Passengers aboard Celebrity Millennium were surprised this week when the ship’s captain announced that the vessel would not be docking in Vietnam’s Phu My (Ho Chi Minh City) as scheduled. Guests aboard said the captain cited a “port booking” issue as the reason for cancellation.
The itinerary change follows an earlier missed stop in Da Nang, Vietnam, which was called off due to Typhoon Kalmaegi. The powerful storm swept through the region in early November and brought widespread rain, flooding, and high winds to Vietnam.
Guests aboard Celebrity Millennium said they were informed late on November 8, 2025, that the ship would no longer visit Phu My on November 9, 2025, as originally scheduled.
One guest shared on the Reddit Celebrity Cruises forum:
“Captain just announced Celebrity Millennium will not dock in Phu My for Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow because he just learned they don’t have a berth for the ship. We already missed Da Nang due to a typhoon so now have lost both our stops in Vietnam.”
Another guest posted in a Celebrity Millennium Facebook group:
“We missed a port in Vietnam because of the weather. Safety always comes first — good call, captain. Then tonight at 10:30 p.m. we are told that our second port in Vietnam tomorrow is canceled. Not the weather — the captain said the port’s not booked!”
The guest also noted they were unable to get a refund for privately arranged excursions with less than a day’s notice. Another guest onboard commented, “On the ship too — situation sucks! How does a dock get overbooked?”
Celebrity Millennium departed from Yokohama, Japan on October 29, 2025 for on a 14-night voyage. The Tokyo to Singapore cruise included ports across Asia, including Kagoshima, Keelung (Taipei), Hong Kong, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City.
The Millennium class vessel is scheduled to conclude its voyage in Singapore on November 12, 2025. At this time, there have been no further changes to the itinerary.
How does a cruise port end up “not booked”?
Although weather-related diversions are relatively common in Southeast Asia, berth or scheduling conflicts are far less frequent. This is especially true for major cruise lines that typically confirm port logistics years in advance.
When a captain reports that a “port isn’t booked”, this generally means the ship does not have a confirmed berth reservation or clearance to dock.
This could be caused by a scheduling conflict, administrative delay, or regulatory issue between the cruise line and port authority.
In rare cases, congestion or changing port operations can leave ships without available space to dock, forcing them to bypass the stop entirely.
Ongoing issues for ships docking in Ho Chi Minh City
Similar disruptions in Phu My have affected other cruise lines this year. Earlier in the season, Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas also skipped its call to Ho Chi Minh City during a repositioning voyage, citing port restrictions and operational limits.
The issue may also be linked to ongoing capacity challenges in the region. According to a recent report from Dan Tri News, the Vietnam Maritime and Inland Waterways Administration has urged the Ministry of Construction to extend permission for international cruise ships to dock at the Cái Mep–Thị Vải port complex, the primary facility serving Ho Chi Minh City.
The agency confirmed that although the port contains 24 terminals for cargo and containers, none are officially licensed or zoned to handle passenger vessels.
The report notes that several cruise companies, including Royal Caribbean Group, have petitioned the government after being informed their ships could no longer dock at Cái Mep–Thị Vải.
Royal Caribbean warned that, unless the issue is resolved, it may have to remove Ho Chi Minh City from future itineraries, after its Ovation of the Seas was unable to call there on October 18.
“If this issue is not resolved, ports in the Ho Chi Minh City area will be unable to accommodate large international cruise ships. We will therefore have no choice but to remove Ho Chi Minh City from our list of Asian destinations,” RCG said in its statement to authorities, according to DTiNews.
In addition, Royal Caribbean Group emphasized that sudden itinerary cancellations for Phu My, Vietnam, have severely disrupted cruise operations.
Finally, the company noted that this is not the first time such a disruption has occurred. In September 2024, Nha Trang Port was unexpectedly closed, forcing Royal Caribbean Group to exclude Nha Trang from its cruise itineraries.
Other cruise ships are scheduled to dock in Phu My this month
Despite Celebrity Millennium’s cancellation, several other major cruise ships are still scheduled to visit Phu My (Ho Chi Minh City) throughout November, according to the CruiseMapper port schedule. This includes:
- Celebrity Solstice – November 10 and 22, 2025
- Holland America’s Westerdam – November 16, 2025
- Discovery Princess – November 20, 2025
- Norwegian Spirit – November 25, 2025
The Phu My port serves as the main gateway to Ho Chi Minh City, which is located about 80 miles inland along the Saigon River.
It has become an increasingly popular stop for Southeast Asia itineraries, though it remains limited in capacity compared to larger cruise destinations like Singapore or Hong Kong.
At the time of publication, Celebrity Cruises has not officially confirmed the specific reason for the cancellation.
About Celebrity Millennium
Launched in 2000, Celebrity Millennium is the oldest ship in Celebrity Cruises’ fleet. As the flagship vessel in the Millennium Class, the vessel was refurbished as part of Celebrity Cruises’ “Revolution” fleet-wide modernization program.
Celebrity Millennium’s multimillion-dollar refurbishment in 2019 updated staterooms with contemporary décor, redesigned restaurants and lounges, and an expanded Retreat Sundeck and Luminae restaurant exclusively for suite guests.
The Millennium class vessel also showcases Tuscan Grille, Qsine, and Café al Bacio, which are popular venues across the cruise line.
The 91,000-gross-ton cruise ship carries around 2,200 guests and 1,000 crew, offering an intimate, yet upscale, experience compared with Celebrity Cruises‘ larger Edge class ships.
Celebrity Millennium spends most of the year sailing in Asia, operating itineraries through Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, India, and Singapore. She will continue to serve as one of Celebrity’s key ships in the region through 2026.
