Once or twice each cruise season, Australia will play host to a special visit of a cruise ship which usually spends its time in waters farther afield. Normally, this coincides with the beginning or end of a season when the twice annual ship shuffle takes place and Australia moves into its cooler months.

This week, Australia saw the first visit for the year of Celebrity Millennium, a ship on its way from a winter season sailing in Asia back to North America for a refurbishment and a few months helping Celebrity Cruises meet its demand for cruising in Alaska. Having just completed a voyage from Singapore, the ship was offloading happy passengers and welcoming a new crop of weary travellers eager for a few weeks of fun and excitement as the ship crossed the Pacific to Hawaii.

On the outside, the ship is currently the oldest in the Celebrity Cruises fleet at 16 years (hence the name Millennium), but on the inside, it is as modern and state-of-the-art as any of the other ships in the fleet. By today’s standards, it is a mid-sized vessel, catering to 2,158 passengers twin-share across 11 decks. Nearly eight in ten of its staterooms offer either a balcony or a window view. The ship is also well-suited for families or larger groups with 165 cabins able to be linked together via an interconnecting door.

At the top of the tree, Celebrity Millennium‘s Penthouse Suites measure a spacious 133 square metres plus a further 102 square metres worth of balcony. These suites are nearly three times the size of the next category down, the Royal Suite, although this is also supremely comfortable.

From a two-storey 900-seat Main Dining Room at Metropolitan to the more intimate 52-seat Riviera Cafe, food & beverage is well covered on this ship. Four specialty restaurants come with a small surcharge, however two of these are exclusive only to guests travelling in a certain cabin class. Lumiere is a fine dining venue available to Suite guests, while Blu is open for the sole use of guests in Aqua Class. If you’re only seeking a snack, you may want to try Bistro on Five – a small but quaint creperie with an open kitchen – check our review HERE.