My wife and I had the pleasure of sailing on the Celebrity Constellation on a 10 day Western Mediterranean Cruise that started on October 4, 2002, in Barcelona. There had been very few reviews of the Constellation - in fact, the Cruise Critic's own review was only posted a couple of weeks before we sailed, so I thought I would share my thoughts about this beautiful ship.
The Constellation is Celebrity's most recent ship - the 4th and probably last of the so-called Millennium Class ships (named after the first of them). The ship is new this year, and after 6 months of sailing European waters, it still looked fresh and new.
The Ship's Appearance
The outside of the ship is very classy - simple colors of blue, white and teak with little ornamentation. Most of the rooms have verandahs, although there are plenty of simple ocean view and inside cabins. The basic cabins are not huge, but are well laid out, with either 2 twin beds or a king, a small sitting area, large mirror and plenty of storage. The interior design of most of the rooms is very tropical, with oranges and lime greens predominating. The bath shower seemed a tad more spacious than the Century class, and it was definitely the best shower I have ever had at sea - plenty hot, and plenty powerful.
We had a Cat 1B aft cabin which had a spectacularly large balcony - something like 17x9, or almost as large as our room. On the 8th floor, most of the balcony was very private. We entertained new friends a couple of times and spent many a late evening on the deck. This was no more money than a regular 1B, so search these out as they are quite incredible.
Service
We had marvelous service from our cabin steward "Freddy" from the Philippines. He might as well have been our butler. In fact, we had better service from him than we had from a "real" butler on the Galaxy earlier this year. He brought us breakfast, including fresh omeletes and homemade croissants. When we had guests over, he brought over extra wine glasses, cheese, fruit and cracker plates, a tablecloth for the table on the deck - you name it, he would get it for you, with a smile and enthusiasm. Basically, I thought this was a whole lot better than a Sky Suite when factoring in that we don't take baths and our balcony was 3 times the size of the Sky Suites - and it was roughly $1,000 less!!
Drinking and Dining
The ship is layed out pretty much like every other Celebrity ship - so if you have sailed the Horizon, Century or Galaxy you will feel right at home. It's just a whole lot roomier. For those of you who are nonsmokers, it even has one of the few completely non-smoking bars at sea. The Martini Bar, starboard on deck 5, not only makes the largest and best Martinis anywhere - land or sea - but is completely smoke free. Most of the Cova Caffe Milano is also smoke free, due to its layout mostly being starboard also.
The main dining room is the Marco Polo. It is very spacious and well laid out with classy but not ostentatious decorating. The food was the best we have ever had on a cruise. Celebrity is known for its food being a cut above, but many comments on the boards and other reviews have been less complementary of the food recently. Our experience was just the opposite - the food was better than ever!! Steaks and chops were cooked perfectly - from medium rare to well done - however you liked it. I had wonderful lamb chops - thick and juicy and rare, with a wonderful sauce that made you totally forget about even asking for mint jelly. And the veal steaks we had one evening were some of the best we have had anywhere - including some pretty ritzy places in the States. Even the pastas - usually not one of the mainstays, were cooked just al-dente, and the sauces were not too overpowering. The only weakness was the shrimp cocktails on "lobster" night - they were mealy and tasteless. But the lobsters were fantastic - huge and meaty and flavorful. And (if you were nice) you could have more than one!!!
I must make a special comment about the soups and appetizers, which continue to amaze. Even if you are not a fan of cream or cold soups, you have got to try some on the Constellation!
We had dinner one night at the specialty restaurant, Ocean Liners. The service was quite simply over the top. My wife was even escorted to the rest room. The food was excellent, but really, not a whole lot better than what was being served nightly in the main restaurant. I'd say it is worth the extra $25 per person for no more than one night of the cruise. I think for this to truly catch on, the food choices need to be more dramatically different than what is available elsewhere on the ship.
The Seaside Cafe is the buffet restaurant on the pool deck. When fully operational, it has something like 6 separate buffet lines, not including the specialty islands (omeletes and eggs how you like them in the morning - pastas in the afternoons). We only ate there a couple of times since we loved having breakfast on our balcony, and the itinerary was very port intensive. Our criticism would be the hours for lunch are a bit short - there were a couple of days when we could have used a bite, say around 3 or 4 in the afternoon and it was already closed. Still, pizza time started at 4 and it was pretty marvelous pizza. The burgers were pretty blah, but wait it out for the turkey burgers - sometimes a 15 minute wait, and you will get a sandwich worth eating.
We are wine drinkers, and part of the pleasure of a European cruise is picking up some nice bottles on shore and bringing them to dinner. The corkage fee was $12 - a tad high, but worth it with some of the great prices we found for exceptional wine - especially in Barcelona. But I have to admit the wine list has improved dramatically since my first cruise with Celebrity 4 years ago. Not only are the prices more reasonable - good bottles can be had for $18 - $38, but the variety of European wines was excellent. The wine list in Ocean Liners is even more extensive - and expensive - and the corkage fee there was $15 - but they did decant our 97 Grand Cru Bordeaux (which probably didn't need it, but it was good theater).
Entertainment
We are not big entertainment goers, but the feedback from the friends we made on the ship was that except for the classical artists, who were quite good, the rest of the entertainment was average at best - not up to Royal Caribbean or Princess standards. I will attest that the classical musicians were quite good - and they played all over the ship - from dinner in both restaurants, to the Cova Caffe Milano, to Michaels - the soon to be forgotten cigar club. That's right - the classiest cigar bars afloat are soon going the way of smoking sections in Los Angeles restaurants - to be no more. And this Michaels was as beautiful as the one on the Century - everyone's favorite. But, it was not very well used, even on an European cruise where the demographics would tend to favor cigar smokers. I was told by the very nice hostess from Lithuania that it will be converted to a piano bar sometime in the next 6 months.
The nightclub - Reflections - on deck 11 forward was huge and loud and quite busy most nights after midnight. So, if you like to dance away your calories, this was definitely the place. The DJ is hidden at the bar, so you need to go play hide and seek to make requests. For the most part hip hop and 70’s disco were king, although there was also a 50’s-60's night. Good old rock and roll - well, it seems no one really dances to that any more, I guess. Oh well...
Pool Deck Area
The outdoor pool area was very large, with two pools - a wading pool and a lap pool with very comfortable temps. There were also plenty of Jacuzzi's. On this cruise, mostly because it was so port intensive, it was never crowded. On a full ship in the Caribbean, I'm sure it will be surrounded. Another good reason to have that large aft balcony just a hop, skip and jump away!!
The Thalassotherapy pool pretty much acts like an indoor pool on this ship. After awhile the jets on the head and the metal bars get to be a little annoying. Still, it was refreshing, and since our one full sea day had real skittish weather, it got plenty of use. Lots of chairs with wonderful views - and even its own, quasi healthy food bar.
The spa was huge and overrun with the usual gamut of young British women all trying to sell you something you really don't need. But it sounds so good.... My wife did get her hair done, some shade she has never seen in the States, but hey - it was Europe, and she looked great!!
For those of you who believe you must continue to exercise while on vacation, the workout room was humongous, with a zillion machines of every persuasion and great views out the front of the ship to keep you motivated. Rarely any waiting.
Art etc.
Another Celebrity novelty, if you will, is the modern art throughout its ships. While I am still most fond of the art on the Century, I have to admit the statues on the Constellation were quite wonderful. Check out King Kong on deck 11 and the young man looking oh so forlorn in Reflections. Then there is red and black man, enjoying a drink with you in the Champagne bar. There are numerous other examples. But it does help make for an even more imaginative cruise experience.
Speaking of imaginative… While not quite "Borders" at sea, the Constellation does have a music bar, called "Notes" where you can sit at a computer, and after 5 or 10 minutes of moderate frustration, actually listen to some music while sitting in quite comfortable chairs. Open 24 hours, it's a nice place to take that book you checked out from their library - I got a relatively new historical novel by David Nevin called "Treason" - and spend some quiet time. Oh, but then the balcony beckons...
The ship also has a relatively large computer room, which never seemed very busy - probably because they charged 50 cents per minute. On shore, we rarely paid more than $2.00 for a half hour at one of the numerous Internet cafes. People we spoke with who used the computer service said it was agonizingly slow, and cost anywhere from $5 to $20 to read and send a few emails. Good place to run some spreadsheets or type out a few letters, though. And they did run computer classes on "Word" and "Excel" if you think cruising is supposed to be a school-like experience.
We don't gamble, but the casino was plenty large and plenty busy when at sea. We actually met some people who claimed to have won. Well, who am I to doubt them?
Excursions
Of course, if you really want to gamble, on this cruise, you could have gone to the Monte Carlo Casino - just remember to bring your passport, a sports-coat, and $10 for an entrance fee.
This cruise was excursion heavy. And a lot of the fellow passengers we met took excursions almost every day. Reports ranged from "Excellent" to "unprintable." They were certainly expensive - some costing as much as $150 or more per person for a full day exploring Rome, for instance. Well, that day there were 400,000 Spaniards in St. Peters, and at least one of the excursion managers was smart enough to go back in the afternoon, and actually got his group into the Sistine Chapel, when most everyone else had given up. Most of the Spaniards - in town for a Beatification of one of their priests - had left St. Peters by lunchtime and, seemingly had made it to the Spanish Steps area, where we had stopped for an enjoyable lunch after a beautiful walk from Travestere.
We're old Europe hands, and pretty much did everything on our own. Six of us rented a taxi in Livorno, and had a great day in Florence for just a tad more than the train ride plus taxi back to the ship would have been - without the worry. Nice was a $1.50 and 10 minute bus ride away. Palermo was literally right outside the boat's gangway. Seriously, if you do Europe, do some research, have some fun, and skip the excursions.
Cruise Highlight
The highlight of the cruise for us was hiring a private driver in Naples and seeing the Amalfi Coast. How much more pleasurable in a Mercedes E series with only our driver and a private tour guide instead of a crowded bus, going around those crazy bends to one beautiful vista after another - and, for pretty much the same money!!
We had a great time - met some great people - and really enjoyed what has got to be one of the best cruise ships afloat these days. If you have a chance to take the Constellation - either on one of its 7-day Southern Caribbean itineraries this winter - or better yet, in Europe next season, you should grab at the chance. And look for one of those aft cabins.....we may be your neighbors!!!
