Considering 1st cruise on Celebrity Reflection

[lmb1988]

Hi all,

 

 

We are considering a 14 night Southern Caribbean cruise end of next year, on Celebrity Reflection, having previously done 2 cruises with RCI (Liberty and Navigator) and 1 with NCL(Epic) we have a rough good idea of what we like and don't like!

 

 

In terms of what we love and don't on cruises, we love the service, good food, space and just that "wow" moment. We aren't oversold on the massive ships, NCL Epic was way too big for us and we really hated that ship and its lay out etc and the service wasn't great!

Reflection looks like an amazing ship, and we have been reading the reviews etc but I was hoping for some of your thoughts and opinions.

 

 

My husband and I will be early 30s and 40s and we have seen a few comments regarding passenger average age onCelebrity being about 50s, this doesn't put us off, as our mega party days are definitely behind us, and we are very sociable, but we still like late nights on holidays and the occasional "novelty" dance routine on the pool deck in the sun (me more than hubby!). We did a 5 night Caribbean cruise with RCI a few years ago, and the atmosphere was electric and semi party boat/Caribbean vibe throughout the whole trip. What sort of atmosphere could you expect? I know a lot of it is down to the guests etc.

 

 

We are also swaying towards Concierge Class, instead of Aqua Class - they seem to have quite good pricing on Celebrity as we can never normally afford to go anything above an Ocean View! Whilst we quite like time in the spa, it's an extra £200pp for Aqua Class and we aren't sure it's worth it to us. Are there any big for and against in your opinions?

Also just 1 last question :) if you had to choose between RCI and Celebrity - who would you pick? (I know everyone's tastes are different and some of it is the ship itself!)

 

Thank you so much in advance for any advice and sorry if any of these seem really stupid questions, it is a special holiday for me as I will be turning 30 so trying to make the right choice!!! x

[chicagopaul]

Welcome to the Celebrity board! We've sailed the Reflection 6 times as well as most of the other Celebrity ships. This past February my partner and I celebrated my 30th on the Reflection as well. It was a fantastic time!

 

Judging from what you've said I think you'll really like the finishes / layout / feel of the ship. It feels more like a upper class hotel than a ship and that is one thing that I personally love about it. Celebrity is generally quieter throughout the ship. There are no announcements for instance, only the daily announcement around 10am by the captain and that is it. No annoying announcements telling you its Bingo Time! or anything of the sort.

 

The 14 night cruises will definitely attract an older set of passengers given the additional time off and the additional costs. I'm 30 and my partner is 35 and we love the longer cruises. We never see people up too late on Celebrity (not too much is going on after midnight) but there are a few nights where this is not the case and people are out pretty late. I've always found the bars to have great vibes and a good crowd. Martini bar for instance will be packed every night and from there you'll be able to hear music from the grand foyer or the DJ, etc. However, the crowd will be much more subdued compared to a 5 night cruise.

 

Aqua Class. For 200pp more you might want to consider it. The biggest value is getting access to Blu which is the aqua class restaurant which is private to aqua guests. Better menu in my opinion and a much more intimate atmosphere. The other option is you could take that 200pp savings and maybe spend it on a specialty dining package so you can dine in the specialty restaurants more. We've done both on 14nt cruises. We've dined in specialty every night and we've also dined in Blu. Either way you can't go wrong, just make sure you check the pricing and are getting a good value for yourself.

 

I hope this helps!!

[upwarduk]

IMO RCCL is for families.

That’s not to say there are no children’s clubs on Celebrity, but there are climbing walls or flo riders.

[Jeremiah1212]

I think you would be happy with Celebrity. We're in our mid/late 30's and enjoy it a lot. It is more laid back, less nighttime activities and you probably won't have any late nights but the environment, food and service make up for it.

 

We're not mega ship people either and also didn't love NCL Escape which is somewhat similar to Epic. You probably will be younger than the average passenger, but we've never felt like that had a big impact on us enjoying the cruise. After having been on RCL several times, we feel like Celebrity is an upgrade and overall better fit for what we want out of a vacation.

[TFLG]

I would go Aqua if you like good food. The food is better, the service is better and Blu is much quieter than the MDR, plus the access to the Persian Garden is a nice plus and you get a fancy shower. You also get everything Concierge gets (except the embarkation lunch). Concierge class is really nothing special. Other than the bottle of inexpensive bubbly the other stuff you get is just minor fluff. Unless you want the captains club point or the price is very close to a regular balcony I would skip concierge class.

 

I did the 14 day Caribbean on the Eclipse last year (great cruise!). The crowd was a bit older (and I'm early 50s) but there was still some decent action in the Sky Lounge most nights. Very few of those nights went past 1am though, although a couple went to almost 3am. There's not a lot of dancing by the pool during the day. You might have some dance classes where they teach the wobble dance, electric slide etc. There will probably be one or two evening parties by the pool, those are fun and the silent discos are really starting to get popular.

 

Typical evening will have a band playing in the grand foyer (from 7 to 9 or there abouts), there may be dancing some nights it's very crowded on the small dancing area. Usually around 10 the Sky Lounge will have a band and possibly a small dance show (15 to 30 minutes). The band will play till midnight, then the DJ will come on if there is anyone still in the lounge. As long as there is a decent crowd in the lounge they will keep it open.

Edited October 31, 2017 by TFLG

[dkjretired]

If you are not going to do Aqua because of price I would suggest doing a veranda cabin instead of Concierge and save the money for Specialty Restaurants. The benefits for Concierge for the most part are fluff or available to everyone on the ship. The only real benefits are embarkation lunch, footstools and a couple extra points on your Captains Club. Benefits such as enhanced embarkation are just a different line, the regular lines are often shorter. Cabins on the S class ships are pretty much the same.

[lukaaj12]

We just got off the Reflection on the 20th. I say go for it! My husband and I went to celebrate our 30th birthdays this year, and while the average age was probably 55+, we were surprised at how many younger couples there were on board. We met some great people in their 30s-40s that we enjoyed hanging out with, and the ship had much more of a nightlife vibe than we were expecting (but I probably lowered my expectations a bit beforehand).

 

In all it was a wonderful cruise, the ship is fantastic, and you'll have a great time!

[Daisy J. Shepherd]

Don't expect the party boat vibe. Several years ago we did Royal's four day Bahama cruise on Majesty. That cruise was far livelier than the 7 Celebrity cruises we have done.

 

On our last cruise (10 day ABC cruise on Infinity) our dining companions were all younger than us (50 and 52 at the time). It seems as I've gotten older the other cruise passengers have all gotten younger!

 

In any case, I don't think you'll have any issue with the demographics on the cruise, but don't be disappointed if the "party boat" atmosphere is less than on your previous cruises. Also, our experience is that the ship pretty much closes down around midnight. We typically do late dining, then go to one of the venues for live music. Pretty much by midnight-ish the only venue with any action is the Casino.

[lmb1988]

Thank you all for your comments! It definitely sounds like it might the trip us.

 

I really appreciate the feedback, especially the comments regarding Aqua Class vs Conceiege Class, the deal we have seen includes the Select Drinks package, and we do like the speciality resturants so I wonder if we save the money and get a balcony and upgrade the drinks to Premium (we drink like fishes on holiday :'))and do a dinner package

 

 

Just one last question I forgot - the dress code, on smart casual nights are jeans and a dressy top acceptable for ladies? I’m not the biggest owner of loads of dresses! X

[TFLG]

Thank you all for your comments! It definitely sounds like it might the trip us.

 

I really appreciate the feedback, especially the comments regarding Aqua Class vs Conceiege Class, the deal we have seen includes the Select Drinks package, and we do like the speciality resturants so I wonder if we save the money and get a balcony and upgrade the drinks to Premium (we drink like fishes on holiday :'))and do a dinner package

 

 

Just one last question I forgot - the dress code, on smart casual nights are jeans and a dressy top acceptable for ladies? I’m not the biggest owner of loads of dresses! X

 

Totally acceptable on pretty much any night.

[dkjretired]

Thank you all for your comments! It definitely sounds like it might the trip us.

 

I really appreciate the feedback, especially the comments regarding Aqua Class vs Conceiege Class, the deal we have seen includes the Select Drinks package, and we do like the speciality resturants so I wonder if we save the money and get a balcony and upgrade the drinks to Premium (we drink like fishes on holiday :'))and do a dinner package

 

 

Just one last question I forgot - the dress code, on smart casual nights are jeans and a dressy top acceptable for ladies? I’m not the biggest owner of loads of dresses! X

 

Jeans and dressy top are acceptable for ladies on all nights.

[kenevenpar]

Jeans and dressy top are acceptable for ladies on all nights.

 

Technically, no holes (distressed), not sure that is enforced.

[jules815]

I've sailed on Celebrity twice, once on Reflection and Constellation. Both cruises were with my daughters, 27 and 22 at the time, who grew up sailing on Royal Caribbean. I was a little worried it would be a snooze fest for them, but they absolutely LOVED it! Both cruises they met many people in their age group who were also sailing with their parents (in our 50's), but we all hung out at the Martini Bar in the evening and had a great time. In fact, on the Connie cruise, we met a really fun group and canceled our excursion with X and hung out with them in Key West.

 

Definitely a more relaxed vibe than other cruise lines. A bit more upscale -- Reflection is a gorgeous ship -- but not at all stuffy. Can't wait to sail on her in December. This time my husband will be joining me. So excited for him to finally sail with Celebrity.