Review: Celebrity Cruises - Constellation - [-- -- , 2005]

[Net Reviews]

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Norwegian Fjords and British Isles Cruise Review

Following is my review of our Norwegian Fjords and British Isles
cruise on the Celebrity Constellation. I focus mainly on the itinerary
aspects of the cruise. It was my third time on the ship, and a lot has
been written about the Millennium class ships.

Part 1. Background through Le Havre France.

Background
----------

Why do you book a cruise to the Norwegian Fjords? Especially when you'd
never even heard of them before. Why not just book the Caribbean, Alaska or
the Mediterranean?

Life is a series of events. Like multiple rolls of the dice. If you threw
the dice just a little differently, and a different number came up just one
time. how would that change the future?

So how did we end up in Norway?

Two and a half years ago, I decided to join Ben and Claudine S. on Sue W's
Viking Group sailing on the Celebrity ship Constellation to the Southern
Caribbean. Through our friends Peg and Derek, we had the opportunity to
meet Captain Ioannis Papanikolaou on Constellation during that cruise.
Constellation had just repositioned from her launch earlier that year
(1992), and first season in Europe. During our visit to the bridge, Captain
Ioannis showed us pictures of the ship at the beautiful Geiranger Fjord in
Norway. He told us that Norway was the best itinerary in the world.

A few months later, Linda and our kids were planning a European cruise (I
stayed home with Penny our golden retriever). They were thinking of doing
the Baltics, but later, based on Captain Ioannis' comments, decided to
switch to go to Norway. They went on Grandeur of the Seas, and absolutely
love the Fjords. They went to Geiranger, Bergen, and Flåm.

During the last SGC to Bermuda, our daughter Lara picked up some future
cruise materials and she, Linda and Jonathan, our son, decided they wanted
to go to the Mediterranean on Galaxy. We had some friends (John and Maria
N., their kids, and Maria's parents) who wanted to go, and between us and
friends of our TA John S., we got enough interest for a group.
Unfortunately, things didn't pan out for all of us (Linda and the kids
decided not to go, I had to have thyroid surgery, and Maria and her kids
didn't go), but some of the group still went. Much of the group this year
decided to go to Norway based on Captain Ioannis' comments and Linda's rave
reviews of Norway. After my successful surgery last year, I decided to join
the group this year. We were a group of 20, me from New Jersey, and the
rest from California.

So. had I not joined the Viking group on Constellation, had we not met the
Captain in the bridge, had he not shown us pictures of Norway, had we not
done the SGC2003, had Linda and the kids not gone to Norway, and had we not
planned the Med sailing last year to form the group I was with. we wouldn't
be doing this cruise. All a sequence of events.

Our itinerary was as follows:

Sat - Embarkation Day: Dover England
Sun - Day 1 : Le Havre France (Port for Paris)
Mon - Day 2 : At Sea
Tue - Day 3: Cobh, Ireland (for Cork)
Wed - Day 4: Dublin, Ireland
Thu - Day 5: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Fri - Day 6: Greenock, Scotland (port for Glasgow and Edinburgh)
Sat - Day 7: At Sea
Sun - Day 8: Geiranger Norway
Mon - Day 9: Olden Norway
Tue - Day 10: Bergen Norway
Wed - Day 11: Evening Arrival in Copenhagen and overnight
Thu - Day 12: Copenhagen
Fri - Day 13: At Sea
Sat - Day 14: Dover for Debarkation

As it turned out, my favorites were Edinburgh, Geiranger, Olden, and
Copenhagen. Edinburgh is something right out of a Harry Potter movie.
Geiranger and Jostedalsbreen National Park (Olden) are absolutely
phenomenal. And I really loved Copenhagen.

This was by far, the best cruise I've ever been on. I shot about 1400
pictures on my digital camera. It was very port intensive, which I like.
We really only had 2 "full" days at sea, since our 3rd day spent sailing had
us arriving at Copenhagen in the evening.

Pre-Cruise. Flight to England - through - Embarkation
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I decided to try something different for this trip to Europe. Every time in
the past, I've take the overnight red-eye to Europe. It's much easier to do
on company business, when you can fly business class. You can pretty much
sleep the entire flight. But in coach. it's just not that easy for someone
6'2" to sleep comfortably. I always ended up with jet lag. With Paris our
first port, on our first day, I didn't want to have any jet lag.

So, this time I booked a Friday morning flight from Newark which arrived in
England (Heathrow) at about 8:00 pm. I made certain not to sleep on the
flight over, which left me rather tired by midnight London time. I got a
hotel near Heathrow, fell to sleep easily, and woke at 8:00 am Saturday
morning without any jet lag, and fully adjusted to European time.

With booking air through the cruise line, the ticket included transfers to
the pier at Dover. I took the bus back to the airport in the morning, found
the Celebrity rep, and took the bus to the ship. It was about a 2 hour ride
through the English countryside.

Check in took about 10 minutes (I'm Captains Club Elite) and I was on the
ship. Heading up to pool deck we had a great view of the beautiful White
Cliffs of Dover.

That afternoon we went through the traditional unpacking, life boat drill,
and around 5:00 pm we did a memorable sail away from the beautiful white
cliffs. Onyx was the band on the ship. They were on pool deck and did a
live rendition of their reggae version of "Over the Rainbow" as the ship
pulled away from the dock.

At 6:00 I went to dinner where I found John, his brother Daniel, their
parents, and then met the rest of the group. We had 3 tables on the lower
level of the dining room. I sat at a table set for 6, with John, Daniel,
their parents and Alvin, a grad student at UPenn, who was part of the group.

That evening was kind of quiet. I recall we went to the show in the
theater - some kind of singing and dancing - and went to bed early in
anticipation for Paris the next day. I was volunteered to be tour guide in
Paris, since I had been there several times before.

That night, the ship sailed rather leisurely to Le Havre from Dover. It's
only about 130 nautical miles. I think we were going about 9 knots.

Day 1. Le Havre, France / Paris
---------------------------------------------

We planned to spend the say in Paris. Rather than take the ships bus to
Paris, we decided ahead of time to take the train. The schedule on the
Internet showed trains hourly at 8:00 am, 9:00 am, and 10:00 am, etc.

We agreed to try for an early start. We docked at roughly 7:00 am, and by
7:15 passengers were heading off the ship. Our group of 20 started
gathering at the lobby around 7:15. But some of the group didn't arrive
until about 7:30. We caught taxis to the train station and got there right
before 8:00, but upon arriving they said (with a lot of translation
difficulty) that there was no train until 11:00. I'm still not sure what
happened, but we walked back to the ship (about a 20 minute walk), and later
returned for the 11:00 train. It's roughly a 2 hour ride by train.

Our ship was to sail from Le Havre at 10:00 pm, and we had to be back by
9:45. We needed to catch a 6:00 pm train back. That would still give us 5
hours in Paris. I was the tour guide since I had been to Paris several
times before. We decided to visit the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. Notre
Dame Cathedral would have to wait for another time. At the Eiffel Tower,
the lines to go up each had about 500 people in them. We just walked around
for a while and took photos. Then we took taxis to the Louvre. I showed
the group the Mona Lisa, the Victory of Samothrace, Venus de Milo, and the 2
Michelangelo sculptures The Slave and The Dying Slave. Before we knew it,
we had to head back to Gare St. Lazzaire for our train back to Le Havre.

Arriving back at the ship after 8:30, we asked the Maitre d' if we could go
to late seating. He was very helpful and found us an empty table. After
dinner, it was a quiet night after our long day.

Norwegian Fjords and British Isles Cruise Review Part 2. British Isles.
Ireland and Scotland.

Day 2. At Sea
-------------------

On Monday, we spent the day sailing from Le Havre France to Cork Ireland.
It was our first day at sea. We did have a bit of rough seas as we rounded
the south east point of England - Land's End. It was a point where 2 bodies
of water interact - which frequently causes rough seas.

That evening was our first formal night. In the afternoon they held the
Captain's Club Elite members High Tea at the Ocean Liner's Restaurant. They
had the most delicious chocolate cake I've ever had.

Later that night (at 11:27. yes 11:27, not 11:30) they held a Cirque du
Soleil party at the "Bar at the Edge of the Earth". People were asked to
come dressed in white. They did face painting, had a girl who was a
contortionist, etc. The Cirque du Soleil members interact with you if you
let them. I let them paint my face, but no one else in the group did. It's
not a performance. You don't go there to be entertained. You need to
become interactive with it. If you don't you won't get the full effect.
Many later in the cruise said they didn't like the show. When I asked if
they participated, let their faces get painted. they said "of course not".
Well.???

All in all, I give it high marks. I'm not one who hangs out in discos, but
I found the experience very unique and enjoyed it. But you can't sit there
and expect to be entertained.

Day 3. Cobh, Ireland (for Cork)
-----------------------------------------

Prior to going on the cruise, I talked with several people at work that had
relocated from Ireland. They offered suggestions as far as places to visit
and things to do.

In Cork, they said that they would go to the quaint little fishing village
Kinsale. It's about a 20 minute drive from Cobh (pronounced Cove), where
the ship docks.

We all met after breakfast and went to shore and talked with taxi drivers
about going to Kinsale. The ship was docked where, supposedly, the Titanic
sailed from, on her way across the Atlantic. Cork was her last port before
the crossing.

We negotiated for a taxi ride that included Blarney Castle and a ride to and
back from Kinsale. Kinsale is a ritzy old town, similar to Basel. In fact,
it looked a LOT like Bermuda, particularly the St. Georges area. Even the
countryside looks a lot like Bermuda down by Kinsale.

That night was the Captain's Club Elite Cocktail Party at the Bar at the
Edge of the Earth. I saw Captain Ioannis there. He asked how Peg and Derek
were doing.

Day 4. Dublin, Ireland
-------------------------------

On Wednesday, we were docked in Dublin. I had booked a golf outing with the
cruise line at Portmarnock Links Course. It hadn't rained there in about 4
weeks and everything was brown, even most of the greens. The greens were
fast like lightning. And the fairways were like concrete. Easy punched 8
Irons were running 160 yards plus... the ground was so hard. Not a green
blade of grass in any fairway. I think 2 greens had green grass. By the
time we got on those, we had no idea how fast to hit the ball... we were
used to the brown greens.

Later that evening, I was still crunching bits of sand in my mouth after one
sand shot from a 5 ft. deep pot bunker... and that was from 4 hours
earlier...

The hardest part was not having any green fairway, so you had no idea where
to hit the ball, at least I didn't since I'd never played the course before.
Fairways and rough looked the same. Brown. And LOTS of blind shots from
where I was hitting the ball. Lost 5 balls. And I gave up using woods
after 3 holes. A 4 iron would carry 220-250 yards or so... the ball just
rolled forever. But it easily rolled into the gnarly stuff as well.

I shot over 100 (I usually shoot in the mid 80's)... It was so totally
different that what I'm used to. A unique (at least for me)... and a bit
humbling experience. Had a great time though.

That evening I ate dinner by myself. No one else from the group was there.
For the first time on a cruise I had Alaskan King Crab for dinner. I've had
it before, but never on a cruise. It was quite tasty, but a lot of work to
get the meat out of the shell. They don't shell it for you like they do
with lobster.

As I was leaving the dining room, I ran into the rest of the group. They
had just waited over an hour in line waiting for a shuttle bus in Dublin to
bring them back to the ship. Our waitress served them right then, instead
of making them wait for second seating.

Day 5. Belfast, Northern Ireland
-------------------------------------------

We docked at Belfast on Thursday. We all took a tour of the city on a
double-decker bus. Much of the talk from the driver was about the IRA vs.
Loyalist tensions of the past, and how they're doing MUCH better today.
Nice modern type city. Lots of good shopping and pubs.

We were docked right across from 2 big huge crane type things with H&W on
them. It was the Harland & Wolf yard right were Titanic was built. It's
been closed for about a year. They're going to re-develop the area (it's
waterfront, so it's valuable property) with a park, condos, etc.

While Belfast was nice, I recommended on the comments card that they not go
there (or to Cork) in the future. It simply wasn't in the same league as
the Fjords, Edinburgh or Copenhagen. I suggested that they add more
Norwegian ports, such as Flåm.

Day 6. Greenock, Scotland / Edinburgh
-----------------------------------------------------

Friday our ship docked at Greenock, Scotland, which is the port for Glasgow.
Edinburgh is about a 1 hour train ride or bus ride away.

A day earlier, I spoke with Anna the Captain's Club Hostess. She said that
the last train back from Edinburgh that gets you back in time before the
ship sails is at 1:00 pm. Given our problems with the internet train
schedule in France, I didn't want to risk missing Edinburgh (one of the
places Linda raved about from her sailing with our kids), so I booked the
bus ride through the cruise line. The rest of the group decided to try
going by train. The bus left before the train was scheduled to go, so I
left not knowing if they'd make it there or not.

When we arrived in Edinburgh, it was like something out of a Harry Potter
movie. The first thing we saw was the castle sitting up on the hills. The
bus dropped us off on Princess Street near the train station. When Linda
went, she found an article in Cruise Travel Magazine on what to do in
Edinburgh. There was a recommendation to visit Jenners Department Store.
It's located right on Princess Street, a few blocks up. I stopped and
purchases several wool and cashmere scarves there.

After Jenners, I continued walking on Princess Street toward the castle. I
made a left onto Lothan, and another loft onto Castle Terrace which brought
me to the entrance. I walked inside and found the ticket line about a half
mile long. Quickly giving up on that idea, I wandered around the area.
There is a building that houses a museum on Scotch whisky (IIRC, they don't
use an "e" when they spell whisky), and another building that houses a
working knitting mill. I got a few more scarves there.

From the castle area, you walk along High Street, also referred to as Royal
Mile. There are wonderful shops selling everything from bagpipes to suits
of armor. As I was strolling along. I heard a yell. It was our group.
They were walking toward me from the other direction. We walked around a
bit together, but by then it was almost 12:30 and they had to start back to
the station for their train. They had made it, but their time in the city
was somewhat shorter. I didn't have to be back at the bus stop until 2:00.
I continued strolling along some of the park areas, and visited the art
museum, which houses a beautiful Rembrandt. I started heading back toward
where the bus was to pick us up, but had some spare time, so I continued
walking up to Calton Hill which has the National Monument and Nelson
Monument. By 2:00, we were back on the busses heading back to the ship.

I LOVED Edinburgh. By far my favorite place so far.

Day 7. At Sea
-------------------

Saturday we spent sailing past the Shetland Islands up to Norway. The ship
passed many of the North Sea Oil Platforms. The North Sea was actually
rather calm.

I got an invitation for a bridge tour with Captain Ioannis. I was able to
bring a guest, so I brought John's dad.

It did get overcast with a few drizzles during the afternoon.

At the computer center, they cautioned us that for the next few days while
in the Fjords, we might not get a satellite signal and not have any internet
access.

Dinner that night was formal.

Day 8. Geirangerfjord, Geiranger, Hellesylt, Norway
----------------------------------------------------------------------

On Sunday, the ship sailed into Geirangerfjord. I set my alarm clock for
4:45 am. I wanted to be up on deck to see the entrance into the fjord. The
fjords are extremely long. Geirangerfjord extends about 100 miles inland in
a zig zag shape. Maps show the outer (near the ocean) part of the fjord as
Storfjorden.

The scenery is simply phenomenal. Incredible. Talking about it, without
showing pictures doesn't do it justice. One of the guys from the ship said
it reminded him of Salzburg, Austria, though with water and in the center of
the most incredible isolation. And the water is SO calm inside the fjords.
Almost like a sheet of glass.

WOW!

When we went to Quebec, we were up to latitude 49 deg when we rounded Nova
Scotia up into the St. Lawrence. Here we were over 62 degrees latitude. It
was sun until after 11:30 at night, and by 3:00 in the morning it was
already light. We're way up there. far north.

The fjords are much more impressive than the fjords that we saw at the
Saguenay River off the St. Lawrence up by Quebec. Though, the Saguenay had
white beluga whales breaching alongside the ship, while we didn't see any
whales or dolphins in the fjords today.

It was freezing overnight, but by the morning it had started warming up. I
put on a wool hat and warm sweatshirt, with a scarf as we sailed up the
fjord in the morning. We sailed past a number of gorgeous waterfalls,
including Bride Vail falls, and 7-Sisters falls. It was overcast in the
morning, but there was sun shining on the mountains every so often.

Our port was the tiny town of Geiranger. It is located at the most inland
point of the fjord. Last year it got 120 feet of snow. FEET. Not Inches.
The ship anchored about 50 yards off shore, in 150 ft. deep water. We
tendered to shore. about a 2 minute tender tide, since it was so close.

I went on a ship excursion with Alvin. We took the 8:00 am excursion that
takes you to several scenic overlooks and up to the top of the highest
mountain. We were among the first off the ship - at 8:15 or so.

There is a small town area. The locals pronounce the town GUY'-deng-er, It's
more of a "rolling r" though. Both G's are hard G's. The population is 240
people. Kids go through middle school, but by the time they are 15-16, they
must move away to go to high school. So at 15 they're on their own. The
only 2 things to do for a living there are work at tourism or farming.
There is nothing else. There is a church. It has 8 sides. That wasn't the
intention. The church asked people to donate wood, and the people didn't
donate their longest pieces (they saved those) so with the shorter pieces
they made a small - 8 sided church, instead of having 4 longer sides (where
they'd need longer pieces). It's really pretty, and sits up the hill from
where the ship anchors. The church yard ends at a stone wall overlooking
the water. The wall is a good place to sit and take in the gorgeous
scenery.

While the fjords are salt water, locals in the past did not use them in the
winter, due to fear of avalanches. They would instead walk over the
mountain ranges to get around. People who live in homes along the fjords
tie ropes around children and animals to keep them from falling thousands of
feet into the water. In the summer, sheep and goats are set free to wander
around the mountains, so that they don't eat the grass and hay near the
homes. That's saved for the winter. So just before winter, farmers head
out into the mountains to find their sheep and goats and bring them home.
It's a different way of life there.

We took the bus to the top of the mountain but it was clouded in today. It
never broke until the afternoon. I got a few things at a store on top of
the mountain (Geiranger sweat shirt, Norwegian hat, magnets, etc.) Outside
we built a stone pile. If you add a stone to a pile. it means you will come
back to Norway. Many of the stones are piled up all over the place. Even
where there are no tourists or visitors (to come back). Those stones are
"more likely" troll children that didn't listen to their parents and stayed
out too late - per local legend. Trolls only come out at night. If trolls
stay out past the sunrise, they turn to stone.. Hence the piles of stones
everywhere.

We saw lots of the houses with grass growing on the roofs. where Tolkein got
the idea for hobbit houses in Lord of the Rings. This part of Norway was
also where Tolkein got the idea of the fires at the top of the mountains.
The Norwegians actually did that to communicate.

By the time we reached the summit, it started warming up. We were able to
walk in short sleeves without our hats. Probably got up to 78-80 degrees in
the afternoon. And it got sunny. Incredible weather so far on this cruise.

On the way down we stopped at a lake and walked a "loop" where the old road
looped under itself in a 270 degree turn to climb up the face of the
mountain. I think they said the road took 30 years to build, and took 300
men to do it. They won an engineering award at the worlds fair many years
ago for the road. The road has 90 hair-pin turns. No guard rails.
Thousand foot drops. It's only open 3-4 months a year. Some people on the
bus were freaking out on the way down.

At the bottom we grabbed some drinks at a local café with outside tables.
Then walked down to the water to get our hands wet. it was COLD. Big time
cold.

By 2:30 we took a tender to get back on the ship and watch sail away back
out Geirangerfjord. Everyone was up on deck to see our exit from Geiranger
and see us sail past the 7 Sisters Waterfall.

On our way out of Geirangerfjord, the ship did a small turn and backed up
into a small fjord to the little town of Hellesylt, where we picked up
people who went on an all day shore excursion. By then it was time for
dinner.

Incredible, amazing day. I'm ready to come back to Geiranger next year. I
liked it so much.

Day 9. Olden, Norway, for Briksdal Glacier and Jostedalsbreen National Park
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday we sailed into Nordfjord to the port of Olden. This was our second
fjord.

Well. I though Geiranger would be my new favorite port. That only lasted 1
day. Olden has now replaced Geiranger. I thought it would be hard to beat
Geiranger... but Olden and Birksdal Glacier in Jostedalsbreen National Park
did it.

After getting only a few hours of sleep the night before, we opted to leave
late today - 9:30 instead of 8:00 or so. We were able to have breakfast a
bit later.

In Olden, they only offered 2 shore excursions. Either the long 8 hour
excursion, or the 4 hour excursion up to Briksdal Glacier. In truth. all
you need to do is go on the 4 hour excursion. Or go on your own.

Since we didn't book an excursion we walked off the ship leisurely about
9:30. But, the town is so small, there were no taxis (oops). We ended up
taking a local bus to the visitor center at the glacier. Instead of a shore
excursion ($59) or a taxi, we paid 33 Norwegian Krons which is about $5 for
a bus ride. Only problem is that half the bus is for luggage, so we had to
stand in the bus. But it was fun being on the bus with locals.

The bus takes you on a ride along the most gorgeous valley on the way to
Jostedalsbreen National Park and Birksdal Glacier. In Olden, it's not just
the fjord, but also the mountains, lakes and valleys around the fjord. The
glacier is at one end of the valley and feeds the lake that feeds the fjord.
Some of the people with us, who are from California, said the valley is more
gorgeous than Yosemite. I would agree. It's simply that incredible.

The bus takes you to a visitor center. From there, you walk 2 miles through
the valley, to 1180 ft. altitude, up to the glacier. You cross over a
bridge which goes over the waterfalls which are glacial thaw. The force of
the waterfall is so great that your face, clothes and hair get wet as you
cross the bridge. It's not just the beauty. It's the exhilaration of the
climb and water on your face that contribute to the overall experience.

The walk up the path to the glacier takes about a hour. The temperature was
on the cool side, so that made it easier. It probably hit about 75 degrees
there at mid day. The further up we got, the cooler it got. And once you
got close to the glacier, the temperature really dropped as the air blew
across the large sheet of ice toward you. The sky was partly cloudy, partly
sunny. Another day of perfect weather. Not one day of rain so far. The
locals said a few weeks ago they had continuous rain. so we've had perfect
luck so far.

Up by the glacier, you could NOT easily walk on the ice (it was slippery),
but you could go right up to the ice. There was a local excursion that you
could take to walk on the ice, but you needed to wear those special ice
boots with the sharp spikes that they show on TV.

The walk back was easier, though more slippery down the path. The last bus
was at 1:40, so we made sure to catch it. After getting back some of us
wanted to wander to try out a local beer. but the town of Olden is so small
there is no pub.

After dinner, the sail out the fjord was more green than Geiranger. The
mountains were more lush. Maybe because we're a bit further south. Going
out of the fjord, we saw salmon fisheries out in the water. Later that
night, we got some gorgeous sunset pictures.

Day 10. Bergen, Norway
-----------------------

Bergen is a gorgeous little city in Norway. Our only problem was that we
didn't visit Bergen until after Geiranger and Olden. Had we gone to Bergen
before the Fjords, we probably would have loved Bergen. Going there after
Geiranger and Olden, it became a bit of an after thought.

We saw our first "other" large cruise ship at Bergen. Golden Princess was
in port with us there. She was docked right next to us. Silver Whisper was
also docked, though further from us.

The ship had a free shuttle that took us to the downtown area, near the fish
market. From there we wandered around a little, and then decided to take a
double decker bus tour of the city that included a ride up to the top of the
mountain. We purchased our tickets for the group and walked to the
vernacular that goes to the top of the mountain. It was only about a block
away. We though we'd first go to the top of the mountain, and then hop on
the bus and get the tour. It was then that we realized that our tour
included a ride on the cable car, not on the vernacular. Oops. We found a
place to catch the bus and went to the place to catch the cable car. We
waited about 2 cars (they come about 8 minutes apart) since there was a bit
of a line. The cable car holds about 20 people. The view from the top is
wonderful. You get a great view of the city. though compared to Geiranger
and Olden, it simply wasn't as good.

After the tour, much of the group went back to the ship. I waited with
Alvin to see if his parents had gone back or not, so we wandered around a
bit and stopped in a coffee shop for a cappuccino. We stopped in one of the
plazas where a unicycle rider was doing a show. We also saw a "moving
statue". A person dressed up in a bronze color outfit, with bronze make up.
He made small moves to let you know that he was "real". He was excellent.

After we caught a shuttle back to the ship I went up to deck for sail away.
We sailed under/past several bridges and a number of small islands. The
sun was out, for some nicely lit pictures of the sail away.

After dinner I e-mailed friends and family and later that evening went to
watch the Texas Hold-em game in the card room.

Day 11. At Sea, Evening Arrival in Copenhagen - Tivoli Garden
------------------------------------------------------------------

After a 2 week cruise, I had a lot more dirty clothes than on any previous
cruise. One advantage of a cruise to Norway vs. a Caribbean cruise is that
you don't need 2-3 sets of clothes per day. In the 95 degree heat in the
Caribbean, you go through clothes much more quickly. You generally need a
set of clothes during the day, and another set of clothes for dinner. In
Norway, you can get by with a golf shirt type outfit during the day that
still works for dinner. As a result, the clothing situation wasn't as bad
as it might have been.

I started organizing my dirty clothes, putting them in piles and into
plastic bags for easier packing later. I also started organizing all my
collected paperwork (port guides that I bought before the cruise, daily
programs, shopping guides, port sheets, maps, etc.) that I collect for all
cruises.

By evening, everyone was starting to get ready for Copenhagen. We were due
to arrive at 7:00 pm. There was only 1 excursion available that evening. to
Tivoli Garden.

To let everyone get off early, they decided to open the buffet restaurant at
5:00. That way, anyone who was at late seating, or anyone at early seating
who wanted to get away quickly could eat and be off by 7:00. We decided to
eat in the dining room, where they still did their best to get us served
quickly.

We were probably off the ship at about 7:30 or so. We didn't book the
excursion to Tivoli, instead deciding to go there on our own. First we
walked about a half mile to the Little Mermaid, where we were able to take
pictures with her face in the evening sun (the morning sun has her back
lit). After taking pictures we walked a mile or two past the Amalienborg
Palace toward the canal area. We found a hotel where we were able to get a
taxi to take us (in 2 trips) to Tivoli Garden.

We got to Tivoli Garden around 9:00 pm, and stayed until it closed at
midnight. For a Wednesday night, I'm guessing that there must have been
100,00-200,000 people there or so. It was jam packed. I'm guessing this,
but judging based on the number of people I see outside a packed Yankee
Stadium which holds like 50,000 people. I'm guessing Tivoli had at least
two to four times the number of people.

I got Hard Rock Café T-shirts for Linda and me, and a shot glass for John N.
at the Hard Rock at Tivoli. They have shirts that say either Copenhagen or
København. I couldn't decide which. but finally opted for the Danish
København. Some of us had mugs of "our traditional" local beers at the Hard
Rock.

We walked around Tivoli for a few hours. Lines for rides were very long.
There were some rides that several of the group wanted to go on, but the
waits looked huge. There was a live concert going on at one end of the
park. About 15 minutes before closing (midnight) they put on a laser light
show at one of the large fountain pools. After the laser show, we walked
around until we found enough taxis to take us all back to the ship (some
taxi drivers didn't want to go that far, or in that direction).

Many of the group didn't really care for Tivoli Garden. They live in
California and seemed to want to compare it to Disneyland. which of course
it isn't. But then Disneyland doesn't date back to the 1840's. Tivoli
does. Berlitz calls it a "world famous Danish institution, and crown jewel
of the city". It covers almost 21 acres, and has now become an "oasis of
fun and pleasure in a busy 21st-century city". Part of it's charm is it's
quaintness. It's not Disney and it doesn't try to be.

Day 12. Copenhagen
-----------------------

Since we saw Tivoli Garden the night before, we decided that on Thursday we
would go to the shopping area and to the Nyhavn (canal) District. Without a
huge schedule for the day we woke up late. About 8:00 for me. By the time
I went up for breakfast (I took my thyroid medication at 8:00 and went up to
breakfast an hour later) it had started to rain. It was the first rain the
entire cruise. But an hour later, the rain had passed through. bringing in
sun and intermittent clouds. A very lovely day. It was warm enough that we
didn't even need sweat shirts. I wore a golf shirt and Bermuda shorts.

We took the free shuttle from the ship, which dropped us off 1 block from
Nyhavn and the shopping area. We wandered around the shopping district
first. We window shopped and went inside the Rolex and Louis Vuitton shops
to stare at the prices. Saw a nice LV purse (that I though Lara might like)
that was only $700.

We made our way back toward Nyhavn and took a canal boat ride around the
canals of Copenhagen. One of the kings of Copenhagen had gone to Amsterdam
and came back telling everyone - BUILD CANALS. So they did. And it turned
out gorgeous. After the canal boat ride, the rest of the group went back to
the ship for lunch, but I stayed at the Nyhavn area. I wanted to soak in
more of the local flavor.

I walked around several times taking pictures, and sat down at one of the
cafes with side walk tables and had another "local beer". While enjoying my
beer, a guy in a red beret and beige suit wandered by and started
entertaining the crowd by "annoying" passers-by with various antics - much
to the delight of those sitting at the tables. He clipped a 15 ft. dog
leash to one ladies back pack.. let her keep walking and then gave her a
pull.. As a bald gentleman walked past him. he grinned to the crowd, and
pulled out a spray bottle of water as he fell in line behind the gentleman.
Others he simply tapped on the shoulder - while standing on the other side,
of course. And others were greeted with a Shriek of a Whistle and a pointed
finger, if they were caught looking at pretty girls walking by.

After another hour or so, I eventually took the shuttle back to the ship. I
really loved Copenhagen.

That night was formal night. With 3 consecutive days in Norway, then an
evening in Copenhagen there was really go better time to have formal night.
The last day of the cruise was a day at sea, but they never have formal
night the last night, since you have to get your luggage out that evening.
So the night we sailed from Copenhagen was formal. For dinner I had the
chateaubriand. It was excellent.

Day 13. At Sea
-----------------

Our final day was mostly packing and getting ready for coming home. I had
earlier in the cruise turned in paperwork to have my tips put on my on-board
account. The night before, vouchers were delivered to my cabin.

I handed out envelopes to my waiter, assistant waiter and assistant Maitre d'.
I left envelope for the cabin steward in the cabin. He took the envelope
during dinner - I never saw him again after that.

My clothes fit into the 2 large rolling bags that I brought. I added 2 Hard
Rock Café T-shirts and a sweat shirt from Geiranger, so I didn't need any
additional pieces.

Day 14. Dover / Debarkation
-------------------------------

There was a full buffet breakfast in the morning. Even the omelette and
pancake/waffle station was open.

Everyone who was taking the bus to Heathrow was issued the same color tags -
Red 3, and told to report to the Rendezvous Lounge at 9:15 (IIRC). We were
all taken off the ship together at one time. After the 2 hour ride to
Heathrow, and a 5 hour wait in the airport, I was in my cramped seat on a
Virgin Atlantic 747 on the way home.

Other Comments/Thoughts
---------------------------

Food was not quite up to past standards for all items on the sailing. Some
items were great. Others simply weren't that good. Fish was pretty bad
from the second night on. It was not nearly as good as the fish that we had
on the ship last fall when we sailed out of NYC to Quebec, Halifax and New
England. I think it was the provisioning in England that was the issue.
Steaks, Alaskan king crab and lobster were excellent however. I think it's
a function of what you can get in different parts of the world.

Celebrity continues to expand food hours to be more in line with the
competition, like Princess. The AquaSpa food area is open continuously from
breakfast through 8:00 in the evening. There is a fresh made pasta and
salad buffet station that is open from lunch until 1:00 am. Pizza is also
open until 1:00 am.

The breakfast buffet includes fresh made waffles and pancakes. Salmon was
available every day, though they ran low on melon half way through the
cruise. Orange slices and chocolate croissants were available every day.
They did re-provision the ship in Copenhagen, but we didn't get new
provisions up in Norway - there just isn't anything up there except the
fjords, a few farms, and the tiny towns.

The ship continues to be maintained in perfect shape. Everything was
spotless. They even handed out a card early in the cruise, if you need
anything, want anything or notice anything, let us know. Captain Ioannis
doesn't allow any slippage on board Constellation.

One evening 8 of us ate at the Ocean Liners restaurant. While it's a nice
experience, I simply don't think it's worth the extra $30 per person
compared to Celebrity's regular dining room food. The steak Diane, and the
goat cheese soufflé are wonderful, but the fillet mignon's and chateaubriand
in the main dining room were every bit as good. Desserts in the dining room
were overall good, but I think that the best desserts on the ship are the
fresh made pies served at the burger station by the pool and all the
"healthy" desserts featured in the AquaSpa. The best dessert the entire
cruise was a gnoche with fruit at the AquaSpa one afternoon.

The casino got a fair amount of play. They guys even twisted my arm and got
me to play craps (for the first time) with them. I think I won $30 one
night and lost $20 another night. That was enough for me.

The lounge in the front of the ship has been renamed "The Bar at the Edge of
the Earth" and has been re-decorated for the Cirque du Soleil experiences
(being careful not to use the term performance, which it's not). They've
added what look like Moroccan style tents with beds in them. The beds are a
place to sit or lie down. There are all kinds of "frilly things" hanging
from the ceilings, columns, etc. It's quite unique.

The mix of passengers was mostly from the US. I'd estimate maybe 10% were
Italian. Then maybe another 10-20% from all other nations, other than the
US. As far as age, it was a summer sailing, so there were quite a few
families with older kids (teens through college age) on board. There weren't
a lot of younger kids however. It was a younger crowd than our Fall Foliage
sailing last October, when there were almost no kids or families on board.