CONSTELLATION
BRITISH ISLES AND THE BREATHTAKING NORWEGIAN FJORDS
Date of Cruise: July 17, 2004 (14 nights)
Ports of Call: Dover – Le Havre – At sea – Cork – Dublin – Greenock – At sea – Olden – Geiranger – Hellesylt – Bergen – At sea – Copenhagen – At sea – Zeebrugge – Dover
Stateroom:
Our Category 6 Oceanview Stateroom #3011 was located forward on the Plaza Deck (near the Purser’s desk). Since it was very much towards the bow of the ship, it is very quiet and totally undisturbed by the noise from the foyer area.
The cabin is very good sized (170 square feet) with lots of drawers and a large closet. The couch is a twin sofa bed which is not very comfortable for sitting. The shower in the bathroom is quite spacious compared with other ships, and there are lots of storage area. Shampoo and lotion come from dispensers attached to the wall which I found really convenient. Towels and bed linens are 100% Egyptian cotton and bathrobes are available. However, Duvets were not used, only woollen blankets.
Dining:
First sitting is 6 pm and second is 8:30 pm in the Main Dining Room. The service and menu was excellent. Every evening, an area on the buffet deck was sectioned off to provide for casual dining with waiter service. Meals were cooked to order but the menu is limited. There is a charge here of $4 US per person. Other than this, the sushi bar and pasta bar are opened until 10:00 pm. The specialty restaurant Ocean Liners offers fine dining at $30 US per person.
There are no theme nights as far as dining is concerned, but there were themed luncheon buffets (for example: German, Asian & Italian), but as a whole their lunch buffets were not very impressive. Choices were limited and the quality of the food very ordinary. However, they did offer Spa Cuisine (lighter choices) in the Spa area from breakfast to 6 pm which has an excellent selection of healthy and exquisite dishes. The food is cold but a couple of hot dishes could also be ordered.
They have done away with midnight buffets except for one night when they had a chocolate buffet with extravagant carvings. Instead of midnight buffets, they come around the public lounges with trays of snacks and sandwiches, which they call Gourmet Bites. High Tea is served in the Main Dining Room daily in the afternoon.
An amount of $10.50 US per guest, per day is charged to the stateroom for on board gratuities and a 15% service charge is added to all bar bills. If we brought our own wine to the dining room, a corkage fee of $20.00 US is charged. This would encourage more people to buy from the ship instead of bringing their own from shore.
Entertainment:
The Celebrity Theatre is a beautiful 3 storied venue showing 4 large show productions during our 14 day cruise. Other performances included piano recitals, solo vocal singers, jugglers, and a magician. The Celebrity productions were spectacular, especially the acrobatic performance by a Russian couple. In addition to the nightly entertainment, local performers from Belfast and Scotland were invited on board to perform their local cultural dance (for example: Irish tap dancing & the Scottish bag-pipers on the days that we were in port).
The movie theatre seats about 150 people but the movies shown were not recent and were always repeated throughout the cruise. Some enrichment lectures took place in this theatre also.
Onboard Activities:
Their enrichment programs were about self-hypnosis, relationships and digital camera usage with no lectures on the culture, history and current political situation of the countries which we visited. I found this very disappointing and many other passengers felt the same.
Other activities offered onboard included Bingo, dance lessons, cooking demonstrations, wine tasting (with a charge of $10 US), art auctions, and trivia. Visits to the Bridge, the back stage and to the galley were not offered. Announcements were kept to a minimum, only once or twice a day – upon clearance of customs on port days and around noon on sea days when they reiterate the programs for the day.
The Gym is well equipped with a host of classes, but there is a charge of $10 US for yoga and pilates classes. Aerobics and stretching classes are free. The AquaSpa offers an extensive menu of services which seemed to be quite in demand by the passengers. There is a charge of $30 US per day or $99 US for a week to use the Persian Garden which consists of both dry and wet steam baths with an emphasis on aromatherapy and relaxation. The Thallasotherapy and whirlpools in the AquaSpa area are free to use, and because this area is domed and heated, it is very popular on cooler sea days. There is one large sea water swimming pool outdoors that has 4 whirlpools, and a children’s wading pool.
Ports of Call:
We were unable to call at Dublin as scheduled due to the incompletion of the improvement to the infrastructure of the port terminal which was a disappointment to many passengers. We docked at Belfast instead.
In Le Harve, one could take a local train to Rouen (takes about 45 minutes for 24 Euro return) which is a small medieval town where Joan of Arc was burnt.
Greenock is the port in Scotland where an excursion could be taken to Edinburgh to see Edinburgh Castle.
The highlight of the cruise were the Norwegian Fjords and the towns of Gieranger, Bergen and Olden. Gieranger is a small town of 200 inhabitants in the winter and is situated at the end of a fjord. The cruise up to the fjord is spectacular although we did not see any wildlife. Be sure to tell your clients to take a tour up to about 5000 ft. to view the fjord from above.
Bergen is a UNESCO heritage town 600 years old, and the centre of activities is a large fish market in the middle of town.
Olden is well known for its glaciers and one could take a heli-tour to land and walk on a glacier. Unlike the glaciers in Alaska, here the glaciers are not accessible by ship.
In Copenhagen, the best way to see the city is to take one of the canal boat rides which starts in Nyhaven. The trip takes one hour and it goes out to the main harbour as well as into the smaller canals in the city.
The last port of call was Zebrugger in Belgium. The port is very small, and you do not want to take an excursion into Brussels. I'd advise to take a train into Brugge (15 minutes & $4.50 Euro) which is a quaint Medieval town. Again, take a canal boat ride or walk the town which is pedestrian friendly.
Overview:
I picked this cruise because this is a unique itinerary which most cruise lines only offer once a year due perhaps to climatic conditions in Norway (Gieranger can get snow up until June). Having seen the fjords and glaciers in North America, I wanted to experience for myself what Norway has to offer so that I could be in a better position to tell my clients what they could expect if they had done a Baltic cruise and wanted something different. I would definitely recommend this cruise as an alternative to a typical Baltic cruise itinerary.
I loved the ambience of the ship which is elegant and luxurious, but not in an opulent and flashy sort of way. The passengers are well dressed and seemed to be well educated and traveled. At 1870 passengers, the public areas do not seem crowded at any time.
I must commend the ship for providing free shuttle service into town from all of the ports of call. The bus takes you right into the centre of town and return at short intervals, so for those independent passengers who like to see the town on their own, this was a real bonus.
The ship has also improved its disembarkation process in that passengers are now invited to stay in their cabins until it is time for them to go to their designated lounge for disembarkation. The wait is only about 10-15 minutes.
PROS: I would say that the highlights of the cruise was experiencing the magnificent Geiranger Fjords and the land of the midnight sun.
CONS: If anything needed to be improved, I would say that the quality of the food in the buffet could be better, and more educational enrichment lectures could be offered.
Written By Vivienne Cheng
Alaska Cruise Deals on Celebrity Cruises
Mexico Cruise Deals on Celebrity Cruises