ConstellationCruise12.31.05

[CruiserNana]

We (3 couples) boarded the Constellation at 2 PM on 12.31.05 after an extremely disappointing experience at the San Juan Airport. Actually, if we hadn't taken matters into our own hands, we'd probably still be at the airport.

 

Although the ship was supposed to depart San Juan at 11 PM, the departure time was moved up to 9 PM because it was New Year's Eve. (however,we didn't receive our luggage until 9:30 PM.) When we inquired about our luggage several times prior to departure we received several messages: "soon come" - were we in Jamaica?; "the pier crew is on break" - did you ever hear of staggered breaks?; "our luggage may not be on board prior to departure" - say what? It was supposed to be a "formal night" but the attire ranged from tuxes to blue jeans and flip-flops! (Who planned this schedule?)

 

The other negative was the quality of the food in the main dining room: it was poor compared to the quality of service. (This was our 16th cruise; nine previous cruises were on Holland America where excellent service and excellent food quality are expected.) Our wait staff was excellent. We didn't expect the poor quality of the food that they served.

 

Positives: because we had booked at (almost) the last minute, we could only get three cabins together on Deck 2: what a blessing! We had the best cabin steward for all three cabins that we've ever had.

 

We booked air passage as part of the tour passage and had direct flights to and from Dulles Airport.

 

Now, however, we are looking forward to a cruise on the same ship (Constellation) that we booked last June 1 as part of an AAA promotion. We booked three cabins (Veranda) together on Deck 9. We are going to fly down a day early because we like San Juan. We let Celebrity book our air.

 

Negatives: Celebrity booked us on US Airways to San Juan out of Baltimore. We are flying out of BWI at 5:50 AM to Philadelphia! Then we are flying out of Philly to San Juan. If we had wanted to fly out of Philly, we would have done so in the first place: it's only an hour's drive further for a direct flight. We have had too many bad experiences on US Airways as part of cruise arrangements. Celebrity and US Airways are both on notice this time: a bad flight experience and luggage experience will take us off Celebrity for future cruises!

 

The other negative is a prediction: we have the first three cabins outside the "concierge class". Will we have the same excellent service on Deck 9 (category 2A) that we had on Deck 2 (category 7)? You can guess the answer to that!

 

We are looking to Cruise #17 with apprehension.