My Constellation Back-to-Back Cruise Review, 3-22 September 2019

[Compass Rose Monica]

Here’s a quick review of our cruise on the Constellation.

 

Cruising Background:

 

I’ve been cruising with Celebrity since 2003 and this was my 18^th/19^th cruise (Tony, a few cruises less than me); and second time on the Constellation.

 

This was our first back-to-back cruise, 3 September and 12 September 2019, with our friends. It was a very port-intensive cruise with fabulous ports of call. I would love to do another one but with more sea days.

 

On Board:

 

The Constellation is a smaller ship (I love the S-Class ships) and does show her age, especially in the chairs around the various lounges, but overall in good condition

 

The Martini bar was always crowded and very noisy, especially on the first day of embarkation. Music shouldn’t be so loud that you have to yell to talk to someone.  

 

We spent a lot of our happy hour time in the Reflection lounge; sometimes at the sunset bar at sail-away; and the Rendezvous lounge (depending on who was performing before dinner). The Reflection lounge was never filled. I believe there were only about 100-125 elite passengers. This cruise seemed more low-keyed than the second cruise, which had around 200 elite passengers. The appetizers during the happy hour were very good.

 

The house band was The Cardinals. They were awesome!!! We enjoyed Kyle Tracy (guitar/vocals) and Duo Asai (Acoustic Duo). We didn’t care for the Sea Beats - terrible female singer that could put a person to sleep.

 

The Rendezvous was a popular spot for trivia and evening entertainment.

 

Cellar Masters was pretty quiet.

 

Great staff on board! Some of my favorites were John (cabin attendant); Alejandro (CD and funny as ever; had the pleasure of meeting him on our March 2019 South America cruise); Clint (hotel director first cruise), Milana (hotel director second cruise); Luana (guest relations director), Vlada (Captains club hostess on our first cruise). In the dining room: Wannipa, Dusan, and Gede at table 233; in the Reflection lounge Sushant and Sabitri. Irlinda at guest relations tried to help me with me on an issue with my cabin. Isabela (event coordinator) sent us an invitation to the helipad for our departure from Valletta. Suzanna (sommelier). And of course, the Master of the ship Michael Karatzas, Staff Captain Lefteris Koumasidis, and Chief Engineer Nikolaos Politsis.

 

Cabin 3142. I booked an ocean view cabin since the back-to-back was pretty expensive. Normally I book aqua or concierge. This cabin has an extra-large port hole. My room was VERY warm. Two engineers came by twice but couldn’t do anything to fix the problem. I ended up getting a fan for the room and kept the drapes closed all the time. The window should be better tinted to help from the heat of the sun. The fan helped a little but was still pretty warm. The a/c was running but there wasn’t enough air flow to cool the room; and the air didn’t flow downward, as there was a large square plate that blocked the air flow. Poor system design that I hope is improved when the Constellation gets a facelift.

 

John was our cabin attendant and he was attentive, friendly, and helpful. Our room was made up early. 

 

The closet hangers need to be updated. Some of the wooden hangers kept coming off their hooks.

 

Dear Celebrity Cruises, please add to your Celebrity Today a comment to all passengers asking them to be respectful of their neighbors not let their cabin doors slam shut. This is very annoying and disturbing when one is trying to sleep. I found many guests just walking in or out of their cabin without attempting to close the door gently.

 

 

We enjoyed Silent Disco a few times on both cruises. The Captain’s Club Celebration and Senior Officer’s Parties were fun but not fully attended. It was actually nice to be able to attend an event and not feel so crowded.

 

Food on board: We had Select dining and really enjoyed all of our meals in the main dining room (except for one lamb entrée). We never waited long for our table. We went to the dining room anywhere from 6:15pm to 7:30pm.

 

One night several of us went to Sushi on Five for a special Indian dinner. It was excellent with a good variety of foods. Another night Tony and I ate at the Tuscan Grill.

 

I would say the Captain’s Club Elite breakfast in the Tuscan grill is pretty slow in its service. Nothing is cooked (only breads are toasted if asked), so why does it take so long to get our food? We went to the ocean view café for most of our breakfasts. Also, Dear Celebrity, please get rid of those awful knives. They are hard to hold!

 

The Ports:

 

We had a great time in Barcelona (three days pre-cruise). We stayed at H10 Montcada Boutique Hotel. Nice hotel, comfortable beds, and a great roof-top terrace. We visited Park Guell the first afternoon of our arrival. I finally got to visit Girona (via train). Lovely city and doable in a day. Also, we had a great lunch at La Grotte & L’Olivier. On the last day we did a Gaudi walking tour and an afternoon visit to Sagrada Familia (buy tickets in advance). 

 

Embarkation in Barcelona was a breeze!! We arrived about 10:45am by taxi and there were only a dozen others in the terminal!  We couldn’t believe how empty it was compared to our other cruises.

 

Our first night was the Cruise Critic Connections Party. Only a handful showed up, as it was at 8:15pm.

 

I originally booked a tour for Monte Carlo but decided to go on our own. It's a tendered port. We LOVED the oceanographic museum (https://www.visitmonaco.com/us/place/monuments-museums/76/oceanographic-museum-of-monaco)!!  We spent at least two hours there. We purchased a combo ticket that included the Palace.  Had lunch at Restaurant Chez Tony; visited the old town church just before it closed for the day.

 

We had a private tour for 8 people in Villefranche with Sylvie Di Cristo. We visited three hill towns.

 

We stayed in Civitavecchia and did a cooking class (my second time). Tons of fun. We made several dishes and enjoyed the fruits of our labor afterwards with wine, water, and some lemoncello. Too much food! Frederico is the chef and owner of Aqua Pizzeria Ristorante (aquacivitavecchia@hotmail.it). If you book it, tell Frederico I recommended his class and, “Ciao from Monica!”.

 

We had one sea day on this cruise. We had a 10am meeting about the procedures of our turn-around day in Venice. Lucky for us we wouldn’t have to pack our belongings since we had the same cabin. On the morning of our arrival, we just had to go to guest relations to pick up our new card. We did this around 7:30am. We wanted to be off the ship as early as possible since the departure was at 4pm. We were given a Transit Pass so that we didn’t have to go through the normal check-in process. We had to carry our original passports with us for the day. We used the old card to get off the ship; new card to get back on the ship (your photo is taken when you get back on the ship). The old card is taken away, but you can get it the next day. We were told we would need to update our credit card details for our on-board expenses but when I went a couple of days later, they didn’t need to adjust our account.

 

We were told to be back on the ship by 3:45pm. All other guests had to be back on board by 3:15pm. When we arrived back to the terminal, we didn’t see any Celebrity staff members and we sort of got mixed up with the terminal and which area to enter. I had to ask a local worker where to go. W finally made it back on board by 3:25pm. The boat drill was at 3:45pm.

 

Friends and I attended the Captain’s Club wine tasting at 11:15am. Suzanna, the sommelier, was sweet and very patient with late-comers (arriving 15-25 minutes after the start time) setting up more glasses for them. When the last person strolled in, half of the guests booed and hissed.

 

At the Elegant Tea, two couples showed up in shorts and t-shirts. This was a ‘smart casual’ event, not a pool-side event.

 

In Messina, we had a private tour for 8 to Mt. Etna, a specialty food shop (Oro d’ Etna), the Gambino winery (great visit with lunch and wine tasting), and then a short visit to Castiglione di Sicilia.

 

We had a private tour in Corfu around the island for four of us. This was the only port where we had rain for about an hour. Beautiful island. We toured the Achillion Palace Museum.

 

In Kotor, we had a private tour for 8 people about 4.5 hours and visited Perast, Budva, and Sv.Stefan (just views from the road). The views of Kotor from the top was spectacular! We had time back in Kotor for lunch at Konoba Scala Santa before getting back on the ship.

 

In Zadar, we did a walking tour. We were disappointed because the guide showed up 1/2 hour late. He talked too much at the beginning, so it cut into our afternoon. I didn't have time to see a couple of places and I wanted to climb the town tower.  We did see some interesting things. We had a good lunch at Porporela before the tour started.

 

In Venice, we walked around town and went up the Campanile tower. The lines were very long to get into Basilica. We should have purchased tickets in advance. Venice is a great place to just wander and explore the many streets and bridges. Lunch at Taverna San Trovaso, one of my favorite restaurants in town. We were lucky to get a table. Gelato for dessert at Nico’s and a walk back to the people mover and terminal.

 

Second cruise, 12 September 2019:

 

In Split, we toured on our own. I should have done a private tour and visited another place. Tony and I were here before and saw the same things this time. It’s a shame that Diocletian’s palace is such a tourist trap with all the shops. For lunch we had traditional prawns, but it was difficult to get the meat out. Very messy too.

 

In Dubrovnik, four of us took the local bus to Cavtat, a beautiful small seaside town. No crowds like in Dubrovnik. It was a relaxing day walking around along with a wonderful lunch at Posejdon Cavtat.  I made reservations a few weeks in advance and asked for a table overlooking the water. Afterwards, we took a boat back to Dubrovnik, which was about a 45-minute ride. We were dropped off outside the town walls where we walked around a bit and had gelato (got rid of the rest of the local currency).

 

In Catania, we had a private tour. We had a nice short visit to the fish market in town and the Cathedral. We went to Syracuse  to visit the ancient ruins. We were supposed to get a guide for the site but somehow that fell through. Our guide/driver said there were plenty of signs to read. Not true. Fortunately, I had printed out a document on what we would be seeing, so that helped. Definitely get a guide.

 

Nearby, we had lunch in Ortigia, which is a small island just south of the central area of Syracuse. We requested a place for lunch that served typical/regional dishes, so our guide made reservations for us at Trattoria “la Foglia”. We were treated to limoncello after our meal.

 

Our last stop of the day was to Spinella, a wonderful small pastry shop in Catania. Lucca, our guide, said they serve the best pistachio cannoli. I have to agree. It was huge so the server cut each one in half for each couple to share.

 

In Valletta, Tony and I went out on our own and visited some of the sites in town (Palace Armoury and State Rooms at the Grand Master’s Palace). One must-see is the Saint John's Co-Cathedral. The Baroque art, architecture, and Caravaggio’s paintings are a site to see! I went in alone, so I didn’t have to que in the long group line.

 

We used Palma de Mallorca as a “sea day” with the exception of a short walk for an hour near the port in the morning. It was our third visit to this port. We were docked pretty far away from the center of town.

 

Speaking of docking, the following ports we had to buy shuttle tickets: Zadar, Dubrovnik, Palma, and Ibiza. They ranged from 10 to 15 euros. In a few ports you could take local buses. In Valencia, we were told we could get a taxi, but none were around when we got off the ship. There was a local shuttle bus to the main terminal; again no taxi’s. We took bus #4 to town, which was about a 25-minute ride. 

 

As we used Palma de Mallorca as a sea day, we had no problem getting deck chairs near the pool. On the sea days, they were all taken. We saw a lot of deck chairs with towels but no one sitting on them. One time I did manage to get a chair and my husband came by and sat on the end of it. Five minutes later, a man across from us offered one of the chairs next to him. He had kept a towel on it but wasn’t using it!!  Later a woman came to her chair (next to me) to collect her belongings. From the time I sat down and her arrival was about 45 minutes. As she started to walk away (leaving her towels on the chair), I grabbed her towels and politely said, “Take your towels to the bin.” Had I not said that, the towels would be on the chairs. Makes me wonder how many other people left their towels. The times I couldn’t find a chair I ended up on deck 5. I think there were only 10-12 chairs. There should have been more.

 

Ibiza is a pretty town. We did a walking tour for about 2.5 hours and later had lunch at Locals Only. This was a long port day, 7am to 11pm. There are a lot of shops and restaurants/bars. It’s a party town; and there are beaches in the area to enjoy.

 

Valencia: As I mentioned previously, we took the bus to town. There is a metro/tram but would have taken a lot longer. We were supposed to meet up with one of the free walking tours by 10:30am but missed it. We got off the ship about 20 minutes later than planned.

 

Valencia is beautiful and it’s a place I could see visiting for a few days. Loved the Spanish architecture. The town squares are gorgeous. Four of us climbed the Valencia Cathedral Bell tower (207 steps up a spiral staircase, which the steps get smaller about the last two floors). The views from the top are nice when you look out, but you can’t photograph straight down to the plazas, as the walls are thick. My legs were wobbly for a couple of days. That staircase was hard on my legs.

 

After lunch at Cordellats, we visited the central market in town; got there about 40 minutes before it closed (3pm). I loved the display of foods.

 

Disembarkation in Barcelona: We had one night in Barcelona before flying home. We went to Sushi on Five for our disembarkation location; got off the ship around 9am. We should have stayed on the ship longer. The taxi line was very long!! I couldn’t imagine flying home that morning. There were four ships in port, so the taxi drivers were very busy.

 

Overall, we had a great time on our first back-to-back cruise with the Celebrity Constellation. The ports were great, as well as the staff on the ship. Looking forward to another Celebrity cruise in a couple of years.

 

Monica

[Provence55always]

Monica, thank you for sharing your experience....we will be on on the Constellation January 2020 so very happy to read your overall positive review. 

[johnoli]

2 hours ago, Compass Rose Monica said:

Here’s a quick review of our cruise on the Constellation.

 

Cruising Background:

 

I’ve been cruising with Celebrity since 2003 and this was my 18^th/19^th cruise (Tony, a few cruises less than me); and second time on the Constellation.

 

This was our first back-to-back cruise, 3 September and 12 September 2019, with our friends. It was a very port-intensive cruise with fabulous ports of call. I would love to do another one but with more sea days.

 

On Board:

 

The Constellation is a smaller ship (I love the S-Class ships) and does show her age, especially in the chairs around the various lounges, but overall in good condition

 

The Martini bar was always crowded and very noisy, especially on the first day of embarkation. Music shouldn’t be so loud that you have to yell to talk to someone.  

 

We spent a lot of our happy hour time in the Reflection lounge; sometimes at the sunset bar at sail-away; and the Rendezvous lounge (depending on who was performing before dinner). The Reflection lounge was never filled. I believe there were only about 100-125 elite passengers. This cruise seemed more low-keyed than the second cruise, which had around 200 elite passengers. The appetizers during the happy hour were very good.

 

The house band was The Cardinals. They were awesome!!! We enjoyed Kyle Tracy (guitar/vocals) and Duo Asai (Acoustic Duo). We didn’t care for the Sea Beats - terrible female singer that could put a person to sleep.

 

The Rendezvous was a popular spot for trivia and evening entertainment.

 

Cellar Masters was pretty quiet.

 

Great staff on board! Some of my favorites were John (cabin attendant); Alejandro (CD and funny as ever; had the pleasure of meeting him on our March 2019 South America cruise); Clint (hotel director first cruise), Milana (hotel director second cruise); Luana (guest relations director), Vlada (Captains club hostess on our first cruise). In the dining room: Wannipa, Dusan, and Gede at table 233; in the Reflection lounge Sushant and Sabitri. Irlinda at guest relations tried to help me with me on an issue with my cabin. Isabela (event coordinator) sent us an invitation to the helipad for our departure from Valletta. Suzanna (sommelier). And of course, the Master of the ship Michael Karatzas, Staff Captain Lefteris Koumasidis, and Chief Engineer Nikolaos Politsis.

 

Cabin 3142. I booked an ocean view cabin since the back-to-back was pretty expensive. Normally I book aqua or concierge. This cabin has an extra-large port hole. My room was VERY warm. Two engineers came by twice but couldn’t do anything to fix the problem. I ended up getting a fan for the room and kept the drapes closed all the time. The window should be better tinted to help from the heat of the sun. The fan helped a little but was still pretty warm. The a/c was running but there wasn’t enough air flow to cool the room; and the air didn’t flow downward, as there was a large square plate that blocked the air flow. Poor system design that I hope is improved when the Constellation gets a facelift.

 

John was our cabin attendant and he was attentive, friendly, and helpful. Our room was made up early. 

 

The closet hangers need to be updated. Some of the wooden hangers kept coming off their hooks.

 

Dear Celebrity Cruises, please add to your Celebrity Today a comment to all passengers asking them to be respectful of their neighbors not let their cabin doors slam shut. This is very annoying and disturbing when one is trying to sleep. I found many guests just walking in or out of their cabin without attempting to close the door gently.

 

 

We enjoyed Silent Disco a few times on both cruises. The Captain’s Club Celebration and Senior Officer’s Parties were fun but not fully attended. It was actually nice to be able to attend an event and not feel so crowded.

 

Food on board: We had Select dining and really enjoyed all of our meals in the main dining room (except for one lamb entrée). We never waited long for our table. We went to the dining room anywhere from 6:15pm to 7:30pm.

 

One night several of us went to Sushi on Five for a special Indian dinner. It was excellent with a good variety of foods. Another night Tony and I ate at the Tuscan Grill.

 

I would say the Captain’s Club Elite breakfast in the Tuscan grill is pretty slow in its service. Nothing is cooked (only breads are toasted if asked), so why does it take so long to get our food? We went to the ocean view café for most of our breakfasts. Also, Dear Celebrity, please get rid of those awful knives. They are hard to hold!

 

The Ports:

 

We had a great time in Barcelona (three days pre-cruise). We stayed at H10 Montcada Boutique Hotel. Nice hotel, comfortable beds, and a great roof-top terrace. We visited Park Guell the first afternoon of our arrival. I finally got to visit Girona (via train). Lovely city and doable in a day. Also, we had a great lunch at La Grotte & L’Olivier. On the last day we did a Gaudi walking tour and an afternoon visit to Sagrada Familia (buy tickets in advance). 

 

Embarkation in Barcelona was a breeze!! We arrived about 10:45am by taxi and there were only a dozen others in the terminal!  We couldn’t believe how empty it was compared to our other cruises.

 

Our first night was the Cruise Critic Connections Party. Only a handful showed up, as it was at 8:15pm.

 

I originally booked a tour for Monte Carlo but decided to go on our own. It's a tendered port. We LOVED the oceanographic museum (https://www.visitmonaco.com/us/place/monuments-museums/76/oceanographic-museum-of-monaco)!!  We spent at least two hours there. We purchased a combo ticket that included the Palace.  Had lunch at Restaurant Chez Tony; visited the old town church just before it closed for the day.

 

We had a private tour for 8 people in Villefranche with Sylvie Di Cristo. We visited three hill towns.

 

We stayed in Civitavecchia and did a cooking class (my second time). Tons of fun. We made several dishes and enjoyed the fruits of our labor afterwards with wine, water, and some lemoncello. Too much food! Frederico is the chef and owner of Aqua Pizzeria Ristorante (aquacivitavecchia@hotmail.it). If you book it, tell Frederico I recommended his class and, “Ciao from Monica!”.

 

We had one sea day on this cruise. We had a 10am meeting about the procedures of our turn-around day in Venice. Lucky for us we wouldn’t have to pack our belongings since we had the same cabin. On the morning of our arrival, we just had to go to guest relations to pick up our new card. We did this around 7:30am. We wanted to be off the ship as early as possible since the departure was at 4pm. We were given a Transit Pass so that we didn’t have to go through the normal check-in process. We had to carry our original passports with us for the day. We used the old card to get off the ship; new card to get back on the ship (your photo is taken when you get back on the ship). The old card is taken away, but you can get it the next day. We were told we would need to update our credit card details for our on-board expenses but when I went a couple of days later, they didn’t need to adjust our account.

 

We were told to be back on the ship by 3:45pm. All other guests had to be back on board by 3:15pm. When we arrived back to the terminal, we didn’t see any Celebrity staff members and we sort of got mixed up with the terminal and which area to enter. I had to ask a local worker where to go. W finally made it back on board by 3:25pm. The boat drill was at 3:45pm.

 

Friends and I attended the Captain’s Club wine tasting at 11:15am. Suzanna, the sommelier, was sweet and very patient with late-comers (arriving 15-25 minutes after the start time) setting up more glasses for them. When the last person strolled in, half of the guests booed and hissed.

 

At the Elegant Tea, two couples showed up in shorts and t-shirts. This was a ‘smart casual’ event, not a pool-side event.

 

In Messina, we had a private tour for 8 to Mt. Etna, a specialty food shop (Oro d’ Etna), the Gambino winery (great visit with lunch and wine tasting), and then a short visit to Castiglione di Sicilia.

 

We had a private tour in Corfu around the island for four of us. This was the only port where we had rain for about an hour. Beautiful island. We toured the Achillion Palace Museum.

 

In Kotor, we had a private tour for 8 people about 4.5 hours and visited Perast, Budva, and Sv.Stefan (just views from the road). The views of Kotor from the top was spectacular! We had time back in Kotor for lunch at Konoba Scala Santa before getting back on the ship.

 

In Zadar, we did a walking tour. We were disappointed because the guide showed up 1/2 hour late. He talked too much at the beginning, so it cut into our afternoon. I didn't have time to see a couple of places and I wanted to climb the town tower.  We did see some interesting things. We had a good lunch at Porporela before the tour started.

 

In Venice, we walked around town and went up the Campanile tower. The lines were very long to get into Basilica. We should have purchased tickets in advance. Venice is a great place to just wander and explore the many streets and bridges. Lunch at Taverna San Trovaso, one of my favorite restaurants in town. We were lucky to get a table. Gelato for dessert at Nico’s and a walk back to the people mover and terminal.

 

Second cruise, 12 September 2019:

 

In Split, we toured on our own. I should have done a private tour and visited another place. Tony and I were here before and saw the same things this time. It’s a shame that Diocletian’s palace is such a tourist trap with all the shops. For lunch we had traditional prawns, but it was difficult to get the meat out. Very messy too.

 

In Dubrovnik, four of us took the local bus to Cavtat, a beautiful small seaside town. No crowds like in Dubrovnik. It was a relaxing day walking around along with a wonderful lunch at Posejdon Cavtat.  I made reservations a few weeks in advance and asked for a table overlooking the water. Afterwards, we took a boat back to Dubrovnik, which was about a 45-minute ride. We were dropped off outside the town walls where we walked around a bit and had gelato (got rid of the rest of the local currency).

 

In Catania, we had a private tour. We had a nice short visit to the fish market in town and the Cathedral. We went to Syracuse  to visit the ancient ruins. We were supposed to get a guide for the site but somehow that fell through. Our guide/driver said there were plenty of signs to read. Not true. Fortunately, I had printed out a document on what we would be seeing, so that helped. Definitely get a guide.

 

Nearby, we had lunch in Ortigia, which is a small island just south of the central area of Syracuse. We requested a place for lunch that served typical/regional dishes, so our guide made reservations for us at Trattoria “la Foglia”. We were treated to limoncello after our meal.

 

Our last stop of the day was to Spinella, a wonderful small pastry shop in Catania. Lucca, our guide, said they serve the best pistachio cannoli. I have to agree. It was huge so the server cut each one in half for each couple to share.

 

In Valletta, Tony and I went out on our own and visited some of the sites in town (Palace Armoury and State Rooms at the Grand Master’s Palace). One must-see is the Saint John's Co-Cathedral. The Baroque art, architecture, and Caravaggio’s paintings are a site to see! I went in alone, so I didn’t have to que in the long group line.

 

We used Palma de Mallorca as a “sea day” with the exception of a short walk for an hour near the port in the morning. It was our third visit to this port. We were docked pretty far away from the center of town.

 

Speaking of docking, the following ports we had to buy shuttle tickets: Zadar, Dubrovnik, Palma, and Ibiza. They ranged from 10 to 15 euros. In a few ports you could take local buses. In Valencia, we were told we could get a taxi, but none were around when we got off the ship. There was a local shuttle bus to the main terminal; again no taxi’s. We took bus #4 to town, which was about a 25-minute ride. 

 

As we used Palma de Mallorca as a sea day, we had no problem getting deck chairs near the pool. On the sea days, they were all taken. We saw a lot of deck chairs with towels but no one sitting on them. One time I did manage to get a chair and my husband came by and sat on the end of it. Five minutes later, a man across from us offered one of the chairs next to him. He had kept a towel on it but wasn’t using it!!  Later a woman came to her chair (next to me) to collect her belongings. From the time I sat down and her arrival was about 45 minutes. As she started to walk away (leaving her towels on the chair), I grabbed her towels and politely said, “Take your towels to the bin.” Had I not said that, the towels would be on the chairs. Makes me wonder how many other people left their towels. The times I couldn’t find a chair I ended up on deck 5. I think there were only 10-12 chairs. There should have been more.

 

Ibiza is a pretty town. We did a walking tour for about 2.5 hours and later had lunch at Locals Only. This was a long port day, 7am to 11pm. There are a lot of shops and restaurants/bars. It’s a party town; and there are beaches in the area to enjoy.

 

Valencia: As I mentioned previously, we took the bus to town. There is a metro/tram but would have taken a lot longer. We were supposed to meet up with one of the free walking tours by 10:30am but missed it. We got off the ship about 20 minutes later than planned.

 

Valencia is beautiful and it’s a place I could see visiting for a few days. Loved the Spanish architecture. The town squares are gorgeous. Four of us climbed the Valencia Cathedral Bell tower (207 steps up a spiral staircase, which the steps get smaller about the last two floors). The views from the top are nice when you look out, but you can’t photograph straight down to the plazas, as the walls are thick. My legs were wobbly for a couple of days. That staircase was hard on my legs.

 

After lunch at Cordellats, we visited the central market in town; got there about 40 minutes before it closed (3pm). I loved the display of foods.

 

Disembarkation in Barcelona: We had one night in Barcelona before flying home. We went to Sushi on Five for our disembarkation location; got off the ship around 9am. We should have stayed on the ship longer. The taxi line was very long!! I couldn’t imagine flying home that morning. There were four ships in port, so the taxi drivers were very busy.

 

Overall, we had a great time on our first back-to-back cruise with the Celebrity Constellation. The ports were great, as well as the staff on the ship. Looking forward to another Celebrity cruise in a couple of years.

 

Monica

We were on the leg from Venice to Barcelona. We loved the ship and it should be stunning when it has been revolusionised. As you say looking a bit worn in parts.

 

It was our first cruise with Celebrity and will not be our last. We have already booked Equinox for next June from Fort Lauderdale.

 

Totally agree about the knives. I hate them. We ate at Tuscan twice and for the steaks you get a huge commando knife. It was more like a lethal weapon.

 

Our flight was 8.50pm so we stayed on the ship until 3. The downside was that Celebrity managed to lose our suitcases together with the luggage of four other couples. After a 20 minute search they found them on the ship even though they should have been taken off.

 

We thought Alexandro was brilliant. I believe his next posting is Eclipse. Do they move around a lot?.

 

John

 

 

 

 

[CruiseDad-NYC]

Hi, Monica - great review and thank you for writing it! I was on the Constellation last month for the Greek Isles cruise and am having withdrawal, lol. We really loved it (This is my review in case you're curious: 

I thought the Martini Bar was very crowded and noisy as well.  Even when it wasn't, I thought the service was rather indifferent for some reason, so we only went there once or twice.  

 

We really liked Vlada who we spoke with many times, including during the Elite happy hour in the Reflections lounge, which we really enjoyed a lot.

 

I am very curious about Cavtat and am going to check it out.

 

What were your thoughts on Malta?  I am very curious about it.

 

Thanks again!

 

 

[Compass Rose Monica]

2 hours ago, Provence55always said:

Monica, thank you for sharing your experience....we will be on on the Constellation January 2020 so very happy to read your overall positive review. 

 

Even though the Constellation is an older ship, you will like it. I think the staff does a great job and the entertainment, overall, was very good. 

 

Monica

[Compass Rose Monica]

17 minutes ago, johnoli said:

We were on the leg from Venice to Barcelona. We loved the ship and it should be stunning when it has been revolusionised. As you say looking a bit worn in parts.

 

It was our first cruise with Celebrity and will not be our last. We have already booked Equinox for next June from Fort Lauderdale.

 

Totally agree about the knives. I hate them. We ate at Tuscan twice and for the steaks you get a huge commando knife. It was more like a lethal weapon.

 

Our flight was 8.50pm so we stayed on the ship until 3. The downside was that Celebrity managed to lose our suitcases together with the luggage of four other couples. After a 20 minute search they found them on the ship even though they should have been taken off.

 

We thought Alexandro was brilliant. I believe his next posting is Eclipse. Do they move around a lot?.

 

John

 

John, 

 

Yes, those steak knives in Tuscan for the steaks were huge!  And the filet mignon was excellent. Tony got the dry aged prime NY strip. Also excellent. 

 

Glad they found your luggage!!

 

Alejandro is on vacation now. I'm not sure how often a CD changes ships. 

 

Monica

[ptrpanpens]

Thanks for the review. I am taking Connie from Venice to Rome on November 8. Have done the itinerary before on Silhouette in 2013 and liked it enough to repeat. I have cabin 3138 so hopefully it will not be as hot in winter. I also usually cruise in verandas but have been wanting to try those cabins on deck 3 with the big windows so ended up saving almost $2,000 on it. Would you book 3142 again? Was there much noise from people going up or down the elevator there?