On the Constellation now - my 1st Celebrity experience

[roohound]

First of all, thank you to everyone who was so generous with their advice and wisdom before my cruise! It is much appreciated!

 

Here are a few thoughts in no particular order:

 

Love the ship! She's 12 years old but looks great!

 

We are in an AquaClass cabin on deck 11 - love the AquaClass experience this far. We were probably one of the first 20 people on the ship. First night in Blu was....ok. I cannot eat fish/seafood but their seafood entrees looked good. I had a NY strip from the regular menu. That was a mistake. Super thin and my requested medium came out more like shoe leather. Blech. Our waiter disappeared after serving our entrees so I really didn't have a chance to flag him down and say hey, this kinda sucks. Not a biggie really. Not like I am going hungry lol

 

So far the buffet has not seemed too crowded - I suspect that will change tomorrow - our first sea day. Lots of choices and everything is pretty good. Keep in mind, I'm a chef and I teach culinary arts so I am pickier with food then some folks are :).

 

The drink package - I upgraded - my friend did not. I am thoroughly enjoying the upgrade. The martini bar is awesome - whoever suggested getting the almond joy martini I just want to kiss. It is fabulous! It is no longer on the menu but both bartenders I encountered knew how to make it. My friend was told she could only get a Cosmo or appletini with the classic drink package.

 

With the premium package when I ask for bottled water I am always given a liter of Evian. With the classic it's hit or miss. She's gotten the 16 oz Crystal Geyser and sometimes they give her the Evian. This morning while we were getting off in Key West she was specifically told only Crystal Geyser.

 

If you like decent beer, do yourself a favor and upgrade. The classic just covers beers up to $6 and that doesn't cover a lot. I'm a Newcastle lover and that's $6.50. If you are happy with Bud Light and the like, then the classic is fine.

 

Most of the crew is fabulous - lots of smiles and they seem happy to be onboard.

 

Most of my fellow passengers are great. It's a very diverse crowd in regard to ages. A decent number of college spring breakers. And I suspect a number of them have the free drink package. If yesterday's sail away party was any indication, last night was chock full of bad decisions (yes, I'm talking to you little Miss Thing who was jumping up and down showing everyone just how little support was in your Double Ds loaded into a C cup bikini top - I didn't think it was possible to be that drunk in just a few hours. However, the boys she was grinding on appreciated that fact - hence why we dubbed last night the night of poor decisions lol)

 

A number of the passengers are well, just rude as heck. Is it asking so much to say please and thank you to the wonderful crew? A lady today at the burger bar was just barking at the guys making the burgers. I hate when people get all dismissive with the crew and just treat them like the hired help.

 

Cabin 1128 is wonderful! The shower is amazing. I just wish the beds were by the balcony instead of the sofa being by the balcony. Room seems just a wee bit crowded with this configuration. But keep in mind we also have twin beds so that is also making the room seem a wee bit cramped. Our room steward are Elida and Alberto - both simply fabulous!

 

Well, that's it for now. Feel free to ask any questions as I would like to return the favor as so many people helped me. I may not have Internet access again until we get home on Thursday so if I miss any questions, I am not ignoring you I swear!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[mahdnc]

thanks for posting. Constellation is in plain view on the Key West Harbor webcam. Enjoy your cruise!!

[cruzccl]

Constellation was my first also with Celebrity and we had a great time.

Enjoy your cruise and we look forward to more comments when you return.

 

Bill

[drarill]

Thanks for the update, hope you have a wonderful cruise!!:):)

[smitty99n]

In watching the Constellation leaving Key West today at 6:13pm Key West time, was the ship an hour late leaving?

[maryland]

In watching the Constellation leaving Key West today at 6:13pm Key West time, was the ship an hour late leaving?

 

I was wondering the same thing??

[gimletgal]

Glad you are enjoying being on my favorite ship, and I love your positive attitude!! :) Unfortunately, you will find rude people on every cruise.

 

Would love to know who the bartenders are in the Martini Bar and the bar waiters at the Sunset Bar. I am hoping some of my favorites will be there when I board next month.

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise and thanks for the report.

[roohound]

My fave bartender at the bartender was Boon (something). He definitely made the best martinis IMHO.

 

Had a treat time overall. One issue was the sheer number of spring breakers. Someone at dinner said they were told by a butler that there were 700 spring breakers onboard. Obviously take that with a grain of salt but I will say their presence was definitely felt. What made me sick was how disrespectful some of them were. We just disembarked today and yesterday evening we noticed that one of the elevators had some pretty significant dents on the doors that had not been there the day before. Plus, we had flowers taken from our main areas, potted plants knocked down and our personal favorite - the huge party that was going on on deck 12 late one night. . I am very fortunate that I can sleep through anything. However, my friend is a super light sleeper and one night around 4 am apparently it sounded like there was quite the loud party going on. A number of my fellow AQ guests commented on it. I asked why no one called security because if my butt was awakened at 4am that's what I would have done :).

 

Added bonus - last night my friend was in the back of an elevator that was packed with Spring breakers. One of the guys pushed up against her chest ( since it was so crowded in the elevator) and said "Good thing you've got boobs." I would have gone ballistic on the person. Oh, and if we had a dollar for every SBer who was ready to blow chunks at some point I could have paid for the cruise lol. Ah, the joys of being older and wiser lol

[roohound]

Oh, in regard to leaving KW - our itinerary said we'd be there from 7a-5p. Because of the time change it changed from 8-6

[shoelover536]

Thanks for the review! Did Blu improve for you after the first night? Did you try the specialty restaurants?

[cath7227]

Welcome home, roohound! We're boarding Connie Monday and curious about the time change in Cozumel. Did the ship stay on Eastern Daylight Time or did ship's time change at any point?

 

We're also in AQ on Deck 11 - any other noise issues besides the party? What dishes in Blu should we not miss? Any great drinks (we're also on the premium package)? How was service at the Sunset Bar?

 

Thanks!

[roohound]

Deck 11 was incredible. We were in 1128 and we'd be hardpressed to find a better cabin. I know people love those aft balconies - just looking at them I was not impressed.

 

In Cozumel our time difference was two hours, that is the ship time was ahead of Cozumel time by 2 hours. We got off the ship not long after we docked and everything was open even though it was 8:30 Cozumel time.

 

The sunset bar service was, ok. I found it frustrating that I could easily get a French Caribbean at the deck 10 pool bar but at the deck 11 sunset bar the bartenders were clueless as to what it was and could not make it. Really? I will say the bartenders seemed a little crunchy most if the time - with the exception of the martini bar fellows. They always seemed pretty darned happy.

 

Blu was great! If you get a chance, ask to be seated with Jean Pierre aka JP. He was phenomenal! He would refer to his section as being JP's World - and we loved JP's world. We were very well taken care of. He was very good about letting us know that everything was great but we could tell by his expression that some dishes were more great than others.

 

I had the ny strip from the always available menu the first night. Learn from my mistake - do not order this. It was a pathetic piece of meat that was woefully overcooked. My medium steak was gray all the way through and tough. I had a table companion order the same thing the last night - only his was ordered medium rare. Looked just as bad as mine did.

 

Day 2 I had the pork medallions salad - it was great! Day 3 I had the short ribs which were tasty. Day 4 I had the filet which was very good. And the last night I had the steak salad - probably the best beef I had had (note: why so much beef? I am allergic to fish/shellfish and have been working on losing weight and have spent the past 6 months eating a ridiculous amount of poultry. So I figured I was going to focus on red meat - because hey, it's vacation!). Friends said the blackened tuna dish was the best dish they had had. Desserts were ok to good for the most part - but that could be me because I don't have a strong sweet tooth.)

 

My drinks of choice were the aforementioned French Caribbeans and the almond joy martinis at the martini bar. The almond joy martinis are not on the menu anymore but at least 2 of the bartenders knew how to make it. Trust the sommelier Onur's suggestions for wines at Blu. He always made sure we were well taken care of.

Edited March 13, 2014 by roohound

[dolphinmar]

Great review, thank you! We'll be in the Connie in a couple weeks and are looking forward to some warm weather. Speaking of "crunchy" bartenders, I can well imagine that when you couple drink packages with spring breakers, you're going to get some unhappy bartenders. Can't imagine serving a worse group of entitled people.:cool:

[roohound]

I agree totally about the bartenders. They did seen overwhelmed and I have no doubt the SB crowd contributed heavily. I will say at the sails way party I did see the drink waiters asking for additional photo ID from some of the younger looking drink package holders. One group of about 5 young men at the sunset bar told us they were sharing one card - and I'm still not convinced any one of them was 21 so I'm not sure whose card that was.

 

I will say Celebrity exceeded my expectations. Service was top notch - officers were visible (and the captain smelled wonderful lol) - just an incredible experience overall.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[mouse1961]

We just got back from the same cruise. There were ALOT of Spring Breakers; quite a few were hurting pretty bad as we walked off the ship today. The bars were kept pretty busy. This was the first cruise where we've ran into a guy urinating off the 4th floor walkway. Interesting cruise!

[jcpc]

roohound,

 

Thanks for your comments. We board on April 5 for the April 5 and April 10 sailings. Was Boon in the Martini Bar a middle-aged/older gentleman from Bali (I believe)? If so, we've had him on the Summit Martini Bar and he is top notch. Hope it's the same Boon because if it is I know we'll get excellent service and excellent martinis.

 

Thanks,

JCPC

[Iamthesea]

We just got back from the same cruise. There were ALOT of Spring Breakers; quite a few were hurting pretty bad as we walked off the ship today. The bars were kept pretty busy. This was the first cruise where we've ran into a guy urinating off the 4th floor walkway. Interesting cruise!

 

This type of, and the other bad behavior listed, saddens me. :( I hope that the college spring breakers have gone back to their schools by the time that we sail at the end of the month.

 

Thank you for the positive reviews on stateroom 1128. We are booked next door in 1132. I had read about food smells wafting into staterooms on deck 11. I assume you did not have that problem?

[roohound]

I do believe Boon was from Bali. His name tag read Boontere or something like that but I just remembered the Boon part. Great, great guy.

 

Ok, the food smells. We did encounter them in the hallway but not in our rooms. We felt the smell came from the buffet as every time we passed the pasta bar in the buffet there was this pungent fishy/burnt garlic/onion smell that was so strong once we hit the pasta bar and it was that same smell in our hallway. Not pleasant at all - but it certainly didn't ruin the cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[bonedoc7]

We were on the same cruise and had a wonderful time. Loved the martini bar on the first night, but loved it a little too much that first night and couldn't stomach it again the rest of the cruise. We found that the spring breakers, although they did take over the cruise, didn't really bother us personally. It did change the over all feel of the cruise. I found the service as average. It was hard to get drinks poolside, there were no chairs to speak of and the pool was always crowded. These are not complaints but observations. Slight issues with our select dining reservations that did bother me. I had made (back in September and received confirmation) for a table for 12 at 7 pm every night. It was confirmed, no problem. When I went on the first day to check on our table, they refused to honour the reservation. We were given a choice of 5:45 or 8:45 or we just couldn't sit together. it would have been better just to do the early or late seating. There was no flexibility and she made us feel like she was doing us the favour. The fact that each of us had a royal suite didn't matter either. We managed to get our table for 6 pm each night, but again, not what we had reserved. The MDR service was average. You can tell that they were short handed and everyone was rushing around. We didn't feel that connection with anyone servicing us. We always tip additionally to our servers at the end of the cruise (on top of the automatic gratuities). This was one time we did not feel any obligation to do so. This was our first cruise with celebrity. We decided that we will wait until our July Alaskan cruise to actually compared celebrity to our other lines. It really did feel like it was spring break all over the ship and even if we did not witness inappropriate behavior (besides of course the adults in our own group on the first night, our kids were calling us the hangover part one and were waiting for hangover part two, which didn't come), I am sure that the staff was feeling it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Iamthesea]

I am sorry about your table problems, but have always heard that it is impossible to get an assigned table for a large group to sit together. We had the same experience with a group of 14. We were finally placed together at two separate tables with the same waiter, and at the time we wished. We put the kids (all old enough to behave) at the smaller table.

 

Another time, the cruiseline had divided our group of 8 into two tables on different dining levels. We finally got that rectified.:rolleyes:

 

I do believe Boon was from Bali. His name tag read Boontere or something like that but I just remembered the Boon part. Great, great guy.

 

Ok, the food smells. We did encounter them in the hallway but not in our rooms. We felt the smell came from the buffet as every time we passed the pasta bar in the buffet there was this pungent fishy/burnt garlic/onion smell that was so strong once we hit the pasta bar and it was that same smell in our hallway. Not pleasant at all - but it certainly didn't ruin the cruise.

 

UGH! I don't like food smells unless I am hungry. :D I guess the smell will not kill us.

[JFontaine]

I was on the cruise too.

 

Security wasn't up to the task of dealing with the spring breakers. The camera operator didn't spot the two drunks who climbed a ladder to the top of a smokestack. I had to get someone. There was no reason for allowing these kids to jump and dive into the pools. I watched it happen and security did too - they told them to stop, security walked away, and they did it again and again. Some of these kids should have been cut off much sooner.

 

There was a shortage of lounge chairs. Areas that normally had them were largely empty. Twelve aft would be a perfect spot for chairs. It was totally empty, and I dragged a chair up the stairs, as did others.

 

I was underwhelmed with my sky suite. Balcony chair doesn't recline and no foot stool. Do I have to downgrade the cabin to get that? Sewer smell for two days, despite my call. New butler who was in training lead to a lost breakfast order. Love love love Bvlgari products, but the "plush duvet" is a thin nothing.

 

The good - loved the two guitarists. Thought the MDR - Select service was terrific, including bar service. Thought Tuscan Grill was great except for my steak - ribeye was thin and fatty. A half hour later a group of officers ordered the filet - no surprise they knew what to order. Brian on the buffet grill at night made a delicious burger to order. Newish movies for free every day on TV.

[MISSYLOU]

I love the Connie so I am sorry to read about this. A good reminder to me not to cruise during spring break.

[ECSB]

I just got off Connie too on Thursday, and I must have been on a different cruise! I was travelling with my 20 year old spring breaker and 23 year old daughter. My kids are both pretty introverted and hung with each other. The spring breakers on the cruise were mostly from frats and sororities - but other than around the pool, we did not see them. I had a great conversation with some college kids in the hot tub one night - they were having fun but not crazy. In fact we were wondering where on the ship all the kids were hanging out. They did monopolize the main pool area and bars. My 23 year old looks really young and was carded all the time - no problem and the wait staff was apologetic - but didn't bother us - I think it had to do with all the spring breakers.

Our waiters in the dining room were great - even when treated pretty poorly by a family at another table. There were a few smells in places but nothing that really lasted or bothered me. The food in the buffet and main dining rooms were great. Had to usually go get our own drinks at lunch and around the pools - I also thought the drink waiters/bartenders were a little grumpy. I thought there was a good mix of families, older people and college kids. The music was too loud in many but not all of the venues. The entertainment was great! I thought there was almost too much live music - at the 80's party the DJ was spinning 80's tunes and the crowd was having a blast - then they brought in the band and my kids who like DJ's immediately wanted to leave. They had live music everywhere - to me it was all good. The weather was great and we were treated well. Fun!

[purplehorsedog]

I just returned from this cruise, as well!

 

First time on Celebrity and we had a great experience. So nice, in fact, we took advantage of the future cruise deals and made a dummy booking that we'll probably use next February -- before Spring Break!

 

The SBers weren't as bad as we feared they would be when we first boarded the ship. But, we definitely saw many who were over served; we couldn't get anywhere near a lounge chair or a bar on the pool deck until late afternoon; we were woken up every night by screams in the hallway; and we saw obvious dents and etched-ni names on one of the elevator doors which was sad to see. All that said, we had a great experience. We will just avoid the SB crowds in the future. We booked this very last-minute (less than 2 weeks before) and in our haste to get the heck out if cold Chicago, we didn't consider SB.

 

The other thing we didn't look too deep at was cabin location. In the future we will definitely avoid a room below the pool deck. We had an Aqua Class on Deck 9, midship. Every morning at about 5 am, we were woken up abruptly with what sounded like people playing basketball with the lounge chairs above us. I'm assuming this is when they were cleaning the deck but -- oh my goodness -- was it LOUD!!

 

Our favorite things: the staff, service and food in Blu, and the staff, service and drinks in the Martini Bar -- all were outstanding. We also met some really great people.

[sunshade]

We also returned from this cruise!

This was our 3rd time with Celebrity. Overall cruise was great. The spring breakers were a nuisance on the first sail away day....very loud and took over all the outdoor bars. The only times we saw them again were on the sea days (sea day1 we were beside them on the sun deck-the language they used was quite unexceptable. I actually told my 13 year old son when he gets to that age I hope he never talks like that in front of other people. And then Sea day 2 they somehow managed to get right beside us again. We eventually gave up our chairs to the ones that were standing around us and moved elsewhere). I also believe that many of them did not look to be 21 but were still drinking pretty darn good!

 

Food: buffet & MDR was great. Staff in MDR (Rita) were fabulous.

Cabin: on 9th floor aft was nice but not so clean. Had to call down to get our balcony cleaned since it was dirty. We were directly under the bar/cafe on deck 10 so in the early morning (6sh) we heard all the chairs being moved around. Other than that balcony was huge and made the cabin feel "bigger".

Pool area: was extremely hard to find chairs so I did have to go and put towels on some before we went for breakfast since by 9:30am they were pretty much all taken. They should really put some on the upper decks since there was lots of open space.

Entertainment: good- enjoyed the magician and comedy night(other than the rude father/son duo behind us both nights who loved to complain out loud re: how bad the acts were. Well guess what....if you dont like it then LEAVE the theatre).

 

Overall we had a great time. It really is what you make of it!