In July 2013, we cruised from Amsterdam to Scandinavia and Russia for 12 nights on the Celebrity Constellation. This was the best cruise of the nine weve done. The ship was lovely, the crew couldnt have done a better job, and the ports were incredible. We have cruised several times on both Holland America and Celebrity, but Celebrity is now definitely our favorite.

We arrived at the cruise terminal about 11:00 and were checked in within 10 minutes. Suite guests were boarding. We had to wait about 10 minutes for general boarding. We boarded and had some lunch. Rooms were available at 12:00, so we made our way to the best cabin in the whole world, a corner aft Family Veranda normally reserved for 5 people. When we booked, more than six months before the cruise, I was dumbfounded that they allowed 2 people to book this cabin, for only $200 more than a regular veranda cabin. The best part was the huge veranda with a 270 view. The aft position sheltered it from wind when the ship was moving. We also enjoyed the separate sitting room with two couches, and the huge amount of storage. Never before have we been able to open a closet door without blocking access to the other closet and the bathroom. This made unpacking a breeze. We are seriously considering choosing our future cruises based on the availability of this wonderful cabin. Our stewards were great.

The food was very good. Since we had such a nice cabin, we ordered room service several times, which we have never done in our eight previous cruises. We also ate dinner twice at Tuscan Grille (30% off on the first night of the cruise), once at Ocean Liners, once at the Bistro on Five, and several times in the Oceanview Cafe. We tried the San Marco dining room, but we did Select Dining for the first time, and while we liked the flexibility, we really disliked the closeness of the 2-tops. I was actually nearer to the person seated at the next table, than I was to my husband across the table from me. It was really awkward, pretending you were at a private table, while knowing that people at the table 12 inches away could hear every word you said. So we ended up enjoying the alternative dining options more than the dining room. We liked the food variety and quality very much. Celebrity did a great job of changing the menus daily. There were only two things that werent perfect: beverage service in the Oceanview Cafe was not adequately staffed (I waited 25 minutes for a glass of wine), and the coffee was terrible. (They did have one pot each morning labeled strong coffee that tasted better, if you can find it the location changed periodically.) Other than that, we enjoyed the meals quite well. Read more