Review--Constellation- 12 days- 10/17/05

[Joby]

Hi, just wanted to post a review in return for all of the opinions I have gathered from CC.

 

Background--the 12 day Constellation going RT from Bayonne, NY was our third Celebrity cruise in the last year, with Century and Horizon being the other two. My sister and I travel with our Mom who uses a wheelchair/cane to get around due to complications from chemo/radiation.

 

Overall, a WONDERFUL cruise! As with anything, a few things could have been better.

 

We were lucky to be able to skirt around all of the really bad weather. We had lots of wind on this trip and some rainy sea days, but overall, port days were good weather. The ship gave a very stable ride even when we had some rougher seas and lots of wind.

 

We flew into EWR, took a $45 cab (had charges for bags and tolls) to the pier. Embarkation was slow and a bit disorganized compared to prior embarkations in Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa.

 

We stayed in cabin #6014, an OV handicapped room. Beautiful large room. Cabin steward was Dahlan--very nice and good too. --Hint-- if you sleep on the sofa bed and don't like to sleep in a "W" shape, ask for boards to put under the mattress. It made a GREAT improvement in my sleeping comfort after the 1st night.

 

Constellation was our 1st M-class ship. A lovely ship it was too! Loved the amenities on the ship--aqua spa cafe, covered T-pool area, dining room, theatre, food, midnight buffets, beds in the "harem" area in the bar at the Edge of the Earth, every spot on the ship was beautiful.

 

Had table #456 (a table for 8), main seating. WONDERFUL spot. Waiter Sudarno from Indonesia and his ass't waiter, Erwin from Nicaragua were fantastic! Food was marvelous each and every night.

 

Our tablemates were 3 related ladies from PA/NJ/NY area and a Canadian couple. One of the highlights of our cruise was dinner each evening. We left after 12 nights feeling like family!

 

Met the infamous, Sudi, from the martini bar. He did card tricks for us that were mesmerizing! A real gem of a guy who deserves all of the accolades he gets from this board.

 

Met the ship's captain and the staff captain (who took over at St. Thomas). Both lovely good looking men. The staff captain invited us to the bridge for a tour. It was a fantastic tour! A surprise invitation that we truely appreciated.

 

The Celebrity Singers and Dancers were very good. We enjoyed each of their performances. My understanding was that it was their first week together on the ship. They had great voices and dancing and the costumes were really neat.

 

Went to the Cirque masqurade, wouldn't do it again, but it was fun for a first time. I love to try new things. Sometimes I love them and others I wouldn't do again, but always glad to have a new experience under my belt.

 

Went to the CC gathering, but only met Bill and his wife Shelly from Canada. Nice couple. Saw Bill several times throughout the cruise and compared port notes.

 

Chair hogs were terrible. I even got into a tiff with one over our Mom having to sit in her wheelchair in the T-pool area on a rainy windy sea day with plenty of open chairs with NO ONE IN THEM FOR OVER 45 MINUTES. I did get a pool butler who went through the chain of command to get the situation resolved. Hogging still went on , BUT I did see a gray jacketed employee early 1 morning removing books, glasses, etc. off of saved chairs. Also saw security much more often in the pool areas after that.

 

It seemed to us, that many passengers on this cruise were from the North East U.S. There were a handful that seemed to be a bit more agressive and whiney than our past cruises. As it works out, we seemed to notice these same people over and over on the ship. Even our Northeastern born and bred dinner mates mentioned that this group were more aggressive and whiney to them!

 

Ports were: Charleston, Freeport, Nassau, St. Martin, St. Thomas,and San Juan. We never do the ship's tours, always arrange our own.

 

Charleston ---did 2 tours. First was land based "Doin' The Charleston" and then a harbor tour with "Charleston Harbor Tours". Had time between the two to go through the City Market area. Both were great! Would do both again. Charleston was a lovely city, would like to go back for a few days.

 

Freeport--- scheduled with Caribbean Divers to do a snorkel. It was cancelled because of the rough waters. The weather was very cloudy, windy and then rainy due to "Wilma" coming. Then went to Pelican Bay Hotel. We had arranged to go see the hotel and swim, beach, etc. Very nice hotel! Also went to Lucayan market place. Freeport could easily have been skipped. Didn't care for it and wouldn't go back.

 

Nassau---scheduled with Bahama Divers for a snorkel. I did research them before we left for the cruise and gathered opinions. TERRIBLE DIVE OPERATION!!!! I am a certified diver (but only snorkeled this trip) and I was disgusted at the practices of this company. The snorkeling sights were terrible with nothing to see. Sites were chosen for the 4 divers onboard that day, DID NOT take snorkelers into consideration for the sites. Safety skills of the dive masters and crew left a lot to be desired. They paid no attention to my sister and I in the water and no attention to our Mom who was in her wheelchair riding along. Enough said--I would never dive/snorkel with them again!

 

St. Martin--went with Joyce Prince again. She is a very nice person and knows the island well. Toured the more local spots, went to Orient beach, shopped, had french pasteries and a great day! ---Hint--- Vinissimo is a great little wine shop to stop at. Definetly do again.

 

St. Thomas--- went on a daysail with Rumbaba. FANTASTIC time. The tour highlight of our cruise. Food was outstanding, had a nice honeymoon couple onboard with the 3 of us, snorkeling was great, weather perfect, and Captain Bobby and his mate Karen were wonderful! Definetly do again.

 

San Juan---I did a self walking tour through Old San Juan, went to the fort (El Morro) and then back into town. The views from the fort were stupendous! Mom and sister just wheeled around OSJ a bit. A hard place for the disabled to get around. Neat city, would like to spend more time there again.

 

Disembarkation was a bit slow and disorganized. Again, compared to Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa from previous cruises.

 

Took a $13 (total) shuttle to EWR for return flight home.

 

 

We had a great time and made many wonderful memories. We enjoy Celebrity. Thanks to all on Cruise Critic for giving me you opinions and sharing your experiences.

[mmp13]

Great review. I was on the same cruise but did not get the oportunity to meet you. I have to say the service on this cruise surpassed the great service on our first 2 Celebrity cruises and I really did not think it could get any better. It did and we loved it. That Sudi is really quite an entertainer.

We loved all the Islands except Freeport but we had been there before and knew what to expect. 5 out of 6 great ports is pretty darn good. the only negative we found was the chair hog situation. If they could fix that I think they might achieve just about perfect!

[mmp13]

Great review. I was on the same cruise but did not get the oportunity to meet you. I have to say the service on this cruise surpassed the great service on our first 2 Celebrity cruises and I really did not think it could get any better. It did and we loved it. That Sudi is really quite an entertainer.

We loved all the Islands except Freeport but we had been there before and knew what to expect. 5 out of 6 great ports is pretty darn good. the only negative we found was the chair hog situation. If they could fix that I think they might achieve just about perfect!

[mmp13]

Great review. I was on the same cruise but did not get the oportunity to meet you. I have to say the service on this cruise surpassed the great service on our first 2 Celebrity cruises and I really did not think it could get any better. It did and we loved it. That Sudi is really quite an entertainer.

We loved all the Islands except Freeport but we had been there before and knew what to expect. 5 out of 6 great ports is pretty darn good. the only negative we found was the chair hog situation. If they could fix that I think they might achieve just about perfect!

[katiel53]

Thanks for the review. I'd like to ask if the menus were the same as you had on your other Celebrity cruises. For a long time we have heard there would be new menus.

 

The chair hog situation probably will never go away as long as cruisers have the ME ME ME attitude. We have been on many cruises and it's the same type person who feels he/she is ENTITLED to a chair or whatever. (Loud walkie-talkies, cell phones, babies in the regular pool etc.) The rules don't ever apply to them because they are "special".

 

Unfortunately, there are people like this everywhere, not just on a cruise. I see them driving here in Florida, lol.

I guess for the rest of us, we just have to make the best of the cruise and bring the mis-use to the attention of pool personnel. If enough people complain, and write on their comment cards about the chair hogs etc. maybe something will be done.

 

Katie

[meyer4two]

Hi everyone,

I was on the same cruise also. I thought it was wonderful.

I too agree Freeport wasn't that great. The flies were horrible. Even sitting by the pool in the afternoon I couldn't escape the nasty flies.

The food was wonderful & the ship is beautiful. I sailed on the Summit twice & now the Constellation & would do them both all over again.

I noticed the majority of the people on the ship were very nice but some were really grumpy. I have sailed Celebrity 5 times & never encountered grumpy cruisers before. I usually sail in March, was it because it was Oct.? How people can be grumpy on a cruise is beyond me.

Loved all the excursions I went on, very well organized and worth the price.

I will definitely sail Celebrity again. Just sad the cruise went so fast.

[Joby]

Hi Katie, yes, the menus seemed the same to me. This was a bit longer cruise than the 10 day Horizon we were on, but everything seemed the same to me--all wonderful!!!

[brrgrr]

Enjoyed your very thorough review, and would like to say "Thank You" for getting our ship to San Juan safe and sound!! I'm on her in three weeks, my first Celebrity sdailing, and was so relieved you folks kept her safe and sound during the hurricane season!!..))

Carl

[Host Karen]

How much was the Rumbaba daysail? I checked out their website after reading your glowing recommendation, but no prices are listed.

 

Thanks!

[Joby]

Carl, we were glad to be of service! Have fun on your upcoming cruise. We loved the Constellation.

 

olliekl, Rumbaba was $110 cash per person. Most of the daysails are around that price. It's a lot of money, but a unique experience and Rumbaba was top notch!

[Host Karen]

Thanks for the price information. Can you tell me more about what you did for the day? Was it a comfortable boat just to hang out on? Thinking about DH who may not want to snorkle, although it looks like they offer noodles and floating mats.

 

Karen

[Joby]

Karen, our day started at 9:30 and we returned at 3:30. The Rumbaba has lots of floatation thingys, music, drinks (alcoholic and non), sodas, FOOD, a pull behind dinghy to take you to a beach if you don't want to swim, good conversation, etc...

 

We sailed to a couple of locations--St. John and somewhere else. We snorkeled, but you can go to the beach, swim, snorkel, stay onboard the boat (as our Mom did, she also uses a wheelchair/cane to get around and Bobby and Karen were great with Mom).

 

Email them--they are very good about responding to questions. You won't be sorry!

[Host Karen]

Thanks again, Joby! I appreciate all the information. I've e-mailed them to inquire about their availability for later this month and then I'll try to convince DH to go.

 

Karen

[Joby]

Hi Karen, talk him into it--he won't be sorry!

[katiel53]

Joby,

Thanks for letting me know that the menus are the same. There are some foods that I have come to love on Celebrity. One is the mushroom appetizer and creme brulee served the first night. I love the chilled soups, so even with the old menus, I will be very happy.

 

Katie

[Joby]

Katie, ahhhhh the chilled fruit soups, the creme brulee, escargots.....

[Normandie-BCN]

How are the matresses on Constellation?

 

Matresses are terrible on Millennium (last August), Century (thread from transatlantic), Galaxy... Next August I will go on Constellation and I am afraid.

[Guest Cookiegirl]

Just got off the Constellation on 10/29. We were in a Sky Suite and the mattress felt just like ours here at home (which is new). Don't be afraid.

[Joby]

Normandie-BCN, don't worry about the mattress. I had an awful mattress in our room, but it was a sofa bed. The 2nd night I asked our room steward for something to remedy the W shaped mattress and he brought in 2-- 1" thick boards to put under the mattress. It made sleeping much better. My Mom and sister had 2 twin beds and their mattresses were fine.

 

Go and have fun--if the mattress isn't comfortable, just ask your room steward to help!

[mmp13]

The matresses were definitely better than our cruise last year on the Galaxy. My husband and I both have back problems but found the matresses on the Oct 17 cruise on Constellation both quite comfortable

[Normandie-BCN]

Last August on the Millennium, we were a group and the only matresses which were not deformed were those of sofabeds. We asked the steward to change the matresses and he was unable to change any. I think that they have not only to provide a new one but not even the possibility to take a good one from another stateroom. Probably all were terrible and due to the form of beds it is impossible to put down up or front into rear.

 

That is the reason that I am worried about Constellation matresses next August.

 

I could never think about a terrible matress in a cruise! and least in a Celebrity one. Are so unexpensive!

 

In any case, mmp13, thanks for your information.

[CINDON]

Joby,

Could you tell us how Celebrity handled the wheelchair situation at Cape Liberty (Bayonne) during embarkation. Did they have someone to assisit? Was it difficult to get the chair onboard? Any information would be appreciated.

[Soo-z]

Hi Jody,

 

Could you tell me about the shuttle. Will it go to jfk.

 

Thanks Soo-z

[B-Anne]

were horrible!! I had requested twin beds for our 10/17 cruise, and when we arrived in our stateroom, the bed was a king!! I told our cabin steward about the request for twin beds and she tried to talk me into leaving the king sized bed configuration. I told her that we did not want the king (2 senior women traveling together, I think not), and after persuading her to do so, she finally separated the beds! They were the most uncomfortable beds I have ever slept in on a cruise, both beds slanting toward the middle!! You had to be very careful turning over because you could easily slide off the bed, that's how bad they were!! ~~B~~

[Joby]

CINDON, we had no problems with wheelchair issues. The Celebrity personnel were always helpful. The embarkation at Cape Liberty left a bit to be desired, but we had no problems with Mom's wheelchair.

 

Soo-z, the shuttles are location specific. Our shuttle only went to EWR. There were other lines to JFK, LGA, etc. This was on the return part of the trip only.

 

Arrival part of the trip was every man for himself. If you weren't on a Celebrity shuttle then your choices were cab, private driver or pre-arranged shuttle service I think.