Celebrity Constellation - Scanda/Russia
Celebrity Constellation Cruise Review to Europe - Northern Europe
14 Night Scandinavia & Russia (Harwich To Copenhagen)
Sail date: June 28, 2008
Ship: Celebrity Constellation
Cabin type: Balcony
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 16 years ago
Review summary
This cruise was our seventh with Celebrity. We recently returned from South America on Infinity and was very disappointed with Celebrity and their disembarkation process in Rio de Janerio. As a result, we missed half of our shore excursion as a result of the process of getting us off the shilp. While Celebrity offered a "partial" refund, it took me several months to get it and it was minimal. To Celebrity's defense, it was the first (they claim to last time) time they pulled into Rio and the Brazilian government handled things very poorly (which they did!). I mention this as we approached this cruise through skeptical eyes! Overall, the cruise went well!. Constellation and her cruise made us feel at home the entire time. The itinerary was very busy and most passengers were very tired by the end. Sea Days came at the very biginning of the cruise and then we hit ports one after the other. The SeaSide Cafe was nice; however, the quality of the food and variety has dropped since the last time we sailed her. The evening dinning was well done and our Server's were excellent. Once again, the quality has dropped and the menu needs to be changed. It was the same as Inifinity six months earlier. The evening entertainment was very disappointing and the variety was not good at all. In fact, many stopped going and chose to meet their table mates at other locations after dinner. The biggest concern I heard expressed was over the connectivity with the internet. While we expected the speed to be slow, the computers do not warn you when you lose connection with the satellite and you continue to pay. Celebrity should load an icon onto the desk top to give you the status of the connection for those who do not have strong computer skills (we had several seniors on the cruise). The shore excursions were well done by the cruise line. Many ports of call can be done on your own and I would encourage this as they are costly! In fact, shuttle buses were offered at a charge of $12.00/person at many of the ports to town. The transfer was very short and I felt the cost was a bit high, welcome to the increase in fuel prices. We did our air on our own which saved us a lot! We asked for a deviation as we toured London for three days on our own at the beggining of the cruise. We tried to go through Celebrity but they were booked. We stayed at the Royal Lancaster which was very expensive and we would chose otherwise the next time. Celebrity was unable to provide a reasonable deviation (we are Captain Club memebers) and they wanted $1,500 round trip. We booked through United and had great connections for $1,200. SAS was wonderful! In review, the crusise was wonderful and I would defintley encourage others to go! The ports are excellent along the Baltic and I found St. Petersburg to be my favorite; even though, it is very apparent that the Cold War distrust for the US continues amoungst the locals.(USSR/Norway/Finland/Sweden/Denmark/England/Germany/Estonia) Remeber, it is a very busy itinerary so come well rested! Constellation is a beautiful shipand her crew equally as wonderful and organized. Disemabarkation went well this time! As I mentioned earlier, we went with a bad taste in our mouth as a result of our trip to South America. I'm pleased to report, this time it went as well as we had hoped based on previous cruises with Celebrity. We spoke to other guests and I think one summoned it best. They had sailed the prior summer on the ship that damaged their propellers while in the Mediterranean and were unable to proceed and had to return to Rome. This cruise was free to makeup for their last cruise as it was eventually cancelled. He felt Celebrity does a great job as long as everything runs smoothly; however, if a major issue should arise, it seemed to him Celebrity loses direction and leadership and becomes unsure how to resolve theses issues. Based upon our experience in South America and speaking to other seasoned travelers, I think this explains it.Ship experiences
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Ports of call
St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
Pros: Itinerary
Cons: Sea Days Limited
Recommends Celebrity Constellation? Yes!
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