A Taste of the Celebrity Life!!
My wife and I sailed on the special 2-night Constellation on
1/19/13. Port of call was Nassau. We were on Deck 8 in Inside Cabin 8015
(Category 9). Late seating for
dinner. We
purchased the Classic beverage package for both of us. We took this cruise mainly for the price, but
also because we had booked a 7-day cruise on Summit in April 2013 and we felt
this would give us a taste for this class of ship.
Embarkation
We arrived at the pier about 2:00. It was a very strange embarkation. Apparently Constellation was in a temporary
pier so instead of the usual terminal building, they had a large tent. Not the best first impression for a cruise
line boasting they are “deluxe”. I
thought we might be headed into a beer tasting festival instead of a cruise. We were able to use the line for Select checkin since I had been able to get Captain’s Club credentials having been Platinum on RCCL. Check in was fast and we quickly found out we had been upgraded from Deck 2 to Deck 8. We had booked an Inside guarantee. It was nice to be closer to the pool and
bars. We bypassed the photo op and
across the gangway we went. Onboard by
2:30. Once inside, realized we were in the right place. We loved how the ship looked more like a hotel than any cruise ship we had been on.
Boarding
We were welcomed with a nice glass of champagne and really
enjoyed the look of the ship. We quickly
made our way to Deck 8 using the stairs (we always try to avoid the elevator
and get the extra exercise). We were
greeted by our cabin steward on our way down the hallway and he made us feel
very welcome and to let us know if we needed anything. The cabin was in perfect order. Next on our agenda was some lunch.
Lunch
We had done some research and saw that Bistro on 5 was going
to be open lunch so we are anxious to try it.
We were greeted by the hostess and quickly seated at a table for
two. This was our first opportunity to
try the drink package and we both ordered a glass of wine. For food, I order the chef’s salad and a Rib
Eye crepe. Both very good –
especially the salad and blue cheese
dressing. My wife had the Cowboy crepe
which she thought was very good (I did also!!).
There was a $5 surcharge each (which we thought was a bargain for the
food quality) and we left an additional $5 gratuity. We next were headed to a Roll Call meetup at
the Sunset Bar on the back of the ship.
Roll Call
The roll call was in the Sunset Bar which is the coolest bar
on any ship I have been on. Great place
for sail away with a guitar player, shaded seating and nice bar with
stools. And close to the pizza station
if you still needed a snack. The roll
call members were wearing beads and they had name tags which was a nice
touch. The bar service was a little
spotty at first. The bartenders seemed
ill-prepared for the number of people.
After about 10 minutes of this, one of the managers came out and he quickly got
a couple more bartenders and the service was back to normal. Again we used the
beverage package and it worked fine.
They do take your card and confirm your package but you have nothing to
sign. We found that if you stayed in the
same bar for more than one round, they no longer asked for your card and in
some cases just came over and refilled your wine. We chatted with some of the people in the
group and watched as we sailed away from Miami, seeing the Epic and Breeze as
we departed. We headed to our cabin to
get dressed for late dinner.
Entertainment
We first went to the welcome aboard show and saw the
comedian Fred Klett who had apparently appeared with Jerry Seinfeld
before. We found him pretty funny. Not rolling on the floor funny but had some
interesting observations. The crowd was
very small. After dinner, we went to
Michael’s Club where they had a piano singer.
She was very good. Very cool
lounge and unlike any piano bar I had seen before (no seats around the piano). We then went to karaoke and had fun singing a
song (Lady is a Tramp). We liked how the host moved new people to the front of
the list to sing.
We then went to the
disco in the Reflections Lounge. Every
other disco I have been on a ship has been in what I would call a “cave”. Very dark and low ceilings. Not on this ship. Huge room and large floor to ceiling
windows. Simply the best disco I have
ever seen. And a great DJ who really
knew the crowd. Played a mix of old and
new – and often both at the same time which kept everyone dancing. Great cocktail service here.
Dining
The only low point of the cruise was the service in the
dining room. On the first night we arrived right at 8:30 and were seated
immediately. When we got to the table, our waiter came over and told us it
would be awhile before he would be over to take our orders since he had to seat
other guests. Or so he said. We actually didn’t see him seat any other guests
but he was correct about not coming back for quite some time. Once he did come, he took our orders for
dinner. Food quality was very good but
needed more seasoning. For example,
escargots which I have loved on other cruise lines for their buttery-garlic
flavor, were nearly tasteless on Celebrity.
The Duck L’Orange which I had on the second night also was exteremely
underseasoned – tasting nothing of orange and lacking any sauce. I also ordered the Celebrity signature Beef
Toranado (I am sure I have spelled this wrong). And while it was cooked properly to order (medium
rare), it too cried out for some simple salt and pepper.
Cocktail service was also off. We never saw a bar waiter. In fact, our
assistant waiter had to leave the dining room to go get my wife’s cappuccino,
slowing down service for everyone. The
sommelier was very good, but it took a while for him to come to our table to
take orders. Once he did, it took some time for him to return for refills. It seemed like he was the only one serving
our entire dining room. That issue seemed to be more about management then the
individual server since it appeared that one server had the whole entire side of
the restaurant to take care of.
We had room service
breakfast and found it average. The
omelet was cooked solid and the coffee average. Much better in the buffet where
I was surprised to find made-to-order eggs benedict with your choice of protein
including smoke salmon. Delicious!! They also had English breakfast and for the
first time I tried blood sausage – and I loved it!!
Lunch in the buffet was very good. We found it unlike any other cruise ship
buffet in that they served you almost everything. For example, someone would put the green you
wanted in a salad bowl and then you would take that and put whatever else you
wanted. They had a pasta station where they made it to order. Even the entrée
section, the servers would give you a portion (or more) of what you asked
for. I actually liked this approach
better than other cruise line since there was less concern about cleanliness
issues. There was a great pizza station
where they had 3 – 4 types available.
The best food we found in the buffet was the absolutely amazing
selection of freshly made sushi. We had this
for a snack before the last dinner and found it really good. One service issue at the buffet was that I
found that dirty trays and plates stayed around much too long - especially out
at the Sunset Bar where the seagulls were feasting on uneaten food while we
were in port. I have to put some blame
on the passengers for this. A reasonable
person would know that when you eating outdoors near a port, there are going to
be birds. Sometimes very aggressive
birds. If you are done with your tray,
have the common sense to at least put a napkin over it so it is not as
available to the birds. Or better yet, take 30 seconds and bring it inside
where it isn’t tantalizing for the gulls.
We saw several times where this wasn’t done and the birds came in large
flocks. Mostly avoidable if the guests
would have taken a little consideration for the passengers around them. We ate breakfast in the dining room on the
last morning and it was pretty good – although the eggs benedict in the buffet
were better.
The service issues are possibly symptoms of the 2-night
cruise and being understaffed. I don’t
know how to explain the food issues since I had much higher expectations from
Celebrity.
Pool and Other
Amenities
We sat by the pool on the day at Nassau and had a “sea”
day”. The area has two pools one
smaller than the other and used for games (they have a basketball hoop). Bars are found on either end. Cocktail service was somewhat slow in that
there weren’t many server walking around.
Once you found one, they would come back to you. We also checked out the adults-only Solarium
which was excellent. Large heated Thermo
pool with jetted stainless steel “chaises”.
Very relaxing and they have their own buffet of healthier lunch options
and snacks. Also some interesting
marinated fruits which I tried but none were particularly memorable. There is also a sauna, separate showers and
lockers for men and women in this area.
Did not try them but probably will for our upcoming Summit cruise. On the first morning, we did a morning 3-mile
walk on the jogging path. Not as wide as
some other ships and there were some chaises which you had to be careful
walking past.
Disembarkation
We had only brought carryon luggage so didn’t have to leave
anything outside our cabin. We would
just walk off the ship through customs.
The process took longer than I think it should have. We waited in a long line on the outside paths
of the ship (Deck 3 I believe). And
getting through customs took some time as well.
It took over an hour to get off the ship and through customs. Longest of any ship I have been on.
Overall
I loved the ship and enjoyed the cruise very much. I am excited for our 7-day cruise on Summit
which is the same class. This gave me
the “taste” I wanted and left me wanting more
- which I hope to get on
Summit. There was so much of the ship I
felt we didn’t get to explore and I plan to take it all in on Summit. If you have any questions about the cruise, I
would be glad to try to answer them.
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