Just returned from Constellation - Venice to Athens; Any Questions

[redwings1958]

NOTES:

• Lobster tail is $20 for extra tail
• tender service is WELL ORGANIZED
• Cold towels and water at the ports is such a blessing
• Pastries at Al Bacio are free so is water; Coffee is NOT
• Debarkation process - smoothest yet; found bags within 2 minutes
• Casino only takes dollars; $5 minimum before 6pm
• Showers have nice pressure and temp controls
• Only Butter; forget about finding margarine [ live a little!]
• A/C in room works well; safe in room too
• Ample time given between evening activities
• Dinner service is PROMPT - no 2 hour dinners
• Shows were NEVER crowded; ample seating; ditto for solarium and Pool Chairs
• There are (4) omelet stations in the Oceanview cafe; no queues
• Water in the drinking fountains is COLD

I'm sure I'll think of more; but this is it for now

[sunonfire]

How were the shows? How was musical entertainment throughout the ship?Did they have a comedian? Who was the cruise director? Thanks.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Is this your first time on Celebrity

You always had to pay for coffee at Bacio 

 

[redwings1958]

2 hours ago, sunonfire said:

How were the shows? How was musical entertainment throughout the ship?Did they have a comedian? Who was the cruise director? Thanks.

1. IMHO, the shows were good to very good;  We've been on a lot of cruises, so to WOW us takes a bit

2. Music entertainment was great;  Lots of variety from, Motown to Rock to soft music

3. The cruise director was Ernest[ from USA] and the assistant was Marc[ from Czech Republic]

[redwings1958]

Is this your first time on Celebrity; NO 2nd time, but didn't realize the pastries were gratis

You always had to pay for coffee at Bacio ; Still do

[mahdnc]

4 hours ago, redwings1958 said:

NOTES:

• Lobster tail is $20 for extra tail
• tender service is WELL ORGANIZED
• Cold towels and water at the ports is such a blessing
• Pastries at Al Bacio are free so is water; Coffee is NOT
• Debarkation process - smoothest yet; found bags within 2 minutes
• Casino only takes dollars; $5 minimum before 6pm
• Showers have nice pressure and temp controls
• Only Butter; forget about finding margarine [ live a little!]
• A/C in room works well; safe in room too
• Ample time given between evening activities
• Dinner service is PROMPT - no 2 hour dinners
• Shows were NEVER crowded; ample seating; ditto for solarium and Pool Chairs
• There are (4) omelet stations in the Oceanview cafe; no queues
• Water in the drinking fountains is COLD

I'm sure I'll think of more; but this is it for now

 

Thanks for the report.  We cruised on her last Nov and it was a great ship and crew.  I am interested in your take on the various ports.

[redwings1958]

PORTS:

1. RAVENNA - Saw it don't need to return - Been there done that

2. SPLIT - Would go back in a second

3. DUBROVNIK - DITTO ABOVE Our Favorite Port of the cruise

4. MYKONOS - Loved it, need to see more

5. EPHESUS - Very cool - historically and diverse

6. CRETE - had a food tour, but a great city was Herkalion

7. SANTORINI - IMHO; this should be an AT SEA DAY; It was just a mad house in OIA and FIRA

 

[Stockjock]

We're on the same itinerary soon, only on Infinity.  I don't have any specific questions, other than to ask if you took the cruise line transfer from Venice to Ravenna (we booked it), but open to suggestions with the understanding that it is a different ship.

[redwings1958]

YES we indeed did use the Celeb Xfer to Ravenna from VCE airport;  Easy 3 hr ride, and they do stop for a potty break and snack.  Bus drops you off right at the ship and porters take your bags promptly[ if you pre printed the luggage tags]

[Stockjock]

1 minute ago, redwings1958 said:

YES we indeed did use the Celeb Xfer to Ravenna from VCE airport;  Easy 3 hr ride, and they do stop for a potty break and snack.  Bus drops you off right at the ship and porters take your bags promptly[ if you pre printed the luggage tags]

Thanks, and again, let me know if you have any other tips that are not ship-specific.  Almost the identical itinerary, but we go go Nafplio rather than Mykonos.

[May B]

4 minutes ago, redwings1958 said:

YES we indeed did use the Celeb Xfer to Ravenna from VCE airport;  Easy 3 hr ride, and they do stop for a potty break and snack.  Bus drops you off right at the ship and porters take your bags promptly[ if you pre printed the luggage tags]

It sounds like you flew into VCE on the day of the cruise. Did you use Celebrity’s Air2Sea?

[LB_NJ]

I cruised Celebrity before and again early this year and thought the food went downhill but was still OK in the MDR however the buffet was almost non-existent for dinner.

 

Has it gone further downhill or was it OK?

 

[CulverCityCruisers]

54 minutes ago, LB_NJ said:

I cruised Celebrity before and again early this year and thought the food went downhill but was still OK in the MDR however the buffet was almost non-existent for dinner.

 

Has it gone further downhill or was it OK?

 

Same question about the MDR food.  Recently off Summit and the food had taken a major decline, as was the OV.  Your thoughts?

[SoBe2010]

Thanks for your Feedback.

 

Did you notice how often and what kind of movies are shown  on the rooftop screen?

 

Any opinion about the Oceanview Cafe in the evening?

 

[miguelmia]

How was embarkation in Ravenna? What time did you arrive and how long was it until you were onboard the ship?

 

Thanks for starting this thread. I'm on Connie in just over two weeks out of Ravenna so quite intrigued on your feedback.

[CruiseDad-NYC]

4 hours ago, redwings1958 said:

PORTS:

7. SANTORINI - IMHO; this should be an AT SEA DAY; It was just a mad house in OIA and FIRA

 

I hear you about Santorini - an absolute madhouse the last time I was there, right before the pandemic. I ended up getting separated from my family for over half an hour because of the crowds.  Stunningly beautiful place.  Too many people!

 

Glad you had a great time overall, and I agree with your assessments on the other ports as well.

[Stockjock]

6 minutes ago, CruiseDad-NYC said:

I hear you about Santorini - an absolute madhouse the last time I was there, right before the pandemic. I ended up getting separated from my family for over half an hour because of the crowds.  Stunningly beautiful place.  Too many people!

 

Glad you had a great time overall, and I agree with your assessments on the other ports as well.

One thing we did was to purchase the only (I think) cruise line excursion that did not require one to use the cable car to get to the top.  I believe that the tender takes you to a different drop-off, where a bus takes you to the top and back.  I do note that it sold out pretty quickly.  Plenty of other excursions, but again I think that only one took you to the alternate drop-off point where you'd board a bus.

[CruiseDad-NYC]

5 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

One thing we did was to purchase the only (I think) cruise line excursion that did not require one to use the cable car to get to the top.  I believe that the tender takes you to a different drop-off, where a bus takes you to the top and back.  I do note that it sold out pretty quickly.  Plenty of other excursions, but again I think that only one took you to the alternate drop-off point where you'd board a bus.

That is a good idea - the next time I go back to Santorini (and I am sure I will), I would do a cruise excursion that does not require the cable car (and I might consider a catamaran or sailing excursion if they have one).

[Ozzmund]

Thanks for the quick review, We have a September 23 cruise on the Constellation, Athens to Ravenna.

How did you tour Ephesus, cruise line excursion or with an outside company?

[redwings1958]

17 hours ago, May B said:

It sounds like you flew into VCE on the day of the cruise. Did you use Celebrity’s Air2Sea?

We actually flew in 1 day before the cruise.  NO we booked it individually, and YES had travel insurance

[redwings1958]

16 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

I cruised Celebrity before and again early this year and thought the food went downhill but was still OK in the MDR however the buffet was almost non-existent for dinner.

 

Has it gone further downhill or was it OK?

 

IMHO, the food was  very good, but not great.  Surprisingly enough, the NY strip steak was cooked just right and was actually pretty good.  Only the the OV cafe for breakfast; was just fine

[redwings1958]

14 hours ago, SoBe2010 said:

Thanks for your Feedback.

 

Did you notice how often and what kind of movies are shown  on the rooftop screen?

 

Any opinion about the Oceanview Cafe in the evening?

 

Movies are shown 3 times daily; morning, afternoon, evening:  Never made it any of those; Ditto for dinner in the OV cafe

[redwings1958]

12 hours ago, Ozzmund said:

Thanks for the quick review, We have a September 23 cruise on the Constellation, Athens to Ravenna.

How did you tour Ephesus, cruise line excursion or with an outside company?

Private tour arranged by another cruise member of the FB roll call;  11 persons, lunch and an A/C bus for $80 pp 6hr tour

[redwings1958]

13 hours ago, miguelmia said:

How was embarkation in Ravenna? What time did you arrive and how long was it until you were onboard the ship?

 

Thanks for starting this thread. I'm on Connie in just over two weeks out of Ravenna so quite intrigued on your feedback.

If you have all your docs completed, it is a piece of cake.  We took a 1pm xfer from VCE to ravenna, and arrived at 4p; 30 minutes later we were on the ship.  BTW, the MUSTER drill is all done ONLINE, so make sure you have the X app

[May B]

59 minutes ago, redwings1958 said:

We actually flew in 1 day before the cruise.  NO we booked it individually, and YES had travel insurance

Ah, that makes sense. So you stayed one night in Venice (or Mestre?) and got yourself back to the airport for Celebrity’s transfer?

Edited August 1, 2023 by May B