Exceptional Customer Service

This cruise exceeded my expectations and this was my 39th cruise overall, over 7 different cruise lines. We were on its sister ship, the Millennium, in October and the Constellation seemed to be in better condition overall. The Millennium went into dry dock in Feb. and the Constellation is due early next year.

We were Aqua class guaranteed and I knew there was a risk being on the 9th deck with noise up above from the pool deck, but I didn't expect banging 2 nights in a row at 3:00am. I let guest relations know, and the next morning they called to see if it had been quieter which it had. She told me they sent security there overnight to make sure it was quiet.

We also got an unrelated call from Guest Relations to ask how our arrival to to ship went. We had a problem with Choice air reservations which cost us more at the airport and I was going to contact them then I returned from our trip to resolve it. Guest relations immediately issued me a credit on our account without going back through Choice Air.

Our balcony cabin was similar to every other balcony we've had. Only room for one person to walk between the end of the bed and the wall. With Aqua Class we got extra spray jets in the shower.

Relative to other cruises, I thought the entertainment was excellent. We had seen several of the guest entertainers on other cruises before, but the Celebrity entertainers were as good as I have seen on ships.

They had 3 different enrichment speaking series for days at sea including an Improv duo that my husband loved. We don't do the trivia games or all the merchandise "sales" so that gave us something else to do since we do not hang out at the pool.

The itinerary was the reason why we booked this cruise and it was fascinating. India is dirty and crowded, but that's India. It also has beautiful temples, outdoor laundries, gardens, upscale hotels, etc. It's part of the experience. Abu Dhabi and Dubai were much more western than I had anticipated. Phuket is a beach resort paradise. Singapore is immaculately clean and there's a lot to see there. I had arranged private tours in advance for each port, which I do for all of our cruises, so I can't comment on the shore excursions dept. On all cruise ships they are meant to be profit centers unless you go on luxury cruises where they are included.

We ate our meals in Blu, the restaurant for Aqua Class. The sommelier and wait staff were exceptional. The food was better than the main dining room. We liked the speciality restaurant, Qsine, better than the Tuscan Grill. Qsine has 20 different tapas selections and we enjoyed everything we ordered. The Oceanview Cafe is at par with other Celebrity and Princess ships. There are a lot of selections but you have to go all the way around both sides to see everything. Azamara is better, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and NCL are worse.

If you are up for an exotic itinerary and can bear the heat and humidity in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Singapore, I would highly recommend this cruise.

If you have a choice, don't pick a cabin under the pool deck. I didn't mind hearing people walk, but when they started dragging and banging furniture around, it gets noisy.