere which has made these ships so popular.
The Beyondships profile of Celebrity Millennium with copies of programs and menus is at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Millennium-Profile.html The multi-page photo tour and commentary begins at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Millennium-Tour-1.html
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