First timers on celebrity - reflection 2/28 sailing!

[labates629]

Hello everyone! We just disembarked the Reflection yesterday and I wanted to share our experience with the forums. I have used this forum for many years and the advice/information I have found on here has been invaluable to me for trip planning, so I thought I would give back with a review. Spoiler alert – we had a great trip!

 

 

Bit of background on us – it was just my husband and I taking this cruise, we are 45 years old. We are British, but have lived in the US for the past 15 years, just recently became US citizens. We both work for the same company, and live in the NW suburbs of Chicago. We have two kids in college, DD is a freshman at UW Madison and the DS a sophomore at Western Michigan (for some reason the kids chose the coldest places to go to school!). So this is the first year that we have been able to take advantage of the empty nest and take a last minute winter trip!

 

 

 

Our cruise history – I got introduced to cruising via a girls trip back in 2006, with a weekend trip to the Bahamas on the Majesty of the Seas. I was impressed with the whole experience (other than the excessive drinking of some passengers :)!) and persuaded my husband to take a longer trip on the Serenade of the Seas that same year. He was always a bit ‘anti’ cruising, but he really enjoyed that trip (San Juan – southern caribbean) although not quite as keen as I was to repeat the experience. I subsequently took a couple more girlfriend Bahamas trips (Monarch and Majesty) and also sailed on NCL with DH (not such a good experience which put him of cruising for a bit, mainly because he got sick). It was land based vacations following that up til now!

[labates629]

Why we picked this cruise – 2 main reasons really.

 

 

 

Firstly, we had to be in Miami for a work conference the week before the cruise (I know, tough job!) so we thought we would take advantage of the ‘free’ flight courtesy of the company/empty nest and extend the vacation, particularly in view of the lovely temperatures we have been experiencing in Chicago this winter.

 

 

 

Secondly, we had just taken a trip to a Caribbean All Inclusive (some family from the UK joined us) at the end of January, so we didn’t want to spend a lot of $$ on this second winter trip. We had kept eye on a few different cruises on a certain online travel agent website (with a 90 day ticker), and the Reflection as well as a HA Westerdam cruise were the favorites. There are some crazy last minute prices available if you are prepared to wait and not too picky about cabin selection!

 

 

 

We really wanted to try Celebrity for a more ’upscale’ experience, hopefully with no (or minimal) kids, and preferably no belly flop competitions and the like. The ‘Modern Luxury’ aspect appealed to us. Also, I am platinum on RC Crown and Anchor, which of course meant Select on Celebrity, so that was somewhat of a draw to Celebrity as well.

 

 

 

We booked the trip literally only a month before the sail date. For those that are interested, we got an amazing price of $511 each for an Inside guarantee, including $75 OBC. I had only sailed in an inside cabin once before on the Majesty of the Seas with my girlfriends (2 cabins between 4 of us), so I was a little nervous about that but the deal was just too good to pass up on. DH actually joked that it was probably cheaper to go on the cruise than stay home at that price! And how bad could an inside cabin on the Reflection really be, right? I have to say, I was half hoping to get an upgrade to at least an OV, but I knew what we had paid for so I was not expecting it, just hoping. We received our cabin assignment about a week after booking – # 1112 on the 10th floor just behind the library. It was very quiet, a great location and much roomier than we had anticipated.

[labates629]

We stayed in the Fontainebleu on Miami Beach for the conference before the cruise, we arrived the Saturday the week before our sailing, so I had seen the ships lined up at the port as we drove in from the airport, adding to the anticipation! A note on the Fontainebleu – the hotel is beautiful, but it really is kind of like spring break on steroids, with a crazy crowded pool scene and ridiculous prices. $22 mojitos/$4 coffee if you get the picture. Nice, but not sure I’d want to stay there on my own dime – very crowded, and I felt very old and ‘unenhanced’ for want of a better word!! I love to run, and I really did enjoy having the boardwalk right there for a great running route though. Here’s some photos from the hotel and Miami Beach.

[labates629]

 

 

[labates629]

After the conference, we had to drive over to St. Petersburg for some business, then we drove down the West coast via Fort Myers/Bonita Springs to Naples to check out some rental villas for a potential vacation with the kids when school is out. Although now I’m thinking of another (family) cruise, ha ha! We stayed in Naples Friday night, we loved the 5th avenue area, great restaurants and shopping. Here’s a photo of Naples beach first thing before we drove over to Miami to join ship.

The weather deteriorated as we drove across Alligator Alley, and it turned into a torrential rainstorm by the time we arrived back at the Fontainebleu to drop the rental car off around 11.30 am. We got an Uber to the port (the driver had never been to the port and had no clue how to get to the ship though!). The rain stopped luckily while we were boarding so we didn’t get wet, but the skies still looked ominously dark!

[labates629]

As I mentioned earlier, we have just recently become citizens. I had received my US passport a few weeks before xmas, so I was all set with documentation.

 

 

 

DH had to put off his oath ceremony a couple times due to work commitments, so he only got his Citizenship certificate in the second week of February and there wasn’t enough time to apply for his US passport in the usual way before we left for Miami. The emergency passport service in Chicago would not let him make an appointment prior to 2 weeks before travel (they wouldn’t deviate from this, despite the fact he explained we were leaving for Miami a week before we would be leaving the country!) and there were no available appointments in the week before we left.

 

 

 

He was going to use another passport service recommended by another CC member, but just decided to use the Citizenship Cert/Driving License as it was a closed loop cruise. And he still had his UK passport of courses in case of emergency in any point. He can’t use that to re-enter the US as a resident though, without a valid Green Card, and you have to surrender your Green Card at the Citizenship interview because you don’t need it anymore! So, we were a bit worried about being able to board as we had never traveled out of the US without a passport! But of course there were no issues or even questions about it so I was worrying for nothing. They never even asked for his DL, just the certificate.

[labates629]

We dropped our bags and proceeded to board with just one carry on and hand luggage, there were minimal lines in the check-in area (it was about 12.15 pm by this time I think. We were directed to the Select line, which was considerably shorter than the regular line (first advantage of my RC status!) and soon were on board with a glass of champagne in hand. Vacation had begun! We headed up to the Oceanview café, which was rather overwhelming (crowds!) but fine once we found a seat. We enjoyed the food, varied selection although I would say the desserts were a little weak (other than the ice cream!). It was pouring rain again at this point, which was a bit disappointing but the forecast for the week was good so we weren’t worried. Here's the view from the window!

 

 

 

 

 

It certainly did put a bit of a damper on the sailaway experience though. It did stop raining in time for when we pulled out of the port, but the band had already set up inside at that point so it was not quite the same.

 

 

[Boscodog]

Great detailed review so far. Looking forward to reading more.:)

[labates629]

Cabins were ready about 1.15pm, so we headed down to check it out and unpack our carry-ons etc. Throughout the week our room attendant (Sedine from Goa) was excellent, as was his assistant (name escapes me!). They both very quickly learned our habits and took great care of us all week. I asked for ice on the first day, and we subsequently received ice every day, twice a day, which was great.

 

 

 

My invites to Captains Club events and Select coupons were in the cabin, and I was pleasantly surprised by some of the ‘freebies’ (free gelato/special coffee/casino coupons/wine discounts etc). We found there to be plenty of storage space in the cabin, I had brought extra hangars, but actually didn’t need to. The bathroom was much more spacious than any other bathroom I have had in any ship cabin (other than the Owners suite on the Majesty which my 3 girlfriends and I shared one time), again with lots of storage space.

 

 

 

I found the hairdryer to be powerful enough, but annoying to have to hold the start button in to use it, so I was glad to have brought my own. I also brought an outlet extender which came in handy.

 

 

 

We really had no complaints about the size of the cabin, or the location but we both said we would prefer to choose a balcony next time as we missed knowing what the weather was like outside, and having fresh air in the cabin. We had the ‘View from the Bridge’ channel on constantly when we were in the cabin, to see what was going on! It wasn’t an issue in the evenings, just first thing and while we were getting ready for dinner. We didn’t spend much time in the cabin at all, as we enjoyed the ship so much, although I think we may have spent more time if we had a balcony, especially on the sea days, when the pool deck was quite crowded. But for what we paid, no complaints!! We both slept really well, the gentle rocking and the extreme darkness seemed to work really well for sleeping. For some reason I didn’t take any cabin photos, other than this cute little guy:

 

 

[labates629]

Great detailed review so far. Looking forward to reading more.:)

 

Thanks for the encouragement - this is my first attempt!!

[labates629]

Our bags were delivered as we were unpacking our carry-on/hand luggage (pretty fast, actually arrived by about 3pm!). So we finished unpacking and then set off for a ship tour, exploring all the different decks/bars etc.

 

 

 

We thought the ship was absolutely beautiful, with very tasteful décor, modern and luxurious, with interesting art. All the lounges and bars were wonderful, and we really enjoyed the different themes in the different areas. We signed up for our wine bottle package when we got to the Cellar Masters (which we used in the MDR only). We didn’t have a drink package, as we aren’t huge drinkers. We enjoy a bottle of wine with dinner and the odd cocktail or two (ok maybe 3!) during the day, so it didn’t make sense to sign up for a Premium package. A word on the Cellar Masters, I heard they were changing this area to a gastro pub, which I think would work better as it was pretty much empty most of the time. I would have happily enjoyed wine there if I could have just swiped my sea pass for it, I didn’t like the idea of having to pre purchase ‘credits’ to use for the dispensers, in case I didn’t manage to use them all during the cruise.

 

 

 

There were a couple of areas which I thought were perhaps a waste of space, or maybe just under-utilized – for example the Hideaway, or the Library. We never saw more than 1 or 2 people in those areas, even on that first rainy day. One odd thing I noticed, on embarkation day, there was a coffee machine in the library, which I thought would be very useful for early morning coffee. The next morning I went out to grab a coffee from there (as it was literally a few steps from our cabin), but the coffee machine had disappeared, never to be seen again for the rest of the week. Perhaps I imagined it?!

 

 

 

We also thought the Foyer area on the 3rd floor was just too small for some of the events/activities that were held there (bands/dancing with the Reflection Stars etc) – there just wasn’t enough room to gather round and watch, people were hanging over the 4th floor balcony to watch below and the area seemed very crowded at times. I think some of the events would have been better if they were held in the Sky Observation Lounge, more space/better viewing ability from several seating areas. For such a large ship, it seemed strange that one of the main entertainment areas was so small! Although it was still a good atmosphere in that central foyer area most days, so I think it does work, you just have to get there early to get a good spot if you really want to see something with a good view.

 

 

 

Same thing with the Ensemble lounge a little bit – it seemed like it became a kind of ‘corridor’ or walk through between the bar and the seating areas on one side for people getting to the specialty restaurants which obstructed the view of the musicians, and lessened the intimacy of the lounge. The Ensemble lounge was one of my favorite places though so i'ts not a bit issue or a criticism, just an observation. The comparison I have is to the Serenade off the Seas, which had truly separate lounges where events were held (such as Bolero/Schooner Bar etc) which just seemed to flow better and accommodate people more comfortably.

[labates629]

We had Select dining, and prior to the cruise I was a bit concerned about wait times after reading about Luminae and space taken from the MDR etc, but Luminae was on Deck 3, meaning space was taken from the Traditional dining room rather than Select.

 

 

 

On the first night, we went to dinner just after 7pm, and the host asked if we wanted to go to the early show (which had started at 7pm) and come back later. We replied that we would have missed the start of the show, so would catch the later one, and wanted to eat first. He gave us a pager and said it would be 45 minutes, which surprised me based on what I had read on the forums! Probably just first night craziness, but we were seated after about 25 minutes I think.

 

 

 

On subsequent nights we went to the early show, and then showed up for dinner around 8pm (without reservations) and had to wait 30 minutes on the second night. After that I tried to make reservations, but could only reserve at 8.30pm as I called the same day. Then I realized you could call one day ahead, so managed to get 8pm reservations for 4 nights I think.

 

 

 

We asked for quieter tables for 2, and most times were seated on a table for 4 for just the two of us which gave us more privacy and space. Not that we are antisocial or anything but we really don’t enjoy being seated with strangers – each to their own! Some of those tables for 2 may as well be for 4, very cozy!

 

 

 

The food in the MDR, for the most part was good. Some things were extremely good (such as the lamb chops on the first formal night), some items were more mediocre (for example the shrimp louie appetiser on the first night was rather disappointing) but on the whole we were satisfied. It actually felt like the food improved each day to be honest. Service was exceptional, although the appetizer and salad/soup course were consistently served too quickly. In fact, the entire dinner seemed a little rushed, we weren’t in the dining room more than about an hour each time which surprised me. It’s a good job the portions are not large as I would be unable to manage several courses so quickly! The food was always served hot (when it was supposed to be!), and perfectly cooked. Water/wine was refilled promptly without having to request it.

 

 

 

Dress code - I did notice jeans in the dining room, and hoodies, even a few caps, which I was quite shocked at. I wish they would enforce the dress code! This was the minority, thankfully.

[labates629]

We only went to one specialty restaurant – The Tuscan Grill. We liked the look of the menu and the location, and we enjoyed a great meal there and a very nice bottle of wine. I had beef carpaccio to start/goat cheese salad and the branzino. DH had steak tartare/caprese salad and the veal chop. We also had chocolate fondue and crème brulee for dessert I think. We enjoyed the change of scenery, wonderful atmosphere, slower pace and the view of the wake from the window. I have to say I don’t think the food was $45 each better than the MDR though. I’m sure I had a very similar Branzino one night for dinner! We were glad we tried it though. I wished we had tried the Lawn Club Grill – next time we will!

 

 

Other food observations – we found the selection in the Oceanview fine for breakfast and lunch, albeit a little overcrowded at times, sometimes overwhelmingly so (sea days). This was mainly caused by inconsiderate passengers, holding up lines, pushing in etc. I do think Celebrity could extend the opening hours though, to maybe stagger the flow of people. On sea days lunch was only served between 12 and 2pm, which I though was rather short. On port days there was a limited selection available after 2pm, unless you wanted pasta/pizza, although afternoon tea was served at 4pm.

 

 

 

I also noticed people not using the hand sanitizer when entering/leaving the buffet, several passengers using their fingers instead of tongs to pick up food, eating in the lines and one man even wiping whipped cream off of the tongs onto his plate after he had picked up a dessert with the tongs! I was rather dumbfounded by that, and had to leave that line as I did not want to use the tongs after that!

 

 

 

The food, for the most part was pretty good, you certainly wouldn’t go hungry. Some things were quite overcooked though e.g beef joint on the carving station, grilled steak etc which disappointed my DH. I tend to avoid those items as they are typically never cooked exactly as you would want on a buffet, hence I didn’t have any complaints. I enjoyed the variety of salads/healthy choices. We loved the outdoor area at the back of the Oceanview, we really enjoyed breakfast out there before disembarking in the ports.

 

 

 

Sorry I didn't take any food photos, as much as I like seeing other people's posts with food photos, I didn't take any photos at the table!

[labates629]

View from Oceanview cafe - beautiful!

[labates629]

Day 1 – Sea day. First sea day we woke up quite late, and went to the gym for a work out before breakfast. That was the only day the gym was busy but we didn’t wait more than a couple of minutes for machines. We were very impressed with the gym, good variety of machines, all newish and in good working order. Great selection of free weights and machines as well. I didn’t take any classes, although I was tempted, I just didn’t want to be tied to showing up at a certain time, it was vacation after all!

 

 

 

The chilled towels were a nice touch, especially when the attendant occasionally came around passing them out. One suggestion I would have is add a water dispenser with cups – they only have a couple of small fountains in the corner. Also – there is a great front deck area you can access from the gym, it would be perfect if some outdoor furniture could be added here.

 

 

After showering and breakfast, we just lazed around on the Solstice Deck on the shady side, it was a beautiful day and very relaxing and quiet. Well it was quiet until a large group of passengers started to play cards and were very noisy about it, high fiving and whooping loudly (they were partaking of numerous adult beverages it seemed!). They were only having fun of course though. DH disappeared off to the cabin to watch a English league soccer game (he’s a Tottenham fan), then we had lunch and lazed around some more from memory. I was going to go to the galley tour but I was too lazy to move, and though I would do it on the next sea day if it was offered (which it was).

 

 

 

I think the Solstice deck was one off my favorite spots on the ship, especially when we were able to get one of the wicker padded loungers, although all the loungers were comfortably padded. There is a great buzzer system for drink service. A note on loungers – chair saving appeared to be happening in full force with no regulation at all that I noticed. There are no signs that I saw telling people not to save chairs, although it was mentioned on the daily newsletter. I noticed some chairs left unattended for hours with personal items on them – where are these people?! I wish Celebrity would take action regarding this process. Here's a pic from later in the day when it was virtually empty:

 

 

 

As well as the Solstice deck, I really liked the Sunset lounge too, amazing view, very nicely decorated, although we didn’t spend much time there because it was always so crowded when it was open and the smell of smoke was overwhelming (we are very anti -smoking, and probably overly sensitive to the smell!), even though smoking was only allowed on one side. Here's a shot I took when it was quiet, on a port day I think:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We tended to go to the Sky Observation Lounge for a ‘happy hour’ drink, or the Passport Bar on 3, especially on port days before going back to the cabin to shower and get ready for dinner.

I think the show was a comedian that night, he was pretty good from memory, watchable, but I can’t remember his name! I’m sure we went to watch Karaoke in the Sky lounge which was ok, but not very well attended, pretty much 2 or 3 people only singing! Not a Celebrity thing, perhaps?

We very much enjoyed the live music on the ship – especially Xtasea and Walker Black. In fact, I wished we’d had a chance to see more of Walker Black, it was hard to fit everything in to be honest! The performers moved around, sometimes in Foyer, sometimes Ensemble, sometimes Sky lounge, which was nice.

[Eliz]

I'm really enjoying your review. Great aft picture! Wish we could have gotten away from our nightmare winter and been on your sailing.

 

Elizabeth

[Zoey1]

I too, am totally enjoying your review . We are sailing on her this weekend and even though this is our second time on the Reflection it seems like it was so long ago, your review is getting us excited about our turn!

[happyscmom]

I am really enjoying this review. We will be there in a little under 3 weeks, so I can't wait to read more. Thanks for writing this!

[helen haywood]

Perhaps you were confused as to where you saw the coffee machine exploring your first day? There is a coffee machine/hot water set up in the Hideaway that is there every day all day.

[labates629]

Perhaps you were confused as to where you saw the coffee machine exploring your first day? There is a coffee machine/hot water set up in the Hideaway that is there every day all day.

 

That must have been it! I did go to look there that first day, but I was still in the 'getting lost' stage at that point so I probably missed it! :rolleyes:

[labates629]

Thanks for the positive comments!

 

Day 2 – Cozumel

 

This was the only day we skipped our morning work out as we wanted to disembark early as we had to be back on board by 3.45pm.

 

 

After a hearty breakfast in the OV café, we left the ship and jumped in a taxi to the Money Bar. I was toying between going to the the Money Bar and Playa Palancar, but decided on the Money Bar because I read on CC that the snorkeling was better. Cab was $11 and we arrived there by just before 9am Cozumel time (10am ship time) so the place was pretty much deserted. There is a large undercover bar area (big circular bar), and plenty of outdoor tables/chairs under umbrellas as well as lounge chairs in a small sandy area. It’s basically free to enter/sit, but you are expected to buy drinks/food etc. We got a good shady spot under some trees and just relaxed/read books, chatted to some Canadians who came to sit next to us. Here is a view from our lounge chairs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before long I spotted a massage cabana, and a sign noting massages were available so I was wondering about that, and the next minute a lady came by and gave me a leaflet - $60 for a 1 hr massage! Half the price of the ship, so I headed over there right away and enjoyed a very relaxing massage with the sound of the waves and a gentle breeze while the beach was still very quiet. Blissful! I paid by cc, in pesos, and the exchange rate actually worked out the $48 for some reason! I tipped her well. I can highly recommend this, but it might not be so relaxing later in the day, as the cabana is quite close to the bar tables and I'm sure you would hear the patrons talking clearly if tables close by were occupied. By 11am there were hardly any empty spaces to sit, as there were 6 ships in port that day (which was why we had planned to get there early). We enjoyed a few drinks (mojitos for me and Dos Equis Amber for DH) which were very reasonable from memory. We did not eat here but the food looked pretty good.

[labates629]

After relaxing, reading, swimming, snorkeling etc, we headed out of the Money Bar around 2pm ish I think, had a wait a little while for a taxi to come by, which we shared with another couple who were headed to a hotel on the north side of Cozumel.

 

 

 

This was my first experience of returning to a Celebrity ship, and I enjoyed the chilled towels and water. Nice touch, which I certainly did not experience on RC or NCL! Once back on board, we grabbed a snack from the buffet and went up to the Solstice deck to relax for a bit, then went down a deck to watch the latecomers (inebriated!) presumably from Senor Frog’s running along the pier! A couple of people were about 20 minutes late, after the all aboard time – part of me thinks that we shouldn’t wait for these folks – how difficult is it to get back to the ship on time?! But I guess the captain was very nice :).

 

 

 

There was a Carnival Ship docked opposite us, and some of those passengers were running along ‘mooning’ and shouting loudly. Glad we weren’t on that ship! The Carnival ships do look great for kids though. The slides/children’s activity areas we could see almost gave me palpitations. Nothing against kids, but now that mine are grown, I really don’t want to hear other peoples kids on vacation! On that note, we really didn’t see many kids at all on the Reflection, perhaps less than 10. Sailing out of school holidays obviously helped, but we did see a handful of school age teenagers so I wonder if there was a mid-winter break in some states/or European vacation time.

 

 

 

The show that night was the Reflection Stars, the Broadway show (I think, or I may have got the nights mixed up!). They performed 3 times in total in the theater, as well as some other performances in the Foyer and were pretty good overall. Some of the choreography was quite samey though, and timing was off in places. But I’m sure it must be pretty hard dancing on a moving ship. We did have calm seas the whole week though. We thought the singers were very good.

 

 

 

We headed to dinner in the MDR after the show, were seated by about 8.30pm. As I said earlier, food was good, and service great, although a little rushed. Then I believe DH played some blackjack (I watched!), and I played some slots as well that night. In fact we were quite successful in the Casino and were up quite a few $$ the end of the week! We are not regular gamblers and only every play on cruise ships for some reason.

Edited March 9, 2015 by labates629
update

[labates629]

Day 3 – Grand Cayman – my favorite port this cruise!

 

 

We were due to arrive in GC by 10am, and it is a tender port. I did not realize how long it took for the tender process, we had been to GC before, but perhaps the ship was much smaller or they had more tender boats as the whole process seemed to have been much quicker.

 

 

We went to the gym for a workout, showered, ate breakfast then went to Cellar Masters to get a tender ticket just after we anchored. # 37, and they were calling the numbers in the high teens. In hindsight, I would have collected a tender ticket before breakfast, but I had no idea how long the process would take. We had to wait about 45 minutes to be called which wasn’t a huge deal but I would have preferred to get off sooner. We waited outside on deck 5, so at least enjoyed the sunshine and watched the tenders coming and going. And filling up extremely slowly! The MSC Divina was anchored fairly close to us, and they were using their lifeboats to tender, which surprised me, I had never seen that before! The Divina was the only other ship in port that day.

 

 

 

Here's a photo of the ship from the tender boat:

 

 

[labates629]

We had originally planned to rent a scooter or car to drive around the island, and then relax at Rum Point for a bit. I had forgotten to make note of where the car rental place was that I had in mind, but I knew (or I thought I knew!) it was in the town close to the tender dock. After walking around and shopping a little bit we couldn’t find it immediately, but we did finally locate it a little bit out of town after asking for directions.

 

 

 

At that point it was getting late because it was past noon when we finally got to shore, and it was also getting very hot so we just decided to jump on the bus to 7 mile beach and relax rather than drive around. We really were lazy on this vacation!

 

 

 

We got off the bus at the Governer’s House, a quiet part of 7 mile beach, and set up under the shade of some trees. The water is just beautiful, we really enjoyed swimming here it is so clear and turquoise. Last year we went to Anguilla and I really thought I would never see water so clear and such beautiful colors. GC can certainly rival Anguilla! Here’s proof:

 

 

 

[labates629]

After it cooled off a bit later in the day, we decided to walk along the beach as we had been vegetating so long. We really enjoyed walking back towards the ship, past the condos/hotels etc, it was a great day. Here’s some photos from our walk: