Repositioning Cruise Experience

[cjpickel]

[font=Arial][size=3]Hello,[/size][/font]

[font=Arial][size=3]In October 2003, I sailed on a repositioning cruise on the Celebrity Constellation. I had previously sailed on the Celebrity Zenith a few years earlier and found the dining room meals to be outstanding. My travelling companion and myself were both disappointed with the lackluster entries, over-frequent 're-runs' of entries and generally poor ingredients. [I am a seasoned cruiser and do not object to re-runs, e.g., lobster bisque served at lunch following lobster night. The Constellation restaurant manager was quick to provide two dishes at our request.][/size][/font]
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[*][font=Arial][size=3]Is it typical for a repositioning cruise to economize in this manner? The itinerary on our trip was 17 days, 6-10 days longer than the Constellation's regular itinerary.[/size][/font]
[*][font=Arial][size=3]Is Celebrity slipping on the M. Roux highly touted menus?[/size][/font]
[/list][font=Arial][size=3]Thanks![/size][/font]

[Krazy Kruizers]

[b][font=Comic Sans MS][color=blue]We have done several 21 - 22 day repositioning cruises - mostly on HAL.[/color][/font][/b]
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[b][font=Comic Sans MS][color=#0000ff]And never had a problem with food. There were some items that repeated but not an entire menu.[/color][/font][/b]
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[lysolqn]

We've taken several repositioning cruises on Celebrity, including the Constellation transatlantic in late September, 2002. We've never noticed any "economizing" at all with respect to food or service. In fact, we've found staff and crew to be particularly friendly and accommodating on these cruises, and the food and service exceptionally good.

[rkacruiser]

My one positioning cruise(so far) was on the Volendam from Vancouver to Fort Lauderdale, just a few weeks after the 9/11 attack. It was one of the best cruises I have enjoyed, with excellent cuisine and menus that never repeated. (There probably were some individual food items that were repeated, but never an entire menu.) Entertainment and cruise staff were excellent; ports interesting; many interesting stories from people traveling on the ship due to the new security procedures that had just begun; met a number of interesting fellow cruisers as well.

Two incidents that stand out in my memory was seeing a police boat patrolling along the side of the ship the entire time we were docked in Seattle. And, upon our arrival in Fort Lauderdale, having two police boats, one on each side, escort us into the port after the pilot had boarded. (Now, of course, such experiences are "routine".)