Back from Fjords on Connie

Hi everyone, It looks like I might be the first to post about the 7/17 cruise we just got home from so here goes. Still a bit out of sorts but I will give a brief summary.

 

The cruise to the Fjords was fantastic despite some minor disappointments with Celebrity ie: some excursions were not well thought out, there was a lack of food choices if you missed your seating assignment as we did due to an excursion that ran late and some other issues. The FV was great, thanks to all who advised me to keep it. The kids program was a big hit with them, in fact, they got angry when we took them on excursions with us! Very tiring trip for those booking for next year, not a lot of sea days and lots of ports with early wake up calls! Apparently they have already reworked some of the itinerary for next summer. Unfortunately, they will not be going to Belgium which was actually my favorite port next to the Fjords ports. The ship was very nice, quiet but enough to keep busy and best of all, we won Bingo jackpot games twice with the last being the final night (we had to split it with another winner).

 

Jlingher and his wife, Ellen, were really nice. They were our neighbors on the ship and so we got to know them somewhat. It was great meeting them finally. Also got to talk with Birdmom a few times, what a riot! She and I would get along great if we lived near each other. Met several others at the cruise critics meeting also, everyone was very nice there as well. This is a good group of people!

 

I thought the entertainment was well above average and was very surprised at the quality for a cruise ship. The food was very good with lots of variety and no repeating on the menu. They did bundle my greenbeans and have other presentation details that were discussed in some other threads. Didn't seem like any shortcuts were taken there at all. The kids were happy with the kid menu choices also and the service was fantastic in all areas onboard.

 

As for complaints, there are a few. As mentioned, some badly planned excursions, especially to Stirling Castle which should have been at least 2 hours longer than scheduled. Another in Cork was very unorganized and we missed out on the whole entertainment at lunch part of it due to the restaurant not really able to seat and feed as many people as arrived from the X tours. Brought the kids on that one and it was not a good time. The furniture in our room (couches that the kids slept on and a chair in the bedroom) looked very dirty and dingy which I did not expect from a top quality ship. I wouldn't sit on anything without first putting a towel down. The chairs in the cinema were horribly uncomfortable and it was hard to sit through a movie there (DH thought so too). There was only pizza and pasta available to you if you missed your seating time and twice excursions that were supposed to be back in time weren't and we missed dinner and were stuck with pizza and pasta and if that happens, there is no dessert anywhere on the ship for you. The ice cream closes at 6 every night which seemed silly, the kids like ice cream at night as do we. I have been on other ships where the soft serve machine is available 24/7. There is room service but again, without a real place to eat in your room, that isn't too easy. We did eat a few times on the balcony but there is only one small table there so we had to set trays and dishes on the lounge chairs. Just a lot of other small irritations but they add up after a while. The worst part is that when you do complain about something, they act like a bunch of Stepford Wives and smile and apologize and that is it. Nothing is done to appease or compensate you. Just a lot of "I'm sorry, I hope the rest of your day went well". Very weird PR there.

 

One thing I didn't realize that might be helpful for those of you going next summer is that it is fairly easy to do your own tours once you get to port. Nearly all ports had tour advisors, cabbies or someone else willing to take you around the city. You could also navigate much of it on your own since everyone spoke English in all the ports. I would have preferred to do my own in some of the ports like Ireland but didn't know how simple it would be to do at the last minute. It would have not been a problem whatsoever. I don't think you would even need to plan from home, just do your research so you know what you want to see and then arrive on the ship, get off and make your arrangements or hail a cab. It appeared that easy from what I saw.

 

I don't know what else I can say but if anyone has any specific questions, I would be happy to answer them. I am sure Jerry and some others will jump in on this thread once they get their acts together having just returned.

 

It is good to be home!

prettybeth,

 

nice to hear that things went well. If I recall from the very first post of yours that I read (FV vs CS, etc etc), this was a surprise gift for your husband? If so, how did that go over?

prettybeth,

 

Thanks for the info on the ports. We are doing the Norwegian coast next summer on HAL's Rotterdam. Did you have to tender at any of the Norwegian ports? That can make a difference on whether to take a ship's tour.

 

Surprised to hear about your dinner problems. I though Celebrity had a casual alternative restaurant for dinner like HAL does. Would appreciate anyone's comments on that since we will be on Infinity in February.

 

Jerry

they act like a bunch of Stepford Wives and smile and apologize

:D

 

Sounds like a great cruise. Glad you had a good time. I was wondering about the casual buffet also.

 

You've got to wonder if it might be cheaper to send the kids to camp instead of taking them on a cruise. :D

There is an area at the rear of the buffet where the tables are set in the evening. This is not buffet style but is served by waiters. There are tablecloths on the tables and the service is very nice. They ask that you make a reservation and $2 is suggested as a gratuity for the servers. If there's any chance that you will be late from a tour, i would suggest you make a reservation for that day and if you get back early and want to go to the regular dining room, cancel the reservation.

First of all, welcome home! Hope, all in all, it was a great experience for you and your family.

Thank you for your input. We are planning on going next July and I appreciate your observations.

For the fjords, is it easy to get local tours at the dock? At better prices than the ship's tours?

I am assuming you had early seating..right? If the tours were late for late seating...OMG!!!!

The only tour I want to take in Ireland would be to the Causeway from Belfast. What did you do in Belfast?

What a out LeHavre? Do you know whether or not there were busses running on Sunday to Honfleur and Deauville? What did you do?

 

For Brigittetom....we each know our own kids...for mine it was camp, no question! But..a) I was a stay-at-home Mom and didn't need "Quality time" with them and b) They would have driven me crazy...watching TV, movies and playing video games......camp was much better!!!!!!

Babylene, That makes perfect sense to me. If the kids are not going to appreciate the cruise, I think sending them to camp makes perfect sense. They get to do what they enjoy with their newfound friends while you actually get to have a vacation. Even leaving them at home with grandparents might make sense at times. I have observed so many kids complaining on a cruise that they were bored, kids being taken to shows that they didn't want to see, being kept by the pool when they wanted to do something else (I don't know what) but still unhappy kids. Goodness, if they would rather be at home, leave them be. It's not going to be quaility time if the kids aren't happy. I still remember one young teen screaming at her mom that she didn't want to be on this cruise to begin with and hated her for makeing her go. My only thought was that she should have left this ungrateful teen at home instead of paying for her passage.

When my kids were growing up, we spent Xmas vacations in the tropics. My kids weren't quite as bad as you described (!!) but I can remember being at the beach and phoning the room...when are you coming down? It made me nuts that they spent so much time in the room. But, overall, they did enjoy it. On our last trip,however, my older one had to return home after one week in order to register for the second semester of school. The highlight of the trip was the fact that he went home early...and by himself! That was it!!No more.

Forward...about 7 years...for DH's 60th b-day...their idea...a family trip. We cruised to Alaska. They enjoyed every minute....including the company of their parents!

 

But, to be fair...I have some friends with kids who never stopped travelling with them...and they all seem to have a great time.

 

By the way....aren't you newlyweds?

Alternative dining- yes, it was possible to go there after a tour that got back too late, even without a reservation. One of our tours arrived back at the ship at 9:00. We just walked up there and asked if they could accomodate us. No problem! The food was great!

It does all depend on the kids. We have a few simple rules when cruising with the boys. They must always act like gentlemen. They join us for tours and dinner. They show up for tours and dinner dressed appropriately, on time and pleasant. They remain pleasant throughout. :D

How about the Sushi Bar?

We have sailed on both the Millennium and the Summit...and they both had Sushi every night from 6 to 10...Is this not the case on the Connie as well?

 

As to excursions, any suggestions on ones you particularly enjoyed? Or any private tours or guides you may have learned about?

 

We are doing this route next July and many of the ports are new to us...and since it's only 11 and a half months away, it's time to start researching those excursions :)

As for the kids, we have no family living nearby so we had nobody to babysit. We never felt like the kids were driving us crazy. They went to the kids program so much we barely saw them except for occasional meals. They really had a blast (my older one is not easy to please) and I think it was good for them to get on the ship and meet new people and see new things. The kids are really dirt cheap anyway, well worth the price for the experience, food etc.

 

As for the tenders, there was a tender once, in Geiringer but in any case, they tendered everyone, with or without booking an excursion. I didn't check into pricing at all since I had booked everything through X not knowing how simple it would have been to do it that day at the ports. I did talk to some crew we befriended and many of them did their own thing in ports and said they were very happy with what they saw and got to do. One person said they hired a cab, drove out to the country in Belfast, stopped at a flea market and some other places they had seen along the way. He said the whole thing cost about $40 each for the day. Much better than the $140 or so we paid each. In Belfast we went to the Folk Museum which was very interesting. We saw all sorts of houses and businesses which had been brought to one area but were from all time periods from Belfast's history. We saw old country homes from the 1500's all the way up to the early 1900's. A local group came in and did a show of Irish folk dancing and they had a tea room where all people from X got free soda, tea or at the pub, a free beer. Problem was, the tours only offerred either an historical perspective or tours from current Belfast, nothing that encompassed the whole history up to now type of feel. DH and I never felt like we really saw the country or got a feel for it. I think the cab ride idea would have been better overall. I don't recall where we were on Sundays but I do know there was never a time at any port where there were not cabs or tours being offerred.

 

In the Fjords, I would highly recommend the combo tour in Geiringer called the Briksdan Glacier (sp?). It gave you the basic overland excursion as well as the climb up the glacier. We were told to definately take the overland excursion but when we read the tour info, we saw that this above tour offerred everything the overland one did except for the visit to the ski resort and ours then included the glacier hike which was offerred again later for another $60 pp. We figured we could save the money and get it all done in one shot as well as free us up for something else at the other port (Olden). This was a fantastic tour although a bit scary climbing up the narrow mountain road on a bus. I would definately stick with Celebrity for this tour and do the combo in one day. In Le Havre, we did the Normandy Beach and tapestry tour. Not my first choice but DH wanted to do it so I went along. It was actually a fascinating and sobering excursion and also one I would recommend doing. Those were really the only two I would stick to X with, the rest were not that great and could have been done on your own. In Copenhagen, you could walk from the dock to the mermaid and downtown. You could see those attractions and then use a cab for anything else you would want to see such as Tivoli Gardens which we never saw. You can even get a ferry and go to Sweden for the day. Just get a cab to take you to the docks and hop on the ferry. We were told the ferry runs 7 days a week so a Sunday wouldn't be a problem. From what I saw, next summer they are planning two days in Copenhagen so this would be a nice way to see yet another country on your trip. My biggest piece of advice is to not do too many castles. We did this and after a while you get very bored with all the history of the country and the castles. I was more interested in the current economics and info and didn't feel like I got enough of that to get a feel for the country as it is today. Many of the tours felt like a history course with names and dates of every member of every royal family that ever lived in the castles. Stirling Castle was great but way too short. The excursion took 1 1/2 hrs. to drive there and then another 1 1/2 back and it gave you only 1 hr. 20 min. there. You need at least 3 hours to see it all and I told them that when we got back. If they don't lengthen that trip, don't take it. That would have been one I did on my own so that I could have taken the time I needed to see it all. An Irish friend told us to take that trip when we showed him the excursion choices we had and I think he was right about that trip. It was the best and most interesting castle we saw. We also did the Blarney castle which was so so and we did the castles of North Zealand which really bored me for the most part. Those castles were gorgeous but I got castled out and felt we actually had too much time at each one. I would have preferred seeing current Copenhagen, shopping a bit, driving along the coast, that sort of thing. The ship provided shuttle buses to everyone for free in several of the ports in Bergen Norway and in Belfast and in Belgim as I recall so you could get from the docks to downtown in many of the cities. I really think it would have been better to just get your little newsletter and see what sort of options for free transport the ship was providing and then make plans from there. You could always book your excursions right on the ship, only one or two were actually sold out so waiting until you know what is going on would have given you a better idea of how to handle each port. I think Olden was the only port where there were no cabs waiting but you could walk right off the ship and see the town and there was the helicoptor ride and a small viking boat some guy was taking people for rides on right nearby. It was fun just visiting an old graveyard, walking through the local grocery, getting an ice cream, doing some shopping and taking the helicoptor. Took the whole day on our own and it was one of my favorite days. Most of the tours did not offer much shopping time and this was also a bit disturbing as I wanted to see some local stores, try local foods, get souvenirs etc. Never even got to try a Danish in Denmark!

 

As for the dinner, there was no casual buffet. We had early seating and so even though all of our excursions were supposed to return before 6, twice we were late. To eat at the casual dining, you need to reserve before 12 noon and we left the ship at around 9 a.m. so we weren't there to reserve by the time we realized how late we would be. Also, it never occurred to us that we would be that late from an excursion so we didn't make a reservation ahead (the day prior) and I thought that since we took X excursions, that they would provide for us but that wasn't true. We went to casual dining one night when we got back too late and it was an informal night and there was no way to make dinner having to change clothes first, and they said we had to have a reservation so we didn't get seated. Guess the other poster had better luck, perhaps because it was 9 p.m. when they tried, for us it was about 6:30 or 6:45 by the time we got to the casual dining area. I wouldn't count on that in any case. It isn't like you will starve, the pasta and pizza are OK and there is always room service but still, they kind of drop you off and leave you to fend for yourselves. On the other late excursion, it happened to be casual that night so we could go as we were and they told us as we got back onto the ship at around 6:15 that we should rush right to the dining room and that we could still eat there. You have until 6:30 to make dinner (nobody told us that upfront) and so we raced to the dinner and made it that night (keep in mind you have 60 some people all trying to get on the elevators to get to the dining room or their cabins after having just returned). You are feeling a bit grubby having been out all day, sweaty from racing to dinner and you feel guilty putting the heat on the waiter to serve you quickly so still not a great experience overall.

 

Hope that answered most of your questions, if anyone has any more, I will be happy to attempt to answer them.

Thank you Prettybeth. I enjoyed reading your honest summary...from the heart! I took some notes!

The sushi bar was open from what I recall, we are not really into sushi so we didn't check it out much. Still, no desserts anywhere. DH had some once later in the evening for a snack. So, that is another option for a late dinner. Don't know about private excursions as we booked everything with X not knowing enough about the ports to do differently. Perhaps some others from our trip will know more in that area and post here once they have recovered! The only excursions I would highly recommend would be the overland/glacier one and the Normandy Beaches. We also really enjoyed the one in Belgium but from what I saw, it looks like they are dropping that port next summer. Definately do Stirling Castle, if X doesn't make it a full day next yr., do it on your own. For others, I would either plan my own with a cabbie or perhaps take some of the walking tours which some people at our dining table did and they really enjoyed. In Copenhagen, I would have just taken the shuttle the ship provided to all and gone into downtown. See the mermaid (we didn't), go to the fish market where there are all sorts of foods, flowers, souvenirs, local crafts, walk around the shops downtown. Maybe take a cab to drive along the coast and see the affluent homes with amazing architecture and see the old fisherman's homes which are really fascinating and date back hundreds of years but are currently owned and maintained. They all have living grass roofs and really give you a feel for what it was like back then. That would have been a great day and a great way to see old Denmark and new Denmark. In Ireland, just go to the country, it is the best way to appreciate the beauty of Ireland and we missed all of it which I really regret. Do some research there, find out what attractions or other things there are to do in Cork and Belfast and do it with a cab driver. Either that or take a short excursion with X and then do some on your own as well. None of the tours were very comprehensive and I feel like I never really saw Ireland. You could stop at Blarney Castle, it is nice to walk through the old ruins and nature paths but don't make it the whole day and all you see as we did.

 

One other suggestion is to definately take the extended pre-stay in London if you can. You can get a London Pass that gets you into many attractions for free and you can get a transportation pass with the London Pass. We went early, it allowed us to see a great deal of London and be adjusted to the time change by the time we boarded the ship. It was easy to navigate London using the tube and buses and we had no problems with any of it. We booked the air and hotel and transfers through X and were happy with the arrangements. Got the London pass online and had it shipped to our home prior to leaving. All went smoothly with that. We booked to go for two nights but I would do 3 next time as you really only get 1 1/2 days to see London with the time change and that first day you are so out of it and tired that you really don't get a lot accomplished.

prettybeth,

 

Thanks for your perspective - very helpful.

Wow! Beth covered it pretty well!

Let me make some additions and comments, in no particular order. Understand, please, that our last 3 cruises were all on Princess (over the past 3 years) and we LOVED them, and we did Horizon 10 years ago and didn't cruise again for 6 years:

 

Entertainment: We were disappointed in most of the entertainment, especially the Cruise Director (Eric Bohus). He's a great singer (he claimed to have Broadway experience, but I couldn't find anyone with that name anywhere on the Internet, other than as a Celebrity Cruise Director and a NCL Cruise Director), but no personality beyond that. He and the assistant Cruise Director (Matt) did a daily morning TV show going over the day's program and highlights. Half the show was taken up with "famous birthdays" and "this day in history", which had nothing to do with the cruise. Neither one could pronounce any of the foreign names, and I have no idea why they wasted time on it. Some of the mispronouciations and other errors were borderline offensive in that they didn't care enough to learn famous people's names, if they weren't Americans. The rest of the Cruise Director's staff ranged from fair to great (Jeff!) The guest entertainers were weak to very good. There was a terrific opera singer, but I'm not sure why she was on a cruiseship, and she shared a bill with a bad Irish comedian. Might have made sense to have him on WHEN WE WERE IN IRELAND, you'd think, but he was on much later in the cruise. And she really shouldn't have sung "My Heart Will Go On", I was waiting for "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" later in the set! The jugglers were very funny. The "professional Pickpocket" ranged between entertaining and "why is he here"? The Fiddler (Doug Cameron) was very good. And there was another singer and pianist who I didn't see. The production shows were good, but not as good as Princess. We missed the first one, but saw the last 3. Onyx (the dance band) was very good, but rarely had a crowd up in Reflections. One night we asked them to play "Truly", by Lionel Richie. They started to say they didn't know it, but put their heads together and came up with a terrific rendition, and then they played it a few nights later when they saw us there. The Celebrity Orchestra was great, the drummer was finishing up to lead another Celebrity band. The a capella group (Coverdales) were bad, saw them ask for requests and then turn down 3 standard doowop songs in a row because "they didn't know them".

 

Sushi: Went there almost every night. Selection was about 8-10 different items, including Tuna, Salmon, Eel, Shrimp, California Roll, and a few others. We eat sushi alot when we're at home, and we graded Connie's sushi as "Good Grocery Store Quality Sushi". Had it been served at a restaurant we wouldn't have gone back. As a snack around 6PM when you have late seating dining it was just fine.

 

Rest of the food we thought was comparable to Princess, although we did love the waffles and omelet stations for breakfast, and the spa cuisine for lunch. Accustomed as we were to Personal Choice dining on Princess (show up whenever, be seated with whoever), we really enjoyed our table and dining companions. That being said, we would have loved to have been able to eat a little earlier a couple of nights when we had early excursions the next day. We also had a snafu with the seating at the table, and people were added and subtracted from our table with curious reasons given to them (and the rest of us) by the Assistant Maitre D' in charge of scheduling. Someone screwed up and tried to fix it by covering his butt, I think.

 

We basically lived in the T-Pool and hottubs. The salt water and very heavy chlorine content gave me (and other friends) a rash, though. Wish they could do fresh water!!!

 

Our room was great (big balcony, thanks to those here who help us pick a good one!), and we found the service overall on Celebrity to be better an friendlier than on Princess (not much, but some!)

 

We loved all our excursions, the highlights were, as beth said, the fjords in Norway, and the Giant's Causeway, out of Belfast. Truly a vacation to remember!

I pretty much agree about the entertainment. The opera singer should have stuck to opera but did more musical show numbers instead. The other singer was very very good and funny too. We also missed the piano player but those at my dinner table said they loved him. Eric was OK, never saw him around except for the morning show. The one thing I disagree with Nitemare about is the "comedy act" he and his assistant put on every morning. I looked forward to watching Eric watch his sidekick as he destroyed the pronunciation of every name he spoke. Laughed out loud at them. Kind of a Smothers Brothers routine. Never got to the spa, guess we focused on different things on the cruise. One other tip, the beef dishes (filets, prime rib, steaks) were consistently very good in the dining room. Whenever I was torn between two things, I learned to choose the beef and I was never disappointed. A lot of the rest ranged from good to very good. Soups all seemed the same to me, a base creamy chicken that is enhanced by some other ingrediants. Either that or a consummé with added items. The onion soup was bad. The ceasar salad was the best salad we had and we learned toward the end of the cruise that you can have that every night if you want - wish we had known sooner.

What great reviews. Thanks for going into so much detail. I actually felt like I was there with you. :) We have always stuck to cruising in the Caribbean. Maybe it's time to move on.

 

As for the kids comments, I was only referring to the kids that don't have a good time on a cruise. If they have fun as my daughter did on all of hers, I wouldn't even think of leaving them at home.

 

Babylene, If you were referring to me, we are fairly newlyweds but not for the first time. :D

I didn't realize you had a daughter...I thought you were YOUNG!!!!!

 

Anyway...why don't you come on this cruise. It should be wonderful.

The one thing I disagree with Nitemare about is the "comedy act" he and his assistant put on every morning. I looked forward to watching Eric watch his sidekick as he destroyed the pronunciation of every name he spoke. Laughed out loud at them. Kind of a Smothers Brothers routine

If I thought it was intentional, I might have found it humorous (although a bit offensive). I think it just showed ignorance of the names being mentioned, and a lack of caring as to the quality of the performance. I saw Matt one morning and quoted something from the show, he seemed surprised that anyone was watching.

 

I left out that we would as our friends on the ship if they had seen the "Beavis and Butthead show that morning" in referring to the program. And not just because of the content, they do look a bit like B&B.

Frankly Nitemare, my feeling was that Matt was the idiot and Eric knew it and played upon that fact. I think Eric expected Matt to screw up and the look of anticipation on his face as he waited for Eric to mess things up is what made it humorous to me. I don't know, just our take on the whole thing. Interesting that you checked for Eric's name on the internet, good idea. I thought he was pretty good, especially in the duet he sang with the singer that you missed, Lindsey. Perhaps he doesn't show up anywhere on the web because it was too long ago? We were trying to guess his age and figured lower to mid 40's?

 

As for more advice to those travelling soon, forgot to mention the art auctions. They have auctions on days at sea. The prices are good and on our ship, there was very little bidding, basically you could buy what you wanted for the lowest price. You can get some very good pieces for rock bottom pricing if you enjoy collecting as we do. When we got home, we searched the web for comparison purposes and we think we did very well with what we purchased. Just a heads up for those who didn't know about this feature and perhaps want to plan to save up for some purchases.

We were on Constellation in June and that is just a little attempt at humor. It is obviously not meant to be serious. Eric even had a different assistant at the time.

my feeling was that Matt was the idiot and Eric knew it and played upon that fact

I think you're right about that, Eric did know Matt would screw up, and enjoyed it. Too much, in my opinion and in the opinions of our fellow diners.

 

Interesting that you checked for Eric's name on the internet, good idea. I thought he was pretty good, especially in the duet he sang with the singer that you missed, Lindsey. Perhaps he doesn't show up anywhere on the web because it was too long ago? We were trying to guess his age and figured lower to mid 40's?

EVERYTHING is on the Internet ;) I have a friend who had a role on B'way back in the early 1970's -- one role, one show, and you can find her name on the Internet. My guess is he performed under a different name, if he really was on (or off) Broadway.

I think you're right about that, Eric did know Matt would screw up, and enjoyed it. Too much, in my opinion and in the opinions of our fellow diners.

 

EVERYTHING is on the Internet ;) I have a friend who had a role on B'way back in the early 1970's -- one role, one show, and you can find her name on the Internet. My guess is he performed under a different name, if he really was on (or off) Broadway.

Nitemare,

 

They are both in on the joke and I'm really surprised that people don't understand they are just having a little fun. It may not be particularly funny to some, but there's no need to feel sorry for Matt...he knows exactly what's going on. Eric probably did perform under a different name. Bohus isn't a very show biz name.

I didn't realize you had a daughter...I thought you were YOUNG!!!!

WHAT?? :eek: :eek:

 

I was young when I had her. :D I remember one of your posts stating that you were a little unhappy at the age group on your Celebrity cruise. Rest assured, we have as much fun as any 30 year old that ever got on a ship. :D

Hi Brigitte. Methinks you have me confused with someone else...I have never complained about age...after all...I am 62 and DH is 63!!!!!!!

 

I don't think we have the same fun as 30 year olds..but we aren't over the hill yet!

 

Since this is a fjords thread...I want to reiterate...think about the cruise seriously. The fjords are on my "to-do" list and I figure that a cruise is a good way to see them.