Sch-uite Sailing

Sailing on Reflection in September (Med)....

That's why thinking Deck 12 may be Ok under the pool/whirlpool

We sail next week on Reflection 2124, 2126, 2128 and 2130. Under pool area. Better than buffet area.

In MY opinion, there is nothing extra on a ship (photos, drinks, wine, spa, specialty restaurants) that are "worth the money". Most people would not seek out these things at home and pay this much for them. BUT, you are on a ship on vacation, which changes the value of the experience. The real question is how much money can you afford to spend on these things and not regret it after the cruise has ended and you are back home looking at the bill?

Bingo! Great point. We're using our Samsung cameras.

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The 18% tip is already covered in the cost of the package. Just walk up to the bar, request your drink, get your drink, say thank you and walk away. :)

 

Myself, I intend to leave some cash tips for those bartenders that I feel go above and beyond for my party and myself, but it certainly isn't necessary.

 

Dan

I completely agree with some additional tips. There are 9 in our group. If we're relaxing for a while at the Sunset Bar I want to know that our bartender is attentive to our needs and will gladly compensate extra cash $$ for that prompt attention.

After all TIPS mean To Insure Proper Service 😎

We travel with out two young sons and almost always buy the package. There are lots of opportunities to take pictures, and since we have the package we take advantage of it.

 

A couple of tips:

1) It is cheaper to buy the package directly from the company that Celebrity contracts with pre-cruise. You can find them at https://www.mycruisephotos.com/. Their regular price is cheaper than what you will find on the ship. I have found that their prices change over time as well. Sometimes they have a sale, sometimes they drop prices as you get closer to sailing. I typically keep an eye on this an will buy a couple weeks before the cruise (unless there is a sale / price drop earlier).

 

2) If you don't buy in advance and you know you want the package, it is best to buy it the first day or two on the ship. They almost have a special on the all prints + digital package. This generally works about to be a slightly better deal than the Captains Club discount. Once I was able to get the discount on the special price, but that has never worked since

 

3) Note that their "Studio" sessions are not included in the package. The sitting is free, but those pictures are NOT included.

 

Mike

It's running $200 on the site you provided for Reflection sail date of 2/18. Hmm..I wonder if that will drop. I'll watch it over the next 2 weeks and make a decision 48 hours before. Thanks for the tip!

I will post pics for sure Tinaincc.

 

Thanks for your take on this Sch-uite Sailing. I hope the noise isn't an issue as all the suites are sold out. We don't let noise bother us much.

It looks like a lot of the cabins are sold out for February 18th!

Have a great cruise! I'll be living at the pool and Sunset Bar! 😎🚢🍹

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We are in 2128 (not under the buffet) and I typically get so much sun in the pool during the day that I will look forward to the shade on the balcony from the overhang in the late afternoon.

19 more days!

We will be on the Eastern Caribbean itinerary in 3 weeks.

With regards to the outside pool....

1) is it heated or simply heated by the sun?

2) I believe it's salt/ocean water. Is the water treated or changed out before every cruise...at the end of a 7 day cruise?

3) any idea as to the temperature of the pool in February?

Thanks!

It's on the form. Flights from FLL after 2 pm

And of course our flight is at 1:50pm. Hahahaha

It's my understanding from Maarten that she will be stepping in for him while he is on holiday in February. On Reflection.

Yes.

Bummah as we say in Maine. Lol. I'll be happy with our $600 OBC Celebrity gave us!

Here are some of the vegetarian menus for our Eastern Caribbean itinerary on Reflection.

Would you mind emailing them to me at randy@beau-tyes.com ?

We booked our Celebrity Reflection Cruise last February and we are now 27 days out from sailing.

Is it too late to move the reservation to a TA (objective = more OBC) since the 60 days has passed from making the reservation and also because it is paid in full?

We got a great OBC from Celebrity but it never hurts to try and get more :-)

And if it does not come pre punched I will simply have them punch it. Easy enough :-)

Thank you all very much! I would much rather have them punch a hole in it verses and uncomfortable plastic protector rubbing on our chest LOL

Does Celebrity sell Landyard Cords for your Sea Pass and if so, do you know how much they cost? I'm also assuming they punch a hole in the card for you?

It most likely would be less expensive to purchase 9 of them for our group in advance like on Amazon.

Does anyone have a recommendation on an Amazon Landyard that you purchased worked well for you (sturdy, etc).?

I'm thinking perhaps I will purchase 9 of them in advance and then a celebrity to hole punch the cards.

Thanks where your input!

Thank you!

Does anyone have any idea as to what the iPads run for cost in the iStore?

Thinking about using our OBC to purchase one while sailing on Reflection in a few weeks.

Thanks for any input you may have if you have shopped it recently.

Last year we had paid gratuities, Classic Beverage Package, not big drinkers but we did have a "few" each day :)! We also had a whopping $500.00 on board credit! We are not gamblers, or spa users, so upon being out to sea, went to the onboard Apple Store a got a "free iPad" which I'm using right now😀😀❤️. Love it! We think it was a great use of a perk!

Wow!! We have a $600 OBC with the premium beverage package, gratuities and internet included. We are not into excursions so I might just take our onboard credit and get ourselves an iPad! Yippeeee!!

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Thanks for the great review! We're in Sky Suite 2128 in about 33 days!

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It makes me smile when people think that OBC is 'free' money :)

Well, it's all how you look at it. One could have paid the fair that they did for the ticket and received no on-board credit. So if you're getting some onboard credit vs. None... it's nicer to think of it is free money lol

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We went with GO Best so we received all of the perks plus an onboard credit. We don't do shore excursions and don't much care about the specialty restaurants so we will most likely spend ours in the store and shops on board

Sunset Bar after the Muster Drill

 

 

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Excellent! Thanks!

I'm interested too.

 

Hubs and I are usually so exhausted by the time the ship pulls away that we tend to sit on our balcony with a drink and watch the land go away. This year we are going down to Miami early, so we are hoping to be rarin' to go for sail off!

Hahaha. We're on Reflection 2/18... Eastern Caribbean. U?

This will be our first cruise with Celebrity and was wondering if they do a sail away party on pool deck with a DJ or band with festive music? We are going on Reflection out of Miami.

I know it won't be as rowdy as Carnival (lol) but was wondering if they do make it a fun and festive event.

Thanks!

I decided to start my review of our cruise before it ends because I have some down time on our last sea day and it started to rain so we are huddled in our alcove. I'm going to do a day by day review but keep it in this single thread and I figure that it will take me several days anyway and by the time I get to the last two days we will be home. I'm going to save the photos for when I get home and I'll put the menus and dailies in a separate thread for those who might be interested.

 

I like to post long detailed reviews as it helps me a lot when planning and I know some enjoy "coming along" for the trip. I like to be non confrontational but I'm always honest whether my comments are positive or negative. I hope you all take them in the manner in which they are intended: An attempt to be helpful and one person's opinion. So.. if you are looking for a posting with short synopsis of our week... this ain't it :)

 

Some background on us. We are a married couple in our 50's traveling with our two young adult daughters, one just under 21 and the other just over 21. This is our 5th cruise and our 4th with Celebrity so I think that gives us a different perspective from the longer time cruisers posting here who are Elite or higher and have a different historical perspective regarding cruising in general and Celebrity specifically. We are basic Classic Captain Club members. Our first cruise was in 2008 and we took a hiatus from 2011 until now due to kids college, scheduling and just life in general.

 

Pre cruise:

 

We are north easterners traveling from New York. Due to unknown winter weather we decided to arrive in the area 2 days pre cruise, just in case.

As it turns our that was very fortunate indeed as we arrived at The Fort Lauderdale Airport exactly 24 hours before the horrific shooting that occurred there the next day. My thoughts are with those affected and my prayers for those killed, injured and their families.

 

We decided to splurge on a limo from the airport and used Larry's Limos based on recommendations on the CC boards and were met promptly and in a short time we were at the Snooze hotel located across the street from the beach.

 

The hotel was great, clean, modern. Room was a 4 person efficiency with 2 king beds a small kitchenette, rooftop terrace. No frills (restaurant, 24hr desk, etc.) but we preferred the location to those other items. We spent two nice days shopping, eating and enjoying the beach.

 

Embarkation Day:

 

We were picked up by Larry's right on time once again and less then an hour later we were at the Port of Miami. Porters took our luggage immediately and directed us into the building where we got on a short line and were quickly through security and after 5 minutes at check in received our sea passes. We were directed to a line as there are very few seats in the terminal (we sat on the floor) and most are reserved for Elite, CC, Aquaclass or Suite people. We were at the terminal by 1015AM and were on the ship before 1130AM. My wife commented on the terminal being chilly but I am sure when it is full the temperature rises from all that body heat :)

 

We had a small carry on and after being offered a sparking wine or mimosa and passing a few people hawking drink package upgrades we had a short wait for the elevator and went up to Deck 14 to the Ocean View Cafe. We flagged down a person and upgraded the kids to a premium non/alcohol package. My wife and I had the premium alcohol package as one of the 4 perks when we booked which also included gratuities for 2, unlimited internet for 2 and (2) 40 minute packages and 300 OBC We grabbed a table by the window. The food was plentiful and enjoyable. By the time we were done the announcement came that the staterooms were ready. I believe it was around 1PM.

 

Andrew was our stateroom attendant and he introduced himself. He did a great job all week. We had our table assignment and invitations to our roll call cruise connection gathering and captains club gathering on our bed along with the current daily. We were on Deck 9, starboard in a 1A balcony cabin on the angle aft of the hump. We love the deeper balcony. This room was configured for 4 with the couch converting to a bed and another bed sliding out from under the couch. This room had the couch closest to the balcony. Everything was in good shape: carpet, bedding, couch, etc. Love the shower doors on the S -class ships vs. the shower curtain on the M-class. Our kids shared the room with us which in hindsight was a mistake that I won't repeat (more on this later).

We then went into cleaning mode (my wife's term) and wiped down the entire cabin with hospital strength wipes, unpacked and had plenty of time before the muster drill. There was sufficient storage even for 4 adults.

 

We attended the muster drill in the Opus main dining room. It was quickly over and we grabbed our Mardi Gras beads for our roll call sail away party at the Sunset Bar. Our daughters went off to do their own thing and we went up to Deck 15. It had rained earlier so the deck was wet and we had a small turnout despite over 50 people saying they would be there. We did get to meet a few families and it was nice to put faces to the names from Cruise Critic.

 

Service at the Sunset Bar was good today and all week with never more then a few minute wait. We then went to our stateroom and got changed for our first dinner where we had early seating. We were on the lower level at a table for 4 in the right hand corner as soon as you entered. It was a nice quiet spot if you are looking to avoid the hustle and bustle of the huge dining room. The downside was were were right next to a wall that hid the serving station for that area which depending on which waiter was using it could be quiet or a lot of banging and clanging.

 

Some general comments on the main dining room:

 

There have been many comments concerning the staffing level and service at the various venues on the ship. For us, and on this particular cruise, some of the complaints are justified in that we experienced the issues and some we didn't experience. I will say that the the main dining room, which has always been a hustling and bustling atmosphere, has taken that to a new level. Our waitstaff tried hard to please us and was always hustling. Some waiters and waitstaff (not ours) actually appeared to be running at times to get to the places they needed to be. It appears to me that the staffing level is not sufficient to support the level of service that their supervisors and managers expect of them. There was little time for casual conversation with them although we didn't really try because we felt it would just add to the frenzied pace.That all said, the staff was polite, friendly, courteous and accomodating.

My oldest and I are vegetarians. I mentioned it to our waiter and we were provided with an additional vegetarian menu (more on this later) every night which was quite welcome. The quality of the food was good to very good most nights (one or two misses). The presentation was well done. My main quibble was with the drink service. Our drink person and sommelier had by my count over 10 tables and over 60 people. My impression is that with all the drink packages they are simply overwhelmed. She was a lovely women (we chatted with her one afternoon in the ocean view cafe) but

we were always last in our section to get offered a drink. One night we waited 20 minutes after we were seated for a wine menu. Her assistant was hard to find to order a soft drink or drink from the bar. I don't fault them. I think they are doing the very best they can. I remember before the drink package popularity our sommelier was at out table 3 or 4 times during dinner. Never had to ask for a refill. Now that everything is prepaid I think Celebrity upper management cuts costs by understaffing. Just my impression.

 

I'm going to take a break here because my mudslide is melting lol.

 

To be continued.....

Thank you for taking your vacation time to do this! Very nice indeed!

Question: where the Mardi Gras beads given to all passengers on the ship for the sail away party or was that part of your Meetup Group? Also, did they make the sail away event itself a small party with music and all on the upper deck?