Celebrity Constellation 12/21/15 - New to Celebrity

[bhambamacruiser]

Family will sail on the Celebrity Constellation for Christmas. We are all new to Celebrity. We've sailed Princess and HAL before, with HAL as our preferred cruise line. We are looking forward to trying Celebrity, especially "Connie".

 

Do any experienced Celebrity passengers have suggestions to help make our first Celebrity experience the best possible? We are booked in a Concierge Class cabin. Any specific specialty dining we should try? Any recommended excursions in Cozumel? Any insider tips for good spots to enjoy on the ship or food or drink recommendations?

 

I'm anxious taking the lead on booking my family on this cruise, but all the good reviews of Celebrity and the Constellation have eased my concern. I hope our expectations will be exceeded.

 

Thanks!

[Host Jazzbeau]

I'm sure others with even more Celebrity experience than I will offer lots of good ideas, but I'll start the ball rolling with this. The food in the MDR and buffet is pretty good, so don't rush in to buying specialty dining packages until you have tried it -- especially because Celebrity has raised the prices so high that it would break the bank to take your family there. But if you do want to splurge, I recommend Ocean Liners [classic French cuisine, and the servers love to finish dishes table side to give you a show]. But you might also like Tuscan Grille [italian; they do really good steaks, and the sauces are lighter than in OL]. I personally think "Bistro on five and dime" isn't good enough to deserve a specialty charge, and especially not since they raised it so high -- but others seem to love it.

[BosoxI]

Try Ocean Liners, My favorite specialty restaurant in the X fleet.

[WEGL81]

One tip that not everyone knows about is you can get cooked to order steak, chicken, or salmon in the back of the Oceanview cafe at night. It is where the sandwich station is during lunch. The cuts of meat are not prime, of course, but there is something to be said for cooked to order and served hot. Another great place is the Thallassotherapy pool in the solarium. This is a very relaxing salt water pool with jets (although kids are not allowed). I've only eaten in Blu on Connie so can't recommend any specialty restaurants, other than to echo the above recommendation to try the MDR before deciding to spend a lot of money.

[kenevenpar]

Ocean Liners is, in my opinion, significantly better than Pinnacle Grill on HAL. Ask for a discount on the fee, end you may end up with a reasonable surcharge.

[bEwAbG]

My favorite tip related to the Thallosotherapy pool is to hit it around the 6pm dinner hour (assuming you're not eating at that time) because it is practically empty most days. I was on Connie back in February. Lovely ship and lovely crew. Enjoy!