laticmon

On Ventura last week the semi-final was screened in Havana on big screen/all the tv screens and also in  Exchange. Very busy and a great atmosphere ebven though the ship was alongside in Cherbourg. There was coffee/tea supplied and also breakfast barms, plus the bars were open too.

We were also on the 28/7 sailing from Southampton.

We sailed with Celebrity in the Med last year on a fly- cruise and had a great time

We have also sailed with  P&O when there have been almost 1000 U18's on board

The one point that seems to have escaped most people is that there was always spaces at the bars/shows etc

In my opinion, some of the behaviour of the adults was as bad as the comments regarding that of children/teens;

especially in regard to the reserving of sunbeds for hours on end whilst going ashore in the meantime. This was one of the main reasons that the lawned areas were used for sunbathing etc. With 3000 pax there is nowhere near enough sunbeds to cope.

My son was also questioned/commented to on several occasions as to whether he was old enough to drink alcohol when ordering at the bar! Who do these people think they are?

I don't think that the comments regarding "feral" children are in any way justified

The cruise had a great vibe on board, and we really enjoyed it

We booked an FV on S Class for the three of us( inc 18yo) First time in that type of cabin but it seems to give us  seperate cabins within a cabin plus a large lounge area. Square footage the same as a Royal Suite. As an earlier poster said there are only 4 FV on S class and deck 8 have slightly larger balconies. Regarding booking dates we booked ours almost a year in advance for the three of us (5 berth cabin) for a Summer cruise which is now completely sold out

Help appreciated please to find out drinks prices on board; eg standard bottle beers, spirit measures etc

We have a soft drinks package and are looking at the maths as to whether to upgrade to an alcohol package for our 18yo

I can't remember the prices from last year and I think UK sailings normally include the gratuity on the menu price, so anyone who has info from this recently would be helpful

The "duty-free" store is usually sealed by Customs. Happened to us on 10 day Constellation Venice-Venice last year. We didn't leave the EU but as we had package for drinks we were not charged any extra vat.

Drinks packages are discounted on my CP, such that it's actually cheaper at the moment to purchase a Classic alcohol package than it is to upgrade from a non-alcoholic one (£36.34 pd vs £37.88 pd) Anyone know the onboard prices please?

We have sailed from Southampton with P&O and they always try to include Gibraltar as a stop. Apart from the bonus of cheap duty-free for the passengers, it also means that the ship can sell its own "duty-free" stock as it has left the EU at some point during the cruise. We are on Silhouette this year and our cruise conveniently includes a stop in Gib.

Also, something to be aware of. We did a Venice- Venice cruise on Constellation last year. Italian Customs sealed the onboard "duty-free" shop for the duration of the cruise because the ship only did EU ports.

The Sauna that we used was in the Gent's changing rooms- not part of any paid for part of the vessel

Yes, it is in the changing rooms and is free to use. Huge round window too with a sea-view!

When we sailed with Celebrity last summer they had regular 18-23ish meet-ups planned in the daily listings. P&O should follow suit.

Bolton is between 0730-0800

We're going on Silhouette to the Med in July from Southampton; school hols due to my wife's job

We have previously sailed twice on Ventura from Southampton, and once on Constellation from Venice, all in the Summer holidays.

For this Summer we actually compared similar cruises, Britannia 14 days to the Med and Silhouette, a day later to the Med for 14 days. We booked with Celebrity as the prices were very similar, especially when you factor in the drinks package that you can normally get with Celebrity.  eg on Constellation 11 day cruise last year we had a $150 on board spend which we struggled to spend. Our two previous cruises with P&O racked up into 4 figures for the two weeks ( 3 of us).

I think that the overall experience with Celebrity is better, last cruise approx 1100 UK out of 2000 pax, which gives a more cosmopolitan feel. However, I do enjoy the "Britishness" of P&O and we have now booked an autumn cruise back on Ventura.

Food/Dining- we always go "freedom" and found Celebrity geared up better to smaller table sizes; very little wait for your own table and if there was they operate the similar pager system to  P&O.  With Celebrity we were able to go the front desk and ask for table in 30 mins or so to enable us to go and get a drink. We always had our own table. Food is certainly more "descriptive" with Celebrity, they also have  "everyday staples" on the dinner menu. My main criticism of Celebrity was the Breakfast buffet in that hot food service finished around 1000-1030, whereas with P&O it does go later.

Drinks etc- a lot more expensive with Celebrity, and without a package I would dread to think of the final bill.

Entertainment is a lot more geared for the UK on P&O whereas Celebrity has a more International flavour. Better equipped theatres etc on Celebrity and they seemed to have a lot more intimate type gigs in the bars etc.

We took the Alilaguna Service from Castello district direct to the Cruise Port. This is different to the Vaporetto services. The crew take your cases and stow them and then put them on the jetty at the Cruise Port

https://www.alilaguna.it/en

Sky Sports News on TV in the cabin, also when there was a Premier League available it was available on a separate channel. Mast bar plus others had it on too. Constellation August this year.

We cruise next month and decided to reserve the first night. The only time available is 5:45 which is earlier than I would have liked. If you are interested, don't hesitate or your time may not be available.

There are only so many tables reserved for set times on Select Dining. You can still show up at your preferred time and probably get a table. If not you may have to wait with a drink in the bar.

We've just returned from Constellation at the end of August. We too had Select Dining as we prefer the flexibility. There were two front-of-house desks in the MDR; one for people turning up, and one for pre-reservations and Suite guests. We were quite happy to wait for a table rather than queue and so we used to go down to the MDR about 30 mins before we preferred to dine (usually around 1930). TIP- We always went to the reservations desk (no queue or queue invariably shorter) and asked for a table in around 30 mins. We were given a pager and then used to go to Rendezvous or Martini bar for a pre-dinner drink.

There were three of us, and we were given a window table on probably 4 out of the 7 occasions we did this.

On a couple of occasions if there was no queue we went straight in; once we were given a table on the upper level with the fixed dining passengers. This was used as an overspill if there was room and we had no problems with this either.

I don't see any need in reserving times pre-cruise as there is always sufficient room if you are prepared to wait. Although on our cruise the British were the majority nationality on board, there were also a lot of Spaniards, who generally ate later. There were always large queues at the MDR around 2100/2130

We had the balcony on 6143 last month on Constellation. Plenty of room; two loungers, two chairs/footstools and a table

We've just returned from Constellation on a Venice-Venice fly cruise. We had a kettle in our cabin which was great for a morning brew. Had to get the milk from the buffet though.....

Sunbeds on our C1 on Constellation balcony as well as two chairs/footstools/table.

We've just returned from a cruise on Celebrity Constellation, following two previous summer cruises on Ventura. Overall we thought Celebrity edged P&O regarding overall onboard experience. The two P&O cruises were ex Southampton, and the Constellation was a fly cruise Venice-Venice. Although all cruises were in the Summer holidays, our overall impression that the average age of passengers on Celebrity was suprisingly younger. Possibly not as many children on Celebrity v P&O, but certainly the adults on board seemed generally younger.

We had no problems with service in the MDR, and learnt from our experience with P&O in that we would go down to the dining room early and request a table for our preferred time. Invariably we ended up with a window table. Although there were three of us in our party, we always had our own table and were never asked to share. There seemed to be less larger tables in the MDR than on P&O. Service on the whole was exceptional , even to details such as type of bread/butter choices. Although P&O food quality is very good, we also thought that Celebrity's offering were great too; once you had mastered the choice of menu descriptions etc.

The ship never felt crowded, and always sunbeds available if you were prepared to move away from the main pool areas. Entertainment was perhaps a little less British orientated, which in some ways is no bad thing. Lots more areas with low key , more intimate live music etc.

Going forward we were impressed enough to book again with Celebrity next Summer, sailing from Southampton. We had compared pricing with P&O and felt that Celebrity offered the best package overall. Last cruise we had a little onboard credit and left with a total bill of less than 20 US dollars. Obviously we had no drinks to pay for, whereas on P&O we had left the ship owing over £1000 on our cabin account.

They usually are on the Med cruises. We’ve sailed on Connie a few times so not shocked to hear we were in the majority ;).

But not always so. Whereas there were around 900 British on board on our cruise , our friends on the preceding cruise said there were only a few hundred. Med cruise. School hols. Unpredictable eh?

And full of Brits...nah... I’d forget it too :eek: :evilsmile: :D. Much prefer joining the ship in the nice weather with an international mix :cool:.

We've just returned from a fly cruise on Constellation. Probably shock you to hear that the British were the majority nationality and the average age probably around 30-40.

Personally I enjoy sailing from Southampton; no stress of flying and wondering whether your baggage will arrive at some overcrowded airport. We usually drive down the previous day and stay in a local hotel. Just booked Silhouette for next year on that basis; cheaper than P&O and RCI for a similar cruise so relay pleased with the deal. Here's to hoping all the moaning Brits fly-cruise next year........:cool:

We'll be in Gibraltar on Silhouette on 8/8 next year (2019)

We stayed in the Concierge cabin 6143 which is directly below this. There is no noise transferred down when the window is operated.

I would imagine that like the Edge, she will predominantly be sailing cruises of 7 days or shorter. From the UK, this will probably mean that it will be sailing the Fjords and possibly Iberian Peninsula. With P&O's Iona also sailing in 2020 from Southampton to the Fjords, hopefully this may be the competition needed to keep pricing sane