Just Off Celebrity Reflection Review- if under 30 MUST READ

[hcat]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2298377

 

 

By comparison.. link to a .review with photos (food, wine, etc) posted by young cruiser in the trvl industry...enjoying the sophistication of X...

[Aldri_CA]

I'm 26 and have sailed on ~25 cruises. Was lucky to have parents who took my brother and I on 1-2 cruises a year since I was 7. So, 40 cruises from 6months to 24 years is not impossible.

 

Having said that, I'm about to go on a cruise with my SO this July... and in no way would I expect to get a prime lounger in the sun after 11am (or even 9am for that matter), nor would I be surprised at the age demographics on a X ship during a non-school-vacation week, that a ship on the ocean can get rocky, that another cruise ship won't let me aboard, or that food that I didn't like one night would be equally unsatisfactory the next night.

 

Everyone is 100% entitled to their opinions, but as a seasoned cruiser you should not be surprised that many here are confused by your statements and actions after 40 cruises.

 

All in all, while negative reviews can be helpful for cruise planners (and evaluating changing standards on various cruise lines), this one just doesn't add up. Even the most hand-held children with parents who have done everything and prepped everything for them would, after 40 cruises, be able to figure out the basics of cruising.

 

I truly hope that you enjoy your next cruises, and would advise you to try Carnival for a more party atmosphere with a very young crowd. I would suggest spring break.

 

ON the other point re: food -- I've been on Carnival, Princess, Royal, X and would have to say that X has by far the best food overall (IMO, and I never ate of the kids menus). Princess was good as well, though it's been over 10 years since I have sailed with them. Food is, as PP have noted, subjective, and comparisons between mainstream and luxury lines would yield vastly different results as well. I hope to try some of the luxury lines in the future, and really get a sense of "fine dining" at sea!

[warmwinds]

dgreenie, were you seasick on this cruise? I ask because rereading your review you talk about eating chicken and nothing but chicken, and the thought of anything else made you nauseous.

 

If you were seasick, this is understandable. If not, it's just so strange to many of us - do you not eat anything except chicken at home? If you eat other things, why didn't you try any of them on the cruise? Hard to accept your saying everything was "gross" when you never tasted any of it.

[ohiorob63]

Look, I'm not trying to run away or anything. You all don't like my review so there's no point in fighting my opinion. It is what it is, this is how my boyfriend and I felt. We love cruises in general and wanted to be apart of this forum on cruise critic so we decided to post a review of how we felt. I'm sorry that this may have made some people upset but again this was just our opinion and I'm sure many more people will continue to sail on the Reflection and love it. We hope to be able to contribute to this forum in a positive way in the future.

 

Thank you for your review and sorry you didn't have a good time. Hopefully your next cruise will be better with whichever cruise line you choose. Sorry your "opinions" are attacked here on Critical Cruisers. Some of us enjoy reviews good or bad, and it's sad that you have to defend yourself after having a bad experience.

[CABINET]

Look, I'm not trying to run away or anything. You all don't like my review so there's no point in fighting my opinion. It is what it is, this is how my boyfriend and I felt. We love cruises in general and wanted to be apart of this forum on cruise critic so we decided to post a review of how we felt. I'm sorry that this may have made some people upset but again this was just our opinion and I'm sure many more people will continue to sail on the Reflection and love it. We hope to be able to contribute to this forum in a positive way in the future.

 

Indulge me - what type of food do you actually like?

[kitty9]

While many of the OP's comments made me scratch my head, the one thing that sticks out for me is the catering comment. Does anyone know if ships bring on private catering companies? I've not known that to be the case, not even on the luxury lines. I've been cruising since 1976 and I've never heard of a cruise line bringing on private catering companies, not even for holidays.

 

Can anyone confirm whether cruise lines allow private catering on their ships?

[mdmourges]

Call me a disbeliever. I found this "review" hardly that.

[K.T.B.]

While many of the OP's comments made me scratch my head, the one thing that sticks out for me is the catering comment. Does anyone know if ships bring on private catering companies? I've not known that to be the case, not even on the luxury lines. I've been cruising since 1976 and I've never heard of a cruise line bringing on private catering companies, not even for holidays.

 

Can anyone confirm whether cruise lines allow private catering on their ships?

 

I know of no cruise line that does. Unless it's something along the lines of this: http://www.spiritcruises.com/

[dgreenie28]

While many of the OP's comments made me scratch my head, the one thing that sticks out for me is the catering comment. Does anyone know if ships bring on private catering companies? I've not known that to be the case, not even on the luxury lines. I've been cruising since 1976 and I've never heard of a cruise line bringing on private catering companies, not even for holidays.

 

 

 

Can anyone confirm whether cruise lines allow private catering on their ships?

 

 

For certain holidays they do. For instance, some Jewish holidays are catered on cruises due to the need of Kosher catering.

[dgreenie28]

I know of no cruise line that does. Unless it's something along the lines of this: http://www.spiritcruises.com/

 

 

Actually, most cruise lines have a private caterer on board during certain holidays. But what do I know?

[dgreenie28]

Thank you for your review and sorry you didn't have a good time. Hopefully your next cruise will be better with whichever cruise line you choose. Sorry your "opinions" are attacked here on Critical Cruisers. Some of us enjoy reviews good or bad, and it's sad that you have to defend yourself after having a bad experience.

 

 

Thanks for your post. It's nice to see someone say something nice to me. People think they own all cruise lines and get defensive. I just didn't think people would be so rude.

[dgreenie28]

dgreenie, were you seasick on this cruise? I ask because rereading your review you talk about eating chicken and nothing but chicken, and the thought of anything else made you nauseous.

 

 

 

If you were seasick, this is understandable. If not, it's just so strange to many of us - do you not eat anything except chicken at home? If you eat other things, why didn't you try any of them on the cruise? Hard to accept your saying everything was "gross" when you never tasted any of it.

 

 

I did have to wear seabands the last couple days, but I never got seasick. I eat Salmon and when I had that I was fine. But I don't eat red meat or pork.

[bottomfeeder]

Thanks for your post. It's nice to see someone say something nice to me. People think they own all cruise lines and get defensive. I just didn't think people would be so rude.

 

I think people reacted that way because your "review" was so very over-the-top. You may have perceived it as humorous but I think most people, because so much of it was clearly exaggeration, didn't put much faith that anything you said was true or that you were really trying to do a serious review at all.

 

Yes, some responses were rude but your original post could be perceived as insulting too. I'm not saying you meant to come across that way--you might have, though I'm not sure--but to some people you certainly did.

 

Mark yourself a bookmark to your original post and come back and re-read it in 5 years and then I bet you will understand why many people reacted to it the way they did.

[K.T.B.]

Actually, most cruise lines have a private caterer on board during certain holidays. But what do I know?

 

Easy question for you to answer, if you will: Which specific cruise lines were you on for this?

[PSCruiser]

 

Mark yourself a bookmark to your original post and come back and re-read it in 5 years and then I bet you will understand why many people reacted to it the way they did.

 

So true. Good advice.

[K.T.B.]

Actually, most cruise lines have a private caterer on board during certain holidays. But what do I know?

 

Easy question for you to answer, if you will: Which specific cruise lines were you on for this?

 

No response..?

 

Not surprised to be honest.

[cruise47]

To the OP only, after 40 plus cruises with various cruise lines. What cruise lines would you recommend for couples under the age of 30? I understand this is your opinion only.

Wishing you better cruising in the future.

Edited February 18, 2016 by cruise47

[Cougsie]

No response..?

 

Not surprised to be honest.

 

Give her a break, she's not on here every day, and to be honest I don't blame her. I was subscribing to this thread because I thought it was funny at first, how personally everyone was taking her review, but now I feel bad for the OP; people just aren't giving up.

 

She did say in her first post that she's been on a lot of different cruise lines, so if you want an answer to your question, I would suggest starting there. If you read between the lines (i.e. lox for breakfast, the kosher catering comment) you may consider a Jewish upbringing, or at least Jewish influence in her diet. I think that lends credence to the catering narrative.

 

I for one give her credit. She has come back here several times to reply to comments, and while they may not be the answers you want or in a timely enough manner for you... I think they go to show that she's earnest and her intentions for her initial review were positive - in that she thought she could help others out.

[JKHawaii]

I'm happy that there are still differences between cruise lines.

 

Glad to hear that Celebrity is not blasting today's crappy music on the pool deck just to satisfy a minority of younger cruisers.

 

If I want that atmosphere, I will (and I do) book with NCL or even RCCL.

 

I cruise Celebrity for a more relaxing & mature experience.

 

Also, anyone with 40 cruises should know better than to complain about portion size. Too much food is fed to the fishes. If you want more, you can always order another entree .............. I've watched people order 5 entrees!

 

Suggestion to OP: You're losing me talking about kids clubs and your cruising experience when in diapers .............. might want to wait until the medication wears off? Possible you're just be burned out on cruises, so a switch to land-based vacations sounds like a good plan.

[cricketgal]

Well.....all I can say is that opinions are subjective. We were on the same cruise that week as the OP and it was FANTASTIC. This was our 13th cruise, having been on RCCL, Princess and Celebrity previously and it was probably our favourite cruise ever!!

 

The food and service in the MDR was outstanding. Alexander the Cruise Director and Melissa were very funny and entertaining. Shows were excellent.

 

We loved to go to the Martini Bar before dinner each night and there was always a DJ playing current music at a pretty high volume, alternating with a great live band who also played a mix of current and slightly older music. Quite often people were dancing.

 

After the show in the theatre each night, there were rotating late night parties including two very unique ones called BED (beds with fresh sheets set up on the outside pool deck with a DJ playing....very cool!) and another (forget the name) in the Cellar Masters Bar with cage dancers and a DJ....great party atmosphere. Another night they had a late night, adult only comedy game show and to say it was risqué would be an understatement. It was lots of fun and Hilarious (there was even male and female nudity). Alexander and Melissa were an absolute hoot at this show.

 

There was lots of music, most appealing to younger people, all around the ship at different times of the day. I had actually expected that it would be the older folks complaining, not the younger ones. Most younger people we saw on board appeared to be having a blast at these late night parties, as did we.

 

I found the food portions to be more than enough, but then as Canadians we often don't tend to eat the larger portions seen elsewhere so perhaps that explains things. One night in the MDR my DH had duck and he received an entire half of a duck, which was a HUGE portion. Our only criticism of the food was the desserts weren't quite up to the usual standards, nor were the breakfast items (had room service, MDR and buffet). The scrambled eggs for room service may not have even been eggs....total inedible). That said, everything else was excellent.

 

One other minor disappointment specific to that weeks cruise was the Molecular Bar was closed and the new World Class Bar not yet opened. Given that we spent extra to upgrade to the Premium Bar package, this was disappointing.

 

We did not find any issues with the ship movement other than minor one evening through the night, it was actually one of the more calm seas that we have sailed on. Perhaps being boaters we just have better sea legs.

As to the NCL cruise docked next to us in Nassau, I would not have been happy had I been on that ship, it seemed very tacky to me IMHO.

 

As I said, opinions are individual and subjective, and the OP is certainly entitled to hers, by our experience was great so please keep an open mind.

[DaisyFire]

Cricketgal - thanks for the additional information. Sounds like X may have stepped up their entertainment options a bit since I last sailed back in 2009.

 

Definitely looking forward to seeing what they have planned for our cruise on the Connie at the end March. :)

[whitestash]

Hey...a couple of questions about the casino: do you remember if there was sex and the city...buffalo...50 lions...moolah slot machines?

 

What time did the crap table open on cruising days and what was the table minimum?

[aloha43]

Undoubtedly you sound like a cruise troll.....and not a very good one. I'm sorry, but for someone who complains so much, I can't believe you cruise at all.

 

24 years old and 40 cruises under your belt? You must have started as a spoiled kid.

In Oct, you said you had been on 20-30 cruises? Do you live on cruise ships?

Didn't like the food, but ordered the same each night?

From what I hear, Celebrity caters to an older clientele.

Don't like the ship rocking? Do you realize that you are on a ship? Out of 40 cruises, one would think you would have experienced this before.

 

It sounds like you are more suited for Disney or Carnival....or not to cruise at all. Enjoy your land vacation.

[Cruiseyorkshire]

Really saddened to read you review, we've literally booked today to go on the Reflection in the Med for 10 days. We're both 23 years old (will be 24 at the time of sailing).

 

In fairness though, I've never once been on a cruise for a party vibe. It's basically floating round, visiting places in a civilised manner for me. Saying that, I've been on Oceania and Azamara who have a distinctly older vibe (on our O cruise they shut up shop at every bar at 12.30 every night apart from one sea day where they stayed open until 2) so I guess I don't think it will bother me. I really enjoyed those cruises- I was the youngest on the Azamara Quest when I sailed and had a blast. I'm of the unfortunately cynical type who will take quiet over screaming kids everywhere and drunk louts every night.

[keesar]

I am not sure what the motive was of the OP. We were just on Reflection and it was fantastic. A big improvement from our previous experiences on Reflection. The entertainment was superb. The house band placed quite a variety of songs from Adele to Michael Jackson to Bee Gees. Quite a mix of songs. Jazz bands, duos, solo, etc. So many varieties of foods also. .

 

Don't even think twice of booking on this outstanding ship.