Impressions from Connie's Return Voyage

[bikerunner]

As long as mostly in good order by my sailing on the 22nd....yeh 6 days 

[canderson]

9 minutes ago, bikerunner said:

As long as mostly in good order by my sailing on the 22nd....yeh 6 days 

Definitely no water issues 2nd cruise, but don't be surprised if you see them working in the corridors while you're aboard.

[bikerunner]

3 minutes ago, canderson said:

Definitely no water issues 2nd cruise, but don't be surprised if you see them working in the corridors while you're aboard.

Thats fine, hopefully ship is less than half full also 

[Schmoe38]

On 11/12/2021 at 9:00 PM, goldsmip115 said:

This makes me very sad to hear.  It seems like there are very disparate reviews of the ship, the experience and the overall impressions from guests.  To summarize, universally there seems to be great accolades for the crew.  I’ve not read anything negative about the food/dining other than One bad experience in Tuscan Grill with cold food and a sub par steak.  There seems to be some very legitimate maintenance and outdated soft good issues reported especially from those in Aqua cabins.  Universally it seems that retreat passengers are very pleasantly surprised with the updating of suites and all around accolades for Luminae and the retreat lounge and the retreat hosts/butlers.  What have I missed thus far?

 

it seems that the first cruise sailing with nearly 1,600 passengers was a challenge.  It was 5 nights, sailing over a weekend, first sailing for Celebrity out of Tampa in 16 years, etc. It has been reported that the 10 night  cruise that left today has 860 passengers registered.  May be less with cancellations.  I’m on the 11 night cruise out of Tampa leaving on 11/22.  As of last night there was 416 vacant cabins, not including those that are occupied by the crew.  Hoping for a wonderful sailing and a wonderful experience in my PS and in Luminae.

 

I’m hoping for more reports from the current cruisers and hopefully some photos.

If you are having second thoughts based on some of these comments, let me help set your mind at ease.

 

We are currently on the November 12th sailing and I will be the first one to tell you, if you look hard enough for issues, you will find them on Constellation, and if you let those issues dominate your thought process for the remainder of your cruise, you will generate a negative review. We have seen nothing but top notch service performed by a whole bunch of people absolutely over the moon to be back at work.

 

We dined at Tuscan last night and had the best meal we have had in years in this restaurant.

 

If your experience is as good as ours, you will be glad you chose not to have negative reports dominate your thought process. 
 

Randy

[Jim_Iain]

6 hours ago, C-Dragons said:

The Cruise Director announced the total passenger count on the first night of our current Silhouette cruise. I'm sure she's got pretty good Intel. 😉

Agree 100%.   I was referring to the question on how many will be on board on a Future Date - not the current cruise.  

[goldsmip115]

Schmoe38,

Thank you so much for your positive perspective.  I am so excited to be boarding next Monday.  I had changed my mind about giving Tuscan Grill a try one evening to change it up a bit from Luminae based upon a prior review.  However, you’ve made me rethink that decision.  What I do know is that I will shed tears of joy to be back on a Celebrity ship after 2.5 long years and that I will love every moment spent interacting with the crew who work so hard to make our vacations memorable.  Please continue to share other thoughts and perspectives during your remaining time.  I so look forward to reading anything about the Constellation and the crew and the experiences.  Again, thank you.

[Martezz]

we are signed up for our first celebrity cruise and will be aboard the Constellation.  We  would like to know if we should pre purchase shore excursions or can we wait until we are aboard?   

[Schmoe38]

12 hours ago, goldsmip115 said:

Schmoe38,

Thank you so much for your positive perspective.  I am so excited to be boarding next Monday.  I had changed my mind about giving Tuscan Grill a try one evening to change it up a bit from Luminae based upon a prior review.  However, you’ve made me rethink that decision.  What I do know is that I will shed tears of joy to be back on a Celebrity ship after 2.5 long years and that I will love every moment spent interacting with the crew who work so hard to make our vacations memorable.  Please continue to share other thoughts and perspectives during your remaining time.  I so look forward to reading anything about the Constellation and the crew and the experiences.  Again, thank you.

Anu will be your Retreat Host. He has been looking after us (we are in 6148) and you are in for a treat. 

 

I’m not sure if you will see a familiar face amongst the servers in Luminae, but if, by chance you don’t, give Gede an opportunity. We have been served by him a number of times over our years of cruising. He is very efficient and and is very personable. Kevin and Joseph are two other wait staff, and you will be in good hands if one of them looks after you. Anna is one of the assistant wait staff who looks after the pastries in the morning and the bread at night. She is such a delight. Geren is an assistant and is another of the staff you will want to get to know. 

 

Milo will be your sommelier and will look after you should you wish to have wine with your meals.

 

Russell is your Maitre ‘d and is very involved with her team. You will be happy with all of the Luminae serving staff. Russell’s leadership is evident and very positive. This is one of the reasons why Luminae runs as well as it does.

 

Paolo and Liz will be your Retreat Concierges and they are both very good at their jobs. Enjoy your time with them in the Retreat Lounge. Alexandra is your Retreat Manager.

 

We are half way through our itinerary  and we are extremely happy that we decided to go through with this cruise. We have been surrounded with a wonderful crew who go out of their way to make your vacation enjoyable. Thank goodness we did not make the mistake of cancelling amongst all of the other “noise.”

 

Enjoy your upcoming vacation. You have earned the time away. Let the wonderful staff on board help you get there.

 

Randy

 

Edited November 17, 2021 by Schmoe38

[goldsmip115]

I’m thrilled to learn that Gede is in Luminae.  We had the pleasure of being served by him for 18 days on the Summit during our last 2 cruises.  I will be sure to request that he be our server.  You can tell him that 6147 will be asking for him during the next cruise.  Thank you so much for this wonderful information.

[C-Dragons]

15 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Agree 100%.   I was referring to the question on how many will be on board on a Future Date - not the current cruise.  

Thanks, I missed the “future” part. 😊

[Schmoe38]

32 minutes ago, goldsmip115 said:

I’m thrilled to learn that Gede is in Luminae.  We had the pleasure of being served by him for 18 days on the Summit during our last 2 cruises.  I will be sure to request that he be our server.  You can tell him that 6147 will be asking for him during the next cruise.  Thank you so much for this wonderful information.

Will do.

 

We played a little bit with the furniture on our back deck just in case you wanted to try something different when you get on.

 

Randy

 

 

Edited November 17, 2021 by Schmoe38

[goldsmip115]

Wow!  Thank you so much for sharing.  I was not expecting new verandah furniture. We’ve sailed with the old furniture and then the new after the ship was revolutionized. Could you post a picture of the living room and dining room, please.  

[marieps]

3 hours ago, Schmoe38 said:

Anu will be your Retreat Host. He has been looking after us (we are in 6148) and you are in for a treat. 

 

I’m not sure if you will see a familiar face amongst the servers in Luminae, but if, by chance you don’t, give Gede an opportunity. We have been served by him a number of times over our years of cruising. He is very efficient and and is very personable. Kevin and Joseph are two other wait staff, and you will be in good hands if one of them looks after you. Anna is one of the assistant wait staff who looks after the pastries in the morning and the bread at night. She is such a delight. Geren is an assistant and is another of the staff you will want to get to know. 

 

Milo will be your sommelier and will look after you should you wish to have wine with your meals.

 

Russell is your Maitre ‘d and is very involved with her team. You will be happy with all of the Luminae serving staff. Russell’s leadership is evident and very positive. This is one of the reasons why Luminae runs as well as it does.

 

Paolo and Liz will be your Retreat Concierges and they are both very good at their jobs. Enjoy your time with them in the Retreat Lounge. Alexandra is your Retreat Manager.

 

We are half way through our itinerary  and we are extremely happy that we decided to go through with this cruise. We have been surrounded with a wonderful crew who go out of their way to make your vacation enjoyable. Thank goodness we did not make the mistake of cancelling amongst all of the other “noise.”

 

Enjoy your upcoming vacation. You have earned the time away. Let the wonderful staff on board help you get there.

 

Randy

 

OMG, Gede is on Connie?!?  I thought was was still on Equinox.  We too have had him on several cruises, in AQ.  Best waiter we've ever had.  Glad to see him back and bumped up to Luminae.

[Schmoe38]

4 hours ago, goldsmip115 said:

Wow!  Thank you so much for sharing.  I was not expecting new verandah furniture. We’ve sailed with the old furniture and then the new after the ship was revolutionized. Could you post a picture of the living room and dining room, please.  

Here you go

Randy

[Cruising Princess]

9 hours ago, Schmoe38 said:

Anu will be your Retreat Host. He has been looking after us (we are in 6148) and you are in for a treat. 

 

I’m not sure if you will see a familiar face amongst the servers in Luminae, but if, by chance you don’t, give Gede an opportunity. We have been served by him a number of times over our years of cruising. He is very efficient and and is very personable. Kevin and Joseph are two other wait staff, and you will be in good hands if one of them looks after you. Anna is one of the assistant wait staff who looks after the pastries in the morning and the bread at night. She is such a delight. Geren is an assistant and is another of the staff you will want to get to know. 

 

Milo will be your sommelier and will look after you should you wish to have wine with your meals.

 

Russell is your Maitre ‘d and is very involved with her team. You will be happy with all of the Luminae serving staff. Russell’s leadership is evident and very positive. This is one of the reasons why Luminae runs as well as it does.

 

Paolo and Liz will be your Retreat Concierges and they are both very good at their jobs. Enjoy your time with them in the Retreat Lounge. Alexandra is your Retreat Manager.

 

We are half way through our itinerary  and we are extremely happy that we decided to go through with this cruise. We have been surrounded with a wonderful crew who go out of their way to make your vacation enjoyable. Thank goodness we did not make the mistake of cancelling amongst all of the other “noise.”

 

Enjoy your upcoming vacation. You have earned the time away. Let the wonderful staff on board help you get there.

 

Randy

 

Randy,

 

Thanks so much for the details on your experience thus far.  It’s great to know some familiar crew names are on the ship!  I am so looking forward to being pampered by the entire retreat team!

 

 

[goldsmip115]

Randy,

Thank you for posting pictures of the living room and dining room. Much appreciated.  It looks very much like the PS that we sailed in pre refurbishment. I notice that the living room carpet is gone with nothing replaced.  The pre cruise retreat concierge called again today to confirm all of our requests.  I am told that no power bars with multiple outlets are provided any longer. We were offered one by the butler when we cruised pre renovation as we knew we could not bring one on board.  He said they have banned them.  There are just so few outlets in the suite but that is a first world problem to have. If you talk to Milo can you ask if they have any Caymus on board. We had a bottle almost every night on our last cruise.  The sommelier put aside many bottles when she learned that it was our favorite. Again, thank you so much!

[marieps]

6 minutes ago, goldsmip115 said:

Randy,

Thank you for posting pictures of the living room and dining room. Much appreciated.  It looks very much like the PS that we sailed in pre refurbishment. I notice that the living room carpet is gone with nothing replaced.  The pre cruise retreat concierge called again today to confirm all of our requests.  I am told that no power bars with multiple outlets are provided any longer. We were offered one by the butler when we cruised pre renovation as we knew we could not bring one on board.  He said they have banned them.  There are just so few outlets in the suite but that is a first world problem to have. If you talk to Milo can you ask if they have any Caymus on board. We had a bottle almost every night on our last cruise.  The sommelier put aside many bottles when she learned that it was our favorite. Again, thank you so much!

Caymus was listed as a wine offering on the November 7 cruise.  Enjoy.

[Schmoe38]

11 minutes ago, goldsmip115 said:

Randy,

Thank you for posting pictures of the living room and dining room. Much appreciated.  It looks very much like the PS that we sailed in pre refurbishment. I notice that the living room carpet is gone with nothing replaced.  The pre cruise retreat concierge called again today to confirm all of our requests.  I am told that no power bars with multiple outlets are provided any longer. We were offered one by the butler when we cruised pre renovation as we knew we could not bring one on board.  He said they have banned them.  There are just so few outlets in the suite but that is a first world problem to have. If you talk to Milo can you ask if they have any Caymus on board. We had a bottle almost every night on our last cruise.  The sommelier put aside many bottles when she learned that it was our favorite. Again, thank you so much!

I’ll check tonight to see if there are any left.

 

Perhaps we can raise a glass during the Pacific Coast cruise. It looks like we are neighbours on that one.

 

Randy

[goldsmip115]

Randy,

Wow! That would be awesome. So you’re in 6148 on the May SDO to Vancouver sailing on the Millie?

[Schmoe38]

2 hours ago, goldsmip115 said:

Randy,

Wow! That would be awesome. So you’re in 6148 on the May SDO to Vancouver sailing on the Millie?

Yes, we can hopefully “high five” around the partition between the decks. It’s always nice to be able to put a screen name to an actual face. That’s a good thing!

 

Checked with Milo tonight and they have lots of the Caymus Cabernet and the Caymus Special Selection.

 

Might have a little less favourable news. We spoke with one of the officers tonight at the Martini Bar and he suggested the next sailing was going to be closer to 1300 passengers. That’s a big change from what was suggested earlier in the week.

 

Either way, you will have a wonderful cruise. The staff here are exceptional.

 

Randy

[canderson]

14 hours ago, goldsmip115 said:

Randy,

Thank you for posting pictures of the living room and dining room. Much appreciated.  It looks very much like the PS that we sailed in pre refurbishment. I notice that the living room carpet is gone with nothing replaced.  

I thought the wood flooring without the area rug looked nice and brightened up the space.

 

You're going to love Anu.  He will take such good care of you.  He saw me carrying a bottle out wine out of our cabin (we were actually headed to Schmoe38) and was going to insist on taking it to the dining room for us.  If you want lift a finger for yourself, don't let Anu see you!

[goldsmip115]

Randy,

Thanks so much for checking with Milo regarding the Caymus. Great to know.  Busy day today as it was my last day “in the office”. Well, working from home since we closed our main office in Manhattan last March.  Much to do before flying to Tampa on Saturday afternoon to see dear friends before boarding on Monday.  I lived in Tampa for 20 years before relocating to Bucks County, PA for my career.

I assume that you will not be on the next cruise since you said we would be neighbors in May on the Millenium.  It would have been so nice to meet you this coming cruise.  How did you know that we will be “neighbors” next May?  I guess I mentioned that cruise at some point.

Just one last question.  On all the cruises that I have done on the M class Penthouse Suites they have assigned one butler to one hallway and another to the other hallway. Since 6148 is on the other hallway, will Anu still be our retreat host?  I sure hope so based upon everything you have said.  If I can’t have Cesar, I want Anu.

I hope you are continuing to have a wonderful cruise, Randy.  Perhaps we can chat before our May cruise.  You have been so kind and helpful and I much appreciate it.  I don’t know what you wine tastes lean toward, but I would be happy to share a bottle or two of Caymus with you in May.

[Jim_Iain]

On 11/17/2021 at 2:00 AM, Martezz said:

we are signed up for our first celebrity cruise and will be aboard the Constellation.  We  would like to know if we should pre purchase shore excursions or can we wait until we are aboard?   

You often get a discount by pre-purchasing.   Very little risk as for most excursions you can cancel while onboard (even from App) up to 24 hours and get a full refund.

[Jim_Iain]

23 hours ago, goldsmip115 said:

Randy,

Thank you for posting pictures of the living room and dining room. Much appreciated.  It looks very much like the PS that we sailed in pre refurbishment. I notice that the living room carpet is gone with nothing replaced.  The pre cruise retreat concierge called again today to confirm all of our requests.  I am told that no power bars with multiple outlets are provided any longer. We were offered one by the butler when we cruised pre renovation as we knew we could not bring one on board.  He said they have banned them.  There are just so few outlets in the suite but that is a first world problem to have. If you talk to Milo can you ask if they have any Caymus on board. We had a bottle almost every night on our last cruise.  The sommelier put aside many bottles when she learned that it was our favorite. Again, thank you so much!

Sure looks different than the post Revolution Summit PH.   

 

I use a Belkin Wall Outlet extender with 2 USB's  -  Used on all 4 of my recent cruises and never had a problem.   I request an extension cord and plug it into extension cord. 

 

 

[goldsmip115]

Jim, thanks for sharing. Damn, I cannot get it delivered by Amazon before we leave on Saturday.  Thus we’re left with figuring out how to charge devices but it’s a first world problem. The cell phones will go in the safe.  We have several iPads, electric toothbrushes, curling iron and hair dryer. I look forward to muddling through that challenge.