Constellation. Meh. My Trivial Opinions.

[Aquahound]

I just returned from 4 nights on the Constellation. All in all, we had a good time on this cruise, but it wasn't quite the Celebrity experience we've come to love. In fact, I was a little disappointed. Please note, I did say "trivial" in the title because I do understand these are only my opnions. Here are my grades.

 

First, this cruise was immediately following an Indonesian crewmember committing suicide, so my condolences go out to his family and friends.

 

Embarkation - A. This cruise now ranks as the earliest I've ever boarded. We were aboard at 10:50 am. The only thing that keeps it from getting an A+ is the terminal. They make you enter through a back door at Terminal 4. If you get there a few minutes early, it feels like you're dumpster diving behind a 7-11. Getting to the parking garage after dropping off luggage was also a little confusing.

 

Upsales - F. This is one thing that really disappointed me about this cruise. Ordinarily, I have no problem just saying "no thank you" when they hawk booze packages, spa treatments or specialty restaurants. But this was ridiculous. We sat down in the Oceanview Cafe at 11:30 and were there about 45 minutes. After 3 solicitations, we started counting. In those 45 minutes, we were solicited 13 times, often by the same people. It was very annoying.

 

Select Dining - F. Our reservations were at 7 pm every night. On both nights 1 and 2, it was a disaster. We sat a good 20 minutes before being greeted by anyone other than the sommelier. After ordering, by the time we received our first course, we had been sitting 45 minutes. Waters weren't refilled and they were very slow to clear empty dishes. Had we stayed for dessert, it likely would have been a 3 hour dining experience. I'm not sure what the problem was, but we decided not to return to the MDR after 2 nights of awful service and mediocre food.

 

Ocean Liners - C. On the topic of food, we tried Ocean Liners on night 4. We did this because the Maitre' D approached us earlier in the day and told us we could eat for 20% off. The food was pretty good. My wife loved the venison, but I'd say my rack of lamb was just ok. No way do I think this restaurant is worth $45 per person. In hindsight, I wish we would have gone to Tuscan. And of course, when the bill came, we were charged the full amount. I just let it go because we were planning on eating specialty that night anyways.

 

Captain's Club - A. I think Celebrity has a good thing going with the CC. We are fortunate in that we have been invited to the Captain's Table on every single one of our Celebrity cruises. I don't know why or how, but we have. However, I will say, Celebrity created monsters with this new program. I had the "pleasure" of meeting a man who felt he needed to introduce himself to everyone as a Zenith member and Celebrity's #3 cruiser. To that man...if you or your coat-tail riding son are reading this, you should probably lay off the Zenith thing a little bit. That's probably why no one would hang out with you.

 

Room Attendant - A+. Our room attendant, Roger from Honduras, was excellent. He was very friendly, easy to talk to, and we had no issues with our room.

 

Bar Service - B. I give it a B because while service in the indoor bars was excellent, it was very difficult to get a drink near the pools. Both times I tried to get a beer, both the pool bar and mast bar only had 1 bartender...on a sea day! Also, at the Oceanview Bar, they allowed smoking on both sides. We sat at the bar on the starboard side and watched as people carried the ash trays over to the starbaord side. I said something to the bartender, but was told he couldn't do anything about it....right before he asked us to remember him on the comment card. :rolleyes:

 

Entertainment - B. The shows were just ok. Nothing special. However, Liars Club was hilarious. It's worth it to see that show. The Captain played and was very funny. There was no show on night 4. Instead, they threw a SB party in the theater. They did a good job with it, but were unable to keep the food warm.

 

It wasn't a bad cruise and of course, we did enjoy ourselves. This was just a notch below what we've come to love about Celebrity. Any comments or questions, feel free to ask. :)

[kelmac]

I just returned from 4 nights on the Constellation. All in all, we had a good time on this cruise, but it wasn't quite the Celebrity experience we've come to love. In fact, I was a little disappointed. Please note, I did say "trivial" in the title because I do understand these are only my opnions. Here are my grades.

 

First, this cruise was immediately following an Indonesian crewmember committing suicide, so my condolences go out to his family and friends.

 

Embarkation - A. This cruise now ranks as the earliest I've ever boarded. We were aboard at 10:50 am. The only thing that keeps it from getting an A+ is the terminal. They make you enter through a back door at Terminal 4. If you get there a few minutes early, it feels like you're dumpster diving behind a 7-11. Getting to the parking garage after dropping off luggage was also a little confusing.

 

Upsales - F. This is one thing that really disappointed me about this cruise. Ordinarily, I have no problem just saying "no thank you" when they hawk booze packages, spa treatments or specialty restaurants. But this was ridiculous. We sat down in the Oceanview Cafe at 11:30 and were there about 45 minutes. After 3 solicitations, we started counting. In those 45 minutes, we were solicited 13 times, often by the same people. It was very annoying.

 

Select Dining - F. Our reservations were at 7 pm every night. On both nights 1 and 2, it was a disaster. We sat a good 20 minutes before being greeted by anyone other than the sommelier. After ordering, by the time we received our first course, we had been sitting 45 minutes. Waters weren't refilled and they were very slow to clear empty dishes. Had we stayed for dessert, it likely would have been a 3 hour dining experience. I'm not sure what the problem was, but we decided not to return to the MDR after 2 nights of awful service and mediocre food.

 

Ocean Liners - C. On the topic of food, we tried Ocean Liners on night 4. We did this because the Maitre' D approached us earlier in the day and told us we could eat for 20% off. The food was pretty good. My wife loved the venison, but I'd say my rack of lamb was just ok. No way do I think this restaurant is worth $45 per person. In hindsight, I wish we would have gone to Tuscan. And of course, when the bill came, we were charged the full amount. I just let it go because we were planning on eating specialty that night anyways.

 

Captain's Club - A. I think Celebrity has a good thing going with the CC. We are fortunate in that we have been invited to the Captain's Table on every single one of our Celebrity cruises. I don't know why or how, but we have. However, I will say, Celebrity created monsters with this new program. I had the "pleasure" of meeting a man who felt he needed to introduce himself to everyone as a Zenith member and Celebrity's #3 cruiser. To that man...if you or your coat-tail riding son are reading this, you should probably lay off the Zenith thing a little bit. That's probably why no one would hang out with you.

 

Room Attendant - A+. Our room attendant, Roger from Honduras, was excellent. He was very friendly, easy to talk to, and we had no issues with our room.

 

Bar Service - B. I give it a B because while service in the indoor bars was excellent, it was very difficult to get a drink near the pools. Both times I tried to get a beer, both the pool bar and mast bar only had 1 bartender...on a sea day! Also, at the Oceanview Bar, they allowed smoking on both sides. We sat at the bar on the starboard side and watched as people carried the ash trays over to the starbaord side. I said something to the bartender, but was told he couldn't do anything about it....right before he asked us to remember him on the comment card. :rolleyes:

 

Entertainment - B. The shows were just ok. Nothing special. However, Liars Club was hilarious. It's worth it to see that show. The Captain played and was very funny. There was no show on night 4. Instead, they threw a SB party in the theater. They did a good job with it, but were unable to keep the food warm.

 

It wasn't a bad cruise and of course, we did enjoy ourselves. This was just a notch below what we've come to love about Celebrity. Any comments or questions, feel free to ask. :)

 

Hi Paul,

 

I think these short cruises all have the same vibe!? We did the Millennium for five days a couple of years ago. We had issues with that cruise. This past Thanksgiving we did a four night cruise on Princess -- not great. The guests, the crew, the officers -- seems like no one gets into the "flow" of a cruise. Everything is a bit off.

My wife and I have agreed that 7 nights is the shortest cruise we will consider, and 10 or more nights is where it's at. Since my wife is still teaching, we are limited to her schedule, but no matter how much we are longing for the sea, no more short cruises.:rolleyes::D

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[jackdiamond]

I agree with Kel.

[miched]

It is very funny that you should mention the Zenith member and his bragging.

 

Years ago we were checking in for a Carnival cruise. A person that looked like a street bum and appeared to be in his 70s was checking in at the next window over. The clerk asked him how he arrived, he said that he flew his plane in and took a cab from the airport loud enough for those around to hear. He then looked at us and let us know that it was his 176 cruise on Carnival and he doesn't like the other lines because of all the old farts.

 

I would say that before the end of the night he told everyone on the ship how many cruises he was on. He was very annoying. The crew and staff tried to avoid him. He kept this up for the whole cruise. Every cruise that we were on they would recognize the passenger that had sailed the most. Amazingly they didn't mention it on this one.

 

He traveled by himself and was probably lonely but it was like a vicious circle. He was lonely because he was annoying and because he was lonely he was trying to impress everyone by bragging. The way people avoided him after the first day it was as if he was wearing a sign claiming that he had a contagious disease and keep away.

 

 

🌅🌴🍸🍻

[Aquahound]

Hi Paul,

 

I think these short cruises all have the same vibe!? We did the Millennium for five days a couple of years ago. We had issues with that cruise. This past Thanksgiving we did a four night cruise on Princess -- not great. The guests, the crew, the officers -- seems like no one gets into the "flow" of a cruise. Everything is a bit off.

 

You could be right. I seem to remember having some similar issues on the Century a few years ago. Celebrity doesn't have permanent 4 night itineraries like other cruise lines, so they may not have figured them out yet.

[miched]

 

Bar Service - B. I give it a B because while service in the indoor bars was excellent, it was very difficult to get a drink near the pools. Both times I tried to get a beer, both the pool bar and mast bar only had 1 bartender...on a sea day! Also, at the Oceanview Bar, they allowed smoking on both sides. We sat at the bar on the starboard side and watched as people carried the ash trays over to the starbaord side. I said something to the bartender, but was told he couldn't do anything about it....right before he asked us to remember him on the comment card. :rolleyes:

 

Entertainment - B. The shows were just ok. Nothing special. However, Liars Club was hilarious. It's worth it to see that show. The Captain played and was very funny. There was no show on night 4. Instead, they threw a SB party in the theater. They did a good job with it, but were unable to keep the food warm.

 

:)

 

I seen a person using their fingers grabbing food out of the trays in the buffet.

 

There was a attendant in the restroom cleaning and opening the door and a person walks outs without washing their hands.

 

A person was filing up a personal container at the beverage dispenser directly for the spout.

 

I informed workers about each incident and was told the same by all of them, I can't do anything about it.

 

Celebrity tends to be very lax on rules that affect the health of the passengers but apparently their ability of not being able to do anything doesn't apply when it comes to bringing alcohol on board.

 

🌅🌴🍸🍻

[Aquahound]

There was a attendant in the restroom cleaning and opening the door and a person walks outs without washing their hands.

 

Yeah, that's a problem with the cruise industry. Crew get in trouble and sometimes even fired if a guest complains about them. It's gotten to the point they are afraid to say anything. Well, that worked against them at the bar, because I did complain on the comment card about them not enforcing the smoking rules.

[Iamthesea]

Thank you for your review. :)

 

 

Upsales - F. This is one thing that really disappointed me about this cruise. Ordinarily, I have no problem just saying "no thank you" when they hawk booze packages, spa treatments or specialty restaurants. But this was ridiculous. We sat down in the Oceanview Cafe at 11:30 and were there about 45 minutes. After 3 solicitations, we started counting. In those 45 minutes, we were solicited 13 times, often by the same people. It was very annoying.

 

Isn't solicitation against the rules on Celebrity? :D

Were there any Specialty Restaurant solicitations in the OV Café that morning?

 

Bar Service - B. I give it a B because while service in the indoor bars was excellent, it was very difficult to get a drink near the pools. Both times I tried to get a beer, both the pool bar and mast bar only had 1 bartender...on a sea day! Also, at the Oceanview Bar, they allowed smoking on both sides. We sat at the bar on the starboard side and watched as people carried the ash trays over to the starbaord side. I said something to the bartender, but was told he couldn't do anything about it....right before he asked us to remember him on the comment card. :rolleyes:

Thank you for putting on your comment card that the crew would do nothing. I would not have taken that for an answer, though. I don't have a problem telling other passengers when they are breaking the rules that bother me. ;)

It wasn't a bad cruise and of course, we did enjoy ourselves. This was just a notch below what we've come to love about Celebrity. Any comments or questions, feel free to ask. :)

 

Glad you had a good time. What type of accommodations did you have?

 

[4774Papa]

I agree with Kel.

ditto

[mafig]

We'll be on Century Feb. 15 and I've read the guess is that we'll be at Terminal 4.

DH usually drives, but he had a medical issue and I'll be driving this time. I'm a little nervous about it. Can you give me any tips on what to do after dropping your luggage off with the porters. How to get to parking?

[Aquahound]

Thank you for your review. :)

 

You're welcome. :)

 

We were in OV 3010. We booked last minute and this was all we could get in to. At a rate of $209, it was a great deal.

 

Yes, they did solicit the specialty restaurants in the OV Cafe that morning.

[cle-guy]

We'll be on Century Feb. 15 and I've read the guess is that we'll be at Terminal 4.

DH usually drives, but he had a medical issue and I'll be driving this time. I'm a little nervous about it. Can you give me any tips on what to do after dropping your luggage off with the porters. How to get to parking?

 

See this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1984321

[Cruising5650]

This is at least the second "meh" opinion of the Constellation within the last week. As I leave in 8 days I am starting to get worried.

[stormynow]

Just off the 5 day Constellation and the X "vibe" just wasn't there. Felt like a CCL. Think the free drink pkg alot to do with it. Nothing against CCL or NCL, sail them alot more than X. But usually know what to expect.

[CaroleSS]

This is at least the second "meh" opinion of the Constellation within the last week. As I leave in 8 days I am starting to get worried.

 

If you go into it 'worried' you are more than likely to have a 'meh' vacation!

 

I would agree that the shorter cruises have a different feel than the longer ones....more harried and a slightly different clientele. We are also doing a short cruise on the Connie, but I plan to have a FABULOUS time - regardless of the food, regardless of the chair hogs, regardless of the smokers,.......

 

I'll be on vacation with 2000 "not yet my friends".....and I won't be sitting in front of my computer. It just doesn't get any better than that!

[Cindy]

I'm hoping "meh" is more of a function of the short cruise than anything else...the reviews from her long European cruises last year were very good. Interestingly enough, my two least favorite cruises were short cruises -- one RCI and one Carnival. The service and food on our 5-Night Royal Caribbean cruise (Explorer OTS) were so bad we might never have taken another RCI cruise if that had been our first. There may or may not be something to that theory, but I do think there's a different vibe on a shorter cruise, and it seemed to me like the short cruises attracted more first timers.

[Iamthesea]

Cindy - I will let y'all know how my 5 night cruise goes. I plan to have a good time, so hope that happens. :D

 

You're welcome. :)

 

We were in OV 3010. We booked last minute and this was all we could get in to. At a rate of $209, it was a great deal.

 

Yes, they did solicit the specialty restaurants in the OV Cafe that morning.

 

Thank you. My cruise is 7 weeks out and there seems to be loads of availability right now. :cool: The prices will probably drop after the end of February ( the 1-2-3 Promo disappears) and the staterooms will fill up.

[cle-guy]

My 1st cruise was a 4 night on Connie. Loved it, booked a 13 night TA. LOVED that. Did 7 night, Liked it, just did 5 night again on Connie, and liked it.

 

Now that I get cruising a bit more, the 1st day or 2 are always "off" as people get bearings and schedules, the last day i busy getting ready to leave.

 

Als, I think a lot of first-timers end up on the shorter cruises, so the cruiser is widely varied cruise-to-cruise.

 

I'll still do another cruise on Connie, even short, I just understand it's gonna be a different experience than a 7 or 13 night cruise is by its own design.

 

I talked to many fist timers on ours, and told them all, don't judge the line by this particular cruise for this very reason.

[Gracie115]

We were on Connie in December and had a wonderful time. We were also on her last April and while we had a great cruise we were also in Select Dining for the April cruise and experienced much the same as the OP....it was awful, we felt like cattle being herded in & out. Our December cruise we were in AQ and dined in Blu and it was great. We thought bar service on BOTH trips was great, Tuscan Grill was wonderful, the ship itself is in great condition and we thought service, especially on the Dec. cruise was very good. Both trips were 5 night cruises and we normally take longer. For anyone getting ready to sail on Connie the only thing I might advise to avoid would be the Select Dining option, especially if you want to dine between 6:00 and 7:30.....other than that can't imagine anyone not having a great time on the Connie!!!:)

[dandee2]

Adaptation is the word that comes to mind. We visited Cuba on numerous occasion as a family and did 2 cruises with Windstar last year. We probably experienced both end of the spectrum and we found positive aspect with both experience.

 

If I can get a few hours to finish a book on deck, enjoy the company of fellow passengers and get a decent meal aboard, I and the rest of the family will be happy:)

 

We just need to get away from the cold and the snow:D We're on the March 3rd sailing.

 

dandee2

[perico1206]

We were on the Connie last week on the 5 nt. cruise. We booked Aqua and always ate breakfast and dinner in Blu, the food was great and the service was great, too. I have decided to avoid the Oceanview Café as much as possible on most cruises except for the pizza, of course! If I get a salad, I ask the server to put it in my bowl because I don't like to touch the tongs....gives me the willies. It does appear that you get a little more frantic vibe on shorter cruises, there was a lot of drunken behavior at times, too. Getting a chair was impossible most of the time so I just stayed on our balcony and read. I love the Connie and plan on going on her again real soon but I do understand how shorter cruises might not appeal to the many cruisers.

[dana77kc]

I agree with Kel.

 

And I concur with jackdiamond

[Aquahound]

...there was a lot of drunken behavior at times, too.

 

Just off the 5 day Constellation and the X "vibe" just wasn't there. Felt like a CCL. Think the free drink pkg alot to do with it. Nothing against CCL or NCL, sail them alot more than X. But usually know what to expect.

 

These are good points. A LOT of people had the booze package...either because they purchased it on board or got it when they booked. At times, it seemed as though I was the only one who didn't have it. Obnoxious drunks were definitely a lot more prevelant on aboard compared to my previous Celebrity cruises. In fact, I'd say the level of drunkenness was higher than my short RCI cruises.

[robtulipe]

We'll be on Century Feb. 15 and I've read the guess is that we'll be at Terminal 4.

DH usually drives, but he had a medical issue and I'll be driving this time. I'm a little nervous about it. Can you give me any tips on what to do after dropping your luggage off with the porters. How to get to parking?

I imagine that guess is based on the fact that the Independence and Liberty will likely be at pier 22 and 24 and Oasis will be at its usual pier 16.;)

I certainly hope this is correct as we are disembarking Ruby Princess, which should be at pier 2 but the Crown Princess is also in that day, for our next cruise, which is on Century.:D

On today's PE ship schedule Century is at pier 4 disembarking passengers only after its PC cruise before sailing for its dry dock in Grand Bahamas.:)

Edited February 4, 2014 by robtulipe

[excitedofharpenden]

These are good points. A LOT of people had the booze package...either because they purchased it on board or got it when they booked. At times, it seemed as though I was the only one who didn't have it. Obnoxious drunks were definitely a lot more prevelant on aboard compared to my previous Celebrity cruises. In fact, I'd say the level of drunkenness was higher than my short RCI cruises.

I think part of the issue (apart from the itinerary) is that an unlimited drinks package on a short cruise isn't many $$$s compared to paying say $700 or $800 on a longer cruise. I've only done three short cruises and they definitely have a different feel, atmosphere and passenger mix onboard. For me they aren't a favourite, but if it works with dates and friends who join me I'll do one. Your issue with the Maître d' isn't acceptable on a cruise of any length.

 

Phil