Cruise Ship: Celebrity Constellation
Cruise Destination: Southern Caribbean from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Cruise Dates: December 2005
Guest Contributor: Ed Schlenk
Note from author: This review of the Cirque Du Soleil inaugural cruise on Celebrity Constellation, out of San Juan, Puerto Rico, was written in early 2006 but still has useful information for today’s cruiser. After this cruise, there seems to have been a shift in the Celebrity corporate culture, away from value pricing of a top quality product to premium pricing of a reconfigured product aimed at the gap between mainstream and true luxury cruise ships. Whether that new pricing and product are what you want is an individual decision. We have not cruised Celebrity since then.
This reviewer is a semi-retired frequent traveler, is not in the travel industry, is 58 years old, and has cruised 15 times over the last few years (7 of those on Celebrity).
This itinerary was the traditional seven night Southern Caribbean, and it will change a bit in 2005 (more about that later). This was also a Captain’s Club reunion cruise and included the presence of the top executives of Celebrity and their parent (Royal Caribbean) corporation for the Cirque du Soleil (CdS) launch. (The Celebrity execs are an innovative and good-humored bunch, but more about that later too). The CdS corporation was also heavily represented, since this represented a major investment by both Celebrity and CdS.
In addition to details about this particular cruise, in the second part of my review I shall also provide a good deal of information about cruising in general, some recent changes in the Constellation and Celebrity, and extensive activity and port information for the value-conscious (read budget) cruiser (it is possible to enjoy each island thoroughly for only a few dollars).
The bottom line is that this is a wonderful cruise on a great ship which offers premium everything (food, service, entertainment, public areas, etc.) at an incredibly reasonable price. I will give more details about pricing and how best to obtain good values when cruising in the second part of this review. We paid about $560 US per person for two, including port charges and taxes for an outside stateroom. Considering the quality of the cruise, I doubt there is a better value in the entire cruise industry at the moment.
Of the three Caribbean cruise itineraries (Eastern, Western, and Southern), my wife and I prefer the Southern because the islands are smaller and more congenial, and the shore-side experience seems more authentically "Caribbean". There now seems to be so much off-shore banking and other dealings by financial bigwigs (read hedge funds and tax avoiders) and real estate developers on the Eastern and Western Caribbean islands that sometimes the heart and soul of those islands is hidden behind the international shops, the condos, and the casinos.
Our itinerary changed a bit between the time we reserved and sailed, due to storm damage on some of the islands. No problem -- all of the islands here are enjoyable and each seems to have its own special flavor. The one drawback to a Southern itinerary is the cost of air fare to San Juan, PR, which is the departure port. For those of us in the midwestern and western US, week-end airfare to SJU is easily $600 US and up, which is more than some outside and inside cabins cost for the entire cruise (including port charges).
For the budget traveler, I suggest enrolling in an air fare search engine such as Travelocity (there are several other good ones, but I like Travelocity’s option of e-mail notification when fares decrease). One can buy air tickets at the best current price when booking the cruise, and then contact the airline for an air fare rebate (usually in the form of an MCO or credit coupon) when the air fare drops by $50 US or more. Some airlines charge $25 for this credit service, some don’t, but in each case you will have to ask for it, it is not automatic. Our air fare started at $630, we bought at $550, and got a rebate at $460.
One can book air tickets through cruise lines, but in general their prices are not competitive with internet air fares. The advantage to booking air tickets through the cruise line is that if there is a flight deviation or missed connection, the cruise line will usually get you to the ship one way or another (which is why the first port of call on most itineraries is often the most convenient and the least interesting).
This ship leaves San Juan at 2300, so that even late-arriving passengers should be able to reach the ship in time. If one prefers, one can always go a day early and spend a night in San Juan. Hotel prices there are a bit high, but the old town provides an enjoyable day of pre-cruise sightseeing.
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