Cruisin' on the Connie

[arekayone]

My wife and I just returned to snow-packed Illinois after a 4-day on the Connie. We sailed on the Eclipse two years ago, and sail RCCL when with our 3 children. I'll preface my comments by stating we had an absolute blast. Here are a few thoughts....

 

We thought the food in the dining room was outstanding, however, the service was lacking. We did anytime dining, so maybe that made a difference. Four nights in the dining room, not once did the sommelier visit our table. The first night we never even saw our waiter, as his assistant handled the whole meal. Annoying? Yes. Bad enough for me to rail for hours about it? Nope.

 

I have to retract my sommelier comment, as there was one night he served us. We had the unbelievable great fortune of being asked to dine at the Captain's table. We are still trying to figure out how it happened, as we were merely waiting in line to be seated, and someone came up to us and asked us if we cared to dine at the Captain's table. Heck yes! Although we did have a few moments of panic as we each had just consumed 3 martinis....my wife whispered in my ear that we better not say anything stupid or we will be scorned for life on the Connie. It just so happened to be my wife's 50th birthday and made for a "bucket list" type event for both of us. We met another fantastic couple who felt as privileged as us. They put a small birthday cake together for her, and handed all of us a beautiful photo taken looking down at the table, along with a seating chart of who was with us and everyone's name. What an honor that was! We are still trying to figure out why we were picked out.

 

Buffet food? Meh. Our expectations were low but we did feel the food was better than when we sailed on the Eclipse. The layout of the buffet is awful though and invites traffic jams. I also have to add an obligatory "***?" moment in there.....my wife was standing behind a man and his two children who were waiting for waffles. The cook pulls a couple off the iron, and an older man butts in right in front of the man and kids and takes them and walks off. Unreal.

 

Craziest moment of the cruise? The ship left two men behind in Nassau. We left a half hour late, were about fifteen feet off the pier and two men came running down. One of the guys was pleading with the bridge to come back. Dummies. Yeah, we'll let two morons hold up a ship with almost 3000 people on it because they wanted to party a bit longer. I hope they had their passports and credit cards.

 

The Argentinian cruise director was GREAT. Funny, natural, not-fakey at all. We really enjoyed him. Shows were entertaining but the last night "make believe fairy tale" musical was almost unbearable. We love musical theater, but this was painful to watch.

 

There was a large group of gay men on the ship, and they were a lot of fun. They were single handedly responsible for the most well-dressed cruise I have ever been on.

 

They could use a few more bartenders on the ship. Especially at the pool bars. The barrista (sp?) in Cafe El Bacio made a great cappuccino. The service in that area was wonderful. Martini Bar was much fun, but dangerous if you have the premium drink package. Came out ahead in the casino for the first time ever. Embarkation/debarkation a breeze.

 

I could go on and on but I'm too darn tired. Great cruise. Relaxing, fun, and such great people on the ship. If Jim or Melinda, or our friends "Buffalo" and Jill read this, we are glad we had a little time to spend with you!

 

If you have questions, please ask.

[schlocklate]

We are on this cruise on the 26th. Did you happen to use the gym classes (Spinning, Pilates, Boot Camp, ...)? If so do you know which were available when?

 

Any chance you could post the dailies?

 

I think we'll do lunch at the spa cafe, on shore or bistro on 5. Your experience at the buffet is similar to ours in the past on RCCL & Celebrity - meh.

 

-Terry

[Azulann]

Thanks for your review.

What a wonderful suprise to be invited to dine at the Captains Table.

I cannot believe that people really miss the ship because they are late to the pier.

those two will have a sotry to tell once they get back home.:D

[miched]

Vacations like your are really a once in a lifetime experience. We had a similar experience when celebrating our 25th doing a Las Vegas/ Tahoe trip, everything just fell together with a few bonus surprises that just happened and were never asked for.

 

Nice to hear that you had a fun and great time.

 

happy crusing 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[gelo7]

Thanks, for sharing your thoughts on the "Connie". We were also on this cruise, and we enjoyed the "Connie". We love cruising the big new ships, and were not sure that we would love this ship. Now we understand the affection for "Connie" and "Millie". The Sommelier, made only one visit to our table. We 're none drinkers, but it was something that we took notice of.

[Dunmore2]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. It sounds like you had a wonderful time. I just finished reading the last 8-10 posted Constellation reviews on CC and the majority of them were negative. It's good to hear from a happy cruiser too.

[vulcan1971]

I also have to add an obligatory "***?" moment in there.....my wife was standing behind a man and his two children who were waiting for waffles. The cook pulls a couple off the iron, and an older man butts in right in front of the man and kids and takes them and walks off. Unreal.

 

I was recently on the Constellation (NOV 2014) for 16 days and only took advantage of getting a freshly made waffle in the Oceanview on one or two mornings. They are so wonderful. I do seem to recall that I had to wait a bit for the folks in front me to order or pick up their order of waffles. They could never be made fast enough an maybe this other gentleman was standing off to the side and out of the way of others trying to serve their plates of food. Just a thought.

 

Thanks for taking the time to come here and tell us about your experiences.

 

I really enjoyed the Constellation. So much so that I am going back in Nov 2015 for another cruise of 9 days to the Eastern Caribbean. Can' wait!!! :D

Edited March 3, 2015 by vulcan1971

[vulcan1971]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. It sounds like you had a wonderful time. I just finished reading the last 8-10 posted Constellation reviews on CC and the majority of them were negative. It's good to hear from a happy cruiser too.

 

Sorry to hear that you only saw reviews that were negative. I was just on the Constellation for 16 days (NOV 2014) and here is a link to my review.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=268914

[arekayone]

Terry -

 

We didn't keep the dailies. I was very undisciplined on this "getaway" and hardly took any pictures either. I did, however, get several shots of the guys staring at the bridge when the ship was pulling away.

 

We didn't do any classes, but my wife made her way up to the gym every day to get some stretching and cardio in. I sat on our balcony and slept. I've been so stressed out with work the past few months that my body recognized an opportunity to shut down and took full advantage of it.

 

I'm not sure why there would be so many negative reviews, but I suppose people have more of a tendency to complain than to praise. The cruise is ultimately going to be what you make of it, and the people that you meet. Even the casual asides you mumble to a stranger sitting next to you in a bar opens up avenues of conversation. I won't remember the food a year from now, but I'll remember the faces and the laughs we had with people we hardly knew.

 

I hope you have a wonderful cruise. We wouldn't hesitate to jump aboard again next year at this time, and probably will.