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Celebrity Cruise Line

GTS Constellation

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Reviewed by: Angela Eprin
# previous cruises: 2
Date of Trip: September 13, 2002
Itinerary: Mediterranean

Cruising through the Mediterranean on the GTS Constellation is an absolutely wonderful experience. The ship's interior is elegant without being stuffy, the food is exceptional, and the itinerary was exciting.

The public areas on the Constellation are all very elegant and inviting. Each lounge has a different "theme" and entertainment so there is something for everyone. If you want to spend some quiet time with someone special, Michael's Club provides the warm atmosphere of a private study. If you want to see and be seen, the Rendez-Vous Lounge is the place to be each night. The Reflections night-club provides the panoramic view of the ocean and ports and features disco music at night, where parties can go until dawn. The Martini and Champagne Bars are located on each side of the same room and provide quiet elegance in the evenings. The Mast bar is located outside by the pool so you can always have a drink in the sun. Overall, the lounges and bars were very good, although you might not always find a specific one "open".

On Deck 10 there are two outdoor swimming pools and two jacuzzi's. The view is nice but this deck is enclosed on each side by glass so the breezes are few and far between. For full sun bathing, Deck 11 is better. Also located on Deck 10 is another room containing the wonderful Thassolotherapy pool with two salt-water jacuzzi's. This pool will soothe aching muscles and relax even the tensest cruiser.

The Casino was fun and exciting with the constant ringing of change hitting the slot machine trays. I witnessed many people winning $100's of dollars at the slot machines and the serious gamblers did well at Craps and Roulette. I, myself, won $25-$35 on many occasions. Overall, the Casino provides a thrill for even the smallest gambler.

The food on the Constellation was fabulous. We ordered room service every morning which consisted of your basic Continental breakfast. The breads are all baked fresh each day so a warm croissant hit the spot each morning. For lunch, we dined mostly in the Seaside Cafe/Grill. There was always a pasta bar each day where fresh dishes were made right in front of you. The food in the main area was very good, although maybe a little heavy for a noon-time lunch. However, you could always get a hamburger or hot dog at the outside area of the Grill. We dined in the San Marco restaurant almost every night and I was very impressed. You could always be sure that the five entrees on the menu each night would contain at least one seafood dish, one steak dish, and one poultry dish. The other two offerings rotated between items like pasta, veal, lamb or an additional seafood dish. The appetizers, soups, salads and desserts were all fabulous. For the cruiser who is watching his weight, no special requests were needed. Each night the menu contained a '*' by one item in each course and the nutritional information was provided on the back. Most nights, you could eat a complete meal under 1,400 calories and 20g of fat and still have taste! One evening we were too tired to get dressed for dinner so they brought our complete dining room meal to our stateroom! Therefore, we never missed out on any of the delicious dining room offerings. Overall, I would rate the food on Constellation as 5-star.

I was very impressed with the cabins on board the Constellation. We learned on a previous cruise that you are only in your room to sleep, so we selected the basic outside stateroom. Our room was located on Deck 2, which is as low as you can go, and it was great. We had plenty of room to move around and I was surprised at the amount of storage space. We had the two beds pushed together to make one and it was almost as large as a king-size bed. The shower was a bigger than I expected and had great water pressure, too. Our cabin steward kept our room so clean each day that it was a pleasure to come back to the room each night. Overall, I would suggest not wasting the extra money on the "premium" rooms unless you plan on spending a lot of time in your cabin. The "basic" room has everything you need.

The entertainment on the Constellation was very good. The single artist shows are the best. We had a tenor one evening, a concert pianist another, and a soprano another. The production shows are the typical "Cabaret" style shows. They provide a bit of fun each evening. A bonus on the ship is the "wandering" pianist and string quartet that play in different places throughout the day.

The Itinerary for the Mediterranean is not for the laissez-faire cruiser. The ports of call for this journey were Nice,France, Florence,Italy, Rome,Italy, Naples,Italy, Valletta,Malta, Palermo,Sicily, Malaga,Spain and Barcelona,Spain. As you can see, at each stop there was the opportunity for non-stop touring. If you want to see all of the sights, I would recommend the shore excursions provided by Celebrity. However, don't over book yourself. Each of these tours lasts about 10 hours and a lot of walking is involved. We took two (Rome and Naples) and they really wore us out, but we definitely got our money's worth. Most of the intensive touring was at the beginning of the cruise (Nice,Florence,Rome,Naples) with the last few days providing more relaxation. In some respects it was almost too much in such a small amount of time, but it does give you a look a many different cities and countries.

On this cruise there is only one day at sea so I would recommend scheduling any massages or other spa activities in advance for this day. I had a Swedish massage and it was very relaxing. The spa offers so many treatments it is hard to choose. There is also a great gym for those who don't spend their days walking on tours.

The passengers on this cruise seemed to be a mixture from all over the world with the majority being from the U.S. Our dinner companions were from England and the table next to us consisted of an entire group of Spaniards. We had a great time getting to know all of the people from different cultures. The age range tended to be between 30-60 with a scattering of people on either side of that range. There were very few children and teenagers on board. Overall, the cruisers were friendly and entertaining and easy to be around for 10 days.