Constellation Baltic Review

[brazilgirl]

I got back this week from my wonderful journey to Paris and London and my 14 day Baltic cruise on the Constellation (June 27th to July 11th).

 

Am still getting back to real life , but thought I´d start my review , as things are still fresh in my mind.

 

This was our second Celebrity cruise (the other being Barcelona to Venice last May on the Summit).We cruised with our 3 kids , ages 5 , 9 and 12 (12 year old is a daughter , other are sons).

 

We left on a Monday night from Sao Paulo-a direct flight on TAM airlines to Paris. I was very impressed-new airbus (much newer than the United airplanes I have been on recently), on time , no gltches. We had turbulence through the intertropical convergence zone (right over where the AF flight went down) but it wasn´t too bad.

 

WE arrived at noon in Paris and got a our pre-arranged shuttle to our hotel. Driver not too great or friendly. Our hotel was in Saint Germain , a small family run hotel with a cool cat named Sputnik (my kids loved him).The hotel was very well located and charming , with a very old , neat basement to have breakfast in . Yummy food!

 

We met some friends in Paris and visited the Notre Dame , the Louvre , Musee d'Orsay , Jardin du Luxomberg , a Seine river cruise , the Eiffel Tower and a bus tour to see the general sights. We had lovely weather and a very nice time.

 

Friday at noon we caught the Eurostar to London . Nice way to travel. Our shuttle was late picking us up because of bad traffic. We proceeded to our little B&B in a tiny town in the countryside called Mistley (the B&B is called The Mistley Thorn). LOVED it. This was one of our favorite experiences and places. The town is Georgian and it was where the Witchmaster General hung out (Vincent Price played him in a movie). There is a swan reserve there and the children loved the swans. The food at the inn was amazing and I discovered my favorite new drink-Pimm´s Lemonade-so refreshing-cheers!!

 

Saturday at lunch time we left for Harwich-a very pretty drive . I fell in love with the English countryside and want to go back and explore more.We arrived at the port around 1:30 and got our seapasses. Easy process , no long wait.

 

We boarded and went to our stateroom-number 7199 , FOV , corner with it´s huge balcony. Everyone here is right-can´t get better than this!Amazing stateroom , lots of storage space, very well kept. And the huge balcony ...no words can describe how it added to the pleasure of our cruising experience. The five of us were very comfortable and we created a routine in which we had no issues with only one bathroom. Our stateroom attendant , Sim from the Phillipines , was efficient and did a

nice job.

 

The ship itself was in lovely shape -elegant and understated and easy to manage. We were on the Mariner of the Seas in December and I prefer the size of the M class ships. More manageable IMHO.

 

The first night we relaxed and ate at the buffet. Because of the 3 kids , we don´t eat at the MDR all the time-we find it easier and less rushed to alternate dining venues. The food at the buffet is quite nice , lots of variety and a good salad bar , as well as stir fry , sushi , a pasta station (which didn´t impress me)and other options.

 

 

I must end for now , as have lots to do! Would be happy to answer any questions. If you´d like you can accompany our journey through our photos at www.picasaweb.google.com.br/brazilgirl1987. I haven´t finished posting all of them (there are lots! but there is a good start)

 

Kim

[barbels]

Thanks for your review. Your children are adorable.

We'll be on the Connie in a little more than 5 weeks. I was wondering where the pictures of the piano and some appetizers were taken. If it was the Elite lounges in Michael's Club I'm wondering how they transform it in time for Perry Grant's performances.

[mferranti]

I was wondering where the pictures of the piano and some appetizers were taken.

That's the Ocean Liners specialty restaurant.

[smileon]

Hi Kim

 

Glad you had such a good trip - have been waiting to hear how you got on!

 

A few questions - in Stockholm how long did you spend in the Vasa and at Skansen? How did you get from the ship to there - we are thinking about just taking a taxi - Did you notice if there were plenty waiting at the port side? we will be docking at Frihamn - is that where you docked?

 

Also very much looking forward to hearing how your days in St Petersburg went and how the children found it.

 

Thank you

 

Anne

[momva]

Kim, it is so good to see your review. I am glad to hear the ship is in good shape and you had a good time. After some of the recent reviews, I was worried. How was the service? We will be on the Constellation in a few weeks.

 

How was everything handled in St Petersburg? Did debarkation go smoothly? How did your kids hold up with all the sightseeing? I have an 8 yr old boy and am slightly worried about his stamina for museums.

 

How easy was it to rent a car in Germany? Did you find it was really a better way to travel than by train?

 

Your pictures are lovely. They are getting me even more excited for my trip. Thank you for posting them.

[CLARE7678]

Hi Kim, your message has made me breathe a huge sigh of relief!!!! We are taking our 2 boys in the constellation in Aug and I was worried it wasnt really a ship or itinary for kids. Can you please let me know about the kids side of the cruise i.e club and other fellow kids on board. Our kids have cruised many times before but never on celebrity.

[fernem]

Hey, Kim,

 

Glad you liked the room(s)! It is pretty special. (I scored one again this upcoming November on the Millennium - 8166. Can't wait to get back to that special spot.)

 

Did you get cc breakfasts arranged? Did you get lounge chairs that go back? Did it matter? :-)

 

Sounds like your trip went very well. I am happy for you. Your kids are lucky kids! Do they know it?

 

fern

[nerysj]

We are on the same trip in 7 days...please don't keep us in suspense!!!:p

[brazilgirl]

Thanks for such a warm reception everybody.The trip was really amazing.

 

Our first port was Amsterdam.It is a really neat city , however I felt the stop we made there didn´t even come close to doing it justice. I think Celebrity should rethink the schedule-we arrived at 8 and had to be on board at 1:45.

 

I had booked Anne Frank at 9:00 and a canal tour for the rest of our time. Anne Frank was extemely moving. Just entering the museum brought me to tears. My two older children had studied about Anne and it was very significant for them. The youngest got a bit whiny (on the trip we had almost no whining from him-yeah!) and I thought he was bored . But later that evening , while taking a shower he stated talking about Anne Frank and saying that we all had to be quiet and that he thought she would be happy if we ordered her a pizza (he is 5). I think the whole experience brought out strong feelings that he then dealt with through his play.

 

The canal ride was a good way to get an overview of the city.We also stopped at a sidewalk cafe and had a snack and enjoyed people watching. We had a mad dash back to the ship , which was stressful. We walked and had been told it was close and it really wasn´t.

 

The kid´s club was fabulous. Lots of neat activities and a very competant staff. My 5 yr old made a best friend from Guatemala and my 9 yr old loved the scavenger hunts.My 12 yr old daughter made 2 inseparable friends who she hung out the whole cruise.I was very , very pleased with the program.My kids always wanted to be there and went with great enthusiasm.

 

I asked about the CC breakfast in a very nice manner . Our stateroom attendant didn´t seem to excited about the request , so I just let it go.The lounge chairs were very nice.Maybe someone else asked about the lounge chairs? I was worried about breakfast in my robe...lol.

 

Our second port was Warnemunde , Germany. I had prebooked a car and we had a lovely day.We drove to Lubeck and went to the most amazing puppet museum.The kids went wild. The owner has been collecting theater items (puppets/marionettes)since the 70s and has traveled all over the world to get them. Truly a magical place.Then we hung out near the water and had some food and ice cream.The drive to Lubeck and back was very easy and very pretty.

 

I think when traveling with kids , car rental is a very nice option. No waiting involved , as well as the flexibilty to modify schedule if needed. We also rented a car in Denmark and on our other cruise in Santorini.I like the change it gives us in pace on these longer itineraries.

 

After arriving back , we hung out in Warnemunde , which is cool and loved the neat send off there.

 

On our sea days , the kiddos stayed at the Fun Factory and we enjoyed our adult time reading and relaxing.

 

The food in the MDR was quite good. On of my favorite things was an appetizer with goat cheese and salmon and a very nice penne with pancetta.Our waiter was fantastic(Cyrel)and we had a great table next to a window (524).I think they need additional staff for drink orders ,as I think in all venues it is hard to get a coke sometimes.

 

Our kids really held up well (yeah!!!).Lots of time changes and heavy sightseeing. Some observations-planning is fundamental. I tried to mix things up , so we´d be doing lots of different kinds of things , not just museums and churches. Prebuying tickets and such really cut down on lines and waits ( I prebooked almost everything).Lastly-give them a few breaks-in Tallin and Helsinki we left them on the ship because they were tired and we were going to walk a lot.

 

I will write more later...

Smileon-we spent an hour and a half or so at the Vasa and maybe 3 hours at Skansen? I am not 100% sure. They loved the zoo there. We also went to the Pippi Longstocking Museum which they kids absolutely loved!!!We went on a whim and it was a huge hit.I bought the Stockholm Card , so we took the bus and trams. Taking the bus from the pier was easy-we docked at Frihamn too.

 

Momva-St.Petersburg was amazing and it was one of our kids favorite places. I´ll write more later , but the whole process was not too bad(just a line on the first day).

 

Signing off

Kim

[lsmommy]

Kim

 

Thank you for taking the time to share your trip, I am sure your kids will have wonderful memories of this trip their whole lives.

 

I just posted a thread recently asking about children on Celebrity so I look forward to reading the rest of your report.

 

Your pictures are lovely.

[Texed]

Kim,

Glad you had a great cruise. We were on the cruise before yours, and we loved it. :)

[smileon]

]

 

Kim

 

Thank you for letting us all know how your trip went - only 1 week until we go so getting very excited

 

we had a great table next to a window (524)

 

What size of table did you have? Was it just the 4 of you or did you sit with another family?

 

Looking foward to the next instalment!

 

Anne

[smileon]

Hi Kim

 

Sorry just remembered there were 5 of you so I guess you had a table for 6!!

[nps001]

Welcome home and thanks for the review. I'm glad you had such a great time.

[brazilgirl]

Time to write a bit more!

 

We had a table for 6 , which was nice. I met so many wonderful people on this cruise. A really great group.We had lovely neighbors from the Carolinas amd our fellower CC members were very friendly.

 

The members of the roll call were invited to the traditional party and also to a bridge tour , which my kids really enjoyed (as did I). As a Captain´s Club member , we were invited to a cocktail party to meet the captain -we had a great time.

 

One of my favorite things was the brunch they had twice on sea days. What a spread!I´d love it if they had it on every sea day.We also enjoyed a wine pairing seminar-informative and fun.

 

We dined twice at Ocean Liners (on our other cruise we dined twice at the Normandie). I had read about lots of changes , but quite frankly , I didn´t really observe any at all. The service continues to be impeccable and the food is first class. The goat cheese souffle is still mouth-watering , as all all other items on the menu. Everyone should go at least once on their cruise.

 

Our next port:Stockholm!!

 

When asked what my favorite things on the trip were , I´d be hard-pressed to answer. But I´d have to say Mistley (England) , Stockholm and Denmark.

Stockholm is a dream-gorgeous!We had our hottest day (we wore shorts).I´d purchased Stockholm passes online. We caught the bus from the pier (easy) and arrived right by the Vasa Museum. It was crowded , but still comfortable. What an amazing feat..it is hard to believe the whole store of salvaging the ship. The restoration process is beautiful to see.We all loved it.

 

We then walked to Skansen-enchanting.People in period costumes , quaint buildings and the zoo with Nordic animals. You get so close to the animals. We even got to pet reindeer!!!We had a Swedish lunch at Skansen , then caught a tram back to the bridge.We still had time and our Stockholm cards , so we decided to stop at the Pippi Longstocking Museum. Loved , loved , loved it. What amagical place for kids. My 3 kids had the best time (even the 12 year old).She was by far the oldest there , but she really played a lot. There were almost no tourists-just Swedish kids (all cute and blond-my daughter kept saying she wanted to be blonde and blue-eyed too!Ha!)We went back to the ship´tired and happy.

 

This was the day we most enjoyed our balcony-we sat out and had dinner delivered from the MDR (drunken shrimp linguini) and watched the ship go through the archipelago.Absolutely stunning.

 

The next day we were in Helsinki-I´d planned to go to the fort and have a picnic , but when we got up the weather was ugly. So we decided to leave the kids on board and just explore (if we just walk around with no destination , they tend to complain !).We got the Celebrity shuttle downtown and decided to go shopping at the huge Stockman dept.store.We did some damage then had a cocktail at a sidewalk cafe. We walked around , saw some other sights and went back. Nice low key day.The weather turned out to be great (big change from the morning).

 

Next day-St.Petersburg. A fascinating , unforgettable opportunity. Will finish writing about it this afternoon!

 

Thanks everyone for reading!

Texed -what were your favorite things and places?

 

Kim

[emcee207]

I must say your cruise sounds like it was fantastic!

I was in Stockholm almost 33 years ago, visited the Vasa, very interesting.

 

Quick question, we'll be on the Constellation in late October (our fourthtime on her).........Did you use the Persian Gardens? Condition? Pricing?

 

Thanks for any info you can provide, sorry this is not really on the topic. Also, glad to hear she is in good shape.

[brazilgirl]

I just used the T- pool , which was very nice. Sorry I can´t give additional info! I ´ll have to visit the gardens next time!

Kim

[Texed]

Texed -what were your favorite things and places?

Kim

 

St Petersburg and Stockholm. The ship was great also. :)

[Ma Bell]

Kim,

 

What a lovely review and photos. Thanks for sharing. Cyrel was our waiter on Constellation in March and he is really wonderful.:)

[Lois R]

Hi Kim, your pictures are wonderful and you have a beautiful looking

family.

Glad ya'll had such a great time:)

[swsfrail]

Our hotel was in Saint Germain , a small family run hotel with a cool cat named Sputnik (my kids loved him).The hotel was very well located and charming , with a very old , neat basement to have breakfast in . Yummy food!

 

Kim,

 

Was this the Abbatial St. Germain about two blocks from Notre Dame? If so, my late husband and I have stayed there numreous times and agree that it is a charming hotel. The basement, an old wine cellar, is a delightful place for breakfast. Our favorite hotel in Paris.

 

Mary

[rebeccalouise]

I am traveling with my 8 year old in August to the Baltics and I am learning so much from your thoughtful review! We are doing Emerald Princess but I have been previously on the Constellation- and that is a great ship.

 

I can't wait for your next installment.

[brazilgirl]

The hotel we stayed in Paris was Hotel Saint Paul. There are many charming hotels in this neighborhood-I´d love to try them all!

 

Rebeccalouise-you were so helpful with my Med planning-glad to be of help too!

 

Now we are in St. Petersburg!

 

I had really studied up on this port and read lots and lots of reviews. I decided the best option for our family would be to go through one of the many approved agencies (Denrus , Alla , Anastasia , Red October etc...). I opted for Anastasia , as I had read many postive reviews .I also sent many e-mails asking for estimates to all the different agencies and Anastasia was very prompt and flexible.

 

I was not disappointed!

 

We arrived on a rather rainy morning and I did not follow the little letter asking the people one non-Celebrity tour to gather at the Bar of the Edge of the Earth. I just went down to disembarkation and got in the huge line (full of people on Celebrity tours). My DH didn´t want to disobey the ship , but I told him that it was o.k, and that he had to trust me. He was convinced after everything went fine.

 

We went through Russian immigration , got our red visitors´passes and were off on our adventure. We had found another family on our roll call to share the tour with-a couple and their 11 yr old daughter. Our girls became inseparable and the tour was so nice with these new friends.

 

We started the day at Peterhof , which is gorgeous. We had lunch at one of the cafes , then went to St. Petes by hydrofoil. We then went on to Yusopov´s Palace , where we had a tour given by Anastasia herself.The palace is smaller than all the others and was easier to get around. Our kids loved the story of Rasputin. We watches a small men´s choir perform-haunting.

 

We ended our first day with a private canal tour -the boat was only for our small group of 8 , which was special.

 

Our guide was Elena , a 23 yr old woman full of culture and sweetness. She was very thoughful and attentive and paid special attention to the kids´needs. She gave us so much history and perspecive on Russian life. Truly wonderful.

 

Our second day was a bit shorter..we started out at the Hermitage. It is overwhelming and amazing. Such a wealth of culture and beauty and history in one place. The kids did well the first hour , then the 5 yr got a bit whiny. Elena immediately changed the pace , taking us to a room full of medieval armor and weapons , which he loved.

 

The Impressionist collection is gorgeous-I couldn´t believe the Matisses....

 

We then went on a city van tour and stopped at this wonderful pie restaurant which was full of atmosphere and delicious food (at great prices!)We continued on our tour and visited the battleship Aurora (not scheduled-again thinking of the kids).We stopped at a shop for great souvenirs and then finished our day at the exquisite Church of Spilled Blood.

 

We got back tired and very pleased with our option of Anastasia.

 

More later!

Kim

[sbhdmh]

I just read about the hop on hop off canal bus that is supposed to stop 14 places throughout Amsterdam including Anne Frank's House, Van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum, etc. Did you use that? I am thinking that may be good with my 4 year old. DH (an art professor) can see the museums at his pace and we can look around the city - even do the zoo or Maritime center if all else fails. Any idea if this is a good plan? All the information gives distance to the train station. Was the cruise port easily accessible to the canal cruises? Thanks.

[brazilgirl]

I took the HOHO canal tour (booked through Viator online). I waited over 45 minutes to catch one near the Anne Frank house. It was a bit frustrating considering our lack of time. I felt the HOHO boat wasn´t very on schedule.

 

I think your 4 yr old might enjoy the Van Gogh Museum.There are some fun Van Gogh coloring pages online (I did them with the kids before our trip) and there are a number of books available for young kids about his work. There are special materials for kids at the museum. You could do that separately (let your DH do his own thing).

 

Zoo are always great. The cruise port is quite a walk for a kid-we had a tense run back to the ship because of a bad distance estimate.Taxis are not really that common , so maybe you should get the phone of a taxi company in case.

 

Good luck!

Kim