Connie decks and pools

[rucruzin]

Just got off Connie 4-1-08 we had 4 sea days and i'm a fan of sitting on deck most of the days.Thier seemed to always be lounge chairs open,the pool butlers would go around the decks every 2-3 hrs and remove towels from chairs not being used. That was good because alot of people never returned so this opened many chairs.Pools were small but very refreashing and not very crowded.Wish they had a better pool band, needed more reggia, island type music.:cool:

[Sparky333]

Good to know the pool butlers are helping with the chair hog situation. That has been my only real complaint about Celebrity and I'm sure it's the same (or worse) on other lines.

 

Agree totally about the pool band!

[hcat]

what was the name of the band so we can avoid them in the future!

[summerwind2]

I thought the band was great... varieties of music at many different venues...at least on the March 10 sailing of Constellation. They worked hard on our cruise, showing up at different places, different hours-- perhaps it was a different group?

[Sparky333]

Can't remember the band name -- and they weren't bad -- they were good. Just not around the pool for long, maybe just a short set in the afternoon. Then there was a one-man-band that was okay but very sedate and played a lot of old, oldies.

[SJL2]

The band was called "Top Notch" and they were OK. I really liked the reggae bands on past Caribbean cruises and missed that this time. The entertainment overall seemed geared to an older crowd on this sailing. Even the guitar player played mostly 50's and 60's songs.

 

I agree with you on the pool butlers. They really made an effort to remove items if someone was "saving" a pool chair and you could always get a chair by asking them to find one for you.

[Sparky333]

Yes, the music was definitely geared to the older demographic. Even, or especially, the piped-in music all over the ship. We kept hearing "Skyrockets in Flight" on some greatest hits of 70's easy-listening loop while we were eating breakfast and lunch. Nothing very current at all - and believe me I'm not looking for rap or hiphop, just would be nice to hear something from this century once in a while ;)

[martini girl]

we were on the constellation for the march 21 sailing..i thought the band "top notch" stunk..who wants to hear carpenters and fifth dimension on a caribbean cruise? they put me to sleep...shame on celebrity for trying to save money on the pool band...we noticed several other cost saving cuts as well:(

[rucruizin]

I'm mrs. ru...

 

I have had a couple people rebut my review and say the band was good??? Wha...?

 

I grew up with ABBA, it was my first real record. After I heard them botch several of the songs, I told my friends, "I officially hate ABBA.":( These people were not just bad, they were horrible. At one point I heard them singing and asked, "they do karaoke on deck?" When I realized that this was the band they were "paying" to sing!?:eek: :rolleyes:

 

I would have done a better job, at least I'm not tone deaf.:rolleyes: They were so off key, it took several bars before I even recognized what song they were singing.

 

HORRIBLE MESS!

[LouisV]

we were on the constellation for the march 21 sailing..i thought the band "top notch" stunk..who wants to hear carpenters and fifth dimension on a caribbean cruise? they put me to sleep...shame on celebrity for trying to save money on the pool band...we noticed several other cost saving cuts as well:(

 

Martini girl - what other kinds of cost saving cuts did you see? We are sailing on Connie in November.

[LouisV]

Good to know the pool butlers are helping with the chair hog situation. That has been my only real complaint about Celebrity and I'm sure it's the same (or worse) on other lines.

 

Agree totally about the pool band!

 

That's my biggest pet peeve on a ship or at an all inclusive resort...it's the chair hogs. Glad to hear that at least an attempt is being made with this problem.

[rjg41]

...but the chair hogs still prevail.

[camella]

I just got off the Connie too and I agree that band was awful. I too missed the Caribbean music. I even had a conversation with another passenger about the fact that they weren't playing any Caribbean music not even during sail aways!

 

Other cost cutting measures - we sail X all the time (2-3 times a year) and noticed that they seem to have fewer and fewer sommeliers. The one we had was pouring wine for about 15 tables and every one of them ordered wine and she was completely overwhelmed. We had to ask the waiter to fetch our bottle mid meal and the first few nights we didn't get our bottle until mid meal. They also used to have the waiters with a pepper grinder. Not a big deal, but a nice touch.

 

We also ordered wine to the room and they don't let the stateroom attendant bring it anymore. They send someone from the bar. We had a guy show up and just hand us the bottle. No glasses, no ice, didn't offer to open it and I'm like - hello? A corkscrew and some glasses and some ice would be nice! This happened both times we ordered wine to the room. Then when I asked the one guy to open it he got mad. They at least should attempt to earn the 15% they tack on to the price!

 

We are elite members of the captain's club and they usually have the senior officers party and the captain's club parties on the formal nights. They had the captain's club party on formal night but the senior officer's party was at 11:00 in the morning! Ditto for the wine blendings AND they only had certain floors on one day and other floors on the other day. The coupon book had a free yoga class on port days but there were no yoga classes on port days.

 

Oh and they used to bring the desserts around on a tray for you to choose from. No more - according to our waiter - who wasn't one of the best by any stretch of the imagination - they claim that they were throwing away too much food and that's why they don't send around the trays anymore.

 

Like I said these are all little things but we definitely felt the difference. It's a shame - it's a great ship but it is in pretty bad shape for only being six years old.

[ccletzgo]

I just got off the Connie too and I agree that band was awful. I too missed the Caribbean music. I even had a conversation with another passenger about the fact that they weren't playing any Caribbean music not even during sail aways!

 

Other cost cutting measures - we sail X all the time (2-3 times a year) and noticed that they seem to have fewer and fewer sommeliers. The one we had was pouring wine for about 15 tables and every one of them ordered wine and she was completely overwhelmed. We had to ask the waiter to fetch our bottle mid meal and the first few nights we didn't get our bottle until mid meal. They also used to have the waiters with a pepper grinder. Not a big deal, but a nice touch.

 

We also ordered wine to the room and they don't let the stateroom attendant bring it anymore. They send someone from the bar. We had a guy show up and just hand us the bottle. No glasses, no ice, didn't offer to open it and I'm like - hello? A corkscrew and some glasses and some ice would be nice! This happened both times we ordered wine to the room. Then when I asked the one guy to open it he got mad. They at least should attempt to earn the 15% they tack on to the price!

 

We are elite members of the captain's club and they usually have the senior officers party and the captain's club parties on the formal nights. They had the captain's club party on formal night but the senior officer's party was at 11:00 in the morning! Ditto for the wine blendings AND they only had certain floors on one day and other floors on the other day. The coupon book had a free yoga class on port days but there were no yoga classes on port days.

 

Oh and they used to bring the desserts around on a tray for you to choose from. No more - according to our waiter - who wasn't one of the best by any stretch of the imagination - they claim that they were throwing away too much food and that's why they don't send around the trays anymore.

 

Like I said these are all little things but we definitely felt the difference. It's a shame - it's a great ship but it is in pretty bad shape for only being six years old.

 

There is a cork screw and two wine glass's in the cabin for the wine that is in the mini bar..

[kelmac]

Just got off Connie 4-1-08 we had 4 sea days and i'm a fan of sitting on deck most of the days.Thier seemed to always be lounge chairs open,the pool butlers would go around the decks every 2-3 hrs and remove towels from chairs not being used. That was good because alot of people never returned so this opened many chairs.Pools were small but very refreashing and not very crowded.Wish they had a better pool band, needed more reggia, island type music.:cool:

 

I would have to agree with Bob on this one!

The Top Notch Pool Band was a bit lame. In fact, we moved up to Deck 12 forward to avoid the crowds and the noise. My iPod didn't have to compete with the band.:rolleyes: :)

No Chair Hogs up there either!

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[SusieV]

We were on the Constellation Jan 28 and it sounds like a lot has changed! Some for the better- chair hogs were terrible on our sailing. We were very glad that we had sprung for a veranda so we didn't have to fight the crowds.

 

I'm really sad to hear about the dessert tray, we really liked that.

 

I agree 100% about the sommeliers being stretched out. Our first evening we only got service after three requests and the main course being ready! We made it clear that we expected our wine at the beginning of the meal and that we planned to order at least one bottle of wine every night. After that, we were the first table served each evening. I do regret that means that someone else probably had to wait as long as we did that first night, but hopefully they were not wine drinkers.