CONSTELLATION: It's not about the ships but the friendships

Constellation: It’s not the ships but the friendships!

We are currently sailing on Constellation on the second of our four consecutive cruises. We have sailed on every class of cruise ship in the Celebrity fleet and we find the design and layout of the M-Class most suited for our cruising preferences. The new Solstice Class ships are beautiful, even stunning, but Constellation is our choice for our Celebrity Condo; more practical, easier to move between decks, better seating arrangements and in our view, a ship with a distinctive character.

In October Sue Denning, the Cruise Director on board Century during a Transatlantic crossing, made a statement that I believe is critical in enjoying life at sea for a frequent cruiser. “It’s not about the ships but the friendships we make.”

Our first cruises involved seeing places, visiting new islands, scenic fjords and historic places. Now our cruises are about finding a comfortable, friendly place to enjoy warm weather, the smell of the sea and the chance to meet again with other cruisers who love life at sea. Constellation generally offers longer itineraries that allow people time to settle in and get to know staff, crew and fellow passengers.

This is our 21st time on board Constellation and it seems that many of our most memorable staff members are on board as well. Captain Pagonis with whom we celebrated our 100th cruise and 40th wedding anniversary several years ago is the master. Sue Denning is the Cruise Director and she is an absolute star seemingly found everywhere around the ship. Bernhard Stacher is the Hotel Director and there is none better. He is totally approachable, a daily attendee at the nightly Elite gathering, communicating with guests throughout the ship. He is the only one ever (in over 150 X cruise weeks) to remember that my wife is severely allergic to carbonation of any kind and to arrange for a bottle of white wine to welcome us on board rather than the standard sparkling wine. That is an attention to detail that we have never experienced before.

Every morning we go to Ocean Liners, the Specialty restaurant providing elites with our specialty coffees and light breakfast. Waiters are all friendly and attentive but the stand out for us is Gozde, code named “gorgeous”. No matter where you find her she has a radiant smile to welcome all passengers. As soon as we sit down it seems that she telegraphs our standing order and appears with our coffees within minutes.

At lunch time I go to the poolside grill for a chicken breast that will be made to order. There Robbie Angeles will greet everyone with a broad smile as well. Yesterday he saw me walking through the Seaside café while he was getting supplies. He asked me where I was sitting so that he could deliver my chicken tortilla. It is amazing how so many smiling faces greet passengers wherever they roam.

Sue Williams, the Captain’s Club Hostess responsible for planning the activities during our 100th cruise, is now an officer in charge of crew and staff training. Her experience working in different departments on various Celebrity ships really has had a profound effect on the staff she is in the process of training.

Every day as I walk by the Guest relations desk the staff is apparently enjoying themselves, an indication that there have not been a number of complaints directed at them. This seems to be one happy ship; a sure sign that management from top to bottom is treating the crew with respect.

There are few topics on these boards that result in more anger and personal attacks than the dress code issue. On Constellation, the great majority follow the suggested guide lines for the evening. The person that seems to get the most abuse from fellow passengers is the Captain’s Club Host. He actually enforces the rules set forth plainly in print. Passengers wearing shorts or souvenir T-shirts will not gain entry to the evening lounge. Those who wish to sneak friends in because they are almost elite are politely told that admission to the lounge is for those who meet the guidelines set forth by company policy. There are a number of very bitter passengers on every sailing that believe they have the right to set their own rules, verbally abuse the CC host and write negative comments at the end of the cruise. For those who appreciate a “smarter” dress code, Constellation is your kind of ship.

There are about 40 of us who are cruising now because we appreciate the music, talent and humour of Perry Grant. This is the third year in a row that we have gathered mid-February to meet again on board Constellation. Perry’s style is not for everyone but the friendships we have made with other fans forms a unique bond. You will find us in the morning lounge as well as in the evening enjoying one another’s company and many of us mix and match as groups of four at daily trivia. There are a few posters out there who enjoy criticizing Perry’s performance or talent. Whatever your opinion may be, you won’t find a happier bunch of cruisers on any ship than our Perryfied family, all of whom have booked again for the 2012 Perry Grant reunion cruise. I doubt that you will find any other entertainer on any Celebrity ship that will have passengers book a cruise just because that entertainer is on board. Let’s just settle on the fact that Perry is unique and will inspire “interesting” reactions in those who attend his performance(s).

We have made many good friends (and occasional enemies) at trivia and at various times of the year we will pick a time to cruise again for a rematch. It now seems company policy to limit teams to four members. Last cruise some teams said that friends were only sitting together and not participating but when one team finally reached an even dozen without challenge, staff agreed that limits would be enforced this week. For those who enjoy trivia of all types, up to 6 games per day will test your abilities. The activities staff is great, enjoyable, friendly and well prepared.

The stars in this Constellation are aligned and I can’t imagine a place I would rather be than on board with our friends (even though a few are missing). There is not a greater way to travel than when the love and respect between friends, staff and crew is so obvious. This is the best cruising we have ever experienced in our 200 weeks at sea.

It sounds like you and your wife really enjoy cruising. We were on the Constellation last December too, and she is lovely. Enjoy many many many more days/weeks/years on board!!!:)

What a wonderful review! So glad that they adhere to "company policy" on Connie. We board her on 3/26 and hope the crew remains the same. We've sailed Celebrity since 1992 and very rarely had any complaints, if any, on any of the ships. That's why we stick to what we know to expect.

It's so true about the friendships. Boarding and seeing familiar faces and being told "welcome home" is the best start to a cruise experience.

How many Elite are on board right now? Do you know? I know our cruise will have many since many of us have sailed together quite a few times.

Enjoy your days aboard ship and thanks again for the reviews. Love reading them, especially since we'll be boarding her soon.

Pat C

Can't wait to join you in a few days. We love the Connie, too, and have almost met some great friends on her. We can't wait to see how she looks with all the changes. If you get a chance can you let me know, regarding formal nights, were there many men wearing tux's? My husband loves to wear his but I know the trend these days seems to me that they're not worn as much anymore.

Thanks so much :)

Thanks Arno for keeping us updated. We will be sailing Constellation for the first time and your writings make us want to cruise more often.:)

Sounds great, I cannot wait to experience the Connie myself!

Hi Arno !

Thanks for the excellent ship report. It's nice to hear about the many new faces onboard, whom are doing a great job. I totally agree with the comments about a huge part of the Cruise experience, being the many wonderful friendships (including yourself & Joanne of course) made over the years. I consider myself very fortunate.

When I sailed on Constellation in November, I was slightly disappointed with a handful of Officers. They often kept to themselves, and did not interact with the guests as much as the usual wonderful standard on Celebrity ships. I hope the folks you mentioned, will be onboard Constellation in April. It would be great to meet Captain Pagonis again. We've been missing him by a sailing or two, over the past couple of years.

We hope Sue Denning will be onboard for our sailing. I've heard nothing but raves about her, from past Azamara Guests. It would be great to finally meet her.

Glad to hear you and Joanne are having a fantastic time. We look forward to your updates. See you in April !

Just curious......What is the evening lounge?

Hi Arno, Happy Anniversary to you and Joanne:) and from the sound of

your post and what you actually posted it seems things have totally

changed (for the better).

I seem to recall not 6 months ago you had posted your screen

name could not be what it is right now, and that you would not be

going back on Celebrity in the near future.

Glad things have taken such an upward turn. I sailed Summit earlier

this month and had an awesome time but I had not experienced the

downward trend you had.....anyway, Happy Sailing:)

Hi Arno -- we were fortunate enough to have met you and Joanne on our 5-night cruise in Nov. on the Century -- we had the delightful dinner with the two of you the last night of the cruise. We are booked on the Mar. 12 sailing of the Constellation and are looking forward to meeting you both again. We're the couple from Miami -- Coconut Grove. Thanks for the great post -- we have never sailed on the Constellation before and cannot wait! Al and Jo Anne

What a lovely post; thank you.

Thanks, Arno, for the very nice review of the Constellation. We met you on the "Connie Sparklers" last Nov/Dec and you explained to me why you had given up "Xellent". Very pleased that you have return to your "Signature". Hope to have a chance to meet you and Joanne again. :)

Gerry

Good morning Arno, Joanne, Gerry, and Elisabeth.

We all met on the Connie Sparklers cruise in November. This was my first cruise on Connie, and I really enjoyed it. In fact, I just booked the SAME cabin on the Dec 3 sailing this year.

Last year I really didn't get to explore and enjoy the ships' facilities. That won't happen this time.... Having been to all of the ports many times, I'll concentrate on the ship as a port instead.

Gerry, the piano awaits you and Barb, for perhaps an encore....

Happy you're having such a great time Arno, enjoy! And do join us on the Transatlantic crossing to Amsterdam in May ;)

Cheers,

Floris

Just curious......What is the evening lounge?

Elite Members are offered 2 hours of complimentary drinks and

appetizers as a perk and it is usually held in Michael's Club or if

the amount of folks on board is larger they will sometimes move it

to a different venue (another lounge that holds more people).

I do not want to start any arguments here, but I am a little concerned to the reference to "souvenier t shirts" Our previous Celebrity cruises have recognised that the early time of the drinks events is such that not everyone is attending them immediately before dinner and sometimes we are just returning from a shore excursion and therefore will not have had time to change. As such we have been happily admitted to the lounge - the first evening we checked with the CC hostess and she confirmed that our dress - on that day, my husband was in tailored shorts and a polo shirt and I had a skirt and the type of t shirt referred to - was perfectly acceptable. On some nights this is what we and many others wore for drinks, on others, we had time and my husband and I both changed into something interim prior to changing again before dinner, as we prefer to shower and get ready between 7 and 8.

From reading this post, it seems for some reason, on some ships this is not the case. In addition, we are now creeping from shorts to souvenier t shirts as well -so what is the exact definition of these, does this include Celebrity logo wear?

I would like Celebrity to be consistent across the fleet, define the code and advertise it up front on their website so we understand before we come away as it will, for those of us with late seating dinner, influence some of our packing. I hope the ruling they come up with recognises not everyone is a first seating eater and that excursions often do not return until 5-5.30 so time to change can be limited but still excludes the extremes of dress that none of us would wish to see in an inside lounge

I am with you UTOK!

It doesn't make sense for us to get dressed for dinner when we eat at 8:30 p.m. We choose late dining to relax and extend our afternoon.

I think to be neatly dressed should be enough. Celebrity should forget the evening attire, unless they finally agree to extend the Elite lounge longer for many of us he eat late. It seems like a perk that I'm not entitled to because I eat late!!

Thanks for sharing!

They have always said smart casual is the designation for the elite lounge. Some enforce it and some don't.

Nice post Arno and I agree, some of our fondest cruise memories are from being on board Connie.

I am with you UTOK!

 

It doesn't make sense for us to get dressed for dinner when we eat at 8:30 p.m. We choose late dining to relax and extend our afternoon.

 

I think to be neatly dressed should be enough. Celebrity should forget the evening attire, unless they finally agree to extend the Elite lounge longer for many of us he eat late. It seems like a perk that I'm not entitled to because I eat late!!

Hi dmk:), hope you are well. I eat late as well but I don't feel the same

way. If I am wanting to go I put on a pair of capri's and a top.

I don't "dress for dinner" that early either but feel no less entitled

as early diners. If I don't attend it is not because I have to wear

something nicer than shorts but rather I am probably doing something

else;)

Hello Arno,

We sailed the Connie in January for the third time and always make sure Perry will be aboard before final booking. We LOVE him!

When is the 2012 Perry Reunion Cruise?

Hi Arno,

Enjoyed reading your post. We also love the Constellation and will be joining her in March, 2011 (our 3rd Constellation cruise).

We have two couples traveling with us (first time Constellation) and so hope that they like Constellation and Perry as much as we do.

Please post date of the Perry Grant Reunion Cruise.

Happy Sails to you.

Thanks, Arno, for your review. So glad that things have changed so much for the better that you have your Xellent name back! Looking forward to seeing you on the March 12 sailing.

I wish I can sail for 8 weeks ....in the row.