Rare agathasmum Posted August 13, 2014 #1 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Disembarked Constellation in Amsterdam this morning. Had a great cruise. The crew are excellent and happy. Ports were superb and we had exceptionally good weather, unusually hot and sunny in all of them! Food in Blu was excellent. Didn't participate in many of the ships activities or shows, but enjoyed the guitarist and the string trio, but gave the Sax and DJ duo a wide berth whenever possible. Happy to answer any questions if I can. Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare agathasmum Posted August 13, 2014 Author #2 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Just off, not of, but I can't edit the thread name :) Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don P Posted August 13, 2014 #3 Share Posted August 13, 2014 If so, who did you use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C 2 C Posted August 13, 2014 #4 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Happy to answer any questions if I can. Did you perhaps save the "In The Spotlight" summary of senior staff members? I attempt to keep the staff chart up to date and would really appreciate if you could correct any of the entries for Constellation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickT Posted August 13, 2014 #5 Share Posted August 13, 2014 We too just debarked and agree that it was a wonderful cruise. Great ports, weather and staff. As far as who is on board, you can remove Rati as the captain's club hostess. This was her last day on the Connie for a few months. As far as the DJ and Sax player, I liked them at first but got a little tired of it near the end. I think it would have been better if they moved them around. Emily and the Nightcap were a great party/pool band and Mikey (the solo guitarist) was always worth stopping to listen to. The Connie is still in great shape with only a few spots of rust taking away from her being perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeaBag Posted August 13, 2014 #6 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Great to hear some positive reviews. They really must have spiffed up the ship and gotten some much better food on there since the July sailing where a reviewer called it the worst cruise ever!:rolleyes: The difference in reviews always amazes me. I'm glad you had a good time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sloop-JohnB Posted August 13, 2014 #7 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Thanks for your Report... Sounds like you had a good time. Happy to hear the details that ship & crew were great as we are the Connie in December. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
england1 Posted August 13, 2014 #8 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I was on the June 2nd Baltic Cruise and we also had absolutely no complaints. The crew and service were outstanding. I also read that review and wondered if she had got the name of the ship wrong. Oh well, different strokes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iamthesea Posted August 14, 2014 #9 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Great to hear some positive reviews. They really must have spiffed up the ship and gotten some much better food on there since the July sailing where a reviewer called it the worst cruise ever!:rolleyes: The difference in reviews always amazes me. I'm glad you had a good time. Glad to hear that the cruise was wonderful! :) I also read that review and couldn't understand how things went downhill on the Connie from the time we were on her in May.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindy Posted August 14, 2014 #10 Share Posted August 14, 2014 I loved the Constellation also!:D Glad to hear others share my opinion. I'm always a little leery of reviews in the Member Reviews section, because so many of them appear to be from people who only joined CC for the purposes of posting their scathing comments. I place a higher value on reviews that come from members who also post on the boards at least occasionally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Texed Posted August 14, 2014 #11 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Aga, Thanks for posting. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HLR Posted August 14, 2014 #12 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Hi all! I'm sailing on October 2nd on the Constellation....I'm glad to hear the opinion above about the Member Reviews on here. The last four current reviews posted are scathing! Of course sometimes things that folks complain about on your cruise are things you don't care about yourself...but you still wonder "were on the same ship?" But after reading Cindy's review thread and other's comments...I figure I'm going to have a fine time! HLR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted August 14, 2014 #13 Share Posted August 14, 2014 (edited) Hi Agathasmum, We are on the fence about sailing on Constellation in December. Can you advise about the entertainment, and if the music was very loud at the pool. Also, do they have the old lounge chairs poolside with the padding, or the new loungers we've heard about on Summit, I believe. How was the Main Dining room food & service ? Thanks in advance ! Edited August 14, 2014 by Host Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare agathasmum Posted August 14, 2014 Author #14 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Host Andy, I am probably not the best person to comment on the music as I am a person who seeks peace and quiet, but since you ask.... There is a certain type of background music on board with ethereal voices over a dance beat. The husband never really noticed it but I did, and it was irritating. Breakfast in Blu was accompanied by a "perky" version of this music that I could have done without (think electronic beat, whooshing wave sounds and "sex on the beach" uttered ad infinitum). No one else commented on it at all, so perhaps I am super-sensitive. This sort of music was also playing at thepool the one time I walked through. I think the party band played there sometimes too. I didn't notice the loungers, sorry. The only other place I found the music too loud was showtunes at lunch in Bistro on Five. That could have been turned down a notch or two. We were in Blu so didn't use the dining room, but again, never heard anyone complain about the food. We had one dinner (curry and stir fry)in the buffet and that was pretty good. This was a very port intensive cruise so really the ship mattered less to us entertainmentwise than say a Caribbean one, but the ship is most certainly not run down, and as I said for us the food and crew really made it a nice experience. Cruisenut, I thinkI have the sheet somewhere in the depths of my luggage, and will report back Sunday. I think ours was the last cruise with Christophe as blu Maitre D if that helps at all. Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickT Posted August 14, 2014 #15 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Hi Andy, will try and answer some of your questions. Music: IMHO it wasn't too loud anywhere except when they had something going on pool side (line dance and such). Otherwise it was at a pleasant level even when it was Emily and the Nightcaps. There was a bit of variety with a second band, the previously mentioned DJ and Sax player along with Mikey the guitar player and three wonderful ladies in a string trio. No complaints on variety or volume level. The poolside lounge chairs are better than what I remember. They have an aluminum frame with an almost solid blue cloth across. Very comfortable. As far as the food in the MDR it was fairly similar to what I had on my last two Sundays class cruises. Decent quality with my only complaint being that the menu was too similar to what I've seen the past two years. As far as poor reviews....... I don't get it. That being said it wouldn't surprise me if we read a poor review about this sailing too. I fully believe that you can't please everyone and some folks live to nitpik. I'd sail the Connie tomorrow if I could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RM Posted August 14, 2014 #16 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Happy to hear you enjoyed the ship. Almost my turn to go! Can you tell me how early disembarking started? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindy Posted August 14, 2014 #17 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Also, do they have the old lounge chairs poolside with the padding, or the new loungers we've heard about on Summit, I believe. Andy, most of the lounge chairs were solid blue mesh with no padding like these: There were a few wicker loungers with cushions like these: The chairs in the Thalassotherapy Pool area were wood, and some of them had cushions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare agathasmum Posted August 14, 2014 Author #18 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Disembarkation on paper officially started at 7am with people walking off with their own luggage in Amsterdam. We were number 12 with a time of 8:30. We left Blu at 8am and immediately heard them call 1-20, so not sure if we were initially called even earlier than that. Disembarking in Amsterdam was really easy. We didn't wait more than 5 minutes for a taxi. Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkNC Posted August 14, 2014 #19 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Thanks for the report! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RM Posted August 14, 2014 #20 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Disembarkation on paper officially started at 7am with people walking off with their own luggage in Amsterdam. We were number 12 with a time of 8:30. We left Blu at 8am and immediately heard them call 1-20, so not sure if we were initially called even earlier than that. Disembarking in Amsterdam was really easy. We didn't wait more than 5 minutes for a taxi. Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app Thanks that helps. We are going to arrange early transportation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adirondacksailor Posted August 15, 2014 #21 Share Posted August 15, 2014 We were on the June 2 Baltic and it was wonderful! No complaints whatsoever about the ship. Near the top of our favorite cruises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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