Cruising newbie second-guessing choices...

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

We sailed the Celebrity Millenium last summer because we wanted a 1-way cruise, and Celebrity has a smoking policy very similar to DCL. They offer kids clubs as well as some adult-only areas, and the service was very similar to Disney's. It was our first non-DCL cruise (and we're platinum CC members) - and we really enjoyed the cruise. We were in an oceanview and e yed the view - it was chilly enough most evenings that we wouldn't want to sit on a balcony anyway. We spent a lot of time in the forward lounge, watching the scenery (often until 11pm - it's hard to tell time when it doesn't get dark out). We had a teen, but the kids club seemed to be very popular with the 12 and under crowd. We had no problem finding space to see the glacier - plenty of visibility.

Celebrity tends to have 3 ships cruising Alaska, and offers both round-trip and one-way itineraries. If you're not planning to go to Alaska again, I'd recommend a 1-way if you can fit it in - we spent 5 nights in Anchorage and Talkeetna post-cruise, and our day in Denali was probably one of the most memorable days of the whole trip.

We also did the Celebrity Millennium; last year over the Fourth of July. Also because of the one way cruise offered by Celebrity, we did Seward to Vancouver. It was a fantastic trip!!!
We had a veranda which we used a lot but my biggest complaint is that we were directly under the LARGE OVERHANG of the deck above. The only thing we could see was straight out from our veranda; and the struts that hold the deck up are in practically every picture I wanted to take. When we were sailing close enough to shore and there were tall hills or mountains, most of the tops were cut off from view. They opened the helipad for viewing the glacier while we were there. It was a drizzly light rainy day while there but it didn't take away from the beauty of it all. No children sailing in our party so can't answer your questions about the kids club, but I can say that we didn't see nearly as many running around on this cruise as we do on DCL.

My ONLY COMPLAINT is that Celebrity Millennium doesn't hold a candle to the beauty of a DCL ship. Disney goes all out in the attention to details. The shuffle board court was only half a court, they built something out over it. Some patchwork repairs, very noticeable. And hands down DCL wins in entertainment.

But food was as good, servers were as good, room steward was as good, ship was as clean as any DCL ship. I have no problem recommending Celebrity Millennium to anyone shying away from DCL because of COST (I agree DCL Alaska is costly) or itinerary. Loved the One Way trip!!!