Connie Tidbits- just returned

[rjg41]

These may have been posted already but haven't seen them yet.

 

*No more dessert sample tray - If not already implemented on other X ships will be soon. Reason given-they were throwing out over 140 desserts a night and wished to eliminate waste

 

*New menus in April - The new menus from Blau & Associates will be rolled out on Connie in April. Sounded like Connie is among the first.

 

*Solstice factor - There is a concern that the "more upscale" feeling that is expected on Solstice will make the other Celebrity ship look less desirable. Expect "improvements" on the other ships to diminish that possible perceived difference.

 

*Buffet presentation - There have been minor but nice improvements in the buffet area to improve presentation.

 

*Texas Hold'em - The table gets little or no play with regular games. Rake is still 10% with a $10 cap. Still very high for a 2/4 game. However, they are running regular $50 and $100 buy-in sit and go tournaments, sometimes 3/day. They are taking 20% of the buy in and the rest is payed out. Not bad. If you are use to playing in a casino be prepared for a lack of understanding of the rules. I experienced conversations between players and observers(who had looked at their hole cards) during play, conversations in foreign languages, and people who folded making comments about their folded hand while others were still in play. Don't believe any of it was an an attempt to cheat but it is a no, no. It took calling the pit boss to get it under control. For those that don't know, these actions can easily get you warned and then thrown out of the game in a any land based casino and if it is a tournament, you get no refund.

 

*Perry Grant - Perry was on fire. Have seen Perry on other sailings but he was at his best this last cruise.

 

*Noodles Levenstein (comedian) - Seen him before but this cruise he was at the top of his game as well.

 

*Purell - Remember seeing some posts that suggested hand sanitizer was hard to find on some X cruises or not available. Dispensers were in all the usual places.

[Texed]

Thanks for the update. But, you didn't mention the waffles. :cool:

[rjg41]

Not to worry, waffles are still there. I would have mentioned if they were not. That was my first stop on the first morning for breakfast. Besides the strawberries they also had raspberries. Syrup is now on the little center island opposite the serving area.

[Texed]

Not to worry, waffles are still there. I would have mentioned if they were not. That was my first stop on the first morning for breakfast. Besides the strawberries they also had raspberries. Syrup is now on the little center island opposite the serving area.

 

Thanks, now I feel informed. :)

[lysolqn]

Thanks for the update.

Could you elaborate on what "improvements" may be in the works with respect to the Solstice factor? Also, what minor improvements did you notice in the buffet area?

[rjg41]

No specifics on the Solstice issue. It was a general discussion I had with senior restaurant management and they did not go into detail. They just expressed the concern about the difference and that is is being worked on. We'll have to wait and see.

 

Buffet changes are minor but noticeable to us and seem to be in how the food was displayed. Things like adding the raspberries, moving the syrup to the center island, etc.

[Andy]

Hi Rjg !

 

Thanks very much for your update. It was nice to hear about Perry Grant, and Noodles Levenstein. We are on Constellation next Friday. Too bad Noodles wont be on our sailing, as we enjoy him very much, but we look forward to seeing Perry again.

 

I am puzzled about your comments about the Blau menus, as some recent Constellation passengers said they saw at least a few new menu items in the Dining Room. I wonder if they were hallucinating, or if they were doing some sort of test run, and have taken the new items off the menu for now. Even if we do not see Ms. Blau's menus on our sailing, I wont be disappointed, as we very much enjoy the current menu items.

 

Should there be any new information, I will report back when I return home on March 31st.

[Host Anne]

I've started my review and hope to finish it this evening. I asked the Restaurant Manager, Mario, about the new menus on our last evening in the dining room. Most of the dinner menus appeared the same to me as previous Celebrity cruises. Some of the dishes switched evenings (for example, they always had turkey and dressing on the last night and that wasn't the case on this cruise). He told me that there were some new menu items included but that more will be added as the months go by.

 

My favorite meal of the entire cruise in the dining room was the ahi tuna on the last evening. It was terrific.

 

Texed ~ I thought of you with each waffle I ate on this cruise (which was almost every morning). The waffles were as good as ever.

 

Look for more this evening.

 

Andy ~ have a fantastic time!

[DanishBeauty]

We Just Returned From Our First Cruise On Celebrity( I Have Done 10 On Rci And 1 On Carnival).what A Great Time We Had. Do Not Listen To The Naysayers!!. Everything Was Perfect. The Food Was Terrific- The Waffles Were Delicious. The Service Was Top Notch. I Will Be Writing A Long Review As Soon As I Get My Land Legs Back( And These Suitcases Unpacked-my Least Favorite Job)

[ILVMM]

Hye folks - just back also and still working on the pile of laundry!

 

You've got to read this: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=2431

 

Could it be true? Will we really get a refund?!?!?

[redcupr]

We too were on the Feb. 29th sailing. Our first time on Constellation (on Millennium previously).

 

The ship is in great shape, no complaints. Service was outstanding. Food in the San Marco was delicious. We made a note on our comment card about the desert tray...bring it back! We discovered the wraps for lunch at the back of the ship half way through, very tasty. Now if they could just work on the cookie selection...

 

This was our first exposure to Perry Grant, he is incredible. Great music and I haven't laughed that hard in years.

 

The Martini Bar was our downfall (as it was on Millie), so many to chose from, and only 10 nights in which to do it. I've promised myself not to add up how much we spent there.

[jakedoc]

As rjg41 mentioned, No more dessert sample tray, Also no more pepper grinder service, no more cleaning the table before dessert. The meal service is still great but it seemed to take a lot longer. Just seemed to be less staff to give you service than my past 7 cruises with Celebrity. Still a great cruise but seems to me more and more like Royal Caribbean (with whom I also sail).

[jasm8449]

Constellation Feb 18 cruise had pepper grinder service by the waiter and ass't waiter.

[Host Anne]

Jake ~ it must have been your wait staff because our asst waiter did both the pepper grinder service and cleaning the table each evening before dessert.

 

We agree that we did miss seeing the dessert!

[Andy]

Jake ~ it must have been your wait staff because our asst waiter did both the pepper grinder service and cleaning the table each evening before dessert.

 

We agree that we did miss seeing the dessert!

 

Hi Anne !

 

Thanks for the nice wishes. I am happy to hear you had a great Cruise on Constellation. I am surprised to hear Celebrity got rid of the Dessert tray. It was one of the elements of great presentation that Celebrity has always excelled at. While this is a fairly small item, and it surely wont effect my Cruise.... I hope it is not a sign of things to come.

[Deb C.]

Many years ago (I don't even remember the cruise line), the dessert sample tray was "fake"---plastic or maybe wax desserts. :D They were very realistic so much so that people would grab the dessert and then have to put it back after being told it wasn't real. They also showed the ice cream which of course wouldn't melt.

Anyway, maybe the cruise line could do this again to help us preview the desserts, yet not have to waste any food. Of course they could be used over and over again until the menus were changed. Deb C.:cool:

[richsea]

Many years ago (I don't even remember the cruise line), the dessert sample tray was "fake"---plastic or maybe wax desserts. :D They were very realistic so much so that people would grab the dessert and then have to put it back after being told it wasn't real. They also showed the ice cream which of course wouldn't melt.

Anyway, maybe the cruise line could do this again to help us preview the desserts, yet not have to waste any food. Of course they could be used over and over again until the menus were changed. Deb C.:cool:

 

We've had our waiter turn the tray upside down as if it was an accident to show that the desserts were not real, & were fatened to the tray. But they did look real!

 

As for the pepper grinding, we have found that it depends on the wait staff; some do & some don't.

[crazybus]

 

Should there be any new information, I will report back when I return home on March 31st.

 

 

I will be looking forward to your post when you return. I will be on the Repo in October. Can't wait!

[SusieV]

They got rid of the dessert trays? They had them on Constellation in January when we went. I know it's not a big deal but it was really nice to see what you were going to get. Sometimes an item that didn't sound very good was beautifully presented so we tried it.

 

We've always been asked if we would like fresh ground pepper, and certainly never had a problem with getting the crumbs cleaned off the table before dessert.

[oceanbear]

Personally, I think getting rid of the dessert sample tray is a mistake. Verbal descriptions don't due justice to many of the dessersts. Besides, IMHO, "140" desserts out of 2000 meals is No Big Deal!

[lovn2liv]

Susie V, nice review of the Constellation. Thorough as ever, and I got lost in your description and recollection. Thanks for taking the time.

[jasm8449]

On our recent Constellation cruise, we attended the discussion on the future culinary changes with the Vice President of Food and Beverage, Chef Von Staden. He said they were planning on a new, separate menu for dessert. I suggested that they take the opportunity to give the desserts simpler names that gave a good indication of what they actually were, as well as a clear description of each item, if they were not going to have the show trays.

[rjg41]

I've started my review and hope to finish it this evening. I asked the Restaurant Manager, Mario, about the new menus on our last evening in the dining room.

 

My comment are also based on discussions with Mario and his assistant.