Celebrity Constellation Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Background My wife and I (a little older than the '50' in the title) decided to add a short cruise after a vacation in Miami Beach. The objective was to see how we liked cruising. Our holiday in Miam Beach was in a condo overlooking the Government Cut and we are able to watch many cruise ships departing port from our balcony and only about 350 metres away from us. Conclusion from that experience: The Carnival ships passing were PARTY SHIPS. It was nice to here the 'When I wish upon a star' played on the Disney ship's horns as they set sail.
Arrival
We took a cab from Miami Beach to the pier. Checking in shortly before noon everything went smoothly and quickly. The excellent customer service standards that Celebrity seems to have were immediately noted. We were directed (Surprise Surprise) to the 'Bistro on Five' for a first lunch. I say 'Surprise' because it is one of the pay extra facilities and there is a fairly constant sales pitch to sell the up-charged items aboard the ship. The $5.00 cover charge seemed quite reasonable as this although wasn't the fanciest meals we had on ship it was the freshest and well prepared and very tasty. The primary items on the menu are soups and both sweet and savoury crepes.
Cabin Review
Concierge Class 1
I had selected room 9201 when booking from the deck plan. From the pictures it looked like the balcony was larger than the other ones in the same class. This proved to be correct. The balcony was almost as big as the main area of the cabin. Interestingly, being astern of the ship, the balcony was well protected and we never once had to deal with wind when outside. The actual room very nice and we appreciated the many storage options so that it was easy to keep tidy. Not having cruised before I can't really comment on how it compares to other ships or cruise lines.
Located at the stern and on a high deck we did notice more movement in this cabin than other areas in the ship.
There is a bit of noise from the lounge one deck above. When the balcony doors were open we could hear the entertainer and also whenever chars were slid across the floor. For us, this wasn't a problem but may be for others.