Constellation 5 Day January 24 2015 Review

Tonight’s entertainment is a comedian who has two shows (7pm & 9pm) and then there’s the Liar’s Club at 10:30. We really enjoyed the Liar’s Club last year so make plans to see it again tonight. Last year’s show was so crowded though we couldn’t find a seat, so this year we plan on getting there early and catching the comedian’s show first.

We head to dinner at Blu around 7:00 and there is the usual 15-20 minute wait, not bad when it’s prime time and you can wait with a glass of wine and your pager. Every night we waited for a table it looked like the line was MUCH longer for Select dining in the MDR.

I have the Lump Crab Martini for an appetizer and the Sweet Red Pepper Soup, both of which are delicious. For dinner it’s the Rib Eye which is good, but it’s a thinner cut than in the Tuscan Grill and not as tender and flavorful.

After dinner we head to the theater and find seats in the balcony for the 9pm comedy show. The theater is fairly full but there are seats to be found. Tonight’s comedian is Louis Johnson. He is pretty funny and the show is maybe a PG rating. After the show they announce he will be doing an adult only show tomorrow night (our last night). The set ends just before 10, but we decide to just sit and relax (and not lose our seats) until the Liar’s Club. My wife runs out to Cafe Bacio and brings us back some drinks and desserts.

The theater slowly begins to fill up, but is never as crowded as it was last year. For those of you who haven’t seen the show, the Captain, Cruise Director (Alejandro), Sarah (Activities) and the comedian Louis are on stage. They are given an obscure word and each one tells a story trying to define the word. The show is the stories being told and the interactions between the panel. The audience votes on who they believe, but that’s just a side part of the show. The words of course are funny sounding words, and to the dirty mind you can come up with all sorts of funny definitions. The audience is full of laughter, but for us it wasn't as funny as the year before. The problem? They’re using the same words as they did last year so a lot of the stories are the same. Alejandro and Louis are new, so their stories are too, and the interactions are different; but overall I think they need to come up with new material since a lot of people do this cruise more than once.

Tired after a long day we head back to our room a little after midnight. Looking forward to our last day at sea tomorrow.

Forgot to post the menu for tonight

Blu Tuesday Menu.pdf

Wish that had been the case for me. Maybe I built up to much in my head what I was expecting, but after hearing from my friends all the good things about the treatment I expected more. Think I'll have to go get another one locally and see how they compare. Worried though, that if my wife and I both had a complaint about the salon services (and we are definitely NOT complaining people) there may be a problem.

Disappointing. If indeed there is an issue, probably won't be worked out by next week...

But I'll still go into it with an open mind and hope for the best. Sounds like you are having a great cruise anyway - that's the most important thing.

One week from right now, we'll be aboard leaving Key West. Ahhh. Can't wait.

Mike

Disappointing. If indeed there is an issue, probably won't be worked out by next week...

 

But I'll still go into it with an open mind and hope for the best. Sounds like you are having a great cruise anyway - that's the most important thing.

 

One week from right now, we'll be aboard leaving Key West. Ahhh. Can't wait.

 

Mike

We will be with you, so excited and ready to get away.

Kymme

We will be with you, so excited and ready to get away.

Kymme

So ready for Sat. to be here!

Thanks so much for the review!

It is making the anticipation that much sweeter....

Hey Jim, loved all the great details in your review. My husband and I are booked in an aft facing aqua class cabin (1133) on March 305th so all your details are welcomed. Do you by chance know the last name of the Matre d in Blu, Alec ???? Thanks

Hey Jim, loved all the great details in your review. My husband and I are booked in an aft facing aqua class cabin (1133) on March 305th so all your details are welcomed. Do you by chance know the last name of the Matre d in Blu, Alec ???? Thanks

We love the aft cabins. I think 1133 is the same as 1138 just on the other side. In the past some people complained of smoke coming up from the bar but that part of the bar is non-smoking now too.

Alec was our Matre d in Blu last year, this cruise he was the Matre d up in the Tuscan Grille. There were two women working the front of Blu. The one that always helped us was Tijana; I thought she was the Matre d, someone else reported she was the hostess. Sorry, I don't recall the other woman's name; we had very little interaction with her.

I will finish this review as soon as I can (probably some time this week), never realized how much was in the hopper at work until I had to clear it all out.:eek:

Loving your photos:D...I just booked Connie for next month......

I haven't been to Key West in a few years....love it down there:)

Glad you had a good cruise. I can't wait to sail her again.....the last

time I was on Constellation was back in 2004!:eek:......in all these years

I have been on all the other ships but I guess time and itinerary just

never lined up again!.......was able to book 5 nights in March:D

Loving your photos:D...I just booked Connie for next month......

I haven't been to Key West in a few years....love it down there:)

 

Glad you had a good cruise. I can't wait to sail her again.....the last

time I was on Constellation was back in 2004!:eek:......in all these years

I have been on all the other ships but I guess time and itinerary just

never lined up again!.......was able to book 5 nights in March:D

His reviews are great! We're booked on Connie for the 3/21 sailing and it's our first time on a M class ship....which sailing are you on?

His reviews are great! We're booked on Connie for the 3/21 sailing and it's our first time on a M class ship....which sailing are you on?

Hi, I am sailing on March 7th.....2 weeks before you. I have always

loved the M class ships.:)

Thanks for the great review, especially the Blu menus. We booked the upcoming April 4 five day sailing mostly to eat in the Blu. We did Aqua years ago on the Solstice and loved the Blu experience! None of our friends will eat there so my wife and I have to travel solo on this one. it's good to know you can order some items from the MDR on the Connie. Is that your schnauzer? Looks just like ours!

Dennis

His reviews are great! We're booked on Connie for the 3/21 sailing and it's our first time on a M class ship....which sailing are you on?

We're also on the March 21 sail. Our 4th on the Connie. Love this ship.

Thank you for your review.

We are on the Connie in May.

I was very interested in the Blu menu's. Do you know, they do not appeal! We booked aqua because my husband fancied a certain cabin. Persian garden? Blu? I bet I love them both . . . Hope so. Still, cost of holiday has doubled since booked so can't complain.

Will watch out for the drink:D

I have found that I never throw up when wearing a tux. Thinking of wearing one every night in April.

LOL! I think that men look great when they are dressed formally. Unfortunately, some men think that their old Tux's still fit them- nothing worse then a men looking like a sausage in a old tux! I guess same is true about the ladies in formal wear with muffin tops!

Thanks for the great review, especially the Blu menus. We booked the upcoming April 4 five day sailing mostly to eat in the Blu. We did Aqua years ago on the Solstice and loved the Blu experience! None of our friends will eat there so my wife and I have to travel solo on this one. it's good to know you can order some items from the MDR on the Connie. Is that your schnauzer? Looks just like ours!

 

Dennis

Thanks everyone for your patience. Retiring is a lot of work!:rolleyes:

That is our schnauzer in my avatar. He's several years older now so those gray eyebrows suit him.

I am posting Day 4 tonight and hopefully will get Day 5 up in the next couple days.

Day 4 - At Sea

Today's our last day at sea and we have absolutely nothing planned. Breakfast at Blu is uncrowded and good as expected. Eggs and museli again for me and pancakes for my wife. Wish I had remembered that last year I loved the French toast and we had some special caramel rolls; missed them this year but probably healthier for me.

We go to the future cruise office to talk about our upcoming Alaska cruise, and like the rep yesterday told me it would be, the line is horrendous. They have all four desks open so we decide to wait a bit and see if it moves. It doesn't so we decide to head to morning trivia hitting Cafe al Bacio on the way.

We have our usual luck at morning trivia and miss out on genuine Celebrity luggage tags with another second place finish.

My wife wants to pick up some perfume from the shops so we head over that way. While she shops I jump back in the future cruise line again. I'm only a few people back this time and it looks like three out of the four are close to finishing up so we stick it out. The wait is maybe a half hour before we have our turn.

We have already booked a cruise on the Solstice for Alaska next year and I was curious if we might get a better deal rebooking. Prices were still the same but by increasing our deposit to $250 (we had booked under the $25 deal) and making it transferable, not refundable, we gained $250 in OBC on our current cruise. If we had wanted to keep it refundable they would have added $250 to the OBC we already have for the upcoming cruise. To me it's a win situation; I was going to spend the $250 on this trip any way, now it gets to go toward my Alaska trip too.

For the afternoon we decide to use the Persian Gardens again and enjoy the pool. The gardens are empty when we go in and I quickly slide into the heated lounger and let my worries slip away, happens pretty quick since the only worry I have at the moment is that it's our last day. Pretty soon though several other people join us and it quickly becomes the coffee klatsch my wife experienced earlier. Sorry, in my opinion (and the signs on the wall back me up) the gardens are a relaxation spot please don't carry on conversations.

We decide its time to leave and enjoy the Solarium pool. It a cool, breezy, day so quite a few people are using the indoor pool and chairs but there is still quite a bit of room. The water is nice and warm, but with the rough seas it feels more like I'm in the wave pool at a water park. I don't mind though and find it kind of relaxing to just hold the side rail and let my body float with the waves.

The afternoon wastes away and we decide to go back to the room to get our bags organized for departure tomorrow. We've decide to carry our own bags off so they don't need to be set out tonight, but I'd rather make sure it's all put together now so it's not a hassle after dinner tonight.

It's the usual Cellar Masters before dinner and a wonderful meal in Blu for tonight. The menu is attached below.

After dinner we spend some time in the casino and grab a coffee and some dessert at Cafe al Bacio before heading to the late night show in the theater. Louis the comedian is back again tonight for a special "adults only" show. He has some great jokes again but overall I liked the show from the previous night better. The show is as rude and crude as it can be (which doesn't bother me, I could probably match him in that department) but it doesn't seem as polished, like he's working too hard to make it a "dirty" show.

We head back to the room around 12:30 and I can't believe how dead the ship is. Between the theater and the buffet we see maybe one other couple, and most the venues are closed. Pizza is still open though and of course I have to grab a couple slices. There is quite a bit of staff milling about and having pizza too.

Blu Wednesday Menu.pdf

Hi Jim-

We're staying in 'your room' 1138 on Connie March 16-21st! Thank you so much for your review. We've never been on Celebrity-I've done Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and 3 Carnival cruises, but have heard great things about Celebrity, so off we go! (My husband is in the Navy, so he's just psyched to not have to work on a ship.)

We have the classic drink package now, but I've read that many drinks aren't covered on it. (Guinness, martini's to name a few) Minus your one bad night,:D do you recommend upgrading to the premium drink package? I wasn't sure if you could enjoy the wine cellar or craft beers without it. Not a huge deal-but wanted your input to help make the choice before the cruise.

Thanks!!

Thanks for sharing, Jim

Ira

Hi Jim-

 

We're staying in 'your room' 1138 on Connie March 16-21st! Thank you so much for your review. We've never been on Celebrity-I've done Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and 3 Carnival cruises, but have heard great things about Celebrity, so off we go! (My husband is in the Navy, so he's just psyched to not have to work on a ship.)

 

We have the classic drink package now, but I've read that many drinks aren't covered on it. (Guinness, martini's to name a few) Minus your one bad night,:D do you recommend upgrading to the premium drink package? I wasn't sure if you could enjoy the wine cellar or craft beers without it. Not a huge deal-but wanted your input to help make the choice before the cruise.

Thanks!!

Hi Erin,

Had the premium package on both cruises we took so I can't say exactly what you're going to miss if you don't upgrade, but I can tell you why we do it.

For 5 days, the cost to upgrade is $115 ($11.50 x 5 days x 2 people). After spending all that good money to get on the ship and relax $115 to really not worry about anything is worth it to me.

I can tell you where it would be different if I didn't upgrade.

When we boarded the ship I wouldn't have gotten my Zacapa, a drink I fell in love with last year. I had two, under the classic that probably would have cost me $25. I then had a couple of beers; this trip I was drinking Stella, Heineken and Pacifico so no extra cost there. I do enjoy a black and tan, didn't have it this time but would have been extra.

I had wine with dinner almost every night and at Cellar Masters before dinner. There are wines on the Classic, and I probably would have been fine with them, but it was much nicer to have my choice of quite a few types of wine by the glass; not just one white or one red.

We would not have gone to the Martini Bar, in hindsight maybe a better thing :D but it was nice to join the party and not worry about the type of martini I was ordering or if they would pour me a smaller glass. Those guys are busy and to ask them to pour small glasses over and over again, I just wouldn't have done it.

Last cruise we sat with a group of people who had the Classic plan and they had a wonderful time. They told us they cruise so often they just couldn't keep doing the upgrade. I get that, but my wife and I only get the chance to cruise at most twice a year, usually only once in a while, so the upgrade was a part of our budget. I would have been fine with the classic, it would have been Crown Royal and beer for me, vodka and cranberry for my wife and we would have had no complaints.

Enjoy your cruise and take care of 1138. It will be a while before I see it again. We have an RCI cruise with the family this summer and we're on the Solstice for Alaska.

Hi Jim-

 

We're staying in 'your room' 1138 on Connie March 16-21st! Thank you so much for your review. We've never been on Celebrity-I've done Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and 3 Carnival cruises, but have heard great things about Celebrity, so off we go! (My husband is in the Navy, so he's just psyched to not have to work on a ship.)

 

We have the classic drink package now, but I've read that many drinks aren't covered on it. (Guinness, martini's to name a few) Minus your one bad night,:D do you recommend upgrading to the premium drink package? I wasn't sure if you could enjoy the wine cellar or craft beers without it. Not a huge deal-but wanted your input to help make the choice before the cruise.

Thanks!!

While we haven't sailed on the connie, but have on many other celebrity ships, it is best to upgrade the drink package. On celebrity, if a drink is more the the classic package, you pay the entire cost of the drink, not just the difference from your classic. I have witnessed people who didn't understand this who were at the martini bar paying the entire cost of the drink. One premium martini, which most are, cost more then the daily upgrade. Why worry, upgrade if you can.

Enjoy your cruise.

Thanks so much for the quick responses! I'm calling to do the upgrade today, as zero concern about anything is my goal on Connie. :)

Jim-Enjoy your upcoming cruises & your retirement! We'll take good care of your room. ;)

Jim,

We are back, 1138 lived up to expectations! Alas no bungee cord but the robe belt did the trick. WOW that door can close FAST! Did not get locked out but once forgot the strap and almost lost a foot...

A/C was abysmal but once we noticed it (first night I noticed nothing but the bed) it was fixed and blew cold the whole cruise. I think the entire interior had been turned to HOT for the last cruise!:eek:

Thanks for the wonderful review... about all I can add is, DANG I wish I was back on her. Connie is a wonderful ship and the crew shows how much they like working on/in her!

Thank you for your detailed review....we just returned from the late Feb sailing and had a wonderful time. Was very helpful to read your review in advance.

Day 5 - Disembarking and some final thoughts.

We have to drive to Orlando today so we decide to skip breakfast and take advantage of disembarking early. We were given an early number but we decided to try carrying our bags off ourselves and being among the first off. *They announce that those carrying their own luggage off can begin getting off the ship at about 7:10; we don’t make our way down to the gangway until about 7:30 but the hallways aren’t very crowded. *Once off the ship and waiting in the terminal the line comes to a stop though and I overhear that customs hasn’t really opened up yet even though the boat has been cleared.

The line begins moving though and I’d guess it takes us about 45 minutes to get completely clear and out to the shuttle vans. *When we go through customs there are only two lines checking paperwork, but while we are being taken care of a third line opens ups. *I’m told (don’t know how accurate it is) that they always start with two lines and then as the other officers clear other assignments they have (I’m guessing luggage or crew) they come over and open additional lines. *All I know is the line itself seemed to take about the same amount of time as it did last year when we were one of the later groups off. *The process was simple even though we were only using birth and marriage certificates with our driver’s licenses this time, most everyone else appeared to be using passports but it didn’t seem to make a difference in your processing.

Out to the curb and there are dozens of different shuttles around - rental cars agencies, hired airport shuttles, cruiseline transfers, etc. *Pretty confusing but there are plenty of workers around who can guide you to the area you need to stand in. *Keep your eyes open though, there were only areas for the shuttles to pull into, not particular spots, so if you’re not paying attention the shuttle could be 30 feet away from you and you may never know it. *We missed the first Alamo shuttle so have to wait about 15 minutes for the next one. *It’s not crowded but we swing by the HAL dock to see if there is anyone else to be picked up. *A few minutes later we’re at the the Alamo counter at FLL and on our way to Orlando.

All in all a great trip. *The staff of the Constellation was outstanding and I think the boat is in overall great shape. *Can’t say anything bad about Blu or Tuscan Grille, or for that matter anywhere we grabbed a bite to eat.

Upgrading to premium drink package was definitely worth it for us. If I'd had to pay for the whole thing out of pocket I might have stuck with the classic.

If you're flying in the night before renting a car might be the most cost effective instead of taxi or shuttle. I'm from Los Angeles where the freeways are always a mess but the area around FLL seems pretty easy to drive and if you rent from the airport you never really go near the terminals to pick up or drop off your car.

We're going to miss the Constellation next year, but I'm looking forward to the Solstice and Alaska. We have a family trip booked on NCL's Getaway this summer, haven't taken my girls on a cruise since they were little, should be interesting now that they're young adults

Thanks everyone for sticking with me, this took much longer than I expected. Hope everyone enjoys their upcoming trips.

Glad you had such a good time:)...I sail her Saturday:D