Constellation Review - Fun times around the Adriatic & the Med

We sailed on "Connie" on the Sept 28 2017 11 night cruise out of Venice. I had intended to write my review long before now, but it didn't happen. Better late than never...

Background

Myself (37) and DW (41) are from Ireland and UK respectively. We have travelled extensively around the world, but only started cruises a few years ago, with our two outings before this on RC on Echantment of the Seas (Bahamas) and Ovataion of the Seas (Middle East to Far East). My reviews for those are in my signature if you are interested.

On our Ovation cruise we met some great people (as often happens when travelling!) and stayed in touch. We decided to take another cruise together. Our friends didn't fancy a long haul flight and we had been to Australia 6 months before the cruise so we agreed on a European cruise. We wanted a good itinary at a good price. In the end a combination of the deal from a travel agent which included flights and hotels in Venice and Barcelona meant we booked this cruise.

The drinks package wasn't included but we booked the Classic Package a few months out when there was a sale. Our friends missed the sale but ended up getting it cheaper when another sale was on!

Pre-Cruise

We flew to Venice from Gatwick and stayed in the Best Western in Mestre. Mestre is outside Venice, but was a good base for us to explore. It was a bus and tram ride, about 40 mins. Venice is beautiful. The prices are high if you go to tourist spots but walk the side streets and there are lots of small restaurants / bars that are reasonably priced.

Embarkation

We booked a shuttle to the port on emabarkation day and ignored the time we were told to arrive! I love driving into the port and seeing the ship. There was no queues to speak of and we were on board by 11:30. We made our way to the Mast Bar on Deck 11 and started to enjoy our cruise.

We had an inside cabin on Deck 7 forward. Cabin was fine. We only slept and showered in there anyway! I had a look in the Buffet (I kept calling it the Windjammer, but if course it's called the Ocean View Cafe) and it was very busy. When I was hungry I went to the Pool Grill where they do (complimentary not charged for) burgers, etc. The burger was cooked to order and I had fries too.

Muster was in the Theatre. As usual some idiots were late and delayed it.. they scan your sea pass cards to ensude everyone attends.

We spent sailaway up on deck 11 beside the Mast bar. The sailout of Venice is truly spectactular. They had classical Italian music playing and when they played Andrea Bochelli Time to Say Goodbye I shed a small tear as it was my Grandfather's funeral song. Sipping prosecco and sailing by St Mark's Square I was very pleased we chose this itinary.

I will complete my review under different elements of the cruise - the ship, the food, the entertainment, the ports and overall experience, as soon as I can.

Just about to do this itinerary (I think) in less than 50 days so very interested in your post. Keep the review coming when you can

:-)

PS Andrea Bocelli always makes me cry too ;-)

Ship and Crew

"Connie" is an older ship, but had been through a refurb just a short time before our cruise. She's a smaller ship (about 2000 passengers) and, from reading reviews on here, is very poular with seasoned Celebrity cruisers.

I thought the decor was nice and very well maintained. Overall I would say it's a very nice ship. There is the usual amenities (casino, duty free shops, photo shop, guest services, future cruises, bars / lounges (will discuss these under the Entertainment when get to that), pool deck with solarium, etc.

I really liked the solarium, it was nice and relaxing in there. In terms of the sea days it was busy on pool deck and solarium but could always get a lounger.

The crew were excellent, right up until the last day. Everyone was smiling, friendly and here to help. On the last day the crew let themselves down in my view - at the bars and in the MDR. It was obvious they had lost interest.. someone told me many were getting off the ship at end of their contract but I expect their game face every day of my cruise. A simple example in MDR was when I asked for a coke when ordering on last night.. no coke for me by the time the starters came (others at table had gotten their wine) and waitor said - "Im busy it'll be coming soon". I let Celebrity know in my post cruise survey. I am normally very pro crew, as its a hard job, but they let themselves and Celebrity down. It was the talk of the passengers on the last night.

The Food

As I always say on any review, food is a very subjective topic! Our friends who we travelled with told us from their previous expetiences that they prefer Celebrity food when compared to RC. This excited me as I always liked the food on RC.

In terms of the options there is no shortage, even for a small ship. As I mentioned discussing my embarkation, there is the Mast / Pool Grill which is a free burger place. The burger was good and certainly better than what you get in the buffet.

The solarium cafe is another free option. It has pre made salads and other healthy options served in small glass wear. I never made it for breakfast here but I liked the cous cous and chicken salad options for a snack during the day.

The Ocean View Cafe (buffet) was good. We had breakfast there most days. There are plenty of choices, from fruit to "American" to "English" as well as a station right aft where they will make you a fresh omellete. There's also a very nice outdoor section where you can dine al fresco. I also liked the times they had a freshly cooked ham where they carved slices. During lunch there are lots of options for full hot meals, etc. I also had eveni ng dinner there twice. I find longer cruises a bit too much for full on sit down 3 course meals every night. On two nights when I didnt want to get out of my shorts and into jeans I went here. There were lots of choices and it was relatively quiet. You can get steak cooked to order, but both times I went to the wok station and had a lovely freshly made stir.

The MDR (San Marco) is on two decks. We had anytime dining. The first night was a circus but we got seated eventually. The other nights it was better and we usually booked the next night when leaving.

So here's where subjectivity kicks in.. I thought overall the food was only "ok" in the MDR. I had two dishes that were cold when served, which is not acceptable. The starters (appetisers) were generally very good and the gumbo was delicious, but I found myself increasingly ordering the steak (one of the "staples" served everynight) for main course and although that was always good, I prefer variety but the other dishes were cold or lacking flavour. These are just my experiences this particular cruise.

There are of course pay dinner venues. Aside from a free sushi class in Sushi on 5, I only tried one pay venue, Q-Sine. This is a nice space on deck 3. The menus are Ipads witn loads of selections of 'small' items served with a twist. We asked the waitor to pick for us. He picked well and said we could of course order more but there was more than enough. The beef, chicken on a sword and chocolate dessert were highlights but everything was top notch. Much like RC, the pay venues are worth the money as you get better food and personal service. That being said we didnt feel the need to go again or spend money on one of the other pay venues.

Just about to do this itinerary (I think) in less than 50 days so very interested in your post. Keep the review coming when you can

 

:-)

 

PS Andrea Bocelli always makes me cry too ;-)

I'm sure you'll have a great cruise! I'll keep the review coming and happy to answer any questions.

PS glad it's not just me!

Thanks so much! I'll be sailing on her at the end of August! Great to read your review!

Thanks so much for this review. Can't wait to read the rest. We just booked this cruise a few days ago for October 1, 2019.

Just about to do this itinerary (I think) in less than 50 days so very interested in your post. Keep the review coming when you can

 

:-)

 

PS Andrea Bocelli always makes me cry too ;-)

Are you on the Aug 20th out of Venice?

Sorry for the delay, busy week last week and away at the weekend! Back to the review..

Entertainment

We didn't go to any of the shows in the theatre so cannot comment on those, other than to say it looked a bit 'amateur' when we saw it on Stateroom Tv.

Our favourite entertainment is always live music. There were two house bands on board. Both had female lead singers and were very good. They played in Rendezvous Lounge on Deck 4 (a nice space beside the MDR) and in Reflections Lounge on Deck 11 (nice big space with views during the day). They also played poolside during the day. Although we enjoyed their playing, over the course of an 11-night cruise as both played similar stuff, it got a bit repetitive.

The late night entertainment (after 11) was always in Reflections. They had a silwnt disco there one night which my wife loved. The age profile of the other passengers (mostly 60+) meant that most nights it was very very quiet when the late night DJ took to his booth. One night there was literally 8 of us in there (room holds a few hundred).

There was trivia, Love and marriage show, a nice classical duo and another crew member who played a bit of guitar.

Overall I'd say for us it lacked the "wow" factor that you get on RC. When we were on Ovation of the Seas they flew in guest entertainers like tribute bands or Vegas entertainers. The guest entertainer on Connie was a chap from a old tv series called Brookside.. I only knew this as my wife told me who he was.

We also missed a "pub" - the bigger ships have them generally. Overall the entertainment was underwhelming and we made our own fun in a small group.of under 50's on the ship!

Are you on the Aug 20th out of Venice?

Sent from my SM-T310 using Forums mobile app

Thanks for the review.

Yip thats us. Sail after a 3 day stay in venice.

 

Sent from my SM-T310 using Forums mobile app

We will be in Venice for 4 days prior, I am so excited

We will be in Venice for 4 days prior, I am so excited

Really enjoying this review, we are on this cruise too.

We travel to Venice on the Orient Express and have a few days in Venice ore cruise.

Getting excited!

Libby

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Thanks Firstcruise3321,

Think I have your numbers in the name wrong, sorry.

Really appreciate your review, good to get a bit of feedback on the food. We have sailed with both Celebrity and RC plus several other lines and found the cold food in MDR a bit of a common feature of recent cruises. Best food afloat, we have found, is on Oceania Line. But that costs a lot more than RC or X!

Thanks again for taking time to review and post,

Libby

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Ports (part I)

This was out first cruise in Europe and the first "port intensive" cruise we had done. In advance I did a little reading but decided as it was Europe and my mobile phone has no roaming charges (meaning google maps could find me where I wanted to go), the fact all stops except Dubrovnik opeated in Euro, etc. that I would just go with the flow and see where it took us. We've travelled extensively around Europe and I've alreafy seen dozens of churces, etc!

Ravenna

We'd had a heavy night the night before the stop so we decided to hang out on the ship. I always like port days on board as you feel almost like you have the ship to yourself. I hung out in the Solarium reading my book, using the hot tub and relaxing using my drinks package for the occasional coke.

We did get a bit of a bonus we weren't expecting. The night before we had an invite placed in our cabin for a sailaway from Ravenna. We went along to the theatre as instructed and they take you through a small door to the left of the stage and up out on to the helipad. There were glasses of complementary prosecco and some officers mingling. There wasn't a lot to see leaving the port but it was very enjoyable and nice to be invited!

Dubrovnik

We had an overnight stop here. We stayed on board the first day but decided to go exploring on day 2. We took the shuttle (for a fee) to the town. Its about a 10 min drive. We were dropped off at the entrance to the walls. If you like Game of Thrones this is "Kings Landing". There's a fee to walk the walls (can't recall how much) but it's a spectacular walk along the walls with the views of the drop to the sea, etc. It was busy and narrow but not uncomfortable. There's a few places to buy refreshments and a spectacular bar cut into the cliff face. When we finished the walls we just took a stroll around the town. There's a lot of GOT shops, etc. We hopped on the shuttle and were back on board with a cocktail in hands about 3 hours after departing.

Kotor

This is a truly spectacular stop. The town of Kotor is smack back in the middle of a glacial valley so there is steep moumtains on all sides. We dropped anchor and tendered over. We walked around the town, its nice but nothing spectacular. We had a beer in the "square" before moving on to a bar that you access through a shopping centre. The bar had a patio which was on first floor level so we had a beer and watched the world go by. On the tender back it was busy so we were allowed sit right up in front of the "bridge". The sailout from Kotor is nothing short of breathtaking. The band was playing on the pool deck and we alowly sailed out with the sun setting. One of my favourite memories from the cruise.

Thanks so much! I'll be sailing on her at the end of August! Great to read your review!

You're welcome. Hope you have a great cruise

Really enjoying this review, we are on this cruise too.

We travel to Venice on the Orient Express and have a few days in Venice ore cruise.

 

Getting excited!

Libby

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Orient Express? Wow.. on my bucket list. Sounds like a brilliant trip.

Thanks Firstcruise3321,

Think I have your numbers in the name wrong, sorry.

 

Really appreciate your review, good to get a bit of feedback on the food. We have sailed with both Celebrity and RC plus several other lines and found the cold food in MDR a bit of a common feature of recent cruises. Best food afloat, we have found, is on Oceania Line. But that costs a lot more than RC or X!

 

Thanks again for taking time to review and post,

Libby

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Best to call me Tom!

I have found the pay restaurants much better than the MDR on our 3 cruises and I suppose it's a case of it being some good some bad dishes. Oceania sounds like a real example of "you get what you pay for!".

In case anyone is interested....the "spectacular bar cut into the cliff face" mentioned by the OP in Dubrovnik is Buza Bar. It truly is spectacular and worth a stop for drink or just for the view!

We will be in Venice for 4 days prior, I am so excited

Are you on the roll call ?? If not come and join us and we can chat there ;-)

We've been to the ports a number of times so we can share some tips if you want :-)

In case anyone is interested....the "spectacular bar cut into the cliff face" mentioned by the OP in Dubrovnik is Buza Bar. It truly is spectacular and worth a stop for drink or just for the view!

Thank you! We will be there in November for two days off the Eclipse. We plan on walking the wall and the bar sounds like a great place to stop and enjoy the view.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

The entrance to the Buza Bar is below the "wall walk" which is on top of the wall. The Buza entrance is on "street level". A bit hard to find but so worth it. At the bar entrance there is a tiny homemade sign that just says "cold drinks" Follow that sign.

The entrance to the Buza Bar is below the "wall walk" which is on top of the wall. The Buza entrance is on "street level". A bit hard to find but so worth it. At the bar entrance there is a tiny homemade sign that just says "cold drinks" Follow that sign.

Thanks! Added to my notes.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Ports (Part 2)

Very slow completing this review, life getting is the way! Now for the rest of the ports.

Catanaia

It was a wet rainy day in Sicily. We walked off the ship around the town but because it was pretty miserable we decided to take shelter on a covered terrace just off one of the squares. We ordered pizza and a caraffe of red wine (it was only 11:30am but when on vacation wine can be consumed with brunch!).

The pizza was absolutely delicious, proper log wood oven used to cook it, fresh ingredients and a delicious home made tomato sauce on the thin base. We saw a good group of crew there using the wifi and eating so I'm guessing it's a regular haunt. I didn't take the name but if I'm back there again I will search it out! As the rain continued to fall, we just walked back to the ship.

Palma

There was a (pay for) shuttle running to the Cathederal from the port but looking at the landscape from the pool deck, I decided we would walk along the marina and make our way there on foot.

It was hot but pleasant and it's nice looking at all the yachts. There were 8 of us and we decided about half way to stop for a liquid refreshment - San Miguel with a splash of sprite! The walk to the city contined and I think you could probably do it without stopping in 40-50 mins. In behind the Cathederal is lots of nice windy streets. We found a small square and had some tapas and beers which were very reasonably priced, before strolling back to the ship. We enjoyed Palma.

Ibiza

I had been to Ibiza a long time ago when I was about 20. At that time I stayed in San Antonio and my memories of the place was a typical resort holiday destination.

Stopping near Ibiza town however is a very different experience. Again we walked into town. It's a nice walk along the water with some expensive looking real estate on the other side of the road. When we got to the town we sat outside a place with a view of the yachts in the haebour. They were loading up a big wooden sailboat with cases of Dom Perignon, but we settled for a bottle of Cava. We did some shopping and walked back towards the ship. We decided to have a pit stop on the way back in a small place that seemed to double a "healthy cafe". Suffice to say we didn't have the protein shakes but instead opted for a few beers. They gave us (free) plates of olives and other nibbles.

A fantastic stop on a beautiful island.

Valencia

I was looking forward to this stop as had heard great things about Valencia. You need to take the (paid) shuttle to the city. We got dropped off at a bridge over a park and the pedestrian bridge is full of stalls selling clothes, other items and food.

We decided not to stop here though and walked through the city gate into the main city. The streets are narrow and it was busy, even in the big square. It was a glorious day and there was live music on. We found a place down a side street that specilaised in Paella. There were 6 of us and 4 of us wanted paella. The waitor recommended the seafood but told us it would be 50 mins before it was ready. We ordered some beer and a bottle of red wine and said no problem! I asked the waitor to recoomend a wine and we settled on one for about €13.

Wow was it worth the wait! The paella came out in a giant paella pan put in the centre of the table. It was fresh and full of flavour and contained whole prawns in the shell, small de-shelled prawns, calamari and octopus and the rice was cooked to perfection. The 4 of us devoured it and I loved the crispy bits of paella rice stuck to the pan! When we went to get the bill, the waitor brought us a free bottle of red wine. We all had a glass before heading back to the ship.

Barcelona

We stayed 2 nights in Barcelona post cruise. It's a fabulous city. We were out by the beach but did the open top bus tour. The Sagrada De Familia Church is the most interesting piece of architecture I've ever seen. Our last night we had dinner in a seafood restaurant near the Casino Barcelona called Le Barce Del Salamanca. I had delicious prawns to start and the nicest fresh seabass I've ever tasted. The fish is all there for you to see. If you are out near the Port Olympic I would recommend the place.

Thank you for your review! Enjoying your observations..We will be on Connie on August 30 out of Venice... very excited as many of these ports are new to us and we haven’t done a cruise in the Mediterranean since 2011..keep it coming!

Thanks for your review. We were on the cruise after you from Barcelona to Rome. We had a great tine and were very lucky to have good weather the entire cruise. It was our second time in Constellation and we loved her.

We stayed 3 nights in Barcelona before the cruise in Poble Nou which is out past Port Olympic.

Sent from my iPad using Forums