Just A Few Thoughts......back from REFLECTION

This is a few thoughts from my REFLECTION sailing......sailed over SUPERBOWL SUNDAY......they had food/

drinks in the theater and the game........had a good time:)

Met some very nice folks on this sailing.....they had a speaker about football and it was very interesting. He

was the local Cowboys radio voice for 30 years and his talks were excellent (I LOVE FOOTBALL so made it

even better for me;))

After years of cruising with Celebrity I found the entertainment quite good. I don't usually attend the evening shows but I decided to see them this time. They had an English singer named Jayne Curry and she was TERRIFIC:)

They had a band doing the Beatles........very good too. There were 2 comedians and I enjoyed both guys.

They had a show called "Broken Strings"........that gets an "Eh" from me, although I know others loved it.

There were a couple of other musical type shows......overall I thought they were good.

They had other entertainers too........a guitarist named William who I enjoyed alot. And they also had the "SILENT

DISCO"........which was a lot of fun.

My cabin was always kept clean even thought there is only 1 attendant. Antonio and he did a good job.

Food and service............service in the main dining room was s l o w. I only ate in there 3 times. I went Specialty

twice, ate in the main theater for the SUPER BOWL and took a culinary excursion in St Martin and dinner that

night was a part of the tour.....there were 9 of us and we were served in "The Porch".

I am not sure but it seems they have cut back on staff in the main dining room....folks finished eating and the

dishes sat there.....and sat there........

I don't drink much anymore and did not have a drink package.......had maybe 4/5 glasses of wine all week. Since

Elite + has the coffee/tea perks I did have quite a few of those in Al Bacio.....service in there was slow as well.

We had a large group show up for the CC gathering. It was held in CellarMasters and I would say at least 50

people showed up. Sue Denning (CD) was there and at least 6/7 officers as well.

I met some very nice folks and quite a few "first time cruisers".

I did have one FANTASTIC excursion in St Martin......Chef's Market Discoveries......a bit pricey but I loved it:D

Now, some other thoughts (my opinion).....I felt like (even at 58) I was one of the younger passengers on board

and the demographic was quite a bit older.......not everyone of course but just an overall feel to me.

I didn't book anything else and not sure I am sailing with X (this year anyway).I may have the chance to

try Windstar or do another River Cruise so those will be coming first..........

If you have any questions I will try and answer them.

Lois,

Thanks for posting. :)

They had an English singer named Jayne Curry and she was TERRIFIC

Thanks for your report. Jayne was on our Silo cruise last year - I thought she was fantastic as well! So glad she is continuing to appear. Wasn't crazy about Beatles tribute group, but a lot of other people seemed to love them. Sounds like several acts switched from Silo to Reflection this year. I'm back on Silo soon... wonder if we'll be getting last year's Reflection shows?

So glad this voyage went better than your 2015 Constellation trip :) I still remember your posts after that experience! (We sailed that same 5 day route 2 weeks before you did.) We're going in early April this year. Hoping for a mixed demographic - some older, some younger, vs all of one or other.

Thanks for the report - glad you had a good time. I agree, we were on the Eclipse in December and it was one of the oldest cruises I've ever been on. I'm 59 and was the "kid" on the ship. Much older than any other Celebrity cruise we've been on (8).

Thanks again

Hi Lois,

Happy to hear you had a good vacation. I chuckled when you mentioned your age (same as mine ;)) and you felt you were one of the younger on board, Poor =X= trying to lure the younger crowd with their "Modern Luxury" slogans only we oldsters just keep coming back! As long as I like the Celebrity product, I could care less if they spend the next 100 years trying to figure out their target niche.

That St Martin excursion sounds fun. Can you describe the dinner at the Porch?

Thanks for the review. We're sailing in April and considering the Chef's Market Discoveries excursion in St. Maarten. Can you give some more details? Thank you [emoji4]

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Hi Lois,

 

Happy to hear you had a good vacation. I chuckled when you mentioned your age (same as mine ;)) and you felt you were one of the younger on board, Poor =X= trying to lure the younger crowd with their "Modern Luxury" slogans only we oldsters just keep coming back! As long as I like the Celebrity product, I could care less if they spend the next 100 years trying to figure out their target niche.

 

That St Martin excursion sounds fun. Can you describe the dinner at the Porch?

Hi Beav:).....the Chef made us a Lobster Ceviche to start........then we had a deep vegetable broth with shredded pork....both were delicious. Then we had a Caribbean Curried Beef, jerk chicken and sea bass.....all served with

rice........I loved the fish the best. We had wine and cheese cake for dessert.

Thanks for the review. We're sailing in April and considering the Chef's Market Discoveries excursion in St. Maarten. Can you give some more details? Thank you [emoji4]

 

 

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Hi, first we stopped at a wine and cheese store and had samples of both.......then we drove to other side of the Island and stopped at a spice vendor and then a produce vendor.......had some of the freshest fruit in the world:D

Pineapple, Mango and Papaya......all yummy and walked around the vendors for about 15 minutes.......then

we drove even further and stopped at a restaurant for fresh ceviche and wine:)...then came the best part, we went

to another restaurant for lunch.......it is called Oceans 82....DELICIOUS........we had a choice of shrimp, fish or chicken........came with rice and veggies...........and wine...........and choice of creme brulee or Profitiroles withe ice cream for

dessert......the view from the place was like a postcard (over the water) and the food was OUTSTANDING........

I loved the whole thing:D......then at night we had the dinner in the previous post:)

We did the January 14th Reflection cruise--7 day. Much younger cruisers on this one (but not a booze cruise type). In fact, many of them enjoyed dressing up for the evenings. :D

Guess it's really just the luck of the draw re: demographics. I was on the Super Bowl cruise last February and there was a nice mixture of ages. We're in our late 30s/early 40s and found lots of people around our age. Lots more in their 50s. But nothing felt particularly "old" about the crowd at all. Of course, I don't care if you're 22 or 82 as long as you're not crabby and can hold a conversation.

Is Sue Denning the cruise director and not Marten? He was a few weeks ago so maybe he went on hiatus. Never had Sue. Does she keep things entertaining ?

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We did the January 14th Reflection cruise--7 day. Much younger cruisers on this one (but not a booze cruise type). In fact, many of them enjoyed dressing up for the evenings. :D

I was on the same cruise and was thinking that I didn't notice people being older like so many post about X. I guess I'm not very observant because I never noticed an older demographic on any of the Celebrity cruises I've been on.:o I always thought there was a nice mix.

Lois, I thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and I would book Aqua Class again. The only thing I didn't like was "Broken Strings" and didn't really care for the other production show either. I liked the food in Blu very much with exception of the blue crab soup. In all my cruises, it was the only thing I ever thought was terrible and couldn't eat. My friend felt the same way.

This is a few thoughts from my REFLECTION sailing......sailed over SUPERBOWL SUNDAY......they had food/

drinks in the theater and the game........had a good time:)

 

Met some very nice folks on this sailing.....they had a speaker about football and it was very interesting. He

was the local Cowboys radio voice for 30 years and his talks were excellent (I LOVE FOOTBALL so made it

even better for me;))

 

After years of cruising with Celebrity I found the entertainment quite good. I don't usually attend the evening shows but I decided to see them this time. They had an English singer named Jayne Curry and she was TERRIFIC:)

They had a band doing the Beatles........very good too. There were 2 comedians and I enjoyed both guys.

They had a show called "Broken Strings"........that gets an "Eh" from me, although I know others loved it.

There were a couple of other musical type shows......overall I thought they were good.

 

They had other entertainers too........a guitarist named William who I enjoyed alot. And they also had the "SILENT

DISCO"........which was a lot of fun.

 

My cabin was always kept clean even thought there is only 1 attendant. Antonio and he did a good job.

 

Food and service............service in the main dining room was s l o w. I only ate in there 3 times. I went Specialty

twice, ate in the main theater for the SUPER BOWL and took a culinary excursion in St Martin and dinner that

night was a part of the tour.....there were 9 of us and we were served in "The Porch".

I am not sure but it seems they have cut back on staff in the main dining room....folks finished eating and the

dishes sat there.....and sat there........

 

 

I don't drink much anymore and did not have a drink package.......had maybe 4/5 glasses of wine all week. Since

Elite + has the coffee/tea perks I did have quite a few of those in Al Bacio.....service in there was slow as well.

 

 

We had a large group show up for the CC gathering. It was held in CellarMasters and I would say at least 50

people showed up. Sue Denning (CD) was there and at least 6/7 officers as well.

 

I met some very nice folks and quite a few "first time cruisers".

 

I did have one FANTASTIC excursion in St Martin......Chef's Market Discoveries......a bit pricey but I loved it:D

 

Now, some other thoughts (my opinion).....I felt like (even at 58) I was one of the younger passengers on board

and the demographic was quite a bit older.......not everyone of course but just an overall feel to me.

 

I didn't book anything else and not sure I am sailing with X (this year anyway).I may have the chance to

try Windstar or do another River Cruise so those will be coming first..........

 

If you have any questions I will try and answer them.

Lois,

Nice to see your review. Have not seen any posts from you in awhile. Hope you are well. Can't believe how long it has been since we cruised on the Equinox to the Greek Isles. Time is flying.

MJ

We saw Jane Curry on our Equinox cruise a few years ago. Best entertainment of cruise.

Was the Beatles show a band or 4 guys singing Beatles songs? If so, we saw them also and really didn't care for them at all.

Thanks for your review.

Is Sue Denning the cruise director and not Marten? He was a few weeks ago so maybe he went on hiatus. Never had Sue. Does she keep things entertaining ?

 

 

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Yes, Sue Denning is the CD and I enjoyed her very much.

We saw Jane Curry on our Equinox cruise a few years ago. Best entertainment of cruise.

 

Was the Beatles show a band or 4 guys singing Beatles songs? If so, we saw them also and really didn't care for them at all.

 

Thanks for your review.

Yes, the 4 guys were dressed in different outfits......some early 60s suits, then Strawberry Fields outfits....then

more modern attire..........as for not caring for them? You know what they say about opinions..........everyone in

the show I went to gave them a BIG Standing ovation........I thought they were OUTSTANDING. I am sure each

ship has their own "4 guys".

Lois,

Nice to see your review. Have not seen any posts from you in awhile. Hope you are well. Can't believe how long it has been since we cruised on the Equinox to the Greek Isles. Time is flying.

MJ

Hi MJ.....nice to see you as well..........I don't post much on here anymore.....that is why you don't see them;)

And yes, that cruise still remains in my top 2 ever........it has been 5 years:eek:

Hi, first we stopped at a wine and cheese store and had samples of both.......then we drove to other side of the Island and stopped at a spice vendor and then a produce vendor.......had some of the freshest fruit in the world:D

Pineapple, Mango and Papaya......all yummy and walked around the vendors for about 15 minutes.......then

we drove even further and stopped at a restaurant for fresh ceviche and wine:)...then came the best part, we went

to another restaurant for lunch.......it is called Oceans 82....DELICIOUS........we had a choice of shrimp, fish or chicken........came with rice and veggies...........and wine...........and

 

 

 

choice of creme brulee or Profitiroles withe ice cream for

dessert......the view from the place was like a postcard (over the water) and the food was OUTSTANDING........

I loved the whole thing:D......then at night we had the dinner in the previous post:)

Thank you- This is exactly the info. Was looking for !

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Welcome Home Lois!

Good to read that the Reflection was a good sailing for you.

Thank you for the review.

What happens at the CC gathering?

We noticed that the OP did not mention any of the "Production Shows" which have generally left us less than happy (when we bother to attend). Our experience the past 3-5 years has been the "Guest Entertainers" on Celebrity are really improved.....over years ago.

As to the MDR, one person's slow service is another persons "dining." MDRs on all the mass market lines have cut-back on staffing over the past few years, and things have slowed. To us, this is actually a plus since we are seldom in a hurry and enjoy socializing at large tables. We have had some fast waiters and some very slow waiters, which is just the way it is these days. Years ago when there was only Fixed Dining (you always had the same table and waiters) and passengers directly tipped wait staff......service was usually quite good, But now, in the era of auto-tips and tip pooling there is less incentive for wait staff to hustle.

Hank

We noticed that the OP did not mention any of the "Production Shows" which have generally left us less than happy (when we bother to attend). Our experience the past 3-5 years has been the "Guest Entertainers" on Celebrity are really improved.....over years ago.

 

As to the MDR, one person's slow service is another persons "dining." MDRs on all the mass market lines have cut-back on staffing over the past few years, and things have slowed. To us, this is actually a plus since we are seldom in a hurry and enjoy socializing at large tables. We have had some fast waiters and some very slow waiters, which is just the way it is these days. Years ago when there was only Fixed Dining (you always had the same table and waiters) and passengers directly tipped wait staff......service was usually quite good, But now, in the era of auto-tips and tip pooling there is less incentive for wait staff to hustle.

 

Hank

Hi Hank, one of the production shows was called "Broken Strings"....I did mention it......I thought it was odd.

The other production shows were pretty good (in my opinion).

As for dining, I enjoy fine dining at a leisurely pace.....and when it is done correctly, it can be lovely. But I don't

enjoy looking at dirty dishes for a lengthy period of time. Just my opinion.

Thank you for the review.

 

What happens at the CC gathering?

The Cruise Director spoke to us and introduced the officers who were there....and people chatted with each other.

They served coffee/tea. It is a nice way to meet folks who have been chatting on the roll call.

We also enjoyed Jayne Curry and the ship.

Thank you for your report

Nice review! Thanks.