Advantages of concierge cabins

[Floridiana]

DH and I are considering the Christmas cruise on the new Reflection. We still have many questions. So please bear with me.

 

Celebrity's website lists priority check-in and priority seating at dining as two of several perks. Do they mean priority when making reservations for specialty dining? We are first timers on Celebrity and wonder whether these two priority perks are worth the money. What is your experience?

 

Since we started checking out Celebrity's website last night only, we haven't even found out yet whether the ship has traditional dining with fixed seating or flexible dining times or a choice of both. Do you know?

 

One poster mentioned that the food in the main dining room tends to be on the bland side, not enough salt. I don't like salty food but would be disappointed in overall season-less food. I am aware that it is a matter of taste and each person is different, but what is your take?

 

How formal can we expect the ship to be at Christmas in the Caribbean? Do passengers dress to the nines? One or two formal nights for a 7 day cruise?

 

One more question: Is there a pool for adults only?

 

I appreciate your taking the time to read this long list of questions.

[cruisetrail]

DH and I are considering the Christmas cruise on the new Reflection. We still have many questions. So please bear with me.

 

Celebrity's website lists priority check-in and priority seating at dining as two of several perks. Do they mean priority when making reservations for specialty dining? We are first timers on Celebrity and wonder whether these two priority perks are worth the money. What is your experience?

No. They are not worth the money.

More details here.

 

Since we started checking out Celebrity's website last night only, we haven't even found out yet whether the ship has traditional dining with fixed seating or flexible dining times or a choice of both. Do you know?

A choice of both.

 

One poster mentioned that the food in the main dining room tends to be on the bland side, not enough salt. I don't like salty food but would be disappointed in overall season-less food. I am aware that it is a matter of taste and each person is different, but what is your take?

It's normal.

Salt is poison BTW especially for the older people.

 

How formal can we expect the ship to be at Christmas in the Caribbean? Do passengers dress to the nines? One or two formal nights for a 7 day cruise?

Two formal nights.

Not "very" formal. Please see Celebrity dress code guidelines on their website.

Plan two formal nights in MDR.

Reserve 4 dinners in specialty restaurants.

Reserve one night for a relaxing dinner in the buffet.

 

One more question: Is there a pool for adults only?

Yes. A covered pool.

 

I appreciate your taking the time to read this long list of questions.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[TeaBag]

Yes, there is a priority check-in for Concierge. If you check in early, 11AM, for example, you may not have a wait no matter what line you are in. Do ask for specials when booking Sp dining on-board. Sometimes you get 20% off on the first night and sometimes they offer packages for several specialty restaurants booked as a package.

 

We don't find the MDR food bland. there may be a miss, but they are very quick to bring you something else.

 

Two formal nights on a 7 day cruise. I have never been on a Christmas one, but I would think people might want to dress up on that one more than usual. we always observe formal nights. DH does not wear a Tux. A dark suit is fine. Specialty restaurants do not require formal dress. Smart casual is fine there, so you might want to do that if you do not want to dress formally.

 

If you book Concierge class you will get one extra point toward status. You need 10 for Elite which is very worth having.

[Floridiana]

Thank you both for your answers. They help a lot.

[maitlandmom]

Having sailed in a Concierge cabin, the only benifit is the location. There was not a big price difference when we booked, so we picked the cabin for location.

[hikergrl]

Having sailed in a Concierge cabin, the only benifit is the location. There was not a big price difference when we booked, so we picked the cabin for location.

 

And an extra point toward Elite status.

[ghstudio]

One poster mentioned that the food in the main dining room tends to be on the bland side, not enough salt. I don't like salty food but would be disappointed in overall season-less food. I am aware that it is a matter of taste and each person is different, but what is your take?

 

quote]

 

I'll only address this one question. Our experience has been that the seasoning in the MDR is bland....that's not a statement of salt, it's a statement of seasoning in general. Our last two cruises were in Aqua Class and we found the food in Blu to be much better..not necessarily saltier but certainly more flavorful. There are other advantages to Blu as well such as a quiet ambience and so on. We are now hooked on Aqua and Blu.

 

We are admittedly foodies in that we cook from scratch every night and we use little salt....we don't even put salt on the dinner table. Your experience may differ and you may prefer the MDR food.