Review of Constellation 10-night Italy and Croatia June 5 2017.

Review of 10-night Italy & Croatia Cruise on Celebrity Constellation June 5-15, 2017

Pre-Cruise: We were a group of 8 adults traveling from Philadelphia and Boston to Venice. American Airlines had a very convenient non-stop from Philadelphia directly to and from Marco Polo Airport in Venice. Pre and Post cruise we stayed on the mainland at the Crowne Plaza Quarto d’Altino which was modern, not too expensive,and on a direct train line into Venice (3.40 euro and 25 min to St Lucia Station). The Hotel had a cruise package which gave us free transportation to/from the airport and to/from the cruiseport. Our rate also included a free breakfast buffet. This strategy allowed us to drop off all of our luggage and then take the train to enjoy Venice.

Embarkation Day 1: We were dropped off at the cruise port and were on the ship by 11AM. No issues. We had one sky suite (6132) and three balcony cabins (6032, 7100,7102). The sky suite near mid-ship had a great expanded balcony. We all had GoBest and the Premium Drink Package. The sail out from Venice was just amazing! We all gather on the large balcony of our sky suite and had champagne and treats. Overall the rooms were in good shape for an older ship. On boarding, two of us had lunch in Luminae (excellent!). That night the eight of us dined for my Birthday in the Tuscan Grill where we had an excellent meal and outstanding service. A couple of us did not care for the sweet steak sauce on the filets.

Day 2- Koper, Slovenia – Ordered Room Service Breakfast. It really beat going to the Oceanview Café! We took a Celebrity tour around the area by bus and a walking tour of Piran which was beautiful. The Koper old city was really beautiful for walking around as well. We had dinner for the first time in the main dining room. Meals in the MDR all week were just OK at best. We did Celebrity Select dining and always had to wait 20-30 min for a table. Service was slow but waiters were friendly.

Day 3- Zadar, Croatia – We ate breakfast in the OceanviewCafé. Advice- go to the rear and get fresh eggs and omelets or on the starboard side fresh poached eggs. Everything written about the beauty of Croatia is more than true! There was plenty to experience just walking around Croatia. You need to get kuna from an ATM as euros are not taken by the local vendors. We had another non-memorable dinner in the MDR after waiting a long time for a table.

Day 4- Dubrovnik, Croatia- possibly the most scenic and beautiful of all of the scenic ports on the entire trip. This was our only tender port and the locals were not too good with the process. We took a private Game of Thrones tour and it was fantastic. It included the botanical gardens (Kings Landing gardens) as well. Old town Dubrovnik is spectacular! Yes there is a Game of Thrones shop there too. That night the eight of us dined in Qsine for my wife’s birthday celebration. It is anew addition to Constellation. It was great fun for our group and food and service were excellent.

Day 5- Split, Croatia- Another scenic gem with an amazing old town area. Just walked around and ate pizza, prosciutto, and gelato. This was a general theme in these towns and a good plan! Some went to the beach- beautiful but not sandy- just pebbles. That night back to waiting for a mediocre meal and slow service in the main dining room. We kindof decided we were done with it!

Day 6- Kotor Montenegro – The group was not in agreement on the best and most scenic port – either Dubrovnik or Kotor. It was hard to choose! We took a private tour around the area which included a boat to Our Lady of the Rock. Montenegro is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to and again the old town area was a gem as well. That night we tired of the MDR so I paid extra for the entire group($30pp) to have dinner in Luminae as my guests. Everybody thought this was the best dining experience of the entire cruise. The service from the Luminae team is on another level entirely above the MDR.

Day 7 – At Sea – finally a break from the port intensive itinerary. Everybody slept in and had a lazy day. Lunch for some was at the new Top Deck Burger Bar (for a fee). See my separate mini-review. We had lunch in Luminae and again it was very good.

Day 8- Naples – Our group split up. Two went to Pompeii by private taxi. The rest of us took a private tour to Capri where we truly enjoyed Anacapri and then had a lunch at a private winery with an amazing view. We did the Blue Grotto too. Tourist trap but we are glad we did it. The fast ferry was about an hour each way and was packed. Go early! Dinner was in Oceanview Café – the buffet is very good and in the back there was an area for made-to-order grilled steaks, chicken and fish. On the port side there was a custom stir-fry station which was very good.

Day 9 – Messina, Sicily – Again we took a private tour where we spent three hours in Taormina on our own, then lunch above it in Castelmola. Just as beautiful and much less crowded. Our tour guide then took us to the best cannoli shop in Messina before going back to the ship. I again invited the entire group to dine in Luminae which was yet another great dining experience.

Day 10- At Sea – We were all very tired and just relaxed. And Packing! Had burgers at the Top Deck Burger Bar for lunch.

Day 11- Back in Venice. We were able to get off the ship by 9AM and it was a breeze! We later spent the next two days in Venice before flying home. We utilized the Hop On Hop Off Boat for 20 euro instead of public transportation. Well worth it.

What We Loved – the Adriatic itinerary and ports are just amazing! Dinners in specialty restaurants and Luminae. Every night at the Sunset Bar for sail away. Of course the Martini Bar every night before dinner. Roulette in the Casino. Everybody also just lovedCafé al Bacio for coffee and pastries. The live music was always very good across the ship. The concierge in Michael’s Club (Nadia) was exceptional.

Not So Good- It pains me to say this but overall the staff and service on the Constellation is well-below every other Celebrity ship I have sailed on. Not sure what is wrong. The ship is understaffed at the bars and in the MDR in my opinion. The staff is friendly enough but does not have that extra spring in their step for top notch customer service. I grew tired of being ignored by bartenders who seemed to find ways to not serve customers quickly. Everybody in our group was frustrated. We just did not enjoy the main dining room at all. The entertainment (shows) was so-so. Officers were hardly visible. Maybe some changes are needed.

I guess you are right that service crew may be burnt out due to a few staff. Hope the line realizes that.

Thank you for your feedback.

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Thank you for your review. Let's hope the service issue gets sorted!

Interesting feedback, thanks!

Thanks for the interesting review. An Adriatic itinerary is on my bucket list.

Thanks for the detailed reveiw. We are going in two months so we are hoping the crew gets straightened out. The crew can make or break a trip. The itinerary you had sounds great, ours it a bit different but still pretty incredible going from Venice to Barcelona. I am thinking with a lot of OBC to spend I need to find a friend in a suite......

We were on the cruise before and cannot fault the crew or any aspect of the cruise.everyone is different and has a different point of view. Just go and enjoy you won't be disappointed

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Day 9 – Messina, Sicily – Again we took a private tour where we spent three hours in Taormina on our own, then lunch above it in Castelmola. Just as beautiful and much less crowded. Our tour guide then took us to the best cannoli shop in Messina before going back to the ship.

 

Which tour company did you use for this tour?

 

See above in red

See above in red

We used Sicily With Mario and had Sergio as our driver and guide.

My wife and I were on the same cruise--I agree with everything that you said except that in my humble opinion the connie was not ready for prime time.--I plan to write a letter to Celeb .detailing the shortcomings

My husband and I were also on this cruise, compared to the May 26th sailing on this ship, this one was a dream. I do agree with the lack of spring in their step especially at the sunset bar. One night as they were closing up for the night around 11:50 the lights had come on and we asked if we could get 2 last beers. The answer we got back was "no, I've been working since 11 you know". Not the normal celebrity service. We ate in the MDR each night and found most of the food to be on par with all the previous celebrity cruises. We also used Sicily with Mario and had Mario as the driver and guide. A good choice if you are looking for a tour.

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Thanks for the review.

We used Sicily With Mario and had Sergio as our driver and guide.

Thanks

My husband and I were also on this cruise, compared to the May 26th sailing on this ship, this one was a dream. I do agree with the lack of spring in their step especially at the sunset bar. One night as they were closing up for the night around 11:50 the lights had come on and we asked if we could get 2 last beers. The answer we got back was "no, I've been working since 11 you know". Not the normal celebrity service. We ate in the MDR each night and found most of the food to be on par with all the previous celebrity cruises. We also used Sicily with Mario and had Mario as the driver and guide. A good choice if you are looking for a tour.

 

 

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Bar Service was a major complaint. The Sunset Bar was understaffed but a couple of the bartenders did try to keep up. At peak times like sail away the wait was long. I did see the Hotel Director walking in the Oceanview Cafe one such evening and asked him to check out the ridiculous situation at the Sunset Bar. He actually acted immediately and called in two more bartenders. The Martini Bar was always packed but they did their best to keep up. One more bartender there would have made a big difference. I was particularly frustrated by the staff at the Rendezvous Bar on deck 4. There were routinely 3 or 4 bartenders but they were not at all customer focused. They took their time to acknowledge you even in non-busy times.

We are on this cruise next May.

Really liked your review.

Who was your tour guide for Capri?

Thank You

Linda

Hi going on the Connie next Feb . India and Dubai Cruise never been on the Connie but its not long out of dry dock has it improved it a lot ? Been on the Millennium which I loved even though it an Older ship . Just hope the Connie is nice

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We are on this cruise next May.

Really liked your review.

Who was your tour guide for Capri?

Thank You

Linda

We used Tours of Amalfi Coast and Michael was our excellent tour guide.

Hi going on the Connie next Feb . India and Dubai Cruise never been on the Connie but its not long out of dry dock has it improved it a lot ? Been on the Millennium which I loved even though it an Older ship . Just hope the Connie is nice

 

 

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Constellation is in very good shape and well maintained for an older ship. Very much like Millennium. The dry dock added restaurants and a few other features like Rooftop Terrace bringing it up to standards of the other M-Class ships. Also some behind the scenes upgrades in propulsion system software. They also upgraded high end suites but no other cabins. Hopefully they will work out some of the service issues with the staff.

Thanks for your helpful reply . But service issues with the staff does not sound good ? Is it lack of staff ?

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In my opinion they seem to be understaffed in certain areas like bars compared to other Celebrity and RCCL ships that I have experienced. Others may differ with me.

Tee Rick,

Thanks for your well balanced review...I do hope the bar staffing issues are noted (and resolved) by Celebrity. I think you were so right to bring it to the attention of the Hotel Director....We have rarely had anything to complain about on board but when we have we have always passed it on to the appropriate manager. Sometimes just a small change (switch of staffing) can make such a difference....

There is nothing so frustrating as poor bar service. We love it when we head for a bar and the server greets us by name and is already poring our favourite tipple.....

Thank you TeeRick!

I will check them out.

Linda

Tee Rick,

 

Thanks for your well balanced review...I do hope the bar staffing issues are noted (and resolved) by Celebrity. I think you were so right to bring it to the attention of the Hotel Director....We have rarely had anything to complain about on board but when we have we have always passed it on to the appropriate manager. Sometimes just a small change (switch of staffing) can make such a difference....

 

There is nothing so frustrating as poor bar service. We love it when we head for a bar and the server greets us by name and is already poring our favourite tipple.....

We very rarely complain and if you follow my posts here some would think I'm a bit of a cheerleader for Celebrity and RCCL. However we happened to take the Behind the Scenes tour of the galley area which was introduced by the Hotel Director so we knew who he was. He told us to approach him with any issues if we saw him walking around. We did.

Bar Service was a major complaint. The Sunset Bar was understaffed but a couple of the bartenders did try to keep up. At peak times like sail away the wait was long. I did see the Hotel Director walking in the Oceanview Cafe one such evening and asked him to check out the ridiculous situation at the Sunset Bar. He actually acted immediately and called in two more bartenders. The Martini Bar was always packed but they did their best to keep up. One more bartender there would have made a big difference. I was particularly frustrated by the staff at the Rendezvous Bar on deck 4. There were routinely 3 or 4 bartenders but they were not at all customer focused. They took their time to acknowledge you even in non-busy times.

Apparently that was short-lived because on the following cruise, they went right back to just 1 bartender.

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Thank you for your excellent review. I have been looking at this itinerary 2018 so very helpful.

Just a thought but do you think that possibly because of the problems on the previous cruise, some of the crew may have just been burnt out. It seemed from what I have read the officers were involved with much more entertaining, and its only a guess but because of the refunds I think there may have been a more party vibe going on.

That said there has been much written about the lack of bar tender staff on most ships of late.