By: Sima Malca and Ronit Selig
We booked the Connie for the second time. Last year we enjoyed our cruise on her so we decided to book again.
Embarkation We arrived at Dover terminal 2 at about 11:00 AM the check in started after 10 minutes, it was smooth and we stepped back on Connie after 15 minutes. Walking straight to deck 3, felt like we left here yesterday and quickly to the glass elevators to our cabin.
The Cabin Our cabin was 8054 on Panorama deck. A few cabins from last year's 8064. We felt immediately at home. . The cabin was clean and shiny. The same lovely colors, orange covered bed and curtains and green sofa. Mirrors on the walls to make the room larger, nice balcony, safe and mini-bar and a large shower.
The Food We went to the cinema where the maître d' was, to check our table assignment, he showed us we received our table for 3 No.535 on deck 5. Afterwards we continued to the seaside café for lunch. As we expected it was quite full, we had our first lunch, it was good. The food in the Seaside café throughout the cruise was generally good, some items were great but not as great as the San Marco restaurant. Dinner that night in San Marco started the best 2 weeks of fantastic food and service. Our waiter was Karmana and our assistant waiter was Kris. The minute we met them we felt they were good. Our table was in one of the best locations in the restaurant. The first dinner was wonderful, the service was excellent, friendly and professional. Each dinner was an occasion and something to look forward to. To our delight we noticed we knew some of the main courses and desserts. Some of the wonderful items for lunch and dinner were: the rum-raisin ice cream, the Calvados apple tart, the Sole, the Cod, the mocha cake which was the best dessert, the tortillas, the pears flambé, the mushroom soup, and the crepe suzette. Most of the waiters knew us from last year and from the Millennium.
We used room service several times especially for Pizza and it came fast and the food was good. The Itinerary This was the first Fjords cruise for us. The ports were: Dover, Le Havre, Cork, Dublin, Greenock, Geiranger, – Hellesylt, Olden, Bergen, Copenhagen, Zeebrugge, Dover.
In Cork we took the Scenic Drive & Blarney Village, Cork is a lovely town, and Blarney village woolen mill is great, lots of shops with interesting Irish merchandise. We bought some chocolates and had a cake and tea in the Blarney Woolen Mill Hotel. Dublin was cancelled to our disappointment due to bad weather. The next day we reached Greenock. First time for us in Scotland. We booked a limousine a week before for a tour of Edinburgh. When we stepped out of Connie the chauffer was waiting for us near the ship, he was very nice and we saw in the car 3 bottles of mineral water waiting for us, a very nice touch. The way from Greenock was very smooth and quick and we reached Edinburgh in less than an hour and a half. First we went for breakfast at the Scotsman, then we went to visit the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Queen's Gallery. The palace is beautiful. Afterwards our chauffer made us a tour of all Edinburgh and with explanations and stories. This was great, we saw Edinburgh Castle, Princess Street, the new and old city. The weather was nice but a little windy and we were happy we had the limo. After the tour we started back to Greenock. We arrived before the buses, so going back in was quick. This was a fantastic day. Waking up in Geiranger was like a dream. Wow! To open the curtains and to see the Geiranger Fjord mounting so high was breathtaking. So beautiful we couldn't believe it! The turquoise water and the green mountains were like nothing we've ever seen. We went for breakfast and then to the tour Geiranger Fjord Panorama. The weather couldn’t be better, clear, some clouds. The tour took us to the village of Geiranger and up to the summit of Mount Dalsnibba. The views were awesome! Looking from up at the Geiranger Fjord were our little Connie was anchored along with two tiny ships wow! Up on the summit it was very cold and after taking a few pictures we ran back to bus to get warm. It was one of the best tours we've ever taken. Back in the ship we sat in the balcony to see her sail slowly towards Hellesylt, lovely birds accompanying us as Connie sailed the most beautiful and spectacular route, amazing! We reached Olden the next day, the view continued to astonish us, the weather was somewhat cold and rainy and mountains covered with clouds, we stayed in the balcony and admired the view. In Bergen we took the Panoramic Bergen By Coach tour. Bergen is a lovely town with colorful buildings and beautiful views. The shore excursion was nice and short. We booked a limousine for Copenhagen. We booked it for 10:00 am, a nice and convenient hour, the same hour the museums and palaces open. The weather was hot (about 26 Celsius). We met our chauffer outside the ship. He was very nice. We told him we want to first see the statue of the Little Mermaid, it was a 2-minute drive from the ship, the whole ship was there, we took some pictures and back to the limo. The chauffer took us to the Glyptotek museum. After visiting the museum, he took us for a tour of Copenhagen, showing us all the places of interst. What a beautiful city, we then took pictures at the Amalienborg and Christiansborg palaces. Then we visited Rosenborg Palace, which is a wonderful palace that holds the crown jewels. Afterward we returned to the ship. It was a wonderful tour.
The Entertainment The Entertainment was great, although some of the entertainers were also last year. The Celebrity Dancers and Singers gave 2 production shows, Lindsay Hamilton was great, Bob Arno was very funny with the pickpocket show, Brooks Aehron gave 2 concerts, Franco Spoto a singer, JC and Gaby – acrobats and Stars on Strings a puppet show.
The Captain's cocktail party was held also in the Celebrity Theatre, that was a nice change and Captain Papanikolaou welcomed everyone aboard. One breakfast at the Seaside café, the captain came by and chatted with us for a few moments, he is the friendliest captain we've ever had.
The Ship Connie is as wonderful as ever, the public rooms are lovely, we especially enjoyed Notes, the Celebrity Theatre and Reflections.
The 14 days went by so quickly and again it was time to leave.
Connie, we will come back!
