The Right cruise but the Wrong ship.

[chromered7]

We are making early plans for our 30th wedding anniversary in 2015. We have cruised many times both in the Caribbean and the Med. We want to do a Med cruise again but with emphasis on the Aegean, we are tired of doing the same destinations. The problem we have is that we love Celebrity for their service and quality, our last two cruises were on Equinox and Reflection and both were superb. The only Celebrity ship for area and dates we like is Connie and despite her being our introduction to Celebrity about fives years ago we do like the Solstice class ships. I have been reading less than glowing reports Connie so do we go for Cruise or go for another Cruise line? It really is annoying that we can find the Cruise but Celebrity have changed the ship.

[WestLakeGirl]

didn't Celebrity have to put an M class ship onto those itineraries to meet regulations put into place by the port of Venice? Don't blame Celebrity!

[Gilpet]

I think the port of Venice have now rescinded those regulations but it's probably too late for any changes to be made for next year.

 

Gill

[ginaRAWR]

Surely it depends whether the itinerary is more important? I'm sure you can have a fantastic holiday no matter what the ship is, but if you desperately want that itinerary (from what I've seen most cruise lines have put their small ships in Venice due to uncertainty of port regulations for next year) I'd go for it if the itinerary is more important, or if the ship is more important the only option really is to go elsewhere instead as I'd doubt any line has put a bigger ship in Venice for next year.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kelmac]

We are making early plans for our 30th wedding anniversary in 2015. We have cruised many times both in the Caribbean and the Med. We want to do a Med cruise again but with emphasis on the Aegean, we are tired of doing the same destinations. The problem we have is that we love Celebrity for their service and quality, our last two cruises were on Equinox and Reflection and both were superb. The only Celebrity ship for area and dates we like is Connie and despite her being our introduction to Celebrity about fives years ago we do like the Solstice class ships. I have been reading less than glowing reports Connie so do we go for Cruise or go for another Cruise line? It really is annoying that we can find the Cruise but Celebrity have changed the ship.

 

Simple math:

 

Celebrity S class > Celebrity M class > Holland America > Princess > NCL. Maybe Cunard's Elizabeth or Victoria would work (little extra £), or Oceania (a lot extra £), even Azamara if you like small ships (loads of £). We love the S class ships as well, but had a wonderful two cruises on the Infinity out of Harwich last summer. Life on the Constellation is still better than life on most other ships! (maybe):)

[lara68]

We are just off the Constellation from our TA. I too, had reservations about sailing on her. We love the solticise class ships and weren't too pleased with the millennium two years ago. We were delighted on our Connie cruise. For whatever reason, this ship is in great shape and it turned out to be one of our best TA's to date! I would not hesitate in sailing her again and would certainly pick her over other cruise lines.

[May B]

For a special anniversary, perhaps you should consider someplace brand new.

 

I can describe to you my entire 14-day cruise in 2008 (on the Connie, btw, which we still loved in February of 2014), even though we've cruised 15 times since then. That's how much I loved the ports.

 

Just a thought. Have fun planning!

[Project_gal]

Like the OP, Constellation was our first ship in 2006. We have sailed on her twice since - the last time at the end of last year. She was beautiful in 2006 and, IMO, more beautiful since her solticisation. I really loved Eclipse when we sailed on her and have two more cruises booked on her but I would still never call Constellation the "wrong ship". I am sure that you will have a great anniversary celebration on board.

Edited May 20, 2014 by Project_gal

[RickT]

My personal opinion is that the ship is less important for a Med cruise. The reason being is the ports are the most important thing.

 

That being said, it's not as though you are having to choose between the SS Minnow and an S-Class ship. This summer I'm doing a Baltic cruise on the Connie and while it will lack some of the features of an S-Class ship, it's still a great ship and will be a nice change.

 

Go for a cruise that has the itinerary you want.

[MVPinBoynton]

If you have found an itinerary on X that you like, I wouldn't worry if it was an M or S ship. I would book it. If you wait till next year, the ports could change and you might kick yourself for not going this year because the ports you wanted aren't available. I don't believe in putting off something I want to do, since one never knows if they will be able to do it in the future.

[PoppyandNana]

Like the OP, Constellation was our first ship in 2006. We have sailed on her twice since - the last time at the end of last year. She was beautiful in 2006 and, IMO, more beautiful since her solticisation. I really loved Eclipse when we sailed on her and have two more cruises booked on her but I would still never call Constellation the "wrong ship". I am sure that you will have a great anniversary celebration on board.

 

We are sailing on her in three weeks to Norway. Having sailed on her a number of times in the past curious as to the changes made. Do they still have trays in the buffet?

[PoppyandNana]

Simple math:

 

Celebrity S class > Celebrity M class > Holland America > Princess > NCL. Maybe Cunard's Elizabeth or Victoria would work (little extra £), or Oceania (a lot extra £), even Azamara if you like small ships (loads of £). We love the S class ships as well, but had a wonderful two cruises on the Infinity out of Harwich last summer. Life on the Constellation is still better than life on most other ships! (maybe):)

 

Sailed on the Silhouette last year to the Adriatic. Frankly we were not as enthralled with her as the M class ships. Maybe it was the extremely loud music inside and on deck. Maybe it was the hoards of twenty something's and teens running amok, catastrophic chair hogging. Maybe it was the missing trays in the buffet. We just prefer the M class size both in tonnage and the number of passengers.

 

Sailing on the Constellation in three weeks.

Edited May 20, 2014 by Redman1947

[TwoHearts22]

The Constellation is a beautiful ship.

[miched]

We went from a S class in AQ the Summit in AQ on the second cruise after it was Solstilzed also expecting it to be like a S class. We were disappointed because it wasn't. It didn't help that we were joined by friends that were expecting it to be like the way we described and showed pictures of the S class.

 

We did the same cruise again by our selves and knew what to expect. We really enjoyed it and it actually turned out to be one of our favorites.

 

Just enjoy the ship for what it is, a nice classy ship that isn't a S class and has its own personality.

 

🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[bigbenboys]

We have booked the Connie for June 2015. I'm not happy with going on Connie. I like the S class ships for warmer weather. We have done most of the port stops on this cruise. So we are going for the warmer weather. We like the Eastern Med over the Caribbean. Richard

[chromered7]

Thanks for the input fellow cruisers. I think the itinerary will be the deciding factor in the end and the information about Venice perhaps explains it all. We have looked at other cruise lines, Holland and America for example, and some of their recent reviews have been quite poor. We hoped that by staying with Celebrity and their Solstice ships we would be more confident of a good all round experience. In reality it is more hope and good luck everything turns out ok and you have a great cruise.

[chromered7]

Thanks for the input fellow cruisers. I think the itinerary will be the deciding factor in the end and the information about Venice perhaps explains it all. We have looked at other cruise lines, Holland and America for example, and some of their recent reviews have been quite poor. We hoped that by staying with Celebrity and their Solstice ships we would be more confident of a good all round experience. In reality it is more hope and good luck everything turns out ok and you have a great cruise.

[awhfy]

3 times on Connie, 2 times on Equinox, 1 time on Solstice. Connie is like your favorite aunt that you can't wait to visit (again & again). We love the Solstice class ship, but the Connie is just a special feel.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[NLH Arizona]

My personal opinion is that the ship is less important for a Med cruise. The reason being is the ports are the most important thing.

 

Have to totally agree. I did the Mediterranean on the Galaxy, 8 months before it left Celebrity and it was one of the best cruises I have had. The cruise was very port intensive, but when back onboard, the crew was fantastic, the food was great. It might not have been the most beautiful ship during the cruise, but I don't think anyone noticed. And remember everyone's expectations are different, what might bother someone, might not be a concern to you.

[TxnAquarian]

Cruise for the itinerary.....that's what we do. We are in our 30s and enjoy really modern products; i.e. the Solstice Class ships. But we don't hesitate to sail on the Millennium Class ships if a good itinerary is offered. Celebrity takes great care of their ships and we have enjoyed all of our cruises. We always pick where we want to sail first, and then we go with whichever ship does the itinerary. You can't go wrong with any X ships.

 

 

 

Michael

[Redtravel]

Congratulations. 30 years together should be celebrated in style. Splurge. Take a luxurious vacation. Decide which is more important...the cruise or the ports. If the ports are more important, fly in, take a luxury tour or stay in a 6 star hotel. If the cruise is the main attraction, try a cruiseline that is truly luxurious. I like Azamara, Oceania, and Windstar. I like Celebrity. However, for a really special treat, go upscale. You are making memories that will last a lifetime. For some of our special anniversaries, we have splurged. We will be celebrating our 45 th anniversary by sailing on Azamara for 2 weeks. We have sailed on Azamara previously for special occassions ...and loved it. Some of the other special anniversaries have included: El Tovar Hotel at the Grand Canyon, Hyatt Vendome in Paris, Grand Bohemia Hotel in Prague, Reefs Hotel in Bermuda, Essex House in NYC, Fairmont Lake Louse, Victoria Jungfrau Hotel in Switzerland, and cruises. Whatever you do, do it in style. Enjoy!