Celebrity Constellation 2022 from Ravenna and Greek Islands

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Acropolis

Celebrity Constellation Cruise Celebrity Constellation cruise through the Greek Islands and Turkey originating in Ravenna, Italy. Pre Cruise: A La Locanda di Orsaria in Venice Italy Palazzo Bezzi Ravenna Cruise: Celebrity Constellation Suite 3014 Embarkation Celebrity Constellation Day Two at Sea Celebrity Constellation Day Three Olympus Celebrity Constellation Day Four Santorini Celebrity Constellation Day Five Turkey Celebrity Constellation Day Six Mykonos Celebrity Constellation Day Seven Athens Celebrity Constellation Day Eight Crete Celebrity Constellation Day Nine Celebrity Constellation Day Ten at Sea Celebrity Constellation Disembarkation Celebrity Constellation Launched in 2002 Old Ship

Acropolis

Celebrity Constellation Cruise This was my first Celebrity cruise aboard the recently renovated Celebrity Constellation, which was originally built in 2002. It’s a old tired ship, with poor passenger flow ship architecture, lack of adequate staff, and average food (but much better than MSC). Antiquated room key card system works slowly with onboard POS purchase charges. Room has little ventilation and air conditioning ducts were questionable. We both had bad cough from AC a few days in (tested negative from Covid after cruise to confirm is was not that). Many people aboard had same cough. Itinerary was overall good through the Greek islands, but middle of August is the busy tourist time. Staff is friendly and overall efficient. It wasn’t clear if staff was reduced due to management, or sickness, but there were clearly not enough staff to tend to passenger needs, especially at the bars and food service. I paid tips directly to helpful staff, and declined automated $15 per day per person suggested tip. I might try a newer Celebrity ship, but definitely not another old ship like this one. For the $1,500 price plus add-ons, it was not a great value. Add-ons are expensive, like the $349 internet (premium internet with very slow service). You are better off just purchasing a eSim card or using your LTE roaming for each country, with better data transfer speeds. Drink packages would be a value, if you could get service. I purchased the classic non-alcohol drink package and stopped the package within a few days because the service was so poor. You have to wait in line at a bar to use the package (good like trying to get somebody to actually serve you at a table). Even with that, you’re charged an automatic 20 percent gratuity for waiting in line a bar. The upcharge restaurants were overall good. The sushi bar was ok. The steak restaurant was excellent ($55 per person minimum and premium cuts of beef were additional). The LaPetite ($75 entry level) visual dining experience was interesting and with good food. Drink packages were accepted at the premium restaurants. Buffet had a good selection of food, with average taste and quality. While each table had a option for a server to take your drink order, it was rare have it actually happen. Instead, you needed to go to a bar to get a drink (other than the buffet tea, water, or juice). Unlike MSC, the plates and silverware were always clean. Some of the buffet drink stations were inoperable, and none of the ice dispensers worked. Instead, ice was placed in a bucket. Did not even try the main free restaurants, since view from buffet was better. Always nice to eat with a commanding view of the ocean or port of call. Ship condition is ok. Passenger flows were poor. Most venues were on a hodge podge of decks. For deck three, the best way to navigate from one end to the other was to go up to deck 4 or deck 10. Otherwise you had to walk through the passenger cabin hallways, typically blocked by room stewards making up rooms, and other congestion. Old design of 2002 really shows. The ship needs to be retired or sold. Would be nice to have more quiet areas. The theatre is really antiquated, and has a multitude of support posts which block views of the stage. Performers were all good. Casino was awful. After putting in about $400 in various slot machines, finally found a few that actually were a good experience and had some payouts. When I stuck with those machines and when they started to pay consistently with time, the pit boss (casino manager) came over to the machine and made adjustments, so it did not pay out as often. How awful. I finally cashed out and did not return. I did use the player card option (basically tracks what you play, and how much). After the pit boss altered the slot machine payout, I no longer used the players card system. This cruise was right before Celebrity dropped vaccine and testing requirements. Adults had to show fully vaccinated status. PCR or Antigen tests were required. Since this cruise boarded in the port of Ravenna, masks were still required on the Italian trains and transportation systems (boats in Venice). Celebrity Constellation Launched in 2002 Old Ship

Avoid This Old Ship It’s a old tired ship, with poor passenger flow ship architecture, lack of adequate staff, and average food (but much better than MSC). If you can get a deal for less than $500 for a week per person, I'd take it. But overall, there are newer ships with a much better experience. Celebrity Constellation Launched in 2002 Old Ship