Do I want to cruise the Med on the constellation or infinity? Reflection better?

I have researched ports, dates, times, size of ships. We are trying to get a few ports in Italy included. Constellation seems to have many.. Sept. 2019. An older shop right? People say choose by itinerary but I want both a nice boat and great port itinerary. The big boat vrs small? What pearls of wisdom can you share? Other option is Sirena with Oceania.

Reflection is by far my favorite ship! You will not be disappointed. From your post, I am assuming that the ports are acceptable and you are really trying to decide on which ship. They all are great ships, but as you mentioned Connie is an older ship. For us the ship is the destination, the ports are the icing on the cake!

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I would also choose Reflection. The other two M class ships are really showing their ages, but that does not mean you would not have a good time. I am on Reflection at the end of April for an Italy and Greece cruise for the second time...love all the ports. Try to spend some time on land and do your own thing too! We are returning to Cinque Terre for a week...I never get tired of Europe, especially with all the drama in the States.

I have done the Med on the Reflection and it was brilliant a beautiful ship and we thoroughly enjoyed it, we have just returned from Asia on Constellation and I would not go back on that ship again.

We love the Reflection when we have a lot of sea days so are spending daytime on the ship. We have sailed on the Connie 3 times most recently in Feb/Mar. the ship is older but was in excellent condition. We prefer the Revendous Lounge vs the Atrium of the S class ships for pre & post dinner drinks and/or dancing.

The crew was excellent & we wouldn’t hesitate to sail on the Connie again.

I have done the Med on the Reflection and it was brilliant a beautiful ship and we thoroughly enjoyed it, we have just returned from Asia on Constellation and I would not go back on that ship again.

Just curious, what was so negative about the Connie?

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I love Connie and she has some interesting itineraries. While I love the S class, Reflection’s itineraries are a bit more run of the mill.

Thankseveryone for your feedback. What if I threw O's Sirena in the mix? It has a great Venice to Monte Carlo ten day at a bigger price of course...would it be worth the extra price? I know of all the add ons with Celebrity. A bit concerned about boat stability with a smaller ship....first ocean cruise ever.

Don't know O.

Haven been on Constellation and like her. She is a nice sized ship. We'll be on Reflection this year to the Med. We chose Reflection due to her B2B schedule, price and we've never been on her before. It has more passengers than Connie so we'll see how that goes on tender ports as well as general crowding.

If looking at O, especially a small one, you have to ask yourself how important is evening entertainment? It’s not going to be close to X. But may not matter on an intensive med cruise.

Depends on where you want to go. Reflection doesn't go to Venice. Connie does. Therefore, Connie wins for me.

We have been on the Silhouette and the Equinox in the Med and loved both. We have also been on the Constellation in the Med because we wanted to visit Venice and then sail from there. It was a great trip. Was the Constellation as nice or fancy as the other two? No, but it was still very nice and Venice is not to be missed. Oh, we are on the Reflection in the Eastern Med this fall....If you have never been to Venice, take the Connie and pick an itinerary that siarts in Venice. It is an amazing place, it is slowly sinking and they are cutting down on the size and number of cruise ships that can sail in and out of the inner area. The sail away is one of those you have to see.

Depends on where you want to go. Reflection doesn't go to Venice. Connie does. Therefore, Connie wins for me.

Me too. We went on Reflection last year in the Med during the peak summer season, end of July into early August, and never again - the extra deck of cabins definitely made a difference, everywhere felt crowded. The grass on the lawn was never visible due to the bodies and towels 2 inches apart. It was the first time we have witnessed ‘drunks’ causing issues on an X ship. The whole experience made us consider carefully what to book for this summer - hence our trying a different line (and we have 2 current placeholder reservations with X and another one with Royal, so the decision wasn’t taken lightly).

I have stated previously that it would have to be a very special itinerary for us to even consider Reflection again in the Med at the height of the summer season, and we’ve taken many cruises in Europe. So, that’s why my vote would be for Connie ;). Obviously, other opinions will differ as everyone wants something different from their vacation.

We have sailed on all three ships.

If the itinerary makes no difference to you, I would recommend the Reflection. Simply because she is more modern, larger and offers a bit more - e.g. Lawn Club, Sunset Bar (the real one), more specialty dining etc.

However, if you prefer the itinerary of one of the M-class ships, you can´t go wrong with them either.

Me too. We went on Reflection last year in the Med during the peak summer season, end of July into early August, and never again - the extra deck of cabins definitely made a difference, everywhere felt crowded. The grass on the lawn was never visible due to the bodies and towels 2 inches apart. It was the first time we have witnessed ‘drunks’ causing issues on an X ship. The whole experience made us consider carefully what to book for this summer - hence our trying a different line (and we have 2 current placeholder reservations with X and another one with Royal, so the decision wasn’t taken lightly).

 

I have stated previously that it would have to be a very special itinerary for us to even consider Reflection again in the Med at the height of the summer season, and we’ve taken many cruises in Europe. So, that’s why my vote would be for Connie ;). Obviously, other opinions will differ as everyone wants something different from their vacation.

We avoid the Mediterranean in mid summer, but the OP wants to go in September. We haven’t encountered drunks causing issues on Mediterranean cruises in late May to early June, so presumably September would be equally calm;).

Thankseveryone for your feedback. What if I threw O's Sirena in the mix? It has a great Venice to Monte Carlo ten day at a bigger price of course...would it be worth the extra price? I know of all the add ons with Celebrity. A bit concerned about boat stability with a smaller ship....first ocean cruise ever.

Oceania is a different experience... More luxurious, better and high quality food, fewer people...

However, ships are smaller, offering less (simply because of lack of space). Entertainment is not an emphasis on O.

Oceania is a bit above the mass market - even if it is the upper end as Celebrity. Price tag usually also looks different though...

We never took Oceania or Azamara into consideration because of the smaller ships. I don´t want anything smaller than M-class. But that is subjective.

We’ve sailed on Reflection and two of Connie’s sisters, Millennium and Summit. We would sail on any of them again (as well as Connie). For September in the Mediterranean, we would choose based on itinerary. If the itineraries were similar, we’d choose Reflection. We have no experience on O but would hesitate to spend the extra money for a port intensive cruise.

Last year, we sailed on full cruises on both Reflection (TA) and Summit (Independence Day cruise) and enjoyed both. Reflection is larger, but also newer, and passenger flow works very well. We prefer the larger veranda cabins and bathrooms on Reflection, but we were satisfied with our cabin on Summit. Despite fewer passengers, the tendering process was no better on Summit. Like Jelayne, we prefer the Rendezvous Lounge on the M class (Connie) ships to the Atrium lounge on Reflection for pre and post dinner drinks and dancing, but we happily sip and dance in either:D.

Me too. We went on Reflection last year in the Med during the peak summer season, end of July into early August, and never again - the extra deck of cabins definitely made a difference, everywhere felt crowded. The grass on the lawn was never visible due to the bodies and towels 2 inches apart. It was the first time we have witnessed ‘drunks’ causing issues on an X ship. The whole experience made us consider carefully what to book for this summer - hence our trying a different line (and we have 2 current placeholder reservations with X and another one with Royal, so the decision wasn’t taken lightly).

 

I have stated previously that it would have to be a very special itinerary for us to even consider Reflection again in the Med at the height of the summer season, and we’ve taken many cruises in Europe. So, that’s why my vote would be for Connie ;). Obviously, other opinions will differ as everyone wants something different from their vacation.

We were on the same cruise last summer on Reflection, I agree it was so crowed, lots of kids ( and I love kids but) running around unattended, they were in the solarium no one said a word to them, doing canning balls into the pool. So far my fav is Silhouette, we are booked next May on Constellation for Greece, but getting a little worried about the reviews. We are in Concierge Class, any tips on getting bumped up to Aqua, is it worth it in your opinion!

Exactly..the reviews on Constellation somewhat made me look at other itineraries and ships. For our first cruise we would like both a nice boat and good itinerary experience. Am now checking out Edge although I wonder if four Spanish stops is too intensive. Thanks for all your feedback. Am keeping Venice in mind...is it just as much a must see as the Amalfi coast?

Connie and Venice win for me, too. EM

Exactly..the reviews on Constellation somewhat made me look at other itineraries and ships. For our first cruise we would like both a nice boat and good itinerary experience. Am now checking out Edge although I wonder if four Spanish stops is too intensive. Thanks for all your feedback. Am keeping Venice in mind...is it just as much a must see as the Amalfi coast?

The cruises I'm taking on the Connie include both Venice and the Amalfi coast. We're also taking an excursion to Cinque Terre. I sail M class ships all the time, I find them just fine. Was on the Summit 3 times last year. The M class ships seem to be going where I want to go.

Am considering a cruise to the eastern Med which includes an overnight in Venice. Have been told by a TA that cruise ships are no longer allowed to sail up the Grand Canal. Can anyone confirm?

We were on the Constellation from Barcelona to Venice two years ago and love it, Best vacation we ever had. We had no problems at all with the ship. We are going back this summer and are on the Reflection just because it's taking us to some different ports we want to see. We are finishing out cruise in Rome and taking the train to Venice for a couple days because we loved Venice so much so starting or finishing in Venice is a winner,

We were on the same cruise last summer on Reflection, I agree it was so crowed, lots of kids ( and I love kids but) running around unattended, they were in the solarium no one said a word to them, doing canning balls into the pool. So far my fav is Silhouette, we are booked next May on Constellation for Greece, but getting a little worried about the reviews. We are in Concierge Class, any tips on getting bumped up to Aqua, is it worth it in your opinion!

I’ll be honest, on M class ships, apart from the PH, I think the FVs and aft C1s balconies take some beating. The balconies are much bigger and the views, especially if you’re sailing in/out of Venice or Kotor for example, are stunning. I’ll see if I can find and post some photos from our Venice sailaway from our C1 on Connie a few years ago. We’ve taken C1s and FVs on all M class ships except Summit (not because there’s anything wrong with Summit, it’s just her itineraries have never appealed to us).

Here's a C1 on Connie - will search for more photos.

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