Constellation live: 2/10/24 - 2/22/24 12 Night New Orleans & The Caribbean (aka Mardi Gras Cruise)

[Lena11033]

4 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Thanks for clarifying. It was this part that caught my eye:

 

"I can also hear a couple asking about what they are entitled to as they booked a sky suite and didn’t know of the changes. I feel for the concierge it’s not their fault the passenger is being nice but yeah if you aren’t online you wouldn’t know and it would be a shock of the changes when boarding."

 

Our trip during Thanksgiving hubby & I were in a Celebrity suite, and my MIL was in a Sky suite across the hall with her cousin. We did have very different experiences in terms of visibility of our 'retreat host', and what they were/were not willing to do for us until we spoke to the concierge. Wasn't sure if that was just due to the luck of who was assigned to our cabins, or because we had different categories of rooms.

i would say it’s the different t classification of room. These people I saw in the lounge and luminae so they have that just their ‘host’ is probably not doing much because they are more of a stateroom attendant 

[Sailing12Away]

Yeah, Celebrity isn't clear on what the hosts can or cannot do. For folks who are veterans that's fine, but new kids like us it was very confusing, especially with us getting one level of service and MIL getting something different and coming from another cruise line where things were vastly different. She was in a wheelchair, so could have really benefitted from getting to eat some meals in her cabin, but didn't know she could get that at all until the 2nd to last day of the trip. She didn't even see her host at all until we talked to the concierge.

[Lena11033]

Day 6 sea day

 

I woke up early so took a stroll around the d ces before the buffet opened for breakfast. 
I wasn’t impressed with the offerings I managed to out together an English breakfast but it just feels like the offerings are lacking even compared to summit. I didn’t see any Asian breakfast offerings nor could I even find hash browns. There was lots of yogurt and fruit. At least the black pudding was cooked better than on Beyond. 

 

After breakfast I took some shade outside to read a bit as it finally warmed up. The days in New Orleans were cold and people were wearing jackets outside. I was head to toe in black as I had events I needed to be covered for so shade it was. At 10:35 I met Penelope the retreat concierge for a navigation tour of the bridge. She’s really funny someone commented of her ‘Channel shoes’ her response was ‘they are from Turkey, 100% fake but 100% real leather’. 

 

After the tour I went back to my shaded area to read some more before lunch. Today I had Tuscan Grill seafood lunch. First course was a lobster bisque I’m not sure it was the right colour for the soup. It was more the colour of turtle soup. The next was fish and chips which was good, sometimes people make the fish soggy but this was crispy batter. Next course was seafood platter, I enjoyed the seafood but the corn was dry (I don’t know how they over cooked the corn) and it really needed a second plate for the shells. Last course was tiramisu which was really good. 

 

After lunch it was time for some walking before we had the beignet making class. This was supposed to be yesterday but it was moved so I ended up with lots of food in one day. The class was in Le Petite chef area. We met down there and had to sign paperwork (we also signed one the night before about not being sick and please don’t come to the class drunk on that was not the wording but it was the idea because you are in a kitchen). We met with the pastry chef running the class and his boss. At the beginning the senior officer for food and beverages was there (I had met him at the senior officers event the night before). After introductions were done we headed into the kitchen firstly washing hands before they started the step by step we had to follow for making the dough, rolling it and cutting it. At the end of the class they fried the dough they made earlier (we proofed ours but it’s not enough time really) and we got to sit and eat the beignets with coffee. 

 

By this time it was 4pm so went to watch the trivia and have an aperol spritz before heading back to my room to change for dinner. I decided to be a bit more casual today so wore a summer dress at this point it was 40 mins until dinner so went for a martini. For those that complain about getting drinks on edge class ships even this one is a struggle. Pre dinner they had one person making drinks and it took over 15 mins standing at the bar to get a drink. The only reason I got one then is because a couple next to me when they ordered said I needed one as well. 
After I had my martini I headed over to sushi on 5 for dinner. I had lobster and shrimp wontons, green roof tuna and rainbow roll with the spicy mango tini which was really good. I did notice the sushi place was quite not sure if it’s always like that but they are really pushing specialty dining this cruise. 

 

After dinner I did some more walking, collected my charm from effy, went to duty free to take pictures for Mike (need to go back as he wants either a cognac or Johnnie walker blue). At 7:45 they had in the theatre intro for the senior staff. Captain Morfis is really funny, he’s got a good sarcastic humour. Apparently he’s cutting his contract short as his wife is pregnant so he’s going home early to be there for the birth. 

After this I headed to reflections lounge for game show and trivia. Bradley the activities manager hosted the whisper game. This was hilarious because no one was getting it and some cases there was people thinking what needed to be passed on were swear words. Don’t make drink people do a game where they have to read lips because they have headphones on. 

After I joined a group for trivia because they needed help with questions on super heroes, Harry Potter and a kids tv show from the UK. I must have been the only Brit in the room because only myself and Armando the host knew it (he’s from South Africa so not sure if the show is something they got there or he googled it). 
After the trivia I was chatting with the group for a bit then called it a day as I was exhausted. 
 

[Lena11033]

Day 7 sea day

 

Today the plan was take it easy. During my breakfast in Luminae they tried to get me to purchase Chef’s table and again on the way out. Honestly it’s annoying how much they are pushing the specialty restaurants. I’m wondering if they weren’t being booked? 

After I headed up to deck 11 to claim a lounger and do some reading. I stayed for a couple of hours reading trashing ebooks and watched some guest vs officers game. I then made my way to Blu as that’s where the food and wine pairing was. Well they moved it and didn’t update anyone. Thankfully I saw my sommelier so she told me to follow her to MDR. 

This was the event I lost it on the older couple whoops. Sorry but only cause you are older doesn’t give you the right to talk over people (that certainly isn’t going to help you hear him) or be rude they thought they knew more than him and were challenging him on areas in a state where the wine came from. 

Once the even was over I stayed and chatted with someone that thanked me for telling them to keep it down. 

 

I then headed to Luminae for lunch before claiming my spot at the last bar where I asked Curtely to surprise me with a chocolate flavoured drink while I watched the pool games. He’s the senior bar tender and he’s from Guyana. 
 

 

 

 

I stayed for a short while before heading to the duty free to purchase the cognac for my husband and pick up ship models for myself one was a Christmas ornament for my cruise themed tree. Then I went to Michael’s club to try their afternoon tea. It’s ok but honestly I’ve had better on beyond in the buffet. The scones were fine if small but the jam I’ve never had blueberry jam with scones. 

 

Then it was back to trivia before getting ready for dinner. Once I got back to my room I noticed I had burnt. I had sunscreen on and was out early in the day for a couple of hours. I mostly I was a light pink but the area my tankini was on the cheats area was darker. I must have missed that area. I took a cold shower and put on after sun to try and minimize it. 
So for dinner I picked a dress that covered that area 😆
It was a little itchy but fine. 
dinner was an amouse vouch of a blue cheese macaron, escargot, oxtail a la royale and a chocolate brownie (this was a little hard to me brownies are more soft)

 

 

 

Post dinner it was martini bar time for a drink before heading to collect my charm and go to the game show and trivia. Game show was funny it was ‘finish that song’ quite often people didn’t know the lyrics o were too far into drinks to care but makes for good entertainment 

 

 

[lexmiller]

On 2/17/2024 at 10:28 AM, cruisestitch said:

We did not get any sort of brochure about shore excursions.

Oh, that's VERY unusual!!  Never NOT gotten a substantial printout in our room of all of the shore excursions, and our most recent cruise was on Apex in November.......wonder if they're phasing the shore excursion printouts out.......as long as they never do away with the printed "Celebrity Today" daily planners!  The app is unreliable and I've been told many times by many different Celebrity Life Activities team members, to always defer to the printed word vs the app - unless of course there is a rain situation and something needs to be moved inside at the last minute.  Well, thanks anyway!  I was hoping to get a firmer grasp on what Celebrity is offering as far as Mardi Gras directed activities - tempted to do my research (which we of course always do anyway!) and plan all of the parades, etc, on our own but to have reserved seating and bathroom usage is tempting.  The transportation aspect that Celebrity would provide to the parades is not important at all to us as we are big walkers, and know how close the venues are to the port......and the 2025 excursions are not yet posted, we will continue to monitor the website.  

[Lena11033]

Unfortunately the printed one is not great either. Multiple events the locations changed and the paper one had wrong info and no signs of where the new location was 

[Lena11033]

Day 8 Roatán Honduras. 
 

Today I had an excursion and needed to be in the theatre for 8:30 

As suites have free room service I ordered scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon for breakfast.

 

 

As the buffet is a bit of a zoo I asked the butler if he could bring me a snack when I got back so I didn’t have to deal with the buffet and arranged for 1:30 as I was getting back at 1

 

After I headed downstairs and by 9am we were on our way. First stop was butterfly conservatory outside was hot and humid so inside was even worse so I think I detoxed all the alcohol from the night before. We were here a short time before heading out to the sloth and monkey sanctuary. We all held a sloth before the monkey part. So you don’t have to go in the cage but if you do take off earrings, glasses, anything in pockets etc. Unfortunately before going in one monkey scratched someone. Once in it was fine but think someone lost sunglasses and then two monkeys fought over one guy before trying to go down his top. 

 

 

Next we got to see other monkeys and then the macaws. 

After this stop it was on to the iguana sanctuary (it was like Jurassic park at feeding time) they also had these fish which I can’t remember the name of. This was only a four hour tour so short and sweet although on the way back they did the obligatory stop for shopping. 

 

 

 

Once back at the port I wandered around a bit. It was more relaxed here there was no one in my face trying to get me to buy something. I did buy a long sleeved swim top through for the next day. Once back on board I made it back at 1 and within 5 mins of being in my room my burger and fries turned up. 

 

 

 

 

I then went to the reflections lounge for music trivia which I started by myself and doing well and another gentleman joined me which was good because he knew older songs by Peggy Lee which I didn’t. Some people it seemed had a hard time getting Jolene by Dolly though. Next up was general trivia. Ok not as good as the diva one for points. 

I then headed back to get ready for dinner but once dressed hit up the martini bar which took about 10-15 mins to get a drink

 

Dinner was Le Petit Chef as I had OBC. Cute but for me it was one and done. The portions are really small i mean the bouillabaisse had one shrimp, one mussel, a piece of octopus etc. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner I headed back to the reflections lounge as I missed the charm at effy. 
After watching the game show (relay game between two teams) and doing the pub quiz I headed back to my room as I had a long excursion the next day

[Sailing12Away]

Seems like you're always having a bit of a wait to get a drink in the evening. Is there no Retreat bar/lounge area on this ship that you can go get something from? 

[Lena11033]

Just now, Sailing12Away said:

Seems like you're always having a bit of a wait to get a drink in the evening. Is there no Retreat bar/lounge area on this ship that you can go get something from? 

there is but honestly I’m not a huge fan of the Michael’s club. It is dark and well too quiet when I’ve been. 

I’ve found with martini bar before dinner is busy after dinner it’s actually a lot better. Yesterday I waited like a minute before getting a drink. Every time I go before dinner it’s like 10 mins just because there are a lot of people and one bartender. 
 

that being said I go to the reflections lounge and either they start making an aperol spritz as I get there or within a few mins of sitting down I have a drink 

[Lena11033]

Just a quick update I’ll update with the other days when I get home. I’m currently in my room sick with Covid. I woke up this morning feeling terrible and did a at home test so just staying in my room for the last day. 

[Corgi Girl]

26 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

Just a quick update I’ll update with the other days when I get home. I’m currently in my room sick with Covid. I woke up this morning feeling terrible and did a at home test so just staying in my room for the last day. 

So sorry to hear that.

[Jim_Iain]

48 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

Just a quick update I’ll update with the other days when I get home. I’m currently in my room sick with Covid. I woke up this morning feeling terrible and did a at home test so just staying in my room for the last day. 

Oh....No....    So sorry to hear.   I hope you recover quickly.   

[spammie]

1 hour ago, Lena11033 said:

Just a quick update I’ll update with the other days when I get home. I’m currently in my room sick with Covid. I woke up this morning feeling terrible and did a at home test so just staying in my room for the last day. 

Oh no!!!  Prayers you are feeling better soon!  Stay hydrated! 

[Lena11033]

Thanks. I did have Covid booster and flu shot not too long ago so could have been worse. Since I woke up I’ve been drinking lots of water, taking cold/flu meds, strepstils and one Advil because I brought half a pharmacy with me 😅

 

I did tell the butler I’ll have him bring me food etc today so I don’t leave my room and get others sick. 
At least it’s the last day and a sea day so I’ve been watching Star Trek, finishing packing and reading on the balcony. So not too bad, really just missing out of quizzes and alcohol as I did shopping the other day. Tomorrow I fly home so may need to find somewhere that has masks as I forgot to put that in my bag. 
 

I actually I’m more surprised I didn’t get sick earlier there seems to be a lot of people coughing and sniffling. As someone that has allergies and sniffles a lot, even I think it’s too much to be allergies. 

[calicakes]

2 hours ago, Lena11033 said:

Just a quick update I’ll update with the other days when I get home. I’m currently in my room sick with Covid. I woke up this morning feeling terrible and did a at home test so just staying in my room for the last day. 

I'm so sorry to hear that.  I also came down with Covid for the first time while in Paris in Dec 2023. (I know I "caught" it on the Tube in London, everyone was coughing and sneezing and not a mask to be seen.   It sucks having it on vacation.  I did have a booster in Oct 2023 and had an entire pharmacy with me, including covid meds. 

Edited February 21 by calicakes

[Mike981]

On 2/12/2024 at 5:00 PM, Lena11033 said:

Apparently I have a lot of useless info in my head on technology in Korea, Golf in Scotland and Greek mythology. 

 

Love it!

[hcat]

FEEL BETTER!

We came home with a killer flu. despite  getting this yr's shot!  Took almost a week to snap back.

 

get home safe!

[May B]

Feel better soon! I hope you weren’t too uncomfortable on the flight home. Are you now the proud possessor of a Lightning or a Buc or a Ray mask?

[Lena11033]

Thanks everyone.

 

Long day yesterday coming home, I used the mask the butler gave me for getting breakfast yesterday but there was no way I could spend all day wearing it as I was struggling to breath so at the airport grabbed another KN95 mask which allowed me to breath better. I was fine on the flight, I don't think the woman next to me was happy but hey I did what I could with a mask and sanitizing. Other people on the flight were coughing and sneezing with no mask.

 

Once in Detroit it took a while to get the luggage, after that it was the drive home across the border which was straight forward just tiring. I slept for about 10 hours last night.

[hcat]

Glad u made it home..glad u can rest and recover!

[Lena11033]

Day 9 Belize City, Belize

Today I had an excursion and needed to be in the theatre for 8 - this seemed particularly early considering the excursion was at 9am. So again I did room service breakfast, it's nice having the option that's not just continental especially as I'm lactose intolerant.

 

The ship was rocking quite a bit in the morning and a lot of excursions ended up being cancelled. While waiting Captain Morfis said it was going to be 'liquid sunshine and winds all day' but my excursion wasn't cancelled. Unsurprisingly we didn't leave the theatre until 9:30 so we were waiting there for an hour and a half, which seems a lot. I did at one point run back to my room for a rain poncho as it was taking so long as well as bathroom break.

This is a tender port so it's slow getting people off. It was a good 20 mins until we got to the port (we were told the last tender was 4:15pm) and my excursion was Mayan Ruins, so once at the port we were ushered to our group number. Norman one of our tour guide took us to a mall first on the way to the bus for a bathroom break.
Once on the bus we drove through the city towards our destination which was over an hour away.

 

 

On the way the guides Norman, Rosa and Herbert were telling us the history of the island. About the foods, currency and even sang a song for us.
Once at AyinHa there was a main building with a bar, gift shop and toilets. We were advised to go there which pretty much every woman on the bus went to the bathroom. After we and another group (we were 18 so group 19 from the ship) got on a boat and it was another 20 min boat ride to the archaeological site. Once we entered the park who ever didn't go bathroom before went as there was no bathroom until the end of the tour.
We did 3 temples at the site, they talked to us about the history of the Mayans, how they built temples, the gods, the beliefs, sports, sacrifices and Mayans today. It was supposed to be about an hour walking but I think it was longer. This is because we had a lot of people who should not have done this tour (this isn't about age because I know Ian walks a lot for example). This was listed as strenuous and it was, it was hot and it had been raining so it was slippery. I didn't even climb the temple because those rocks would be slippery with the water. But there were also a lot of stairs made from slippery rocks  to get up to where the temples were (I held onto handles to make sure I didn't go flying), moss on the ground, rocks and roots of trees sticking out. There were quite a few people with walking canes and one lady had an injured foot and was wearing a medical boot. So this is knowing what you are capable of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
After we got back to the entrance to the site we took the boat back to the resort area for lunch. It was a buffet that included rice and beans, chicken, potato salad, plantains, a habenero salsa and fruit punch. I ate a little bit quickly to keep me going until back to the ship and went to the gift store to buy two bottles of the hot sauce for $10.

We then boarded the bus back to the port, pretty much we were all quite and probably napped. When we boarded the bus it was already after 3pm, by the time we made it back to the port it was like after 4:30pm. Some people on the bus had panicked about 'missing the ship'. There were quite a few groups after us still they aren't leaving us all behind and the tour guides would have let the ship know where we were so I wasn't worried.

Once at the port there was no time to look at anything but go straight to the tender, once filled out we headed out. It was smooth for a while and they even let us out front on the tender but part way back it started getting rocky so we all headed in. Once at the ship it took a while because some were nervous about stepping between the tender and the ship, personally I think it makes it worse because the rest of us are left trying to stand waiting. I do say try, we couldn't stand without holding on to something.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once on board I quickly changed and went to dinner because I hadn't eaten much, I had sashimi and French onion soup to start, I think a hen dish for main (looking at the photo) and I forgot a picture of desert so not sure.

 

 

 

 

 

After I went back to my room to find out my excursion for Cozumel had been cancelled. They told me to call to book another but it was 8pm by this point so it was a little late to plan anything so just decided not to book anything, plus the other excursion didn't really excite me.
After I headed out to my nightly game show and trivia, Jeet at the bar as soon as he saw me had my aperol sptriz brought over while i waited to see who of the people i met on board came as I normally join random teams for trivia.
This night I didn't even call my husband I was beat, I mean I was at the theatre for the excursion at 8am and we got back just after 5:30 out in the heat and humidity. And most of this was traveling.

So I sent him a message and went to bed.

[May B]

7 hours ago, Lena11033 said:

Thanks everyone.

 

Long day yesterday coming home, I used the mask the butler gave me for getting breakfast yesterday but there was no way I could spend all day wearing it as I was struggling to breath so at the airport grabbed another KN95 mask which allowed me to breath better. I was fine on the flight, I don't think the woman next to me was happy but hey I did what I could with a mask and sanitizing. Other people on the flight were coughing and sneezing with no mask.

 

Once in Detroit it took a while to get the luggage, after that it was the drive home across the border which was straight forward just tiring. I slept for about 10 hours last night.

I had forgotten you had to drive yourself home! Wow, you really needed that good night’s sleep.

 

Well done on your part, trying to keep your fellow travelers safe.

[riredsox]

On 2/20/2024 at 12:23 PM, Lena11033 said:

there is but honestly I’m not a huge fan of the Michael’s club. It is dark and well too quiet when I’ve been. 

I’ve found with martini bar before dinner is busy after dinner it’s actually a lot better. Yesterday I waited like a minute before getting a drink. Every time I go before dinner it’s like 10 mins just because there are a lot of people and one bartender. 
 

that being said I go to the reflections lounge and either they start making an aperol spritz as I get there or within a few mins of sitting down I have a drink 

I went a few times but they never did have the Kale Martini which is actually very delicious.  I do like the ice top much better than the Edge Class.  

[riredsox]

My husband and I both have nasty colds (not Covid though, had that at Christmas).  I will say I really enjoyed this cruise and the MDR food was fantastic.  Nice surprise!

[Rudy888]

On 2/20/2024 at 12:18 PM, Sailing12Away said:

Seems like you're always having a bit of a wait to get a drink in the evening. Is there no Retreat bar/lounge area on this ship that you can go get something from?