Live From the Constellation - 11 Night Ultimate Caribbean and the Americas - February 13 to 24

[HxFx]

13 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Oh thank you! Millennium. I know it’s older and smaller, but the itinerary and the price was right. 

I'm on the Millennium in April (the 8th)! I took her sister ship, Summit, out of Puerto Rico in 2018. I love the port calls from there. Neither had gone through a revolution at the time.

[cluso]

Bump up.  Hope the OP is having a marvelous cruise and is taking notes for an end of cruise review.  Hint, hint.  And thank you!

[cluso]

On 2/9/2023 at 2:00 AM, zgscl said:

I normally do live threads the HAL board as I mostly have sailed with them - but you all have been so helpful and friendly as I have explored Celebrity I thought I would do a live thread over here. This will be my second X cruise, I was on the Solstice in November and had a wonderful trip (but was far too busy trying out everything for the first time to keep up with a live). For this trip I booked a Royal Suite (same category I had on Solstice) so I look forward to comparing the experience between ships and the brands. Like many of you I have also seen quite a bit of news recently in regards to onboard cutbacks, so I will certainly be reporting on that as well. Please let me know if there are any questions and I will certainly try to get answers while I am onboard. 

 

This cruise is actually a group cruise - some of you who follow the HAL boards may be familiar with Seth (HAL's former brand ambassador) did a number of group cruises while he was employed with them. My mom and I sailed on one in July & had a fabulous time. In August he started his own company doing group cruises. This is the first one he is doing so it will be very interesting to see how that goes! I am traveling solo so it will be nice to have a smaller group to connect with. I am also celebrating.a birthday onboard so that will be fun as well. 

 

I will be flying to Tampa on Saturday so that I have a couple days to relax and adjust to the new time zone. 

 

Excursions planned at the moment: 

 

Grand Cayman: Turtle Encounter and Cayman Turtle Conservation

Cartagena day 1: Exclusive group Evening tour (stay tuned) 

Cartagena day 2: No plans currently (I have a very substantial amount of OBC still so I will probably try to burn some at the Spa as they are quite good at taking your money)

Colon: Destination Highlight: Panama Canal Locks and Culebra Cut Cruise
Puerto Limon: Destination Highlight: Vintage Railway Journey
Cozumel: Small Group: Flavors and Traditions of Mexico
Last Sea Day: Inside Access: Behind-the-Scenes Ship Tour
 

Looking forward to bringing everyone along!

 

 

I hope this trip has been wonderful and busy, too.  Many of us are hoping you will write an end of trip review on this thread.  Please, please, and thank you!

[HxFx]

I am also looking forward to your review. I'm from Tampa Bay (St. Pete) and have hoped to cruise out of there sometime in a combined hometown visit!

[Jjg34219]

Looks like Connie hustled back to Tampa as its already sitting not far outside Skyway Bridge. With this hot weather its probably getting back to beat the fog

[zgscl]

Hi All, 

So much for a live thread! It is amazing how busy one can be with nothing to do 🙂

Lots to report on, but it was a fabulous cruise. Connie is in good condition and overall is well cared for. One of the officers mentioned that half of the crew are on their first contract. I did not notice any service issues, the crew were all wonderful and took great care of us. 

[zgscl]

On 2/23/2023 at 3:15 PM, Jjg34219 said:

Looks like Connie hustled back to Tampa as its already sitting not far outside Skyway Bridge. With this hot weather its probably getting back to beat the fog

We raced back at 22-25 knots due to the fog. Docked at 10:30 PM and then disembarked as normal. I was so grateful for this as I was worried about my 11 AM flight. 

[RichYak]

28 minutes ago, zgscl said:

So much for a live thread!

That feeling when you already announced you're doing a live thread but forgot to buy a wifi package 😄

[mahdnc]

35 minutes ago, zgscl said:

We raced back at 22-25 knots due to the fog. Docked at 10:30 PM and then disembarked as normal.

 

Wow and the ship channel is so narrow, too.

 

As she makes her way out of Tampa, Horizon passes by what must be a Celebrity freighter (probably full of lobster tails). Mar 26 2005. 

[zgscl]

Honestly one of the best cruises I have been on. The crew were fantastic. Will get everything up over the next day or two. 

 

Embarkation 

Extremely easy - I arrived around 11:45. There was a separate line for Retreat guests with a separate security screening and then a into a separate room for check in. As soon as they scanned my boarding pass they saw I was i a Royal Suite and I was escorted onboard by a crew member. 

 

My room was ready so I went directly to get a first glimpse of my Royal Suite. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[zgscl]

Slightly different layout on the Royal Suite on the Millennium Class - there is one bathroom (instead of having a day head and master bath) and the entry to the bathroom is off the hallway so guests or folks sleeping in the living room can use it without disturbing occupants of the bedroom. Of course as a solo traveler I had no worries about this whatsoever!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[zgscl]

My favorite way to start off onboard an X ship (saying this as someone who has now been on 2 X cruises) is embarkation lunch in Luminae. I didn't want any of the starters so they suggested adding a lobster roll to my burger which was delicious. Luminae burger is just as good as I remember it. 

 

 

 

 

 

A look at the Dinner menu since I will be in Tuscan tonight 

 

And finally, I had to make a stop for iced tea at Cafe al Bacio. I love their iced tea pitcher system. 

[zgscl]

The Michael's Club folks arranged an exclusive sail away from the helipad for Retreat guests. Lots of fun to be up here for the departure. As a guest staying in one of the Royal Suites most of the officers knew me and greeted me from the beginning of the cruise and throughout - I am very much not used to it but it is a nice treat! 

View from Reflections

 

From the bow: 

 

 

 

And back from my balcony - Tampa Bay is HUGE. It took almost 2.5 hours to get from the pier to sailing under the Sunshine Skyway bridge. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[canadianbear]

It’s funny because we felt like royalty (compared to Neptune suite guests) when escorted onto the ship into Michael’s Club where we could have any beverage while waiting for Luminae to open for lunch.  Then we were escorted there and enjoyed a peaceful lunch.  It certainly beats HAL for a first impression.  

[zgscl]

21 minutes ago, canadianbear said:

It’s funny because we felt like royalty (compared to Neptune suite guests) when escorted onto the ship into Michael’s Club where we could have any beverage while waiting for Luminae to open for lunch.  Then we were escorted there and enjoyed a peaceful lunch.  It certainly beats HAL for a first impression.  

As someone who typically sails suites I regret waiting so long to try Celebrity. 

[canadianbear]

2 minutes ago, zgscl said:

As someone who typically sails suites I regret waiting so long to try Celebrity. 

I totally agree, that’s what we said.  We only started cruising in 2008 and in a Neptune suite.  I’m sure if our first cruise was Celebrity we would have stayed with them.   

[mmr923]

1 hour ago, canadianbear said:

I totally agree, that’s what we said.  We only started cruising in 2008 and in a Neptune suite.  I’m sure if our first cruise was Celebrity we would have stayed with them.   

Thanks to you both - have my fair share of experience in Neptune Suites on HAL but will be new to Celebrity Retreat in April. Now you've given me something to look forward to! In a CS at the moment but have a decent (well, I think it's decent anyway!) bid in for RS. Sounds like I'll be quite happy either way. 

[canadianbear]

16 minutes ago, mmr923 said:

Thanks to you both - have my fair share of experience in Neptune Suites on HAL but will be new to Celebrity Retreat in April. Now you've given me something to look forward to! In a CS at the moment but have a decent (well, I think it's decent anyway!) bid in for RS. Sounds like I'll be quite happy either way. 

I hope you love it!  Please let us know after your cruise.  

[Cruising89143]

2 hours ago, zgscl said:

As someone who typically sails suites I regret waiting so long to try Celebrity. 

First of all, thanks for taking the time to share your trip and IMHO Celebrity really knows how to do suites. 🙂

[zgscl]

4 hours ago, mmr923 said:

Thanks to you both - have my fair share of experience in Neptune Suites on HAL but will be new to Celebrity Retreat in April. Now you've given me something to look forward to! In a CS at the moment but have a decent (well, I think it's decent anyway!) bid in for RS. Sounds like I'll be quite happy either way. 

You will love it either way! What ship are you on?

[zgscl]

For embarkation dinner I went to Tuscan. One of the best perks of a Royal Suite (besides the cabin and the free laundry) is the unlimited specialty dining and Gelato! 

Both the food and the service were excellent and I got a nice table by a window overlooking the pool. 

 

 

 

Pizetta Capresse: 

 

 

Caesar Salad:

 

I modified the Chicken Parmasean and asked them to put it over the Gnocchi instead of the spaghetti - this was fantastic, I highly recommend! 

 

Spinach

 

Lemonchella Cheesecake 

[zgscl]

Day 2 - At Sea 

For breakfast I went to Luminae. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One big difference on Celebrity ships vs the HAL ships I am more used to, is that Celebrity makes use of the atrium for entertainment. Throughout the day and evening there will be music and activities like paper airplane contests, egg drop contests, etc. 

 

Today was Valentines day and here we see the Cruise Director and Activities Director getting set up for a vow renewal ceremony - open to any couple that wanted to sign up at the front desk. Celebrity did this fleet wide today. 

[zgscl]

For lunch I went to Luminae - great lobster bisque! Totally forgot to get a picture of the menu (and the burger). 

 

 

 

When I got back to my room I found a little surprise from by butler. They leave these boxes filled with goodness throughout the cruise. 

[zgscl]

After all the reports lately of the Oceanview Cafe dinner updates, I decided to do a quick walk around and picture what they were offering and what was open/closed. The grill and one other station were closed, but basically everything else was open. It was Valentines Day so it is possible this was an enhanced dinner. 

 

Also, side note - I LOVE Celebrity's pizza. The only thing that could make it better is if they offered it cooked to order like HAL (though I like the actual pizza on X more). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 26, 2023 by zgscl

[zgscl]

While photographing the buffet I decided that the pasta looked good and had a quick pre-dinner snack. I was caught by the hotel director who was very concerned that I was not dining in Luminae. I reassured her that I was just having a snack, but never the less the Luminae team heavily pushed the pasta and extra main dishes for the rest of the cruise 🤣. They also offered me the MDR and the Luminae menu at every single meal after this.