Celebrity Constellation Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We all enjoyed the itinerary. The Constellation is an older ship and, as of our cruise, needs a lot of updating! Saying that, the staff was wonderful, pleasant and quite helpful.

Food, some nights great other mediocre and then other nights, not so good. The Oceanview Cafe had an assortment, as well as the Grill, so there were lots of choices. Again, some food better than others. I have noticed that the desserts have gone WAY DOWN! 

Excursions, so so. The ones we took, really the basic ones (overviews & panoramic) were not the greatest. The guides were NOT very good and left people behind as well as, when out of the bus, only talked the the small group of people within earshot! 

We are loyal Celebrity cruisers, Elite Plus, but have noticed that the perks for being loyal have definitely gotten less. I guess there are too many of us now!

All in all, we enjoyed ourselves but did want to let people know there were some negatives.

The time in the ports of Dubai and Abu Dhabi was enough to see the important stops, Grand Mosque is positively a must see and the Burj Khalifa at the top is worth the height!  To caution you, you will spend a lot of time getting between places in Dubai because of heavy traffic, so go the popular sights early! Lots of time spent waiting in traffic.

The Oman stops of Muscat was not worth the stop, all the sights ie Sultans Palace and Forts built by the Portuguese are not open to see inside, you can walk around but you can't see inside.  We took the Hop on Hop off bus 2 hour ride and no really good stops. It did not stop at the beach or near the Grand Mosque. so it takes a cab ride back to both and could be costly.  

The Fjords in Khasab Oman was a nice boat ride, saw some dolphins, went to telegraph island, sailed past some very small villages. Bring some good binoculars as you are not allowed to get very close to shore to see.  At telegraph island, they tie up for about 45 minutes and you can get off and snorkel if you want. 

After the Dhow cruise we took the shuttle from port into town $10, save your money there is nothing there....we did not get off the bus and went back to the ship

 Oh and be careful of the Taxis, get a set price before you get in the cab.  We got stung on one in Dubai at the Port.  We got spoiled in Abu Dhabi they all were metered .

The staff in the Blu were Fantastic!  Wilmer, Novi and Patricia very enjoyable

Celebrity Constellation 9 night Arabian cruise Embarkation was a breeze-just 10 mins. Then we were welcomed onboard with champagne on a red carpet. We felt we were treated like royalty! Our oceanview room was comfy & spacious, but the bath cubicle was miniscule. On the first day, they had liquer sampling the entire evening, right from 5pm to 9pm. You could sample all liquers on display. Their special discount offers on alcohol were much better than those at duty free airports. They also had a wristwatch & handbag sale (really cheap, only $40 for 5, mix & match) Every morning, on the way to the buffet breakfast, there were pretty girls waiting to give you a FREE sampler head massage. Yes, every morning! On 9 days, we had 4 grand shows, a movie night, a Beatles tribute band, a singer (Jane), a violinist & a pianist, all best of class!  So, every night was taken care of. The 4 shows--Welcome, Land of Fantasy (or fairy tales), Dances of the World & Elyria were 45-50 mins each & truly amazing, easily of Broadway standard. The performers also mingled, posed  & danced with us throughout the 9 day cruise. They also performed on the pool deck & in the Reflections lounge, in addition to the 4 main shows. One evening, Celebrity even had a special BELLY DANCE show with Middle east delicacy starters & desserts--kababs, Baklava, the works! The passenger vs crew (in full uniform) pool volleyball game was a blast! Unfortunately, nobody showed up or seemed interested in the enrichment health & fitness lectures &  we 2 were the only ones who attended every time. The fitness trainers who spoke on health & detoxification, were both experienced & knowledgeable. The buffet lunch had a lot of variety & was very satisfying. There were 6 diff. flavours of icecream & frozen yoghurt, which kept changing daily! Exotic flavors like cherry, pecan, peach, apricot, passion fruit, dark chocolate, banana, strawberry, etc In the main dining room, the dinner & service was fit for a king. Lobster, jumbo prawns, pink salmon, beef steak, tenderloin, et all. Very satisfying, never had any complaint whatsoever. The desserts were so-so. The cruise itinerary was well planned, with 8 port days--2 Abu Dhabi, 3 Dubai, 2 Muscat & 1 Khasab, so enough time for sightseeing at all ports, (except Dubai, which needs at least 7 days to see it all-- Dubai city tour with abra ride, Bastakiya, Al Fahidi fort, Gold souk, Spice souk, Perfume souk; Desert safari, Dubai mall with aquarium & musical fountain show, Burj Khalifa tallest observatory, Mall of the Emirates & Snow city, Global Village, Atlantis the palm, Jumeirah mosque & beach, Burj al Arab, Madinat Jumeirah, Miracle Gardens, Butterfly park, Dinosaur land, Glow City, etc. Overall I highly recommend this cruise. We got an amazing deal!!! Love & God bless, drsel

We got an amazing deal on this cruise so couldn’t complain even if it had of been bad. Great party vibe. Petra was the highlight!

One of those amazing cruises where everyone was in good spirits and partying together. Good itinerary and superb service

My wife and I had a great time on the Connie. We were treated so well by the crew and were made to feel good right from the start. The food was really good and the entertainment was awesome. My parents are going on the ship next month after we talked so highly of her. We would really like another chance to sail on the Connie in the future.

We chose this cruise because it had an overnight in Bilbao to enable us to go to Pamplona for Running of the Bulls.  The itinerary was excellent with some great stops along the way.  There is so much to see in Spain that you could take this cruise again and see completely different things.

This ship is a great size to keep interactions personal without getting too big like some of the mega-liners.  Staff would remember your drinks, ie cocktails, or specialty coffees.

This was a 12 day largely Adriatic cruise beginning in Venice and ending in Rome.

We flew into Venice via JKF and arrived early Wednesday afternoon. It took about 40 minutes to clear customs and collect luggage. We hopped on the ATVO bus and had a 20 minute ride to Piazzale Roma (8 Euro each). We had to carry our luggage across one bridge to the Olimpia Hotel, a nicely remodeled old building with either canal or wonderful garden views. We bought Vaporetto (water bus) two day passes and got 120 Euro worth of rides for 60. We were supposed to meet a walking tour that kept changing locations and the last location we were given didn't pan out. At least, we hadn't paid in advance. Instead, we rode the Vaporetto down the Grand Canal (a must do) to St. Mark's Square. The crowds were always big on both the boats and at St. Marks. We took the Vaporetto back to our hotel and went to Campo Santa Margherita (a big un-touristy plaza). We had a nice dinner and some wine at Osteria Do Torri. Thursday featured rain showers. We left the hotel and checked onto the ship. Check-in was virtually a walk through. After lunch aboard, we returned to St. Mark's Square where we had skip-the-line entry tickets (2 Euro - online). While waiting our turn, we visited the Correr Museum where we bought a joint ticket also good for the Doges Palace (skip-the-line again). We then did our tour of St. Marks. It's a cattle call. You get run through the whole church in about 10 minutes with no pictures allowed. I've seen better church interiors a dozen times. In my view, it would not be worth a 45 minute wait in line. The next morning we came back and did the Doges Palace (a must see). We then went to the famous Rialto Bridge. There is no canal view when you are on the bridge - it's blocked by shops and the crowds near the bridge are terrible. The sail-away in Venice was spectacular. It takes about an hour and there is much to see from 90 feet in the air. We were in Aqua Class and ate almost all of our meals in Blu. David, the maître d', is fantastic. He is one of the most service oriented people I've ever met. Plus, he leads from the front. He even bussed tables if the staff needed the help. Jelzko, the sommelier, was terrific. He could recommend a good wine for almost any dish. The rest of the Blu staff were first rate. I have zero complaints about any of the service we got in Blu. My only complaint about Blu would be some of the menus. Some days there were three or four great entrees on the menu. Other days there would be one or zero. I suggested to David that better balance could be achieved. Blu could also add a few more menus to create an element of surprise at dinner. When you done a few cruises in Aqua Class, you can almost predict the next evenings menu. Our cabin stewards, Romeo and Paul were excellent. Our only problems were with the TV not responding to the remote control and the problem was promptly fixed.

Ports: My wife and I like history. You will see that bias in this review. We don't hang out on the beach or do much shopping. If those are you interests, you should skip the rest of this review. Koper: They aren't cruise ship ready yet in Koper. There is little to do there so we had arranged a guided tour of Piran. It's a very well preserved city with heavy Venetian influence about 40 minutes down the coast. I would rate it as worth the money and time. Ravenna: This is pay dirt. We had a wonderful guide from Shore.Excursions who picked us up at the pier. Our group was only 16. We saw several of the old churches and Dante's tomb. The mosaics were fantastic. They were so brilliant that they looked like they were glued up yesterday. Our guide was able to explain them in serious detail as to their religious and political importance. She has the same skill that my ancient history professor had: She made these people seem like they had been her next door neighbors. Zadar: We had hired a young man for just us. He was a good driver but didn't know much history. Zadar has a few Roman ruins and a few churches, We had a nice lunch on shore. It was pizza because of the Venetian influence. Realistically, Zadar is doable in about a two hour stop and should be considered a minor port. Split: We had a good tour of Diocletian's Palace. He had it built near his birthplace after he abdicated as Roman Emperor. The guide was from Viator and knew her stuff. Unfortunately, for us, it rained almost the whole time we were on shore or we would have done more following our guided tour. Kotor: My wife had to do this alone. She was in a group of five with a local guide and enjoyed a two hour tour. Before we left home, I had developed an infection. During the cruise, I developed an uncommon but quite nasty side effect of the medication I had been taking. The ship's surgeon was able to help me but I had several unpleasant days. Dubrovnik: Except for the terrible crowds, it was excellent. We did the mountain cable cars, Old Town and the city walls, Because of the crowds it took 5 1/2 hours and was exhausting. We had a very good tour guide from Viator. Our skipper told us  that our day in Dubrovnik was probably the most crowded day of the year. Seven cruise ships and a national holiday did it. Malta: Mdina is the a well preserved medieval city. Few cars are allowed in it. It has a lot of gothic and baroque buildings. We had a one hour walk-around which was worth the time. The gem is in Valletta. St. John's co-cathedral is really different. It has about 50% of the walls and ceiling covered in 18 carat gold. The interior just glows in spite of its rather small windows. Plus, it has Caravaggio's "Beheading of St. John the Baptist". It's a huge painting and it is Caravaggio's only signed work. The Grandmaster's palace is so-so with only a handful of rooms not undergoing restoration. The Barrakka Gardens give you a terrific view of the harbor. Both Mdina and Valletta were fairly crowded. A winter visit would be recommended. Catania, Sicily: This was the low point of the trip. It has several good churches and part of a Roman amphitheater. The city is built of mostly dark volcanic stone and hasn't been cleaned for 300 years. The only reasonably clean place we saw was the gelato joint we went into. There is obviously no "Pride of place." Salerno: A pretty town set at the foot of a mountain range on the Amalfi coast. I could immediately see why the western allies had such a difficult time landing here in September of '43. We took a tour bus to Pompeii. There are lots of good things to see in Pompeii, but the crowds were wretched. Our tour guide told us if we didn't want the crowds we should come between November and March. We had a late lunch on the beach in a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant. We had good pizza, but it wasn't as good as in New York. Surprisingly, no pizza on the trip was as good as New York pizza which is the best in the USA. Rome: We took a bus into Rome. It is a madhouse. We stayed at a B&B in a quiet residential neighborhood. It was reasonably priced, the room was modern, and  large by Rome standards. It was also only 500 feet from a subway stop. The Rome subway is nearly as crowded as Tokyo. This was the first time in my life that we had to wait for a second train in order to board. Plus, the cars are inundated with graffiti (even the windows) as were many buildings. On day one we did Vatican City. One could spend days in the Vatican Museum. We were overdosed on antiquities and walked through in about 1 1/2 hours. While the Sistine chapel was jammed with people, it was a wonderful experience. In my view it's better than St. Peter's Basilica which is so big that it feels beyond human scale. The lines to get into the Vatican Museum (we had timed entry for the museum - four Euro extra) and St. Peter's weren't awful. We followed Rick Steves' advice of coming later in the day for St. Peters. On day two, we did the Forum and the Coliseum. The Forum surprised me with its huge extent. We spent more time in the Forum than we did in the Coliseum. Both are well worth the time. On day three, we had lunch cooked by a local in her friend's apartment. It's the first time we had Bucatini. We spent several enjoyable hours learning how to cook the dish, drinking Sardinian wine, and exchanging cultural and political views. My wife wasn't feeling well and had very sore feet, so we took it easy for the rest of the third day hanging around the local neighborhood. Our last day we headed for the airport early given it's terrible reputation for delays and hassles. We got to our boarding gate in 45 minutes. That put us two hours ahead of flight time. Go figure. They are concerned about security. We had to show our passports five times. Finally, I'll mention the unsettling part of the cruise. I'm a former hospital administrator, so I've been schooled in the importance of insuring the privacy of patient information. After my recovery from my medication side effects, I went to sick bay and requested my medical records for my insurance plan and regular doctor. It took several follow up trips to customer service to actually get them in hand. I did a cursory check and packed them for the trip home. When I got home and went to submit the records to my health plan, I found another patient had their record mixed in with mine. I immediately called Celebrity and informed them what had happened.  I asked to be contacted by someone in authority who could tell me how Celebrity would improve its medical record processing to reduce the probability that events like this would happen in the future. I told Celebrity that if I got a good explanation of process improvement, I would feel no need to mention this event in the review. This is day seven with no response from Celebrity, so into the review the event goes. In accordance with patient information protection policies, I shredded the other patient's record as soon as I completed the call to Celebrity. Other than the patient medical record issue, the overall cruise was excellent.

This was our 5th cruise on Celebrity and it was still nice but not as good as earlier cruises.  The food was good but not really special.  The crew was very good.  Our cabin steward was very good and there was ice waiting for me every afternoon when we got back on the ship. What I was most upset about was all the little extra charges Celebrity was trying to charge for things that used to be included with the cruise.  Several ports were located a couple of miles from the actual city.  Celebrity charged $12 a person for the shuttle service from the ship to the city.  Last year on our South American cruise this service was free.  There were a lot of people quite upset and I do believe if the ship advertises that it is visiting Dubrovnik, Ravenna and Zadar, they ought to bring you to Dubrovnik, Ravenna and Zadar. What has happened in my opinion is Celebrity is now just like the other cruise lines where they try to wring every last dime out of their passengers.  Where they used to be a little better, now they are just the same. 

We are an American couple in our mid-60’s who were on a B2B in the Mediterranean and Adriatic for a total of 22 nights.  We very much enjoyed the first one of our 12-night Mediterranean cruise which started on April 27 from Civitavecchia and ended on May 9 in Venice.  I posted a summary of that cruise with details about the “Constellation”, food, entertainment, service and the ports called “Very Nice Mediterranean Cruise on Connie” if you’d like to check it out.

This review is for the second part of the B2B which was the 10-night Adriatic cruise RT from Venice starting May 9.  It was our 14th on Celebrity and 37th overall.  Since we’d been on the “Constellation” six other times, the “Infinity” twice and the “Millennium” once, we knew the ship and its features well.

Our experience on the ship on this cruise was very similar to the first one of our B2B.  Our belongings were seamlessly moved from Cabin #8036 (2B Unobstructed Balcony) to Cabin #3008 (Ocean View) which were near the forward elevators on the starboard side.  The layout of both cabins was very similar with a shelf under the window where the balcony door would be.  The storage was adequate, but it would be nice to have a few more drawers in the closet.  Since there are only two hooks on the walls, we bring magnetic hooks to give us some additional options for hanging clothes and papers.

The food in the MDR was very good and the pizza and pasta station in the buffet were good.  The entertainment was excellent and we continued to enjoy three production shows (“iHollywood”, “The Land of Make Believe” and “Celebrate The World”) even though we’ve seen them many times.  The cast was terrific especially Robert who also was a very funny guest on Celebrity’s version of the “Tonight Show”.  Cruise Director Maarten and Activities Manager Taylor were the best team we’ve seen anywhere as they started the party and kept the fun going.  Graeme Kelleher is without question the best Captain’s Club Host we’ve ever had.  The DJs also kept playing danceable music in the Reflections Lounge until late several nights even though only a few couples were still there (sometimes after 2:00 am).  The overall service at all levels was great.  We’d had lots of problems with “Select Dining” on the first cruise getting tables in our preferred section, but it improved on this cruise with a couple of exceptions.  So, overall we had an excellent time.

As with the first cruise, we had the Classic Beverage Package as one of our included perks.  We really liked being able to get bottles of water when leaving the ship on every port call and during the day while onboard.  We also got cans of soda and glasses of OJ whenever we needed them.  In the evenings, we’d have several glasses of wine with dinner and other drinks in the theater as well as the bars and lounges.  It was really nice to order whatever you wanted and not worry about signing for anything.  It also lubricated our dancing!  Obviously, there’s a balance for drinking alcohol late at night vs. being ready to go on an excursion the next morning, but we adjusted as needed during the 22 days/nights on the two cruises.

There were eight ports and two days at seas on this itinerary.  We still like to do what we can on own but since we’re getting older, we did more ship’s excursions than in the past.  This time, it was pretty skewed as we only did one port completely on our own and seven with the ship.  Here’s a summary of what we did in each port:

We were in Venice overnight on the last day of first of our B2Bs.  We walked from the ship docked at Marittimato pier to the People Mover station.  There was a long line of people waiting to buy tickets for about $2.  We didn’t bother to use it as it wasn’t much longer of a walk into Venice and we probably got there faster than people at the end of the line (and we saved $4).  Once there, we each bought a pricey 24-hour vaporetto pass for 20 Euro (about $23) and went to Murano and Burano.  Note that it took about three hours for that route so you need to allow enough time (especially if some of the vaporettos are so packed, you’d have to wait for the next one to arrive).  The following day, we continued to use the same pass to go St. Marks.  We had the typical Venetian experience as we wandered around getting lost until we found the train station. We then took our last boat ride and returned to the ship in plenty of time for the start of the second of our B2B cruises.

In Koper, Slovenia, we did the “KR16 Lake Bled and Island” tour at $130 pp.  It was a little pricey, but the lake is a long distance from the port.  We’d been there in 2009 on a land tour, but that was in February so the boats didn’t go out to Slovenia’s only island.  It took several hours to get there by bus, but we enjoyed the boat ride with one man paddling with two oars.  We trekked up the steep stairs to the top of the hill, but unfortunately the church was under repair so you couldn’t go in.  However, it was still nice to get there.

After that part of the tour, we were offered two options:  you could stay in the town to shop, eat or just wander around or the bus would take you up to the Bled Castle.  If you opted for the castle, you could walk up a fairly steep cobblestone ramp to the ticket booth and get somewhat of a view.  For 10 Euro, you could enter the courtyard where you got the full panorama including the island.  While we were in line, a man gathered 10 people and got us in at a discount at 8 Euro each.  There were more than 10 of us from the bus so the guide could have mentioned this to us so we could have done the same within our group.

Once inside, there was an interesting museum, a wine cellar and an indoor restaurant plus outside tables overlooking the walls.  The restrooms were free even if you didn’t buy anything.  Even though we’d been there before, it was well worth the small additional cost (especially since we’re not shoppers and would have been a little bored in town).

In Zadar, Croatia, we booked the “RZ13 Krka National Park – Half Day” tour at $85 each.  We drove into the mountains for a couple of hours and finally reached the park.  There were hundreds of small and large streams and waterfalls everywhere as you walked for about an hour on a boardwalk around a loop.  About halfway out, there were some picnic tables where we had sandwiches, cookies and sodas that we brought from the ship.  It was an interesting tour although some avid photographers blocked the path many times to take a ridiculous amount of “selfies”.

We’d been to Split, Croatia before and seen Diocletian’s Palace and the other major sights in the town.  So, we booked the ship’s “AT08 Ancient Salona and the Town of Trogir” (aka “Roman Ruins of Salona and Trogir”) for $60 each.  It was a very gray day and drizzly, but we were able to see the ruins in Salona without getting soaked.  We walked around the area to see how large the town used to be when it was the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia.  There was also a small museum which had free restrooms.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t time to visit the amphitheater as it was too far to see it within the time constraints on this tour.

We then continued to the town of Trogir which was founded about 2,300 years ago.  It’s said to be the best-preserved Romanesque-Gothic complex not only in the Adriatic but in all of Central Europe.  There were many limestone buildings and we visited several churches.  We were also treated to some Croatian songs from an acapella group of five men who were selling CDs.  After trying to stay out of the rain on the promenade, I climbed up the bell tower of the Cathedral of St. Lawrence which was included in the admission price as part of the tour.  There were quite a few stairs leading to a steep ladder and a tight squeeze to get to the highest level which offered a great view of the tiled roofs below.  The only problem was that it started to pour and the rain came flying in through the open sides of the tower.  I was soaked to the bone, but so was everyone else as they made their way back to the bus!

In Dubrovnik, we did the “DU10 Highlights of Dubrovnik Riviera” for $73 each.  We went to higher ground on the bus where we stopped to take pictures of the panoramic view of the walled city below.  We drove further to the Konavoski Dvori restaurant which was next to a river with some of the water routed to waterwheels.  We were served some local meat, cheese and bread plus a choice of a glass of red or white wine.  It was only about 10:00 am so it was a little early to be drinking, but it was a nice stop for a break and restrooms.

We continued down the coast to Cavtat, a fishing village and seaside resort, where we had about an hour of free time.  The promenade was nice and had many benches where you could rest and look out over the quiet harbor.  We then returned to Dubrovnik where we had a guided walking tour.  The streets were very crowded and noisy so we weren’t able to hear much of the commentary (even with the earbuds for the “whispers”).  Since it was early May and there were only two large cruise ships in port, we couldn’t imagine what the crowds would be like in the high summer season with many more ships there.  Dubrovnik is the classic example of the double-edged sword of cruising:  being able to see wonderful sights from the comfort of your ship vs. finding an overwhelming number of people doing the same thing which lessens the experience for everyone.

At that point, we decided to break away from our group and the crowds to head for the cable car station above the city.  On the stairway to get there, many shops were selling RT tickets for 120 Kuna ($18 pp), but we weren’t sure if they were higher priced than the official venue.  It turned out that they were the same price, but you still had to wait in the same queue with or w/o tickets.  It was not an original idea as there was a pretty long line when we arrived.  Some people bailed out to take a taxi up to the top which made it a little quicker, but we still waited for about 45 minutes before we got to the ticket booth.

There are two cable cars, one going up and one coming down.  They each hold about 35 passengers and move quickly to the top or bottom in less than 5 minutes.  Once you’re up there, you’ll get a great view of the walled city on the sea side and the mountains on the other side.  There’s a restaurant, a small amphitheater where you can eat your own food and free restrooms.  We brought sandwiches and cookies from the ship and relaxed there enjoying the views in all directions.  There was a line for going down, but it didn’t take too long.  It’s definitely worth the cost if the weather is clear.

Once we got to the bottom, we walked back to the city, went to the Pile Gate area and joined the short queue for the shuttle bus to the ship.  It’s free if you have any Celebrity excursion sticker or you can buy tickets if needed.  It took about 15 minutes to get back.

In Kotor, Montenego, we booked the “KV19 Seaside Resorts of Budva and Kotor” at $65.  On the way to Budva, the bus stopped at an overlook so we could see Sveti Stefan, the famous high-end resort island on the Montenegrin Riviera.  There was a lot of construction going on to widen the road and to build more hotels and casinos.  Once in Budva, the weather wasn’t great, but we did a walking tour to the stone fort, citadel, church and other buildings above a nice harbor and a beach with some pounding surf.  We had about an hour of free time to walk around with an option to get some food and drinks at a local restaurant.

We then returned to Kotor where we were led on a walking tour through the Sea Gate inside the walls.  It’s one of the best preserved medieval old towns in the Adriatic and is a UNESCO world heritage site.  The architecture was interesting and there were many shops.  If the weather wasn’t so gray and drizzly, I might have attempted to walk up the many steps to St. John’s Castle high above the city.  Maybe we’ll give that a shot next time.

When we were in Naples on the first cruise of our B2B, we did the ferry on our own to Capri and Anacapri.  As we’d been to Pompeii many times, we opted for the ship’s “NP06 The Ruins of Herculaneum” for $73.  We were surprised to see that the site was located in the middle of a residential neighborhood in the modern city/commune of Ercolano.  Our first view of the ruins was looking down from above into the excavations.  Our guide was great as he explained that only one fourth of the buried city has been uncovered so you got a sense of how large it was at that time.  Unlike Pompeii, it was quickly buried in ash so it was virtually untouched when it was excavated.  Casts were made of many skeletons of the people who were instantly killed by the intense heat of the eruption and are placed where they found them.  The tour was very comprehensive as we visited pretty much every street, house and building.  We’d definitely recommend it as a nice alternative to the crowds at Pompeii.

In Catania, Sicily, we did another ship’s excursion called “CQ21 Panoramic Catania” for $55.  Unfortunately, this was the most disappointing tour of our B2B as the city and surrounding area were very gray and rundown with litter everywhere which looked like it had been there for years.  The bus dropped us off at an overlook of the Aci Castello, a castle built on black lava almost 1,000 years ago.  We then did a “drive by” through some cities and historical areas, but we didn’t stop again.  We returned by the same route to Catania where we had a walking tour.  This was certainly better as the buildings and church exteriors were very interesting.  We also saw the Roman ruins and the fountain from the underground river that provides drinking water to the city.  Our guide also helped us to buy two deep-fried arancinis for 1.80 Euro ($2) each.  They were the size of your fist and both had rice with one having tomato added and the other with eggplant and cheese.  It was a very filling local treat and the highlight of this tour.

At the end of the cruise, we booked the ship’s transfer by bus to the Marco Polo airport at $34 each.  We did that to simplify things so we wouldn’t have to hassle with cabs or water taxis at the port.  We got on the Celebrity bus w/o any problems and things were looking fine.  However, when we got to the airport area, the bus stopped in a parking lot and everyone had to roll their bags up an incline in the rain with construction in progress.  There were no carts to use and really not much direction from the staff as to what to do.  Apparently, their buses are not allowed to drive to the covered airport entrance which was a surprise to us and the other guests.  Not exactly the best way to end an otherwise nice cruise!

All in all, we had a great time, even with so many ports in so few days.  About the only thing that didn’t please us during the cruise was Celebrity charging $12 pp for transfers from the ship’s port to some of the cities.  If they have to dock that far away, they really should be included.  We did ship’s excursions those days so we didn’t have to pay, but it’s not fair to the independent travelers.

In the coming ten months, we have three more cruises booked on the “Millennium” in Asia and another three on the “Solstice” in New Zealand, South Pacific and Australia.  We’re definitely enjoying our experiences with Celebrity and we hope that our satisfaction continues.

We really enjoyed our cruise.  It was very relaxing and refreshing to us.  Our room was comfortable and clean.  We LOVED the balcony (our first cruise that had a balcony).  We didn't do any excursions so have no comments to make about that.  We definitely loved the Wednesday night show (a man sang and was excellent--sorry, can't remember his name).  The man who helped us plan the cruise, Eddie Malone, did an excellent job and we are so appreciative of all his help!  It was very enjoyable!

Debbie Swart

Let me first start by telling you a little about myself. My wife and I have been married 7 years and have three children ages 5, 3 and 1. I served in the Marine Corps for 8 years and was honorably discharged at the rank of Staff Sergeant. My wife and I both work in a hospital, I am a director of housekeeping and my wife is a nurse manager. This was our first vacation without the kids since our honeymoon.

The Bedbugs….

On the last night of our cruise, my wife began to get dressed when she noticed a bug on her blouse. She brought it over to me and I knew Immediately that it was a bedbug. Obviously we were upset that we have spent the last 3 nights in a room with bedbugs, I went down to guest relations with the bedbug in a water bottle to make management aware of the situation. I patiently waited in line and when I got to the desk asked the staff if we could speak in private. We stepped to the side where the rest of the guests would not be able to hear and I explained that we have a bedbug issue in our stateroom 1118 and gave her the water bottle so that they could verify that it was in fact a bedbug. I asked to speak with the chief of housekeeping and the representative said she would see what she could do. A couple minutes later she came back and thanked me for my patience as well as handling this matter discreetly as not to upset the other guests. I was told that the chief would like to meet in the room and that he would be up shortly. I returned to the room and let my wife know that I spoke to guest relations and that the housekeeping chief would be up in the next few minutes to speak with us. 40 minutes later…. No one responded. You can imagine our frustration, waiting in a bedbug infested room not know where to sit or stand for 40 minutes with no response. I then called guest relations only to become more upset. The attendant that answered at first had no idea what the issue was and then when I explained it, she simply said that they had another emergency going on and that they would get to us when they could. I again went down to guest relations, waited in line and told them that their response was unacceptable. Even if it were true that they were dealing with another emergency as simple phone call or moving us to another room so that we were not in the room with the bedbugs would have been better than nothing. At this point the guest relations attendant that dealt with the initial complaint stepped in and apologized, she called the person who she spoke with initially and asked why our situation had not been dealt with. After her call she apologized and said that someone would be up to speak with us and asked that I go wait in the room again.

The Bad….

About 15 minutes later the Assistant Guest Relations and Housekeeping chief knocked at the door. They apologized for the issue but seem very insincere, almost as if they did not want to deal with us. I took this opportunity to point out other deficiencies in the room. Two things that I noticed over the previous 3 days but did not mention because we were having such a good time was that the mirrors were not cleaned and there was blood on the wall over the bed. The Assistant Housekeeping Chief seemed to take exception with me pointing out these issues and told me that the mirrors were clean but did acknowledge the blood on the wall. It was determined that due to the infestation of bedbugs we needed to be move to another room, unfortunately they did not have any rooms on the same deck so we were sent to the 9th deck. The room was still considered an aqua class room, but it did not feel to be up to the same standard. The balcony was poured concrete, the phones were not upgraded and there were no tissues in the room.

You tube Link:

https://youtu.be/74DsPIInHr0

Internal staterooms are not well ventilated. It seems that there is not enough oxygen circulating in the room. 

I have to say this was the worst cruise I have ever experienced, this was my first with Celebrity and my last. I spent what little money I do have to take my thirteen year old boy on a cruise because thats what he asked for. THE ONLY reason I picked the cruise was because i thought he maybe getting a little to big for the disney cruises which he absolutely enjoys and loves every time. I choose Celebrity because online they advertise and promote Xbox and my son loves Xbox and they also advertise they are advocates for children with Autism which my son is autistic. THEY COMPLETELY FALSE ADVERTISE!!! First of all kid activities are slim to none and 90 percent of the time they had a sign on the door saying they are closed and sorry for the inconvenience.  The room for the kids was so small also. Nothing like they said was for children. As bad as there being NOTHING for my son to do the whole trip it gets worse and that was a piece of cake compared to the nightmare we endured for 5 days. 

The very first day, actually the ship had not even left and we had our safety meeting in the theater when I overheard an employee state that she was tired of these people already.  WOW!!  

I guess I am used to the hospitality of the employees from the Disney cruise, they always smiling and very helpful. I never had any employee to be considerate and nice. I will name several situations where i got treated like scum. 

Once I asked for some bread that they had out but wasn't sliced yet and I was told to pick from the types of bread that are already sliced even though I wanted something different. Another time at the coffee shop I asked for creamer and I was told she already but the creamer up for the day so I couldn't have any, btw let me stress i was also paying for this coffee $6.75 a cup and she wouldn't go get me the creamer I wanted. If you don't close for another hour and you sold me the coffee then you should give me what I asked and not put things away early. the same coffee shop at another instance I asked for a lid and he pointed at a place across the way for me to go get one. Excuse me I just paid for the coffee and I'm on a ship rocking back and forth and you should have put a lid on it. I pay less for coffee at starbucks and they ALWAYS put a lid on my coffee. I said sir the boats rocking and I don't want to spill on me can you not put a lid on it and he just pointed again for me to go get one because he didn't want to restock. I went to the bar to get a glass of wine and only one person besides me was there they ordered and then it was my turn but someone else came up and the bartender took her order this happened 3 times before i kindly said sir i would like to order which he replied when Im done with this new girl when he finally got my order I asked him for a Chardonnay. I took a sip and knew it was a Riesling, i said sir is this a Chardonnay and his reply was you said you wanted a Chardonnay or whatever!! HUH?? Who says they want a certain type of wine or whatever?? But what gets me is I said no sir I didn't I wanted a Chardonnay and he wanted to argue. DAMN!! let me also state right here I NEVER NOT ONCE lost my temper or even argued with any of the crew that treated me like crap. I would just leave because Im not a fighter. 

I tried to get  a massage the second day and when I asked for the girl at desk to explain the difference or for help choosing a massage she just handed me another brochure which I already had in my hand and was asking while I was looking at it. The employees i encountered all looked like they hated their jobs and hated that I was making them for help or anything well let me take that back the only one that was nice was the waiter at dinner but we only ate at our assigned dinning table two nights because when i asked to change the time of our dinner because it was so late and my son was starving by 8:30 which meant the food got to us 9 or after anyway they said they couldn't or wouldn't one of the two. so we ate at the bar for breakfast, lunch, and dinner which was the same things everyday and the food has much to be desired. let me also state the buffet is also on the floor that smells like sewer. the smell never went away. Really killed my appetite.. 

So I get  a phone call to my room from a gentleman in excursions offering me 20 percent off if i book one for i next port of call which i said okay and then i get my bill and they didn't take the 20 percent off so when i ask them why they say oh that was excluded.. REALLY You have to be kidding me.. LIES LIARS.. I didn't argue i said whatever and walked away.. So its our last night and i get the summary of charges and i had all these charges for water, sprites, and cokes $4.25 apiece but I purchased a drink package so I wouldn't get raped with these charges. they proceed to say the package doesn't cover the minibar in our room. First of all I wasn't told this and could have been informed when i purchased the package or when they were restocking it everyday. A coke is a coke who cares where you get it on the ship.. Anyway I explained to him my son and I have been in our room the whole ship.. Either there was nothing for him to do our we decided to stay in the room because overtime we got out someone was being rude or hateful. we only got out to eat then back to our room for the entire trip.. Worst experience of my life. This was also my sons birthday trip and i wasted it and he was miserable. I felt like a failure as a Mom. I even cried because i had so much stress when I was trying to get customer service to give me the money back for the cokes and sprites. They still took $485 from me and we sat in our room the whole trip.. I Paid $1500.00 to set in a room on a ship.... 

Out of everything that was done the main thing I hope you guys change is the attitudes of the employees.. Customer Service is the WORST.. KINDNESS IS EVERYTHING.. A bad situation could be forgotten with a kind person.

Best Regards, 

Alysia Collins

Great Service! Great food! Ship was clean and in good condition. Great for what we paid for. We really enjoyed the destinations. The activities were okay, so we found ourselves a little board, but overall, it was pretty good.

This was my first cruise, but won't be my last.  The food was amazing, and the ship is beautiful.  A few things I learned being my first cruise.  I got a stateroom with a balcony...this is a must, they do a fabulous job fitting so much into such a small area and the balcony gives you so much additional space.  The bathroom is small and it did take a bit getting use to.  The ship has lots of activities going on throughout the day/night a daily pamphlet is provided and I recommend at least a quick glance.  I recommend the beverage package I did not have to pay for any additional food items while on board, it was great knowing the total cost of the trip ahead of time.  Plenty of food options so I did not need to go to the resturants that had additional fees.  Booked the shore excursions through Celebrity...they take all the guess work out of the day picking you up and making sure you know where to go to get back on the ship.  

A great ship for an adult cruise.  While there were a few kids onboard the ship is well designed for adult activities.  Our stateroom was well designed and comfortable.  We appreciated the level of service from Celebrity employees in every department. The Martini Bar was a show in itself! The bartenders put on a show with every drink poured!

this is our 4th cruise, 2nd with Celebrity, but we've never taken a five night cruise until now.  At first, we thought it might be too short, but it was perfect.  Cozumel was terrific; we didn't explore the island, but we did some great snorkeling there!   The excursion operator, booked through Celebrity, was the best snorkeling guide we've ever had; they went into the water with us and made sure we were safe and saw amazing fishes.  The lead guide's name was Gil and he was fantastic!  His entire crew was fantastic as well.  The only other port was Key West and the weather was awful due to the storm that dumped two to three feet of snow in the DC area.  We needed R&R time so we didn't mind staying on the ship because of the weather.  The two,destination and two days at sea was a perfect itinerary.  Food was terrific on the most part.  We dined in the Tuscan Grill the first night and the food was good.  We ordered ribeye, which was extra charge on top of the specialty restaurant charge and honestly, while it was good, it wasn't that much better than the NY strip that was included.  The rest of the time we were very content with the food in the ocean view buffet.  We loved the flexibility and the variety.  The Indian food was especially good!  The Biriyani was among the best I've tasted!  Dessert was disappointing, but the cupcakes were good!  Service staff, on the most part, was excellent.  The Persian garden is small!   We missed the Persian garden on the bigger ships.  While the ship wasn't the youngest in Celebrity's fleet, it was very well maintained.  While we missed the larger spa on the bigger ships, we liked the smaller more intimate size of this ship.  

First ever cruise and I loved it. Clean ship, good food, lots of activities. I think we tried to do too much cause we were worn out at the end. Loved officers vs guests water volleyball. We were upgraded from a interior cabin to ocean view for free somehow.

Overall I enjoyed the cruise very much. The staff was very accommodating and friendly. The stateroom was laid out nicely. The only negative that I will site is the lack of dining choices with only the pool hamburger bar, the buffet and the main dining room. The food was acceptable but certainly not memorable. It would have been nice to have had access to other themed (Italian, Asian etc.) restaurants that weren't specialty (for pay).