Trip Report - Reflection - 12/8/17

[tbmrt]

TRIP REPORT – Celebrity Reflection – 12/8/17 to 12/18/17

Concierge Cabin 1091 – excellent location

 

 

Just submitted the following report. Forgive me for bouncing around alot!

 

Embarkation – Awful. Arrivedat 11 or so and headed to Concierge line without checking to see how long standardentry line was. Only 6 cashers for Conciergeline so we had a very long wait.

 

 

We were a bit disappointed at appearance of Reflection bothinside and outside. Expected more.

 

 

We had Classic Beverage Packages as a perk. Upgraded hubby’s onboard to a deal for 10days, paying only for 8 days. Very easyto use either package (small martinis were available with regular classicpackage). Visited the Martini Bar nightly around5:15. Great martinis and fun bartenders. The size of standard premium martinis seem tohave been reduced since our last cruise on the Equinox 2 years ago.

 

 

The Muster movie was fast, but seemed silly. I didn’t thinkpeople cruising for the first time who were unfamiliar with usual musterinstructions for lifejacket would understand how to put it on. Did not have to carry lifejacket to muster.

 

 

Went to Sunset Bar for sailaway. Nice atmosphere, but didn’t care for plastic panels. Next time we’ll head to Deck 14 instead for abetter view and music.

 

 

Had Select Dining which was awful the first night. Had towait a very long time and the host was extremely unfriendly. After that we made reservations for the sametime with the Concierge Hostess and never had a problem. Ended up with Ivan, Santiago and Lundiserving us in a quiet room in the back of the restaurant with a great view….Wonderful!

The food in the MDR was absolutely the best we’ve ever hadon cruises. Everything from prime rib,lobster tails (no increment), beef wellington, desserts. We also visited the Lawn Grill. Hands down best specialty restaurant we evervisited. Great service, amazing food andfun.

 

 

A wonderful comedian, Robbie Printz, appeared twice duringour cruise. Hysterical.

 

 

Celebrity really needs to step up its production shows. Very amateurish, hard to follow and we hadseen two on our cruise on the Equinox 2 years ago.

 

 

The illusionist was pretty good. Didn’t care for the duo. DJ excellent. Cabaret show was very good.

 

 

Attended the Wheel of Fortune game one night. Fun.

 

 

Balloon drop party and Silent Disco were lots of fun.

 

 

Got some really good buys at the Captain’s 75% off morningsale.

 

Loved Assistant Cruise Director, Chico (sp?). He was all over the ship, personable,etc. Martin B., the Cruise Director, seemedto be a bit standoffish and “it was all about him”.

 

 

Spent lots of time at the pool. Nice layout with 3’ and 5’ pools with ledgesto sit on in the water. A bit difficultto get lounges on sea days (4).

 

 

Unfortunately we were tired and missed the Full Moon Partyand a few other late night events.

 

 

Not much offered during the day other than seminars, etc. topromote sales. Two different space lecturerswere featured during the day. We weren’tinterested in those topics so spent most of our days at the pool. There was a wonderful astrology specialist whoused a laser pointer on Deck 16 to point out the various stars andconstellations. Fabulous!

 

 

The buffet had a great selection. Food hot and plentiful. Good service as well.

 

 

El Bacio had fabulous desserts, coffees and teas. Nice place to relax.

 

 

The fitness center had lots of equipment, but it was hard toworkout on treadmills in the early morning due to it being extremely busy.

 

 

Room service breakfasts were amazing…Great coffee and HOT food…Promptdelivery.

 

 

Antiqua – Took bus with 2 others $6 each instead of $8quoted for two. Rough ride to ValleyChurch Beach. Very pretty, but a fastdrop off. Took a few steps in and itwas over my head. I was surprised thatthe water wasn’t that warm (Floridian here!). Wonderful coconut shrimp and painkiller drink at The Nest. Service slow.

 

 

St. Lucia – Best port ever! Took Spencer’s Land/Sea Tour. Had a great time at the mud bath/volcanoarea. Best snorkeling ever atJalousie/Sugar Beach. Delicious jerk chickenlunch included along with beer, soda, rum punch.

 

 

Barbados – Traffic to The Boatyard beach area wasawful. Great $20pp deal included 2lounges and an umbrella, approximate half hour snorkel ride over shipwreck. Didn’t see turtles. Beach was gorgeous.

 

 

Martinique – Met Gladys from Beyond the Beach. Wonderful tour with river, waterfall, Cathedral,great French baker. Vendors at the portwere very friendly with nice items and reasonable prices. Bring Euros.

 

 

St. Thomas – Decided to take a $4 pp taxi to Haversight (sp?)port area since we were docked at the other pier. Walked around a bit. Mostly jewelry. Had a great lunch and drinks at The GreenhouseRestaurant while we checked our email and phoned home.

 

 

Decided that although we loved the food and serviceon the Reflection, we won’t cruise Celebrity for awhile due to lack of daytimeactivities and repetitive, unprofessional production shows.

[Nanatravel]

Thanks. Hopefully, on our March 23rd cruise, we won't have Martinique but I'll check out Gladys tour if I can find it. We just had to stop at Martinique in September when skirting away from Hurricane Irma. Do you have a website link?

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed reading your trip report.

 

Keith

[juniorsmom]

I was on the same cruise and I agree with a lot of your points. It was our first time on Celebrity and was satisfied with the cruise in general.

[dromMOM]

I have to agree with you on many of your points.. Ship is rough around the edges.. MDR chairs.. furniture in our room and bed skirt not clean. We had terrible service the first two days of Select dining. and was seated twice in terrible upstairs section. one on the left right next to server station. so noisy and busy. Very slow.. 3 hrs. to eat. Another time right outside the kitchen.. the servers running back and forth was pretty stressful and distracting. Then we decided to schedule at the same time every evening after being put at IVANS table! Ha.. he was a real character.. we loved the quiet back room and there we stayed for the rest of our 10 day cruise. We still found the food in the dining room hit or miss. A few bad choices.. did love the jerk chicken, escargot, Cesar salad and Classice Steak! My husband went to the lectures and found himself dozing. He did want to go to the stargazing but the sky wasn't quite right. I found very little to do. We also totally did not have a clue about that one bizzare production number. I guess we were too old to recognize the music and had no clue how it all fit together. We thought our comic ( a different one was ok) We don't drink but went to the Ensemble bar a couple of times and listened to the Duet singers and classical performers but they were just ok. After a night of each plus their additional pool shows we were over it. and one Silent disco was plenty. We stayed a half hr.. Also since they removed the real disco and have begun to use the main atrium we hated crowding around the railings on the different level to see.. well people dancing.. the dance floor was too tiny.. not enough places to sit near the dancing. Then the noro virus broke out the last few days and the self serve disappeared and you then had to wait in a long line for your coffee.. while your food got cold or visaversa! While I understood the reason still frustrating. I have decided that the worst items of all to touch besides the public restroom door would be the serving utensils in the buffet. Next time I am using a napkin!

[Clarea]

Enjoyed reading the trip report.

[Lastdance]

Hi tbmrt!

 

 

Could you expound a little on the condition of the ship? I heard that it is going to be refurbished around January 9th, so maybe that is why. I was on it doing a TA in April and IMHO it looked very good to me. We were in a suite, so that could have been part of it. Also, I remember a few saying on here that the Caribbean is where a lot of the wear and tear happens. Now, whether that is true or not, I do not know. You can always book the Edge if new and clean are important to you, but most likely you will pay more. Celebrity has never been known for its entertainment, but well known for the chair hogs. Thanks for you balanced review and glad that you did enjoy your cruise.

 

You are very lucky, IMHO, to live in Florida and just drive to the port. Personally, I love the culture and educational cruises in Europe, but am trying the inaugural of the Edge on 12.16.18. Clean and well kept is important to me, but I am also paying more for that too! My next cruise is on the Reflection for Greece and Italy, so I hope she looks great! Again, many thanks for sharing!

 

What would be your pick of the top three ships on which you have cruised? How was MSC?

Edited December 19, 2017 by Lastdance

[dromMOM]

Thanks. Hopefully, on our March 23rd cruise, we won't have Martinique but I'll check out Gladys tour if I can find it. We just had to stop at Martinique in September when skirting away from Hurricane Irma. Do you have a website link?

 

We ended up with Martinique on the cruise prior and we are so glad we did. We found it one of the best Island. We had a great tour there too!

 

We booked a private tour and our Tour guide was wonderful.

[BuckeyeMan]

we did Spencer's tour in St. Lucia. Did you hear about the incident with the 2 couples who had to get off the boat at the resort? Sad stuff...

[watchdiva]

We were also on the same cruise (2nd time on Reflection this year) and thought the ship looked fantastic. Our suite was immaculate with no visible signs of wear and tear. We don’t enjoy the production shows so no longer attend. Music in Ensemble Lounge was quite good...enjoyed the string duo who also played in Tuscan for lunch in the last sea day. Specialty restaurants were on the whole delicious...the exception was Lawn Club who served lamb chops that were stringy and tough to eat. We spent most of our time on the Solstice Deck or on our balcony. We love Reflection and have 3 more cruises booked on her.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[tbmrt]

Thanks. Hopefully, on our March 23rd cruise, we won't have Martinique but I'll check out Gladys tour if I can find it. We just had to stop at Martinique in September when skirting away from Hurricane Irma. Do you have a website link?

 

http://www.martiniqueexcursion.com (make sure excursion is singular not plural). Leslie is the contact person. Excellent

[tbmrt]

I have to agree with you on many of your points.. Ship is rough around the edges.. MDR chairs.. furniture in our room and bed skirt not clean. We had terrible service the first two days of Select dining. and was seated twice in terrible upstairs section. one on the left right next to server station. so noisy and busy. Very slow.. 3 hrs. to eat. Another time right outside the kitchen.. the servers running back and forth was pretty stressful and distracting. Then we decided to schedule at the same time every evening after being put at IVANS table! Ha.. he was a real character.. we loved the quiet back room and there we stayed for the rest of our 10 day cruise. We still found the food in the dining room hit or miss. A few bad choices.. did love the jerk chicken, escargot, Cesar salad and Classice Steak! My husband went to the lectures and found himself dozing. He did want to go to the stargazing but the sky wasn't quite right. I found very little to do. We also totally did not have a clue about that one bizzare production number. I guess we were too old to recognize the music and had no clue how it all fit together. We thought our comic ( a different one was ok) We don't drink but went to the Ensemble bar a couple of times and listened to the Duet singers and classical performers but they were just ok. After a night of each plus their additional pool shows we were over it. and one Silent disco was plenty. We stayed a half hr.. Also since they removed the real disco and have begun to use the main atrium we hated crowding around the railings on the different level to see.. well people dancing.. the dance floor was too tiny.. not enough places to sit near the dancing. Then the noro virus broke out the last few days and the self serve disappeared and you then had to wait in a long line for your coffee.. while your food got cold or visaversa! While I understood the reason still frustrating. I have decided that the worst items of all to touch besides the public restroom door would be the serving utensils in the buffet. Next time I am using a napkin!

 

Agree about the dance floor being tiny etc.

[tbmrt]

We were also on the same cruise (2nd time on Reflection this year) and thought the ship looked fantastic. Our suite was immaculate with no visible signs of wear and tear. We don’t enjoy the production shows so no longer attend. Music in Ensemble Lounge was quite good...enjoyed the string duo who also played in Tuscan for lunch in the last sea day. Specialty restaurants were on the whole delicious...the exception was Lawn Club who served lamb chops that were stringy and tough to eat. We spent most of our time on the Solstice Deck or on our balcony. We love Reflection and have 3 more cruises booked on her.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Perhaps you just got unlucky with the lamb chops. Hubby and another guy at our table had them and couldn't stop raving about them.

[tbmrt]

Hi tbmrt!

 

 

Could you expound a little on the condition of the ship? I heard that it is going to be refurbished around January 9th, so maybe that is why. I was on it doing a TA in April and IMHO it looked very good to me. We were in a suite, so that could have been part of it. Also, I remember a few saying on here that the Caribbean is where a lot of the wear and tear happens. Now, whether that is true or not, I do not know. You can always book the Edge if new and clean are important to you, but most likely you will pay more. Celebrity has never been known for its entertainment, but well known for the chair hogs. Thanks for you balanced review and glad that you did enjoy your cruise.

 

You are very lucky, IMHO, to live in Florida and just drive to the port. Personally, I love the culture and educational cruises in Europe, but am trying the inaugural of the Edge on 12.16.18. Clean and well kept is important to me, but I am also paying more for that too! My next cruise is on the Reflection for Greece and Italy, so I hope she looks great! Again, many thanks for sharing!

 

What would be your pick of the top three ships on which you have cruised? How was MSC?

Loved, loved, loved the Divina...Cruised on her twice. Best entertainment ever. Food and service very good, but not as good as on Celebrity. Beautiful ship.

 

Windsurf - Excellent food and amazing service. No balconies though and we missed that. Great going into small Caribbean ports.

 

Oasis - Was all about the ship and its activities. Loved Sabor restaurant and Central Park.

[NoName]

TRIP REPORT – Celebrity Reflection – 12/8/17 to 12/18/17

We had Classic Beverage Packages as a perk. Upgraded hubby’s onboard to a deal for 10days, paying only for 8 days.

.

 

Do they normally offer this deal onboard? Kim

[easyboy]

Thanks for the feedback!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[tbmrt]

Do they normally offer this deal onboard? Kim

I was told by the bartender that it was for that cruise only.

[Azulann]

It is so interesting why people cruise.Having only sailed on Celebrity ships from the Century, M class and S class, the night time entertainment in the theater was the lowest priority for me .

I cruise for the ports of call, and a nice cabin overlooking the aft. Late night dining in the MDR never disappointed me. I love the food, service and table mates on all my cruises.

Thanks for taking time to write your review.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[docmark]

It is so interesting why people cruise.Having only sailed on Celebrity ships from the Century, M class and S class, the night time entertainment in the theater was the lowest priority for me .

I cruise for the ports of call, and a nice cabin overlooking the aft. Late night dining in the MDR never disappointed me. I love the food, service and table mates on all my cruises.

Thanks for taking time to write your review.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Hi Azulann

Just noticed you are from St.Paul.....years ago I attended Macalester college...

I agree with you,about entertainment on Cruise ships,least of my priorities too...Food is very important,so we try to go to specialty restaurants. However Lumina food is usually good also.

[Azulann]

Hi Azulann

Just noticed you are from St.Paul.....years ago I attended Macalester college...

I agree with you,about entertainment on Cruise ships,least of my priorities too...Food is very important,so we try to go to specialty restaurants. However Lumina food is usually good also.

 

I live close to Macalester College. It is still going strong as a great small liberal arts college. They have added some nice buildings. Know some of the professors and many Mac alum.

[docmark]

I live close to Macalester College. It is still going strong as a great small liberal arts college. They have added some nice buildings. Know some of the professors and many Mac alum.

 

If you are south of college,you would be close to where I lived...in an apartment right off summit ...

 

Now in California , wouldn't have left Minnesota if it wasn't for LONG winters !!

[miched]

How did you get the upgrade to the premium for 10 days by only paying for 8 ?

 

Thanks

 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🛳🇺🇸🌅

[fielddreamer]

I can't understand why no one mentions the 700 people from "The Village " and 300 to 400 had walkers, wheelchairs and electic scooters ! Never been on a ship with that many. A lot of people were very unhappy with having to watch out from getting hit or toes run over. Never seen anything like that before. They pretty much took over the ship. We felt like we were on Holland but worse. Celebrity lost us for the near future !

[fielddreamer]

we did spencer's tour in st. Lucia. Did you hear about the incident with the 2 couples who had to get off the boat at the resort? Sad stuff...

 

 

 

Can"t believe you remembered !

[Keith1010]

Terrific report.

 

Keith