First Timer Review of Celebrity Constellation Holiday Cruise

[4ready2cruz]

This was our first cruise on Celebrity. I was a little anxious given all the reviews I had read over the past 6+ months but tried to go with an open mind.

 

Here is a little background to start. My husband and I are both 50, we traveled with 2 teen daughters (14, 16), my mom (73) and his 67 year old sister. We had only previously sailed on Carnival but were looking for a quieter more relaxing experience.

 

Embarkation Day - We arrived at the terminal around 10:15. Constellation was docked at Pier 4. The Check In process was GREAT! There was no line. Got all 3 cabins checked in, got our pictures taken, took a seat and waited. We were entertained by one of the terminal agents who got us all singing the 12 Days of Christmas.

 

We were onboard and sipping a mimosa by 10:45ish. Explored a little of Deck 3 then hubby decided to see if our cabins were ready. We were in oceanviews on Deck 3 in the new section with the HUGE windows by the conference room. So we snuck in. I am a rule abider, I was not comfy with this, but our rooms were ready! We stashed our carry on and went to explore the ship.

 

Buffet - The buffet area was not very busy yet. We leisurely perused the offerings, scoped out a good table, got a couple glasses of wine and had our first lunch. It was good, nothing great. More background, I am not a foodie, I do try to eat healthy, and I like (not love) desserts. We did not really utilize the buffet for more than just early breakfast and a few random snacks. We LOVED the Oceanview Bar on Deck 10 Aft! I don’t know why anyone would want to eat inside when this space was available and very rarely crowded!

 

Our Cabins - At 170 sq ft., oceanview cabins are a tad small, but doable for two not too large married individuals. My daughters shared a cabin each with grandma and aunt. No one threw anyone overboard so I guess they muddled through.

Robert was our room attendant. He was FANTASTIC! Requested that the refrigerators be emptied and it was done for all three cabins. After the first night, I mentioned to him about the uncomfortable space from the two twins being pushed together and he made a valiant attempt to correct (did not totally go away, but it was less noticeable).

 

Main Dining Room - The food in the MDR was okay. We had 2 breakfasts, 1 lunch and 3 dinners here. Most were uneventful. The waiters and sommeliers were great. However, the one meal that remains in my memory is breakfast on our last sea day, Christmas Eve. We arrived around 9 AM (as apparently did a whole slew of other people). We were given coffee and juice, our orders were taken and then we sat. And sat and sat. Our waiter had disappeared! Finally after about a half hour I got the attention of another waiter and explained that we had been waiting over a half hour for our meal. No bread or danish had ever been offered. After another 15 minutes of waiting my husband went and spoke to the maître d’. There was some lame excuse about the omelets taking time because they had to be made individually. Our food (and our waiter) appeared about 5 minutes later. He was very apologetic. He then brought us a peace offering of donuts from Café al Bacio (after we had already eaten). The assistant maître d’ appeared and apologized and took our cabin numbers (he sent choc covered strawberries to our cabins). Then as we were leaving, the maître d’ apologized and invited us to have lunch in Bistro at noon (it was already after 10:30). We accepted.

 

My only other complaint about the MDR is that it is way too noisy. It’s like a cavern and sounds and voices just reverberated. It was hard to hear the person sitting next to you.

 

An observation (not a complaint) is that the wait staff never referred to us by name. This was something I had taken note of on Carnival, that they made a point of calling us by our names, it was more personal.

 

Specialty Dining - Our first dinner onboard was at Tuscan Grille. We were able to get a 30% discount upon. Again, I am not a foodie. I ordered sea bass at a steakhouse. It was okay. Everyone seemed to like their entrees. The service was good, but they did not seem overly attentive. Plates sat too long before being removed. The sommelier spilled wine (thankfully it was white) all over my sister in law’s arm.

 

On Christmas Eve we had dinner at Oceanliners for my husband’s birthday. I was a little nervous about the menu since my 14 year old is VERY picky and there did not seem to be much on the menu that would be to her liking. She was very happy with her chateau briand for one and with her choice of dessert. All 4 adults had the lobster prepared tableside. It was very good. The service there was much better than at Tuscan. We had no discount here.

 

Bistro on 5 – we got to eat here because of the fiasco that was our breakfast that morning in the MDR. They were not busy at all there, the servers were very attentive and very friendly. The salads and the crepes were tasty. The menu seemed somewhat limited but that could just be because I was not hungry and was looking for a light salad.

 

We loved the fact that it was so much quieter there than the MDR. We will definitely go back to give it another try even with a $10 per person charge.

 

Café Al Bacio – LOVED this place! Disappointed that we only discovered it 3 days into a 5 day cruise. We now make our own Aspen coffees at home! The service was great, the desserts were delicious.

 

Beverage Package

My husband and I choose the beverage package as our perk. We have never had one before, especially not on Carnival, just did not think it was worth it since we don’t normally drink that much (or so I thought). We upgraded on day one because we wanted to visit the Martini Bar that I had read so much about! I think I would upgrade again only because it’s a no brainer (1 martini covers it) and it takes the hassle out of trying to figure out what is or is not covered.

 

We would have a couple of the daily specials, 1 martini before dinner, a glass of wine or two with lunch and dinner and specialty coffees once we discovered the Aspen in Café al Bacio! Did I mention that we now make these at home?

 

I love that Celebrity’s beverage packages include things other than cocktails (alcoholic or otherwise). What I really loved about the beverage package was the ability to get bottled water. And not just a little bottle but a 1 litre bottle. Beats the heck out of lugging a case of water onboard!

 

Shore Excursions - Did not do a ship excursion at Cozumel but instead headed ashore and got a cab to take us to Mr. Sanchos beach resort. It was ok. They have an All Inclusive package ($55 pp) but we just went a la carte since we were just looking for some time on the beach.

 

At Key West we did the Hop On/Off Trolley tour. The guides were very information and amusing. Would definitely recommend for a first timer wanting to get a good overview. Went to the Southernmost Point, did not wait in line for hours to take a picture with the buoy!

 

Hubby and older daughter also went jet skiing. Loved it! We went browsing thru the shops then went back on board to have lunch and make use of my beverage package.

 

Canyon Ranch Spa - I promised my younger daughter that she could have a facial onboard. I fell into the trap of not being specific about the facial and allowing the technician to suggest a facial for my daughter (after all, she’s the expert). I did not expect a facial for a 14 year old to cost me $200+. But, to give credit where it is due, she was VERY attentive to my daughter, took her time, did not rush, and imparted a lot of tips for skin care. There was no high pressure sales pitch even though I did buy her some products. Would I do it again, heck NO! We will go get facials before heading out on the cruise!

 

We also got pedicures. This was planned before I got hit with the facial price. Could not go back on my promise. Again, note to self, do this prior to the cruise.

 

At the start of the trip we took a tour of the Persian Gardens. We contemplated getting the cruise pass for $109 per couple but just were not really quite sure we would utilize it much. They did have the Rasul Treatment for $112 per couple. They basically give you the scrub, mud and moisturizers to do your own couples self massage. We thought, what the heck, Happy Birthday Hubby. Honestly, I would not choose to do this again. The room/area is too small to comfortably do this. There are 2 private rooms separated by a door. You apply one product in the outer room, then go into the other area that is hotter than Hades and you are supposed to sit there for 10 minutes! That was not happening! It was incredibly hot in there. Don’t even think about stepping on one of the steel drain caps! Rinse, then you go back to the outer room, slather on mud return to Hades, rinse, then apply the moisturizer. Needless to say, we did not last an hour in that room. We got our robes on and went and sat on the heated lounger.

The Persian Garden area on the Constellation is very dark, and to me not very inviting. It just did not seem very relaxing to me, maybe more therapeutic. We did LOVE the Thalassotherapy pool though.

 

Entertainment - I did not care for the Constellation singers. I felt that some of their song choices were way out of their vocal range and they should never have attempted it. The dancing was okay, the acrobats were pretty cool. I saw one show and was not inclined to see another.

 

We went to see the comedian on the final night after we were done packing to go home :(. He was pretty funny. Loved his impressions.

 

Fitness Center - Managed to visit the Fitness Center on 2 occasions. Once for the Morning stretch and again for yoga. The area seemed to be pretty busy and the classes were always crowded.

 

My Cruise Photos - I purchased the photo package online prior to the cruise. Then I found out that I paid a higher price than what was being offered on the ship! We were able to get products of comparable value in lieu of a refund (it was offered, I did not have to ask). I was fine with that even though they really did not have that much to offer.

 

Would I buy the package again? ABSOLUTELY! The photos were about $20 a piece for the embarkation and port photos. The “studio”ish portraits I believe were $25 each and came with an 8x10 and 3 wallets. So anything after 10 sheets was a bonus. Plus we got all the photos in digital format. On previous cruises we normally do about 10+ pictures just so we have photos with all of us. I think we ended up with almost 100 photo sheets!

As part of the package, we were able to get any picture that any one of the four of us (me, hubby and 2 daughters) were in. We had a few pictures with my mom by herself and those were included at no charge.

 

We found out on day two that they do not do pictures in the specialty restaurant unless they are invited in. Since we were dining in Oceanliners for hubby’s birthday Christmas Eve, I definitely wanted pictures, so they were able to come in for us.

 

Guest Relations

Our cruise was not perfect but none I guess ever is.

We had a lot of issues with the Celebrity Onboard gifts not being delivered timely and some items not being delivered at all. I also ordered items that when they arrived they were not as stated (e.g. I ordered 1 doz. Chocolate covered strawberries for $26, what arrived were 7 of the puniest, out of season, barely covered in chocolate strawberries that I had ever seen).

This required many trips to Guest Relations to straighten out and they ended up crediting back a lot of the items. I am glad they made things right but I would much rather have had everything go right.

 

Bottom line, I will not be using Celebrity’s onboard gift service again. It just was too big of a hassle.

 

Bottom Bottom Line – Although not perfect, we LOVED our first Celebrity cruise and are booked for another on the Silhouette in 2017. We loved the Connie, she never felt crowded even though this was a sold out Holiday cruise. The pool deck was crowded and loud but that is to be expected, but there were many quiet areas to be found throughout the ship. This was a short cruise, only 5 days, definitely not long enough to fully enjoy all of her amenities leisurely.

[portofrome]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Thanks for the review.

[chemmo]

This was our first cruise on Celebrity. I was a little anxious given all the reviews I had read over the past 6+ months but tried to go with an open mind.

 

Here is a little background to start. My husband and I are both 50, we traveled with 2 teen daughters (14, 16), my mom (73) and his 67 year old sister. We had only previously sailed on Carnival but were looking for a quieter more relaxing experience.

 

Embarkation Day - We arrived at the terminal around 10:15. Constellation was docked at Pier 4. The Check In process was GREAT! There was no line. Got all 3 cabins checked in, got our pictures taken, took a seat and waited. We were entertained by one of the terminal agents who got us all singing the 12 Days of Christmas.

 

We were onboard and sipping a mimosa by 10:45ish. Explored a little of Deck 3 then hubby decided to see if our cabins were ready. We were in oceanviews on Deck 3 in the new section with the HUGE windows by the conference room. So we snuck in. I am a rule abider, I was not comfy with this, but our rooms were ready! We stashed our carry on and went to explore the ship.

 

Buffet - The buffet area was not very busy yet. We leisurely perused the offerings, scoped out a good table, got a couple glasses of wine and had our first lunch. It was good, nothing great. More background, I am not a foodie, I do try to eat healthy, and I like (not love) desserts. We did not really utilize the buffet for more than just early breakfast and a few random snacks. We LOVED the Oceanview Bar on Deck 10 Aft! I don’t know why anyone would want to eat inside when this space was available and very rarely crowded!

 

Our Cabins - At 170 sq ft., oceanview cabins are a tad small, but doable for two not too large married individuals. My daughters shared a cabin each with grandma and aunt. No one threw anyone overboard so I guess they muddled through.

Robert was our room attendant. He was FANTASTIC! Requested that the refrigerators be emptied and it was done for all three cabins. After the first night, I mentioned to him about the uncomfortable space from the two twins being pushed together and he made a valiant attempt to correct (did not totally go away, but it was less noticeable).

 

Main Dining Room - The food in the MDR was okay. We had 2 breakfasts, 1 lunch and 3 dinners here. Most were uneventful. The waiters and sommeliers were great. However, the one meal that remains in my memory is breakfast on our last sea day, Christmas Eve. We arrived around 9 AM (as apparently did a whole slew of other people). We were given coffee and juice, our orders were taken and then we sat. And sat and sat. Our waiter had disappeared! Finally after about a half hour I got the attention of another waiter and explained that we had been waiting over a half hour for our meal. No bread or danish had ever been offered. After another 15 minutes of waiting my husband went and spoke to the maître d’. There was some lame excuse about the omelets taking time because they had to be made individually. Our food (and our waiter) appeared about 5 minutes later. He was very apologetic. He then brought us a peace offering of donuts from Café al Bacio (after we had already eaten). The assistant maître d’ appeared and apologized and took our cabin numbers (he sent choc covered strawberries to our cabins). Then as we were leaving, the maître d’ apologized and invited us to have lunch in Bistro at noon (it was already after 10:30). We accepted.

 

My only other complaint about the MDR is that it is way too noisy. It’s like a cavern and sounds and voices just reverberated. It was hard to hear the person sitting next to you.

 

An observation (not a complaint) is that the wait staff never referred to us by name. This was something I had taken note of on Carnival, that they made a point of calling us by our names, it was more personal.

 

Specialty Dining - Our first dinner onboard was at Tuscan Grille. We were able to get a 30% discount upon. Again, I am not a foodie. I ordered sea bass at a steakhouse. It was okay. Everyone seemed to like their entrees. The service was good, but they did not seem overly attentive. Plates sat too long before being removed. The sommelier spilled wine (thankfully it was white) all over my sister in law’s arm.

 

On Christmas Eve we had dinner at Oceanliners for my husband’s birthday. I was a little nervous about the menu since my 14 year old is VERY picky and there did not seem to be much on the menu that would be to her liking. She was very happy with her chateau briand for one and with her choice of dessert. All 4 adults had the lobster prepared tableside. It was very good. The service there was much better than at Tuscan. We had no discount here.

 

Bistro on 5 – we got to eat here because of the fiasco that was our breakfast that morning in the MDR. They were not busy at all there, the servers were very attentive and very friendly. The salads and the crepes were tasty. The menu seemed somewhat limited but that could just be because I was not hungry and was looking for a light salad.

 

We loved the fact that it was so much quieter there than the MDR. We will definitely go back to give it another try even with a $10 per person charge.

 

Café Al Bacio – LOVED this place! Disappointed that we only discovered it 3 days into a 5 day cruise. We now make our own Aspen coffees at home! The service was great, the desserts were delicious.

 

Beverage Package

My husband and I choose the beverage package as our perk. We have never had one before, especially not on Carnival, just did not think it was worth it since we don’t normally drink that much (or so I thought). We upgraded on day one because we wanted to visit the Martini Bar that I had read so much about! I think I would upgrade again only because it’s a no brainer (1 martini covers it) and it takes the hassle out of trying to figure out what is or is not covered.

 

We would have a couple of the daily specials, 1 martini before dinner, a glass of wine or two with lunch and dinner and specialty coffees once we discovered the Aspen in Café al Bacio! Did I mention that we now make these at home?

 

I love that Celebrity’s beverage packages include things other than cocktails (alcoholic or otherwise). What I really loved about the beverage package was the ability to get bottled water. And not just a little bottle but a 1 litre bottle. Beats the heck out of lugging a case of water onboard!

 

Shore Excursions - Did not do a ship excursion at Cozumel but instead headed ashore and got a cab to take us to Mr. Sanchos beach resort. It was ok. They have an All Inclusive package ($55 pp) but we just went a la carte since we were just looking for some time on the beach.

 

At Key West we did the Hop On/Off Trolley tour. The guides were very information and amusing. Would definitely recommend for a first timer wanting to get a good overview. Went to the Southernmost Point, did not wait in line for hours to take a picture with the buoy!

 

Hubby and older daughter also went jet skiing. Loved it! We went browsing thru the shops then went back on board to have lunch and make use of my beverage package.

 

Canyon Ranch Spa - I promised my younger daughter that she could have a facial onboard. I fell into the trap of not being specific about the facial and allowing the technician to suggest a facial for my daughter (after all, she’s the expert). I did not expect a facial for a 14 year old to cost me $200+. But, to give credit where it is due, she was VERY attentive to my daughter, took her time, did not rush, and imparted a lot of tips for skin care. There was no high pressure sales pitch even though I did buy her some products. Would I do it again, heck NO! We will go get facials before heading out on the cruise!

 

We also got pedicures. This was planned before I got hit with the facial price. Could not go back on my promise. Again, note to self, do this prior to the cruise.

 

At the start of the trip we took a tour of the Persian Gardens. We contemplated getting the cruise pass for $109 per couple but just were not really quite sure we would utilize it much. They did have the Rasul Treatment for $112 per couple. They basically give you the scrub, mud and moisturizers to do your own couples self massage. We thought, what the heck, Happy Birthday Hubby. Honestly, I would not choose to do this again. The room/area is too small to comfortably do this. There are 2 private rooms separated by a door. You apply one product in the outer room, then go into the other area that is hotter than Hades and you are supposed to sit there for 10 minutes! That was not happening! It was incredibly hot in there. Don’t even think about stepping on one of the steel drain caps! Rinse, then you go back to the outer room, slather on mud return to Hades, rinse, then apply the moisturizer. Needless to say, we did not last an hour in that room. We got our robes on and went and sat on the heated lounger.

The Persian Garden area on the Constellation is very dark, and to me not very inviting. It just did not seem very relaxing to me, maybe more therapeutic. We did LOVE the Thalassotherapy pool though.

 

Entertainment - I did not care for the Constellation singers. I felt that some of their song choices were way out of their vocal range and they should never have attempted it. The dancing was okay, the acrobats were pretty cool. I saw one show and was not inclined to see another.

 

We went to see the comedian on the final night after we were done packing to go home :(. He was pretty funny. Loved his impressions.

 

Fitness Center - Managed to visit the Fitness Center on 2 occasions. Once for the Morning stretch and again for yoga. The area seemed to be pretty busy and the classes were always crowded.

 

My Cruise Photos - I purchased the photo package online prior to the cruise. Then I found out that I paid a higher price than what was being offered on the ship! We were able to get products of comparable value in lieu of a refund (it was offered, I did not have to ask). I was fine with that even though they really did not have that much to offer.

 

Would I buy the package again? ABSOLUTELY! The photos were about $20 a piece for the embarkation and port photos. The “studio”ish portraits I believe were $25 each and came with an 8x10 and 3 wallets. So anything after 10 sheets was a bonus. Plus we got all the photos in digital format. On previous cruises we normally do about 10+ pictures just so we have photos with all of us. I think we ended up with almost 100 photo sheets!

As part of the package, we were able to get any picture that any one of the four of us (me, hubby and 2 daughters) were in. We had a few pictures with my mom by herself and those were included at no charge.

 

We found out on day two that they do not do pictures in the specialty restaurant unless they are invited in. Since we were dining in Oceanliners for hubby’s birthday Christmas Eve, I definitely wanted pictures, so they were able to come in for us.

 

Guest Relations

Our cruise was not perfect but none I guess ever is.

We had a lot of issues with the Celebrity Onboard gifts not being delivered timely and some items not being delivered at all. I also ordered items that when they arrived they were not as stated (e.g. I ordered 1 doz. Chocolate covered strawberries for $26, what arrived were 7 of the puniest, out of season, barely covered in chocolate strawberries that I had ever seen).

This required many trips to Guest Relations to straighten out and they ended up crediting back a lot of the items. I am glad they made things right but I would much rather have had everything go right.

 

Bottom line, I will not be using Celebrity’s onboard gift service again. It just was too big of a hassle.

 

Bottom Bottom Line – Although not perfect, we LOVED our first Celebrity cruise and are booked for another on the Silhouette in 2017. We loved the Connie, she never felt crowded even though this was a sold out Holiday cruise. The pool deck was crowded and loud but that is to be expected, but there were many quiet areas to be found throughout the ship. This was a short cruise, only 5 days, definitely not long enough to fully enjoy all of her amenities leisurely.

 

 

Great review, we are on Connie next year. We regularly cruise X but seem to pick up new tips from every review....

 

Next cruise will definitely try Aspen coffee and will not order the strawberries!

[Sparky333]

Thanks for posting your review. It me nostalgic for the Connie - we cruised on her twice years back and I did love that ship. I think you'll really love the Silhouette. The only thing missing is that T-pool which I did really love on the Connie!

[4ready2cruz]

Thanks for posting your review. It me nostalgic for the Connie - we cruised on her twice years back and I did love that ship. I think you'll really love the Silhouette. The only thing missing is that T-pool which I did really love on the Connie!

 

I did not realize there wouldn't be a t-pool, but no biggie. We only got to hang out there 1 day, cruise was just too short!

 

I am looking forward to trying an alcove and more varieties of specialty dining restaurants. We will more than likely do the Unlimited Dining Plan to avoid going to the MDR.

 

I did forget to mention one thing in my review. I was not crazy that our itinerary ended on a port day. We spent Christmas Day in Key West then came back and had to essentially start packing to be off the ship the next day. If just seemed to be very rushed as opposed to a nice leisurely sea day where I can pack at my own pace. That is something I will definitely watch out for when I book another cruise.

[Sparky333]

That does sound like it would be rough - coming in from a port day and having to pack and leave the next morning. We just got back from a nice itinerary that had 2 sea days at the start, 4 port days, then 2 sea days at the end.

 

Yes, the pools in the S-class ships are different. They have a solarium which is maybe overall similar to on Connie (honestly can't remember) but the pool is just a normal small pool. But there are lots of exciting positive differences with that class of ship that you'll love.

 

We've been in aqua class for the past few cruises and eating in Blu for every dinner so I've never even tried the specialty restaurants. I don't miss the MDR because it was always so loud like you said. And I don't like sitting with people I don't know for dinner (sorry, but it's just painful!) so that was why we started booking aqua class cabins - to get Blu. Now you can get a table for 2 in the MDR but I'm still not sure I'd go back to it.

 

Enjoy planning your cruise! I always think the planning phase is half the fun :)

[4ready2cruz]

I had sent an email to Celebrity shortly after we returned from our cruise, not really expecting to hear anything back, but just to vent. I also vented to my travel agent and sent him a copy of the email. Not sure if he did anything with it.

 

Imagine my surprise to get a call (which I sent to voicemail) that was immediately followed up with an email from Nicole! So I called back, had a wonderful chat with her about the issues we encountered with the onboard gift service. If you have ever used the Contact Celebrity email form, it only allows you 1000 characters to say what you have to say. I had to go back and do some serious editing so I did not think I got most of my point across!

 

But apparently I did! In addition the the strawberries issue (she refunded it my credit card), she also asked about the issue with the Wine set I had ordered for my husband that was missing a part. I told her not to worry since guest services had already refunded that to me because it took so long to arrive in the cabin. She insisted on doing something and said that a bottle of wine will be sent to our cabin on our next cruise on the Silhouette next April!

 

Can't wait to cruise Celebrity again next year!

[Clarea]

Thank-you for the review.

[villauk]

Thanks for the review :). We're back on Connie in August ;).

[Keith1010]

Excellent review.

 

Keith

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!