wdr59911

We have friends on their second cruise.  They sailed with us on another line...(with the Big X) and had a great time.  They are now on Mariner in the Med and are somewhat disappointed.......their comment to me was "good, but not great".  We are booked on Explorer in September so interested to see the changes that have occurred since COVID.  I think the industry in general is struggling with a lot of new and inexperienced staff, cost and supply issues.  It is not an easy time and frankly, some will not survive.... I wish them all the best.   

Thank you!!!!   

I have a question regarding the pre cruise discount and using the CC benefit..... it seems that the pre-cruise discount is combinable with the CC discount.  

From the website:

Pre-cruise pricing featured before sailing will always be lower than on board pricing (the pre-cruise promotion excludes Spa and Fitness reservations; and limited items which are not available for sale on board). Prices are subject to availability and change without notice, capacity controlled, and may be withdrawn at any time. Pre-cruise savings are combinable with select Captain’s Club benefits. See full Captain’s Club benefits for details.

Does anyone know how you do this?  

Thanks in advance

We are on the Solstice Mar 11 and 18 b to b.  We were on Equinox out of FLL last month and it was our first Celebrity since COVID.  Does the Solstice have the Starlink and if so, how did it work?  On the Equinox it was just short of pathetic for speed.  Thanks for any info.....we are CC Elite+ with four hours of "high speed" internet so wondering if it is even worthwhile to trade that in for unlimited basic.  

In regards to MSC Yacht Club....it is an incredible experience.  It has been several years  since we sailed in YCand before the newer ships totally integrated the Yacht Club.  At the time the YC Dining Room was out of the YC and your butler (in coat and tails) insisted on walking you between the two.  On the newer ships it is now a totally insulated "ship within a ship".  The only exception is if you want to attend the shows.  I would highly recommend it to anyone.  

Just off the Equinox and had both the basic package and the Elite + minutes.  There were issues of not being able to access the start-up page for both.  A quick trip to the iLounge and the nice lady fixed it up.  She set it up so when you logged in you you had a menu to select either package.  That made it easy to disconnect and switch.  She had to do it through her system.  It would be nice if it would do that automatically.   In either case, they were both excruciatingly slow.  Everyone was complaining that they were not able to stream even with the Premium Wifi.  

Just off back to back on the Equinox,,,,, bought our alcohol on the last day of the first cruise....took it with us from the duty free shop to our cabin.   

We just got off the Equinox and were traveling with another couple.  We had Select dining reservations for 7:15.  The first night was a total disaster.....45 minute wait but the problem appeared to be that the "Invite guests" did not work and we had reservations for two tables for two instead of a table for four.   We straightened it out and verified with Maitre'd and the rest of the cruise was fine.  The issue seems to be that  the booking system does not take into account the longer times it is taking for meals in the dining room.  They don't seem to account for this when making reservations for set times on Select Dining.   If you just walk up at 7:00 without a reservation....have an easy chair in the bar waiting....you will probably need it.   

We just did a back to back on the Equinox and passed on this the first cruise due to the name.  We saw it at the table next to us and ordered it on the second cruise....it was delicious.  Moral of the story.... don't get cute with the names.   

We have decided that on our next cruise, we will have the cabin steward empty the mini and get a statement to that effect.  

Just a heads up for people who are sailing on the Silhouette.  They are having a rash of charges for mini-bar showing up.  Four of us traveled on the Silhouette on the Dec 1 sailing.  Both couples had extraneous mini bar charges show up.  We were charged $153.00 and this did not show up until after we had left the ship.  We had used nothing from the mini bar.  We called Celebrity and a refund was issued immediately.  The agent said they have had a lot of these show up and they are looking into the issue.  You need to make sure you check your credit card charges on that ship.  We were not given a final printed statement.  Just a heads up.  

Love that southern drawwwwwlllll, Helen. ;)

Clarification on the wine (by the bottle) packages, please. On the website it sounds as if the wines are unlisted and at the "choice of the sommelier" and consist of a specific mix of wines. For example, the four bottle package of 1 white, 2 red and 1 rose. Is that correct? Or do you get to choose four bottles from a choice of a white, 2 reds and a rose? Specifically, on that package can you select to just get 4 bottles of white wine?

After 13 days on the TA, I have to stand by most of my comments that started this thread.

The noise level on Deck 12 aft is unacceptable. (Yes, I should have known better, but I figured it is a new ship and this problem exists on the the other Solstice class ships as well). It is still a problem. I was not the only one complaining and to Celebrity's credit, they tried to make some changes to the way they were working in the restaurant during setup (the 5:00 AM noise). In reality, there was nothing that could be done. So.....don't book a cabin there unless you 1. like to get up with the chickens or 2. like to wear ear plugs.

The food and service on the ship is excellent. Prior to this cruise, we just finished three weeks on Seabourn and while it is hard to compare...I would rate the food on the Reflection as right up there. Service is excellent for a 3200 passenger ship. Our cabin steward was probably the best we have ever had in our 50+ cruises.

My memory is a bit foggy but it seems when we were on the Silhouette in May, select dining was only on the port side of the upper restaurant deck. On this sailing, it seems the entire upper deck was select dining. A few waits for tables, but nothing excessive. What did get a bit excessive was the occasional delay of food coming out of the galley. We had several meals that stretched into 2:30 or so. Again, nothing traumatic but we did leave the table a few times in order to make one of the shows.

We did miss a port. Celebrity was quite generous in granting each booking a $150 shipboard credit that was refundable. No problems there whatsoever.

Internet service was a bit problematic. It is a new ship and there are bound to be problems. Again, Celebrity bent over backwards to try to make you happy. Even to the point of refunding some packages for guests that were having a great deal of trouble. I used my own laptop and had very few problems. I found that wifi was good throughout the public areas on the ship and certainly good in my cabin.

Embarkation in Barcelona was a bit hectic. However, most of the delay was cuased by port security and not Celebrity. They were using a different system (at least to me) where checkin lanes were based on deck assignment, with a special area for Captains Club and Concierge Class. We were eligible for both and elected to use the Captains Club lanes which proved to be the best choice (more agents in ratio to the length of the lines). I know that never works in grocery stores..the line you get in is always the longest.

The Elite cocktail party... mmm lots of comments on that. I actually preferred the way they did it. Each elite was given three coupons per day that could be used in most of the bars on the ship. The "known" bars were terribly crowded (at least in the first few days) but the coupons allowed you to seek out the lesser frequented bars (like the Casino Bar) where service was great and the wines were better than they would normally serve at a monitored Elite event. The other benefit was that since there was not a "hall monitor" at each bar, it was very simple to take drinks into the dining room. I know this system was only used because of the 860+ elites on board the ship. The staff was scrambling trying to figure out what to do with all of us and I think their solution was quite good. I was a bit amazed at the number of Elites that do not tip the bartender or waitress for their free drinks. We did and had great service.

Debarkation was a bit of a hassle but only because it was the first time that the ship had been to the US. It is pretty well known that the first time into a US port, things go a little more slowly than normal. We were in the 0615 "walk off" group and did not get off the ship until 0715. This was where we witnessed the worst of the "crew abuse" from passengers. You can guess the dialogue. Finally, someone shouted that "you are doing a great job" and everyone applauded and the loud mouths finally shut up.

All in all it was a good cruise. We love Celebrity and we love the Solstice class ships. I still say that Reflection would be my last choice among them. That is my OPINION. Everybody has their own opinion.

After seeing all the written abuse on here, I will probably not be posting on here again. If you can't express your opinion without being berated, then don't expect to hear opinions.

I know there must already be a thread on the Reflection but the internet is so slow that I don't want to spend the money to find it...my apologies in advance. I am currently on the Reflection.

Celebrity Reflection is a really lovely ship. All new and shiny. However, there are lots of changes from the other Solstice class ships and some of them are not for the better. Before I talk about the negative aspects….the food and service on the ship is excellent. There are lots of familiar faces from the other ships but also lots of new staff.

The addition of the extra cabins on Deck 12 are just enough to make the ship seem crowded. The elevators seem to always be full and the wait is much longer than on the other Solstice class ships. You also have to consider that this was a Transatlantic crossing and the weather was not exactly great for the deck lounging. Therefore, everybody was inside most of the time.

The increase in the number of Aqua class cabins has apparently caused the Blu restaurant to seem much more hectic and crowded. Please be aware that I was not booked in Aqua class but we met a number of people from Aqua that were now dining in the main dining room. I am sure someone who was in Aqua class can chime in with their opinions.

One of the other big changes is in the size of the Sky Bar. Suites have been added along the sides of the Sky Bar and so the forward portion is a lot more narrow than on the other ships. Where it was really noticeable was on the first night of the Elite cocktail party. Granted, there are 860+ Elite members on board. There are so many elites that they decided to go to a drink voucher system that you could use in most of the bars on the ship between 5:00 and 7:00 PM. Each member was given three vouchers per day but the bars on the ship are pretty jammed until around 6:00 PM when the early seating guests head off to the dining room. I don't think the bar staff is terribly excited about the procedure since it appears that most of the Captains Club members are not tipping. The bar staff in all the bars are really having to hustle and the 15% gratuities are not there for them. A cash tip seems to be appropriate in this situation.

Unfortunately, we are in a Concierge verandah cabin on Deck 12 Aft. I would never book this again and doubt that I would book Concierge class again. To us, lots of hype and certainly not worth the extra money. On deck 12, the verandah cabins are almost semi-obstructed. Some may not agree with this but here is why I use that term. Directly above is Deck 14 which seems to be cantilevered out from the sides of the ship more than on the other Solstice ships. This cantilever and the requisite braces, greatly restrict the view from the cabin and the verandah. You can only see about 10 degrees above the horizon. It also almost completely blocks the sun from hitting the verandah. We have a little sun in the early morning, but only because we are sailing due west on a transatlantic and it is the end of November, so the sun is low on the horizon. Otherwise, complete shade. Now some might like this. The one advantage is you can sit on the balcony when it is raining not get wet. The exception to this are the cabins located along the "bulge" between the elevators and the cabins well forward.

The other problem with these staterooms on 12 is the noise. Cabins 2201-2211 on the port side are directly under the galley of the Oceanview Cafe. Our cabin appears to be directly under the dishwashing station. At 5:00, when the crew comes on duty, the noise is terrible. It sounds like someone is moving furniture on the floor above you. Other passengers in this area are also complaining about the noise so it is not just us. I am not sure about the situation on the starboard side but I assume it would be the same.

The pool has been moved from 12 to 14 on this ship and I suspect that during the pool season, the midship cabins on deck 12 will also have noise when the pool crew sets up the lounges for the day.

All in the all, the ship is okay. Personally, I would have it as my last choice among the Solstice class ships.