Constellation--Jan. 31 my review--Awesome

[wr813]

First review. Celebrity Constellation. January 31, 2013. If this gets too wordy, please disregard.

I am 41 years old. DW is 40. This was our 4th cruise. Two prior on Royal and one on Carnival. DW won this cruise through a sales vendor. She and I volunteer for a local baseball/softball organization and she is the agent for our concession stand. The company we buy product from picked her name for a cruise for 2 people that included this cruise, airfare, drink package (classic), tips, and transfers. At first my wife said no to the cruise as she did not feel right volunteering for our organization and getting something for free. The salesman told her that it was non transferrable/nonrefundable and if she did not take it, it would go to the next business on the list that was not picked. With a little coaxing, she ended up saying yes. Between the two of us, we volunteer well over 600 hours from April through July for the organization. The company paid for over 100 people to go on this cruise and had some nice surprises when we arrived.

The original airfare had us flying down to FLL on the day of the cruise. The cruise left from Miami. Being from Wisconsin, I knew that was not the best idea to fly down the same day, especially with a connecting flight. I called the travel company and they allowed us to deviate for $50 per person so we could leave the day before. I then booked a Ramada with a BRG and reserved Ramada North in Hialeah for $56 per night and got a rental car from dollar for $14 for a mid-size. Dollar also has drop off to the port free of charge.

Wed. January 30. Forecast for Wisconsin was a winter storm warning. Our flight was for 11:30 from MSN to ATL to MIA with arrival time scheduled for MIA at 5:30 pm. Had planned a nice relaxing night in Miami. Driving from Central Wis. to Madison was a nightmare as the roads and interstate was horrible as the plows really hadn’t come out yet. We left at 5:00 am because of the snow and drove about 35-40 miles an hour all the way to Madison. Trip usually takes 1 ½ hours approximately and this took us 3 hours. We got to the airport about 8:30 am and checked in right away and hoped the snow stopped. Plows were on the runways clearing snow and our flight was only delayed a half an hour and that was because the plane was coming in from ATL and they were delayed as that is the day Georgia had all the tornadoes and storms. Took off from MSN, no problems. Got to ATL and circled, and circled, and circled for about 45 minutes. Pilot finally told us we could not land as there were again severe storms in ATL. He said we were getting low on fuel and had to be diverted to Columbia SC. We landed there and then were told our plane now had a mechanical problem and that there were also 10 other flights in SC and we did not know when we would take off. DW and I ate chicken and waffles at a restaurant (disgusting) and tried to pass the time. Other planes started to take off from SC to ATL but we were still stranded. My anxiety level started to climb a bit as the last flight from ATL to MIA was at 10:00 pm. We were told we would take off at about 8:10 pm and got confirmed on the 10:00 pm flight. We were told that the next confirmed opening if we did not make that flight would be 5:20 pm the next day. Flight took off from SC to ATL at about 8:15 pm. 45 minute flight or so and we were getting comfortable about making the 10 pm flight to MIA. Arrived ATL at 9:00. We then sat on the tarmac (think that is what it called) for 45 minutes. Panic start coming in now. We pulled up to get off and the door did not open for another 20 minutes. It was now 10:10 pm. I checked the fly delta app and our flight to MIA was now delayed until 10:38 pm!! We hustled to the new gate and checked in. Got on the plane and headed to Miami. Got off in Miami and went to baggage claim and waited, and waited, and waited. Our bag did not come. All DW’s good clothes and shoes were in bag and all of our toiletries. It was now way after 1 am closer to 1:30 am. Waited in line at the baggage center and there were about 15 people in front of us. Got a claim number from Delta and the man told me to stay in our hotel until 3 pm and our baggage would be delivered. I told him that would not work and would call back in the morning. Went to get our rental car from Dollar and had to go to Walgreens by our hotel to get toiletries for the night/morning. Got to our hotel room at 4:18 am. Roughly 23 ½ hours since we left home. But, we were there!! Set the alarm for 8:00 am in case DW had to go buy new clothes. I called Delta and they said that our bag was on the flight to MIA as we spoke. We went back to the airport, dropped the rental off, went to baggage claim and got our bag. Huge sigh of relief. I asked DW if we wanted to lug our luggage back to the car rental for the shuttle and possibly wait an hour or just take a taxi to the port. We decided to just pay for the taxi and were at the port in about 20 minutes or so.

Pulled up to the pier. Constellation was beautiful. Seemed bigger than any other ship we had been on. In line, DW and I were talking to another couple who were retired and just booked the cruise the day before. The lady actually read my roll call post. Wish I would have gotten her name but her and her husband were very nice people although we did not see them the rest of the cruise. We checked in and were on the ship right about 11:00 am. Got a champagne welcome and DW got a mimosa. The ship was beautiful on the inside. We ate at the buffet right away and were pleased with the selection, quality, temperature, and taste of the food. We had the classic drink package sticker and had a drink with the buffet. At about 12:15 we were kind of tired from the night before. We went to our room (2155 OV) and it was ready. We went in, took a nap for about an hour and were refreshed. Room attendant came in and was surprised we were already inside napping. Room stewards were very nice but I cannot remember their names. Only thing bad about the room was that the bed mattress was terrible. I can sleep on anything but this was bad. We roughed it the first night but the second night we got an egg crate thing and that made it much nicer. We also had a small tear in the top cover. That does not bother me but it seems to be a hot topic lately on cruise critic. Bathroom was roomy and had soap, shampoo, conditioner, cotton swabs, and cotton balls. Room was always clean. Muster drill was painless and in the rendezvous lounge. I am glad we flew in the day before as some in our group showed up just as muster drill was going on and 10 in the group had their flight cancelled. Sail away was nice but the bars at sail away by the pool were overwhelmed. Slow service but was expected as there were so many people.

We had 8:30 dining. At 5:30, we tried the sushi on the buffet. Excellent selection of sushi and was fresh. Our company had a private party for us at Michael’s club at 7:00 pm. Had open bar where I had my first of many gin and tonics. Also had canapés for us that were delicious. We then went and had dinner. I had the prime rib and exchanged the mashed potatoes with baked potato with no problem. Prime rib was excellent. For appetizer, I had cream of mushroom soup which was superb. Dessert that night was crème brulee. After dinner we went to the 10 pm show. The comedian was James Stephens III. Supposedly he is going to star in a Bill Cosby biography that opens in November. He did some good impressions and overall was pretty good. We then walked around the ship a bit exploring some more. Had a couple drinks and went to bed.

Friday was Key West day. Woke up about 8:00 am and had a quick buffet breakfast. Breakfast buffet was good. Good selection of meats, eggs, etc. Good made to order omelets. Got off ship about 8:30. We rented one of those electric cars for $90 plus tax. Drove around town seeing the sights. Had a pina colada at sloppy Joes. Got back on the ship about 12 or so. We had seen Key West before and saw what we wanted. Ate lunch in the dining room. Sat by 3 ladies from Florida. One’s name was Dora who seemed to be a celebrity on the ship as everyone knew her. Nice ladies to eat with. I had the turkey medallions and they were awesome.

In the afternoon, I played in the poker tournament. $60 entry fee. Only 5 people played and I was first the whole tournament until it came down to 2 people. Other person got very lucky and I ended up taking 2nd place. Paid $100 for second so net gain of $40. Took some sushi back to room which was again awesome. At 7:00 pm we went to Michaels lounge for the piano player Liz Strauss. She is English and is very very good. Tonight was formal night. We did not pack for formal night but did Ocean Liners at 8:00 pm. We both had lobster bisque, lobster made table side, and for dessert I had the Grand Marnier soufflé which was all very good. This was the best meal I have ever eaten in my life. We were both stuffed after this meal. The lobster being made table side was very special. At 11:00 we went back to Michaels lounge for a karaoke/comedian type singer. He kept the crowd entertained and had a lot of group participation. We stayed there until about 1:15 am, walked around the ship a bit and went to bed about 2:30 or so.

Saturday was Cozumel day. We had never been there before. Took a taxi downtown for $8. Walked down the shopping district, bought some vanilla, tablecloth, souvenirs for the kids. Ate at Albuero Gerardos(spelling??) which was good. $15 for the both of us and very fresh food. Did not know they would not give you bill until you asked for it so we waited a bit until another couple saw I was kind of getting peeved and he told us they would not give bill as we had to ask for it. I asked for the bill then and had it in about 15 seconds. Did some more shopping and even went off the beaten path a couple blocks of main drag and still felt safe. After that we went back to ship and dropped our shopping stuff off and then took taxi to Paradise beach. Taxi was $14 each way to the beach. $2 admission and they said we should buy food or drink at $10 apiece. We paid the $2 and got seats with an umbrella. We then each got a drink for $8 and that seemed to keep the waiter happy as he did not ask us to buy anything else. Beach was very nice. It closed at I think 4:30 and we took a taxi back to the ship. We did stop at Senor Frogs by the pier and were going to have a drink. We looked at the menu and it was $20 per drink. We both looked at the ship and said drinks were free there and we walked back to the ship. Again, we grabbed some sushi for a snack and again it was good. That night we again ate in the dining room. I had the pan seared aged sirloin which again was hot and tasty. I was kind of drunk by this point from the gin and tonic. My DW says I was a “chatty cathy” all through dinner but nothing bad. We then went to the casino and I played Poker cash game. My rule at home and in Las Vegas is to never gamble drunk. I went against that rule on the ship. I started with $100 at the poker table. There were 7 people at the table and one guy was very aggressive player but even being drunk I could tell he was not that good, just aggressive betting big trying to scare people. He would raise $25 to $50 almost every hand. I got some big hands against him. When I sat down he had $296 dollars in his account. When I left about 2 hour later I had $396 in my account and he had $0. J It was a good night at poker. The best part is that DW also won $80 playing slot machines! We got to bed about 2:30 am that night.

Sunday was sea day. We slept in until 11:30. Ate the lunch buffet which again was good. We played in the slot tournament ($25 per person) but did not win. I lost $100 playing blackjack but it was ok as it was money I won from the night before. Went and sat by the pool. Tons of chair hogs with no one around chairs. A pool butler saw us looking for chairs in the sun. He saw two chairs with towels on them, took the towels off and told us to take the chairs. Very nice of him. We then went inside the thalassotherapy pool and were quite impressed with that. Hot tubs in the spa area are also nice. Our group had a private party for us in the cinema for pregame tailgate. Had nachos, hamburgers, hot dogs, pigs in blanket, cole slaw, potato salad, guacamole, and pasta salad. We watched the first quarter of the super bowl in there and then mingled around the ship. We ate at the dining room again. The dining room was 80 percent empty as the super bowl was on. Just DW and I at the table. I had a fish baked in paper which was good but I was so full from the tailgate party I did not eat it all.

A couple of nice surprises that the company put on for us was the private party in Michaels, $50 OBC for us, a bottle of champagne in our room, chocolate strawberries in our room, company t shirts for the super bowl party, and a ship paper weight for us. Celebrity and our supplier (Holiday Wholesale from Wisconsin) treated us very well. For disembarkation we were in zone 1, I think because of our group and we were first off the ship after eating a farewell breakfast in the dining room.

Sorry if this was too long. This was our best vacation ever. I will definitely do celebrity again. However, I would not take kids on this cruise line as it is geared toward adults. One more negative and not a big thing is that the floor in the hallway on the 2nd floor was quite uneven and DW turned her ankle one time and was quite lucky she did not injure it as the floor really was that uneven.

Thanks for Reading!!

[wr813]

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. The drink package(classic) was very good and had plenty of selections. I did try to get a "small" martini at the martini bar and was told they do not do smalls.

[midwestchick]

Enjoyed your review...thanks for posting. I remember you now...wr...I wondered if it stood for wide receiver. Where in WI are you from?

I'm glad you got there in spite of the weather....and I think you and your wife deserved this trip. Volunteering is a great thing to do and so many people don't either take the time or find the time to do it.

Our kids and grandkids live in WI...daughter in Madison and son in Montello.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Thank you for your review. The only thing I don't agree with is that it isn't a good line for kids. We love Celebrity and their youth program is fantastic. If there were kids onboard (which there may not have been because school is in session now)- they would have a ball. My son loves Celebrity but we usually do travel during school holidays like most parents.

[stormynow]

Any idea where that Guradoes restr for lunch is. On the same ship the 20th this month. Like to try it. Loved the poker deal. Better have more gin & tonic for next game.

[Texed]

813,

Thanks for posting. :)

[wr813]

Midwestchick, I'm in Wis. Rapids. Center part of the state.

 

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[wr813]

Any idea where that Guradoes restr for lunch is. On the same ship the 20th this month. Like to try it. Loved the poker deal. Better have more gin & tonic for next game.

 

Found it. The name is Abuelo Gerardo. It's on trip advisor. Good reviews.

 

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[llamasocks]

Thanks for the review! We are on he same cruise next Thursday, and, glad we are flying in the day before too as we are from Ohio and bound to be snowing as it is tonight. Looking forward to S & S -- Sushi and Sunshine!! (and a few adult bevs thrown in for good measure:D)

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.