Review Celebrity Constellation 30 May-9 June from Venice to Rome

[travellerin1984]

 

Here comes a short review about our cruise in the Mediterranean. We are a scandinavian couple in our mid thirties and early forties. We just finished our cruise and are sitting in the airport. It was a great cruise and have a post cruise depression already...;) We like Celebrity, 10 + cruises on Celebrity but have tried Royal, Oceania, MSC and Carnival too. We have done many cruises in the Mediterranean and are used to doing things on our own and use the public transportation (or walk!)

 

We stayed two nights in Venice pre cruise. It was a budget alternative, bed and breakfast Dalla Mora 166 euros for two nights. Adequate, good location and friendly staff. We would recommend to others. Good value for money but quite basic! Easy to get to the port from Dalla Mora. Couple of bridges and then the people mover to port. 

 

We had two dinners in Venice, first one, a more old-fashioned place was called Osteria alla Bifora. Classic venetian food, no frills but good. Located in a square with loads of students hanging out as it’s just around the corner from the university. No need to make reservations here. 

 

Second one was Estro. Delicious, modern food and great tasting menu! They have a huge wine list and are more than happy to pair local wines by the glass with the dishes. 

 

We also tried couple of cicchetti bars. Please try a cicchetti and a glass of local wine. Great way to feel more local life. Venice is very touristic so you need to search for the more local spots.

 

Ports

 

Koper- We took the local bus to Piran and Portoroz. Beautiful towns and nice walk by the sea. Very easy to do on your own. Koper is a small city, you only need an hour or two to walk around.

 

Rijeka - We just walked around. Nice little town and easy to get to from the port. The walk up to the castle is well worth the effort, with lovely views from the top. Free entry to the castle. 

 

Dubrovnik - We hiked from the port up to the Imperial fortress (took us around 1 hour and 20-30 minutes from the port to the top, but we’re reasonably fit) and then down to the old town. A refreshing drink at the Buza bar in old town with lovely view. Local bus back to port. Really easy and inexpensive, 1.20 euros. No need for cruise shuttle for 12 euros.

 

Kotor- Our fellow cruise critic member (thank you!) arranged a very nice boat excursion in Kotor. Early morning and beautiful views when sitting in a boat and seeing the sights like Perast, Lady Rock and the caves. Cost was 36 euros per person. 

 

Malta- My husband went scuba diving. It was wreckdiving. The company is called Dive Systems Malta and the cost for the day was round 130 e with transfer (and nitrox) included. He enjoyed it a lot and recommends the company to others. I took a long walk in Valetta. Lovely city.

 

Catania - Our favourite. Such a nice city with interesting buzzling market and local delicacies. We wandered round in the city and had great time. Don’t miss it!

 

Naples -We have been in Napoli many times. This time we wandered round and ate lunch at the Gino e Toto Sorbillo pizzeria. Such an experience! One hour wait to get a table but so worth it! Once ordered, the pizzas arrived in just a few minutes. It is one of the best pizza restaurants in Neaples. Two pizzas, wine, water and a small dessert cost us 30 euros for two. Nothing fancy but so delicious. 

 

Airport transfer- We arranged a transfer to the airport through roll call. 130 euros for 6 people. Company is called Elegant taxi. Very easy to use! 

 

The ship, food and entertainment. 

 

Constellation is a well kept ship. We didn’t notice much wear and tear. It doesn’t have the same restaurant alternatives as S-class ships do, so we skipped the specialty restaurants this time. We actually ate all the dinners in MDR and had great meals every night. Service was good. We ate at different sections with different waiters. Service was a bit slow sometimes but mostly good - some evenings all the guests seem to arrive at the same time and then the waiters and other staff had a hard time coping. Sommeliers were mostly good. We had the classic package and found the wine choices decent. Food was at good quality and we found it a be a bit better than last time. 

 

We ate breakfast at Aqua spa cafe every morning. Calmer experience and you could get greek yoghurt and fresh berries with your musli. Delicious! Very good healthier energy bars at breakfast. Nice to skip the Oceanview and have a quieter breakfast.

 

Entertainment - Very good! A lot of music everywhere. Shows were good and we specielly enjoyed Miss Connolly (spelling?) who was a finalist in UK Voice. Beautiful voice! Cruise director Alejandro had great dance classes by the pool. Fun to watch! 

 

All in all, enjoyable cruise and good value (found a good deal!) Celebrity continues to deliver great product for a good price. We have noticed some cutbacks (less staff in mdr and bars) but still find Celebrity good value if you find a good deal. M-class ships often have good offers on oceanview staterooms. We have enjoyed our last couple of cruises in oceanview cabins too and noticed that it is a good value for money. 

 

If you have any comments or questions I will be happy to answer.