Celebrity Constellation Review

Eastern Meditarrenean Dream of Lifetime on Constellation

Review for the Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on Celebrity Constellation
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travelbug1025
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Apr 2016

We chose this cruise specifically for the itinerary and it did not disappoint. We arrived Civitavecchia the night before our sailing and proceeded immediately to inform ourselves where the Shuttle pick up would be the next day. Well the information office was closed, so no luck there. The next morning we got so so information, around Fort Michael Angelo on the left at the parking area. Well this info was wrong, we waited and waited for the shuttle which never showed. A local bus driver took pity on us and drove us and another couple directly to the ship for embarkation. If you can figure out the shuttle pick up, good luck, we didn't.

The embarkation was quick and very efficient. We were in our cabin with luggage by 13h30. The ship is great shape for her age, our cabin was much larger than we thought. Large shower and bathroom, great balcony. My husband asked our cabin steward if he could change his balcony chair for a lounge chair no problem, it was done while we were out for lunch. The food was very varied in the Oceanview Cafe but we mostly enjoyed eating in the SanMarco Dining Room. We loved Select Dining (anytime) and really appreciated being seated mostly with the same waiter every night. Entertainment was excellent but we hardly participated in the activities because the cruise itinerary is so jam packed with no time for activities. Service was excellent, nothing was too difficult. We experience the Ocean Liners Restaurant which was excellent, I suggest you wait until they offer a reduction (like 2 for 1 night).

As for shore excursions, they tend to be expensive, we took a couple from the ships - Pompeii on your own, which was very disappointing since we had to wait over 1 hour to buy tickets (lots of wasted precious time), wish we were told about this, we would have made other excursion choices. We also took the Athens Sightseeing and Acropolis tour which was excellent and well organized. All other excursions were organized by ourselves using Cruise Critic Roll Call. We absolutely loved all the Ports we stopped at, but our favourites were Malta and Santorini. Celebrity has it down for service and organization. We loved our cruise and will cruise with Celebrity again.

Cabin Review

Port Reviews

Rome (Civitavecchia)

The port shuttle service is a mess. You can't get the right information. I wish the cruise line would inform passengers exactly where the pick ups are.

Taormina (Messina)

We organized a tour on our own with other Cruise Critic members to Taormina and it was great.

Malta (Valletta)

We decided to use the Malta HOHO which I would not recommend. It was fine when we got on very early in the morning but by noon coming back from Mdina was pandemoniium. Old small rickety buses which could not accommodate passengers at peak hours. Crowds to get back on from Mdina were way to large for such a small bus. I strongly suggest you organize a taxi pick up and drop off.

Rhodes

We used the shuttle service from the cruise line and walked the old town of Rhodes.

Very nice and relaxing day.

Kusadasi

We organized a semi-private tour on our own with Cruise Critic Roll Call Ephesusshuttle.com which was on time and excellent and inexpensive. Do not miss Ephesus. Kusadasi is a beach town which was a nice surprise. Thanks Helene.

Mykonos

We took the shuttle offered by Celebrity and walked the town of Mykonos. Cute as a button. Have lunch in Little Venice, we really enjoyed our day.

Athens (Piraeus)

We were in Athens for 2 days so the first day we did on our own. We took local transportation to la Plaka and spent the day exploring this old part of town. We had yummy Greek yogurt and honey.

Athens (Piraeus)

The next day we took the tour from the ship and visited the Acropolis with highlights of Athens. It was an excellent tour which I would recommend.

Santorini

We took the tender to Fira Old Port from our ship and decided to use the ferry shuttle between Fira and Oia. This was the best decision ever, the tour includes ferry shuttle from Fira to Oia (25min) our left at 08h05 then a bus waits for you to bring you up to Oia town. We were the first boat/bus to Oia (08h30) we had the town to ourselves so quiet and beautiful. Our favorite experience of all the cruise, took so many beautiful photos and film. Then we had a quick lunch in Oia (pita gyro) small joint near bus station. Took bus back to Fira (included in the tour) around 12h00. This tour service is operated by NST Travel and costs 20E per person, it includes shullte ferry from Fira to Oia, bus up to Oia, bus back to Fira and Lift ticket back down to Fira Port. Best deal ever. There are two operators offering the same service at the same price. Pls consider this tour it is amazing.

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