First timers on celebrity - reflection 2/28 sailing!

[Iamthesea]

There's a little buzzer on several of the lounge chairs, that you can 'ring' or 'buzz' I guess! to get the server to come up to the Solstice deck. To be honest, there was a always a server coming by anyway so we never needed to use the buzzer system. There is a sign at the top of the stairways indicating that you can ring for service. I agree there were a lot of chairs crowded in, but not many people seemed to sit on them because they were so close together, other than seas days when they were pretty much full!

 

Can't wait to see how the buzzers works. :D

 

In all the days that we have spent on that deck, with fewer chairs, I have never seen it full. Even last month on the Equinox! I do not like the crowding. I need my space, peace and quiet to read and relax. :(

 

Thank you again for the wonderful review. It was very helpful, especially about your disembarkation times. We want to leave the ship as late as possible because our flight doesn't leave until 2:25. We have a shared ride for pick-up at 11:00. We were expecting to get off around 10:00, and thought customs would take about 45min. based on our experiences in Ft. Lauderdale.

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoyed your report and pictures.

[valeep]

Thank you so much for all these great details. Being new to cruising and the Celebrity ships, these tips are quite helpful.

 

I too am staring at the snow piles in Chicago and counting the days down to our Mediterranean cruise in late May.....not soon enough!

 

I am hoping that we do not run into many ports that require tenders. Do they tell you up front where to go for tender tickets?

[judie43]

Thanks for taking so much of your time to write a great review. We sailed on the Refection in November and it was so nice " reliving" our cruise reading your review.

We sailed on the Silhouette last month and although they are sister ships,we liked the Reflection so much more. Especially the Sunset Bar.

[upwarduk]

They were in the process of making the fancier desserts for the ‘sea day brunch’ or enhanced buffet as they call it (in place of the traditional sea day brunch in the MDR which used to be held)

 

So glad to hear that the buffet is back.:)

A shame that it's been taken to the OV cafe though, instead of the MDR, but I suspect there are food guards in the OV.

Edited March 10, 2015 by upwarduk

[Iamthesea]

So glad to hear that the buffet is back.:)

A shame that it's been taken to the OV cafe though, instead of the MDR, but I suspect there are food guards in the OV.

 

There was nothing on the Equinox last month, but there was a special Mexican night in the buffet one evening. We did not partake. The OV Café started closing things up even earlier than 2:00 to make room for the special buffet.

 

I do wish that the buffet would stay fully opened at least until 2:30 during the cruise. I normally do not eat lunch until around 2:00 at home. On our last cruise, DH and I ended up eating hamburgers more than we would have liked because the buffet was almost shut down when we would arrive.

[dodger1964]

Thanks for review.

 

 

We were on her in January (the eastern itinerary).

 

We also used Uber from and back to the airport. 1/2 price from a taxi and we were in BMW's. (flat rate taxi was $25, $30 with tip...Uber was under $14 all in)

 

I got grilled salmon every day from Aqua Spa Cafe, but never ate there...Tables were always full. Our cabin was just 1 floor directly below, so i would take back and eat on balcony. So relaxing!

 

Glad you had great cruise!

[labates629]

Can't wait to see how the buzzers works. :D

 

I wished I had taken a photo of them!

 

In all the days that we have spent on that deck, with fewer chairs, I have never seen it full. Even last month on the Equinox! I do not like the crowding. I need my space, peace and quiet to read and relax. :(

 

I agree - it did seem pretty crowded on sea days, but there were definitely chairs available if you wanted to sit in full sun. On port days (even after everyone was back on board) it was quieter and more relaxing.

 

Thank you again for the wonderful review. It was very helpful, especially about your disembarkation times. We want to leave the ship as late as possible because our flight doesn't leave until 2:25. We have a shared ride for pick-up at 11:00. We were expecting to get off around 10:00, and thought customs would take about 45min. based on our experiences in Ft. Lauderdale.

 

You're welcome! I think it all depends on whether you find your luggage quickly, the process seemed pretty organized, and most people are disembarking earlier so you will have little or no lines at that time.

[Iamthesea]

Was the salmon out, or did you special order? About what time did you usually get the salmon?

 

On the Equinox, they never had any out, nor were there any signs about special orders. It could have been a timing issue on our part.

 

We will probably take our own luggage off. When we left the ship in Port Everglades, it was around 9:00, and the lines were horrendous and just got worse! I guess there were a lot of late leavers from the ship. :D

Edited March 10, 2015 by Iamthesea

[labates629]

So glad to hear that the buffet is back.:)

A shame that it's been taken to the OV cafe though, instead of the MDR, but I suspect there are food guards in the OV.

 

That's exactly what was explained to us at the Galley tour - that they 'weren't allowed' to have buffets in the MDR any more because it's not set up for a safe buffet environment. So they decided to compromise and provide a more fancy bufffet in the OV. That was the day I saw the guy wipe the tongs with his fingers though - so while it might be a 'safer' environment, there's no accounting for some passenger behaviour :eek:

[labates629]

Thank you so much for all these great details. Being new to cruising and the Celebrity ships, these tips are quite helpful.

 

I too am staring at the snow piles in Chicago and counting the days down to our Mediterranean cruise in late May.....not soon enough!

 

I am hoping that we do not run into many ports that require tenders. Do they tell you up front where to go for tender tickets?

 

A Med cruise is definitely on my wish list, may try to fit that in this summer if my kids are up for it!

 

You should be able to figure out from the itinerary which ports you will have tender at (or research the ports maybe?). They do tell you where to go in advance via the newsletter the day before, and there are several announcements about it. On our cruise, if you weren't on an excursion, we were told that one person in the party should go to the Cellar Masters to collect tickets for all in the party (to avoid crowding I guess). System of ticket collecting was very civilized, just had to wait awhile to get on the tender. I guess it's unrealistic on a ship of 3000 passengers to expect to wander down when you are ready to disembark and not have to wait :)

Trust you are enjoying the 'spring' weather we have today in Chicago!

[Oceanview77]

What a great review! I board Reflection in 4 days and thanks to your review I am even more ecstatic now.

I love playing the slots in the casino. Where there any further n slots you would recommend?

Besides Bed did you go any of the other parties like Liquid or Indulgence?

Thanks again for the amazing review!

[labates629]

What a great review! I board Reflection in 4 days and thanks to your review I am even more ecstatic now.

I love playing the slots in the casino. Where there any further n slots you would recommend?

Besides Bed did you go any of the other parties like Liquid or Indulgence?

Thanks again for the amazing review!

 

Thanks! We didn't go to Liquid or Indulgence, I did see Indulgence going on in the Cellar Masters as I passed by (or was it Liquid?!), it didn't look too crowded which was surprising as it was apparently sold out. Seemed to be a younger crowd, more like a 'nightclub' feel.

[fninsn]

Thanks for a great review Labates649.

 

I was on this cruise as well and my opinions in most areas are very similar to yours. It was a great cruise with a very nice itinerary and a fantastic crew. I look forward to my next Celebrity cruise onboard the Summit in 2016.