Wednesday 20th August 2008
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The Beautiful Baltic |
| Reviewed By: hatton, CHISLEHUST on 29th Jun 2008 |
| Cruise Line: Celebrity Cruises |
Times cruised before: 1-2 |
| Cruise Ship: Constellation |
Sailed:
June,
2008 |
| Destination: Baltic |
Age: 46-55 |
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Baltic Cruise with Celebrity on the Constellation (14th -28th June 2008)....
This is a fantastic experience, with its centrepiece being a visit to what surely should be one of the wonders of the modern world, the renovated St Petersberg. Getting on board and leaving the shp at the end of the cruise could not have been easier, which is such a plus compared with those endless hours at airports. But it is what happens in between those two dates which is really the purpose of the trip, so here goes.
From our perspective the intention of the cruise is to use a floating hotel to allow us to visit lots of places and get a taste of those cultures. We only booked excursions in St Petersberg, prefering to wander alone through the other capitals. The shuttle was available in all ports to ferry from ship to a drop off point in town. It was handy in Stockholm and Helsinki but not really needed in Amsterdam, Tallinn or Copenhagen. Amsterdam was facinating but there were only a few hours on land so we limited ourselves to the Van Gogh museum. We'll go back to Amsterdam another time. Berlin was 3 hours away so we opted to stay locally and Roctock was worth a visit. Stockholm was wonderful and the visit to the Vasa museum is really worthwhile. Do not go anywheer by taxi! Its incredibly expensive and cabbies dont take cash, only credit cards! Helsinki was bit disappointing. It was a holiday for the Finns, so shops shut at midday - noone had told the cruisers, so lots of disappointed shoppers returned to the ship empty handed. We were told by many that the stone church was woth a visit. Tallinn was wet, which made tourism difficult but the old city was well worth wandering around. And Copenhagen, which we had visited before, was again lively and easy to get around. Its not a cheap experience but it is a wonderful city. There's not much I can say about St Petersberg except that it a tourism must see. No photographs will ever do it justice! Magnificent, fabulous and awe-inspiring sites await you at the Hermitage and all the palaces and ain churches.
With regards to the ship, the cabins are excellent and comfortable (we had a 2B class cabin with a balcony). Housekeeping was great and attentive. The food was very good, although breakfast in the buffet area can be a little congested. A more civilised option is breakfast in the main dining area. Evening meals had good choice and were beautifully presented. A minor critisism came from a vegetarian on our table, who was rather less well served by a somewhat limited menu. From our perspective the menu was perhaps a but too American, with no localised option of perhaps a dish from the country we were about to visit (but hey, it is an American cruise so we should perhaps expect that). And the wine list is very extensive. Entertainment in the theatre was superb, whilst the other bands and enetertainers on board were of varying quality. The beauty spa was excellent and the gym was also visited a couple of times...well equiped and with helpful staff. Given variable weather, andindoor pool area allowed bathers to swim and sit in the jacuzzi pools without feeling cold shoulders. Overall the ships staff were exceptional in terms of friendlines and willingness to help.
We've already booked next year for the Venice to Barcelona trip with Century....
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| Quality of Food |  |
| San Marco restaurant evenings, buffet at most other times. The problems of a virus on the immediately prevous cuise meant that awareness of health issues were a crew priority. It resulted in lots of food queues in the first half of the cruise. They dealt with it all very well and it was good to see that they had good procedures set up for such eventualities | | Entertainment | |
| All performers in the theatre were excellent but one band (Top Notch), who were the ships party band, were quite awful | | Shore Excursions |  |
| Only used in St Petersberg, where they are required, and both trips were superb | | Staff | |
| All were attentive and seemed to want to help make your cruise memorable | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities |  |
| Our second cruise with Celebrity and this is the one area where we do not think they really perform. 3 lectures on russian history from Romanovs to the current day should have been facinating. What we got was a bored lecturer withot any significant visual aids, who seemed to speaking so he could get a free trip. The other main speaker was a technician on ships....not our cup of tea. What about classes on line dancing or ballroom dancing classes (not just one at 10.30 am). Learn bridge, or cooking demonsrations on local food. How about using the cinema more creatively to inform us about the local history (or perhaps a TV channel). | | Cabins | |
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