Reflection Review with photos - Pre-cruise day

We just returned today from Miami, after our week long Reflection cruise which ended yesterday. We had a wonderful time.

I'll be posting my review here, but it will probably be very long, so if you don't enjoy long detailed reviews, you might want to stop reading now!

I'll break my review into days, and will include a few photos. All of my cruise photos will be uploaded to Flickr within the next few days, and I'll also post a link to those photos here.

If anyone has any questions, I'll do my best to answer.

So if you're still 'on board' with me, let's launch!

Background

This was the fourth cruise for my husband and me (both 53), and the second for our 20 year old son. Our last cruise was last May – a 15 night transatlantic journey on the Mariner of the Seas. We have also cruised on the Solstice, and the RCCL Navigator of the Seas.

I’m a librarian at a university here, and our son is a second year student at the same university. The university shuts down for two weeks at Christmas, so it’s a great time for us to travel as a family, although it is, of course, more expensive.

Random Thoughts

• The ship never felt crowded to us, with one exception – the pool areas. If you didn’t get a spot (or as many others did, ‘reserve’ a lounge chair) – by about 10:30, you would have trouble finding seats together.

• We took the stairs as much as possible, but when we did take the elevators – usually only on formal nights, when I was wearing heels – we didn’t find a long wait, or that they were crowded.

• We also had no trouble finding a free table in the buffet. We were ‘Select Dining’ guests, but we did make a reservation each morning. We ate at different times in Opus, but were always seated promptly.

• Generally we didn’t find the music to be too loud or too ‘techno’. The only time I found the music to be really loud was the one time we sat near the main pools, and there was an exercise class in progress.

• The Sky Lounge was always empty on the Solstice, and this was also often the case on the Reflection. I don’t really understand why people are upset that it has been reduced in size, as it seems to be so under-utilized and unappreciated, despite being a lovely room, with beautiful views in the daytime.

• We never waited very long for a drink, in any of the bars. We did, however, often just walk up to the bar to order, rather than wait for a server.

• We loved the new Sunset Bar! And so did many others – it got busier each day, as more and more people discovered what a great place it was at any time of day for a drink, or to read, or to play cards, or play on the lawn, or all of the above.

• I didn’t think I would have any interest in booking an Alcove. I had read some negative comments here, including people wondering why anyone would want to pay for an alcove that faces away from the ocean. But once we were on board, and had a few frustrating times when we wandered around both pool areas, and the Sunset Bar, and could find nowhere to sit with shade, I really wished we had reserved an Alcove for a sea day. They were, however, fully booked. Our name was added to what was, apparently, quite a long waiting list. If you are looking for a quiet, shady place to lounge or read, the rocking chairs or chaise chairs on the starboard side, on the 5th deck (outside of the Café area, and the Reflection Theater) were often not busy.

• If you’re hoping to buy a iPad with 3G in the iLounge, you’ll be out of luck. They do not stock them, although they did have the iPad Wifi model.

• We didn’t spend any time in the Hideaway, but it seemed to be a popular spot, particularly with kids.

• There were a LOT of kids on this ship (no doubt because it was a holiday cruise). Many of them were great, and very cute or entertaining, but some of them seemed to spend most of the day with very little or no supervision, and would run wild around the ship, the bars, use the hammocks as trampolines, etc.

• The Game On room was extremely popular with both adults and kids - obviously a very successful new concept. Unfortunately, there were times when one or more of the electronic game tables was out of order. But any tables that worked were always in use. We eventually were able to sit at one of the boards, and after trying all the games, we agreed we enjoyed Bumpers and Word Power the most. My son and I got quite addicted to Word Power actually, and have now both downloaded a similar app for our iPads called SpellTower.

• We loved the Premium Alcohol packages :). (Our son had the Premium Non-Alcohol package, but he wasn’t really happy about it. In Canada the legal drinking age is 19, and although he doesn’t drink much or often, he was quite irritated that he couldn’t even have a beer occasionally on the ship, while with his parents). But for us, it was wonderful to just order drinks without worrying about the cost, without having to sign anything, and without feeling guilty if the drink was not finished. I had a few drinks that I really didn’t enjoy – for example, one had, for me, an overpowering taste of roses (like drinking perfume), and after one sip I just abandoned it and replaced it with a lemon drop. We also enjoyed our cappuccinos and espressos first thing each morning from Café al Bacio, excellent teas, - also from the Café, cappuccinos after dinner in the dining room and Tuscan Grill, bottles of water and San Pellegrino, etc. I had Mimosas on two mornings, and really enjoyed the Colombo rose wine from France at lunch, or at the Sunset Bar.

• Overall we felt the food was much better than our last Royal Caribbean cruise, and with very few exceptions, all staff and the service they provided were wonderful.

• Taxi rides in Miami are a real experience. :eek:

Pre-Cruise Day

On our last cruise out of Miami, last May, we stayed at the Intercontinental, booked through Last Minute Travel. We had an amazing room with a fantastic view of the port, but we did have the added expenses of renting a car, parking at the hotel, taxis to the port, etc.

This time, after reading so many great reviews on Cruise Critic and TripAdvisor of the new Comfort Suites North Airport, with free shuttles from the airport to the hotel, and also from the hotel to the port, we decided to book a room there. We got a good rate - $136 for a ‘suite’. The room was great, but overall we wished we had stayed downtown again.

We called for the hotel shuttle as soon as we had our luggage, around 1 pm, and were told that one would arrive ‘shortly’, and to wait outside. Once we went outside there was no obvious place to wait for hotel shuttles (unlike at FLA), so we just stood and watched every van that approached. Almost forty minutes later the shuttle still had not arrived, so we called again. We were told one should arrive in about 10 minutes. 15 minutes later it did, but we had wasted almost an hour.

Check in was OK, but when we asked to put our names on the list for the shuttle, we were told to be in the lobby at 11:45 the next day. The shuttle for the Reflection would leave around noon. Well, I guess they promise a ‘free’ shuttle, but not an early shuttle ;). We like to get to the port around 10:30, so we can be on board as soon as possible, so we decided we would just take a taxi to the port the next day instead. If getting to the port early is not a priority, the shuttle would be just fine, I'm sure.

After taking our bags to the room, we went down to the lobby. We wanted to go to what appeared to be one of the closest large malls, the Miami International, to do a little shopping and get some lunch. Living in Toronto, we thought we could just go to the nearest main road and ‘flag’ a cab down. The front desk person said no, you can’t do that, but I’ll call a taxi for you. Thirty minutes later, when no taxi had arrived, we asked her again. She said she’d call a different taxi company. One finally arrived about ten minutes later. These taxi issues were certainly not the fault of the hotel, but what we realized was that there was really nothing we could get to without a taxi. Other than the gas station across the street, there were no supermarkets, drugstores, or anything useful within walking distance. (The front desk said there was a drug store about seven blocks away, but we wouldn't want to walk there. We felt a bit stranded.

The 20 minute taxi ride to the mall was terrifying and uncomfortable. He drove on highways one-handed while texting, went through a red light, and didn't have the air conditioning on, just open windows. At the mall, after a bit of shopping, we had a snack at the B.J.’s Brewhouse – happy hour, with half price appetizers. Then we needed a taxi back, of course. There were NO taxis at the taxi stand, and after waiting for a while we walked to a different taxi stand and there was one there. He too drove like we were in some sort of wild video game – another scary ride.

For dinner we walked about a block to Tom’s NFL Bar. I was worried it might be very busy on a Friday night, but it was only about 1/3 full. Tom’s was fine for a cheap and cheerful bar meal. The service was good, but we noticed the bill includes a 15% gratuity, so you don’t need to add a tip (unless you want to leave more of course). After dinner we walked back to the hotel, and called it a night. It had been a long day, and we couldn't wait to start the next day.

Hmmm... not sure why my images are not showing up. I've posted images many times on CC with no problems. They are links to images on my Flickr account. Any ideas?

In the meantime, here are the direct links.

Comfort Suites North

Sunset Bar

Sunset Bar 2

Can't wait to hear more!!! I love detailed reviews.

One question you might be able to answer...We are staying at the Intercontinental Doral before our cruise in March, Are there any liquor stores near there or at the Miami port to purchase wine to bring on the ship? I really don't want to put it in my checked luggage and we won't have a car. Thanks!!

Thank you for your review - looking forward to the rest - we are on the Jan 19th Reflection sailing!

There are a number of stores within walking distance of the Intercontinental, so I suspect you'll find a liquor store too. But there's also a CVS drugstore a few block away, and they sold beer and wine.

Can't wait to hear more!!! I love detailed reviews.

 

One question you might be able to answer...We are staying at the Intercontinental Doral before our cruise in March, Are there any liquor stores near there or at the Miami port to purchase wine to bring on the ship? I really don't want to put it in my checked luggage and we won't have a car. Thanks!!

There are a number of stores within walking distance of the Intercontinental, so I suspect you'll find a liquor store too. But there's also a CVS drugstore a few block away, and they sold beer and wine.

Perfect...Thank you!!!

really enjoying reading your review,looking forward to the rest .:) Thanks

Hello from Wisconsin!

Rory and I were so glad to meet you, your husband, and your son! I'm so happy to hear your cruise turned out great :)

~DaMara

Hello DeMara! So great to hear from you. You and Rory will be appearing in my next installment - we really enjoyed chatting with you both. Sorry we didn't run in to you again after New Year's!

Hello from Wisconsin!

 

Rory and I were so glad to meet you, your husband, and your son! I'm so happy to hear your cruise turned out great :)

 

~DaMara

Love the pictures. Keeping me entertained til March.

Thanks for the report!

Can't wait to hear more!!! I love detailed reviews.

 

One question you might be able to answer...We are staying at the Intercontinental Doral before our cruise in March, Are there any liquor stores near there or at the Miami port to purchase wine to bring on the ship? I really don't want to put it in my checked luggage and we won't have a car. Thanks!!

The hotel you are referring to is not the same hotel as mentioned in SeaCBear's review. Her hotel is right on the water at Chopin Plaza and very near the port. Your hotel is further out so you may want to contact the hotel directly to see what is in the area. Just wanted to clarify this with you.

The Intercontinental downtown is an awesome place to stay. The Bayside Marketplace is nearby with many nice restaurants, shops. The Bayside Marketplace is also home to a marina where you can take a 2 hour cruise around the port of Miami. It goes by Star islands where all the stars live. It goes around all the fabulous homes in the bay. Very nice. We have stayed at this hotel several time and it is REALLY nice and safe place to stay. There is an Alamo rental car on site as well. Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

The hotel you are referring to is not the same hotel as mentioned in SeaCBear's review. Her hotel is right on the water at Chopin Plaza and very near the port. Your hotel is further out so you may want to contact the hotel directly to see what is in the area. Just wanted to clarify this with you.

 

The Intercontinental downtown is an awesome place to stay. The Bayside Marketplace is nearby with many nice restaurants, shops. The Bayside Marketplace is also home to a marina where you can take a 2 hour cruise around the port of Miami. It goes by Star islands where all the stars live. It goes around all the fabulous homes in the bay. Very nice. We have stayed at this hotel several time and it is REALLY nice and safe place to stay. There is an Alamo rental car on site as well. Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Thank you for letting me know. Much appreciated!

Thank you so very much for taking the time to post your trip on the Reflection. it is MUCH appreciated. We are sailing on Reflection in February. It is SO very helpful to know things "before you go". It only enhances our vacation which we wait so long and pay so much for! Many more safe, fun and happy travels to you and your family! :);)

You're quite right - I'm so sorry. I saw "Intercontinental" and just assumed it was the hotel we stayed at last May. Thanks for the correction :-)

QUOTE=Freq Traveler;36642331]The hotel you are referring to is not the same hotel as mentioned in SeaCBear's review. Her hotel is right on the water at Chopin Plaza and very near the port. Your hotel is further out so you may want to contact the hotel directly to see what is in the area. Just wanted to clarify this with you.

The Intercontinental downtown is an awesome place to stay. The Bayside Marketplace is nearby with many nice restaurants, shops. The Bayside Marketplace is also home to a marina where you can take a 2 hour cruise around the port of Miami. It goes by Star islands where all the stars live. It goes around all the fabulous homes in the bay. Very nice. We have stayed at this hotel several time and it is REALLY nice and safe place to stay. There is an Alamo rental car on site as well. Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

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You're very welcome Freq Traveler! Enjoy your cruise next month - I'm sure you will, the Reflection is wonderful.

Thank you so very much for taking the time to post your trip on the Reflection. it is MUCH appreciated. We are sailing on Reflection in February. It is SO very helpful to know things "before you go". It only enhances our vacation which we wait so long and pay so much for! Many more safe, fun and happy travels to you and your family! :);)

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

No worries....I appreciate you trying to help and greatly appreciate your review. Loved it!!

looking forward to your review

Hi there baby (feels funny to type that!) - all my reviews are finished now. There's a link to all of them, and all photos, in my signature - below. Just click on My Daily Reviews.

looking forward to your review