'Live' on Constellation 9 night French Riviera and Dalmatian Coast

[Jim_Iain]

What a wonderful review.   Thanks for taking the time to bring us along for your adventure.

 

[mrsgoggins]

I have only just noticed your review - possibly because I was on the Eclipse in Alaska when you were first posting!  I have enjoyed reading it very much since Constellation was our first ever Celebrity cruise - and in Aqua too - and so is a bit special for me.  I hope to sail her again at sometime.

 

Editing to add that I liked your comment about Topper.  I've seen it a few times and strange doesn't begin to describe it.  It contains Uptown Funk (at least when I've seen it) and Celebrity gave us that particular song three times during a 10-night cruise; good job I like it or I would have felt like throwing a shoe at the singer(s) by the third time 😉.

Edited June 2, 2019 by mrsgoggins

[Lastdance]

Thanks so much for your review and photos!  Next May, I will once again be in Montenegro, but not sure about doing the zig-zag again, even though it was by car...enjoy and thanks for sharing!

[jameybano]

On 5/29/2019 at 6:23 AM, mirnsd said:

Thanks for sticking with the review folks. We have now been back over a week and I wanted to give a final round up of all the things we loved and the few things which could be better on board Constellation. 

 

Firstly, let me say that some of the reviews had me truly worried about our decision to go on this sailing. A lot of reviews were mentioning that the service was bad, that the ship was very tired and that standards were slipping all over the place. I will go into some of these in more detail later but I can honestly say that none of these things ring true from our experience on board the ship for our 9 night sailing.

 

Service - By and large the service from staff around the ship was great. Our cabin attendant Dewi was brilliant. She worked super hard and always made sure the room was clean and she worked around us very well. The servers at the bars were again very efficient but we did notice a few grumpy faces here and there. Nothing that really concerns me - I understand they all work long shifts but I would say that the normal level of service we saw from previous Celebrity sailings was probably higher than on this sailing. Again, nothing that really caused me any troubles. There were always servers around the pool taking drinks orders and they were always very happy and cheery. I know that some people have noted that the number of servers going round the lido deck has reduced in recent years on Celebrity but I have to say I didn't find this to be the case on this particular sailing. Lastly, our team in Blu were brilliant - from Maître d' , sommelier and waiting staff, they were all super efficient. We sat in broadly the same area every night and were normally placed at a window table or one back from the window. This made for some super views whilst enjoying dinner.

 

Food -  On this sailing we didn't do any speciality dining because we were eager to try Blu for the first time. We ate in Blu every evening and did a few breakfasts there too. We aren't super early risers on holiday so I have to admit that we didn't always make the breakfasts in the morning. When we did do breakfast in Blu, the food was always tasty and served very efficiently. On the mornings where we did breakfast in the Oceanview, I have to say we were hugely disappointed. The food was never more than tepid. Eggs, sausages, hash browns - nothing was ever hot for some reason. This is despite it being under heat lamps and in a bain-marie. I've worked in hospitality and I am not sure how you even make that happen. On the few occasions we did try Oceanview for lunch, I have to say that the problem persisted. This led me to either avoid the buffet altogether or to go for cold options when we did eat there. The food was largely flavoursome enough but the temperature issues put me off the whole time. Blu on the other hand was a different kettle of fish. The food was always hot and very tasty. I loved the slightly smaller portions as I get put off by mounds of food on a plate. It was ideal because you could always order another dish if you were still feeling like it afterwards.

 

Entertainment -  We thought the entertainment offerings on board the ship were by and large very good. The evening shows were of a higher quality and less baffling than some we have seen on Celebrity. Even the cast productions were better than on some previous sailings. The Celebrity Life activities were also very good but not always well attended. Bizarrely you could go from Trivia with 15 teams one night to 3 teams the next! The interactive game shows were always well attended and I think they benefit from being on the slightly smaller ship. Sometimes we felt that these events got lost on the Solstice class ships because there are simply too many public rooms to choose from in the evening. Because people tended to migrate towards the Martini bar and the Rendezvous Lounge of an evening, these events tended to get a better turnout. Karaoke and Silent Disco were always a blast, well attended too and the addition of Bandaoke was nice too. We did feel that they sometimes cut the Silent Disco a bit too short. I got the impression that a lot of people were up for some late night dancing on the ship but because of the lack of a night club space, they seemed to edge people back to their staterooms by winding down the music earlier than some would have liked.

 

Bars and public spaces -  We spent less time at the Martini Bar on this ship than we have on any other. Not for any big reason - just that we actually enjoyed Cellar Masters, Rendezvous and the Reflections Lounge. My only grumble about one of these spaces was Reflections - the room sometimes had a very strong waste water smell in the centre of the room. We have no idea what could be causing this but it was very pungent on occasion. We actually left early one evening because it was so strong. We discovered that if you sat slightly off to one side of the room, you could barely smell it. I hope they are able to get to the bottom of it. 

We are not gamblers but did walk through the casino most nights. The bar in there was always busy and the casino seemed to be very popular, with most tables in use and busy every evening. 

Café al Bacio was great and the cakes never failed to disappoint. We made a point of stopping in most days. 

I noticed some people in reviews saying that the furnishings were tired in some places but I can't say that I really agree too much. Yes, there are occasional carpet stains in some public areas. In some spots the decor could do with an update but I guess that's why they have a dry dock scheduled. The slight marks here or there did not put us off and at no point did we feel the ship was dirty or unhygienic. Cleaning crews were evident almost everywhere you turned.

Yes, you can tell the ship is not new but again, she sails with over 2,000 passengers on board every week of the year - the ship isn't going to look like a new build. The places where I felt you could tell her age the most was in the ships windows and some rust spots to some outer decks. Some of the glass is breaking down and the window washing regime clearly wasn't as efficient as on the Solstice class ships. Again, not really that big a deal in the bigger picture but I am sure if these are dealt with in dry dock, they ship will take on a new lease of life.

 

I am hoping I have covered most things. I will post one final review with our thoughts on this ship Vs Solstice class ships and then that will be all from me until we sail again in 4 months on Reflection. 

Thanks again for following along! 

I would agree with OP.  We boarded the Constellation on the date that OP disembarked. We sailed Aquaclass in stateroom 1136.

Yes, the ship is showing her age. Our stateroom bathroom had blacked out edges on the mirror, and there was visible rust on balcony.  Soft good were worn. Towels in stateroom and pool towels were frayed and snagged. Chairs on balcony were faded. Our air conditioner struggled and we lost water pressure and the ability to flush the toilet on the last day. We kept the lid on the toilet shut to avoid a strong sewer odor. Windows were dirty in stateroom and public areas. The carpet in the public areas was splitting at the seams and had visible stains- particularly noticeable in the Reflections lounge.  Seats in the Celebrity Theatre were worn in circular spots and had dents and scratches on tables.

Service was beyond excellent in Blu and the Tuscan Grille. We experienced excellent bar service in the Theatre and pool area. It is in other areas that we both thought service was down in comparison to five previous Celebrity cruises.

Long waits for service in the Oceanview Cafe and Sushi on Five.  We had canapes in stateroom but no napkins and flatware.  No beach towels left in staterooms or available for checkout near gangway. Previously, the restrooms near popular nightly venues we staffed with matrons to keep the restroom clean and tidy and rolled towels supplied.  This was not the case this cruise. Countless times the towel bins were empty and paper towels were overflowing in the trash bin.  Someone vomited in one of the sinks near the Reflections lounge and it took hours for it to be cleaned. A light bulb was burned out in one of the stalls near Blu and it wasn't changed for two days. 

The worse thing, though, is that we docked in Santorini with THREE other cruise ships. My husband got up early to get our tender tickets and we still barely made it to the dock to meet our tour group. It was mayhem on the dock at the foot of the cable car area.  Thira and Oia were chocked full of tourists.  We waited about thirty minutes in the sun and rain to ride the cable car down and made the last tender back to the ship. I will say that Celebrity was the only line that has staff members checking in with passengers in line and had cold towels and water at the tender gangway.  Celebrity should never dock there with so many other ships.  

None of these things will keep us from rebooking with Celebrity. I would not recommend or rebook Constellation until after her refurbishment next year.  

Thank you OP!  My intention was not to highjack your thread, I just wanted to echo your comments.

 

[Aoifer]

On 5/30/2019 at 7:31 AM, elbarney said:

Hello, just a question.

I saw that your cruise was going to stop in Zadar. Did you?

We are doing that stop later(August) and I'd like to know if celebrity provided a shuttle or not and what was the costs.

Thanks for the magnificient review!

Hi 

 

We were on Connie last year. We stopped in Zadar. Celebrity did provide a shuttle. Cant remember exact cost but I think.. it was circa €13 p/p.

 

[elbarney]

5 hours ago, Aoifer said:

Hi 

 

We were on Connie last year. We stopped in Zadar. Celebrity did provide a shuttle. Cant remember exact cost but I think.. it was circa €13 p/p.

 

Thanks!!!

We will consider a taxi then.

[wendyam76]

Just a word of warning on taxi’s in Zadar. We decided to go that route - had to walk out of the Port to find one and they weren’t any cheaper. Also a bit harder to find one to get back. I decided to use the shuttle for Corfu - I think that is the first time I have seen a shuttle bus driver shout at a passenger for speaking quietly whilst the bus driver was on his phone!  

Wendy 

[GeorgesGal]

Thanks so much for sharing your cruise with us.  It's been years since we've sailed the Connie, but I fondly remember her!

 

I must say, Michael, that for a first time "live from" you did a spectacular job!  Again, thanks for taking us all along.  And next time you go to Kotor on a cruise, be sure to be up early enough for the sail in.  It's just gorgeous with the sun low in the sky - not to be missed.  Can't wait till we are there in September for our third or fourth visit.

 

Donna