3 September 2019 and 12
September 2019
Back-to-Back Cruise
Barcelona to Venice and
back to Barcelona
Cruising Background:
I’ve been cruising with Celebrity since 2003
and this was my 18th/19th cruise (Tony, a few cruises
less than me); and second time on the Constellation.
This was our first back-to-back cruise, 3
September and 12 September 2019, with our friends. It was a very port-intensive
cruise with fabulous ports of call. I would love to do another one but with a
couple more sea days.
On Board:
The Constellation is a smaller ship (I love
the S-Class ships) and she shows her age, especially in the chairs around the
various lounges, but overall the ship was in good condition
The Martini bar was always crowded and very
noisy, especially on the first day of embarkation. The music shouldn’t be so
loud that you have to yell over the noise to talk to someone.
We spent a lot of our happy hour time in the
Reflection lounge; sometimes at the sunset bar at sail-away; and the Rendezvous
lounge (depending on who was performing before dinner). The Reflection lounge
was never filled. I believe there were only about 100-125 elite passengers. The
first cruise seemed more low-keyed than the second cruise, which had around 200
elite passengers. The appetizers during the happy hour were very good.
The house band was The Cardinals. They were fantastic!!
We enjoyed Kyle Tracy (guitar/vocals) and Duo Asai (Acoustic Duo). We didn’t care for the Sea Beats - terrible female
singer that could put a person to sleep.
The Rendezvous was a popular spot for trivia
and evening entertainment.
Cellar Masters was pretty quiet.
Great staff on board! Some of my favorites
were John (cabin attendant); Alejandro (CD and funny as ever; had the pleasure
of meeting him on our March 2019 South America cruise); Clint (hotel director
first cruise), Milana (hotel director second cruise); Luana (guest relations
director), Vlada (Captains club hostess on our first cruise). In the dining
room: Wannipa, Dusan, and Gede at table 233; in the Reflection lounge Sushant
and Sabitri.Irlinda at guest relations tried to help me with me on an issue
with my cabin. Isabela (event coordinator)sent us an invitation to the helipad for
our departure from Valletta.Suzanna (sommelier). And of course, the Master of
the ship Michael Karatzas, Staff Captain LefterisKoumasidis, and Chief Engineer
Nikolaos Politsis.
Cabin 3142. I
booked an ocean view cabin since the back-to-back was pretty expensive, plus
being port intensive, I didn’t think we would need to have a cabin with a
balcony. Normally I book aqua or concierge. This cabin has an extra-large port
hole. My room was VERY warm. Two engineers came by twice but couldn’t do
anything to fix the problem. I ended up getting a fan for the room and kept the
drapes closed all the time. The window should be better tinted to help from the
heat of the sun. The fan helped a little but was still pretty warm. The a/c was
running but there wasn’t enough air flow to cool the room; and the air didn’t
flow downward, as there was a large square plate that blocked the air flow. Poor
system design that I hope is improved when the Constellation gets a facelift.
John was our cabin attendant and he was
attentive, friendly, and helpful. Our room was made up early.
The closet hangers need to be updated. Some
of the wooden hangers kept coming off their hooks.
Dear Celebrity Cruises, please add to your
Celebrity Today a comment to all passengers asking them to be respectful of
their neighbors not let their cabin doors slam shut. This was very annoying and
disturbing when one is trying to sleep. I found many guests walking in or out of
their cabin without attempting to close the door gently. SLAM!! Ugh! Rude.
We enjoyed Silent Disco a few times on both
cruises. The Captain’s Club Celebration and Senior Officer’s Parties were fun
but not fully attended. It was actually nice to be able to attend an event and
not feel so crowded.
Food on board:
We had Select dining and really enjoyed all
of our meals in the main dining room (except for one lamb entrée). We never
waited long for our table. We went to the dining room anywhere from 6:15pm to
7:30pm.
One night several of us went to Sushi on Five
for a special Indian dinner. It was excellent with a good variety of foods.
Another night Tony and I ate at the Tuscan Grill.
I would say the Captain’s Club Elite
breakfast in the Tuscan grill is pretty slow in its service. Nothing is cooked
(only breads are toasted if asked), so why does it take so long to get our
food? We went to the oceanview café for most of our breakfasts. Dear Celebrity,
please get rid of those awful knives. They are hard to hold!
The Ports:
We had a great time in Barcelona (three days pre-cruise).
We stayed at H10 Montcada Boutique Hotel. Nice hotel, comfortable beds, and a
great roof-top terrace. We visited Park Guell the first afternoon of our
arrival. I finally got to visit Girona (via train). Lovely city and doable in a
day. Also, we had a great lunch at Blanc (C/Nord 2, Girona) – grilled calamari
with chick peas and lentils for me; Tony had fried Calamari; Carolyn and I
shared a bottle of wine). On the last day we did a Gaudi walking tour and an
afternoon visit to Sagrada Familia (buy tickets in advance). Also found a
small restaurant nearby for tapas and drinks (Pimentos
de Padron, Pulpo a la Gallega, Queso Manchego, and Chistorra; along with Beer
and Sangria Vino - all for 32 euros).
Embarkation in Barcelona was a breeze!! We
arrived about 10:45am by taxi and there were only a dozen others in the
terminal! We couldn’t believe how empty
it was compared to our other cruises.
Our first night was the Cruise Critic
Connections Party. Only a handful showed up, as it was at 8:15pm.
I originally booked a tour for Monte Carlo but
decided to go on our own. It's a tendered port. We LOVED the oceanographic
museum (https://www.visitmonaco.com/us/place/monuments-museums/76/oceanographic-museum-of-monaco)!! We spent at least two hours there. Absolutely
an aamazing place. Loved the large tank with the hundreds of jellyfish, and the
clown fish. We purchased a combo ticket that included the Palace. Had
lunch at Restaurant Chez Tony (pizza and mussels with fries); visited the old
town church just before it closed for the day.
We had a private tour for 8 people in Villefranche with
Sylvie Di Cristo. We visited three hill towns (Eze, La Turbie, and Roquebrune;
and photo ops of Monaco from high above).
Lunch at La Grotte & L’Olivier in Roquebrune.
We stayed in Civitavecchia and took a
cooking class (my second time). Tons of fun. We made several dishes and enjoyed
the fruits of our labor afterwards with wine, water, and some lemoncello. Too
much food! Frederico is the chef and owner of Aqua Pizzeria Ristorante (aquacivitavecchia@hotmail.it; Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/federico.aqua/?tn-str=k*F). If you book it, tell Frederico I
recommended his class and tell him, “Ciao
from Monica!”
We had one sea day on this cruise. We
had a 10am meeting about the procedures of our turn-around day in Venice. Lucky
for us we wouldn’t have to pack our belongings since we had the same cabin. On
the morning of our arrival, we just had to go to guest relations to pick up our
new card. We did this around 7:30am. We wanted to be off the ship as early as
possible since the departure was at 4pm. We were given a Transit Pass so that
we didn’t have to go through the normal check-in process. We had to carry our
original passports with us for the day. We used the old card to get off the
ship; new card to get back on the ship (your photo is taken when you get back
on the ship). The old card is taken away, but you can get it the next day. We
were told we would need to update our credit card details for our on-board
expenses but when I went a couple of days later, they didn’t need to adjust our
account.
We were told to be back on the ship by
3:45pm. All other guests had to be back on board by 3:15pm.
Friends and I attended the Captain’s Club
wine tasting at 11:15am. Suzanna, the sommelier, was sweet and very patient
with late-comers. Several walked in 15-25 minutes after the start time, so
Suzanna had to stop her lecture, set up more glasses, and begin again. When the
last person strolled in, half of the guests booed and hissed.
At the Elegant Tea, two couples showed up in
shorts and t-shirts. This was a ‘smart casual’ event, not a pool-side event.
In Messina, we had a private tour for 8 to
Mt. Etna, a specialty food shop (Oro d’ Etna), the Gambino winery (great visit
with lunch andwine tasting), and then a short visit to Castiglione di Sicilia.
We had a private tour
in Corfu driving
around the island for four of us. This was the only port where we had rain for
about an hour. Beautiful island. We stopped at Paleokastritsa (beach area) and
snacked on Portokalopita, a typical Greek orange filo cake drenched in an
orange syrup. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww8tv7otHXc).
For lunch, Spiros, our
guide, took us to a souvenir store (George’s Cellar) where he set up a simple,
yet delicious lunch: Large loaves of bread, fresh-made, sliced, dipped in olive
oil; and then topped with feta cheese, fresh tomatoes, and seasonings. Yum!! The feta was soft but not salty like you get
back home. He cut some of the feta into small chunks and added two different
dipping sauces. More fresh bread. Olives too. Wine to go along our food and
later Quince liquor.
We toured the Achillion Palace
Museum in the afternoon before returning to the ship.
In Kotor, we had a private tour for 8 people
about 4.5 hours where we visited Perast,
Budva, and Sv. Stefan (just views from the road). The views of Kotor
from the top were spectacular! We had time back in Kotor for a mouth-watering lunch
at Konoba Scala Santa before getting back on the ship.
In Zadar, we went on a
walking tour. We were disappointed because the guide showed up 1/2 hour late.
He talked too much at the beginning, so it cut into our afternoon. I didn't
have time to see a couple of places and I wanted to climb the town
tower. We did see some interesting things. We had a good lunch at
Porporela before the tour started.
In Venice, Tony stayed on
the ship while I played tour guide for my friends. It has been 30 years since
the last time they were in Venice, and this was probably my eight time. We
walked around town exploring many side streets and checking out the pretty
canals; went up the Campanile tower in St. Marks square. The lines were very
long to get into Basilica. We should have purchased tickets in
advance. Venice is a great place to just wander and explore the many
streets and bridges. Lunch at Taverna San Trovaso, one of my favorite
restaurants in town. We were lucky to get a table. Gelato for dessert at Nico’s
before walking back to the people mover. Got stuck at the people mover, as the
turnstiles would not open to let people through! After 15 minutes and starting
to worry about not getting back to the ship in time, we crawled under them!
When we arrived back to the terminal, we
didn’t see any Celebrity staff member and we sort of got mixed up with the
terminal and which area to enter. I had to ask a local worker where to go. We
finally made it back on board by 3:25pm. The boat drill was at 3:45pm.
Second cruise, 12 September 2019:
In Split, we toured on our own. I
should have booked a private tour and visited another town. Tony and I were
here before and saw the same things this time. It’s a shame that Diocletian’s
palace is such a tourist trap with all the shops. Split is too crowded with a
non-authentic feel to the place. For lunch we had traditional prawns, but it
was difficult to get the meat out. Very messy too.
In Dubrovnik, four of us took the
local bus to Cavtat, a beautiful small seaside town; small enough for a nice
stroll and lunch. No crowds like in Dubrovnik. It was a relaxing day walking
along the water (nice path with trees) for about an hour followed by a
wonderful lunch at Posejdon Cavtat. I
made reservations a few weeks in advance and asked for a table overlooking the
water. Afterwards, we took a boat back to Dubrovnik, which was about a 45-minute
ride. Nice scenery of the area. We were dropped off outside the town walls
where we walked around a bit and had gelato (we got rid of the rest of the
local currency since we were done visiting Croatia – they have not moved to the
euros yet).
In Catania, we had a private tour. We
had a nice short visit to the fish market in town and the Cathedral. We went to
Syracuse to visit the ancient ruins. We were supposed to get a guide for the
site but somehow that fell through. Our guide/driver said there were plenty of signs
to read. Not true. Fortunately, I had printed out a document on what we would
be seeing, so that helped. Definitely get a guide if you go there.
Nearby, we had lunch in Ortigia, which is a small island just south of the
central area of Syracuse. We requested a
place for lunch that served typical/regional dishes, so our guide made
reservations for us at Trattoria “la Foglia”. It’s a quirky place filled with
all sorts of home/kitchen items with mis-matched plates, glasses, etc. We were
treated to limoncello after our meal.
Our last stop of the day was
to Spinella, a wonderful small pastry shop in Catania. Lucca, our guide, said
they serve the best pistachio cannoli.
I have to agree!! It was huge so the server cut each one in half for each
couple to share.
In Valletta, Tony and
I went out on our own and visited some of the sites in town (Palace Armoury and
State Rooms at the Grand Master’s Palace). One must-see is the Saint John's Co-Cathedral. The Baroque art, architecture,
and Caravaggio’s paintings are incredible! I went in alone, so I didn’t have to
que in the long group line.
We used Palma de Mallorca as a “sea
day” with the exception of a short walk for an hour near the port in the
morning. It was our third visit to this port. We were docked pretty far away
from the center of town, which was a shame, as I would have had lunch in town.
Speaking of docking, the following ports we
had to buy shuttle tickets: Zadar, Dubrovnik, Palma, and Ibiza. They ranged
from 10 to 15 euros. In a few ports you could take local buses. In Valencia, we
were told we could get a taxi, but none were around when we got off the ship.
There was a local shuttle bus to the main terminal; again no taxi’s. We took
bus #4 to town, which was about a 25-minute ride.
As we used Palma as a sea day, we had no
problem getting deck chairs near the pool. On the sea days, they were all
taken. We saw a lot of deck chairs with towels but no one sitting on them. One
time I did manage to get a chair and my husband came by and sat on the end of
it. Five minutes later, a man across from us offered one of the chairs next to
him. He had kept a towel on it but wasn’t using it!! Later a woman came to her chair (next to me) to
collect her belongings. From the time I sat down and her arrival was about 45
minutes. As she started to walk away (leaving her towels on the chair), I
grabbed her towels and politely said, “Take your towels to the bin.” Had I not
said that, the towels would still be there. It made me wonder how many other
people left their towels. In times when I couldn’t find a chair I ended up on deck
5 (there were only 10-12 chairs, but there should have been more).
Ibiza is a pretty
town. We went on a walking tour for about 2.5 hours and later had lunch at
Locals Only. This was a long port day, 7am to 11pm. There are a lot of shops
and restaurants/bars. It’s a party town; and there are beaches in the area to
enjoy.
Valencia: As
I mentioned above, we took the bus to town. There is a metro/tram but it would
have taken a lot longer. We were supposed to meet up with one of the free
walking tours at 10:30am but missed it. We got off the ship about 20 minutes
later than planned.
Valencia is beautiful and it’s a place I
could see visiting for a few days. Loved the Spanish architecture. The town
squares are gorgeous. Four of us climbed the Valencia Cathedral Bell tower (207
steps up a spiral staircase, which the steps get smaller about the last two
floors). The views from the top are nice when you look out, but you can’t
photograph straight down to the plazas, as the walls are thick. My legs were
wobbly for a couple of days. That staircase was hard on my legs.
After lunch at Cordellats, we visited the
central market in town; got there about 40 minutes before it closed (3pm). I
loved the display of foods.
Disembarkation in Barcelona: We had one night in Barcelona before flying home. We
went to Sushi on Five for our disembarkation location; got off the ship around
9am. We should have stayed on the ship longer. The taxi line was very long!! I
couldn’t imagine flying home that morning. There were four ships in port, so
the taxi drivers were very busy.
Overall, we
had a great time on our first back-to-back cruise with the Celebrity
Constellation. The ports were great, as well as the staff on the ship. Looking
forward to another Celebrity cruise!
If you have any questions, I’ll be glad to
answer them.
Monica Pileggi
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