Review of Constellation 10-night Italy and Croatia June 5 2017.

Who knows the reason and I guess we will find out in future reviews of Connie if things improve. Some who have posted from the cruise after ours have commented on similar issues. One thought is that it might be more difficult to find inexpensive help on european itineraries but we have sailed RCCL in the Baltics and in the Mediterranean and never noticed a lack of staff.

Thanks for taking the time to review. Found it very informstive. We sail on an Adriatic / Med cruise in Sept on Connie. Its our first Celebrity cruise.

You mentioned the live music was good. We love having a beer listenung to someone play guitar and sing or a live band. Was that offered or was it just a piano player? Thanks.

Thanks for taking the time to review. Found it very informstive. We sail on an Adriatic / Med cruise in Sept on Connie. Its our first Celebrity cruise.

 

 

 

You mentioned the live music was good. We love having a beer listenung to someone play guitar and sing or a live band. Was that offered or was it just a piano player? Thanks.

There was a guy with a guitar "Boyan" that was very good also a duo one singing and one with a guitar that were also very good. They would rotate around the ship and one of the 2 were always at the sunset Bar for sail away.

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There was also a very good house band on ship - mostly classic rock. They played at the pool and also in Rendezvous Lounge. The Martini Bar had the Silent Disco. There was also a DJ at night usually in the Sky Lounge. There was quiet live music in the evenings in Cellar Masters. The Sunset Bar always had live music in the late afternoon into the evening.

There was also a very good house band on ship - mostly classic rock. They played at the pool and also in Rendezvous Lounge. The Martini Bar had the Silent Disco. There was also a DJ at night usually in the Sky Lounge. There was quiet live music in the evenings in Cellar Masters. The Sunset Bar always had live music in the late afternoon into the evening.

Thanks. Sounds like there'll be plenty to keep us entertained.

We were on the following cruise! I agree with the comments regarding the MDR we only ate there three times on our cruise but when we were on the ship in April the food was a lot better. But the buffet was very good and the speciality restaurants were too.

Our cruise had an outbreak of sickness which thankfully we avoided, as for staff in the bars we had no problems but we did know a number of them from previous times.

I thought the rooftop area where films were featured was a better use of space than before the dry dock, Dianne

Sorry to hear about the noro outbreak if that was the infectious agent. It is very difficult for ships to control this if passengers do not cooperate with the procedures in place..

We embarked June 5 and will dis-embark July 4. Our cabin attendant is excellent.

My humble opinion is that staffing has been so reduced in service areas like food service and bar, there are no longer enough to properly do the job.

Yes that was also my opinion.

As an update, the Constellation cruise which departed after our cruise on June 15th was reported to have had a norovirus outbreak.

We did an Adriatic cruise on the Connie in October, 2016. We loved loved our itinerary. We were overnight in Dubrovnik and Malta and both places were magical. However, it was our second time on the Constellation and we were somewhat disappointed in the MDR. The quality of the food has changed a lot since our first cruise. In fact I think the M class ships are on their way out with the new Edge class ships. We sailed the Millenium to Alaska 2 years ago and the food was worse than the Connie plus the ship was in very poor shape. We love Celebrity but our next two cruises are on Oceania.

Who knows the reason and I guess we will find out in future reviews of Connie if things improve. Some who have posted from the cruise after ours have commented on similar issues. One thought is that it might be more difficult to find inexpensive help on european itineraries but we have sailed RCCL in the Baltics and in the Mediterranean and never noticed a lack of staff.

Where the ship sails has no bearing on staff. They are sourced in the same places, by the same agents, for sailings worldwide. Most crew span different regions in one contract--Europe/TA/Caribbean. Alaska, TP/Asia, etc. Unless they request a certain itinerary or ship, the company tells them where they are going and when.

Lack of staff is a conscious effort, fleet wide, on =X= to reduce employment expense.

It's not just the bar staff on the Constellation, we had the very worse bar service ever on the Equinox in April this year. I could not get them to make eye contact or acknowledge I was waiting so they had no idea who to serve next. Poor training and management. Likewise, the Captain and Officer Staff was almost invisible on the Equinix. The food was excellent in all the areas as was the entertainment. We will be on the Constellation August 28th and will enjoy every moment of the trip with my wife. Just will overlook some things!

I think the M class ships are on their way out with the new Edge class ships. We sailed the Millenium to Alaska 2 years ago and the food was worse than the Connie plus the ship was in very poor shape. We love Celebrity but our next two cruises are on Oceania.

I sure hope the M class are not on the way out. Our very best Celebrity Cruise was last August on the Summit. Loved the Aqua Class on deck 11, loved the layout of the pool deck, love only 2,000+ passengers on board. The Captain, Officers, crew on down were the very best. Celebrity just spent a small fortune on refurbishments for the M class ships. We have found the food has improved over the last few years (Summit August 2016 and Equinox April 2017). The wine quality and bar service have gone downhill on all their ships.

As for M-Class, I was on Infinity last year for a 15 day cruise. The service overall was outstanding. I am trying Summit in September and I'm told that Captain Kate keeps the ship in great condition with great service.

What was the entertainment on board?

What was the entertainment on board?[/quote

 

Waste there a piano player on board?

The reduction in bar staff seems to be a common complaint across the whole cruise line. We were on the May 26th cruise and avoided all bars in peak times or chose quieter bars like cellarmasters. We must have been lucky in the MDR because we always had great service from the sommeliers apart from the first night which was pretty average. We did note that the Captains Club Elite functions were poorly attended. Perhaps it had to do with a port intensive programme and more and more people having drinks packages that it is becoming less relevant

What was the entertainment on board?[/quote

 

Waste there a piano player on board?

 

Production shows, singers and comedians in the main theatre. Movies in the new area (The Terrace) on top deck. Daily live music on the pool deck. Various musicians aft at the Sunset Bar every day and evening. Live bands in the Rendezvous Lounge and the Sky Lounge, or sometimes DJ's. Silent Disco. Trivia and other types of contests. There was no lack of entertainment. I don't remember if there was specifically a piano bar type musician on board.

The reduction in bar staff seems to be a common complaint across the whole cruise line. We were on the May 26th cruise and avoided all bars in peak times or chose quieter bars like cellarmasters. We must have been lucky in the MDR because we always had great service from the sommeliers apart from the first night which was pretty average. We did note that the Captains Club Elite functions were poorly attended. Perhaps it had to do with a port intensive programme and more and more people having drinks packages that it is becoming less relevant

I think with the popularity in Classic or Premium Drink Packages, the Elite Cocktail nightly event has become a lot less attended.