March 1, 2025 Tampa embark Celebrity Constellation

This morning the sun was shining, some light sections of wispy clouds were in the sky and hardly a breeze. The 8 a.m. temperature at the airport was 62°F (16.7°C)

Breakfast was a lot quieter in the breakfast room, there was a youth team but only about 10 people, not the 30+ young teenagers of yesterday’s boisterous group.

Checkout was at 11 a.m., so we waited in the lobby for our 11:30 a.m. Lyft ride to the cruise terminal. There was a message on the Celebrity Constellation Facebook page that the ship will be moored at Terminal 6 not terminal 3 as on the Celebrity e-documents we had been sent. Looking on vesselfinder.com, it appeared that the Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas, which we cruised on around Australia, was moored at terminal 3 and Enchantment of the Seas was moored at terminal 2. The Constellation was moored at terminal 6. The Tampa cruise terminal docks are in a channel off Hillsborough Bay in the Channel District.

We relaxed, watched the ship’s Safety video and read the newspaper before our Lyft ride took us to the cruise terminal. Last night, we completed the ship’s Health Questionnaire on the Celebrity app. Victor, our Lyft driver, was 15 minutes early, but we were ready having checkout at 11 a.m. In less than 25 minutes we were dropped off near terminal 3 and enjoyed the 10 minute walk along Channelside Drive beside the tram tracks to terminal 6. There were, in fact, two Royal Caribbean ships moored, Enchantment of the Seas and Radiance of the Seas. Our scheduled boarding time was Noon to 12:30 p.m. and we arrived at Terminal 6 at12:05 p.m. An interesting fact that I just noticed is that Celebrity Cruises Inc. ships are registered in Malta and Ecuador.

There was a short line of about 50 people to clear the Security scanner then in less than five minutes we were checked in and directed to the gangway onto Celebrity Constellation for the 15 day cruise. (We first cruised on Constellation in 2014 from Istanbul and again in 2018 from Venice.) We could see the crates of supplies lined up on the dock ready to be fork lifted into the ship. We entered our ocean view cabin about one hour after we left the Holiday Inn & Suites Busch Gardens.

Celebrity Constellation is full to its capacity of 2184 passengers, weighs 90,940 tons and is 965 feet long.

Arranged on the cabin’s desk was the daily program, a list of Special Events for Elite Loyalty Club members, our tour tickets for New Orleans and Progreso, Mexico and an Effy necklace with a locket. We met our cabin attendant and advised her we would like just a morning tidying of our cabin, no bed turndown was necessary. Then it was up two decks to Café al Bacio for a Cappuccino, Americano, turkey croissants and a piece of chocolate mousse for lunch. There were only a few other guests taking advantage of a quick stop to eat lunch.

Back to exploring the 23 year old ship which had had a refresh of public areas last April. We climbed to deck 10 where the two outdoor pools, one indoor pool and six hot tubs are located as well as the Oceanview Café buffet. The Oceanview was packed. We took the stairs by the outdoor pool up to deck 11 to walk along the jogging track to got a good view of the port and some of Tampa’s downtown. We may take the tram next Sunday, when the ship ends this cruise and starts a seven day cruise, to wander around Tampa’s downtown. We could see both of the other cruise ships and see down the channel out to Hillsborough Bay. Our route will follow the channel into Hillsborough Bay then through Tampa Bay finally to the Gulf of Mexico.

Also on Deck 11 was the Reflections Lounge. We remembered the dance floor as a five metre diameter circle made of more 60 metal wedges, that could be tripping hazards at the seams. We were happy to see that the floor was now a nice wood dance floor. We stopped at the Oceanview Café to get an ice cream cone to take to a shady chair near the window by the outdoor pool where there was an occasional breeze. It was a good place to read our books before returning to the cabin to unpack the suitcases that had been taken to the cabin.

There is plenty of room for our clothes - three dozen hangars in the closet, two drawers each in the bedside tables, four drawers and a safe in another closet. Two shelves for the backpacks above the TV and mini fridge and four shelves in the desk. Our cabin is located on the starboard (right) side of the ship near the middle of the ship halfway between sets of elevators and stairs. We rarely use the elevators even though it is eight flights of stairs to the outdoor walking track.

All Aboard was 3:30 p.m., Captain Christos Trifyllis announced just before 4 p.m. that everyone had completed the safety video and reported to their muster stations so the final thing to be done was to sound the ship’s emergency signal - seven short blasts of the whistle followed by one long blast. He also mentioned that the ship will be travelling at a steady 12 knots (about 22 km per hour) toward New Orleans. It will take a day and half to get there. Then Cruise Director Sarah Hibbert took the microphone to explain the program highlights for this evening.

Shortly after that we watched Enchantment of the Seas leave her berth and go down the channel. The Radiance of the Seas, backed into Enchantment’s empty spot to negotiate a turn to head for Hillsborough Bay. The Constellation was already pointed to the bay and just head to maneuver from her berth into the channel. We watched from outside on decks 11 and 12.

We changed for dinner and danced for 15 minutes to the Dance music quartet, Pesta Pora, in the Rendezvous Lounge before going to deck 5 and the San Marco dining room to find out who our dining partners would be. We were first at the table for ten. We were hoping for a table of six. A few minutes later Cher and her 20 year old daughter Peyton arrived. They live in Charlotte, North Carolina. Then Cathy and Fred also from North Carolina, were seated, followed by Randy and Bev from Texas. Irish from Phoenix, Arizona was the last to be seated. She was supposed to be sharing her cabin with a friend, but the friend was not yet onboard. Everyone introduced themselves. During dinner Constellation passed under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. It was completed in 1987 and would cost more than $2 billion US to replace. It was Irish’s birthday. About a dozen waiters and assistant waiters sang Irish Happy Birthday just before dessert was served and presented her with a small chocolate cake with two candles. She shared the cake with the table.

By the time dinner was over Pesta Pora was about to play another set in the Rendezvous Lounge. They played a nice selection of dance music. There were eight couples on the dance floor during the slow dances.

The 9 p.m. show was Canadian comedian, Jason Blanchard. He was introduced by Cruise Director Sarah Hibbert who reminded the audience that clocks go back one hour overnight to Central Standard Time for the rest of the cruise until after we leave Progreso, Mexico in five days.

Total Steps 11,393