Constellation Review & How it Compares to S Class Ships

[chicagopaul]

My partner and I were on the Constellation for the January 25th 5 night cruise. I thought I'd write a little review about this cruise and ship, but also compare it to the S Class ships. This was our first time on an M-Class. My partner had some reservations about cruising on an "older" ship but we were very pleasantly surprised.

 

First, a little about us. We are in our late 20s/early 30s and from Chicago. This was our 4th Celebrity Cruise, but our first on a M Class ship. Our previous cruises were on the Reflection and the Eclipse. I've also sailed on Carnival several times but after cruising once on Celebrity I saw the light and will now only sail Celebrity.

 

Our Cabin

We stayed in a Concierge Class cabin, 8152. Cabin was fantastic. Only a couple floors below the buffet which was great in the mornings. Our cabin steward was just OK. The room could have been cleaner upon arrival but I didn't have any major complaints outside of the fact that we never received a cruise questionnaire from him. I always enjoyed filling these out the night before we disembarked so I can specially mention all the great staff we encountered. Not this time :(

 

MDR

We had select dining. We never had to wait too long, but we always made sure we had reservations. We typically ate around 8:30. Service in MDR was pretty good and the maitre' d was fantastic. The waiter supervisor for all of MDR was a woman named...Natasha I believe. She would always stop by our table and joke with us, ask us about our day, etc. She was fantastic and we always felt special. They didn't have lobster on formal night, but oh well. We were told there is no lobster on shorter cruises. The only complaint I have about MDR was the lack of enforcement in the dress code. Now I realize that this was a shorter Caribbean cruise but on formal night I counted several people wearing shorts and some people wearing baseball caps. Really? I think these people should've been turned away. Not sure if I'm more upset at Celebrity for not enforcing the dress code or at the individual passengers for their lack of decorum.

 

Room Service

Slow! I was always amazed on Reflection and Eclipse how FAST the room service would arrive at your room and never had a room service order wrong. On the Connie it was slow. A couple times we ordered a shrimp cocktail, etc. to have while we got ready for the evening and it took over 45/50 minutes to arrive. We also would order late night around 1 to 2am and again it would take a long time to arrive. On two occasions our room service order was incorrect.

 

Tuscan Grill

We ate at Tuscan Grill one night and had an amazing meal. Service was top notch, the wine recommendations were spot on and overall it made for a great last meal on the ship.

 

Bars Throughout the Ship

We spent most of our time at or near a bar whether we are on a ship or at home so I'm very critical of bar service. The service at the pool bar was quite slow and inaccurate. Drinks weren't made properly (in some cases completely wrong) but we had the drink package so if we didn't like it we could just order another one.

 

Service at the mast bar was fantastic. Bevlyn from Jamaica was amazing and remembered our drink order from day 1.

 

Martini Bar - My favorite place on any Celebrity ship! Marko at the martini bar was amazing. It was great talking to him every night and he always remembered our drinks. The martini bar would get very crowded but the bartenders did a great job making drinks quickly and taking orders.

 

On S-Class ships we rarely get bar servers in the main theater. I was happy to be able to order a drink during the main shows without a problem. :)

 

Entertainment

I was very happy with the singers and dancers on this ship. The quality of the talent itself was terrific and in my opinion better than what we've seen on the Reflection or the Eclipse. On the last night of the cruise we noticed some of the dancers sitting in a lounge so we bought them a round of drinks and started chatting with them. It turns out they were all from the UK. They explained to us that M-Class ships use a UK based talent agency for all their singers and dancers while the S-Class ships use an American based company. I think the UK company is doing a great job (not that entertainment is bad on the S-Class ships, but I found the Connie to be one step above).

 

Michael's Club was busy every night. There was piano player that would play a mix of classic Karaoke songs to "dirty songs" and would always get the crowd involved. He started at 10pm every night and would typically end around 12:30 / 12:45am.

 

The Sky Lounge or...Revelations I think it is called on the Connie was hit or miss. One night it was very crowded and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on the dance floor until 2am.

 

Their party band was pretty good. I wish they would've played by the pool more often. They had a solo guitarist as well that played by the pool and he was very good.

 

Staff

I found the staff to be extremely friendly throughout the ship. The captain (Captain Tassos) was hysterical. He was very involved in everything from shows to volleyball to mingling with guests during the day. I was highly impressed with his involvement. The Cruise Director was great too. We never saw him out and about much, but whenever he spoke at a show or event he was always engaging and funny.

 

The photo staff was friendly, especially Micky who took some great shots of us that we had to buy.

 

When returning to the ship while in port we found the security staff to be extremely friendly and personable.

 

Shopping

I was looking at some watches on the ship, as I always do when we cruise. On the Reflection I found the staff to be a bit pushy and not too knowledgeable about the product (with the exception of those in the Breitling/Omega shop). However, on the Connie I found all the sales staff to be very knowledgeable, not pushy and a lot of fun to talk to, try on watches, talk about sales, etc.

 

Weather

OK, I know this is nothing that can be controlled by Celebrity but I must say we had PERFECT weather throughout the entire cruise. Coming from frigid Chicago we were thrilled to have amazing weather for a change.

 

The Ship Itself

I thought the Constellation was in great shape for an older ship. Our stateroom showed some signs of age but for the most part the ship was in excellent shape and very clean.

 

Comparing The Constellation to the S Class Ships

 

I know it is difficult to compare the two ships as they're two different animals but here are the main differences and similarities I saw and/or want to comment on.

 

I found dress code to be much better enforced in MDR on the Reflection and Eclipse versus the Constellation. Not a big deal, but it is a pet peeve of mine.

 

I like the fact that there is more outdoor eating space on the S Class ships. I love eating outside. However, I did find the buffet service staff on the Constellation to be extremely attentive which was definitely appreciated.

 

I thought the overall entertainment on the Constellation was better than both the Eclipse and the Reflection.

 

I liked the bar spaces better on S Class ships with the exception of Michael's Club. I loved the setup and entertainment in Michael's Cub on the Constellation.

 

Staff on the Eclipse and Reflection are excellent just as they are on the Constellation. Everyone was extremely friendly, always helpful and made you feel right at home.

 

While we LOVE the S-Class ships and their design, we definitely are open to any M-Class ship now and would especially be interested in sailing the Constellation again in the future. Many on here call the Connie their favorite and I can definitely see why!

[gimletgal]

Great review! Glad you enjoyed your cruise on the Connie.

 

As you can see by my signature, she is one of my favorite ships. The crew has always been outstanding. I like the S-Class as well, but am still partial to the M-Class.

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts about both types of ships!

[Jokare]

Thanks for your review, we sail on Connie in 6 weeks. I'm with you on the dress code, should be enforced if on formal nites they wear shorts and caps. I'm fine if they wear dress slacks and a nice shirt. Anyway you got us excited for our cruise-thanks.

[Azulann]

Thank you for a great review and comparison of the S class ship.

I like them both for different reasons.

[need2bespoiled]

 

Snip

 

Martini Bar - My favorite place on any Celebrity ship! Marko at the martini bar was amazing. It was great talking to him every night and he always remembered our drinks. The martini bar would get very crowded but the bartenders did a great job making drinks quickly and taking orders.

 

We loved Marko! He was great, and we agree with much of what you wrote.

 

Happy Sailing,

Jenna

[eroller]

Thanks for the review! I'm a fan of both the M-Class and S-Class. They each have their strong suits and downfalls but overall both a great classes of ships.

 

I'm sailing on CONSTELLATION in six days so glad to hear she is in good shape.

 

Ernie

[Jokare]

78 ships?

[Iamthesea]

Thank you for the review. ;)

 

Tuscan Grill

We ate at Tuscan Grill one night and had an amazing meal. Service was top notch, the wine recommendations were spot on and overall it made for a great last meal on the ship.

 

Can the free beverage package be used in Tuscan?

Edited February 17, 2014 by Iamthesea

[chicagopaul]

Thank you for the review. ;)

 

 

 

Can the free beverage package be used in Tuscan?

 

Yep, you can use your beverage package in any of the specialty restaurants. The wine steward was very nice, asked us which package we had (we had the premium) and gave us suggestions from there.

[d4m]

Thanks for the timely comparison review. We have only gone on S class ships but will be on the Eastern Connie TA in April. Had been a bit concerned, given that we have never been on M class. Your review makes me feel better about our choice this time!

[Iamthesea]

Yep, you can use your beverage package in any of the specialty restaurants. The wine steward was very nice, asked us which package we had (we had the premium) and gave us suggestions from there.

 

Thank you! We have the Classic. Not big drinkers, but it will be nice to get a decent glass of wine using our package in Tuscan. ;)