We were delighted to book our 9 Night Cruise on the Celebrity Constellation for in late November. We found an cabin available on Deck 3 close to the Concierge Desk. We love this location. We arrived around 11AM at the port and walked into the terminal. The terminal was very impersonal as was the check in process. When we boarded, we were disappointed to find out that the MDR was not open. We were sent to Deck 10 where we chose to eat at the Spa Cafe. This used to be a highlight for us on the Celebrity Ships, but the originality and quality of food was not very inspiring. We had a pleasant place to wait for the cabins to become available. Since this cruise was after Thanksgiving, I was disappointed not to see more holiday decorations or festivity.
Our cabin was very clean and our stewards Diana and Danilo were excellent. The room was always magically cleaned when we weren't there. They cleared the refrigerator upon our request and found a place to store the suitcase that didn't fit under the bed. Despite being near the the lobby, our room was extremely quiet. The first night we didn't get chocolates on our pillows and we found out that Celebrity doesn't do that anymore. On the first formal night, they gave us some other treat and that was it. Celebrity, please bring back the Chocolates.
Our Dining Experience in the MDR was acceptable, but not special. We actually liked the smaller portions, but were disappointed in the time waiting to order, waiting for each course, waiting for coffee, etc. Our poor server and assistant had too many people to serve. They tried their best, but service has definitely declined. Also, the dining room was very loud. It was very hard to hear at a table of six if you were in the center lower section of the main dining room with the open second floor. During open seating at breakfast and lunch, we found that if Dario was overseeing the operation of the dining room that everyone seemed to be working together smoothly. Dario had an ability to spot when servers needed assistance and stepped in to help. When he wasn't there, it was not the same. We had 2 dinners and one lunch in Ocean Liners. This experience was phenomenal. The dishes were well prepared and the service was outstanding. Carlos did a superior job in Ocean Liners. The grill near the pool was the best I've experienced on any ship. The sorbets on deck 10 were awesome.
Clean, Very Quiet, Excellent Location, Convenient to Lobby