Choices choices ?

[sj&jh]

Would any of the very experienced cruises out there please give me their opinion on which cruise to take next Easter.

I have singled out the Celebrity Constellation doing the 'Ultimate Caribbean' & the Azamara Journey leaving from Barcelona & finishing in Venice via Florence, Rome etc.

We have cruised previously with P & O & NCL (both on a numer of occasions) but thought we fancied another line this time.

Any comments, both good & not so good, welcome.

Thks:)

[harcin]

Would any of the very experienced cruises out there please give me their opinion on which cruise to take next Easter.

I have singled out the Celebrity Constellation doing the 'Ultimate Caribbean' & the Azamara Journey leaving from Barcelona & finishing in Venice via Florence, Rome etc.

We have cruised previously with P & O & NCL (both on a numer of occasions) but thought we fancied another line this time.

Any comments, both good & not so good, welcome.

Thks:)

 

While I have been on the Connie numerous times, including the "Ultimate Caribbean" itineray, I have not yet been on Journey. We are booked on her in Feb. and I am very much looking forward to it.

 

My suggestion to you involves deciding what kind of itinerary you are interested in pursuing. You are comparing two very different types of cruises. The Caribbean trip is very relaxing, with a few sea days, we just love the sea days, while the European trip is probably more port intensive with less down time to just chill out. A decision on what you are after in this category will help your decision.

 

That being said, the Connie is a lovely ship and has many wonderful attributes including a large, warm thalosatherapy pool, spa food offerings, beautiful artwork, Michael's Club with entertainer Perry, to name a few. It is a larger ship with assigned dining although there are alternatives to the evening meal if you prefer. It will definitely have alot of families aboard at that time of year. What I have read about Journey is a smaller ship experience, no assigned dinner times, excellent food and service, a more mature clientel with few children. Either way you can't go wrong, you just need to decide on your preferences. Hope this helps.

[Susan-M]

We've really enjoyed our Mediterranean cruises (one on Millennium, a sister ship to Constellation, and one on Quest) so my vote goes to Journey because of the itinerary, and also because we like Azamara ships better.

 

Azamara ships were refurbished last year and are in beautiful condition...our cabin was the nicest one we've had on a cruise. We also preferred the open dining times, no formal wear, more restrictive smoking policy and size of Quest. We also found the food to be better on Azamara than Celebrity.

 

Will you be travelling with children? Have you been to the Caribbean and/or Med before?

[sj&jh]

To harcin & Susan-M,

 

We cruised the Caribbean in April this year prior to the Arcadia's repositioning back to the UK. I cruised the Med many years ago but my wife has not.

We will not be taking the 'children' as they have both effectively 'flown the nest' so it is just the two of us 'celebrating' our 50th's.

Reading many of the reviews it appears that Celebrity have had a recent 'dip' in many aspects of their level of service / food etc. This seems to be the opposite to Azamara where the reviews suggest they are even ironing out what few problems they have had.

Many thanks for the information & if anyone else has other thoughts / opinions etc I would be very grateful to hear from you.

We intend booking by the weekend.:)

[Albert Ross]

SJ&JH - welcome to CC - good to see a few more Brits discovering this site! Anyway, not sure if you are aware, as you are newbies, but RCI/X/Azamara honour price drops - so a very important question to ask your T/A before you pass over a single penny is to find out whether they will pass on price drops to you. The main highstreet biggie over here refuse to do this so avoid them (rhymes with Book). It is in the T&Cs in black and white in section 1.9 if your local T/A doesn't believe you! If you book with X directly then there is no problem.

Keep an eye out for the price drops unless you have a really good T/A that will do this for you, regularly (daily!) go to the website and pretend to do a new booking for your category, if the price has gone down- get on the phone immediately!......Good luck!

 

ps: how did you discover this site?

[gosport11]

hi in relation to price drops,the internet agencies will not honour them either,have booked with the book and made sure that they would,only paid a deposit so if drops a lot i will cancel and rebook and lose deposit ps also the same with on board credits being added

[Albert Ross]

What a shame you een have to go through the process of losing the deposit as it is totally unecessary. Book direct with X or with a good agent and you willl get price drops honoured right up to the day before sailing...if the price drop is after final payment then you get it refunded to your creditcard. I'd get it in writing from The Book that they will honour this!

[greeneg]

SJ&JH: Having been on both Constellation and Journey ( see signature), I would want you to be aware that you are not comparing apples and apples, so to speak, but very much apples and oranges. IF you are really into the traditional cruising experience ( formal nights, glitzy shows, elaborate cuisine, that sort of thing) Journey may not be your cuppa as the ship is much more laid-back, relaxed, and generally quieter. Our most recent Celebrity experience was a couple of years ago on the Mercury, and the food and service then was outstanding as it had always been before, so I can't comment on any recent changes that X may or may not have made.

 

We were on the Quest in January and the Journey this past September and I can tell you that the cuisine on Azamara is varied and excellent and the service on the ship in general is at least on a par with Celebrity if not a cut above. It is noticeably less formal however so be aware of that difference.

 

Hope that's helpful, will be happy to try to address any specifics that you might have.

[crzfanatic]

I have sailed on the Millennium (sister to Connie) and also on the Journey. We are going on an 18 night on the Quest in Asia next month. I have to say that while I enjoy the smaller ships like Journey, I actually prefer the Millennium class ships. There is so much more to do and while the food is definitely better on the Azamara ships, I was on the Century in January and the food was quite good, no problems there. I guess I would decide based on the itinerary.

As far as booking goes, we booked directly with Azamara and they ran a special after we had made final payment and they gave us a credit without any problems. We ended up getting the Asia cruise for less than half price! More to spend on the trip now...

Andy

[TravelingProf]

Andy--by any chance is that you? Is so, we cruised together on the Century in January. I took my mom on a cruise with my sisters and two cousins, including "Mrs. Mellini!"

 

Best,

Ann Marie

[Andy]

Would any of the very experienced cruises out there please give me their opinion on which cruise to take next Easter.

I have singled out the Celebrity Constellation doing the 'Ultimate Caribbean' & the Azamara Journey leaving from Barcelona & finishing in Venice via Florence, Rome etc.

We have cruised previously with P & O & NCL (both on a numer of occasions) but thought we fancied another line this time.

Any comments, both good & not so good, welcome.

Thks:)

 

Hi Sj !

 

I am sorry I am late to this thread, but work has been keeping me extremely busy. I agree with Greeng's post, that any comparison between Constellation and Journey are not comparing apples to apples, especially since Constellation is sailing the Caribbean and Journey is sailing in Europe.

 

We happen to like both ships very much. If you are looking for a smaller, more upscale experience, with wonderful food and service, and a more intimate setting, then Journey gets my vote. Frankly, you wont go wrong with either choice.

 

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Good Luck !

[miamibobk]

SJ,

 

What a coincidence! We were on the Azamara Journey in September, also celebrating our 50th anniversary and, last February, sailed on the Constellation in the Caribbean.

 

The Constellation was one of the best (of many) Caribbean cruises we have been on. Everything just seemed to click on this sailing.....overall service, entertainment, food, etc. Azamara Journey was simply fantastic. As others have posted, you really can't compare the two. If you prefer a larger ship, formal nights, more lavish entertainment opt for Constellation. If you prefer a smaller, casual ship, open seating go with Journey.

 

You have narrowed down your choices to two of the best in their categories, in my opinion.

 

Bob

[sj&jh]

To begin with I would like to thank everyone who has replied to my, looking back, poorly spelt question.

I really do appreciate everyones input & now I guess it is down to us.

We realise that these are two different cruises & therein lies the problem.

Is it two long haul flights followed by 10 days of,almost, guaranteed sunshine or a less than relaxing 10 days with a port every day, bar one, in what could turn out to be cool, possibly drizzly European weather. You would think that should not bother us as we are from the UK.....

We are still unsure which it should be as we are not too bothered whether it is formal or not - more interested in the quality of food & service.

All good points re the falling prices although if the cruise is costed in $'s then it is more likely to go up in the present economic climate.

In answering Albert, we have a UK version of this site now but as 'we' are not as avid cruisers as the Americans, it is not as popular as yet.

Not to get too political, I guess the concensus of opinion on your new President is a thumbs up ?

Rgds to all :)

[crzfanatic]

Andy--by any chance is that you? Is so, we cruised together on the Century in January. I took my mom on a cruise with my sisters and two cousins, including "Mrs. Mellini!"

 

Best,

Ann Marie

 

Ann Marie,

So good to hear from you! I thought I gave you all my contact info but never heard from you. Why don't you look me up on Facebook and contact me that way and we can get back it touch. I'm Andrew Taylor (Washington, DC) on Facebook. Anyway, we sure had fun on that cruise didn't we? Everyone except for the possible exception of someone's mother that is...

Say hey to everyone including "Mrs. Mellini" and please contact me.

Andy