Why I Won't be Sailing on the Constellation Again

[DaisyRose]

We were also on this 15 night transatlantic cruise. Although a couple of times they did run out of dishes/silverware in the buffet, they were replenished shortly. It did not seem like a big deal to walk to the next area to get what we needed; we never had to go further than the next area. We also noticed a delay in serving food/opening buffet areas at beginning of a meal period. We weren't in a rush, so it didn't really bother us, but did wonder why they were sometimes pretty late in opening up a buffet food area. Did walk past the cigar smoker in the morning, just walked over on the other side to avoid it, but agree, smokers should be in a more "outdoor" type area. We did not sit in the pool area, we enjoy other areas of the ship more, so can't comment on that too much.

 

We got a comment card a few days into the cruise, so it was probably your stateroom steward that just didn't give it out, or perhaps they only give them to a portion of the ship?

 

As for food in the MDR, everything we ordered was outstanding, especially the seafood. We did not get anything we didn't enjoy. But food is subjective, so what one person really enjoys another might feel is practically inedible. We were in Select Dining, and had no problems getting a table, but that was because we always went around opening time at 6 p.m. Perhaps part of the problem is that they took some space away from the MDR for Blu and Luminae. Cruiselines sometimes don't make the dining rooms large enough for the number of people onboard.

 

I really agree about the "overpriced" onboard prices of things, and it is one of my greatest sources of dissatisfaction overall when cruising. Other cruiselines overcharge for onboard purchases as well. I really dislike being ripped off. So, as others have stated, we bring an assortment of health aides so we don't have to pay those prices. Other examples: stateroom bar, $3.50 plus 18% gratuity for a can of soda that is not even 12 ounces. Or, a cup of tea at Cafe Al Bacio $4.50 plus 18% gratuity. Really??? We did not have any soda or tea because of those prices. My DH also caught a cold on this cruise, but we had our Dayquil/Nyquil. I would have been pretty angry if we had to pay $17.99 for it. A little markup, Ok, but that much? I don't understand why cruiselines think it's OK to overcharge their guests with such inflated prices. There was a big push to book another cruise while onboard. We did not. Not sure of my future with Celebrity.

 

What we really liked about this cruise was the size of the ship. Most of the time, public areas were not too crowded. Considering this was an older ship, we thought it was in good condition. The only thing we did see was quite a bit of rust on our balcony. We have been on S class ships and love their beauty and amenities, but bigger and more crowded than we like. Overall, for us, we really enjoyed this cruise. I'm sorry the OP did not have as good a cruise as we did.

[CathyCruises]

There was no smoking in the Sunset Bar (I think it is named the Oceanview Bar) on this cruise.

 

This is the same as on the Silhouette as well. Smoking at the pool and sunset bar. Also one deck up on one side of the jogging track.

 

On the Silhouette, there's the dining area outside of the buffet, and then the actual Sunset bar is one deck above that. That's where cigar smoking is permitted on S class ships. On M class ships, or at least the Connie, the only bar in the aft is adjacent to the ocean view café. No separate sunset bar.

 

 

There is a smoking area on deck 11, above the pool and adjacent to the jogging track. There is also a bar in that vicinity. Because the area is open and well ventilated, that would be preferable for cigar smokers vs being down on the pool deck, in my opinion only.

[Dick in Falls Church]

On same cruise. the major thing that caught my attention was the $5+ bottle of water in the room (for those who can't or won't drink ship water)--and the small bottle of water for about $4 at the gangplank.

 

Other than that, we enjoyed it. Good friends, good tablemates, great service, very good (for the most part) food.

 

I didn't have to make the bed, cook, do dishes, sweep and/or mop the floors, dust the area for two weeks. of course, my wife usually does these chores, and she didn't have to, either.

 

Sure, she got a cold and cough (still has it), but she seems to get that about every trip.

 

Spring trip on the Reflection instead of the Constellation but that is because of price difference at the time.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

In the end, the only opinion that counts is each of our own.

 

Keith

[excitedofharpenden]

Oh, that is great news. There's still an aft sunset bar, though, which was kind of my point. Maybe the OP meant that smoking wasn't allowed on the aft sunset bar anymore.

 

There is no sunset bar on M-Class ships, just the Oceanview Bar.

 

Phil

[4774Papa]

Too bad you didn't enjoy your cruise.

 

I would say that your complaints about the cruise were relatively minor, but generally valid.

 

We are non-smokers and avoid being around smoke of any kind while on a ship. True, the smoking side of the pool area usually has more vacant chairs. You made a choice to be near the smoke, because you wanted a sit there, instead of waiting around for a chair away from the smoke. I don't see a solution that Celebrity could find to that problem, except ban smokers from the pool area. There are already very few places on X ships were they can smoke.

 

Your issue with ice, coffee and silverware is clearly one that X could do better. From time to time, we have had an issue with coffee being available during very heavy periods, but usually the wait is short. Did you complain about the problem.

 

I remember on one cruise we were at the buffet and wanted soup, but there were no soup spoons available. I asked the attendant and it took a few minutes for spoons to materialize. It was a busy time and I was irritated, but in the big picture, not a big deal.

 

You can find these issues on other X ships, so I wonder if you will still cruise on Celebrity?

[Ex-Airbalancer]

OHIP should cover some of the $60 and your travel insurance the rest. :)

I just check with my CFO

Yes you are correct:D

[hillslife]

We just got off the same TA cruise and echo the complaints from the original OP and also the omelette/egg station burner outage. Very frustrating and a real pain to have to search out plates, cups, coffee, utensils everyday for 16 days :rolleyes: May seem trivial to some, but became a big deal when it was not corrected day after day. Also, the buffet tables were rarely bussed, so once you had assembled your meal, you often times had to sit at a tables where you just pushed the dirty dishes to the side and ate your meal! Gross....

 

This was ridiculous and happened daily. I saw many people without plates just taking their food in their hands, including hot toast, due to the lack of plates. A pool side BBQ they hosted led to a physical shoving match between two women over the last plate (yes, I actually saw and heard it, with the line of people applauding the women who took action against the crowder)....so it was an issue for many.

 

We also had some Noro on the ship...so I would think that would have prompted more attention to dishes and utensils to keep all the dirty hands off the food..but didn't seem to make any difference.

 

We are big cruisers, this being only our second on Celebrity....but we were not impressed about several things:(

[WEGL81]

There is no sunset bar on M-Class ships, just the Oceanview Bar.

 

Phil

 

Potato, potahto. I was just on the Infinity and had quite a few drinks from the aft sunset bar. It's the same place regardless of what it's called.

Edited November 22, 2015 by WEGL81

[CathyCruises]

Too bad you didn't enjoy your cruise.

 

I would say that your complaints about the cruise were relatively minor, but generally valid.

 

We are non-smokers and avoid being around smoke of any kind while on a ship. True, the smoking side of the pool area usually has more vacant chairs. You made a choice to be near the smoke, because you wanted a sit there, instead of waiting around for a chair away from the smoke. I don't see a solution that Celebrity could find to that problem, except ban smokers from the pool area. There are already very few places on X ships were they can smoke.

 

Your issue with ice, coffee and silverware is clearly one that X could do better. From time to time, we have had an issue with coffee being available during very heavy periods, but usually the wait is short. Did you complain about the problem.

 

I remember on one cruise we were at the buffet and wanted soup, but there were no soup spoons available. I asked the attendant and it took a few minutes for spoons to materialize. It was a busy time and I was irritated, but in the big picture, not a big deal.

 

You can find these issues on other X ships, so I wonder if you will still cruise on Celebrity?

 

Yes of course we will. I'm not one of those who says, 'i'll NEVER sail Celebrity again!!' Granted these were relatively minor issues, no question, but because they were the norm rather than the exception, they became quite annoying and reflected either poor on-ship management or a refusal from corporate to adequately equip the ship. As I said, particularly in reference to the buffet issues, it would be a simple thing to load on additional plates and cutlery at any port stop to augment the supplies to the extent that these items were always available. The cigar smoking issue is easily rectified.

 

I have never encountered these issues on any other X cruise, which is why I am mentioning them. And again, it's not that we did not enjoy our cruise. Under the circumstances, which include DH recuperating from a heart attack he had aboard the Silhouette a few weeks earlier, we had a good time. But I can't see us choosing to sail on the Constellation at anytime in the foreseeable future.

[wendyatpml]

We were on the Infinity on Oct. 29 and I can say the same for that ship. I did post a review also. I would never go on an M class ship again.

[bobbyprez]

Just a bit of info ncl breakaway also charged $17.99 for NyQuil I wanted to scream when I saw my husband paid that much a day before our cruise was over

[Beanb41]

With smokers now very much in the minority perhaps it is time to also ban cigars on ships

[4774Papa]

We were on the Infinity on Oct. 29 and I can say the same for that ship. I did post a review also. I would never go on an M class ship again.

We have done 9 cruises with Celebrity and 7 were on M class ships. Had no issues on any of those cruises.

 

Never say never.

[yoshi14]

I'm playing the Devil's Advocate here...

 

If you went to your Dr. at home, and IF you didn't have any insurance, I'd be inclined to think that your cost for your appointment would be in the region of over $100.00. We're all quite use to our Insurance paying for a majority of our healthcare costs.

 

Years ago, I had bronchitis on a cruise. I had numerous visits to the Infirmary for inhalation treatments. The final bill was expensive. Around $900.00.

 

I sent it to my Insurance company and was reimbursed everything but my "office visit" co-payment charge.

 

And maybe in the future you'll bring a small bottle of cough meds with you. We do...just in case.

Had the same problem in 2009. Went to the infirmary with bronchitis and after several days of treatment and meds it cost me almost $1900.00. So now I take out trip insurance just incase. At my age you never know what will go wrong.

[kobecat]

It is just as well we are all different. I love the Constellation, we did 3 B2Bs in 2013 and two this year out of Venice and adored them. [emoji4] captain Nicolaus, Christian the guest relations manager and Alexandro the cruise director were amazing.

 

Was there a shortage of plates, don't remember it being an issue, so I would have to say no.

Edited November 23, 2015 by kobecat

[CathyCruises]

It is just as well we are all different. I love the Constellation, we did 3 B2Bs in 2013 and two this year out of Venice and adored them. [emoji4] captain Nicolaus, Christian the guest relations manager and Alexandro the cruise director were amazing.

 

Was there a shortage of plates, don't remember it being an issue, so I would have to say no.

 

None of those were on our cruise AFAIK. Def not captain or cruise director. Since multiple people who were on the same cruise have agreed that there was a shortage of basic supplies, I wonder what's changed since you most recent cruise. Breakage? Broken dishwashers? PPL?

[Cruise Raider]

Had the same problem in 2009. Went to the infirmary with bronchitis and after several days of treatment and meds it cost me almost $1900.00. So now I take out trip insurance just incase. At my age you never know what will go wrong.

 

Holy moly ... that is expensive for bronchitis....not that it cannot be serious.

I experienced a complete tear of my ACL (on Princess) and went to the doctor. All told, my doctor's bill came to $130...and a refund on my future excursions that were booked, even though I was past the deadline in which I could cancel. So, I actually came out a bit ahead by going to the infirmary.

Included for that $130, which I retrieved as I had insurance, was a visit by the doctor, an x-ray, anti-inflammatories, pain meds (which I didn't use but the same price if I took them or not), a knee brace (and a second one as the first one was too tight once the swelling really took hold) and the use of a wheelchair until I could get back on my feet (which was only until the next day). If I got a bill for $1900, I would have freaked out .. even though I had insurance. While, I am not sure how much they did for you, but that seems awfully expensive for antibiotics. There must have been something else they provided for you to add up to those high charges. If not, there seems to be a huge disparity in the medical charges between cruise lines. yikes!

[Orator]

None of those were on our cruise AFAIK. Def not captain or cruise director. Since multiple people who were on the same cruise have agreed that there was a shortage of basic supplies, I wonder what's changed since you most recent cruise. Breakage? Broken dishwashers? PPL?

 

Captain on this cruise was Tasos. Cruise Director was Sinan. I found both to be very passenger friendly and very involved in the activities. IMHO both were truly outstanding as are Nickolas and Alejendro.

[clojacks]

It is just as well we are all different. I love the Constellation, we did 3 B2Bs in 2013 and two this year out of Venice and adored them. [emoji4] captain Nicolaus, Christian the guest relations manager and Alexandro the cruise director were amazing.

 

Was there a shortage of plates, don't remember it being an issue, so I would have to say no.

 

I couldn't tell you the Capt, Guest Relations head, or CD on any of our 15 cruises. Including the one we got off 15 days ago. What am I missing that makes these people stand out? What would precipitate someone remembering a Capt? I'm just curious....

[bEwAbG]

I couldn't tell you the Capt, Guest Relations head, or CD on any of our 15 cruises. Including the one we got off 15 days ago. What am I missing that makes these people stand out? What would precipitate someone remembering a Capt? I'm just curious....

 

The Captain and the CD are the public faces you see most. You would have to not turn on the TV or go to the theater to miss them entirely.

 

When I was on the Connie last February, there were a few times that they ran out of plates and utensils during lunch in the buffet. There was one day when the silverware was out of stock for almost 15 minutes and a group of people formed waiting for a way to eat the food that was getting cold. It didn't happen again, probably because of the complaints. But, there was never any explanation for the delay. Having worked as a dishwasher when I was in high school (20-odd years ago), I can tell you that those commercial machines can run a cycle in less than a minute, so it was likely an issue of not bussing tables quickly enough.

[clojacks]

I mean, I see the Captain usually introduced at one of the production shows, but I don't ever recall remembering the Captains name. I'm not trying to trash those who remember every officer or personality on the ships, I'm just asking what makes a Captain memorable other than getting me home safely?

[Orator]

I mean, I see the Captain usually introduced at one of the production shows, but I don't ever recall remembering the Captains name. I'm not trying to trash those who remember every officer or personality on the ships, I'm just asking what makes a Captain memorable other than getting me home safely?

 

Take some more cruises with Tasos, his brother or a number of other Celebrity Captains and you'll find out.

[RickT]

To the OP, sorry you didn't enjoy the cruise.

 

We each make our own decisions on why we will or will not do something again. You appear to have made your decision and as long as you are OK with that decision it doesn't matter if anyone here had a great cruise or questions yoru decision.

 

At this point I've been very satisfied (lucky?) on the M-Class and S-Class ships. The only issue I ever had that made me stop sailing another cruise line was on Princess a number of years ago. I took a lot of grief from some folks on cruisecritic when I posted why, but again it was my decision and I was very comfortable with the decision and have not sailed them since.

 

The only thing I ever say in life, never say never because you don't know when the situation may be different and you'll give it another try.

 

And while I agree the price of Nyquil was high, it's regular price here in Canada is $14 :rolleyes:

[jules815]

To the OP, sorry you didn't enjoy the cruise.

 

We each make our own decisions on why we will or will not do something again. You appear to have made your decision and as long as you are OK with that decision it doesn't matter if anyone here had a great cruise or questions yoru decision.

 

At this point I've been very satisfied (lucky?) on the M-Class and S-Class ships. The only issue I ever had that made me stop sailing another cruise line was on Princess a number of years ago. I took a lot of grief from some folks on cruisecritic when I posted why, but again it was my decision and I was very comfortable with the decision and have not sailed them since.

 

The only thing I ever say in life, never say never because you don't know when the situation may be different and you'll give it another try.

 

And while I agree the price of Nyquil was high, it's regular price here in Canada is $14 :rolleyes:

 

Thanks for posting. Our first Celebrity cruise will be on Constellation in March. I'm sure we'll have a great time. :)