Live: Oct 22 2022 Constellation Mediterranean Passage Transatlantic

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, cluso said:

 

We actually docked at La Seyne, across the bay from Toulon.  The local ferry was 4 euros round trip to Toulon.  The Celebrity ferry was 20 euros.  😎

We probably dock there , we paid Celebrity shuttle, but we also got it refund later in the cruise 

thanks for the info

[Ipeeinthepools]

3 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

Vicky, here's our photo:

 

 

Poster child for Celebrity's marketing campaign for their shore excursions. 

 

Was this one of Celebrity's Private Journeys?

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

Vicky, here's our photo:

 

 

Poster child for Celebrity's marketing campaign for their shore excursions. 

 

Doesn't look good! 

[vickykay]

David , did you ever get there?

[mahdnc]

2 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

Was this one of Celebrity's Private Journeys?

 

2 hours ago, vickykay said:

David , did you ever get there?

sorry for being radio silent. This was an independent private excursion. We blew out a tire on the way from Aix to Cassis.  We made it back on the ship. I will give details and photos in a little bit as this needs to be done on a laptop and not my iPhone!

[mahdnc]

We hired a private company to take us to Aix-en-Provence, Cassis, and Le Castellet.  We pre-arranged this with two other passengers.

 

Getting everyone together was a bit challenging.   Constellation started allowing passengers off the ship at about 9:20 am.  When we got off the ship, we walked out of the terminal and proceeded to walk out of the gate for the pier where our van was waiting.  The other two passengers were wrongly told that the van would pick them up at point closer to the ship, inside the gate, where the Celebrity shore excursion buses were waiting.  It took about 30 minutes to get it straightened out. 

 

 

During the 30 minutes that we waited, another couple from Constellation walked toward our van.  When asked, the driver informed them that they were not part of this tour.  They showed him their Viator paperwork and asked our driver if he knew the tour guide.  The answer was "yes" and he called the guide up and handed his phone to the passengers so they could discuss the situation.  It turned out that their tour originated at Marseille which is an hour away from the port.  After they glumly hung up, they asked me if they could join our tour.  I accurately told them that we did not have the space and that we were waiting on two other people to show up.  Little did any of us know that I saved them some trouble!

 

 

Our two passengers arrived at about 10 am and the driver headed off to Aix-en-Provence.  We were all smiles and everything was puppies and kittens.  We arrived there at 11 am.  It was a Sunday and many of the stores were closed.  However some stores and all the restaurants were open.  The farmer's market was also open.  When we arrived, our driver dropped us off and went to park his van.  He instructed us to wait for him at the Apple Store and so that was technically the our first stop at Aix-en-Provence!!

Edited October 23, 2022 by mahdnc

[Ipeeinthepools]

6 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

We hired a private company to take us to Aix-en-Provence, Cassis, and Le Castellet.  We pre-arranged this with two other passengers.

 

 

I look forward to hearing more details about this private company.  Given the issues with the others on your tour and the person you met at the dock, it sounds like they have a lot of communication issues with their tours.

[mahdnc]

We spent some time walking around the streets and admired the classic French sidewalk cafe's  Only the lack of blue sky and brilliant sunlight prevented the scenery from being perfect.

 

 

My wife and I spent half of our time at Aix checking out the Farmer's Market.  The mushroom stand was eye opening.  

 

 

My wife and I purchased goods at a vanilla booth and from a merchant selling jam.

 

 

Edited October 23, 2022 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

Our driver made reservations for the 4 of us to have lunch at a cafe at Cassis which sounded great. We got back into the van and proceeded to Cassis.  Halfway there, disaster struck.  While we were riding at a fairly high (but appropriate) rate of speed on the highway, we heard a bang and felt a shudder.  The back end of the van then drooped and fishtailed slightly a couple of times; you could feel and hear the van riding on its rim.

 

Fortunately there was little traffic around us and our driver was able to maintain control over the van.  With no suitable shoulder to work with, our driver took the next offramp and parked the van on the shoulder right after a toll booth.  The area we stopped at was pretty safe from traffic.

 

The next problem was that our driver did not know how to change a tire and in retrospect it appeared to us that he had no mechanical skills with tools or anything.  In a telling generational sign, our young driver immediately began playing an instructional YouTube video on how to change a tire while I searched the glove compartment in vain for an owners manual. Fortunately my wife and I had some experience from many years ago with changing tires (we leave that to AAA now).  

 

My wife found the scissors jack and she began jacking up the van.  Once we raised the back end of the van high enough, we lowered the spare tire from beneath the van.  We then instructed our driver to remove the lug nuts from the flat tire (he didn't know which direction to turn the tire iron to loosen the nut). 

 

We then removed the flat tire and I was amazed at what I saw.  The blown tire was completely bald on the outer half and nearly bald on the other.  It was clear that the tire was not road-worthy and it should have been caught by a simple visual inspection.

 

 

The damage to the tire was a very long slit that exposed the underlying steel belt.

 

 

And then it got exciting.  While attempting to put the new tire in place, the scissors jack slipped--twice.  We were fortunate that no one got hurt.  At this point, it was around 1:30 pm and the four of us were done, hungry, and (for me) in need of a bathroom.  We probably had been by the roadside for an hour by then and we decided to ask our driver to call for a taxi to come take us back to the ship.  Our driver called for one but was told that it would take a while for a taxi to come up from Toulon to get us.

 

 

While we were looking at our Uber options, a Good Samaritan stopped to help us (above photo).  More importantly, he was a mechanic.  He secured the parking brake and proceeded to finish with the tire change without incident.  Ok that was dumb that we didn't use the parking brake.

 

We were back on the road by 2 pm and we asked to be taken directly back to the ship.  By 2:45 pm we were back at the pier.

Edited October 23, 2022 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

@vickykay, so I had to laugh when I looked at Cruise Critic as we were stranded by the roadside and saw your request for photos!  

 

And so that’s what I meant when I said we’re the poster child for Celebrity to convince passengers not to book shore excursions on their own. Us and the poor couple that mistakenly booked an independent tour that started in Marseilles! I can only imagine what they would be thinking if they came on the tour with us!!! They would be Celebrity shore excursion customers forever!

[mchell810]

Glad you at least made it to Aix.  While the rest of your day didn't go as planned you have a heck of a story to tell.  Now that you're safely back on board you can take it as a good adventure (I hope 😉).

[pcrum]

Enjoying your trip report. So sorry to hear of the issue with the tour. 
 

Can you please speak as to the overall condition of the ship?  We love TA cruises and Tampa is quite close to our home in Orlando, however I was a bit hesitant to book the Constellation due to the age of the ship. 
 

Thank you. 

[mahdnc]

28 minutes ago, pcrum said:

Enjoying your trip report. So sorry to hear of the issue with the tour. 
 

Can you please speak as to the overall condition of the ship?  We love TA cruises and Tampa is quite close to our home in Orlando, however I was a bit hesitant to book the Constellation due to the age of the ship. 
 

Thank you. 

So far, I have found the ship to be in excellent condition. This is based on our cabin and a small sample of the public areas. I will update you as the cruise progresses and perhaps others on this cruise will chime in. 
 

Where her age is more evident is with dated design and technology which is to be expected. 

[Jim_Iain]

I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time you were broken down along the highway.  I'm sure it will be a story that will be repeated many times in the future.   It really does bring to light some of the challenges of booking private excursions.   

 

Hope your future tours will be a much more enjoyable experience.

[GonzoWCS]

Following

 

Cheers

[hrhdhd]

David, I am glad you and Marcia (and your companions) made it back safely.

 

Did the driver find a YouTube video regarding refunds? 🤨

[jules27556]

@mahdnc

 

David, I am following your live report!

            Thank you for the pictures, news and sharing your

            recent adventure!  Oh my!

 

Gary  from the Azorean Tours, asked me to let everyone know there

          are spots available for the 1/2  Day Tour.  There are 3 Groups.

         Group 1 JoAnne,  Group 2 Julie and Group 3 Julie

 

        If interested, email Gary.    garytravassos32@gmail.com

 

Although it hasn't been mentioned, I trust everyone made it on the ship!

Such a terrific group and cruise!

 

FYI, Mother (after Paxlovid) is feeling great and sounds really good.

       I have had a few more challenges (finished Rx) but hoping things

       begin to turn around in another week or so.

 

Stay safe and healthy.  Keep the narrative and photos coming!

 

Best regards,

😷

Julie

 

 

 

 

[vickykay]

So glad you made it back to the ship in time.  Whew!  What a day.  

[cluso]

Oh my, what a story.  We were invited to the helipad for sail away.  We got there on time, received our drink, and waited, and waited.  Finally, we had to go to get dressed for Chic Night.  Once on our balcony, we saw the gangplank was still down.  I immediately thought it was David and crew they were waiting for—as I had already seen the original van picture.  But, apparently it must have been a Celebrity tour...😜

[mahdnc]

7 minutes ago, cluso said:

Oh my, what a story.  We were invited to the helipad for sail away.  We got there on time, received our drink, and waited, and waited.  Finally, we had to go to get dressed for Chic Night.  Once on our balcony, we saw the gangplank was still down.  I immediately thought it was David and crew they were waiting for—as I had already seen the original van picture.  But, apparently it must have been a Celebrity tour...😜

Kim, we also received the invitation but we didn't make it. We were busy with little stuff plus the weather (cloudy and very windy) made the event seem less inviting. How was it?

 

[mahdnc]

This is like the fourth cruise that I've seen this dog statue used for the guess-the-weight contest by Park West. I'm surprised that a frequent cruiser doesn't take advantage of it to win it. Or a clever B2B cruiser.

 

I asked the Park West attendant about that last night but didn't get an answer that I understood. I cynically concluded that apathy prevented anyone from submitting a guess. I also thought that maybe it was a scam and no one ever won or claimed the prize (I was tempted to place a discreet marking on the back of the dog to allow me to determine if this is the same dog statue I'm looking at in future cruises). 

 

[mahdnc]

This was last night at the Rendezvous Lounge. After I snapped the photo, I heard a "hello" behind me. It was @wayneg1 (Wayne and his wife Karen) who were enjoying the string music. I asked that we meet there at 5pm on the first sea day for drinks) because I want to get their perspective on the current British political situation. 

 

[mahdnc]

While docked at Toulon, we had a view of the nuclear powered aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle--the proud flagship of the French Navy. It appeared to be idled as we saw civilian dressed people walking on the flight deck and no one in uniform. 

 

 

 

[mahdnc]

We are an hour and a half away from docking at Palma de Mallorca. It's going to get up to the mid 80's today there. 

 

Edited October 24, 2022 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

19 hours ago, cluso said:

 

We actually docked at La Seyne, across the bay from Toulon.  The local ferry was 4 euros round trip to Toulon.  The Celebrity ferry was 20 euros.  😎