short review,Constellation 2/14-2/18

[aftcabin]

This was our 2nd time on the ship and about the 6th on Celebrity. There is absolutely nothing I can complain about on this cruise. Embarcation was smooth. We were in 8096 CC. Room was clean and the room steward was prompt and helpful.(Santana) The entire ship, infact was in great shape esp for a ship from 2002 when we were on her the first time. Maybe the crew heard the critics about service, because I found the serviceand attitude to be excellant. In fact, the best yet on any Celebrity cruise.

Ate in the mdr all but 1 nite and even tho I am a cook, I could find no fault with any dish. (no escargot, but good stuffed mushrooms). Especially good Lamb. The buffet was as expected, well done with no runny or overdone eggs! Ate in Oceanliners 1 nite and enjoyed it, especially the ability to order glasses of wine with each course at no cost since we upgraded to the premium package.

This must be an extremely boring review, but I wanted to put the nervous future cruisers on Connie at ease.

[DEBnGAB]

Great to hear! We have friends who boarded the Connie on Feb 18th on their first Celebrity cruise..she checked in on FB at sea saying she loved it!

[portofrome]

Thanks for the review.

[scottygirl]

aftcabin,

 

How was the outside of the ship? We have a group of 34 going on the Jan 30, 2014 cruise on the Connie. A couple of the people in our group were in Key West last weekend and the ship was docked there. They said the ship looked "kind of crappy" on the outside. It was docked near a newer Carnival ship.

[Jenna109]

aftcabin,

 

How was the outside of the ship? We have a group of 34 going on the Jan 30, 2014 cruise on the Connie. A couple of the people in our group were in Key West last weekend and the ship was docked there. They said the ship looked "kind of crappy" on the outside. It was docked near a newer Carnival ship.

 

We were on the Constellation whilst she was in Key West and in no way was she 'crappy' either outside or in. The ship was in excellent shape with fantastic staff, excellent food and always looked elegant next to other larger cruise ships.

On previous cruise when we returned to port at Grand Cayman there was an enormous queue waiting to be tendered. It was extremely hot and after a day on the beach our hearts sank. You can imagine our delight to find they were waiting to be tendered to a Carnival ship. Our queue was about 10 under tents with cold drinks and iced towels to cool ourselves - service we have come to expect from Celebrity. They also had another empty tender waiting to avoid delays.

As she is going for a full refit in April your cruise in 2014 will be wonderful - just enjoy the best!:o

[scottygirl]

Thanks for the reassurance. We were on the Century in 2007 right after she was refurbished and the ship was beautiful, the service was fantastic and we had a great time. I think the people that made those comments are used to being on the new mega-ships and think bigger is better. We all know that isn't true!

[Jenna109]

Hi, just noticed you have been on two Disney cruises. We have promised to take our 7year old grandson next year. Did you do Med or Caribbean? Any recommendations?

We love Celebrity and have 2 more cruises booked this year but we think there will be more new friends and activities for him on a Disney ship. .???

 

Your group will have a great time on the Constellation - the shorter cruises are very lively and good fun. We have just done b2b2b - 5/5/4 night cruises out of Miami and everywhere was lively at night. Last September we did a 14 night cruise on the Summit and by 10 pm everywhere was empty with absolutely no atmosphere.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I think those that would be impressed by the looks of a Carnival ship probably would find the Constellation to look "crappy"- that means there is no gigantic water slide. That's what they mean. Also Constellation is much smaller than the newer Carnival Breeze.

 

I think different strokes for different folks. The Celebrity ships have a nautical elegance that Royal, Carnival and NCL lack.

[scottygirl]

Hi, just noticed you have been on two Disney cruises. We have promised to take our 7year old grandson next year. Did you do Med or Caribbean? Any recommendations?

We love Celebrity and have 2 more cruises booked this year but we think there will be more new friends and activities for him on a Disney ship. .???

 

Your group will have a great time on the Constellation - the shorter cruises are very lively and good fun. We have just done b2b2b - 5/5/4 night cruises out of Miami and everywhere was lively at night. Last September we did a 14 night cruise on the Summit and by 10 pm everywhere was empty with absolutely no atmosphere.

 

 

Disney is FANTASTIC! The ships are beautiful, clean and service can't be beat. Both DCL cruises were Caribbean, one Western and one Eastern. The kids activities and clubs are great and the adult areas are awesome. On the Fantasy last summer the adult activities director was fantastic (wish I could remember his name). I never laughed so hard in my life!

 

Our group on the Constellation is going to be quite a lively group, especially since we all have the beverage package!

[Jenna109]

Disney is FANTASTIC! The ships are beautiful, clean and service can't be beat. Both DCL cruises were Caribbean, one Western and one Eastern. The kids activities and clubs are great and the adult areas are awesome. On the Fantasy last summer the adult activities director was fantastic (wish I could remember his name). I never laughed so hard in my life!

 

Our group on the Constellation is going to be quite a lively group, especially since we all have the beverage package!

 

Thank you for info.

Th e most lively place was the Martini Bar so you may wish to upgrade your drinks package if you are on the basic one , ie up to $8 per drink. I believe most drinks went over this limit. Worth investigating as I believe if you exceed this limit you pay for the whole drink not just the difference.

We have the basic package for our cruise this April so can report more after that

[Jenna109]

Me again! When she has her refit there will be a Qsine restaurant which is great fun. You do have to pay extra but so different and to really enjoy you need to be a larger group. If you want to experience a different meal experience then book ahead - you would need to do this for a number of you.:D

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[scottygirl]

Thank you for info.

Th e most lively place was the Martini Bar so you may wish to upgrade your drinks package if you are on the basic one , ie up to $8 per drink. I believe most drinks went over this limit. Worth investigating as I believe if you exceed this limit you pay for the whole drink not just the difference.

We have the basic package for our cruise this April so can report more after that

 

We all upgraded to the premium package except for two people! My husband and I love martini's and I loved the martini's on the Century!:D

[Denny01]

We are on Consellation in Sep cruising into the Black Sea. A very popular cruise with few cabins left already.

 

Really looking forward to getting back on Her And knowing there's. Refit in April is great.

 

Love that T-Spa pool!

 

Den

[Jenna109]

We are on Consellation in Sep cruising into the Black Sea. A very popular cruise with few cabins left already.

 

Really looking forward to getting back on Her And knowing there's. Refit in April is great.

 

Love that T-Spa pool!

 

Den

 

Lucky you. That is a cruise I would like to do but we are doing the Solstice transpacific in October

. Perhaps next year. We are waiting for new schedule for 2014:D

[Denny01]

Lucky you. That is a cruise I would like to do but we are doing the Solstice transpacific in October

. Perhaps next year. We are waiting for new schedule for 2014:D

 

Wow, love to do your cruise too!

 

Den

[gelo7]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[AirGorilla]

I was also on this exact cruise, and it was first-rate!!

 

AG

[kaviaq]

My family and I will sail Connie Baltic on July 7. We have been a little put off by all her bad press...so glad you posted!!

[Iamthesea]

We were on the same cruise and felt about the same way about ship, service, food, etc., although our dining servers were a little slow. Fine with us!

 

The only thing looking crappy about the ship was our balcony. Not happy about it, but nothing the steward could do about it. It was from paint chipping off of the paint ladder.There were also smudges of paint on our glass. It had even trickled down to the suite balcony below us. That was another contention about the balcony. I didn't understand the opening where we could look down and they could look up. Also, the occupants were always out on their balcony smoking. We couldn't smell it because of the wind direction and them being aft of us, so we never complained. Oh yes, there were cigarette ashes around our drain on the first day, but then it rained and washed them away. The rain brought more paint chipping though.

 

Overall, the ship looked excellent. The outside did have some rusty spots, though. It's funny...when we were coming back to the ship from Key West, I was just about to comment to my DH that the ship looked a little run down. Before I could get it out of my mouth, he said "isn't she a pretty ship?" lol Different opinions even in the same family.

 

Sorry that some of these photos are sideways. CLICK TO GET A BETTER VIEW

[sunflower46]

We were on the Constellation whilst she was in Key West and in no way was she 'crappy' either outside or in. The ship was in excellent shape with fantastic staff, excellent food and always looked elegant next to other larger cruise ships.

On previous cruise when we returned to port at Grand Cayman there was an enormous queue waiting to be tendered. It was extremely hot and after a day on the beach our hearts sank. You can imagine our delight to find they were waiting to be tendered to a Carnival ship. Our queue was about 10 under tents with cold drinks and iced towels to cool ourselves - service we have come to expect from Celebrity. They also had another empty tender waiting to avoid delays.

As she is going for a full refit in April your cruise in 2014 will be wonderful - just enjoy the best!:o

 

My husband were also on the Constellation's Feb 14-18 cruise out of Miami. I agree that there is no need to worry about this ship or it's staff. We had a lovely room. Our cabin steward(s) were excellent and always asked if there was anything they could do for us. Flowers kept appearing in my room every night after I mentioned how much I loved the flowers in the room on embarkation day. We did not encounter a single unfriendly crew member. The ship is in very good shape considering her age. Crew kept her clean and varnished. As stated, she will go in for retrofit and I can't wait to see her when they are finished. I think that your friends were referring to the back of the ship where it needed a little paint, but that was the only thing I could see. Have fun on your cruise.