Part 2 of Celebrity Millennium European Cruise Review
Our first dinner of the cruise was very tasty, but the service was incredibly slow (our bread did not arrive until we were almost finished our second course). Our waiter and busboy did not seem to work well as a team, for when the waiter arrived with our soups and salads the busboy did not follow with the pepper and dressings. After waiting almost 10 minutes for dressings for our salads, we finally had to flag down our busboy and ask for them. Our wine steward also seemed to be more pre-occupied with a large table for 10 than us, and it took forever to order and receive a bottle of wine. We hope that things improve, for service on the Mercury was much better.
DAY AT SEA (Formal Dress)
It was only a 150 miles or so from Amsterdam to Zeebrugge, but Celebrity scheduled this as a sea day, probably to give people a chance to relax and get used to the time change. We were cruising so slow all day that at times it seemed as if we were almost dead in the water - we even went back and forth a few times during the day. The seas are very calm and this surprised us for we are in the southern reaches of the North Sea, which can be extremely rough. At least the weather was also clear and sunny, although only in the mid 60's.
We had our 'Net Buddies' party today in the Extreme Lounge at 3:00PM, and about 30 people showed up. It was great to finally meet those with whom we had only shared emails over the last few months. We all talked over cocktails until almost 4:30 when some had to start getting ready for formal night. Thanks again to Bev for her hard work putting all this together.....
The Captain's Welcome Aboard Party was held in the Grand Foyer with people occupying all 3 decks surrounding the atrium. Although this concept works well on some ships, the Millennium was not well suited for the purpose because of all the draperies cascading from the ceiling of the atrium to the marble stairway. These obscured more than half the available viewing area and made it all but impossible to see or hear the Captain when he spoke.
Dinner in the dining room was even worse than last night, for in addition to the same slow service, the food was not that good - Tommie had to send her steak back to the kitchen because she ordered it medium rare and it came well done. When she brought this to the attention of our busboy, he immediately notified our waiter but the waiter did not come to our table for more than 5 minutes. When she finally received a replacement that was cooked properly, it turned out to be very tough and chewy, and of course my dinner was cold by then. Fortunately we have the Olympic Restaurant to look forward to tomorrow. After that we will probably have to talk with the Maitre D'.
ZEEBRUGGE, BELGIUM (Informal Dress)
Shore excursions offered by Celebrity:
Brussels Sightseeing - Full Day, $125, including lunch
Antwerp Sightseeing - Full Day, $125, including lunch
Bruges Sightseeing - Half Day, $62
Ghent Sightseeing - Half Day, $60
Ghent Sightseeing and Chocolate - Half Day, $65
We arrived on time at 7:00AM and it was another warm (low 80's) and sunny day. There is really nothing to see or do in the port of Zeebrugge itself, so Celebrity provided a complimentary shuttle bus to the nearby resort town of Blankenberge. This was a delightful and picturesque beach town that is obviously used by locals for summer vacations by the sea. We obtained a town map from the tourist information center and walked to many of the sights (town hall, cathedral, fisherman's house, yacht harbor, etc.) as well as along the long beach front that was peppered with many huts used to store lounge chairs and other paraphernalia available for rent. We also saw an interesting park that offered miniature golf, miniature billiards, cart driving course, lawn bowling, and other activities. Ship departed on schedule at 5:00PM, and we subsequently enjoyed our 3 hour dinner in the Olympic Restaurant. Finally we can say that we had a superb dinner.
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