SunnyAJ

Thanks very much BrendaJ! I've been working hard on it, so you've made my day. :)

Nice. Thanks.

Thanks, pete_coach!

Hope you saw the photo I posted at post #6 :).

 

The window washing equipment washes the windows on the side of the ship, restaurants, along the pool, etc. It "parks" at the back as in the photo and can block a port hole as shown in the photo.

 

The cabin door for the aft-corner S1 is set back from the hallway (see thumbnail)so you share that little hallway with only 2 other cabins. Sometimes, the stewards leave a cart in that area but it will have no effect on you noise wise and it never impedes the hallway.

 

From our experience, I can't imagine a quieter cabin on the ship.

 

Cheers![/quote

 

Totally agree! Definitely a quiet area on the ship. I know our planner told us that the window washing equipment is parked on Deck 11 on Reflection, so I'm not sure on Solstice. But ask before you book and they might know.

 

Also, we didn't see any carts parked along the hall at all. It was perfect!

Hi, all - I'm looking for some advice for my first Celebrity booking next year. We're considering a 9 day Alaska trip in a Sky Suite for me, hubby and our three year old. We will be celebrating a milestone birthday and anniversary and want it to be extra fun and special. Our normal cruise standard is Crystal Cruises, although we have been on Princess and Disney. We want a new upscale experience, not as formal as Crystal or as pricey and with a younger demographic.

 

It's my understanding the SS gets all the suite benefits that other suites get (outside the cabin). Is that correct? Just trying to see if upgrading to a CS is worth the additional $3k.

 

If we keep the SS, what's the difference between S1 and S2? There's a $200 pp increase for S1.

 

If we go for S2, 2114, 2116, 2118, 2119, and 2121 are available. Any recommendations based on experience?

 

Thanks much for the help!

Hi! We just came back from Reflection and in an aft Sky Suite for the 1st time. We had the S1 with the porthole and my kids were adjoining in a Concierge Cabin. However, with your one little one, just the Sky Suite would be perfect. We ended up absolutely loving this cabin. The amount of extra space was perfect and the availability of Luminae for meals and Michael's Club is terrific. As a matter of fact, we booked Alaska on Solstice ourselves for 2017 in an aft SS again. I think it's absolutely worth the extra. You'll appreciate it since coming from Crystal.

From the elevators, the walk is a bit longer but it really isn't as bad as I thought it would be. The quiet location and the view is totally worth it! Also, we barely felt any additional motion being in the back of the ship. We've only had mid-ship before so I was nervous about that as well. But not an issue.

Hope this helps a bit!

We just came back from a 7-night Western Caribbean cruise on Celebrity Reflection and the new dining choices are amazing! We tried Luminae and the pop-up Sushi on Five. And the "new" Porch. I've posted pictures, including some menus, to my website here:

http://www.myvirtualvacations.net/celebrity-specialty-dining.html

I also have the MDR menus posted on the site as well. Feel free to ask away if any questions. It was a terrific cruise and as always, Celebrity Reflection is a beautiful ship!

Awesome link. Thanks for sharing.

So nice to hear - thank you!

Thanks for your info. We booked Dennis for our trip in June. Explained our situation to him and he was fine with it!

 

 

 

• 
  

 

 

 

• 
  

So glad to hear! Have a great time on your cruise. I can't wait to go back to Bermuda one day myself - I loved it!

Hi CTKaren, I'm all about researching and preparing! Here is his email: dwhollis@logic.bm (Hopefully he hasn't changed it.) He responded to me pretty quickly. Not sure when your cruise is, but I was able to reserve him months before. I wanted it done and done! He emailed a confirmation about a week before with meeting instructions, then texted us when he arrived at the ship.

We are a family of 4 adults. I am looking for a private tour, around four hours. I have some things that are important to us and flexible on the rest. Seeing you all seem to have experience, I thought you could help me with my situation. One of my sons is 22 and has Autism. He is a big boy, nonverbal, pretty easygoing but can be loud at times. So I need someone who has patience. With you all having met some, would you recommend anyone who would be ok with this?

 

• 
  

I loved the guide, Dennis Hollis, that we used. He was softspoken and extremely patient. I also have a son with ADHD and was concerned prior that the driving would be too much. That's one of the reasons we opted for a small, private tour instead of having to hold up a bus load of people!! We booked Dennis for 3 or 4 hours (don't remember which) and he knows exactly where to stop based on your interests. Many of the spots (i.e. Gibbs Lighthouse, church) had large areas to run and stretch a bit. He also has a pretty roomy van. I'm sure lots of drivers there are good, but that was our experience. Hope this helps a bit!

Most of the taxis are similar to mini vans, and many can even accommodate up to seven passengers, so yes, four people should be comfortable in a taxi.

 

If you have a group of 5 - 7 passengers the hourly tour rate for a taxi is $70 as opposed to $50 for a group of 1 - 4 passengers.

edepa - We had a mini-van also. It's really what the driver has, so you can ask when booking. Dennis drives his mini-van and it was very comfortable for all four of us. You will love having a private tour!

The recent 80's Cruise 2016 on HAL was a great theme cruise and so much fun. A guest on board wrote a great blog post on what to expect when going on a theme cruise. Thought I'd share here.

http://www.myvirtualvacations.net/blog/on-board-the-80s-cruise

yup nice website thanks for sharing :)

Thanks very much, warmshores! Appreciate the feedback and glad you like it.

We will be sailing on the Reflection on this year's Christmas sailing. I have been on lots of cruises, and I have never heard so much negativity. We know we will be on a full ship, with lots of families. We already know everything won't be perfect, as it never is on any trip, but why so much negativity? I am very fearful of our decision to be on this ship. Can some folks who have sailed recently please give me some positive reinforcement that this ship is still great? We went between RCCl and Princess, and decided on Celebrity for a little bit nicer experience to celebrate father-in-law 70th. We are elite members and I have full faith in the line, but I'm having my doubts.

Love Reflection! I have my second Reflection cruise in the spring and so excited. My first was a Christmas sailing too. It was wonderful! I have a website blog and have always had nothing but the best to say about Reflection. Gorgeous ship with terrific staff. Also, many people only post complaints so that they can get other people to agree. Sadly, usually positive reviews don't get noticed as much. You'll have a great time - enjoy!

Thanks to everyone who has visited http://www.myvirtualvacations.net.

I've recently added some new comparisons on Celebrity vs. Princess ships, as well as daily activity guides. I also have links to look at specific Celebrity ships (am currently working on other lines...) instead of going to cabin, dining, entertainment, etc. Also added lots more pictures and more tips for families, too.

I love my original comprised charts - East Coast Ports, Packing Spreadsheet, Celebrity Cabin Chart Comparisons, etc. I hope that users will think this information is helpful. If you are not sure where they are in the site, I have links to them on the Blog page.

I always welcome your feedback on the formatting - thanks!!

The other day I booked a sailing on the Summit for spring break for 2017. I was very specific with the agent in that this was a surprise for the in laws and all communication is to go through me. Mainly because I don't want to listen to them for the next year and a half telling us we should let them pay. Yesterday I got an email pimping out specialty dining and shore excursions. Turns out MIL got the same email because she texted DH asking why she has a cruise booked that she didn't know about. So now the surprise is ruined. Celebrity says it's not their fault because when we gave them the Captain's Club numbers it opted them into emails. Well I didn't give them the CC numbers. The reservations agent pulled them on her own. If they had told me there was a chance it would generate emails to the in laws I would have had them leave off the CC numbers until we had told them. I booked Royal Caribbean a couple of months ago for the same week and they managed to not spoil it and they linked their CAS numbers to the reservation. I'm so mad that I want to cancel both cruises and sail another line but DH wants to sail out of San Juan and no one else is in San Juan at that time.

Ugh - I know that must be frustrating! I booked a surprise cruise for my parents exactly the same way and they didn't receive any emails before we told them, so not sure what was different. My parents are CC members too, so I gave Celebrity everything. Now that we have told them, they do have access to their online account and can see everything. I don't mind so much because they can book their own excursions, etc. We don't leave until the spring but they are so excited already. It's a wonderful gift you gave your in-laws!

Does anyone have a phone number for Colin Jennings?

I just found his email, too. Here is the email for Colin Jennings: colinjenningstaxi@yahoo.com

We didn't end up using him, but he was terrific to correspond with. I think it was just luck in the end that Dennis got back to me first.

I have lots of information and pictures of Bermuda on my website if anyone is interested.

http://www.myvirtualvacations.net/bermuda.html

DrivesLikeMario...I would think you could email a couple of guides, tell them the times you are looking for, and ask if they've any requests to share at those times. I know when I emailed Dennis Hollis, he responded pretty quickly with very detailed questions for me back. It's amazing how many requests they get, so if you get the word out there what you are looking for, they'd keep that in mind.

Also, you could ask any tour guide if they can schedule in a shorter tour taking just the 2 of you. We didn't take a super long tour and still saw plenty! Hope any of this helps.

Thank you for your effort, the information is most helpful!

Nice to hear - glad it was helpful!

Thanks kayred! I appreciate that. :-)

Chaching - Not so much. Yes, they are older but on my last cruise within this year (on a different ship), they were exactly the same! I will be cruising again shortly and will be reposting again. Even if they have recently changed, usually they keep the traditional favorite items the same.

For East Coast ports, I've put together a list of ports and links to find out schedules and information. I love to see what is within driving distance from my city so that it's not always necessary to fly for my next cruise vacation.

http://www.myvirtualvacations.net/2015-east-coast-ports-cruise-schedules.html

More information has been posted! Take a look at new menu uploads, photographs, reviews and blog posts. I hope it includes some helpful information that even experienced cruisers enjoy!

I have a website/blog that I've recently created that includes pictures, recommendations, reviews and hints geared for families to "virtually plan" upscale vacations. I always cruise with my family and I have lots of information to share from travels on luxury cruise ships, and upscale hotels and restaurants. I cover a lot on Celebrity Cruises (including menus and daily programs) as well as port information, hotels and restaurants for pre-cruise and post-cruise stays. You'll also find an entire section on helpful hints and don't forget my blog where I post entertaining and informational articles based around cruising.

My site is purely informational - no pop-ups, ads, donation requests, etc. (I hate those!) I also have even more pictures and recommendations on social media such as Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.

I've been an avid Cruise Critic user for a long time, so I know there is a lot of experience on here as well. But please feel free to take a look and I welcome all comments and suggestions!

http://www.myvirtualvacations.net/

Thanks!

Definitely the cheese selection at Murano/Ocean Liners/Normandie. Amazing!

what is dennis's email please

Oh, sorry jneaves - just saw this. Hope it's not too late. I have Dennis' email as dwhollis@logic.bm.

Hope you get in touch with him. He really is terrific! I have lots of great pictures from his tour - he packed in a lot for us during just 1/2 day.