Questions for those recently back from Constellation Baltic intin.

[momva]

We are sailing on the Constellation to the Baltic in August. I have several questions for those who have recently returned from that same intinerary this summer.

 

1. There are a few recently posted reviews that are very negative, particularly toward the level and quality of service. Several posters suggest the crew went out of their way to ignore passengers. Was this a common occurence or the unique experience of just a few?

 

2. What nights were formal?

 

3. Were there any onboard activities that were unique to the Baltic sailings - special shows or lectures, for example.

 

4. Anything you wish you had known or other tips you would like to pass along?

 

Thanks for any information you care to share!

[brazilgirl]

Momva-

 

Question number one has been on my mind too!! The member reviews from the recent Baltic cruise have been overwhelmingly negative , whereas the reviews from the Century have been great.

What´s up ? I am trying to take it all with a grain of salt , but what a lot of negatives!

Am anxious to hear reponses.

Kim

[Cruiser Susie]

Kim and Momva,

We haven't been to the Baltic, but we were on the Connie for three weeks in March and April, and three prior cruises over the past few years, and the Constellation has become one of our favorite Celebrity ships. The level of service has been consistently great. I wonder what happened with the reviewers to rate the service so poorly? (The commode issue that one reviewer commented about SHOULD have been addressed much more directly and better...I would have gone straight to the hotel director if it wasn't resolved, which apparently it wasn't).

 

Some of their comments were aimed at the food, which we honestly found to be just fine; certainly not 5 star restaurant food, but good banquet food, which is what should be expected when a dining room is feeding over 2,000 people at night. There were definitely items on the menu that were not so wonderful, but that is probably a matter of taste and very subjective. And the staff will always replace, modify or do what they can to make things better. There were a few nights when I didn't eat much due to feeling a little under the weather, and our waiter and assistant waiter were very concerned about the food until I assured them it was me and not the food.

Do go and try the Specialty restaurant, Oceanliners; it is a wonderful experience. We did the Wine Dinner they had there and found it to be as delicious as our favorite French restaurant at home.

 

If you have any questions that I can answer about the ship (since I can't help with the itinerary), feel free to email me... my email is in my signature.

I sincerely hope you have a wonderful time, and if you have any issues that can't be resolved, be sure to speak to the Hotel Director or other officers. They truly would want those issues to be resolved. For example: during the first of our back to back cruises that we were on, the Penthouse decks were under construction. We had one of the marvelous aft cabins directly above those decks. The noise and the mess were awful. We wanted to have a sailaway party, and when I wrote a note about the mess and noise, the construction was halted during the several hours we had people out on deck; a special cleaning was done on the deck (which was covered with sawdust at the time) and a complimentary tray of marvelous hors d'oeuvres was sent to the room, along with some wine. I would call that wonderful service, wouldn't you? I hope you have a wonderful time and that you can write a "rebuttal" to those negative reviews when you get home. Looking forward to hearing about your experience.

[waggie]

We are taking our first cruise on 8 August (see you there Momva!)and have been reading the critics of Constellation/Baltic.

Some of them are very off-putting since it has taken me years to convince my husband that cruising would be a good idea. I am trying to make some sense of the problems - staff attitude, poor entertainment,bun-fights etc. Why did people not take up the issues at the time?

Perhaps we could all share that grain of salt!

Anyone else joining us on that sailing that have had ideas for excursions/city tours - I would love to hear from you.

[brazilgirl]

Susie-

 

You gave me some wonderful tips before sailing on the Summit last year , so I really trust your opinion! I am confident that we will love the Constellation.

 

I assume from your post that you read all the bad reviews... I try to give reviews the proper perspective-everyone has different tastes , expectations etc.

 

But there an awful lot of ém! And as I said before , the contrast between the glowing reviews of the Century in contrast to the Connies terrible reviews piques my interest´.

 

I am 100% sure we will love our aft FOV and the kids will love the Fun Factory and the rest is , as we say in Portuguese , "lucro" (profit).

 

I have already reserved 2 nights at Ocean Liners (yum!). We loved the Normandie on the Summit and are looking forward to repeating the experience.

 

Thanks!

Kim

[momva]

Susie, thanks for your assessment. I try to read reviews with a grain of salt as everyone's expectations and experiences are different. I loved things others have reviewed positively and hated some things others have loved. But my curiosity is aroused when there is a certain similarity in the posts. I don't worry too much about the complaints about the food or entainment because that is so very subjective. However, the similarities in the specific compliants about the service drew my attention.

 

I have heard so many positive comments about the specialty restaurant that I am thinking of making a reservation but would like to know which nights are formal before selecting a night to dine at Oceanliners.

 

Kim - you will be on this ship before us so I am counting on you to give us a full report when you return.

 

Waggie - come join us on the Roll Call! We have lots a great people on the cruise. Several of us have planned a private tour of SPB and others have planned a private tour of Berlin. And, don't forget to sign up for the Connections Party.

 

I would still love to hear from others who have sailed the Constellation in the Baltic recently.

[brazilgirl]

You can count on me for a full report!

 

 

Kim

[lauralou2]

I dont know where these complaints come from the Baltic cruise is wonderful and we thoughly enjoyed Constellation the crew couldnt have been more helpful. There were plenty of lectures and port information. We used Denrus for our excursions and we highly reccomend them , at no time did Celebrity stop us from disembarking . Denrus can be used in all the ports visited . Food quality is always subjective I will just say we enjoyed all the dining room meals but did think the self service was rather chaotic . Hope you enjoy your trip :)

[momva]

Thanks Janet and Tony.

 

I'm glad to hear you had a good experience. Very relieved.

Do you recall which nights were formal?

[Texed]

I dont know where these complaints come from the Baltic cruise is wonderful and we thoughly enjoyed Constellation

 

We are on the Constellation 13 June sailing. We have a sail-a-way party planned. Would you mind telling me when muster was held? :)

[hshowalter]

Momva; my wife & I were on the connie Baltic cruise 5-16 to-5-30-09 & it was the best cruise & this was our 69th cruise. CC's were invited to the bridge & to the control room which was most interesting. Question # 1 the service was outstanding. #2 there was 3 formal niights on 14 night cruise. #3 Elite members were invited up to the helicopter pad where they had hot red wine, fruit punch when we went into Stockholm. When we went into Oslo 2 days later everyone was invited to the helicopter pad but there were no drinks available # 4 in stockholm take the hop on hop off boat rather then bus. You can get on the boat close to the cruise terminal. We were on the Connie 2-23-09 to 3-06-09 & as elite members did not get the perks we got on 5-16-09 sailing. We got 75 minutes free internet,1 bag of free laundry Complementary drinks 4 to 6 pm in Michaels club. & on5-27-09 we were invited to the Captains table.We were invited to the bridge twice but only went with CC group & not with elite group

[momva]

hshowalter: Thank You. Thank You. Thank You. What a sense of relief to know you thought this was the best cruise ever.

 

And, thanks for the tips!

[Montana]

Constellation 2003, 14 days of heaven. Baltics over the Med any day of the week and we love the Med.

[hshowalter]

Momva You are most welcome. I am sure you will love your. cruise. Say hello to Maria the Captains club hostess for us:she was wonderful. In Denmarkyou can use a visa or mastercard to pay for the harbour boat. In germany you can pay in cash for harbour boat. was only $2.20 for a 12 ounce glass.

[ECCruise]

Momva; my wife & I were on the connie Baltic cruise 5-16 to-5-30-09 & it was the best cruise & this was our 69th cruise. CC's were invited to the bridge & to the control room which was most interesting. Question # 1 the service was outstanding. #2 there was 3 formal niights on 14 night cruise. #3 Elite members were invited up to the helicopter pad where they had hot red wine, fruit punch when we went into Stockholm. When we went into Oslo 2 days later everyone was invited to the helicopter pad but there were no drinks available # 4 in stockholm take the hop on hop off boat rather then bus. You can get on the boat close to the cruise terminal. We were on the Connie 2-23-09 to 3-06-09 & as elite members did not get the perks we got on 5-16-09 sailing. We got 75 minutes free internet,1 bag of free laundry Complementary drinks 4 to 6 pm in Michaels club. & on5-27-09 we were invited to the Captains table.We were invited to the bridge twice but only went with CC group & not with elite group

 

Wow. We spent 29 days on the Constellation just prior to you and got virtually NONE of the bennies you got.

 

No engine control room tour. No free drinks in Michaels. No invite (twice!) to the heli pad. No free laundry. No free internet. We've been elite for years. My guess would be that there is either a new hotel director or CC hostess, or both.

 

Although we had a decent month onboard, these cruises rank nowhere near the top of our cruise list. Lots of issues with Guest Relations, and although they had a little lip service, virtually nothing resolved. Service from Room Stewards great, ditto for Dining Room staff.

 

A good bit of disgruntled staff that we talked to. Don't know if it is the tip situation or not (according to a couple of sources, over 1000 pax on the 5/2-5/16 leg removed their auto-tips). Most of these people say they tip in cash but I take that with a huge grain of salt judging from crew discussions that we had.

 

These were our 14th and 15th X cruises and for the second time in the last 3 cruises (including Xpedition) left with a bad taste in our mouth after lots of good experiences.

[Cruisenina]

We are sailing on the Constellation to the Baltic in August. I have several questions for those who have recently returned from that same intinerary this summer.

 

1. There are a few recently posted reviews that are very negative, particularly toward the level and quality of service. Several posters suggest the crew went out of their way to ignore passengers. Was this a common occurence or the unique experience of just a few?

 

2. What nights were formal?

 

3. Were there any onboard activities that were unique to the Baltic sailings - special shows or lectures, for example.

 

4. Anything you wish you had known or other tips you would like to pass along?

 

Thanks for any information you care to share!

 

I also just returned from the 16th May Connie sailing and had a wonderful time.

 

1.Our servers in MDR were very friendly and we enjoyed our dinners.

I did think that the presentation of the food has fallen off a little but it was always served with a smile.

The buffets had plenty of variety. If you wanted something from the Asian stir fry, there was sometimes a wait.

In general I would say that the staff on a whole, where friendly and helpful.

2.Not sure if your August sailing is the same (including Oslo) but our formal nights were on 3 of the 4 sea days. The last sea day being the night before disembarkation, which will never be formal as you have to have your bags packed outside your room.

3.With regards to the entertainment we kept ourselves so busy in the ports that we really did not attend or participate much in the onboard activities. We did attend one of the lectures on Russia which was rather interesting. You could also catch it on your TV in the cabin.

 

Hope this helps, Have fun.

[Cruisenina]

We are on the Constellation 13 June sailing. We have a sail-a-way party planned. Would you mind telling me when muster was held? :)

 

Just back from Connie 16th May sailing and the drill was scheduled for 4.15 pm

[hshowalter]

ECCruise I think this just started with our 5-16- 09 cruise. In the morning 8to10 they had a continental breakfast with memosa"s or champagne in Michaels lounge.Very few people objected to mandatory gratuites.

[Texed]

Just back from Connie 16th May sailing and the drill was scheduled for 4.15 pm

 

Thank you very much for the info. :)

[elpam]

We are sailing on the Constellation to the Baltic in August. I have several questions for those who have recently returned from that same intinerary this summer.

 

1. There are a few recently posted reviews that are very negative, particularly toward the level and quality of service. Several posters suggest the crew went out of their way to ignore passengers. Was this a common occurence or the unique experience of just a few?

 

2. What nights were formal?

 

3. Were there any onboard activities that were unique to the Baltic sailings - special shows or lectures, for example.

 

4. Anything you wish you had known or other tips you would like to pass along?

 

Thanks for any information you care to share!

Although we went to the Baltic last August, on the Connie, I wanted to reply as that was an all-time favorite vacation. The only negative we found were the lines to talk to a guest relations rep. We were in Concierge class, and the service was more than excellent. The wait staff fabulous, Captain, etc. gracious and friendly. 2 weeks were grand! The Baltic is so interesting, and we always felt safe everywhere we went. We used Denrus in St. Petersburg also, and were totally pleased with our guide and driver (both spoke English perfectly), plus everything we booked. We did feel rushed in the Hermitage, but the crowds were huge, so it is expected. We used a private company for Berlin also and went to Sachenhausen before we entered the City. Loved Estonia and Helsinki, by the way. We also enjoyed our pre-stay in Harwich and post stay in London. If you have any questions, do ask. One of the highlights, by the way, was getting together with our roll call friends at the party and at the bridge with the Captain. elaine

[cathy82]

I am so sorry that there were so many negative reviews of our cruise. I truly do not think they were representative of the experience. We had a fabulous cruise. The service was great. The food was great, especially in Ocean Liners where we had 3 meals. The demographics on the May 2 cruise had an overwhelming number of people from the UK. They were delightful people to travel with but I do think the staff was a bit disappointed that there were less people tipping and availing themselves of the extras like the casino and spa. Apparently they find that Americans are more likely to be big spenders on the extras that the cruiseline hopes we will all buy. We had wonderful massages on sea days, but the spa wasn't that busy. Nevertheless the staff were still friendly. I hope that all of those people who took the tips off their account still tipped in cash. The staff certainly deserved it. We added to the tips on our account because the service was so great. Please take the criticisms of my fellow passengers with a grain of salt. Some were just unlucky. My friends and I who had 2 cabins on different decks concur that one would have to really stretch to find anything to complain about. Our cruise was the best vacation of my life. I am envious of those of you with cruises coming up. You will have a great time. The ports are so great there won't be enough time to do all that the ship offers. Don't be surprised if you are too tired to go to evening entertainment because you had such filled days. Don't worry, relax and have a wonderful vacation!