Celebrity Cruises - Cruise Line and Cruise Ship Reviews

Solsticizing A Constellation

by Geoff Edwards. Geoff is a veteran radio and television broadcaster with an Emmy award and an Emmy nomination.
This trip came together quickly. Celebrity Cruises has just finished “solsticizing” the Constellation and as I write this from Amsterdam, it is the summer solstice. So I figured, given the coincidence, I could make some kind of connection. Like I said, it happened quickly. Solstice was the first of Celebrity’s new class of cruise ship, with two other Solstice class following. These new builds have amenities beyond imagination. How about a quarter acre of lawn for croquet, bocce ball, or just to cover your wriggling toes. The lawn remains exclusive to the big guys, but enough has been passed down to make Constellation seem like a new build all on its own.

Of course every trip has a beginning, like how to get from LA to Amsterdam. United Airlines had some room on a flight connecting in Washington, DC. They offer premier seating for around $150 or so; it’s a good deal. No charge for the second bag, fast TSA lane, priority check in and boarding, and 5 extra inches of seat space. Amazing what a difference that makes. Unfortunately, when I looked at my boarding pass, the seat assigned looked to be too far to the rear to be “premier”. The guy who did my tickets allowed as how it was a premier seat and not to worry. I followed his advice and didn’t worry until I was on the plane. Not a premier seat! It was then off the plane fighting the oncoming passengers and their backpacks to the gate counter. The UAL representative fluttered her fingers over the computer keys and printed out another boarding pass. There was a big difference between 10A and 37A. I smiled and thanked her, but she didn’t look up. Maybe I’m being cranky, but it all reminded me of why I had stopped flying United.

We landed in Amsterdam at 6:45 AM. Hearing that I wanted to go to the cruise pier, the driver said, “Which one?” We concluded that the one “for the big boats” was the one. This is Euro land and the cab to the pier cost $100 US.

The boarding area was crowded, but no one seemed upset at the wait. Most reading or chatting, but a few trying to get as close to the ship as possible.

Promptly at 4, we boarded by the numbers issued at check in. The passengers are a diverse group. It was the first time in a long time that, in the mix of different languages, I heard no Spanish. Security was tight and required us to take off our watches, but not our shoes. I wondered what they thought I could put in my watch that would not work more effectively in my shoes. Safely in my cabin, I grabbed my cell to call home. NO SERVICE!!! I had to call on the cabin phone ($15.00) to ask my wife to call T-Mobile and get me the service I paid for. She did, and I’m now connected. Weird stuff.

We left Amsterdam at 7 PM. I have late sitting (8:30 PM). My tablemates were a lovely couple from England. Maybe it’s the English, maybe it’s just them, but they scrutinized the menu, trading suggestions for 15 minutes. Just as they had decided, our waiter showed up and pointed out the different choices available; the same each night from the left page, the right page would change nightly. “We didn’t know that.” Another 5 minutes back and forth. By the time they were set, I had completely forgotten what I wanted. The food was excellent: goat cheese soufflé, lobster bisque soup, and Grandmothers Coq au vin. For some reason I can’t remember my grandmother ever putting anything named Coq on the table.

My tablemates were chatty and interesting. We were near a view window and could see all the lovely Netherlands greenery. It took 4 hours to travel the channel and get to sea. The problem with late sitting for me is, well, how late it is. The show for lthe late sitting crowd doesn’t start until 11 PM. Trouble is, I start to snore at 10:55, so as much as I hate to leave pleasant company, I’ll have to change to early sitting at 6 PM. Oh well, I can tell the same stories to new people. Tommorrow at sea heading for Alesund, Norway.

Alesund is on the NW coast of Norway and doesn’t sound the way it looks. Try ew-le-sund. It was good old Rollo the Viking boss that built a castle here. Around the castle came a fishing village, then a township, then, in 1904 in the middle of winter, a fire. When the fire ebbed, 10,000 were homeless and in the dark. Kaiser Wihelm was furious. He had lost his vacation spot. Well, not entirely, the spot was still there, but no house. Not to worry, he led a rebuilding, melding Nordic styles with a bit of Art Nouveau. He was, after all, the Kaiser.

As I walked the streets of Alesund, my expectations were way off base; little traffic only one bike and only one blonde. She was on the bike. Actually, my favorites were an accordion player and a guy on cornet; both playing jazz. Alesund is pleasant enough, but except for these two, it doesn’t swing.

This is the only city in all my travels that I was unable to elicit a smile; not even a slight grin. In the midst of all the space and beauty, the expressions of the passing people reminded me of commute time subway riders in NY. Back on board Constellation, I realized that I was walking far more on this trip than at home. Beside the port perambulations, it’s about a 20 mile hike from my cabin to the San Marco restaurant. But…….well worth it. Bye bye Alesund, the Arctic Circle is next.

We crossed the Arctic Circle during late morning although it’s always light, so it’s kind of meaningless to refer to morning. Actually the Circle is a good distance from the North Pole; about 1,650 miles. So what defines it? It marks the latitude above which the sun doesn’t set on June 21st, the summer solstice, nor does it rise on the day of the winter solstice, usually December 21st.

The arctic has some wild phenomena. Most know about the Aurora Borealis, but there is also an acoustic phenom. Ok, follow me here; it occurs when the vertical density of the air causes sound waves to refract. The range at which sound can be heard depends upon the air temperature, the speed and direction of the wind, and (yes, there’s more) the rate at which sound energy is absorbed by the earth’s surface. If all this operates at optimum potential, conversations can be heard up to two miles away. Careful who you talk about, they could have their car windows open.

The Captain opened the Helipad so there was an unobstructed view of the terrain. The elongated snow stretches were lovely, but my favorite was the one with the huge bowl hole. Go figure. Tromso tomorrow.

Although we are 217 miles above the Arctic Circle, Tromso is noted as the Gateway of the Arctic as most Arctic expeditions originate here. Settlement started here at the end of the ice age. (How did they know?) Kinda seems to me that had I lived then, and the ice age ended, I wouldn’t follow the ice north, but the rivulets south.

In 1969 a fire destroyed a good portion of the town and much of the city center had to be rebuilt. While they may have some of the best fishermen in Tromso, it seems they couldn’t attract architects with imagination.

So why did I take the long walk into town? It seems my camera charger will not fit my camera. My camera is a Panasonic Lumix. The charger is for a Panasonic Lumix, but for a larger Lumix that is sitting at home. Why in the world don’t they standardize these things? I only have about ¼ of battery power left and 5 more ports to visit.

I asked the Constellation Concierge for help and he gave me a map with the name and address of a store that might, just might have the correct charger. Off I went. There was a convenient pedestrian path with arrows guiding one out of the port. I didn’t have a child with me, but took a chance and followe the black brick road.

The road soon widened to be a combination walk and bike path. It was easy to follow, and I could see stores (I thought) in the distance. Three miles and 45 minutes later, I had yet to find the shop.

I wasn’t confused by the Norwegian street names, because there weren’t any. Even if I had known what street I was on, there were no numbers on the storefronts.

I looked for a store in Tromso
I probably shouldn’t have done so
My body began to lurch
So I gave up my search
There was too much pain in my bum toe.
(Have I been at sea too long?)

The walk back was tough, and to top it all off, I was attacked by a seagull.

I passed on the dining room dinner and, summoned by sushi, ate on deck 10 at the seaside café. Nothing fancy there at night, but the sushi, Indian cuisine, and basic buffet did the trick. Tomorrow is Honningsvag, the northern most city in the world, although that’s disputed.

Legislation effective from 1997 states that a Norwegian city must have 5,000 inhabitants, but Honningsvag, with its population of 2,575 was declared a city in 1996. And with that gift, regardless of screams from Barrow Alaska, it now calls itself the northern-most city in the world. Although nearby Knivskjellodden juts a mile further north, it is not a city. I brought all kind of jackets and sweaters on this trip, only to find, because of the gulf current, it can get to 80 degrees here in summer. In town, some women, not from the ship, were in shorts.

Honningsvag is a bit bigger now than in 1996. Since that time, the population has grown by 1000. Today as I walked the streets, I saw no shortage of babies; alone in strollers outside stores, alone in cars, and, of course, pushed in carriages. By the way is there a law in Norway that one can not smile? This is a tight lipped group.

It’s difficult to imagine these kids, as they grow up, having to spend days in the winter without seeing daylight. If this were Los Angeles, with our electric rates, they’d spend days without any light at all. But come spring, they are like kids everywhere. And, whoo-hoo, I found a battery charger for my camera. And not just for my camera, this gizmo will charge all rechargeable batteries. I found it at a store on the main street, next the toasters.

As I’ve mentioned, Constellation has been “solticized”, adding many features from Celebrity’s Solstice class of mega ship. By the way, I am sailing in concierge class which provides a few more amenities like preferred early boarding, Champagne, daily fruit basket, no waiting in line for tenders, and extended in cabin breakfast menu. My goal at the moment, however, is to get my TV’s room service ordering menu to work. Yes, I went to the front desk and he said he’d send an email to repair. I hope they are on the ship. Tomorrow at Sea

It was a warm clear day in Geiranger. Geiranger is a small tourist town in the western part of Norway and has some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. While only 300 people live here year round, they get up to 180 cruise ships in the four month tourist season.

How long this will last is up for conjecture. Why? Because Geiranger is under constant threat from the mountain Akerneset and analysts predict a coming landslide. The landslide will go directly into the fjord, causing a flood wave of about 100 ft in height, which will sweep the fjord and destroy downtown Geiranger.

The people I met didn’t seem concerned. Although there are 5 nice hotels in the immediate area, there are a bunch of campers too. My favorite set up was where the tent stretching out made a lovely room.

The waterfalls are one of the great attractions. It comes out here. Goes in there.

And now to the sea.

I never thought there would be a Fjord in my future so I am just now learning about how they came about. It was the ice age(s). First, rivers cut through the valley. As they did, the land eroded and formed deep gorges. Came two ice ages, and the ice flowed down the mountains, and into the valleys as a slow moving mass that collected rocks in its path and dug the valleys deeper and wider. Voila fjords.

Although there were several nice stores in town, this one got the first shot at cruise passengers. From furs to funny hats and everything in between, there was a lot to choose from, but the longest line was at an ice cream window. At times, it wrapped around the side of the building.

As you know I am traveling alone. But, wouldn’t you know I’d find my perfect match on shore. I loved this town!

On our way back down (or is it up) the fjord, the last of the waterfalls bid us bon voyage.

Celebrity Cruises' Constellation, Solsticized

If you’ve followed my blog on the cruise to Norway, you are probably saying, but what about the “Solsticized” report? Well, now’s the time. It only took 15 days in drydock, but a ton of upgrading was done to Celebrity Cruises’ Constellation. My favorite was the state of the art wine serving system called enomatics. Pick out what appeals to you. Push one of the three buttons at the top for how much you want. The price will appear. Press another button, and it pours. Salud! This tasty machine is in the Cellermasters wine bar. Warning: Don’t ask to see the cork.

Remember the Conservatory on the top deck. Not there any more. In its place is a wonderful Tuscon Grille; its menu could have come from a Tuscan restaurant in Italy. And, the ambiance is still “conservatorial.”

Then there’s the Martini Bar. I was not aware, until I tried to sign my tab, that the bar had an ice top. As I wrote, the paper got wet. If I hadn’t moved it the ink would have been well smeared. No leaning on this one. Next, The Bistro. There is a $5 charge, but well worth it. Oh, did I say it’s all you can eat? I had scrambled eggs in a crepe. It doesn’t look as good as it tasted, but it was wonderful.

Talking about food, though not new, it doesn’t get better than in the OceanLiner dining room. There’s a charge, but give it a shot. You’ll wish you had a lot of ammunition.

Added to the major changes, new furniture, new bedding, flat screen TVs, carpeting, and though not new, a beautiful spa. Celebrity Cruises is a great cruise line and the “new” Constellation is lovely. At a rate of one a year, year all four Millennium class ships will be “Solsticised.”