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Constellation - A More Cheerful View |
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Reviewed By: Crispin, Rickmansworth on 2nd Jul 2009
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| Cruise Line: Celebrity Cruises |
Times cruised before: 6-10 |
| Cruise Ship: Constellation |
Sailed:
May,
2009 |
| Destination: Baltic |
Age: 56-65 |
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We chose Constellation again because we had greatly enjoyed a Baltic cruise on her in 2002, on her 2nd voyage after delivery. This time, as the sailing date approached, we were somewhat alarmed because of the debate about the prices of alcoholic drinks and because, reading reviews of earlier cruises, it appeared that the ship was schizophrenic, with half the reviewers rating her highly and half rating her very poorly.
We drove to Harwich and found the arrival process very slick, as indeed was disembarkation. We booked, and enjoyed, an excellent Concierge class cabin. The cabin service was outstanding, with early breakfasts in the cabin making for an easy start when needed and afternoon tea being a super pick-up when returning weary to the ship from a day pounding the pavements.
The spa was good and the Persian Garden, on a voyage rate for two, just what was needed on a cruise that suffered from some unseasonably cold weather.
The service and food in the main dining room was excellent, both at dinner and breakfast, whilst the two sea-day brunches were fun and full of choice. The waiter service evening-only restaurant, at the stern in the Seaside Grill, was good fun with its great views on the best day of the cruise for weather, whilst the Ocean Liner speciality restaurant was superb. Snacks and casual lunch from the café were fine, even if the choice meant darting from one serving area to another, whilst the ice cream counter was hard to pass without picking up a cone.
The entertainment was a bit variable and rather too loud but things improved once the Cruise Director showed us the best place to sit for sound balance.
We found drink prices reasonable, but then we are used to London area prices, and that was helped by the cost of extras falling as we cruised because the pound was rising against the dollar. The excursions were expensive, more so for anyone who booked in sterling before sailing and were charged $1.38 = £1.00 against the rate on the cruise of over $1.60 = £1.00, so even paying the on-board rate we only used them in St Petersburg and found them well organised with high quality guides.
Constellation was unable to dock in Stockholm because of the weather, with a strong and gusty northerly wind making the normal passage too hazardous, whilst a top temperature of about 37F wasn’t ideal, so it moored off some 30 miles south. We used the local train service, made easy by information given out on board, but Celebrity did score one own goal as the need to use tenders shortened the time in Stockholm, although that reduced the risk of hypothermia, yet the shuttle bus price of $30, which was substantially more than the cost of the good local train service, produced a classic case of less for more.
The ship was in excellent condition after 7 years in service, apart from some minor snags, with the stainless steel and mirrors gleaming throughout the public areas. For us it was a delightful cruise, despite the variable weather, and the ship exceeded expectations influenced by earlier cruise reports.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| We mostly used the main dining room as it was ideal for relaxing in the evening and swapping ideas at breakfast. | | Entertainment |  |
| We found the sound too loud and actually left because of it on a couple of occasions. | | Shore Excursions |  |
| St Petersburg excursions worth the money; not needed elsewhere. | | Staff | |
| Cabin staff and waiters excellent | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities | |
| Oh, for more hours in the day. | | Cabins | |
| We took care choosing the cabin and it paid off. | | Overall Rating | |
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