Cruise Review - Constellation Northern Baltic - August 27 - September 10, 2005

[princessdi]

Europe - Northern Baltic 14 day Constellation Round Trip Dover, England

August 27 – September 10, 2005 ~ Party of four ~ one couple from the north shore of Long Island and one couple from Boulder Colorado area. Youngest late 40s, oldest mid 50s.

 

This cruise was booked more than a year in advance in FV cabins 8166 and 8181. When we booked the cruise it had three overnights. One in Stockholm, one in Copenhagen and one in St. Petersburg. Celebrity changed the itinerary without explanation. When it was all said and done we only had an overnight in St. Petersburg and Copenhagen. Although the changes were very disappointing we were able to adjust.

 

On August 22nd we left Denver CO on British Airways scheduled to arrive London August 23rd at noon. This flight was a direct 9 hour flight into Heathrow. Upon arrival we retrieved our luggage then made our way through customs. We met up with our driver Richard, then our traveling companions; their flight having arrived an hour prior to ours and off we went to the hotel in London proper. All of our transportation in London was arranged through Eddie Manning, a charming gentleman who was very accommodating of all of our needs. Eddie provided our transportation to/from the airport both arrival/departure; port arrival/departure to hotel; tour of Stonehenge. All services provided were on time and very comfortable. We highly recommend Eddie’s services. All arrangements were made via email with responses being prompt. Eddie can be reached at Eddie@limo.co.uk or http://www.limo.co.uk.

 

Our pre-cruise stay was at the Royal Horse Guard Hotel for 4 nights. The hotel was nice although quite old and in need of some repair. The hotel’s nightly rate was very expensive however London on the whole was very expensive. We did most of our travels of London on foot and we all felt very safe. Here are some impressions of London: Double Decker buses were everywhere, going every which way. Big, tall and red. Although we did not ride any of the buses it appeared as if they had their schedules down and they did not fool around with getting you where you needed to go. (We were in London approximately fours weeks after the bombing of the buses and subways. We were not up to partaking of either service.) The cabs appeared to be much the same. There were so many cabs everywhere. Some were painted with advertisements and others were just black. The cab drivers were very friendly and happy to show you their fine city. They were also very knowledgeable and willing to share that knowledge with you. Tipping is not big in London so when you did tip your driver they were very thankful and a bit taken aback by it. This was true of wait staff as well. The traffic through London proper was outrageous. At most pubs you order at the bar, pay and then the food is brought to you.

 

Westminster Abbey does not allow photo or video taking inside.

 

Stonehenge - It is about a 2 hour ride from London proper to Stonehenge considering some traffic. Get there early to avoid tour buses. We left London about 7:30 am. It appears out of nowhere. They offer audio players to give you the history as it is believed to be known. It appears in many different shapes and ways. The lighting can make it appear to change in an instant.

 

The Castle of Wardour, a little known castle set off the beaten path was really quite interesting. The castle had been pretty well bombed out during the war yet it was intact inside. They also offered audio players to give you the history of the castle. We made our way through some very quaint villages towards a nice pub our drive/guide, Eddie had chosen for lunch. Across from the pub was this lovely house with the cutest thatched roof we had ever seen. The Inn had a small restaurant pub like establishment with a lovely atmosphere. We ordered lunch and a few pints which was enjoyed then made our way back to London.

 

The Thames River, the London Eye, the Tower of London, the London Bridge and St. Paul’s Cathedral are all fun checking out. Photo and video is not allowed inside the cathedral.

 

Finally it is the morning to board the ship. Eddie was there at 9:30 am. We are very excited. We arrived at the ship around 11:30 am and in a matter of minutes we are registered, on board with champagne in hand. We went directly to our stateroom to drop off our carry on, then checked out dining arrangements and it is off to the buffet for lunch. Now we are perfectly content and all is right with the world.

 

continued.........

[princessdi]

The Constellation is a beautiful ship. We have sailed Summit and Mercury recently. Enjoy all cruises. We have also sailed RCCL and Princess with Celebrity preferred. ‘Seby’ was our cabin steward and he was EXCELLENT! His assistant (I am so sorry I can not recall his name) was outstanding as well. We are not very ‘needy’ people…..usually…..however we had some very special needs this cruise and both these kind gentlemen went above & beyond the call of duty.

 

8/28/05 & 8/30/05 & 9/5/05 & 9/9/05 - Days at Sea ~ Gotta love ‘Em!

 

Celebrity offered a ‘free’ shuttle in each of the ports which was very accommodating. At most of the ports it was reported that walking to town was possible however we only walk to town in Copenhagen (shuttled back to the ship). The other ports looked a little difficult for our tastes.

 

Olso, Norway – We arrived early, departed early. The sail in and sail out of the fjord is spectacular. The ship docked right next to Fort Akershus. The shops right next to the dock did take US dollars and did give change in US dollars. Easy walk to town.

 

Did attend the ‘White Masquerade Party’ at ‘the Bar at the Edge of the Earth’ however since it is no longer, our comments are not longer valid except to say we are glad we experienced it.

 

Stockholm, Sweden – The sail towards town and the sail out took about 5 hours each way with great views. The city was very clean with great shops and a very nice town square. Stockholm turned out to be one of our favorite ports.

 

Tallinn, Estonia – The free shuttle dropped us right at the entry to a small medieval town. It has cobblestone streets with very little car traffic. Arrive early. We climbed up a steep hill to the well known cathedral of Alexander Nevski. It was quite elaborate as were most of the cathedrals and churches in the area. We continued through town until we came upon a great picture taking area that was high above the town so you got a good shot of all the steeples. People were very friendly.

 

Helsinki, Finland – The town of Helsinki was more like a normal city rather than a quaint town. We found a wonderful street market by the cathedral in town where all the ladies were showing their wares. It was quite delightful and the ladies were lovely.

 

Some highlights of the entertainment on board was the Legal Pickpocket, Bob Arno. He was excellent. We found ourselves continually checking our own pockets and having a lot of fun checking each others. On some sail away evenings between 7:45 and 8:45 pm Richard Towers would play guitar melodies on Deck 10 Aft. It was nice to have live music playing as we prepared for late seating dinner. One afternoon on a sea day, Jane Powell and her husband actor Dick Moore performed ‘Love Letters’ by playwright A.R. Gurney. It was very well done and we enjoyed it very much. Early in the cruise Jane Powell had taken the stage and spoke about her life then allowed the audience to ask questions. She was truly lovely and very gracious.

 

St. Petersburg – We did a two day tour through Red October (info@redoctober.us). They took care of all visas and admissions to museums and such. We did have photo fees however our guide asked us each time in advance if we wanted to pay them and how much they were. She kept a running tally. I think it turned out to be $20 for both days for one camera. It was two intense days of touring but well worth it. It really was the only way to see St. Petersburg. We had heard that the cruise lines sometimes gave you trouble getting off the ship if you were on a private tour however we did not find this to be true. They accommodated us and we had no problems getting off the ship to make our tour time. We were very glad it was just our small group (4). We moved through the lines faster and we were able to deviate from the plan more easily during our tours. If you get the chance to have lunch with the Russian family do so. This was quite interesting and a chance of a life time. Russia was nice, glad we saw it. The Russian people just do not smile. The sail away from St. Petersburg was very nice. Saw the abandon naval base and the Peterhof’s ‘Summer’ Palace off in the distance as we made our way towards Germany.

 

Rostock, Germany – Town is a distance from the port thus a bus, cab or train ride is required here. The town of Warnemunde was close by however also a train ride away via Rostock. The train to Berlin picked up right along side the ship. There was a souvenir shop within walking distance of the ship although we did not visit.

 

Weather was great the whole time which was very unusual for this time of year.

 

Copenhagen, Denmark – Arrived at noon which made for a stunning arrival. What a lovely place! The people here were very beautiful and healthy looking. The Connie would be docked until 6:00 am the next morning. We walked into town then used the shuttle back to ship. The town had a canal / shop / café area that is great for a drink and people watching. Many visited Tivoli Gardens that evening in order to see the lighted displays. According to the Celebrity Daily there was a shuttle bus to Tivoli Gardens starting at 5:30 pm for $20 return, includes entrance fee. Tivoli Gardens closes at 11:00 pm. Tickets were purchased at the pier. This was another favorite port for us.

 

Helsingborg, Sweden – This was a tender port. We felt very welcomed here by everyone we met. Helsingbor, Denmark is just across the bay easily reachable by ferry.

 

We had a few days of very brown water as if some tanks were ‘flushed’. We had to run the water for quite some time to get it to clear. It never really cleared completely during the reminder of our stay. This did not appear to be an issue in the public drinking areas.

 

Disembarkation was uneventful as was our last day in London and our flights home.

 

Final thought: We enjoyed this cruise and look forward to the next one.

 

Hope you enjoyed the review. Thanks for reading.

[mare s.]

Thanks so much for the review...we were on the same cruise and also used Red October for St. Petersburg. Brought back wonderful memories of a really lovely cruise and very interesting ports.

[Boo's Mom]

Hi Princessdi ~

Thanks for the review. It was very informative.

I am sailing on the Constellation in July.

 

So...with all of the stops you made, which would you recommend not pre-booking a tour of any kind? Helsinki?

 

Thanks.

[princessdi]

Boo's Mom: As far as pre-booking tours I found that in most of these ports we really didn't need to pre-book except for St. Petersburg. The other ports were doable by ourselves via the free shuttles. Helsinki might be the exception depending on your likes. Oslo, Stockholm, Tallian, Rostock, Copenhagen and Helsingborg we enjoyed just by walking around the towns.

 

Now they offered some more 'cultured' tours where you got out of town and saw more of the country however we didn't have any experience with them. In Rostock, Germany many went to Berlin via the train on pre-book tours.

 

I hope this helps.

[Boo's Mom]

it does help,

 

Thanks, Princessdi

[DeanAFI]

PrincessDi

 

Thank you for taking the time to post reflections of your Constellation Cruise to the Baltics.

 

My wife and I were aboard Constellation this same sailing and agree with most of your opinions. I considered writing my own review for this sailing, but quite frankly I haven’t posted for years. My skin is much too thin with regard to be dealing with the Board Bullies.

 

We were disappointed the original itinerary was changed to one we considered less appealing than the one we booked.

 

We were surprised our documents reflected a docking in Helsingburg, Sweden. We could not remember from a previous visit where they could possibly accommodate a ship the size of Constellation. Turned out it was a tender port as we expected.

 

We also used Red October in St Petersburg with another couple. I was extremely pleased with all the arrangements. Very smooth. Enjoying lunch with a Russian family in their home was definitely a highlight for us as well.

 

With the exception of St Petersburg we found each of the ports easily explored by foot. Celebrity provided FREE (nice touch) shuttle service to and from the port cities central areas.

 

Service overall on the ship was excellent as per usual. We lucked out with the best stateroom attendant we have ever had on Celebrity. I believe he was even better than the butler we had on a previous sailing. Unfortunately we had to pay the price I guess by enduring the worst service we have ever experienced in a Celebrity dinning room.

 

The water in our stateroom was clear when we boarded. On the second or third day we had water start coming out that looked about as brown as weak coffee with particles suspended. I called the steward and he excitedly explained it was because maintenance had just changed fresh water holding tanks. The water never did clear completely by the end of the cruise. We did not drink the stateroom water and our steward was happy to provide pitchers of clean (filtered/bottled?) drinking water.

 

I enjoyed the food a little more than usual on this sailing. The food themes seemed to better reflect the countries we were visiting than other Celebrity itineraries we’ve sailed.

 

Thanks again!!

[daju22]

Hello PrincessDi and Dean, and thanks for posting your wonderful reviews of your Constellantion Baltic cruise.

 

We are on this year's Aug. 26th sailing.

 

My husband uses a small mobility scooter. You all mentioned the free shuttles in each port.

 

Did you notice if any disabled scooter or wheelchair users were on the shuttles?

 

Could a scooter be transported on the shuttles?

 

Were they at all accessible?

 

Thanks for your help everyone.

[princessdi]

Hello daju22. PrincessDi here.

 

You sure are in for a treat on this cruise. Athough port intensive it is a once in a lifetime experience you are sure to enjoy.

 

If I remember correctly, most of the free shuttles would easily accomodate your husband's small mobility scooter and I found the drivers to be very helpful. The scooter would probably be stowed underneath in the undercarriage while your husband would be assisted up to the normal seating area. Some of the shuttles were normal 'coach' configuration while others were more 'glide' type shuttles (close to the ground). They always had taxis or cabs close by the shuttle area in case other accomodations were needed.

 

I hope this helps.

[daju22]

Hi PrincessDi,

 

I'm so glad to hear that the shuttles can accomodate our scooter(or at least some of them).

We're really looking forward to this trip!

Thanks for your advice.