Short review - Constellation March 12 - 23

[lysolqn]

This was our 39th cruise, 26th on Celebrity, 5th on Constellation and it was as close to being flawless as a cruise can be. The itinerary was particularly nice because of alternating sea/port days and the weather was wonderful – in spite of one or two very quick showers and a rather windy last day at sea.

 

Constellation is an elegant and beautifully appointed ship and remains our favorite. She is in excellent shape, immaculate and aging quite well; one would have to look very closely to find any signs of wear and tear. It’s odd to think of a five year old ship as aging but with the constant stream of new ships entering the market, a five year old ship is, in fact, an aging ship. Nevertheless, the public rooms have stood up well to five years of continual use and are every bit as lovely as they were when we sailed during the ship’s inaugural year and each time thereafter. The very few signs of wear we did notice were mostly in our cabin (bedspread, carpeting and drapes were slightly faded, toilet seat chipped, some grout stains in shower) and in no way detracted from our enjoyment of the ship or the cruise. I imagine after three weeks in its upcoming dry dock, the ship will emerge once again in mint condition. As an aside, the beds on Constellation are adequate but I do think it’s time for Celebrity to get in line with the competition and upgrade the existing bedding on its ships. Hopefully that will be done in dry dock.

 

We’ve never been anything but pleased with service and food on X ships and this cruise lived up to our highest expectations - we found the food and service to be nothing less than excellent. Cabin service was thorough, quick and efficient and the dining room service we experienced was incredible. Though Celebrity and Michel Roux have ended their affiliation, neither the menus in the dining room nor in Ocean Liners have as yet been changed, but we were told they will be fleetwide by year’s end. All kinds of rumors were flying but whether or not there will be an affiliation with another star chef is being kept under wraps, at least for now. We did, however, notice a change for the better with respect to the selection and presentation of the lunch buffets, which IMHO have always been a bit lackluster. Dinner in Ocean Liners was a wonderful as ever. The spa café offered a nice change of pace for those in search of a lighter meal. Beyond cabin and dining room service, officers, staff and crew were always smiling, friendly and eager to please.

 

If we were hard pressed to find something about which to complain, it would be the timing of shows for late-seating passengers – our one pet peeve with X. With the exception of perhaps three nights of the eleven, all shows for late diners were pre-dinner shows – a sore spot with us. We opt for late seating because we like to enjoy a leisurely late afternoon/early evening and don’t want to rush to get ready for dinner at 6:15. Having to be ready at 7:00 for pre-dinner shows is no better, so rather than rush, we prefer to miss those shows. We much prefer after dinner shows but they seem to be pretty much history at this point. I'm not quite sure what the rationale for pre-dinner entertainment is (we've been offered various explanations over the years), but it just isn't our cup of tea. That being said, it appears we didn’t miss much entertainment-wise on this cruise since many of the passengers with whom we spoke appeared to be underwhelmed by the entertainment that was offered. We did like spending time in Michael’s Club after dinner and really enjoyed Perry Grant whom we had seen before on previous X cruises. Admittedly, he’s an acquired taste for some but he packed the room every night (standing room only) and we found him very entertaining. In addition to evening entertainment and the usual daily cruise staff activities, the Celebrity Enrichment Series offered a series of lectures by an estate planning attorney, as well lectures by a gentleman who spoke about weather. Scuttlebutt had it that the former was excellent; the latter, mediocre.

 

As I said at the outset, this cruise was, for all intents and purposes, flawless – at least as far as we are concerned – and we heard very few complaints from other passengers, although I’m certain there are those who were disappointed with one thing or another. Some folks did complain about the ever-present chair hogs who were out at the crack of dawn to stake their claims but for the most part, it appears pool butlers were able to resolve that issue for most people. By eight in the morning virtually all the lounges were covered with the usual hogging paraphenalia, with hardly a sun or shade worshipper in sight. We prefer the peace and quiet of the Promenade Deck over the Pool Deck so it wasn’t an issue for us but for the very first time in all our years of cruising, we found that some chair hogs had begun to migrate from the pool area to the Promenade Deck – for whatever that’s worth. For those who are interested, it appeared the vast majority of passengers complied with the evening dress code - there were the usual non-conformists making their statement but they were few and far between.

 

The average age of passengers was 50 - 60 (the usual X target demographic) but there were some families travelling with children (all rather well behaved, I might add), some younger singles and some older folks as well. Though the cruise coincided with spring break, fortunately there were no party-hearty kids in search of a good time on board. We did, however, see hoardes of them in some ports - especially when a Carnival ship was in town!

 

Finally, we didn’t notice any of the cutbacks many have been complaining about (ok…an eleven-night cruise and no rack of lamb?) nor did we sense any noticeable decline in the product we’ve come to expect from Celebrity. It was a wonderul cruise and we’re looking forward to the others we have lined up for the rest of this year.

[oldmovieguy]

This a concise and well balanced review, congratulations on your brevity and style.

[caliber35]

Glad to hear that the Constellation is still up to X standard. Your experience is consistent with mine on over a dozen X sailings, but I've never been on the Constellation and am looking forward to it! I have to agree with the bedding comment. Last fall I sailed on Oceania, and the only thing they had over X were the beds. Temperfoam and wonderful! Please, Celebrity, take the cue here. And we were all getting tired of the same old french cusine anyway. Some of the new menus I've heard of on other boards sound fresh and interesting. I remain loyal to X; the only line I prefer is Crystal, at over twice the price. Celebrity is the value leader!

[rjg41]

We agree with the review as we just returned from the same cruise. Just a few additional points.

 

While not an issue there were actually a large number of children on board when you consider it is Celebrity. The children where of all ages and were clearly extremely well behaved and well mannered.

 

It has been a year since we sailed with Celebrity and it is the first time we've seen the menu with the items every night section. We liked that. The lack of the lamb chops/rack of lamb was disappointing and the abundance of chicken/fowl was a surprise. Don't know if this was a cost cutting matter. On the other hand we had prime rib something like 4 or 5 nights.

 

The chair hog issue is a pet peeve of ours as well. Celebrity either should stop printing the notice about no chair saving or enforce it. Right now it is a joke. We observed a couple who every sea day would save 8 chairs in the shade and two in the sun for them and their friends. The chairs we typically occupied two at a time and never seen with more than 4 at a time. The two chairs in the sun were for people in their party who wanted to catch a few rays and then they would move back to the chairs in the shade. Those chairs were occupied only a few minutes a day. What is so bad is that the problem is actually somewhat easy to fix.

 

We were on Navigator of the Seas a few years back and we noted on the first morning of the cruise that the Pool Butlers were on duty at 7:30 am and were not allowing people to place stuff on the chairs. When someone was observed saving chairs the Pool Butlers would explain they could not to that. If the PB's missed stuff being placed they removed it immediately. They did this every morning. There were chairs available every day, all day and we had a FULL ship. By the third day the hogs had gotten the message and the PB's were not very busy. Do somehting like this consistently, fleet wide and the problem will be more easily managed.

 

As for something previously reported here that Sommeliers are being eliminated. Our research on board says not true.

[RLM77]

 

As for something previously reported here that Sommeliers are being eliminated. Our research on board says not true.

 

This is very good news. Glad to hear it. :D

[lysolqn]

RJG41, glad you enjoyed your cruise.

 

With respect to chair hogs, I think your experience on Navigator was perhaps the exception, rather than the rule. Staking claim to lounges, disappearing for hours at a time and returning at some point later in the day, saving seats in both sun and shade or seats that are hardly or never used, etc. seems to be an industry-wide problem. For some reason, though, it seems to be particularly bad on X ships - perhaps because X seems to turn a blind eye to the problem and ignores its own rule about not saving seats. As you said, if you're going to post a rule, enforce it; if you won't enforce it, don't post it. Nevertheless, I always get a kick out of reading posts on Cruise Critic about how people deal with the dreaded hogs - some methods are quite creative - even devious! - and it's always comforting to know that now and then hogs are beaten at their own game!

[Andy]

Hi Lysolqn !

 

Thank you for your excellent review. I was due to be on Constellation this week, but due to Family reasons, we had to cancel. We were on Constellation in November, and other than terrible weather, we had a great Cruise.

 

By the way, I totally agree with you about the Pre-Dinner Shows. We dislike it very much. We always take Late Seating, and we wish the shows would always be after Dinner. I have heard from several sources, this is done to increase Onboard revenues, and allow the passengers more time to spend money after Dinner, in the Casino, Bars, Shops etc. Sadly, it is just a sign of the times.

[lysolqn]

Thanks Andy. Sorry you had to cancel your cruise plans but there's always next time to look forward to.

 

Yes, we've heard the same about pre-dinner shows resulting in an increase in onboard revenue - that may be great for the cruise line but it doesn't do much for passengers like us. Even a 50/50 split of pre- and post-dinner entertainment would be appreciated, but I guess the bottom line is the bottom line and the cruise line can't be faulted for wanting to earn a buck here and there. However, there is a point at which it does become a bit tiresome. OK, forget the pre-dinner shows; but how often can you receive flyers in the daily or hear plugs for teeth whitening or acupuncture at sea? As you say, it's a sign of the times - just hope it doesn't begin to erode the Celebrity experience as we know it.

[Maraprince]

lysolqn,

 

Great review! I will be returning to the Constellation on 10/23 for a 13-day trip up to Canada. My last sailing on her was about 2 years ago. Good to see all the good elements are still there.

 

Hate those before dinner shows -- that's why we take late sitting so we do not have to rush!

 

Passengers do not spend any more money by having the shows prior to dinner. Gamblers tend to take early sitting to have more time in the casino and head there anyway.

 

What gifts (if any) did returning Celebrity passengers receive? Last time it was a shopping tote. Same thing this time around?

 

 

MARAPRINCE

[lysolqn]

Maraprince,

 

This was not a reunion cruise so there were no special gifts for returning Captain's Club passengers - just the usual coupon books based on level of membership. If you're referring to Concierge Class amenities, yes - it was the same collapsible tote as always, plus the sparkling wine, flowers, etc. By the way, we'll be on the Canada/New England cruise just prior to yours.

[rjg41]

RJG41, glad you enjoyed your cruise.

 

With respect to chair hogs, I think your experience on Navigator was perhaps the exception, rather than the rule. Staking claim to lounges, disappearing for hours at a time and returning at some point later in the day, saving seats in both sun and shade or seats that are hardly or never used, etc. seems to be an industry-wide problem. For some reason, though, it seems to be particularly bad on X ships - perhaps because X seems to turn a blind eye to the problem and ignores its own rule about not saving seats. As you said, if you're going to post a rule, enforce it; if you won't enforce it, don't post it. Nevertheless, I always get a kick out of reading posts on Cruise Critic about how people deal with the dreaded hogs - some methods are quite creative - even devious! - and it's always comforting to know that now and then hogs are beaten at their own game!

 

I totally agree that our Navigator experience was not the norm. However, what was not normal was that, for some reason, that week RCCL decided to enforce the rule and it worked great. Have never seen it before that and have not seen it since. I know people who have been on her and other RCCL ships since and the lack of enforcement is as bad a ever. I posted a poll a while back and over 70% responded negatively about Celebrity's enforcement. That poll was sent to Jack Williams and Dan Hanrahan since.

 

I just wish that the 70% would begin writing to Dan Hanrahan expressing their discontent. That is the only way this will get fixed. I do on a regular basis and have even sent time stamped pictures of many empty chairs taken hours apart. Of course we could always try to get the cable TV talking heads up in arms about it.

[lysolqn]

I don't want to turn this into a chair hog thread but frankly, I don't think the cruise lines have the gumption to enforce any rules (other than those directly related to the safety and well-being of passengers and crew) that may, even remotely, somehow adversely affect their bottom line. With respect to chair hogs, if they have the nerve to save lounges, fellow passengers should have the nerve to politely unsave them.