Onboard Constellation for Christmas / New Year's India Cruise

[TxnAquarian]

My husband and I are currently in Abu Dhabi, boarding the Constellation today for the 14-day Xmas/NYE voyage to Oman, India, and returning to the UAE. We booked this trip when it opened exactly two years ago, so we are really excited it's finally time! It's a Celebrity Signature Event Sailing with an overnight in Dubai for NYE, in which we booked a dinner cruise around Dubai Creek. I'll be posting every few days for anyone interested; especially for anyone on this cruise next year.

 

We made the long flight from San Francisco to Abu Dhabi via Doha earlier this week with Qatar Airways. We found Qatar in Business Class to be a flawless experience. The crew couldn't do enough for us, the food was fabulous and the seats were incredibly comfortable, even allowing me to sleep a solid 8 hours on the 12 hour flight. We flew Etihad Airways earlier this year, and Qatar was far superior in every way. Our accommodations in Abu Dhabi have been at the St. Regis at Nations Tower. The hotel is gorgeous with a wonderful stuff, and the Xmas tree in the lobby is just gorgeous, alongside a gingerbread house that fills the whole first floor with the smell of cookies. The location of the hotel is right on the Corniche, which is perfect for me as I'm a runner and have been able to easily get out for my morning beach runs.

 

Abu Dhabi isn't the most exciting city....although the Grand Mosque is absolutely stunning and beyond words. We did a desert dune safari and dinner last night, which while gimmicky, really needs to be done. The dinner at sunset with the belly dancer and gorgeous scenery was lovely, and the "dune-bashing" in a 4x4 was amazing. My hand prints are still etched in the seat, I'm sure lol

Today we will have a car take us over to the Constellation at 12noon. We booked a Sky Suite and will be anxiously exploring the ship and getting unpacked and settled in.

 

We overnight in Abu Dhabi tonight, before sailing for Oman tomorrow afternoon. I'll post again after our stop at Muscat, Oman. Happy Holidays to everyone!

 

 

Michael

[easyboy]

Will be very interested following your posts. Your route is on my bucket list

 

 

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[tybeelucy2]

Sounds amazing!

 

 

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[Jim_Iain]

Can't wait to hear about your adventure.

[BEAV]

Michael,

 

Very much looking forward to your posts. Happy Holidays to you both and enjoy the adventure! ;)

[Killington]

Will be leaving hotel within 3o mins to join this cruise, maybe see you on board Michael.

Frances

[cjcruiser27]

Sounds amazing!

 

 

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I agree!!! Hope you post pictures.

 

 

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[bertrande]

Will be following closely as we will be on in less than two months' time. Happy sailing!

 

 

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[TxnAquarian]

Thanks for all the feedback! Just boarded the ship. It's been great refamiliarising myself with everything. More to come....

 

Michael

Edited December 19, 2016 by TxnAquarian

[cruising teacher]

Very interested in your posts! We board in two weeks. Cannot get out of this Chicago deep freeze soon enough! Curious if passengers were allowed to board without an India visa?

[Haworth]

Very interested in your posts! We board in two weeks. Cannot get out of this Chicago deep freeze soon enough! Curious if passengers were allowed to board without an India visa?

 

We were on the cruise that departed on 28/11, they were using a check list to review each passengers documentation I doubt anyone would have been allowed to board without a visa.

 

I hope you all enjoy the cruise, we did, some issues with immigration/passports but just go with flow.

[MVPinBoynton]

Our across the street neighbors, who we have cruised with several times, are cruising with you. So, I am very interested in following this thread to see how their cruise is going.

[TommyD3]

We were on the cruise that departed on 28/11, they were using a check list to review each passengers documentation I doubt anyone would have been allowed to board without a visa.

 

I hope you all enjoy the cruise, we did, some issues with immigration/passports but just go with flow.

 

Please let us know what happens w/o the India visa.

We are on the repositioning cruise in April 2017 that includes India.

Number 3 of B2B2B2B.

Emailed the documentation officer onboard the ship and they said it was OK w/o the visa, but all comments on Cruise Critic indicate boarding denied w/o the visa.

 

Thanks.

[TxnAquarian]

Just a quick update from onboard as we sail into Muscat, Oman right now. The staff and service has been wonderful! Everyone is very friendly and welcoming. Our servers in Luminae are the same ones we had on the Infinity back in June 2015, so that was a fun reunion. We haven't eaten anywhere besides Luminae yet, so I can't comment on any other venues. Our room steward is excellent! He takes great care of us. Also, our butler is the only female butler onboard, which she's very proud of. She's absolutely delightful and almost makes us feel guilty for not utilizing her more!

 

We are in a Sky Suite (6115) and it definitely needs some sprucing up in a dry dock. It's looking very dated now and there are signs of wear and tear, but our steward takes great care of it.

 

The fellow passengers are made up of a lot of people from the U.K. and Spain, as well as US, Canada and many other nationalities. It's a very diverse and friendly group. There are not that many kids onboard, but the ones that are are all friendly and well-behaved.

 

I had taken a break from Celebrity for awhile and had forgotten about the hard selling of services. It's a bit overhwhelming. On the first day during boarding, the photo team were trying to get us to take a pic and we said no. She said "Oh no, you have to. It's required for photo identification onboard", and she grabbed our belongings out of our hands and directed us to take the photo. So besides lying to us, she touched us without permission. These are little things that happen that make the Celebrity product less appealing.

 

I am trying to include pics here, but the upload is taking forever.

 

It's been a lot of fun so far and we are off to explore Muscat now.

 

Btw, don't know if anyone was refused boarding due to visa issues. I haven't heard anything.

 

Michael

[emckeeve]

I'm glad to connect with someone who is onboard. We are on the next cruise. 9 day Abu Dhabi to Abu Dhabi. Two questions. We are being given free internet. What does that mean? Will our ipads and iphones work at sea? Is the speed horrendously slow? Also, do arms and legs need to be covered while wandering the cities - Abu Dhabi, Muscat and Dubai? Or just in the Mosques? I'm anxious to hear more about the ship, as we are first time Celebrity people. We've become much more attached to the smaller ships in recent years, so it's hard to imagine being with 2100 others! But we loved the itinerary.

[TxnAquarian]

I'm glad to connect with someone who is onboard. We are on the next cruise. 9 day Abu Dhabi to Abu Dhabi. Two questions. We are being given free internet. What does that mean? Will our ipads and iphones work at sea? Is the speed horrendously slow? Also, do arms and legs need to be covered while wandering the cities - Abu Dhabi, Muscat and Dubai? Or just in the Mosques? I'm anxious to hear more about the ship, as we are first time Celebrity people. We've become much more attached to the smaller ships in recent years, so it's hard to imagine being with 2100 others! But we loved the itinerary.

 

 

We go back and forth between small ships and large ships - Celebrity is the best of the large ship lines, despite any of my quibbles :)

 

The wifi on the ship is very fast and you can use it on any of your devices, but only one at a time.

 

The large cities in the Middle East aren't as conservative as many people think. I think of them as more traditional, but there are certainly lots of tourists. Women do need to be cautious in mosques by covering arms, shoulders and legs, and not wearing anything sheer. Wandering around the cities, women just need to use common sense and be respectful of the culture. But typical clothes are fine. Men are expected to wear long pants in mosques and knee-length shorts are fine for wandering out.

 

You'll have a great time. It's a fascinating part of the world.

 

Michael

[emckeeve]

Thanks, Michael. I'll be eager to see more reports from you. And if I have any more questions, I'll know where to go! ;-)

[Haworth]

I'm glad to connect with someone who is onboard. We are on the next cruise. 9 day Abu Dhabi to Abu Dhabi. Two questions. We are being given free internet. What does that mean? Will our ipads and iphones work at sea? Is the speed horrendously slow? Also, do arms and legs need to be covered while wandering the cities - Abu Dhabi, Muscat and Dubai? Or just in the Mosques? I'm anxious to hear more about the ship, as we are first time Celebrity people. We've become much more attached to the smaller ships in recent years, so it's hard to imagine being with 2100 others! But we loved the itinerary.

 

Muscat is the most strict of the places you have mentioned, when we last visited the mosque, earlier this year they were very very strict about ladies dress.

 

We did the cruise on 28/11 and had an excellent time despite the odd hic up.

[tybeelucy2]

Just a quick update from onboard as we sail into Muscat, Oman right now. The staff and service has been wonderful! Everyone is very friendly and welcoming. Our servers in Luminae are the same ones we had on the Infinity back in June 2015, so that was a fun reunion. We haven't eaten anywhere besides Luminae yet, so I can't comment on any other venues. Our room steward is excellent! He takes great care of us. Also, our butler is the only female butler onboard, which she's very proud of. She's absolutely delightful and almost makes us feel guilty for not utilizing her more!

 

We are in a Sky Suite (6115) and it definitely needs some sprucing up in a dry dock. It's looking very dated now and there are signs of wear and tear, but our steward takes great care of it.

 

The fellow passengers are made up of a lot of people from the U.K. and Spain, as well as US, Canada and many other nationalities. It's a very diverse and friendly group. There are not that many kids onboard, but the ones that are are all friendly and well-behaved.

 

I had taken a break from Celebrity for awhile and had forgotten about the hard selling of services. It's a bit overhwhelming. On the first day during boarding, the photo team were trying to get us to take a pic and we said no. She said "Oh no, you have to. It's required for photo identification onboard", and she grabbed our belongings out of our hands and directed us to take the photo. So besides lying to us, she touched us without permission. These are little things that happen that make the Celebrity product less appealing.

 

 

I am trying to include pics here, but the upload is taking forever.

 

It's been a lot of fun so far and we are off to explore Muscat now.

 

Btw, don't know if anyone was refused boarding due to visa issues. I haven't heard anything.

 

Michael

 

I believe it is required for you to take a photo, security looks at the pic as you board during port stops when they scan your sea pass card, but it's not the cheesy pic with the ship's wheel or in front the background with the ship. It's just a basic photo with no hats or sunglasses allowed. I'd be really pissed if it was otherwise.

[TxnAquarian]

I believe it is required for you to take a photo, security looks at the pic as you board during port stops when they scan your sea pass card, but it's not the cheesy pic with the ship's wheel or in front the background with the ship. It's just a basic photo with no hats or sunglasses allowed. I'd be really pissed if it was otherwise.

 

Nope, this was the cheesy photo with the ship in the background. She blatantly lied to us. As soon as we got on the ship, then the security photo was taken. I was pretty livid to start the trip off with that experience. These people won't take no for an answer.

 

Michael

[tybeelucy2]

Nope, this was the cheesy photo with the ship in the background. She blatantly lied to us. As soon as we got on the ship, then the security photo was taken. I was pretty livid to start the trip off with that experience. These people won't take no for an answer.

 

Michael

 

That is pretty bad. We were just on Summit last week and had to take the security photo just after the check in process, even before boarding and the cheesy ship photo. I hate getting my picture taken so I was pretty adamant with the photogs that I wasn't interested and none of them pushed it.

[TxnAquarian]

MUSCAT, OMAN

12PM - 10PM

 

We had a great day exploring Muscat. There is so much more to see than just the little harbor area that a lot of people go to. We avoid excursions like the plague (although we will be doing them in all upcoming Indian ports due to logistics), and we had planned on wandering Muscat on our own. But at trivia the other day, we played with someone who was organizing cars to take some folks around the city. She asked if we would like to and we said yes. It was a great way to explore, as we could avoid the crowds and were able to customize the day to our preferences. The day started with a drive around the beautiful harbor. Muscat is incredibly clean and everywhere we went, we were impressed by the immaculate landscaping of the grass and gorgeous flowers. We stopped at the Sultan's palace, taking in the impressive grounds. Continuing on, we went up a bit into the hills, enjoying some pretty look-out stops, and then went to the stunning Ritz Carlton. Walking in, we were immediately struck by the smell of incense and the incredible Arabic architecture, overwhelming high ceilings and huge chandeliers. Some of us had Arabic coffee, while others wandered the grounds. After we left, we continued up through the winding mountain roads, circling back around to Muscat town and either being dropped at the souk or going back to the ship. We went back the ship.

 

This was the first night that we skipped dinner, as we were exhausted. Funny thing is that our maitre 'd from Luminae tracked us down at the Martini Bar around 9pm to check on us as we hadn't been to dinner yet! This crew is exceptionally good.

 

We never go to shows or presentations, so I will not be commenting on those. We prefer to go to the gym, chat at the bars or read.

 

We are now on our first of three sea days on the way to India.

 

 

Michael

[bertrande]

Seriously hope the crew will stay until at least the end of February - the level of service you've been experiencing seems extremely high.

 

Just a thought on the photo taking - could it be that the photographer meant that he needed the photo of you at the boarding area to facilitate the facial recognition program that they have which tags guests to the correct stateroom? We have had that explanation before (though no one has tried to pull the security excuse on us) and found it quite plausible.

 

Enjoy your cruise, looking forward to more updates.

 

 

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[TxnAquarian]

After three days at sea, we are just now sailing into Cochin, India, on this Christmas morning. It's already looking smoggy, hazy and muggy out, so we're preparing for a hot day!

 

The staff on this ship continue to run like a well-oiled machine, besides the awkward evening in Sushi On 5, where the servers didn't know their left from their right lol Taz, one of the servers in the Martini Bar is a superstar, having remenbered our names and drink preferences from literally the first evening. He never stops smiling. But then the same can be said for most of the crew. Our butler and room steward continue to amaze me - even better than ones I've had on luxury ships.

 

Luminae has continued to impress us, while our friends have not been enjoying Blu (they are AQ regulars since 2011). They joined us in Luminae last night for Xmas dinner and their thoughts were that all the effort by Celebrity now is put into the Suite Class.

 

Sushi on 5 was pretty good - much better than when it was Bistro, which we never really cared for. The rolls were fresh and well-made. The staff were a bit confused. We weren't sure if it was because the venue happened to be very busy that night, or if they just weren't trained well. We might go back.

 

We slept in a bit late the past couple of days and missed Luminae breakfast, which necessitated a visit to the Oceanview Cafe. The less said about the buffet, the better. Between the crowds, pushy people and barely edible food, we will make a concerted effort from now on to wake up for a proper breakfast.

 

Indian immigration was held onboard the day before yesterday. It was very easy. But the officials onboard took the visa and passport checks very seriously. My husband has a multiple entry work visa (he is in India several times a year for business) and the officer he dealt with interrogated him because it wasn't a tourist visa. It worked out, but anyone coming on a cruise that stops in India need to remember to have all of their i's dotted and t's crossed.

 

We haven't seen any shows or any entertainment around the ship - our free time is spent reading, at the gym or meeting people at the Martini Bar.

 

Off to explore India today - and I'm an India newbie. Looking forward to it.

 

 

Michael

[Kittyonions]

Hi,

We are on the next cruise on Connie. Can you give us any idea how much you paid for the car trip around Muscat, as it sounds a good way to get a feel for the city. MAny thanks.