connie 1/15 review from a newbie part one

[teegeezfun]

This was my first cruise, and perhaps I was a bit over pumped, but constellation DID NOT meet my expectation in several areas. I had a great time, and don't want to come off like a whiner but this is a critical review, after all, so here goes.

 

Port and sail away: Constellation was at the pan am port in san juan and a pretty unattractive port it is. generally puerto rico was slummy in most places but on the resorts it was beautiful paradise. we did a 2 day precruise stay at dorado beach with a priceline rate at dorado hyatt that was excellent for the 85.00 per night. don't miss the river pool on this property. on the whole i would not seek out this port to sail away from in the future. very expensive and the drivers were nutso!

 

we got to the port at 12:30ish and were mistakenly dropped off at the front of the boat where we came out on the last day. hey, our first cruise and we didn't know any better. the charlie car rental driver who gave us a lift should have known better but didn't. i want my 5 dollar tip back!!!

 

my husband and i had to haul all of our luggage all the way to the back of the building and not one person who worked for celebrity offered to help us, although we requested assistance at the door and were flatly denied help and told to walk around the building. on this hike we ran into many employees who walked and drove right past us. so much for great service, huh!!!

 

Once we got there we waited in line for about 5 minutes and were finally allowed onto the boat. check in was smooth and pretty quick after that.

 

the sail away was a real let down. we sailed away at 11:00 at night and couldn't see a damned thing. maybe that was a good thing as the port is a working port with oil tankers and the like using it. Onyx band played at the party and there was plenty of booze flowing. the highlight of the first day was meeting other cruise critics at the mast bar. it was fun to put names to faces and i ran into these folks all throughout the cruise.

 

Food: I may as well discuss the food experience right here. Note that I am a foodie. love to observe presentation and consider myself discerning and above averaged educated in this matter. After reading all of the raves about celebrity food, I truly looked forward to amazing food selections in every venue. in short, I was disappointed.

 

Main dining room: food was decent on most nights but not outstanding by any means. best food i ate was the salmon. loved several of the appetizers including the spinach puff and escargot, breads and several of the deserts especially the creme brulee. biggest disappointments were the soups, wilted ceasar salads I got not once but twice and the poor quality of meats. tenderloin fillet was tough and never arrived cooked to order. lobster tail was overcooked. frog legs were not fresh tasting. i know freezer burn with i taste it. table mates did enjoy the prime rib and pork roast offered on other nights.

 

Seaside cafe breakfast buffet and lunch buffet: Big disappointment here. breakfast was horrible every single day, period. bacon, ham and sausage was brown and looked to be the cheapest quality. scrambled eggs were either runny or overcooked. omelet and waffle lines were long. ended I up eating bagel and cream cheese every day because that was the only thing worth the trouble. as for lunch. totally uninspriring selections every day. shepards pie, pot roast, really bad veggie lasagna. come on...we're supposed to be on a cruise here... the first day welcome aboard luncheon buffet was the best...loved the polenta with sausage and my husband enjoyed the roast beef at this buffet. breads were amazing as were all breads on the entire cruise. all down hill from there.

 

burgers and fries by the pool were a good option for lunch while on the ship.

tried the pizza and pasta once late at night and i guess they were better than nothing but not much better!!!

 

Oceanliners...OUTSTANDING service and I really dug the cheese course, goat cheese souffle and desert sampler. rack of lamb not so great. again. cheap quality of the meat. here's a news flash for those of you that rave about the lamb. at least on the night I ordered it, it was gamey tasting. this reflects poor quality...good lamb has no gamey taste at all. my husband got the filet mignon and enjoyed it. on a scale of one to 10, oceanliners gets a strong 8. best dining experience on the ship imo...

 

entertainment: shows were okay. i went to the broadway review and also saw the international music show. there is a man singer with the current troop that is outstanding. he did the phantom one night at the international show he did some italian opera. he was outstanding. others in my party had sailed constellation last year and mentioned that the shows were the same as last year. entertainment in other areas of the ship were nothing special

 

as to the Circque "experience" i did attend the masqued ball but i did not purchase an over priced mask nor did i wear white. i had a hard time wrestling the tickets off of the person in the circque store without buying a mask. there was no 30.00 door charge on our cruise but they strongly pressured you to purchase a mask at 20 dollars and up. most people who did purchase masks had them off within 10 minutes of being in the bar. too hot. we stayed around the bar for about an hour after the doors opened, but after that the main charicters left the bar and did not return for the rest of the night. there were several other dancers around the room but on the whole i noticed the place really thinned out after about an hour or so. we did return to the bar later after we dragged our husbands out of the casino but the main characters had departed and the techo music got boring quickly.

 

Other venues had various lounge singers and musicians but none stand out as being outstanding they were okay, i guess. Onyx, the celebrity show band seemed to play the same music over and over again by the pool every day and i heard several people comment about this. entertainment just okay...

[stanjj111]

Would love to hear the other reviews. Will be on the Connie in 2 weeks

[Lois R]

Hi:)

 

Sorry you didn't have a good time....

 

When your food came out not to your liking in the dining room, did you send it back? It seems alot of your food wasn't cooked properly...did you have the waiter take it back so you could get it corrected?

[doree]

Sorry you had a bad experience!!!! We did S. Carrib last January out of San Juan and we loved leaving at night as we passed El Morro on our way out and it was all lit up. Leaving at night is definately different than leaving during the day

 

We just got off Mercury last Monday from the Mex Riv cruise and we have sailed her b/f. Loved our cabin steward and asst.....waiter was not good. Lobster the last formal night was very SALTY. This was our 6th cruise w/ Celeb., and I have to say that the food was NOT up to par. We did alternative dining for 4 out of the 10 nts. Alot of the entertainment....we had already seen, but it was good. Pool band was horrible..."Top Secret"....played the same things day in and day out!!!!

 

Hit or miss, I guess!!!!

[Joanie510]

I am sorry to say hubby and I have been on four Celebrity Cruises and the above cruise from SanJuan to S. Carib was really not what we were use to with Celebrity. Did not enjoy the food, except for Ocean Liners, which was excellent, pool chairs were taken every day by 7am and the usual quality was just not there. We were on the Infinity to Alaska in June, 04, and there was no comparison. Don't quite understand what is going on with Celebrity at this time. We also sailed on Mercury and Century and had a great time. Perhaps Celebrity needs a wakeup call.

[LisadelRio]

Food: I may as well discuss the food experience right here. Note that I am a foodie.

 

I guess you figured it out now, teegeezfun, but cruise food is not foodie food. I'm a foodie too, but I also love cruising. I just set my expectations a little lower. There's no way that you can get the best quality ingredients and feed them to 2000 people for the prices that we pay for cruises. RCI would go broke in a flash.

 

I did the math from the 3rd quarter 2004 report (the 6k) and RCI only spends $10.72 per person per cruise day on food. I couldn't find the RCCL and Celebrity breakdown, but it's probably something like $10/day on rccl vs. $12/day on celebrity.

 

I agree that the cheese selection in the alternative restaurant is the best thing on the ship. It's also probably the most expensive.

 

I've always had decent food on cruises, and sometimes really good food. I've never had anything close to French Laundry food. I've often found that the best food on a cruise is on shore in Cozumel.

 

I will say that of the cruises we've been on (2 celebrity, 1 rccl, 1 carnival) Celebrity food is by far the best.

 

Lisa <--- eats to live and lives to eat

[teegeezfun]

my cruise did not suck folks. i had a great time especially getting out of boston in the middle of winter, just needed to give an honest review and sorry to say, the food was only average...

[nparmelee]

Did you ever try the omelettes or waffels for breakfast? And did you ever try the dining room for lunch or breakfast? Your description of the buffets sounds like what we had on our Princess cruise last summer, but I never expect very much from any buffet anyway.

[Lois R]

Hi Connie:)

 

You didn't sound ungrateful......I read all your paragraphs.....I just wondered, since you are a foodie, and since it didn't come out the way you like it, did you have the waiter send it back?

 

Now, if you want "gourmet".....really gourmet...those cruiselines would be, for example, Crystal, Seabourn, etc.....their ships hold only...approximately 300 pax....and you pay the price as well.

 

It seems the ships and each sailing is a total opposite of each other.....when I got to the pier, someone was right there and took my luggage.....

 

Sailaway.....I enjoyed it...I even had fun at Muster;) was with a few folks from our Roll Call!

[Renorita]

my cruise did not suck folks. i had a great time especially getting out of boston in the middle of winter, just needed to give an honest review and sorry to say, the food was only average...

Sorry you have a bad food experience. I guess probably the only good thing is you probably didn't gain any weight right??? :)

[cruisebrie]

Hi,

 

I'm a first time cruiser too. I've traveled first class and last class <LOL> all over the world and was never really wowed by the thought of cruising until our friends (avid cruisers) insisted we'd have fun. So, we booked a trip for February 2005.

 

We'll be on the 2/26 trip out of San Juan on the Constellation. I specifically chose this ship and the Celebrity cruise line for our first cruise because it addressed our desires for a fun but understated trip with less noise, better food, fewer kids. We like them but do not want to be on a traveling spring break party for a first cruise.

 

We too, are food addicts- we've eaten great food from street carts in Asia and in Michelin rated restaurants in France, but aren't picky. Wherever there is Diet Coke, he's happy...wherever there is decent coffee, I'm happy.

 

What I'd like some advice about is:

 

1. We are booked in a Deluxe oceanview aft cabin (8161) with a bigger balcony (looks angled) on the Panaroma Deck. I think I'm sandwiched between cabin floors and not above or below activity centers for noise. Is there any reason not to like this cabin?

 

2. We are staying in Old San Juan the night before. I keep reading that the ship departs the Pan American (?) Pier. Is this in Old San Juan? We thought we were doing ok booking near the piers shown on the maps. We did not buy transfers and will take a taxi to the ship. Since the previous post indicated some trouble in the dropoff area, where is the best place to be delivered at the San Juan embarkation?

 

3. We love Cirque du Soleil. Has anyone a good thing to say about the CDS event from a recent sailing?

 

4. How is water pressure/temp in the showers? Are you cold one minute and freezing the next in peak periods?

 

5. Can you reserve more than one meal at Oceanliners?

 

Thanks for any and all advice. I am excited but pragmatic about the trip and believe we'll have fun but want to be realistic about our expectations.

 

Thanks,

 

cruisebrie

[Ma Bell]

You may reserve as many times as they can accomodate you in Oceanliners. The water pressure and temps in the showers are great. The food in the main dining room is usually good, but they are serving a lot of people. If you get something you don't like they are always happy to get something else. No reason to dislike your cabin. You could have booked one a little larger, but this one should have a nice balcony.

[Lois R]

Hi Cruisebrie:)

 

I sailed Connie last month and had a wonderful time.

 

Everyone has different expectations......I agree with the folks who have said, they are feeding 2,000 passengers.....it needs to be taken into consideration.

 

Now, if you want to eat at Oceanliners more than once...or even every night, speak to the Maitr'd after boarding and make reservations for whatever nights and times are available. I would still give the dining room a chance though. I ate at Oceanliners once with a group from our Roll Call...it was delicious...worth every dime of the 30.00.

 

We had quite a few kids on our cruise...I think it was a school holiday in Puerto Rico last month.

 

Not sure what they are doing with Cirque...it is not a "show" as you would sit down to watch in Vegas....I do know they have a 6 year contract so not sure what is going to happen.

 

If you care to read my review about my 12/11 cruise, check out the Member Reviews.

 

Overall I had a wonderful week.....so good, I already booked her again for this December!

[AFT_LOVER]

whether it was on our balcony or in the dining room. Breakfast was either buffet or on our balcony and we decided balcony won since we could have anythin we wanted.

 

Lunch was dining room with the deserts! Then at 3PM we hit the ice cream/sherbet station for waffle cones made daily.

 

Dinner was dining room, some everings I'd eat all the soups & appetizers to enjoy the photo show of food presented to me. The 2nd time I did it I got to meet Marcus the chef who was intrigued we me eating only that. If we did a full day excursions or a day of snorkeling, then dinner was on the balcony which was a treat & we felt like millionaries with glasses of champagne brought in after desert. NO FREE CAPPUCINO THO!

[jezzdogg]

The shows are changed every 2-3 years, so if you cruise the same ship within that time you most lightly see the same show. Also shows are rotated around the they different ships, while on Millie this past summer, know I saw the show before on a RCI ship

[cruisebrie]

Thank you so much for all of the advice, info..We tried to book a CC cabin but TA said none available. We are happy to upgrade to CC or a small suite but do not want to be below an activity deck or scraping chairs, disco, etc. We also do not plan to be in the cabin except to sleep, so we are wondering if we really need the upgrade. I could use some advice as to how do accomplish an upgrade from this point. Changes at the Pier (from reading these boards) appears to be dreaming....

 

Also, we aren't going on the cruise just to eat...we want to unplug the phones, computer, etc. and sleep, sit on the verandah and look at the water, drink a little, dance a little and visit some different territory. Isn't cruising mostly about giving up our Type A tendencies and letting someone else drive for a while ;-) ?

 

CB

[Texed]

Teegeezfun,

 

We really enjoyed our cruise on Constellation (our fourth). Sorry you did not enjoy it as much as we did. You didn't enjoy Eli in Antigua either? I think you are the first I have heard that didn't enjoy his excursion.

[Joanie510]

Hi Cruisebrie: Hubby and I just back from Constellation, S. Carib on Jan 15th. We had an aft cabin, 9158, which was great. This was our 4th Celebrity cruise. I have to say the food was not up to par as on previous trips to the Carib on Mercury, Century and Infinity to Alaska. We loved Ocean Liners Specialty Dining. Cirque'dsole was so-so. Loved the music for about 45 mins and then it became repeititve. I think Celebrity has to work on this. Also, I came down with bronchitis/flu the last day on the ship and had to see the ship doc for a slight fee of $250. Hope insurance pays for it. Overall, I feel you will enjoy your trip. Just don't spend the extra $30pp for the show. Have a great trip.

[cccharley]

Teegee - a suggestion if you go to San Juan again is not to go to Dorado but to stay in the city - probably some of the best gourmet restaurants in the Caribbean there and it doesn't come cheap - I mean super foodie celeb chef type places. I don't find it really slummy either, but that's a matter of taste I guess.

 

Liz

[wieslaw]

"This was my first cruise, and perhaps I was a bit over pumped, but constellation DID NOT meet my expectation in several areas. I had a great time, and don't want to come off like a whiner but this is a critical review, after all, so here goes. "

 

 

Hi teegeezfun, I find your comments very realistic and not at all 'critical' but just simlply based on what is happening on the ship.

This being your first cruise....I can understand that your 'expectations' probably based on Celebrity's advertising were not met. Advertising will get people to notice and book the cruise.......but often what was advertised it is not really realistic and it does not happen on the cruise.

 

 

"my husband and i had to haul all of our luggage all the way to the back of the building and not one person who worked for celebrity offered to help us, "

 

 

I am not sure, but there is a good chance that Celebrity personnel can not help even if they want to......there might be a contract with local Port Authority that does not allow them to help with the baggage while on the ground........so do not fault them for that.

 

 

 

 

"the sail away was a real let down. we sailed away at 11:00 at night and "

 

 

I think they sail away so late so all the people coming from all over the world can make the sailing.....not everybody is there the night or two before.

 

 

 

"the poor quality of meats. tenderloin fillet was tough and never arrived cooked to order. lobster tail was overcooked. frog legs were not fresh tasting. i know freezer burn with i taste it. "

 

I agree,...... I have been on this and other Celebrity's ships as well.

It is hard to do much with the 10 or 12 dol (as someone has calculated) per meals per day.......but in most cases they do a pretty good job with what they got.

 

"Seaside cafe breakfast buffet and breakfast was horrible every single day, period. bacon, ham and sausage was brown and looked to be the cheapest quality. scrambled eggs were either runny or overcooked. omelet and waffle lines were long. "

 

Again, I do agree.... I have seen the same things.

 

 

"burgers and fries by the pool were a good option for lunch while on the ship.

tried the pizza and pasta once late at night and i guess they were better than nothing but not much better!!!"

 

Again, I do agree....

 

 

"Oceanliners...OUTSTANDING service and I really dug the cheese course, goat cheese souffle and desert sampler. rack of lamb not so great. again. cheap quality of the meat. here's a news flash for those of you that rave about the lamb. at least on the night I ordered it, it was gamey tasting. this reflects poor quality...good lamb has no gamey taste at all. my husband got the filet mignon and enjoyed it. on a scale of one to 10, oceanliners gets a strong 8. best dining experience on the ship imo..."

 

Again, my observations too...

 

"entertainment: shows were okay. i went to the broadway review and also saw the international music show. there is a man singer with the current troop that is outstanding. he did the phantom one night at the international show he did some italian opera. he was outstanding. others in my party had sailed constellation last year and mentioned that the shows were the same as last year. entertainment in other areas of the ship were nothing special "

 

Correct again.....

 

"as to the Circque "experience" i did attend the masqued ball but i did not purchase an over priced mask nor did i wear white. i had a hard time wrestling the tickets off of the person in the circque store without buying a mask. there was no 30.00 door charge on our cruise but they strongly pressured you to purchase a mask at 20 dollars and up. most people who did purchase masks had them off within 10 minutes of being in the bar. too hot. we stayed around the bar for about an hour after the doors opened, but after that the main charicters left the bar and did not return for the rest of the night. there were several other dancers around the room but on the whole i noticed the place really thinned out after about an hour or so. we did return to the bar later after we dragged our husbands out of the casino but the main characters had departed and the techo music got boring quickly. "

 

My feelings exactly......

 

"Other venues had various lounge singers and musicians but none stand out as being outstanding they were okay, i guess. Onyx, the celebrity show band seemed to play the same music over and over again by the pool every day and i heard several people comment about this. entertainment just okay..."

 

Your comments are no different than what I have observed.........so your 'citique' is very realistic and probably shared by many.

 

There is one difference between us: I did not and do not have any expectations based on the 'unrealistic' advertising.

I have been on at least 10 maybe 11 Celebrity's cruises over the years and got used to the 'short cuts' that they seem to take every year. There were many changes from the first cruise on the Horizon back in about 1990 to the last one on the Constellation back in Dec. Even between April and Dec they made small 'short cuts' : in April on the Millennium (same as on the Constellation) they had two musicians in the specialty restaurants - now there is only one. I do not know where will they stop.

I can see that the prices they charge can not support what 'used to be', so I just look at the whole package: the food, the entertainment, the comfortable transportation from place to place and some of the 'other items' in between (like dancing, some litening music, etc)..........and consider all of that to be a part of a good and enjoyable cruise. None of the things are perhaps 'outstanding'.....but as a combination they can create a very good atmosphere for an excellent cruise.

I know there is no way that they can provide the food, the music, the singers, the entertainment that will be 'top notch' for over 2000 people and charge what they charge. And if the charge more......who knows they might have empty cabins......or maybe not ? the marketing people seem to know their market.

I do thank you for taking the time and effort to share your cruise with us and I think regardless if they did or did not meet your expectations......you probably will be cruising again and expect a little less.....and perhaps enjoy it even more.

 

Wes

[kjfbw]

Perhaps I am not qualified to comment, since Feb will be our first Celebrity cruise--my second and my husbands's first cruise at all. But we are "foodies" of a sort and I have a plan for getting the best out of eating on the Constellation. It's pretty simple.

I have done my research--both on this board and on boards throughout the net. I know what has gotten a positive comment and what has not. While I will not necessarily avoid things that others have panned--everyone has different tastes--I will know the "turf".

I will ask the waiters. I think that there is an unusual opportunity on a cruise ship. A waiter on land must often be obliged to " push " certain dishes ie " We have a lot of this left" or " this is the higher priced dish so push it" . The waiters on a cruise ship have no such needs. What will help them out--with higher tips--will help you out--being veryvery happy. So I expect them to try really hard to get me the best stuff, if I ask them . And I will.

There are a couple of restarants on the islands that I know are good. I will go there for lunch and have a great time.

I figure there is always something good. My only other cruise was a business cruise on Princess where th food was just fine except for one night when there was an amazing rabbit pasta dish. I practically licked my fingers even tho my bosses wife was amazed that I would eat "bunny".

[emcee207]

We are "foodies" also so gotta jump in here and highly recommed a fantastic place on Antigua called Harmony Hall. Last Feb we were on the Connie when they were running the Bon Apetit series. One excursion was to this place. We liked it so much we returned on our own last month while on the Connie again. It was better than the first time. Fantastic food (Italian), fabulous views from your table, beautiful spot on a hill. It is an old sugar mill. Worth the drive for a great lunch. Pricey but well worth it if you really enjoy great food. They have a very nice art gallery also.

[kjfbw]

So Funny. Just reserved my lunch there. Got a nice e-mail back that said they had 3 other rservations from our sailing!

[mari10]

One of the reasons we like second seating, is that the waiters know what was a hit or miss for the main seating. We always asked our waiter what he thought was a good choice. He didn't disappoint us. In fact by mid cruise we had a game going, he would know what I was going to order before I did. On the first night I ordered a shrimp and pasta dish, and Vio (our waiter) cut the tails off the shrimp for me, and then proceeded to cut my Mother's filet. We were pampered beyond expectations.

Is Celebrity perfect? No, but not many things in life are.

 

Mari

[emcee207]

kjfbw, you will love it. Riccardo and Marilisa are the operators and maybe owners. They are great. They just put a new deck on this year and it has a beautiful view. The lobster bisque en croute was the best I ever had and I live in New England. I had a Mezzalune pasta entree with a mint potato filling. I fact I just emailed bon apetit the other day to "request" the recipe. I copied the email to Marilisa and she was much apprecative. They have about 6 rooms ala bed and breakfast type thing also. What we did was hire "Lawrence of Antigua" for the day. Toured the island and they went to Harmony Hall for lunch. It was great. Lawrence has a website, just "google" his name.

bon apetit

Louis and Margo