Constellation Cruise

Lindsay Garner on 13 September 2018
One of the older ships of Celebrity but still clean, tidy and beautiful. A very welcoming ship with amazing staff. Quite a large ship but doesn't feel it. We booked for 10 days in August and have to say it was one of the best cruises we have been one both for ship and islands. The ship visited Venice, Dubrovnik, Crete, Athens, Santorini, Mykonos and Katakolon. There were many nationalities onboard. We were fortunate enough to be in a Royal Suite and had an interconnecting room for the children who were in a Concierge Cabin. We were treated so well. Lovely staff who could not do enough for you. The food was amazing in all of the restaurants. The bar staff were great and always remembered your drink. The disembarkation and embarkation were easy not congested and as you can imagine the temp outside was hot so to arrive back at the ship after a long hot day to be met with ice cold flannels and ice-cold fruit water was amazing.

Dubrovnik was beautiful. We were there two days so managed to visit the Old Town which was so interesting, beautiful but very busy. The next day we went to the most amazing beach bar, Copacabana. Fabulous crystal-clear water, beautiful beach beds and great beach bar and restaurant. If on a cruise for holidaying, there we would recommend changing some of your euros for their currency Croatian Kuna (they use both but prefer their own).

Chania, Crete was lovely, but we prefer the Heraklion end. Chania isn't as pretty as the Heraklion side. Its more commercialised and the beaches compared to that of the Costa Blanca. Very busy. However, we love Crete and will definitely visit again. Food is lovely Cretian Greek and very cheap. The beaches as said before are very busy but the sea is warm and very shallow.

Athens we enjoyed very much for the historical side of it. On first viewing it’s just your usual dirty European city but we highly recommend booking a private tour with a guide and tour the whole area. Its then that you see the real side of Athens and see the beauty and history of the area. We were out for 4 hours which was more than enough and most of that time was on the Acropolis. However, we did manage to see many other historical areas and houses.

Santorini was disappointing! From the ship it looks stunning and a definite wow factor as you see it perched at the top of a cliff face. You see the adverts on the TV and in the cruise brochures etc of these beautiful white washed homes with blue paint work and infinity pools how fooled we were. From the cruise ship you are taken to shore by tender and you have three choice of getting up to the top either cable car, 580 plus steps or donkeys. Once at the top you are met by the beautiful cobbled very narrow streets and the lovely little white washed buildings however they are all filled with either food shops, takeaways, jewellery shops or their own touristy shops. We walked out of the busy area hoping to find something quainter and quieter but you don't. Nearly every very narrow street had beggars playing their musical instruments or using their kids hoping for money. Very intimidating especially when you really can't get away from them. We found the beautiful hotels, villas and private homes as you have to walk past them and there is absolutely no privacy for them. You are either walking past them or looking down into them. We walked further into Santorini and came across an even more commercialised area with Irish Bars and a MacDonald’s. Then to our surprise we saw that in fact Santorini is two sides and the other side is flat with a main road in and out, a bustling centre with taxis etc. We feel we have been lied to! We definitely wouldn't come back here for a holiday - a day is definitely enough. We decided to walk back down to the tenders as we wouldn't bear to use the donkeys. It was so sad to see as they have to just stand there in 30-degree heat waiting for the tourists. There was no water or food where they were tied up and there was horse poo and pee everywhere, so you can imagine the smell. In all the time it took us to walk down only three donkeys were used by some inconsiderate visitors and all the way down the people on the donkeys were met with abuse from all nationalities. It was a sad situation.

Mykonos was one of our favourites. A beautiful island with lovely beaches and the sea was crystal clear, shallow and warm. Many beach bars and all had comfy stunning beds, restaurants and facilities. A little more expensive than other islands but worth a visit and definitely would love to stay for a week. The town is lovely, like Santorini with narrow cobbled streets but more upmarket and quirkier. Very expensive area and has all the top premium brand shops like Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga etc. They call Mykonos the Gay Capital of Greece and it definitely was. Food was lovely, and the people were lovely.

Katakolon was not one of the best stops but we managed to find an ok beach on the other side of the island. each area is set up like a strip with restaurant on one side and their tables and beach beds on the other side of the strip. The beach beds are free if you buy your drinks/food off their beach waiters. Unfortunately, because of this policy the beds are old and not very comfortable. The beach was quite dirty and was full of lucky lucky men selling knock off designer handbags, watches sunglasses etc, just like being back in Spain.

Venice - Well what can we say. A must visit. I wouldn't visit for any longer than 4 for 5 nights and to visit at the end of May/June or September. August was far too hot and very busy. Beautiful architecture and stunning scenery. Can be a little smelly especially when the tide goes out. Would recommend the Gondolas, expensive but a must. We stayed in the Gritti Palace Hotel and will definitely be going back again. Absolutely fabulous hotel with the most amazing staff. Breakfast is served outside with views of the bustling Grand Canal. We walked out of the hotel to our table and literally stopped in our tracks at the breath-taking location. It’s not cheap but all the added extras the hotel offer is worth every penny. They arrange their own private transfers which we used, and it was so smooth and stress free. They took us under their wing and looked after us right from the airport to the hotel and then the next day from the hotel to the port.