Chasing Constellation from Rome to Arabian Nights November 2016

[need2bespoiled]

Many of you followed Dee and I as we adventured and ate our way through Southeast Asia on Millennium in 2014 with our friend Rob and Toni (see link in my signature). During that cruise, we booked and schemed and started the planning for our upcoming adventure when we sail on Constellation from Rome to Abu Dhabi through the Suez Canal. This is another part of our goal to piece together a "World Cruise" one cruise at a time. I've posted live during a few other cruises, and plan to post during this cruise. How much is still very much to be determined.

 

A few goals for what this posting will include are: less typos and spelling mistakes, more reasonable sized images, at least as best as TapTalk, or another iOS application permits, not to post too often so I have less screen time and can thoroughly enjoy our cruise. We do have many sea days, so I do expect to have time to post though post frequency and length will likely get shorter as I go so I wanted to share some background before we even departed.

 

We leave in a week, giving me a little bit of time to bring everyone up to speed on how, over nearly two years we’ve arrived at this point on what we hope will be as amazing as our Asian Adventure.

 

We booked this cruise, originally as a B2B2B in a Celebrity Suite, for a ridiculous (high) price, knowing full well both the itinerary, prices, cabin, and our schedule would change. Dee said she had no interest in the first cruise, which included Israel, while I really wanted to do that cruise. At some point she about faced and decided she didn't want to do the third leg which Primarily included India. One of the highlights for us to book and do the first two cruises was that it originally included Istanbul for three days and two nights. We loved our previous time in Istanbul. That stop was reduced, one day at a time, until it was eliminated with the coup attempt and airport bombing in Turkey. There were three major schedule changes, and while we expected that would happen, we know there could still be more to come, given the volatility in some of the place we’re scheduled to visit.

 

Toni is joining us again on the entire cruise along with some friends we met last year on Infinity who also had this cruise booked. In addition, a few other friends we’ve met along the way (I’m looking at you TroubleT) are also on for parts of the trip.

 

Eventually, we ended up with the following itinerary:

 

We really like many things about this itinerary. Many ports include later than normal departures. We’re looking forward to getting back to Positano and Sorrento, and seeing Pompeii for the first time since we’re there later than our last stop. We’ve never been to Crete, Israel, or anywhere on the second cruise after we leave Athens. The cruise ends in Abu Dhabi during the Formula 1 Grand Prix Finals which ends with a Rhianna concert. We’re not avid fans of either, but we really couldn’t miss the opportunity to see the races and the concert. Of course we’re looking forward to seeing a number of our friends onboard as well.

 

I am happy to answer questions in general about Constellation (once we're onboard), the ports, the Suite Life, the Suez or anything I can, a best I can.

 

I’m thankful to be able to cruise as we do, and share with Cruise Critic. More to come as we lead up to the cruise. Thanks for reading and, as always…

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[chemmo]

Looking forward to following your cruise...Not back on X until the Spring so I will really enjoy some vicarious adventures!

 

Could you at some point give us a schedule of ports of call? You certainly seem to be calling in at some of my favourite Mediterranean places. We have been looking at doing a Connie journey in the future....

 

Hope you have a wonderful time we loved Michael's Club on the M class, a much better shape of room for music etc.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

Edited October 19, 2016 by chemmo

[need2bespoiled]

I had thought I had embedded this is my previous post, somehow I missed it in copying the post in after previewing and editing. It shows on my PC, but not on my phone and I have not checked on any of the apps that can view the forum.

 

Here is a direct link:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Mbp3QCz__qNB3w_WawbIHbE2LiMp9Y6c6oKt8HXYi-RfnKeBgYvqf995SS9tpLPS4kKrkIFMfspKltQ=w1900-h921-rw

 

Dee much prefers M-Class ships in general, we've sailed them all. The M-Class itineraries have worked better for us as we try to sail to new places. We do have bookings coming up on S-Class too but there are few cabins anywhere as nice as deck 6 all the way aft on M-Class. I have been pressuring her to try premium and luxury lines but it is tough as she greatly prefers cabins with a seperate bedroom which limits choices for us. When we have had bookings on Oceanside, they've been replaced by a sailing on Celebrity.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

Edited October 19, 2016 by need2bespoiled

[chemmo]

I had thought I had embedded this is my previous post, somehow I missed it in copying the post in after previewing and editing. It shows on my PC, but not on my phone and I have not checked on any of the apps that can view the forum.

 

Here is a direct link:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Mbp3QCz__qNB3w_WawbIHbE2LiMp9Y6c6oKt8HXYi-RfnKeBgYvqf995SS9tpLPS4kKrkIFMfspKltQ=w1900-h921-rw

 

Dee much prefers M-Class ships in general, we've sailed them all. The M-Class itineraries have worked better for us as we try to sail to new places. We do have bookings coming up on S-Class too but there are few cabins anywhere as nice as deck 6 all the way aft on M-Class. I have been pressuring her to try premium and luxury lines but it is tough as she greatly prefers cabins with a seperate bedroom which limits choices for us. When we have had bookings on Oceanside, they've been replaced by a sailing on Celebrity.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

Our first M class cruise was in one of those rooms 'all the way aft' too. Big mistake, only booked them on M class since. I assume you changed from your original CS?

[Castaway24]

I can't access your link for the itinerary - we are on Connie from 10th Dec Arabian cruise Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Muscat and Khasab so would be very interested if you are at any of these ports and also anything about Connie as we've never cruised on Celebrity before, only P&O and it does seem quite different.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[need2bespoiled]

Our first M class cruise was in one of those rooms 'all the way aft' too. Big mistake, only booked them on M class since. I assume you changed from your original CS?

During last year and into this spring and summer, there were many price drops on this cruise (thanks fishy cruise site). We started saving more and more, until prices really dropped to half or more the original rates and we started upgrading. Kind of like a game  First, we upgraded the Suez portion to the Penthouse, which we thought was a great deal, especially considering this “repo” cruise included no benefits. Booking an RS or PH that includes nice benefits like a drink package, unlimited internet, mini bar, etc, made a lot of sense to us in comparison to the CS pricing at the time. Then the RS price plummeted to the point it was less than half of the PH, so we “downgraded” to a RS. We were then paying close to half of the original cruise fare for the second leg in the RS but upgraded to a bigger room, with more benefits for the second cruise, still in a CS with the upgraded go best with Premium Drink Package. Our friends Donna and Jane grabbed the PH we cancelled at a great rate and let us know the other one was available for a very good rate on the first cruise, so we grabbed that putting us in the PH on the first leg and RS on the second. While we were very happy with both the rates and cabins, and had made final payment on both cruises, just after final payment on the second cruise the PH opened up for much less than we had previously booked it and a reasonable upgrade from the RS so we jumped and grabbed it, allowing us to sail straight through the entire cruise with that AMAZING view and not having to pack and move.

 

Happy sailing

Jenna

[need2bespoiled]

I can't access your link for the itinerary - we are on Connie from 10th Dec Arabian cruise Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Muscat and Khasab so would be very interested if you are at any of these ports and also anything about Connie as we've never cruised on Celebrity before, only P&O and it does seem quite different.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I guess it is better to know now that my plan for image posting is a total bust. I need to figure out an easy way to do this and have nice full size images. Any suggestions would be appreciated. TapTalk does work well, however I tent to make many typos from my Ipad/Phone and they end up too big sometimes. From my computer I have to upload them elsewhere then use a link to embed them so they're not tiny. The embded image hosting on Cruise Critic is horrible.

 

Hope this does work, my experience tells me it has, it' just harder for me.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

Edited October 19, 2016 by need2bespoiled

[chemmo]

During last year and into this spring and summer, there were many price drops on this cruise (thanks fishy cruise site). We started saving more and more, until prices really dropped to half or more the original rates and we started upgrading. Kind of like a game  First, we upgraded the Suez portion to the Penthouse, which we thought was a great deal, especially considering this “repo” cruise included no benefits. Booking an RS or PH that includes nice benefits like a drink package, unlimited internet, mini bar, etc, made a lot of sense to us in comparison to the CS pricing at the time. Then the RS price plummeted to the point it was less than half of the PH, so we “downgraded” to a RS. We were then paying close to half of the original cruise fare for the second leg in the RS but upgraded to a bigger room, with more benefits for the second cruise, still in a CS with the upgraded go best with Premium Drink Package. Our friends Donna and Jane grabbed the PH we cancelled at a great rate and let us know the other one was available for a very good rate on the first cruise, so we grabbed that putting us in the PH on the first leg and RS on the second. While we were very happy with both the rates and cabins, and had made final payment on both cruises, just after final payment on the second cruise the PH opened up for much less than we had previously booked it and a reasonable upgrade from the RS so we jumped and grabbed it, allowing us to sail straight through the entire cruise with that AMAZING view and not having to pack and move.

 

Happy sailing

Jenna

 

Wow, you deserve the PH for all your hard work! I must say if we are going to do an M class cruise we book the PH as the cruise opens up. We have booked it on the Millie in Asia 2017. Unlike your cruise all the suites went really fast! We did get a 'price promise', a useful perk here in the U.K. but on this occasion I can't see us getting any discount!

 

As you say those PH and RS perks are really worth having on cruises without drinks packages...I must say I also love the unlimited speciality dining, I think you may also find the laundry useful by part way through your cruise!

 

We love the balcony more than the room itself...late in the evening, brandy in hand, plate of shrimps left in that wonderful fridge by the butler earlier, watching the lights of fishing boats in the distance....

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

Edited October 19, 2016 by chemmo

[benjoon]

So looking forward to your review Jenna. As you know we are on the Jan 11, 2017 sailing. In the same type of cabin as we had on the Infinity except the other side. We are interested in the staff that will be on-board and I'm sure you will give us plenty of tips for our cruise. Cant wait until that first drink in Michaels.

[4774Papa]

While in the UAE, I recommend the seven emirates tour. Fantastic. At a minimum, make sure you see the amazing mosque in Abu Dhabi.

[Cruise Junky]

I'm thrilled that you're posting live. We have the Rome to Abu Dhabi booked for next November. Can't wait !

[cb140]

Hi! We're doing the same cruise in reverse in April next year! (well, not the whole thing - I mean the Abu Dhabi to Rome part through the the Suez Canal. 15 nights I think). We've not been on Connie before, only on S class ships, so I'm interested to hear about her. We're not doing it in such grand style though - we've got a Deck 3 ocean view cabin!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[jazzmanfive]

Hi

Will be onboard with you on the second half of the cruise and also going to the grand prix (hopefully to see Lewis retain his world championship).

 

Hope you have a great first half cruise and maybe bump into you onboard and say hello.

 

Jazzman

[need2bespoiled]

Hi

Will be onboard with you on the second half of the cruise and also going to the grand prix (hopefully to see Lewis retain his world championship).

 

Hope you have a great first half cruise and maybe bump into you onboard and say hello.

 

Jazzman

 

Have you joined the roll call? We've planned some special events, you can find out about there where we could meet, if you haven't joined, there will be quite a bit of catching up to do. We're looking forward to the races, very much should be fun!

 

Dee and I are into final plans, she had her hair done last Friday, mine today. Tomorrow is work, we'll, I do work some everyday. On Friday we're meeting friends in Bar Harbor who are cruising on Holland America to give them an excursion in our back yard. Saturday we have some buttoning up to do around the house. Sunday I plan to pack, Nails on Monday (all the important stuff) and a couple more work meetings and appointments. Tuesday is final packing and Wednesday we're off. I'm counting down the minutes, time will fly!

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[SUBWAYMIKE]

Jenna,

I am in cabin 6146 on the 11/2 cruise- next to ph 6148. If you are our neighbor we can become best friends. On the 11/14 we are up on 11 in an Aqua cabin.

In any case we look forward to meeting you guys.

Mike

[chemmo]

 

Dee and I are into final plans, she had her hair done last Friday, mine today. Tomorrow is work, we'll, I do work some everyday. On Friday we're meeting friends in Bar Harbor who are cruising on Holland America to give them an excursion in our back yard. Saturday we have some buttoning up to do around the house. Sunday I plan to pack, Nails on Monday (all the important stuff) and a couple more work meetings and appointments. Tuesday is final packing and Wednesday we're off. I'm counting down the minutes, time will fly!

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

I'm getting excited for you, love that countdown list before cruising!

 

You mention you have not visited Crete before, it is an amazing island, we spent two weeks there and didn't have enough time! Chania itself is a pretty port but if you are a history buff head to Knossos....

 

Money on you needing to fit in one last cruise shop before flying....Who are you flying with? Just wondered as you are finishing in Abu Dhabi if you had booked Etihad? We used them earlier this year and found them excellent.

Edited October 20, 2016 by chemmo

[need2bespoiled]

Jenna,

I am in cabin 6146 on the 11/2 cruise- next to ph 6148. If you are our neighbor we can become best friends. On the 11/14 we are up on 11 in an Aqua cabin.

In any case we look forward to meeting you guys.

Mike

 

We're on the other side. Our friends Donna and Jane are your direct neighbors. I'm sure we'll meet, please say hello!

 

I'm getting excited for you, love that countdown list before cruising!

 

We have two stops in Chanda. The first we're doing a Mythological History Tour I have no idea where it is going. The second stop Weill be decided after the first stop. I've been doing some shopping online, mostly done, a few more things to get. I love Amazon Prime :)

 

I changed our flights to Italy more than 20 times, more on that later. I never once changed the return flight. Once I snagged those two seats I was never giving them up! We’re flying from PWM (Portland, ME) to Washington Dulles. From there we’ll fly on Lufthansa, in first to Frankfurt, where we’ll do the short hope to Venice in "Euro" Business. This plane will actually have less leg room in "Business" class than regular economy on United :eek: They just block the middle seat. We’re booked on an express train from Venice to Rome where we’ll pick up Connie, and fly home from Abu Dhabi to JFK in the apartments on their a380 service. I'm looking forward to this flight, except that it departs at 3:45a :eek: From there we transfer to Newark via Etihad’s complimentary limo and fly home to Portland from there. Oh, how I love my airline miles! These flights would cost more than the 26-day cruise in the Penthouse if I had actually paid for the flights! I would never consider Lufthansa in economy, and even their international business class product is not as nice a some others, but their first class product is supposed to be excellent and I somehow received a very, very good rate (better than what I should have) for the flight for miles due to some issues at United.

 

On a side note, being less than a week out, with packing underway, our spring (better water than a well) which had gone dry has come back, with more rain in the forecast, and getting very, very excited. We have been trucking and pumping water into a tank in the basement on a daily basis, which was very very unfun :( and time consuming.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[jollyjoyce]

While in the UAE, I recommend the seven emirates tour. Fantastic. At a minimum, make sure you see the amazing mosque in Abu Dhabi.

 

Thanks for that info...we are on the cruise starting in Abu Dhabi 10th Dec. So have booked this tour. Been to Dubai many times so we're looking for something different to do.

[TxnAquarian]

Sounds like a fabulous trip! We just flew on Etihad in the A380 Apartment in July - it was amazing - it will make every other flight you ever take pale in comparison!

 

My husband and I board the Constellation shortly after you return for the India cruise. Can't wait to hear how your experience is on the ship.

 

 

 

Michael & Omar

[SUBWAYMIKE]

Jenna,

I guess Donna and Jane will be our new best friends.

 

Has your tour from Kusadasi filled up? If you have room for 2 more we would love to join you.

Let me know,

Mike

 

P.S. This weekend the Formula 1 race is here in Austin. Last year we had 8 inches of rain that weekend but this weekend the weather is great.

[need2bespoiled]

Jenna,

I guess Donna and Jane will be our new best friends.

 

Has your tour from Kusadasi filled up? If you have room for 2 more we would love to join you.

Let me know,

Mike

 

P.S. This weekend the Formula 1 race is here in Austin. Last year we had 8 inches of rain that weekend but this weekend the weather is great.

 

On our cruise in December, we never me the people in the cabin next to us, but They're very friendly :)

 

We have room for 2 more. Send me an email to my first name followed by the letter "g" and the number 6 at gmail and I'll give you details and put you in touch with Dee to confirm.

 

Have fun at the races this weekend. We got our tickets today, very exciting!

 

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[TroubleT]

....

 

Toni is joining us again on the entire cruise along with some friends we met last year on Infinity who also had this cruise booked. In addition, a few other friends we’ve met along the way (I’m looking at you TroubleT) are also on for parts of the trip.

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

And I am looking at you Jenna! :D

 

[need2bespoiled]

And I am looking at you Jenna! :D

 

 

That fur is pretty close to the color of hair belonging to someone I know.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

Edited October 21, 2016 by need2bespoiled

[need2bespoiled]

We are T Minus 24 hours to departing for the airport and basically all packed with a few odds and ends and errands to do today. Remember how I said I was done changing our flights and I was never giving up our seats? Well, I was done, but United wasn’t. Remember how I said I got a “ very, very good rate ” ? Well, United found their error and instead of deducting the additional miles, at about 8pm last night they downgraded our seats to business class. I knew this could happen, I gambled and lost. I didn’t see the downgrade until I checked our flight status at about 1am and by then, someone had snagged one of our seats!

 

I spent the nearly the next 2 hours trying to figure out what to do and what our options were. Option 1: United in First Class which is “ok” and keep the other flights and give up my first flight on a 747 or option 2: back on Lufthansa out of Boston. The advantage of traveling on the United flights means an easier trip to the airport, the flight cost less miles, but has a much longer layover in Frankfurt, not nearly as nice a seat (hard product) or service (soft product) as we would hopefully get on Lufthansa. I also REALLY want to fly on 747 (first time). The Boston flight had first class seats, only has one connection and will get us into Venice much earlier (yeah!), but the flight is not nearly as good for sleeping as we leave a bit earlier and arrive local time at 6am in Frankfurt which is basically the middle of the night AND we have to take a nearly 2-hour bus ride to Boston from Portland where we’re leaving our car.

 

In the end, the bus ride, one connection and earlier arrival to Venice won. I can’t say for sure if this was Dee’s first choice as she HATES the idea of the bus ride, but she wanted to fly on Luftansa as I have built it up, so we’ll see how it all goes tomorrow.

 

It could have been much worse and loyalty means something as United didn’t charge me for the change and actually did admit some of the blame for what happened.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[chemmo]

Have a safe and pleasant journey, Jenna. Look forward to your next post.