Celebrity Constellation Review

4.5 / 5.0
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Very anxious to try Celebrity

Review for Canada & New England Cruise on Celebrity Constellation
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ackieboy
First Time Cruiser • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Sep 2007
Cabin: Deluxe Ocean View with Balcony 2A

Embarkation: We arrived at Cape Liberty around 1130 am. I was actually quite surprised at just how makeshift the cruise terminal was. As compared to the facilities in Red Hook or even New York City, it seemed almost as though they took an old cargo terminal (which is what I believe they did), put up some new signs and created a cruise terminal. In any case, check-in procedures were handled with a minimum of effort and before long, we were directed to the waiting area to await embarkation. Being physically challenged, I was put on one of the first buses to the ship. Incidentally, the staff at Cape Liberty handled the embarkation needs of special needs passengers well. My only observation is that, not being a wheelchair user, but having requested one at embarkation, there was a short wait once we got to the ship for them to escort us aboard. Once this was sorted out however, it was smooth sailing for the next two weeks. Upon boarding, we were told that the staterooms would not be ready until about 1:30pm, so we proceeded to Deck 10 for lunch. While the embarkation buffet consisted of most of the usual selections, the quality was definitely, several cuts above average. Another thing which seemed to set this first meal apart, was Celebrity's attention to detail. Not only were the trays lined with linen napkins, but there were ample staff members to assist with carrying trays.

Stateroom - Initially upon getting my cabin assignment, I was concerned at the location, Deck 9 forward. However, upon entering cabin 9018 my concerns dissipated. The cabin was very comfortable, with the beds configured as twins as requested. I did notice however, that closet space was not as abundant as on the Crown Princess, which I sailed on earlier this year. However, our cabin steward, Allan, quickly offered to store our empty suitcases for us to give us more room in the cabin. Also, as I am mobility impaired (I walk with crutches and braces, however have never found the need to request an accessible cabin), I require a stool for the shower. Here again, Allan quick complied with my request, as well as making sure that our cabin was well kept and our needs met for the rest of the voyage. Having seen our home for the next two weeks, it was now time to go explore! Public Areas - My first impression in seeing the public spaces on board Constellation, is that they are elegant and understated, with less of the flash and glitz found on other lines. One of our first orders of business was to try to change our dining room seating. We had initially been given late seating, but as we do not like eating dinner late, asked to be switched to early seating. A quick visit to the Rendez-Vous Lounge was all it took to deal with this. Again, the general impression I got was that the staff took pride in providing service which was effortless and unassuming. With this taken care of we went to make reservations at The Ocean Liners Restaurant for one evening later in the voyage. We then walked around for a while trying to familiarize ourselves with various lounges and public spaces. My first impression was that Constellation was indeed a well planned out ship whose public spaces and passenger flow allowed one to quickly become comfortable. Next we returned to our stateroom to see if our luggage had arrived, which indeed it had. After some unpacking, it was time to proceed to the Celebrity Theatre for the muster drill. Here again, the staff of the Constellation excelled, quickly directing us to the section toward the entrance of the theatre which is reserved for physically challenged guests, thus alleviating the need for climbing down stairs. Surprisingly, when it was time to go out on deck to where the boats would actually be lowered in the event of an emergency, we were directed by a staff member to return to our cabin, as they said it was not necessary for us to stand out on deck. This being the case, we returned to our stateroom to dress for dinner.

Dining: The first night of any cruise can be intimidating in terms of meeting the people who will be your dining companions for the rest of the trip. Upon entering the beautiful San Marco Dining Room, my trepidation was almost immediately relieved. We were greeted warmly by our servers, Bernard and Pauline, two of the best, most professional wait staff I have ever had on any cruise. Not only was no request too small, but they always provided menu suggestions which were right on the money. As for our tablemates, sometimes you just get lucky, and in this case we couldn't have been luckier! We immediately hit it off with June and John from Scotland, and Betty, Caroline and Kay from England. Over the next two weeks, we would share many travel stories and laughs and hopefully we will stay in touch for a long time to come. In terms of quality, the food was consistently excellent. Standout dishes included the rack of lamb, veal chop and the osso buco, but truthfully , I cannot say that we had a dinner which wasa disappointing (and we like well prepared food and eat out a lot at home). Breakfasts and lunches we mostly ate at the buffet and found the daily offerings there to be quite good. I especially enjoyed the waffles at breakfast and the pasta at lunch. I did feel that Princess and Royal Caribbean had an edge when it came to pizza, but to me, that was a small detail. Our one dinner in Ocean Liners, was what I would imagine dining was like on the great ships of yesteryear, was a very fancy affair. We shared this meal with our tablemates from the dining room John and June and had a very pleasant experience. Standout dishes included the goat cheese souffle, the lobster and scallop entree and of course, the chocolate souffle for dessert.

Cabin Review

Deluxe Ocean View with Balcony 2A

Cabin 2a
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