Quick Reflection review

[patterson3]

Just got off of the Reflection today- had a wonderful cruise. It's the second time I've cruised with Alexander, and really enjoyed him, and I usually do not care for the ship's house band, but thought L.A.X. were very good. Saw 2 shows in the theatre- first night they had an outside singer who was very good (and he called my brother in law and I up on stage at one point to "dance with him"- luckily we were both drunk enough to wash away any reservations we may have had about embarrassing ourselves), and I saw the first of two comedians and he was awful in my opinion. Also really enjoyed Ear Candy, and the jazz band onboard. If anyone has any questions about the cruise or ship, I'll do my best to answer.

[InnerChild]

Is the molecular bar still there?

[karscott]

Wondering if the food in the MDR is high quality or if you would suggest booking the specialty restaurants? It's personal preference to an extent but doesn't hurt to hear your experience...

[patterson3]

Is the molecular bar still there?

 

 

It is still there, however the menu is a lot more limited since last year. They apparently dropped all drinks involving dried ice and fire. I missed the "Kentucky derby" that they offered in the past. The bartender told us that molecular bar would be changing to the world class bar but wasn't sure exactly when.

[patterson3]

Wondering if the food in the MDR is high quality or if you would suggest booking the specialty restaurants? It's personal preference to an extent but doesn't hurt to hear your experience...

 

 

In my opinion the food was of good quality. Not on par with what you'd get at a high-end restaurant, ala Morton's perhaps, but much better than at a typical mid-tier chain restaurant. The food was cooked more consistently than in some past cruises as well. Where I think the MDR has declined is the quantity of offerings. It seemed that the menu wasn't quite as diverse as previously, but maybe that's just my imagination. The service we received in the MDR (Hayden and Melinda were our waiter and asst waiter) was outstanding! The sommelier, Susana, was also outstanding.

 

On a side note- I did notice that there appeared to be less tuxedos and suits than in the past on what used to be formal nights, but there were a few, and overall I felt like the evenings weren't much less formal than in the past. But that might be different from cruise to cruise, and is probably still a developing thing as people try to figure out what "chic" is to them

[smith6]

How was the music around the pool. Was it a live band every day.

[InnerChild]

Thanks so much for the info. Glad you had a nice trip.

[patterson3]

How was the music around the pool. Was it a live band every day.

 

 

It was not a live band everyday. L.A.X. certainly played there often, but we also heard a DJ and even a steel-drummer at times. I couldn't honestly tell you how often the house band played vs the DJ because we don't usually spend a lot of time around the pool (too crowded), but both seemed to be out there frequently

[Newbury newbie]

Were there any evening events on the lawn like the wine and cheese with Jazz?

[Newbury newbie]

Another question - what sort of dress were guys following for evening chic nights? Were there many without any form of jacket, say?

[gopro63]

Did they also do away with the Capt'n s toast in the theater and shown a Video?

 

Were the Photo gallery area have any Camera's Displayed at all in the Open/

 

And in the Tuscan at breakfast do they still have the Food out on the table as a buffet style?

 

Thank you for your quick review. was quick

[patterson3]

Another question - what sort of dress were guys following for evening chic nights? Were there many without any form of jacket, say?

 

 

I'm not sure of the Jazz on the lawn club to be honest. As for the jackets question, it seemed to me that many men still wore jackets but it certainly wasn't a majority. It also appeared to me that the second "evening chic" night was a little less formal than the first, but it wasn't a big difference (it didn't go from the formality on the QM2 to the casualness of the Carnival Fascination). To be honest, it seemed to me that most gentlemen on board dressed the same every night, whether it was casual or evening chic, with perhaps 30-40% going the extra mile of wearing at least a jacket on the evening chic nights. I did see a few t-shirts (albeit solid colored t-shirts, nothing with loud prints), and even some shorts in the MDR on the second evening chic night and it didn't appear that anyone was turned away.

[patterson3]

Did they also do away with the Capt'n s toast in the theater and shown a Video?

 

Were the Photo gallery area have any Camera's Displayed at all in the Open/

 

And in the Tuscan at breakfast do they still have the Food out on the table as a buffet style?

 

Thank you for your quick review. was quick

 

 

My apologies but I'm not sure about the captain's toast in the theatre and we didn't eat in the Tuscan grille at all. As for the cameras- I only saw them on display behind glass in the photo area.

[dgreenie28]

Hey! How was the water?? Was it a rough cruise or smooth sailing??

[patterson3]

Hey! How was the water?? Was it a rough cruise or smooth sailing??

 

 

Hello! It was a pretty smooth cruise. The first sea day was the worst, but even that wasn't too bad.

[dgreenie28]

Ok great! Thanks. How were the themed nights? White party or anything? We leave the 30th.

[patterson3]

Ok great! Thanks. How were the themed nights? White party or anything? We leave the 30th.

 

 

I'm not sure what you mean by themed nights? I don't recall ever seeing or hearing about any themed nights onboard any of our celebrity cruises. Is this a private event?

[dgreenie28]

No, Royal Caribbean normally does it. Not a problem!

[patterson3]

Okay, now that I've caught up on sleep, here's a little more information on our cruise:

 

My wife and I took this cruise with my wife's sister, her sister's husband, my wife's brother, and his fiancé. We had three consecutive staterooms on the hump on deck 9 and we opened the balcony dividers so that we essentially had one large balcony. This was my wife and I's 7th cruise (4th on Celebrity, 2 on Princess and 1 on Carnival), but everyone else's first cruise, with the exception of my wife's sister's husband who had been on 2 Cunard cruises with his grandparents when he was in his teens. We arrived a little earlier than scheduled into San Juan, which caused some confusion. We had an ATV excursion booked through the ship and the night before we received a notice that the meeting time had been pushed up because of the anticipated early arrival, so we arrived at the Celebrity theatre and, as it turns out, had to wait for our originally scheduled time to depart because the Constellation was in the process of departing San Juan (I assume they spent an overnight in San Juan if they were departing so early?), and the San Juan port authorities would not clear our ship until they had left (at least that's what we were told by Celebrity staff in the theatre). Once we were cleared we were off the ship pretty quickly and had a great view of the Constellation leaving. The ATV tour was fun, but I don't think I'd do it again. For one thing, the drive our to the rain forest was about 45 minutes long, and seemed even longer, and because nightfall was fast approaching, in the words of the tour guides it was "more of a sight-seeing tour than an adventure tour", so we went rather slow.

 

The next day we were in St. Thomas and did a private jetski tour from Coki Beach. We had an amazing time! We were fortunate because we arrived late to the meeting spot so they rescheduled our tour from 10:00am to 12:00pm, and the rest of the folks that were scheduled for 12:00 were running behind schedule so they sent the six of us out on what was essentially a "private tour" (and rescheduled the others on a 2:00pm tour). This meant we were able to go as fast as the jetskis allowed for the majority of the tour. We were taken around St. Thomas, over by St John (as close as we could get to the marine national park without breaking the law which, according to our guide, prohibits jetskis?), we did some snorkeling, and then it was back on the jetskis for another hour. It was a lot of fun, but the six of us were all very sore for the next couple of days from the jetski tour!

 

The final port was St. Maarten. I was up early enough to watch the Reflection pull into port (followed shortly after by the Oasis of the Seas). It was interesting that when we docked, the Carnival Dream was docked nearby, but they departed shortly after (approx. 8:00am)? I don't know if there was an issue or not, and correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like a strange itinerary if the ship stayed overnight only to depart first thing in the morning? Anyway, after the high-speed adventure of the jetskis the day before we all went our separate way in St. Maarten. My wife and I just took the water taxi across the harbor and spent the day alternating between lounging in beach chairs and enjoying the crystal clear water! We were scheduled to depart before the Oasis, however we were delayed nearly an hour because of 4 passengers who were brought to the ship via golf cart (to a loud ovation). I assume they were on a ship-sponsored excursion (or perhaps just really fortunate) for the ship to wait for them. We actually saw the Reflection crew bring in the final gangplank about 10 minutes before the passengers arrived, at which point the quickly set up the gangplank again for them. After that we had to wait for the Thomson Celebration to depart before we finally left at around 6:30pm (instead of the originally scheduled 5:00). It obviously didn't slow us down heading back to Miami and allowed for some interesting viewing watching the Oasis depart from right next to us, followed by the much smaller Thomson Celebration, all as the sun was setting in the background. I would post a couple picture, but I have no clue how on this site...

 

Anyway, everyone in our group had an amazing cruise and I think we may have turned my wife's brother and sister on to cruising!

 

A couple interesting notes:

 

- This was a "Red Sox" chartered cruise, so there were a few times when I spotted Jim Rice and Luis Tiant walking around. The other former players were Mike Timlin, Steve Lyons and Keith Foulke, and eventhough I am from Boston and watched those 3 play (unlike Rice and Tiant who I was too young to see), I have no idea if I saw them onboard or not because I have no idea what they look like.

 

- On the final sea day, the cruise director, Alexander, made an announcement seeking blood donors of a particular blood type to please report to the ship's infirmary. I assume some sort of accident happened onboard, and I assume they found enough donors to satisfy the need (I would've liked to have helped, but as a type 1 diabetic I am disqualified from donating). Anyway, I was wondering if this person would need to be airlifted to a nearby hospital, but apparently it wasn't that serious. We did see a waiting ambulance take off a passenger (I assume the same person that needed the blood) when we arrived in Miami on Saturday morning. I hope whatever happened to them that, they are ok.

 

Again, please let me know if you have any additional questions (after I've probably bored you to death with a more lengthy review)!

Edited January 18, 2016 by patterson3

[Keith1010]

Glad you enjoyed the cruise.

Keith

[wallysdtr]

Thanks for your post.

 

Question - Do you know if Nik who was the head bartender at the Sunset bar was on the ship?

[patterson3]

Thanks for your post.

 

Question - Do you know if Nik who was the head bartender at the Sunset bar was on the ship?

 

Sorry, I'm not sure if Nik is still there or not.

[Tomchick1970]

This Private Jetski tour did you book through the celebrity or on your own? Please let me know.

Thanks

 

Okay, now that I've caught up on sleep, here's a little more information on our cruise:

 

The next day we were in St. Thomas and did a private jetski tour from Coki Beach. We had an amazing time! We were fortunate because we arrived late to the meeting spot so they rescheduled our tour from 10:00am to 12:00pm, and the rest of the folks that were scheduled for 12:00 were running behind schedule so they sent the six of us out on what was essentially a "private tour" (and rescheduled the others on a 2:00pm tour). This meant we were able to go as fast as the jetskis allowed for the majority of the tour. We were taken around St. Thomas, over by St John (as close as we could get to the marine national park without breaking the law which, according to our guide, prohibits jetskis?), we did some snorkeling, and then it was back on the jetskis for another hour. It was a lot of fun, but the six of us were all very sore for the next couple of days from the jetski tour!

[patterson3]

This Private Jetski tour did you book through the celebrity or on your own? Please let me know.

Thanks

 

Okay, now that I've caught up on sleep, here's a little more information on our cruise:

 

The next day we were in St. Thomas and did a private jetski tour from Coki Beach. We had an amazing time! We were fortunate because we arrived late to the meeting spot so they rescheduled our tour from 10:00am to 12:00pm, and the rest of the folks that were scheduled for 12:00 were running behind schedule so they sent the six of us out on what was essentially a "private tour" (and rescheduled the others on a 2:00pm tour). This meant we were able to go as fast as the jetskis allowed for the majority of the tour. We were taken around St. Thomas, over by St John (as close as we could get to the marine national park without breaking the law which, according to our guide, prohibits jetskis?), we did some snorkeling, and then it was back on the jetskis for another hour. It was a lot of fun, but the six of us were all very sore for the next couple of days from the jetski tour!

 

It was booked on our own. If you send me an email (johnson_c_c@yahoo.com) I will be more than happy to send you the website that we booked through.

[hughdemand]

I missed the "Kentucky derby" that they offered in the past. .

 

Oh Oh, no Ketucky Derby:(, well I guess I have 44 days to select another Molecular Bar favorite.

 

Do you recall who the bartenders/mixologists were ?