I booked the Celebrity Constellation on August 26 sailing at the last minute and thought I had made a mistake after reading about the service cutbacks, downgrades in food/menus, and age/condition of the ship. I had a great trip and the link to my full review and pictures is below.
I agree that the ship cabins desperately need a remodel, the main dining room menus are boring, the side dishes are repetitive, and the plating is very school cafeteria-looking, which is such a disservice as it doesn't taste as institutionalized as it looked. Maybe it was bad luck, but the dinner servers and wine service staff in the main dining room were not very good - details in review, but they seemed like they wanted to argue with guests.
I thought the staff all over the ship (except the dinner service in the main dining room) was great. The common areas of the ship seemed to be under constant cleaning, and they did a good job on the pool desk cleaning up after people. The cabin service was excellent and I have no complaints. I really enjoyed the entertainment. They had live music all around the ship, and I liked the headliners, production shows, and thought the entertainment crew was wonderful all around. It was much better than my last cruises on Princess and Royal Caribbean. I was impressed with the quality and variety of the acts, and I think the cruise director Sue is doing a fantastic job.
Overall, I really enjoyed the ship and would sail again in a second. Just my two cents - thank you to the Cruise Critic members for always providing insight and lively discussions.
My review can be found here.
