Thoughts on returning to the Connie after 12 years away

[Nitemare]

Happy to answer questions or discuss this at more length with anyone interested.

 

Got home on Sunday after a 5 day Constellation cruise to Cozumel (stayed on the boat) and Key West (had a nice walk around town). Last time we were on the ship was 12 years ago for a British Isles and Norway cruise. Obviously the itineraries can't compare, but we returned because we loved the ship (our favorite "full sized" ship of the dozen or so we've sailed on) and because we were reuniting with friends we made on that cruise 12 years ago.

 

The Good: The balcony room we had was as comfortable as we remembered. Maybe even a bit more space as we brought fewer clothes for a shorter trip, and it felt like the shower was bigger. Our room steward was incredibly unobtrusive and did a good job. The T-pool is still our favorite place to relax on any ship, big or small. The passengers we met were all fun to talk to. There seemed to be less pressure to buy drinks every time we sat down (perhaps due to the rise in popularity of the drink packages?). The sushi in the evening buffet at 5:30 was better than we recalled. Plenty of omelet stations for breakfast, too. Cruise staff for trivia was good. Captain's Club get-together with the officers was best one I've been to as the officers circulated and you got a chance to have real conversations with them. Air Conditioning was good, bed was comfortable (but low!), and the balcony chairs were also comfortable. Would have been nice to have outlets near the bed, but that's why we bring an extension cord.

 

The Bad: This was our first Celebrity cruise in 12 years. We've done many Princess cruises in between and an Azumara and an Oceania as well; we remembered the food on Celebrity being a couple cuts above Princess, but we found the dinner menus in the MDR to be unimaginative and not very exciting. Of the 6 steaks ordered at our table over the 5 nights (among 4 people), 4 had to be sent back due to significant overcooking. "Parmesan?" "Yes, please" is Kraft-like cheese, pre-grated and dry. Is real Parmesan impossible? "Fresh Ground Pepper for your salad (or pasta)?" is a phrase never once heard. Pepper mills aren't standard issue? And with only 4 people at our table (2, one night, as our friends did Ocean Liners), there was not a single night when the entrees were brought to the right diner. You'd think with a waiter and an assistant this wouldn't be a problem. But it was. And that bread basket! Every night the same thing, some cuts off of a baguette, 2 generic rolls, 5 or 6 breadsticks. No variation at all. Interesting butters/toppings but you had to ask what they were. Only one night where the waiter described the menu as we were reviewing it.

 

We recalled entertainment last time wasn't outstanding. Good dancers, acceptable singers, ok comedians. We made it through 3 songs at the one show we went to. Singing was weak, dancing wasn't as good as what I saw on Dancing With the Stars last night (and those Celebrities have only been dancing for a month or two, the dancers on Celebrity Cruises do this for a living!) and the storyline was dull/nonexistent. The comedian was good.

 

The Ugly: We met our friends for an afternoon drink soon after boarding and found that even though our reservations were linked and showed each others' info, we were not at the same MDR tables, although we were next to each other. Long story short, we sat at our 2 top alone for 30 minutes the first night while they sat at their neighboring 6 top, also alone for 30 minutes, until our waiter encouraged us to move over and join them. The Maitre D's came over with words that suggested they were working on the issue, but ultimately we just sat at that fully set up 6 top, the 4 of us, the rest of the cruise. No idea what happened to the other folks from our table. They did move 2 other people to our two top, not sure from where. There were many completely empty tables in the MDR (early seating) every night. I hope no one got shut out from that seating! And the one night where it was just the two of us the waiter started removing the other four plates, glasses and silverware while we were in the middle of our entrees.

 

One of our friends had upgraded the drink package and ordered a better wine that was included in that package . . . and was given the standard wine instead without explanation, until we asked and were told they were "out of" the other wine.

 

Leaving the dining room each night, the squadron of Maitre' D's at the door wishing you "good evening" was a scary reminder of the Saturday Night Live "Buh-bye" skit. No eye contact made, just moving you out so they could get on with what they had to do.

 

And reading the Roll Call thread I was disappointed to see that folks had their door decorations removed without their permission.

 

Will we sail Celebrity again? Hard to say. If we're just looking for a cheap vacation and we're prepared to lower our expectations, I guess we will. But unless it's the Connie, I expect we'd take an equivalent Princess cruise over a similar Celebrity offering. Was the problem that we took a short cruise during Spring Break? Maybe, but even though this cruise had a much lower average age than any other we've been on, all our fellow cruisers seemed friendly and respectful. Maybe the crew acts differently during these cruises than the longer ones?

[Coral]

Nitemare -

 

Thanks for your review!

 

Interesting comments about the food as that was a similar issue that I had with Celebrity a long time ago. They could not get a steak anywhere close to what was ordered. Our waitstaff was poor also with similar problems. Sorry to hear this area was not great.

 

Glad the T-Pool was still a winner. I loved this on Celebrity.

 

Hopefully getting away for spring break will keep you going until your summer vacation!

 

Theresa

[az_tchr]

Happy to answer questions or discuss this at more length with anyone interested.

 

Got home on Sunday after a 5 day Constellation cruise to Cozumel (stayed on the boat) and Key West (had a nice walk around town). Last time we were on the ship was 12 years ago for a British Isles and Norway cruise. Obviously the itineraries can't compare, but we returned because we loved the ship (our favorite "full sized" ship of the dozen or so we've sailed on) and because we were reuniting with friends we made on that cruise 12 years ago.

 

The Good: The balcony room we had was as comfortable as we remembered. Maybe even a bit more space as we brought fewer clothes for a shorter trip, and it felt like the shower was bigger. Our room steward was incredibly unobtrusive and did a good job. The T-pool is still our favorite place to relax on any ship, big or small. The passengers we met were all fun to talk to. There seemed to be less pressure to buy drinks every time we sat down (perhaps due to the rise in popularity of the drink packages?). The sushi in the evening buffet at 5:30 was better than we recalled. Plenty of omelet stations for breakfast, too. Cruise staff for trivia was good. Captain's Club get-together with the officers was best one I've been to as the officers circulated and you got a chance to have real conversations with them. Air Conditioning was good, bed was comfortable (but low!), and the balcony chairs were also comfortable. Would have been nice to have outlets near the bed, but that's why we bring an extension cord.

 

The Bad: This was our first Celebrity cruise in 12 years. We've done many Princess cruises in between and an Azumara and an Oceania as well; we remembered the food on Celebrity being a couple cuts above Princess, but we found the dinner menus in the MDR to be unimaginative and not very exciting. Of the 6 steaks ordered at our table over the 5 nights (among 4 people), 4 had to be sent back due to significant overcooking. "Parmesan?" "Yes, please" is Kraft-like cheese, pre-grated and dry. Is real Parmesan impossible? "Fresh Ground Pepper for your salad (or pasta)?" is a phrase never once heard. Pepper mills aren't standard issue? And with only 4 people at our table (2, one night, as our friends did Ocean Liners), there was not a single night when the entrees were brought to the right diner. You'd think with a waiter and an assistant this wouldn't be a problem. But it was. And that bread basket! Every night the same thing, some cuts off of a baguette, 2 generic rolls, 5 or 6 breadsticks. No variation at all. Interesting butters/toppings but you had to ask what they were. Only one night where the waiter described the menu as we were reviewing it.

 

We recalled entertainment last time wasn't outstanding. Good dancers, acceptable singers, ok comedians. We made it through 3 songs at the one show we went to. Singing was weak, dancing wasn't as good as what I saw on Dancing With the Stars last night (and those Celebrities have only been dancing for a month or two, the dancers on Celebrity Cruises do this for a living!) and the storyline was dull/nonexistent. The comedian was good.

 

The Ugly: We met our friends for an afternoon drink soon after boarding and found that even though our reservations were linked and showed each others' info, we were not at the same MDR tables, although we were next to each other. Long story short, we sat at our 2 top alone for 30 minutes the first night while they sat at their neighboring 6 top, also alone for 30 minutes, until our waiter encouraged us to move over and join them. The Maitre D's came over with words that suggested they were working on the issue, but ultimately we just sat at that fully set up 6 top, the 4 of us, the rest of the cruise. No idea what happened to the other folks from our table. They did move 2 other people to our two top, not sure from where. There were many completely empty tables in the MDR (early seating) every night. I hope no one got shut out from that seating! And the one night where it was just the two of us the waiter started removing the other four plates, glasses and silverware while we were in the middle of our entrees.

 

One of our friends had upgraded the drink package and ordered a better wine that was included in that package . . . and was given the standard wine instead without explanation, until we asked and were told they were "out of" the other wine.

 

Leaving the dining room each night, the squadron of Maitre' D's at the door wishing you "good evening" was a scary reminder of the Saturday Night Live "Buh-bye" skit. No eye contact made, just moving you out so they could get on with what they had to do.

 

And reading the Roll Call thread I was disappointed to see that folks had their door decorations removed without their permission.

 

Will we sail Celebrity again? Hard to say. If we're just looking for a cheap vacation and we're prepared to lower our expectations, I guess we will. But unless it's the Connie, I expect we'd take an equivalent Princess cruise over a similar Celebrity offering. Was the problem that we took a short cruise during Spring Break? Maybe, but even though this cruise had a much lower average age than any other we've been on, all our fellow cruisers seemed friendly and respectful. Maybe the crew acts differently during these cruises than the longer ones?

 

Thank you for your review. The only think I find truly strange is your comment about them being out of the wine in the premium package. Since EVERY wine is available and about 40 without extra charge it makes no sense. Your accepting it is also strange. On cruises with every line that mass markets like Princess and Celebrity one needs to advocate for themselves a bit sometime. Same issue with pepper it is not offered because of the time it takes. Understand only a few seconds but those in the early seating need to be moved thru dinner in 60 minute which is really not enough time. IMO a good reason for late seating. eating in the other restaurants doesn't always work as they quite simply need to turn the tables over for the next patron. Cruising has chnaged.

[Lastdance]

Dear Nitemare,

I think that you have answered your own question with documented evidence. I would definitely say "no" to the "M" class ships by Celebrity, but yes to an "S" class cruise.:eek:

 

You have both the bad and the ugly...

Edited March 23, 2016 by Lastdance

[Moose Tracks]

Does Connie have casual dining for dinners in the Oceanview Cafe with the buffet set up similar to lunch time?

 

Don't give up on Celebrity. We sailed Millie in 2005 and loved her and will be doing Connie next summer. Give the "S" class ships a try. We just returned from Eclipse and were really impressed.

[phoenix_dream]

Dear Nitemare,

I think that you have answered your own question with documented evidence. I would definitely say "no" to the "M" class ships by Celebrity, but yes to an "S" class cruise.:eek:

 

You have both the bad and the ugly...

 

I disagree. Most of the issues mentioned can and have happened on both M and S class ships, and there is a decided decline in both food and service as compared to 12 years ago. I have sailed more than 25 times on Celebrity and while I have had no bad cruises per se (although last springs' infamous Spring Break cruise on Connie was close to an exception), I have found that as relates to food, service, entertainment and so on, it really varies ship to ship. I have found no correlation between S and M class in that regard. In fact, out of all our cruises, the best food and the best service we ever had were on the Century when she was way past her prime. And at the same time the cruise was just before a dry dock so the ship was uncharacteristically more 'worn and torn' than usual, which at first distressed me. It ended up being one of our best cruises ever.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your review.

 

Keith

[Nitemare]

Regarding the wine, our friend requested a specific wine that was in the premium group, was instead given the standard one. Noticed it and asked if it was the one that was ordered and was told they were out of it. No effort to find it at another bar, no "I'm sorry, we're out of your choice, may we substitute xxxx". It was just unacceptable and the apology was non-existent.

 

Yes, Moose Tracks, you can get a good buffet dinner and they will choose and cook your steak, chicken or fish right in front of you. We preferred sitdown dining so we could catch up on the day's events with our friends, but lots of folks chose the buffet.

[FlorenceItaly]

Regarding the wine, our friend requested a specific wine that was in the premium group, was instead given the standard one. Noticed it and asked if it was the one that was ordered and was told they were out of it. No effort to find it at another bar, no "I'm sorry, we're out of your choice, may we substitute xxxx". It was just unacceptable and the apology was non-existent.

 

Yes, Moose Tracks, you can get a good buffet dinner and they will choose and cook your steak, chicken or fish right in front of you. We preferred sitdown dining so we could catch up on the day's events with our friends, but lots of folks chose the buffet.

 

In regards to the buffet and a cook to order steak. In December, on the Constellation, we dined one evening in the OV. What a mistake. My steak was so tough. It was not edible. We enjoyed all our MDR meals. We love the Constellation, and can not wait to return for the TA on April 2.

[jbuch02]

Thanks for your comments Nitemare.......

 

We were aboard Constellation for the 5n, Key West - Cozumel cycle just before yours.

 

I would agree with your comments about a decline in food quality, presentation and service which has occurred across the Celebrity line over the years. Like you, we started cruising Celebrity in 2001 and 30 cruises later with them there have been changes. None of them, however, are inconsistent with the changes across the entire mass-marketed cruise industry.

 

My view is that there are corporate strategies in place to stratify customers albeit without the perception that this is going on. What I mean by this is that if you want to pay for a higher service level, the cruise lines, especially Celebrity, are glad to accommodate you. For example, if you want an equivalent dinning experience with respect to service and food quality, book a suite and you can dine in Luminae.

 

As well, when Celebrity markets a cruise, there are all manner of perks with most of them designed to encourage you to book a higher cabin category to obtain them. For example, compared to OV, and Veranda cabins, you'll be on the same cruise and eat the same food if you book an inside cabin. If you book an OV or any of the other stratified cabin offerings at a higher price, Celebrity pockets a little more of your cash and offers the various perks we are familiar with. Celebrity is counting on this approach to translate to value for you although absolute cost to you can be considerably higher while the actual cost of offering those perks to you is carefully calculated to favor Celebrity's bottom line.

 

I don't have any problem with this approach. It's just business. On the other hand, this corporate approach has produced the types of issues you offered us in your review. Where it is very obvious is in the MDR. Reduced staff there, in order to accommodate a higher service level in Blue and Luminae creates the chaos, as I have described it here in other posts, that the dining experience has become in the MDR and that includes traditional and select dining.

 

I'm not sure where all the MDR Sommeliers have gone. There are definitely fewer of them and they are clearly over-worked as are most of the wait staff. Wine service has definitely declined in the MDR. Of course you can pay the extravagant up-charge and dine in the Specialty restaurants. We ate there 3X, twice in Ocean Liners and once in Tuscan. No question, very high quality food and service in both. Actually, the cost of this chosen extravagance were partially covered by our OBCn so, I'm fine with that. We'll be seriously considering the specialty dining packages, but only booked on board, going forward ....... WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT X HOPES WE WILL DO!

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the Production shows on Constellation. This is one of the highlights for us so we have a bias towards them. The evaluation of your onboard entertainment experience is highly subjective. We don't go to many of the solo performer shows. Just our personal preference.

 

I consider Celebrity a good value overall. We too have cruised Oceania and like it a lot. Service and food quality are very high, the new ships are gorgeous and the Balcony Cabin we had aboard Riviera was quite a bit more luxurious and a bit larger than Celebrity's offerings. The price per day, though, even with all their complicated packaging, is quite a bit higher than Celebrity so, there is that. We've also sailed MSC, Carnival, Disney and NCL. Overall, we prefer Celebrity but to each his own with regard to the cruising experience.

[crazycatlady82]

We were on this cruise....we thought it was wonderful. We did have better service on last years Summit cruise, but better in the fact that the bartenders and folks showed their personality and jones around...we like that. We're casual, we like to chat, laugh.

 

Not at one point during the cruise did we go "bleeech!" with the food or drinks. Well, I should say I tried a glass of wine I didn't like, but with the premium package, it didn't matter. I just switched to something else. However, I did fall in love with Ocean Liners and their table side prepared lobster [emoji3][emoji3]

 

We didn't have any issues dining during the early seating-in fact, service was quick, and attentive, to the point that we easily made the 7pm show (which was fine-it was just us two).

 

It's all about perspective. We all cruise for different reasons. It's great that there are many different cruise lines with different services and amenities to suit all of us [emoji3]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[lovescarborough]

I agree with the comments on food quality and MDR service. For us this is noticeable after just 6 years sailing with Celebrity, albeit with enough cruises to get to Elite level two years ago. I am sure they do want to push people into the speciality restaurants and also Blu and Luminae. However the reality is that there is no way everyone can do that even if they wanted to. There are just not enough cabins and restaurant places available. For now we accept the decline but who knows in the future if things deteriorate further. There are many all inclusive holidays to choose from these days and it would be a pity if we had to give up cruising !

[Moose Tracks]

 

Yes, Moose Tracks, you can get a good buffet dinner and they will choose and cook your steak, chicken or fish right in front of you. We preferred sitdown dining so we could catch up on the day's events with our friends, but lots of folks chose the buffet.

 

Good to know there's the buffet option for dinner. Along with the items you mentioned, I'm hoping there's the variety that's available during lunch....asian foods, shepherd's pie, different veggies....we love having a little bit of everything!

[Host Jazzbeau]

If you go back to your cruise 12 years ago: you paid a lot more in today's dollars for your cabin, and you didn't get a beverage package thrown in. Fast forward to today: those same real dollars would buy an AquaClass cabin with dining in Blu and a beverage package [or maybe a Sky Suite with dining in Luminae and the Best package]. That would change your quality perceptions pretty dramatically, except as regards the entertainment. I assume the same economics apply on Princess, but they don't have anything like Blu or Luminae so it's MDR food for all. I was originally against the new stratification of cruising, but as I remember how American Airlines got slaughtered when thought they could charge a little extra by maintaining the legroom and amenities in coach -- I have come around to applauding Celebrity's three-tier approach that lets people choose between low fares and lower quality, or higher fares and increasingly better quality at each level. Just don't try to compare the old Celebrity experience with today's inside/oceanview/veranda/MDR.

[lovescarborough]

I personally have no problem with tiered level cruising. Indeed this has been happening for years on Cunard for instance. Most of our cruises, apart from our first two , were done in Aqua Class which we liked BUT we changed to standard balcony for our latest one as we were fed up with the same menus and wanted a change. That is where the difference in quality became most apparent. However there is a difference between lower, acceptable, quality and unacceptable and I feel Celebrity are coming closer to crossing that line and I would hate for them to do that. If they are serious about attracting a younger crowd with money to spend then that will not happen if the quality is poor, and Celebrity can't afford to cruise with a ship that is only full in the 'better class' . We all know nothing us 'free ' so stop including drinks packages maybe and concentrate on giving customers decent quality. After all , you wouldn't like it if your favourite restaurant cut down on quality to give you 'free' drinks ' or would you ?

[jbuch02]

I personally have no problem with tiered level cruising. Indeed this has been happening for years on Cunard for instance. Most of our cruises, apart from our first two , were done in Aqua Class which we liked BUT we changed to standard balcony for our latest one as we were fed up with the same menus and wanted a change. That is where the difference in quality became most apparent. However there is a difference between lower, acceptable, quality and unacceptable and I feel Celebrity are coming closer to crossing that line and I would hate for them to do that. If they are serious about attracting a younger crowd with money to spend then that will not happen if the quality is poor, and Celebrity can't afford to cruise with a ship that is only full in the 'better class' . We all know nothing us 'free ' so stop including drinks packages maybe and concentrate on giving customers decent quality. After all , you wouldn't like it if your favourite restaurant cut down on quality to give you 'free' drinks ' or would you ?

 

This is a very good point and one that underlies the reality of the zero-sum game that Celebrity management faces.

 

This may be overreaching but the changes long term Celebrity loyalists are experiencing seem to be associated with the departure of 15 year veteran CEO Michael Bayley and the arrival of new CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo who came over from RCL.

 

There are a couple of things in this one year old Perlo interview that caught my eye that seem to underscore what we are talking about. Most notably the comment about the "affluent vacationer."

 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/tourism/fl-celebrity-cruises-qa-20150428-14-story.html

 

For me personally, I'm looking for value so my goal is to find the best possible cruise experience for the money I'm spending. For the past decade, that has been Celebrity.

 

But now, with the declining service and food quality at what I define as the Celebrity value level of cruise and the required upcharge required to get the food quality and service (e.g., Suite class/Luminae, Specialty Dining) that used to be the standard food quality and service, I'm looking around.

[Nitemare]

If you go back to your cruise 12 years ago: you paid a lot more in today's dollars for your cabin, and you didn't get a beverage package thrown in. Fast forward to today: those same real dollars would buy an AquaClass cabin with dining in Blu and a beverage package [or maybe a Sky Suite with dining in Luminae and the Best package]. That would change your quality perceptions pretty dramatically, except as regards the entertainment. I assume the same economics apply on Princess, but they don't have anything like Blu or Luminae so it's MDR food for all. I was originally against the new stratification of cruising, but as I remember how American Airlines got slaughtered when thought they could charge a little extra by maintaining the legroom and amenities in coach -- I have come around to applauding Celebrity's three-tier approach that lets people choose between low fares and lower quality, or higher fares and increasingly better quality at each level. Just don't try to compare the old Celebrity experience with today's inside/oceanview/veranda/MDR.

 

I agree, there's no way I can compare this cruise to a 12 day British Isles/Norway cruise. I can compare it to a 7 day Princess Carribbean cruise from 4-5 years ago that we took. Price for this 5 day on the Connie was just about the same as that cruise (both had balconies). Neither had drink packages included. But Princess had SERVICE in the dining room. The entrees were properly cooked and went to the right person. There was fresh ground pepper. I don't recall the Parmesan.

 

Dining room Service, cooking things correctly, nice pepper, those things don't cost the cruiseline anything. I submitted my survey yesterday. I doubt I'll hear anything back, I hope Celebrity pays a little attention.

 

As I said in the beginning: We enjoyed the cruise. It wouldn't have been difficult for it to have been amazing enough for me to be recommending Celebrity to all my friends. But they didn't get there, and it would have cost them nearly $0 to do so.

Edited March 24, 2016 by Nitemare

[jbuch02]

To keep this discussion going ...... as there are people from corporate who look at this stuff on Cruise Critic ...... Nitemare's comments are reflective of a general consensus about declining service - the little things - that loyalists are experiencing.

 

The kinds of things Nitmare is talking about, the little stuff that produces xcellence and that costs nothing, aren't happening. This kind of stuff occurs at the delivery level. Generally it is training and performance related so, correction of it falls on supervisors most of the time. That may be the issue although my perception of the level of training and supervision of dining room staff is very positive.

 

What might it be then? My sense is that manning levels are not sufficient to prevent burnout and fatigue. Simple solution, right? Increase manning levels. Well, there's a cost to that and generally it is a cost, payroll, that corporate tries first to control/reduce before most anything else when cost control and profit margin are targets. Operating costs, in this case fuel, is the next thing that gets a lot of attention.

 

My other issue, and I can't know if this is a goal, is that at the corporate CEO level, CEOs get rewarded for taking care of share holders first. I've seen plenty of times in business settings where a company loses sight of customer satisfaction and taking care of employees in the process of trying to increase profitability and share price. Grow the company becomes a bye word and what this really means is increasing share price.

 

So, again a reach because we aren't sitting in board rooms, but I believe a good deal of the perception among Celebrity cruisers, those that aren't willing to pay more for Suites or Aqua to access private dining or pay the very expensive up charge of specialty dining, that the level of service and food quality in the MDR has declined. The declination has occured over a say, 5-10 year period. The much higher level of service and food quality in the MDR - the Xcellent experience we became used to in the first place, appears to be getting sacrificed at the alter of cost cutting measures.

Edited March 24, 2016 by jbuch02

[NorthernLite]

I'm looking at a few M class cruises for 2017 but understood the Ocean Liners type specialty restaurants had been nixed for the Olive Garden type Tuscan restaurant that began on the S Class ships. Has this changed? I hope so because on a 7 day cruise we dined there an average of 2-3 nights. And what is the Luminae? I must have missed that one. As I need an accessible room we have found we love the Aft Concierge cabins versus the Sky Suites. If there is a French service specialty restaurant for suites only have they added accessible suites that are nicer than the Sky Suites?

 

Thanks for the review of the Constellation these days. We sailed her several times and loved her. After trying an S Class once we found we much preferred the M Class size ships and their amenities. Sigh

[Nitemare]

Connie has Ocean Liners and Tuscan Grill (or whatever it's called) as premium restaurants. Luminae and Blue (sp?) are reserved for Suite passengers.

[florisdekort]

Thank you for your review - really helpful!

[RCKM43]

I have to say I think there must be not be adequate across the board training. I am curious with some of the complaints about the service, how the food was cooked, did you bring it to the attention of say the asst maitre'd or someone higher up?

 

After sailing Celebrity over the course of almost 25 years there are definite changes. But nothing as bad as you have mentioned. It sounds like either a lazy wait staff of under trained servers. We have always been offered pepper for our salads, always checks to make sure meat was cooked properly or replaced immediately. But I see the MDR vs the specialty restaurants more like a catering service vs a sit down restaurant. The specialties serve far fewer with much less pre plated items than the MDR has to contend with. Our sommelier has been good about profusely apologizing when a wine ran out and suggesting another, despite clearly being over worked. But I believe if when things don't go right, if you remain silent, then they will continue to make those errors. Not making excuses for X but in part I wonder if the staff knows it is spring break and some travelers might not be as savvy as the typical repeat X cruiser.

 

I will say we had two lovely princess cruises about 8 years ago. We throughly enjoyed them, had just ever so slightly less service than on X -but not enough difference to make a difference. The big difference for us was the food. Food is so subjective but several nights our entrees were over cooked, tough (despite order medium rare or rare) and some we couldn't even eat. We would sail on princess again but I still think the find wasn't as you'd as what Celebrity produces now.

 

But I notice there are groupings of negative reviews on various ships at the same time. I wonder if they are putting newer less trained staff on and that is resulting in poorer reviews. To the op please give maybe a different ship 7 night celebrity cruise another try. I have frequently seen comments that the 5 nighters do not equal the regular 7 or more night cruises.

[jbuch02]

I'm looking at a few M class cruises for 2017 but understood the Ocean Liners type specialty restaurants had been nixed for the Olive Garden type Tuscan restaurant that began on the S Class ships. Has this changed? I hope so because on a 7 day cruise we dined there an average of 2-3 nights. And what is the Luminae? I must have missed that one. As I need an accessible room we have found we love the Aft Concierge cabins versus the Sky Suites. If there is a French service specialty restaurant for suites only have they added accessible suites that are nicer than the Sky Suites?

 

Thanks for the review of the Constellation these days. We sailed her several times and loved her. After trying an S Class once we found we much preferred the M Class size ships and their amenities. Sigh

 

Northernlite, I note you have an extensive history sailing with Celebrity and have sailed Summit, a sister, Millenium or M class ship. All of the M class ships have been Solstisized which includes the addition of Aqua Class cabins and two private dining rooms for Suite Class and Aqua Class cruisers. Those dining rooms are Luminae and Blu respectively.

 

There is an ongoing plan to remove all the M class Specialty restaurants that were fashioned after vintage ocean liners. The one on Constellation which was named Ocean Liners will, at some point, be removed and replaced with Tuscan Grill. Summit's specialty restaurant Normandy is being removed and replaced by Tuscan Grill as we speak.

 

If you book a suite, you can dine in Luminae or any of the other dining choices. Only suit guests can dine in Luminae. If you'll recall the MDR had 4 entryways, 2 on deck 4 and 2 on deck 5. Luminae is on deck four port and occupies about 1/4, maybe a little less, of the MDR floor space. The dining experience in Luminae is going to be similar to that you would experience in a specialty restaurant. You can choose any of the entrees from the MDR menus or those appearing on the Luminae menu.

 

I can't speak to your question about accessible accommodations.

[crazycatlady82]

Northernlite, I note you have an extensive history sailing with Celebrity and have sailed Summit, a sister, Millenium or M class ship. All of the M class ships have been Solstisized which includes the addition of Aqua Class cabins and two private dining rooms for Suite Class and Aqua Class cruisers. Those dining rooms are Luminae and Blu respectively.

 

 

 

There is an ongoing plan to remove all the M class Specialty restaurants that were fashioned after vintage ocean liners. The one on Constellation which was named Ocean Liners will, at some point, be removed and replaced with Tuscan Grill. Summit's specialty restaurant Normandy is being removed and replaced by Tuscan Grill as we speak.

 

 

 

If you book a suite, you can dine in Luminae or any of the other dining choices. Only suit guests can dine in Luminae. If you'll recall the MDR had 4 entryways, 2 on deck 4 and 2 on deck 5. Luminae is on deck four port and occupies about 1/4, maybe a little less, of the MDR floor space. The dining experience in Luminae is going to be similar to that you would experience in a specialty restaurant. You can choose any of the entrees from the MDR menus or those appearing on the Luminae menu.

 

 

 

I can't speak to your question about accessible accommodations.

 

 

Actually, Connie has both Ocean Liners and Tuscan Grill at this moment.

 

 

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[DWhit]

We made it through 3 songs at the one show we went to. Singing was weak, dancing wasn't as good as what I saw on Dancing With the Stars last night (and those Celebrities have only been dancing for a month or two, the dancers on Celebrity Cruises do this for a living!)

I am going to take this with a serious grain of salt. You do know that half of the dancers you see on Dancing With the Stars are amazing professional dancers. And if you think the guest star dancers, like Geraldo Rivera, are as good as the Connie's dancers, ...uh... I am not quite sure what to say other than we will have to agree to disagree

 

We cruised on the Connie last month, and the shows were every bit as good as any other cruise ship show I have seen (except for one about a wedding in storybook land, which was pretty dull), and we do enjoy the shows.

 

But thanks for your review. I enjoyed reading it and I hope you have many other great cruises ahead in the future.

Edited March 25, 2016 by DWhit