Solo on Reflection Transatlantic April 2013 -- LOVED it!

[Beth Y]

This was my second transatlantic, second time on Celebrity, 14th cruise. I'm a senior and cruised solo this time. I had a wonderful time -- in fact, it was my favorite cruise ever. I really like Royal Caribbean, but I think Celebrity is a class above in some aspects, especially food and service. Celebrity's bar servers were available but not pushy, the announcements and sales pitches were minimal, and the pool towels were readily available, and not dispensed one at a time by key card. The majority of the passengers were seniors, generally a very nice crowd, and I heard that there were only nine children under 18 out of almost 3,000 passengers.

 

I live in Florida half the year, and stayed pre- and post-cruise at the Hampton Inn Blue Lagoon in Miami, a very nice hotel with airport and cruiseport shuttles. I was able to get free secure covered parking at the hotel for 25 nights by combining two package deals (I spent a few days in Rome and then five days visiting a friend in Germany after the cruise).

 

I had cabin 9194, which is in a great location with a nice private balcony. It was very quiet except for hallway noise (mostly from a neighbor who always let the door slam). The attendant Angel kept the cabin clean and was very pleasant. I had plenty of storage space and used three of those dollar store collapsible bins to organize things in the overhead storage above the bed.

 

The food was excellent. I ate most meals in the main dining room. Lots of choices and great service, especially from our waiter Ugur and his assistant Mariya. I also enjoyed Qsine once (a fun three-hour experience) and Bistro on Five twice (delicious chop salad and the famous Italian crepe (bananas and Nutella--yum!). The one Sunday brunch buffet in the dining room was excellent. I don't like buffets because I hate to carry plates and drinks when I can be served instead, but I got a snack a few times at the Oceanview Cafe, and the ice cream there was good. I liked the extensive room service menu too.

 

I attended 15 out of the 16 evening shows, and thought that the entertainment was very good. I joined the guest choir, and it was a lot of fun to practice on sea days and then sing three songs at the guest talent show. There were plenty of activities during the day to keep me busy. I was never bored on the sea days. I met lots of great people through the Cruise Critic activities -- thanks to all of our organizers for the Sailaway, Meet and Mingle, Pink Luncheon, Slot Pull, Rome discussion, shared van to Rome, etc.

 

My only complaints: shore excursions and internet access. I did five ship's excursions and the descriptions of three of them were totally inaccurate -- two involved a LOT more walking than described. I will let Celebrity know about that. Internet access was very slow and the wifi dropped often in my cabin, so I used the iLounge which seemed to have better connectivity. We were warned that the internet availability wouldn't be great, due to the number of ships doing transatlantics, but there were a lot of unhappy people complaining to the employees in the iLounge.

 

One note -- I didn't have my passport stamped when I arrived at Civitavecchia (saw two uniformed officers standing there at the exit, but there was no passport check). When I was leaving Frankfurt for my flight to JFK, the stern German police officer was not happy that I didn't have an entry stamp to the EU. I had to explain my whole itinerary to him, and after several questions, he let me pass. So I would definitely recommend getting your passport stamped when entering the EU.

 

Any questions?

[Orator]

Also on that cruise and it was indeed one of the very best. I stayed for the May 6th cruise and learned that our TA was the highest rated in company history with 280 points. The RM told me that nobody rated the food as poor and only 4 as fair. The vast majority said the food was "excellent". The CD told me that this was one of his best experiences. Found the passengers to be really outstanding. The people make the cruise and this was a wonderful group of cruisers.

Edited May 21, 2013 by Orator

[drarill]

Great review!! Thanks for sharing!:):)

[MaisonRose]

Hi Beth, i won't forget the chorus' rendition of Hallelujah! And your matching choir gowns. The final talent show was so much fun. Margaret (who is cruising to China as I write this) and I especially enjoyed the single-sailors luncheons and getting to know you better! I am going home from Barcelona on 2 Nov on the Ryndam. At the moment the Celebrity TA schedules are a little too late for me.

You didn't mention the awesome ice cream...best I have had (and I didn't gain any weight!!!)

Send me an email to keep in. Touch..susanmellups@aol

I think our cruise was so much fun because of our hard working cruisecritic meetngreet crew..who ever heard of a pink luncheon?

Edited September 13, 2013 by MaisonRose
New information

[Karynanne]

Also on that cruise and it was indeed one of the very best. I stayed for the May 6th cruise and learned that our TA was the highest rated in company history with 280 points. The RM told me that nobody rated the food as poor and only 4 as fair. The vast majority said the food was "excellent". The CD told me that this was one of his best experiences. Found the passengers to be really outstanding. The people make the cruise and this was a wonderful group of cruisers.

 

We too were on that TA, and I agree, the food was outstanding in the MDR and also the Speciality Restaurants. That cruise was as near perfect as I can remember. We had a wonderful voyage.

[justcrusn]

We enjoyed that cruise immensely , the excursions were the best so far, the shows were good (saw the beatles twice in one night). We did not eat in the MDR, but instead BLU, and while the food was very good, the service was, well, lacking. We're planning another TA next year and would love to do the exact same one, except it goes a week later in the year and that may not work for us. Reflection is beautiful as the other S class ships are but has it's own style. Maybe it's me, but I just didn't get the "bell" room you walk through on the way to Blu and the specialty restaurants. It was very odd.

On a one to ten, it was a 9 for us, Nearly perfect!

[BereanCruiser]

Also on that cruise and it was indeed one of the very best. I stayed for the May 6th cruise and learned that our TA was the highest rated in company history with 280 points. The RM told me that nobody rated the food as poor and only 4 as fair. The vast majority said the food was "excellent". The CD told me that this was one of his best experiences. Found the passengers to be really outstanding. The people make the cruise and this was a wonderful group of cruisers.

 

Would you mind sharing with me the name of your TA? DThorfeldt@sbcglobal.net

 

Thanks

 

Oops, never mind. I thought TA stood for Travel Agent

Edited September 13, 2013 by BereanCruiser

[Orator]

Would you mind sharing with me the name of your TA? DThorfeldt@sbcglobal.net

 

Thanks

 

"TA" in my post is "Trans Atlantic" not "Travel Agent". Can get confusing.

[Holly g]

We are very seriously thinking of doing this same cruise in April 2014. Could you tell me about your return flight? The one way flights to the US seem very high, sometimes more than a round trip. Did you book through Celebrity? Also if you book through Celbrity can you fly back a week or two after the cruise ends? We would like to spend some time in Italy after the cruise. Thanks everyone.

[Blazerboy]

We are very seriously thinking of doing this same cruise in April 2014. Could you tell me about your return flight? The one way flights to the US seem very high, sometimes more than a round trip. Did you book through Celebrity? Also if you book through Celbrity can you fly back a week or two after the cruise ends? We would like to spend some time in Italy after the cruise. Thanks everyone.

 

Choice Air through Celebrity has worked well for the one-way flights.

 

TA's are my favorite itinerary (15 out of my 26 cruises/crossings)

 

So glad the OP and the rest posting here had a great trip. While 2014 is a likely a stay-cation year for us, 2015 might include another TA!

 

Andrew

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Forums mobile app

[d4m]

Wasn't on this particular TA but can tell you that Choice Air throgh Celebrity is a small fraction of what it costs on Airline sites. For example, for our TA this fall, the regular cost was nearly $1500 on the airline site each for a one-way while the same flight through Celebrity cost us $420 each. We have used Choice Air two other times with similar results. We would not be going were it not for Choice Air.

 

Yes, you can book additional time to stay after (or before) your cruise through Choice Air. For example, we are spending many nights in Barcelona before our return TA to the US later this year. We will do the same next year in Amsterdam after the TA.

 

If you haven't checked prices through Choice Air, just go to that site and use the link where you are just checking prices. Put in whatever dates you are considering and they can give you some ideas about cost. Usually flights are not available until 11 or so months in advance. You can always call choice to ask questions you might have.

[Holly g]

Thank you for the quick responses. Can choice air be used by anyone or only if cruising?

 

Also, anyone have an idea for Rome hotels that won't blow the bank account? :),

[justcrusn]

We are very seriously thinking of doing this same cruise in April 2014. Could you tell me about your return flight? The one way flights to the US seem very high, sometimes more than a round trip. Did you book through Celebrity? Also if you book through Celbrity can you fly back a week or two after the cruise ends? We would like to spend some time in Italy after the cruise. Thanks everyone.

 

we spent 3 days in rome, then took the train to venice, very affordable,fast and FUN!

first class was only a little more and totally worth it. we flew home from venice via choice air for roughly $600 each. (home is florida)

 

the customs and immigration in Italy is very strange. NO ONE checked anything when we arrived, we just walked off the ship with our luggage. And at the airport when we left, still no customs or immigration. We had a lot of questions asked when we changed planes in denmark, they were not happy.....

[wisteria1019]

May I ask what is a pink luncheon?

 

Dawn

[MaisonRose]

Thank you for the quick responses. Can choice air be used by anyone or only if cruising?

 

Also, anyone have an idea for Rome hotels that won't blow the bank account? :),

 

Last time there we stayed in a BnB called. Rome Sweet Rome. We really liked it, between the train station and the Coliseum. Don't expect a great breakfast, but the rooms are huge and it is a terrific value. Two good bus lines stop right in front, and there is an elavator.

[MaisonRose]

May I ask what is a pink luncheon?

 

Dawn

 

I have no. Idea how it got started but just about every cruise critic on the Reflection, notified via the Roll Call, attended a luncheon in the main DR and there were prizes for wearing the most pink..it was alot of fun and there were a huge number of cc's there. Afterwards there was a cabin crawl, a chance to visit cabins volunteered for veiwing, so we got to see everything from a simple inside to a more posh one, to a balcony and a suite with LR.

The cruise began with sailaway on the aft deck, nametags provided by very organized cruise critic members (read fun, party people with much sailing experience). We had our own trivia teams...just lots if things discussed pre cruise on the Roll Call.

[Holly g]

Thanks for the hotel suggestions for Rome. Any others would be great. We are also going to Florence and Venice, any ideas for hotels there? Thanks

[Orator]

I have no. Idea how it got started but just about every cruise critic on the Reflection, notified via the Roll Call, attended a luncheon in the main DR and there were prizes for wearing the most pink..it was alot of fun and there were a huge number of cc's there. Afterwards there was a cabin crawl, a chance to visit cabins volunteered for veiwing, so we got to see everything from a simple inside to a more posh one, to a balcony and a suite with LR.

The cruise began with sailaway on the aft deck, nametags provided by very organized cruise critic members (read fun, party people with much sailing experience). We had our own trivia teams...just lots if things discussed pre cruise on the Roll Call.

 

I didn't participate, but lots did. Even the waiters were wearing pink. Stated on the Roll Call. There were also Captain's Tables every night and many were invited to several tables. It was just a fantastic mix of cruisers.

[Miss SeaBee]

I have no. Idea how it got started but just about every cruise critic on the Reflection, notified via the Roll Call, attended a luncheon in the main DR and there were prizes for wearing the most pink..it was alot of fun and there were a huge number of cc's there. Afterwards there was a cabin crawl, a chance to visit cabins volunteered for veiwing, so we got to see everything from a simple inside to a more posh one, to a balcony and a suite with LR.

The cruise began with sailaway on the aft deck, nametags provided by very organized cruise critic members (read fun, party people with much sailing experience). We had our own trivia teams...just lots if things discussed pre cruise on the Roll Call.

 

I don't usually participate in CC events onboard, but that sounds like a lot of fun! I would definitely want to do something like that.

[lilghallinsf]

Can you tell me if you happen to have the dailies from this cruise?

[dodger1964]

Op mentioned dropped wifi in room. Just a note (at least from what I've been told) is wifi is really setup to be available in public areas of ship, not in staterooms. So I take any coverage available in room to be a bonus.

[Beth Y]

Can you tell me if you happen to have the dailies from this cruise?

 

Sorry, I don't save the dailies anymore.

 

Beth