Bit concered about Constellation

I do not discount every negative review any more than I accept every positive review. Some folks writing a review seem to focus on the small things and, in some cases, blow things out of proportion. Other folks seem to have a decent grasp on how to cover all the experiences they had at an even level and depth of detail such that you get a reasonable impression of how things are or will be in the near term. Sometimes the negative reviews focus on the issue (or potential issue), but never really address what was done to resolve the issue or how the issue was resolved.

For me, to find value in negative reviews, I want to know how the affected person went about resolving the issue and whether the issue was resolved appropriately. Should I have the same (or similar) issue, I would like to know how to go about dealing with it (vs. hearing someone whine about it after the fact when nothing can be done).

In May and June I spent 3 weeks on the Connie in an ordinary cabin. Everything in the cabin was fine. One of the best cabin attendants I've ever had. The hotel director was on the pier every morning wishing us a good day and she was also there every evening to welcome us back to the ship. I've never seen that before on any Celebrity ship. We discovered one night after returning tired from an all-day excursion that the buffet was serving amazing food with things like mussels being brought on in port. We ate a lot of our meals up there after that. Had some excellent salads which I never would have seen in the MDR. A bit tired of the same old, same old in the MDR--maybe that's because I've cruised Celebrity too much. :)

Interesting. How do suggest that someone evaluate the performance of a cruise? How do you get an indication that everything is operating as advertised?

 

If another person’s perspective is meaningless, do you offer your experiences to help others?

I read all reviews. But WE do not base any of our cruises on anyone's opinion or review of a ship, staff, port or cruise line. Works for us. I may or not agree with them but never a deciding factor for electing any of our cruises. I'll even comment back with my opinion. If you want my opinion I'll provide one (positive or negative) on an itinerary, port, staff, ship or cruise line. Again it would only be my (our) opinion and not a suggestion or recommendation. Do you decide to book or not book based on someone's review/opinion?

I read all reviews. But WE do not base any of our cruises on anyone's opinion or review of a ship, staff, port or cruise line. Works for us. I may or not agree with them but never a deciding factor for electing any of our cruises. I'll even comment back with my opinion. If you want my opinion I'll provide one (positive or negative) on an itinerary, port, staff, ship or cruise line. Again it would only be my (our) opinion and not a suggestion or recommendation. Do you decide to book or not book based on someone's review/opinion?

Seems like all you are offering is your opinion. You read all of the reviews, but they do not factor into your decision? Seems like a wasted effort.

Seems like all you are offering is your opinion. You read all of the reviews, but they do not factor into your decision? Seems like a wasted effort.

So what is wrong with only offering an opinion? We were cruising long before joining CC. No effort wasted at all. But that is your opinion.

Seems like all you are offering is your opinion. You read all of the reviews, but they do not factor into your decision? Seems like a wasted effort.

I'm not going to put words into the other poster's mouth, but I will give you my reply.

We do not BASE our decisions on reviews. We base them on the facts of the ship, the itinerary, the price, known FACTUAL issues with the ship or service. We certainly read reviews, but always with a critical eye on the actual substance of the review. And usually completely disregard the whining complaints of picayune issues of those with unrealistic expectations, as well as those gushing that everything was utterly perfect with not a single irritant to be found. Opinions are like bodily orifices - everyone has at least one. Any facts that might be gleaned from reviews may be weighed as a consideration, but certainly not as a deciding factor. Not yet, at any rate.

So what is wrong with only offering an opinion? We were cruising long before joining CC. No effort wasted at all. But that is your opinion.

Since you don't value other's opinions, why bother sharing your opinion?

I'm not going to put words into the other poster's mouth, but I will give you my reply.

 

We do not BASE our decisions on reviews. We base them on the facts of the ship, the itinerary, the price, known FACTUAL issues with the ship or service. We certainly read reviews, but always with a critical eye on the actual substance of the review. And usually completely disregard the whining complaints of picayune issues of those with unrealistic expectations, as well as those gushing that everything was utterly perfect with not a single irritant to be found. Opinions are like bodily orifices - everyone has at least one. Any facts that might be gleaned from reviews may be weighed as a consideration, but certainly not as a deciding factor. Not yet, at any rate.

Seems like you are hoping for the Dragnet Review, "Nothing but the facts ma'am". The problem with many on the forum is that they believe their opinions are facts.

Since you don't value other's opinions, why bother sharing your opinion?

Where did I say I don't value others opinions? All I said others opinions (positive or negative) will never be a "deciding factor for us". Everyone has a right to share their opinion, even me and you.

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Connie has always been one of our favorite M-Class. Does She have worn spots? So do I! What’s important to me in a Line or ship? Service, access to good common areas, decent entertainment, nice pool area, dining variety, in menu and additional options beyond MDR’s. And Connie meets all of these.

As to reviews, I do read through them a bit usually on something I’m doing new (new ship or itinerary/ports of call), but I consider their opinions only when I see what they either have issues with or like is something that I consider important......one critic complained Summit was ‘tiny’ and had a ‘tiny’ buffet.....Got it. Stop reading now. And when the reviewer goes off the deep end, I quit reading, such as “the buffet / MDR / grill / etc was inedible”, yeah right. Reviews of very subjective areas such as dining and entertainment aren’t of interest to me except maybe talking about the variety of such...quality and taste, too personal.

Example of a good review comment that helped me: before cruising on Princess, I read that the standard SRs are pretty small (at least the ships at that time) and this couple went to the Jr Suites. It was a 12-N Hawaii cruise with lots of at sea, so I upgraded. Boy was that good....for me. Went to a friend’s standard SR and it was small. Too small to have friends over and sit and the shower was tiny (now that Was tiny!). The Jr Suite was nice and met our needs. So that review helped a good deal. Whenever I compare Princess and X prices, I compare the Jr Suite to the standard X SR. And yes, before I get hit by those that love Princess, they are right, the Jr Suite does have a much larger balcony too.

Enough. I think the OP has lots of good positive responses and hopefully what they find important, the Connie meets.

Den

So, we were on Infinity 2 years ago and liked it a lot. Connie's the same class of ship, but the reviews on her aren't nearly as good. I understand it's subjective, and maybe more squeaky wheels tend to give reviews (?)... one can only hope. The idea of 10 days in the Med on a ship that's not up to par is concerning. We have a suite, so here's hoping we didnt pay for torn sheets, lousy bathroom caulking and worn out theater seats. That's what some of the posts seem to be showing. If you've been on Connie in the last few months, would you mind providing some feedback?

We did a B2B in July, and everything was wonderful!!

Thanks again, All :) Our decision was based on the itinerary. Connie had the best one for us, and nope, I don't make decisions based only on reviews, but I don't ignore negative ones if they're from recent sailings on a ship I've never been on, and there are several of them. That's why I wanted to hear from real people here :) I'm lucky to be going, and feeling excited.

One additional comment on reviews. If you read one that seems unusual or perhaps against the grain of other reviews, just ignore it or search for other posts but that reviewer. Perhaps they are overly negative (or positive for that matter) in most of their other posts. Just another piece of data to consider.

One additional comment on reviews. If you read one that seems unusual or perhaps against the grain of other reviews, just ignore it or search for other posts but that reviewer. Perhaps they are overly negative (or positive for that matter) in most of their other posts. Just another piece of data to consider.

Agreed. And, for me, I’ve found that many ships on which we’ve sailed recently, built before 2005, receive a bunch of negative reviews that I don’t think are warranted. Most of them have been quite well maintained and nicely upgraded.

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We are sailing on this ship on 10/19. My only concern is that specialty dining is limited to just 3 restaurants - Qsine, Tuscan Grille and Sushi on 5(I believe). And when we dine in Sushi on 5 it does not even come close to what the specialty dining fee for 2 would be. If you dine there once, they give you a 20%-30% discount on the next. I guess we will just decide with discounts offered. I do miss Murano.

Maybe the restaurant selection is different. I guess I will find out.

No matter what, we will have a fine time on this ship.

We love the Connie, but you’re right about the specialty restaurants. Sushi on 5 is good but not great and always empty. We felt Qsine had gone downhill. All the food seemed greasy and just ok this time around, and the whole iPad experience outdated. The Tuscan Grille, though, was fantastic.

On our cruise from Abu Dhabi to Rome, there was a premium outdoor dining experience offered one evening where the movie is shown...I think it was called Dining Under The Stars. It was a lot of fun and pretty good. There was also a theme night in Qsine, called Arabic Nights, highlighting Middle Eastern food. It as a fun idea but the food was mediocre.

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We loved the Connie also. Was one of our favorite ships but since Perry left we wandered to other ships.Positions!!!!

We have sail on the Constellation twice, once in 2010 and then again in 2017, both times we loved it. There is a certain ambience to the ship that feels very special. Yes she is not as "new " as some of the other ships, but she provides a fabulous holiday. Go with an open mind and enjoy.

We just got off a Med cruise on this ship about 5 weeks ago. I wrote a review which you can find by searching on my posts. Long story short, we had a great time and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

We did not try any specialty dining. Unlike others, we did not have issues with the open seating (or whatever they call it) in the dining room. A couple nights we were grouped with others at a table to share; a few others we had a two top to ourselves, but never waited more than 5 minutes.

We just got off a Med cruise on this ship about 5 weeks ago. I wrote a review which you can find by searching on my posts. Long story short, we had a great time and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

 

We did not try any specialty dining. Unlike others, we did not have issues with the open seating (or whatever they call it) in the dining room. A couple nights we were grouped with others at a table to share; a few others we had a two top to ourselves, but never waited more than 5 minutes.

Select Dining...;)