Reflection review 1/7/2017: odd nuggets pt 1

[Bob7]

There have been several good Reflection reviews lately, time to pay it forward with ours, and cover some things and offer some detail that we haven’t seen posted yet. We’ve also been following the wine threads and have some detail on that. 31st cruise, 8th on Celeb, Jan 7, 2017. Cabin was a cat 2D partly obstructed balcony, deck 6, $949 p.p. with free classic drink plan, free grats, and $300 OBC. Embarkation was the fastest ever, dropped the bags at 11 and walked on the ship at 11:50. Quite short security and ship card lines. Cabin hallways were closed off to cruisers until 1:00 when prep was done, so we had to take our carryons to lunch instead of leaving them outside the cabin and taking them in later when prep was done.

 

On boarding the sales pitch for specialty dining offered 2 options: 30 % off first night in any venue, and 3 dinners any nights any venue for $109 pp which equals about 30 % off, which we bought and used in the Murano, Tuscan, and Qsine. Bookings filled up fast for Murano and Tuscan Grill, and we had to scramble to get the dates and times we wanted (wanted to be in the MDR on chic nights for the good menus). Regular prices were Murano $50, Tuscan $45, and Qsine $45.

 

Lots of loungers at and above the pool, with some even open at prime time, due in part to the pool butlers who go around with a rolling cart and pick up any towels on loungers that do not also have some personal items, first time we’ve seen that actively done. So this solves the problem of ppl who abandon a lounger leaving a towel on it so others can’t tell if it’s in use (there are no towel police, you get them w/o beeping your card), so no incentive to return used towels to the bin.

 

The cabin was fine, good shower, enough seating. Duvets are too hot for us and the steward replaced it with a blanket. No dining venue menus on the TV, but nice that you could check your ship account. Cat 2D is often used for promotional pricing, and some of these cabins are luckier than others regarding the obstructed view due to the lifeboats. Looking each way from our balcony we could easily see that some of the lifeboats come up to about 4 feet below the balcony railing, while on the lucky cabins the lifeboats come up to about a foot below the balcony floor. The higher lifeboats mean when you are sitting on the balcony you don’t see much ocean, but you can see the land if there is some. The lower lifeboats allow lots of ocean view. We might not have noticed this except our balcony view was half a higher lifeboat and half a lower one. The cabins with the poorer view on the starboard side are about 6188 – 6198, and either direction from this range has a better view. Don’t know if the port side is configured the same, and don’t know if the other ships in the same class are configured the same. Ppl who like to sit and watch the ocean go by would not be happy with the higher lifeboats. There should be a price difference for these. Here’s shot of it below, but if seated on the balcony you have to drop this view to the level of the balcony rail, so the tugboat and barge would just barely be in view.

 

 

We tend to remember ships by cool features that other ships usually don’t have. We still remember the old CCL Destiny which had an upper level to the buffet with some lovely seating and views, and easy to find a nice seat b/c many didn’t want to climb the steep narrow staircase carrying food. The Reflection has some cool features. We like 2 person dinner tables so we have the privacy to reconnect with each other. We’ve never had a bad experience at a larger table, and actually met our favorite cruise couple at one. But anymore we want the private time, and often the dining rooms will jam 2 person tables several inches apart, so you might as well dine with your neighbor. Or they will be jammed close to larger tables, lots of distracting noise. In the Select dining area of the Reflection (anytime dining) there are 8 lovely 2 person tables along the glass balcony rail, nice view and private. The 2 closest to the entrance are the best (#417 and 517), but the others at the back are nice too. We asked for one of these every time we were there and never had to wait more than 15-20 minutes (they give you a beeper and you can go off for a drink or to shop until you get the signal to return). Another way to get private dining is to ask for a 4 person table for just the 2 of you, which we’ve seen happen on various ships. But sometimes these are jammed close to other tables too.

 

Other little cool things are almost too silly to mention: on some days there is a complete food station in the buffet devoted to donuts … glazed, iced, filled, all kinds. It was either breakfast or lunch, and there was always a crowd there. And on some days there is a chocolate fountain in the buffet, where you pick what you want dipped … donut holes, fruit chunks, marshmellows, etc, and the staff put them on scewers and dip them for you, just like in the old midnight chocolate buffet days. My DW knows her chocolate and said it was quite good quality, worth lining up for, and worth a couple hours in the gym. The Mast Grill burger station at the pool was great, had the gourmet toppings … bacon, fried onions, fried mushrooms, cheese, and warm buns, and great fries, not those stringy fries like McD’s. And you can get to the other end of the ship w/o clawing your way through the casino every time, a large walkway avoids it.

 

 

Tomorrow part 2 – an entertainment twist and wine etc

-Bob and Wendy

[mvaughan]

Great review. I didn't mind the 2c we were in last year and booked the exact same stateroom this year. Lifeboat was at the bottom of the balcony.

 

 

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[bigbeergut]

I agree that the lifeboats don't really block the view, my concern would be noise. Do you hear any noise from the lifeboats if they are moving during rough seas? Perhaps squeaks, rattles etc?

[TobyKnits]

Thank you for the review! We are sailing her in a couple of weeks and all of your details are making me really excited.

 

Donuts? Oh no, they are my downfall.

[jg51]

Thanks, OP, for providing some excellent small points that we were lacking!

[glenneagle]

As well as the delicios donuts there was also a great selection of cup cakes for dessert one day.

Then there was a pate display one lunch.

All in all we thought the buffet was really great and varied every day with great new additions.

[Bob7]

I agree that the lifeboats don't really block the view, my concern would be noise. Do you hear any noise from the lifeboats if they are moving during rough seas? Perhaps squeaks, rattles etc?

Funny you should mention lifeboat noise ... one night we woke up to a noise that sounded like balls bouncing around a metal bingo drum, or gravel going down a tin shute. It was coming from outside, we opened the balcony door, it was raining pretty hard, then it stopped raining a bit, and the noise stopped, then it started raining again and the noise started too ... it was rain falling on the roofs of the lifeboats. I guess they are tin cans.

We got to know the lifeboats pretty well, we used the walkway on deck 5 under them for our jogging b/c the real jogging track was a mess weaving through loungers, and we never heard any noise from them. We peeked in one and Wendy said "how can they fit 400 ppl in there"? And I said you will probably have to lay on top of me. And she said "maybe I'll swim for the shore." Oh that girl.

[Bob7]

The entertainment was ok, comedian was very funny, but we have to mention a new entertainment feature which was awesome – the Silent Disco. (It should not be called a disco). The first one was held in the largest dancing venue, the Sky Lounge. On entering you get wireless sound-proof headphones which play 3 different music channels, and glow green, red, or blue depending on what channel you selected. Your color is quite visible to everyone else, so you can see what others are dancing to, and what is the popular song of the moment. One channel is older mo-town style, one is 80-90’s rock, and one is new rock. So everyone dances to the song they like, and you can’t hear anything except your song. If you don’t like the song, you just change channels. When you take off your headphones it’s hilarious, no sound on the dance floor except ppl singing along, groups of girls jumping up and down singing “I Don’t Care! … I Love It!” and “I wanna be Jesse’s girl!”. Like very bad karaoke, or a zombie dance party. When there wasn’t room on the dance floor ppl danced around the tables. Some couples were dancing together but listening to a different channel, but they seemed to make it work, and no argument about what song to dance to. A DJ cuts into the song when the crowd needs to know something … like “take the drinks off the dance floor”. The headphone staff told us this started at land clubs about 6 months ago. It was just a hoot. DW said she would order a drink when a bad song came along, but it never did, and she danced so long she got a blister (but it would not be hard to get a blister in those little strappy “shoes”).

 

 

Another night it was held in the Solarium with all the loungers removed, but that had less of a club atmosphere and was more like a rave. The host did a drink event where everyone was asked to test and rate 2 new cocktails. Large tables were filled with champagne glasses half full of one of the cocktails, they were fairly strong, and ppl could drink all they wanted. It was being videoed, we had to sign a release on entering. The object seemed to be to get everyone buzzed fast for a hot video. One drink was ok, the other was weird. We got better drinks on our drink plan at the bar there. Everyone still had quite a hoot, it gets a lot of ppl dancing and singing. They also did this one late afternoon at the pool, and everyone screamed for more when the DJ tried to shut it down. It didn’t look like the older folks wanted to try it, there was no one at any of these events over 45 or so, but there was lots of big band swing music in the foyer area for them, and they were having a good time.

 

Some wine info: other posters have noted that not all wines are available in all venues, and the wine lists available are very incomplete, and both these turned out to be correct. A few sommaliers told us that the wines on board change all the time, such as 2 new red cab-sauv’s, Sundance and Anakena both from Chile, not on any ship wine list. It seemed like everyone was on a free (or purchased) drink plan, we only saw ppl sign for drinks about twice. For the past year or so it seems like both Celeb and the major USA TA’s have offered a free drink plan (along with free grats and OBC) for Celeb ships. We had the classic plan, which includes any wine $9/glass or less. The reds that qualified for the classic plan and were fairly easy to get at any venue were:

 

 

Sundance (cab), Chile; Castle Rock (pinot noir), USA; Anakena (cab), Chile; Callia, Alta, San Juan (shiraz); Excellsior (cab), So. Africa; Gerard Bertrand, Minervais, France (syrah) (only in the Murano); Poggio Al Tufo, (cab) Toscana (house wine in the Tuscan Grill). They were out of merlots. You can see many of these displayed on the bar counter as you enter the buffet on the right side, and you can examine the bottles. We looked up ratings for them, and they all rated around 88-90, and retail for $8-13 a bottle. Many days they were selling them by the bottle for cabin use, at the buffet entrance, all priced at $20. We cannot tell a hint of caramel from a hint of vanilla, so we would not make it as wine snobs, but we were ok with the wines, much better selection than MSC ships.

Here are the classic and premium wine lists below as handed out on the ship, which don’t exactly match with what’s available. The numbers after a few of them are ratings I found.

 

 

 

The waiting area for all disembarkations is stated as the theatre deck 4 (main level), with graduated departure times depending on your baggage tag number, but if you wait on level 4 as suggested, when your number is called you have to exit and take either the elevators or stairs up to deck 5 to join the disembarkation line, which causes a huge jam. So if you wait on the balcony level of the theatre (deck 5) on the starboard side, when your number is called you walk out of the theatre, down the hall a bit (gangway sign is there), turn left and out onto the deck, much handier. Our number was called at 8, and we were at the taxi stand at 8:15. In the baggage claim area in the terminal you have to find the carousel with your number posted (there are 3 huge carousels), each about 4 times the size of an a/p carousel. Flat cab rate to the Miami a/p is $27, takes about 10-15 minutes.

 

We should mention there were several storm cells on our sea days, we could see them coming, and the captain announced he was changing course to get sunny weather and calmer seas, even estimating when we would hit blue skies, and he was bang on. They posted on one of the TV channels our intended route and the new route he used to miss the bad weather, nice touch.

 

We had a very nice time on the Reflection, but after our cruise on the mega ship Allure with the large variety of venues, upgraded entertainment, dining options, and latest features we will be looking to cruise on the new mega ships that are out and coming out. The problem we’ve found is the hot new ships have the worst itineraries and fewest port stops. Anyway everyone should have a great time on the Reflection and the other ships in her class.

-Bob and Wendy

[Clarea]

Thanks for the very informative review.

[Flafun888]

great review - thank you for your time in putting that together - particularly the details on the red wine selection. Nice that they have a pinot noir on classic - hope Silo does as well. Last year, I was told there were just 3 reds on classic: a merlot, cab and something else I can't remember. Pinot was only offered on preferred pkg.

[Lois R]

Hi Bob, enjoying your review and I must say The SILENT DISCO sounds like a lot of fun:D....I will be on REFLECTION Feb 4th....will look for that sometime during the week:)

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[jryan110]

Previously had no idea what the silent disco was all about, so thanks very much for the details. Might actually get me on the dance floor this time out!

 

Nice review too, thanks!

 

 

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[easyboy]

Thanks for the detailed review.

[BrendaJ]

We were on the same cruise and had a fantastic time. I just have to tell you though, that there were people over 45 at the silent disco - and we had a blast! We went twice. It was great that my husband could listen to his classic rock favourites while I could dance to music from this century. I hope they have the silent disco on our next few cruises. It is a lot of fun for everyone.

 

 

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[reecesavage]

It was being videoed, we had to sign a release on entering. The object seemed to be to get everyone buzzed fast for a hot video. One drink was ok, the other was weird. We got better drinks on our drink plan at the bar there.

 

-Bob and Wendy

 

We were on this cruise as well, and they were shooting an episode of Top Chef the entire week. We were in Luminae, and the back half of the room was closed a couple times for filming. They also were filming the making of cocktails at the bar outside the Solarium the night of the disco. I believe they were filming the finale so that may be why there were two choices.