Italy & Croatia Adventure- 10 nights on Celebrity Constellation 5/24-6/3

[themillennialcruiser]

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Do they offer these on short sailings?

We have never sailed on less than a 7 night cruise with Celebrity but this event has been offered on every sailing i have been on so far.

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

@themillennialcruiser posted a video on her IG story and I just saw it earlier this morning. It is totally stunning! I want to say even more so than Norway.

The views are stunning! We haven’t sailed Norway yet but I would imagine it would be similar. What blew me away was seeing all of the houses that lined the bay and the 360 degree mountain views.

[themillennialcruiser]

Hello from Kotor, Montenegro! 
We woke up early to take in the views and boy did they not disappoint. It takes around 2 hours to fully get into the Bay of Kotor to dock so there is plenty of time to take in the views and enjoy. It was so beautiful it really could only be captured in video vs photos because there are 360 mountain views and towns lining the water. You can see cars driving, people walking around as you are sailing in. Its pretty surreal.

Sailing in I spotted some submarine tunnels used by the Yugoslavia navy during WW2. 
The weather started out pretty challenging, rainy and windy so I had doubts if the ship would be able to run the tender operations but they were able to figure it out by speeding up the timing/moving through tender numbers quickly and using some smaller local vessels.

We had some breakfast at blu and then waited for the gangway to open. The meeting point for Elite and above was at the Quisine restaurant. We waited around 10 minutes before being escorted off the ship by the Concierge, no tender ticket needed, the lines to exit the ship were very long so very thankful for the priority disembarkation process!
 

We originally had booked the Best of Montenegro tour through celebrity but after hearing some mixed reviews and having our own not great experience with a shore excursion in Split this trip we opted to go on our own. I was very grateful for this decision once i saw the weather too and for the provided umbrellas Celebrity leaves in your closet to use. 
 

The tender ride was around 25 minutes, a Cunard ship was using the dock and there was a Norwegian ship in the bay with us. 

The walk to the old town was around five minutes from the port through the main gate. 

After a short walk around the old town we decided to walk the city walls which are free in Kotor to walk.

The views were unreal, its hard to believe places like this still exist. 
There was an option to walk up the fortress walls around 1200 steps up and back down but we opted to skip for today with the rain. Didn’t want to slip and twist an ankle!

We stopped in the old town for some pizza and a drink.

After lunch we got some Michelin Star gelato! These were all special flavors offered, i had the lemon crumble and it was delicious.

There are a lot of cats in the old town including kittens. While they are well cared for I have a soft spot for street animals having a rescue dog of our own off the streets of Puerto Rico.


After our day in the old town we headed back to the ship via tender. We went back in the mid afternoon and there was no wait. 
 

After a nap and a little packing we enjoyed a pre dinner glass of wine and headed to blu for dinner. I do like to break up my packing a few days before the cruise ends so it doesn’t feel so sad and our last day of this cruise will be spent in the Amalfi coast so need to try to prep in advance.

I ordered the cheese gnocchi with a side of grilled shrimp. Don’t be afraid to ask for a protein side to any of the Vegetarian dishes. 

 

After dinner we headed to see the comedian. If you haven’t already noticed we haven’t gone to any of the shows yet this cruise because they didn’t seem like something we would enjoy. I had heard that the entertainment on this ship left something to be desired. The comedian was funny and well needed based on the audience reaction.

We then headed up to the game show.

There was a late night show called Elyria available to see at 10:45 pm. It was a rated R show the cruise director Sue mentioned. We were tired so headed off to bed but I heard its an interesting one.

 

Tomorrow is a sea day!

 

[domna]

So enjoyable following these posts! Thank you.

[themillennialcruiser]

1 hour ago, domna said:

So enjoyable following these posts! Thank you.

So glad you are enjoying! Thanks for following along!

[themillennialcruiser]

Hello from our second and final sea day. This cruise has been very port intensive and ends with a port day so we decided to move slow and relax. 

We started with breakfast at blu followed by the second Beyond the Podium talk - Are we Rome?

This talk broke down the similarities between the Roman and American history. I love that Celebrity offers an opportunity to learn something new.

After the talk we headed to the Persian Garden for the first time this sailing. With aqua class you get unlimited access to the Persian Garden and with Elite you get access for free on 1 port day of your choosing. 

The Persian garden was very small relative to what is offered on the Edge class ships but similar to what is offered on the Oasis class. I do love that the spa is connected to the Solarium for a quick walk between the saunas and the pools/hot tubs in the Solarium.

After the spa we headed to the grill for lunch and watched the ice curling competition between the guests and the officers. It was a huge block of ice that the teams curled across the pool deck.

Sue the cruise director mentioned that the Musical Murder Mystery was not to be missed. It was essentially a play read by members of the entertainment staff and musical clues incorporated into it. It was a hoot, highly recommend.

After the show we headed back to our room to pack and get ready for formal night. We had to take an obligatory photo on the balcony.

It was lobster night so we ordered surf and turf at blu and got baked alaska for dessert.

After dinner we grabbed a glass of wine to enjoy the sunset sailing between Italy & Sicily. The scenery on this sailing has been unreal. There is nothing like sunset sailing and seeing Mt. Etna in the background.

We enjoy some pub trivia followed by watching some of the Champions League Final in the casino. 

We are in Salerno, Italy tomorrow.

[FionaMG]

Love the pic of the two of you on the balcony.

[themillennialcruiser]

Today is the final day of this 10 night adventure aboard Celebrity Constellation.

We arrived in Salerno, Italy early this morning and got some breakfast at blu before heading off the ship to meet our tour guide. I booked the classic amalfi through Italy Tours which included stops in Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello. The tour cost 99€ PP and was a small group of only 6 people including my husband and I. Our driver Mario picked us up at the terminal and had a big personality, we loved him!

Today was a national holiday in Italy so Mario started by taking us on the highway towards Sorrento vs taking the amalfi road to avoid traffic. It took around 50 minutes to arrive in Sorrento.

We stopped in Sorrento to take in the views and for a kiss with our partners to make our love last another 100 years! 
 

After this stop we headed to Positano and stopped at another photo spot.

We have been to Positano before and love the views, narrow streets, and bars/cafes. The walk down to the beach and back up to the parking area can be a little steep. We did some shopping for shoes and a purse and stopped for an espresso and a nutella bombe which was SO good.

After getting back in the car we drove towards Amalfi and stopped at another photo spot to take in the ocean views.

We continued the drive another 10 minutes or so to the town of Amalfi.

We had the most time here so we stopped for a spritz and some pasta/ seafood at a restaurant right on the beach. Once we finished lunch we checked out the beautiful church and got some lemon sorbet, of course served in an amalfi lemon.

 

Our final stop was Ravello where we took in the views and shopped for more shoes! My husband bought 2 pairs of leather loafers and I bought sandals and a purse. The prices in the amalfi coast can be a little higher than shopping in Sorrento if you are looking to buy leather goods. 
 

After some time in Ravello we headed back down the Amalfi road to Salerno. We have visited the Amalfi coast from both Naples and Salerno port and if you had a pick over the port city I would pick Salerno every time. It is incredibly close to the amalfi coast, pompeii, etc and you can easily catch a ferry to many of the towns in the Amalfi coast. If you get car sick I would not recommend taking a car to the Amalfi coast as the roads are incredibly winding. Mario said there are over 1500 curves in the road in the Amalfi Coast. We got back to the ship around 3 and finished packing for debarkation tomorrow. If you do have a port day the last day of the cruise I recommend starting to pack the few days before so the last day of the cruise can be enjoyed. After packing we headed to the martini bar to have a drink and take in the views. Sailing out of Salerno you get incredible views of the Amalfi coast and Capri when sailing away.

Dinner was at blu followed by the Majority Rules game show and the pub quiz. We headed off to bed early as we disembark at 6:45am tomorrow morning to catch our flight to the US. 
 

My final impressions of this sailing-

This is by far and away my favorite itinerary we have ever done on a cruise. Yes getting to Ravenna was a pain but the port destinations out weighed the 3 hour shuttle to the port. Not only were the port stops incredible but the scenery from the ship was magnificent. Sailing to Kotor, Montenegro was a highlight but also sunset sailing between Italy & Sicily with Mt. Etna was a highlight in addition to sailing away with views of the Amalfi Coast and Capri. 

We really enjoy sailing Celebrity for the quality, aqua class, and the port destinations. Aqua is a great step between the retreat and a regular room offering and I wish Royal would offer something similar. 

There is something special about having a sommelier help choose your wine for the evening, not having to check out your towels, chocolates on your pillow every night, and not needing reservations for the shows/blu or luminae if you are aqua/retreat. Celebrity is really a class act type of cruise and the proof is in the details. 

On tipping, while Celebrity doesn’t deliver those little white envelopes to your stateroom that doesn’t mean you can’t add tips. We have started to on both Celebrity and Royal adding tips to our onboard account, this can be done at guest services or at the Loyalty Desk and charged to your credit card on file. 

We love the loyalty changes in the works for the RCCL group and will continue to sail both Royal and Celebrity depending on the itinerary offering. 

Thats all for now, if you have any questions about Celebrity or the ports on this sailing happy to answer!

[FionaMG]

Safe travels home @themillennialcruiser and thanks again for sharing your amazing cruise.

[Sweety]

Thank you for your wonderful pictures of the sights and food. What type of camera do you have? May peace be your journey home.

[themillennialcruiser]

48 minutes ago, Sweety said:

Thank you for your wonderful pictures of the sights and food. What type of camera do you have? May peace be your journey home.

All photos in this live blog were taken with an iPhone 15 pro. My husband has a fancy camera but we haven’t uploaded any of those photos just yet.

[Lovetocruise2002]

I cannot believe this is over already. I always say to Hubby (ever since we sailed together in 2019 and started keeping in touch on IG) that I love the way you and your husband travel. With the freeloaders getting older, and retirement years in view, I just told Hubby this weekend while showing him parts of this blog, that we really need to get out to see different itineraries. Kotor is now on my "must see" list, thanks to you and this blog. Have a safe trip home! Thank you for blogging!

[themillennialcruiser]

33 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I cannot believe this is over already. I always say to Hubby (ever since we sailed together in 2019 and started keeping in touch on IG) that I love the way you and your husband travel. With the freeloaders getting older, and retirement years in view, I just told Hubby this weekend while showing him parts of this blog, that we really need to get out to see different itineraries. Kotor is now on my "must see" list, thanks to you and this blog. Have a safe trip home! Thank you for blogging!

I know, the last 10 days flew by but it was such a good cruise! Have the best time on your upcoming European sailing! Excited to see how you enjoy celebrity too!

[Lovetocruise2002]

4 hours ago, themillennialcruiser said:

Excited to see how you enjoy celebrity too!

I am actually starting to feel stressed. I know this is mega first world problems but I feel very scattered, like I don't have enough time to research my Celebrity sailing. We leave for Barcelona in a month. Still trying to finalize plans on that mega trip. Then we are home for a week and off to our S2S, which includes our Celebrity sailing. Over the next 3 weeks, I have our usual Grade 8 grad (at my school) to plan (even though not at work this year, still helping to run it cause it's normally what I do), my daughter's high school grad, and a short getaway with Hubby next weekend. I feel like we jammed packed way too much in over the next two months. I want to research X more, but having trouble focusing on it. It's not usually how I like to approach a new cruise situation.

I just sent out an email inquiring when the Retreat shoreside concierge would reach out to me, and nothing so far. Apologies for the venting lol...

[themillennialcruiser]

32 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

 I want to research X more, but having trouble focusing on it. It's not usually how I like to approach a new cruise situation.

I just sent out an email inquiring when the Retreat shoreside concierge would reach out to me, and nothing so far. Apologies for the venting lol...

Totally understand that! We went in totally blind, there isn’t as much info out there on Celebrity as well. The one thing i have found overwhelmingly true is that you really don’t have to be as planned as you do on Royal. I have felt like on the Quantum/Oasis class ships it’s become too planned with everything being so scheduled prior to the cruise and it being difficult to make any arrangements on board but I have found that to be the opposite on Celebrity. We often find ourselves spontaneously doing a dining reservation or an activity on board like a grilling class or a wine tasting without any issues getting in at the last minute. Eden and Le Voyage are really the only two things you need to book in advance. It makes the cruise experience a little bit more enjoyable that you have the option to go with the flow and enjoy as you wish.

[Lovetocruise2002]

36 minutes ago, themillennialcruiser said:

We went in totally blind, there isn’t as much info out there on Celebrity as well. The one thing i have found overwhelmingly true is that you really don’t have to be as planned as you do on Royal.

That actually makes me feel a lot better as I feel like we might be headed into it pretty blind too. I just don't want to miss accidentally miss out on something because I didn't properly research it. 

[FionaMG]

1 hour ago, themillennialcruiser said:

Totally understand that! We went in totally blind, there isn’t as much info out there on Celebrity as well. The one thing i have found overwhelmingly true is that you really don’t have to be as planned as you do on Royal. I have felt like on the Quantum/Oasis class ships it’s become too planned with everything being so scheduled prior to the cruise and it being difficult to make any arrangements on board but I have found that to be the opposite on Celebrity. We often find ourselves spontaneously doing a dining reservation or an activity on board like a grilling class or a wine tasting without any issues getting in at the last minute. Eden and Le Voyage are really the only two things you need to book in advance. It makes the cruise experience a little bit more enjoyable that you have the option to go with the flow and enjoy as you wish.

This is why I am a big fan of Royal's Voyager class ships. They're big enough to have plenty to do but not so big that you have to micro-manage every minute in order not to miss out.

[csh_ct9]

This has been a pleasure to follow, thank you. 

I might have a go a blogging our trip later this month as we take a different path to Ravenna to board Explorer of the Seas for a budget led trip with lots of self guiding in the ports. 

[themillennialcruiser]

On 6/5/2024 at 12:11 PM, csh_ct9 said:

This has been a pleasure to follow, thank you. 

I might have a go a blogging our trip later this month as we take a different path to Ravenna to board Explorer of the Seas for a budget led trip with lots of self guiding in the ports. 

Thank you for following! Enjoy your cruise!

[SMOKEY0202]

To think Sabrina didn't even add to her agenda, her live blog which should be hitting the press release being a month out from sailing.....  The suspense waits....

I truly enjoy sailing Celebrity.  Much more relaxed vibe and you can actually venture into the buffet to grab a snack without the usual craziness on way to Sunset Bar.  There was tons of fresh seafood during lunchtime and Ranger Cookies.  Can't forget the Cafe for afternoon sweets and tea. 

Just got back from a Bermuda sailing and hitting high seas again in a few weeks....

[Lovetocruise2002]

54 minutes ago, SMOKEY0202 said:

To think Sabrina didn't even add to her agenda, her live blog which should be hitting the press release being a month out from sailing..... 

I am never going to live this down, will I? lol

[Sweety]

I need to start planning my retirement cruise.

[DDaley]

On 5/28/2024 at 11:00 PM, themillennialcruiser said:

I saw you said you were bumped to Aqua class but can you tell me your deck and or cabin number? Assuming this is deck 11? Not a huge fan of that overhang I am just realizing will be there for my sailing out of Japan on Millennium. Do you have any more pictures of your view from slightly farther back in the cabin?

Also, great blog! Kotor is absolutely on my to-visit list now!!

[themillennialcruiser]

On 6/13/2024 at 12:47 PM, DDaley said:

I saw you said you were bumped to Aqua class but can you tell me your deck and or cabin number? Assuming this is deck 11? Not a huge fan of that overhang I am just realizing will be there for my sailing out of Japan on Millennium. Do you have any more pictures of your view from slightly farther back in the cabin?

Also, great blog! Kotor is absolutely on my to-visit list now!!

We did get a move up a few days before our sailing. We were on deck 9 in room 9079 which did have an overhang. While it did create an obstruction it was good for when it was raining or very hot outside as we could still use the balcony.  I dont have any photos further back but i have a few of my view from the balcony I didn’t already post. The railings and overhang can cause some obstruction.