2009 CruiseCrazies ® Group Cruise

rogue · December 4, 2009

cruisetarp · December 4, 2009

Great new photo Howard. I wonder where that was taken? :biggrin:

deb1220 · December 4, 2009

Great photo, Howard!

JohnG · December 5, 2009

Maybe I'm easier to please since when I'm on a cruise I don't have to do our cooking like I do at home. We didn't have a problem with the food other than that the bread choices was identical every night.

I was pleased to have lamb shanks (twice), chateaubriand, osso bucco, seafood linguini, steak oscar, veal cordon blu, flounder, lobster (only 1/2 rock lobster tail, 1 large shrimp a scallop and a mussel....asked for a second because the serving was so small. 1st one was fine the second was overcooked), beef wellington, shrimp & orange roughy, and a couple others I didn't mark down.

There was shrimp cocktail, caesar salad, steak, grilled salmon, and creme brulee available every night. My wife had the grilled salmon several nights. She ate fish or seafood every night and liked the variety available.

The assistant matre de' was came by the table every night to ensure things were going well, and took any suggestions. Our table service was fine except for being slow one night. A word to the asst maitre de and it was outstanding the rest of the time. We were usually out by 10:10 from our 8:30pm dinner, in plenty of time to dance before the evening show.

I was impressed with the room service breakfast served on the balcony on white tablecloths, timely every time and the food was great. Full menu available in Concierge Class.

We particularly liked the fact that they had ballroom dancing available every evening before and after dinner in the Rendezvous Lounge. It tore me away from the martini bar.

We particularly enjoyed the noveau beaujolais wine event. World-wide they uncork the new vintage of noveau beaujolais on the same day, and the ship had a 4pm wine tasting party with heavy hors douvers in the Conservatory for $10 per person and there was PLENTY of the delicious wine available for almost 2 hours.

I also thought our room steward, Denis, was excellent. Kept our champagne bucket full of ice all cruise, the room spotless, refreshed fruit daily, and any other special request we had.

PATJUD · December 5, 2009

Judson, so sorry to hear about the credit card issue. Great thinking on your part to have the card cancelled.
We got the post cruise survey after our March cruise on the Mercury. We were extremely honest and thorough. But, we have never gotten a call. Wow, I'm impressed.

Eventhough it was a new chef, I am truly surprised about your comments on the food. Celebrity's food is what attracted us to that ship. Hmm...

Gotta go check out the pics.

The credit card thing worked itself out as I was told it would. It was just such a strange thing to have happen.

John - I agree with your post. It was a great cruise.

deb1220 · December 6, 2009

I think it was a fabulous cruise and if you read my review you would see that. It's just that I had always heard that Celebrity had the best food. We had a better selection and quality on the Carnival Valor. The service on the Constellation was superb from the cabin steward to the wait staff in the dining room to the bar service and room service! Even though I was one of two of us that didn't have our spouse with us, I never felt out of place. Everybody in our group was a lot of fun and I would do it all over again in a second. Just because I criticized one aspect of the cruise does not take away from the fantastic time I had. I'm sorry if it came across that way. I just wanted to give an honest review.

sailingrose · December 6, 2009

I agree Debbie our service was excellent all the way around. I too expected much better food but were disappointed.

Sorry but I have to disagree about the fish selection John. The first night the fish was so tough I needed a knife to cut it. I sent it back, the Shrimp Scampi was awful and we got 3 shrimp on our plates. I eat Salmon at home so I don't eat it while we're away.One night 6 dishes went uneaten at our table of the 8 ordered, that has to say something for that nights menu.

Sorry you and Karen missed all of us pre-dinner we were all in the Martini Bar having a wonderful time.

lashl · December 6, 2009

I agree with Debbie and Rose. The food did not come close to our previous cruises. Maybe we had our sites set to high. Service was excellent and it was the most fun we have ever had on a cruise.

Must have been the company and the martini bar!

Howard....Great new avatar.

rogue · December 6, 2009

I also agree. The food did not come close to what was expected. It was no better than any other cruise we have taken, and sometimes worse. Service throughout the ship was great. The crew did seem genuinely happy. Always ready to help.

Thanks everyone for the new avatar. It just felt right.

cruisetarp · December 6, 2009

I think we all agree that Celebrity (at least the Connie) has slipped greatly in the food department. IMHO they used to be way ahead of the other lines in the food department but the food on this cruise was definately nothing to get excited about. I even suggested to our head waiter that if they were not going to improve the cuts of their beef they invest in sharper steak knives because I had more than one steak that I absolutely could not cut. I also thought some of their pairings were very strange and the menu was lacking.

I am really hoping this is not fleet wide as I really enjoyed the Concierge Celebrity experience and their Elite perks were great.

STATUE!