Chasing Constellation from Rome to Arabian Nights November 2016

[chemmo]

As I am grounded until the New Year with some health issues I am so enjoying following your cruise diary both in port and on ship....Thank you!

[maggie.1008]

Hi Jenna, Dee, Mary Anne and Deb. Back home and jet lagged after a wonderful Oceania cruise. So sorry we did not see you in Rome. Loving the review. Stay in touch, Heather

[Stem to Stern]

Jenna, I stumbled upon your thread during a spell of insomnia early this morning in FL. You have such a talent for this, so stopping the read before being fully caught up is impossible. I previously enjoyed your South American adventure. Please keep the pictures coming. I loved all of the precruise details. Since Connie already has Tuscan (which failed us also in January on Sillie) does this mean Ocean Liners will remain? Thanks again! May the rest of your journey be as fabulous. All the best to you and Dee. Paul

 

 

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[need2bespoiled]

Hi Jenna, Dee, Mary Anne and Deb. Back home and jet lagged after a wonderful Oceania cruise. So sorry we did not see you in Rome. Loving the review. Stay in touch, Heather

 

Hello Heather! Wish we could have connectd along the way, but we're having a wonderful time, next time maybe we can sail together. Safe journeys and...

 

Happy sailing!

Jenna

[need2bespoiled]

Jenna, I stumbled upon your thread during a spell of insomnia early this morning in FL. You have such a talent for this, so stopping the read before being fully caught up is impossible. I previously enjoyed your South American adventure. Please keep the pictures coming. I loved all of the precruise details. Since Connie already has Tuscan (which failed us also in January on Sillie) does this mean Ocean Liners will remain? Thanks again! May the rest of your journey be as fabulous. All the best to you and Dee. Paul

 

 

Thank you for your kind words. I am soon to post on yesterday's adventure but then they will slow a bit as sea days dominate the next portion of our trip.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[Rob the Cruiser]

Thank you for your kind words. I am soon to post on yesterday's adventure but then they will slow a bit as sea days dominate the next portion of our trip.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

Everyone who has cruised with you knows that you spend sea days at Martini Bar!! :D

 

Rebecca and I miss you.

[need2bespoiled]

Everyone who has cruised with you knows that you spend sea days at Martini Bar!! :D

 

Rebecca and I miss you.

 

Awe, don't tell everyone where to find me, they may know me online, but I hide on the ship ;)

 

You need to join 2016 and find me no social media, I post pics there first :D

 

Best to Rebecca and you, don't get into any trouble (without me).

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[need2bespoiled]

Yesterday was one of those truly amazing and memorable days among so many. As I recline on the aft deck slowly meandering through the Greek Islands as we make our way to Athens, I feel like I am on my own private yacht. I know, I have found Constellation and recognize how truly lucky I am. It’s not overly sunny or hot but I couldn’t think of a place I would rather be. Sure, dinner last night in Luminae was not perfect, and in general we’d say the quality of food has been hit or miss and while service in general has not always been perfect, it has been charming and accommodating.

 

Connie at dusk yesterday in Kusadasi, taken by my friend Jennifer

 

One previous poster asked about time changes. The night before last, we found out that the ship would not move its clock ahead by 1 hour to match Kusadsi so we would be one hour behind all day. We emailed our guide Ozan to let him know we would be meeting at 9am his time (8am our time). He was there, waiting for us for an hour when we arrived. While it was brisker than it had been, the weather forecast was favorable, to add to a string of amazing weather. Along with Toni, Dee, Kathy and Jean from our roll call we hopped into a very nice Sprinter van, with a bench seat for four, 2 fore and aft seats around a table, as well as s single forward facing seat and the front “shotgun’ seat which Dee grabs to keep her motion sickness down. Save the flies, the van was nicer than average. The drive to Pamukkale would be nearly 2.5 hours along bumpy roads. The drive did not seem so bad as Ozan kept us occupied with just the right amount of history, facts and question answering.

 

At about half way we stopped at a convenience store to use the restroom, some refreshments and a few small souvenirs (I bought a heel stone). MUCH cheaper than the normal tourist locations. We headed into the town of Pamukkale the back way through a town that has a unique custom. Houses where unmarried women live, have a glass bottle on the roof, indicating such to possible suitors.

 

And then past many cotton fields. Pamukkale means “Cotton Castle” but the name is not derived from the cotton grown on the third largest plane in Turkey but I will get to that.

 

Unharvested cotton

 

The fields

 

Our first site of the mountain Pamukkale is perched on, from the van:

 

Our first stop was an Onyx factory as Toni had asked to stop at a jewelry store. In addition to the amazing Onyx, this factory store also has a large selection of Zultanite and other semi-precious stones. This is a stone that changes color based on light (or some say mood).

 

We learned that the difference between Marble and Oynx is that Marble is not translucent and Onyx (except for Black Oynx is). Oynx is also a bit softer allowing it to be carved into almost anything you can imagine and comes in many, many colors. We watched them carve and polish stone.

[YOUTUBE]

[/YOUTUBE]

 

To be continued . . .

[need2bespoiled]

They had mugs, cups, bowels, vases, chess sets, fruits, you name it, they were turning into objects of use. Bringing it home is a bit challenging as it is still stone and would certainly impact your baggage allowances. The salespeople were pleasant and eager, not overly pressuring and mostly left us to shop (we were the only ones in the store while we were there. We seemed to get good deals, but unless you are an expert on jewelry it is hard to know. Prices were based on weight. We bought a couple of small cups that we will use for tea lights that let amazing colors of light through and will remind us of this day every time we use them. Darlene also picked up a ring and Toni picked up a pair of beautiful earrings. Kathy picked up stone grapes to add to her collection of fruit in addition to a few other items.

 

From there we all agreed on a local meal of Turkish Pancakes. We started with “Yellow Cheese” (probably a type of Provolone), Spinach, and Mixed of the three and then a “White Cheese” (a type of what we would call Goat Cheese or Feta). With a side of fries, a taste of Yogurt water (it tastes just like it sounds), and apple tea for dessert we were full and ready to head up to the Ancient City of Pamukkale.

 

Our meal being prepared

 

Unlike many of the places we visited this city was never lost and has always been known to locals. It was destroyed by a 9+ magnitude earthquake. We entered the old city through an amazing Arch gateway,

 

Like all Roman cities, there is the requisite theater

 

And wandered down to the Travertine “mountain”.

 

There is some walking, but Dee managed each way without issue. You can rent power trikes or golf carts for the mobility challenged, so this is a site anyone could do. The cotton grown below was used as padding on the ships to keep the stone blocks being shipped abroad from being chipped but this is not why it was called “Cotton Castle”. The striking white landscape why they call it the cotton castle! It is truly amazing. It looks more like ice or snow than stone.

 

The views are breathtaking and truly worth it!

 

To be continued . . .

[need2bespoiled]

You can walk (barefoot only) on the stone or soak in the pools for free. You can also swim in Cleopatra’s Pool (for a small additional fee), visit the overpriced souvenir shop or cafeteria (if you can manage to deal with the second-hand smoke). I went for a dip in the pools above

 

While the others chose Cleopatra’s pool

 

I later joined the others in the pool, and thought the ancient columns which fell into the pool are so neat

 

We had roughly 2 hours or so total and about 90 minutes of “free time” to enjoy the pools. While there were many tourists there were none from the ship and you could find your space. The ride back was a but harrowing. We arrived before 8p (ships time) for a 9:30p all about but for some reason our driver was in a hurry, driving often at 140 clicks (kph or 87 mph) on roads that would often be considered country roads in the U.S. We all had our seatbelts on, but no one said anything which in hindsight was probably a mistake. The Sunset was beautiful, but at 85+ mph it was hard to get a good shot

 

Connie was in full glory as we arrived back to Kusadasis.

 

Tonight, we’ll visit Ocean Liners. Between Murano, the now missing SS United States, SS Normandie and Ocean Liners we’ve dinned in the Celebrity French themed restaurant enough times to know the menu. To answer a previous poster’s question, we were told by the F&B Director that Ocean Liners is staying since Constellation already has Tuscan Grill. He did hint that the room might be split into two restaurants as it is rather large but as I expect with all rumors we hear onboard, it is just that and until there is an official announcement, I would not believe it as fact.

 

I know there has been much discussion on Sushi on 5. We’ve enjoyed three meals there and so far, it has been the only dining room not to let us down. We’re happy with the Sashimi / chirashi sushi bowls and 1 maki for an excellent meal with quality tea and fresh wasabi.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[Woobstr112G]

Great nighttime picture of the Connie. I'm glad to hear Ocean Liners is staying. I'm also glad you enjoyed Sushi on 5. I'm looking forward to trying it the next time we sail Celebrity.....:):):)

 

Bob

Edited November 13, 2016 by Woobstr112G

[need2bespoiled]

I couldn't wait to post these four pics of the sun setting and moon rising. It will be one of the largest moons of my lifetime tomorrow when we depart Athens.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

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[BEAV]

Thanks again for sharing your wonderful adventures with all of us. Thoroughly enjoyable! ;)

[suekay]

Love the photo of the moon rising. I always find the moonlight reflecting on the water magical

[Gitte]

Thanks for your posting and the beautiful pictures Jenna. We look forward to the Constellation tomorrow.

Gitte

[Moonraker7]

Today's the day!!! Had a good evening at the taverna!!

[need2bespoiled]

Gitte and Moonracker and a few other posters here who have commented, looking forward to having you join the fun. We're heading off the ship in a few for the day, but we'll see you for Sail-away tomorrow.

 

Dinner in Ocean Liners last night was an epic three hour feast. Constellation TOTALLY spoiled us with our B2B change over and breakfast service this morning which I will try and share a bit about later.

 

I went for a run in Piraeus this morning, charming little town.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[need2bespoiled]

Just to be thorough and to help folks on future cruises below is a link to the Celebrity Today issues for the entire cruise plus a few other useful documents. Not much new here. The following cruise will likely be more useful as it is a much more rarely traveled itinerary.

 

This file is over 54mb so be patient to download.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9anh2yw7k3psngc/Constellation%2011-2-2016%20Rome%20to%20Athens20161114190613148.pdf?dl=0

 

Hopefully it works.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

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Edited November 14, 2016 by need2bespoiled

[caribill]

Just to be thorough and to help folks on future cruises below is a link to the Celebrity Today issues for the entire cruise plus a few other useful documents. Not much new here.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9anh2yw7k3psngc/Constellation%2011-2-2016%20Rome%20to%20Athens20161114190613148.pdf?dl=0

 

 

 

Thanks very much. It is very appreciated as we have not been on Celebrity before, so it is all new to us.

 

It did work, but one page (page 2 for Haifa) did not come out well.

[suekay]

You said you were relaxing in the aft deck.......on previous cruises on Constellation and Millenium we've enjoyed the peace of the sundeck on deck 12. Is it still peaceful now that the movie screen has been installed? I hope so as we hate the noise by the pool but love sunbathing

Edited November 15, 2016 by suekay

[Castaway24]

Just to be thorough and to help folks on future cruises below is a link to the Celebrity Today issues for the entire cruise plus a few other useful documents. Not much new here. The following cruise will likely be more useful as it is a much more rarely traveled itinerary.

 

This file is over 54mb so be patient to download.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9anh2yw7k3psngc/Constellation%2011-2-2016%20Rome%20to%20Athens20161114190613148.pdf?dl=0

 

Hopefully it works.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

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Thank you - this is great.

 

 

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[need2bespoiled]

Thanks very much. It is very appreciated as we have not been on Celebrity before, so it is all new to us.

 

It did work, but one page (page 2 for Haifa) did not come out well.

 

I have pictures of them all, I will try and re-upload but it may take a while. Give me 24 hours.

 

You said you were relaxing in the aft deck.......on previous cruises on Constellation and Millenium we've enjoyed the peace of the sundeck on deck 12. Is it still peaceful now that the movie screen has been installed? I hope so as we hate the noise by the pool but love sunbathing

 

We are in an aft balcony, so our "aft deck" is on the back of our cabin. We have not been up to deck 12 on this cruise, HOWEVER Constellation will not have a big screen until May. We preiviously cruised on Infinity with the frist one installed (last year, see link below in my signature) and it was not a bother. You will certainly NOT be able to hear it by the pool.

 

Thank you to all who are reading this who are now on board, it was nice meeting everyone at the sail-a-way party!!

 

Tuscan totally redeems themselves last night, we had the best dinner of the cruise of so far last night there. Sushi 5 continues to impress us, always a yummy meal for fish lovers!

 

It is WINDY and COLD today. Nearly impossible to be outside or on deck. All of our furniture is piled up against the partition. Brrrrrrrrrrr

 

Off to Trivia :) We've won twice so far, wish me luck!

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[Tubasop]

I am enjoying reading your posts and looking at your great pictures. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this.:)

 

Karen

[suekay]

Thanks for the update on the movie screen. That's really good news (for us) Enjoy the rest of your cruise and I hope the weather warms up soon

[need2bespoiled]

For some, yesterday was a bit rough. Partly it was the seas but a lot was the wind. The weather is starting to warm up, the wind has let up and we have spent some time on the balcony. For those that know, we are totally spoiled by this "deck, and views. When the sun is out it is actually warm, otherwise more Brrrrr, but at least the wind has let up and our balcony is usable.

 

We had some issues yesterday, everything is not always perfect, of course life isn't, but I can't imagine anyone being more accomidating or trying harder to fix problems and please us than the crew of Constellation. From little touches to the receptive response we receive to feedback it will be extremely hard to leave the ship. Ever.

 

We arrive in at the Suez Canal at about 11pm tonight when we pick-up the pilot but the crossing will not begin until about 3am or maybe the captain said 3:30a in his announcements this morning, I almost always miss the beginning as you can't hear them in your cabin unless you are on channel 6. They plan to narrate the beginning on deck from 10:30-11:30p. Sunrise isn't until 6 something AM so I am not sure how much I will see. I will likely only leave the aft of the ship tomorrow for progressive trivia in the morning.

 

There are three or four speakers onboard. Topics on the Suez, gelology/caves and Forumula 1 have been very well attended. The F1 speaker was very, very good. Remember this is a signature sailing for Formula 1 ending with the finals in Abu Dhabi. Many passengers at that talk raised their hand and said they were going.

 

Last night was the first of three scheduled chic nights. It was WAY dressier than any recent cruise we have been on. Many gowns and dinner jackets/tuxedos than we are used to seeing. My guess is due to the large UK contingent onboard. I work a nice “frock” but would have been comfortable in a gown.

 

This is my spectacular view as I right this:

 

I have had quite a few people onboard come find me and say thank you for my previous blogs, some who came back to Celebrity or even changed shore excursion plans due to what I’ve written. I really appreciate this, but want to warn everyone, I am not sure I can take the pressure ;) I take no responsibility for my bad choices or reporting, I just try to tell it like I see it, from a totally spoiled point of view.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna