Would anyone be interested in reading a Celebrity Reflection review from a newbie?

[anniedave]

Hi Everyone my name is Anne, I'm from the UK and in January myself and my husband, as part of a longer holiday to celebrate my 50th birthday did our first ever cruise,  on Celebrity Reflection to the ABCs. Prior to the cruise I  had spent the previous 18 months enjoying reading reviews on cruise critic, these gave me some great tips and helped build my anticipation & excitement. I didnt plan on writing a review of the trip but with the current situation and understandably lack of reviews on here as well as a bit of spare time on my hands whilst waiting to start a new job I thought I might have a go at writing one. Not planning on writing a review I dont have extensive notes, but I did provide a daily photo update of our trip to friends and family as we went along and I also have a notebook I kept of what I booked when prior to the cruise,  my question is before I write one would anyone be interested in reading it? 

[Roger88]

I wouldnt mind reading your review. Each and every review is unique by itself. Its always intresting to know how the new travelers feel about cruising in general. I used to be a newbie myself 😄 like everyone else in here and first time going on a cruise was a real adventure. When I was back I was so eager to share my experience with everyone but unfortunatly I didnt know a website where I could do it.. now I know 😁

[chemmo]

2 minutes ago, anniedave said:

Hi Everyone my name is Anne, I'm from the UK and in January myself and my husband, as part of a longer holiday to celebrate my 50th birthday did our first ever cruise,  on Celebrity Reflection to the ABCs. Prior to the cruise I  had spent the previous 18 months enjoying reading reviews on cruise critic, these gave me some great tips and helped build my anticipation & excitement. I didnt plan on writing a review of the trip but with the current situation and understandably lack of reviews on here as well as a bit of spare time on my hands whilst waiting to start a new job I thought I might have a go at writing one. Not planning on writing a review I dont have extensive notes, but I did provide a daily photo update of our trip to friends and family as we went along and I also have a notebook I kept of what I booked when prior to the cruise,  my question is before I write one would anyone be interested in reading it? 

 

I would!

 

Firstly, everyone has a different perspective...what you may enjoy/perceive may be different than others. Always interesting to see the world through the eyes of others.

 

Secondly, much as we do explore the ships and have done many Celebrity Cruises we still have not done some things like attend a Trivia quiz or a wine tasting event. We also have never done the ABC’s...

 

Thirdly, much as I love my house and garden I would love to be virtually taken back on Reflection...Our next cruise will not be happening so I would enjoy reading about yours!

 

So stay safe and get writing!

[yorky]

2 hours ago, anniedave said:

Hi Everyone my name is Anne, I'm from the UK and in January myself and my husband, as part of a longer holiday to celebrate my 50th birthday did our first ever cruise,  on Celebrity Reflection to the ABCs. Prior to the cruise I  had spent the previous 18 months enjoying reading reviews on cruise critic, these gave me some great tips and helped build my anticipation & excitement. I didnt plan on writing a review of the trip but with the current situation and understandably lack of reviews on here as well as a bit of spare time on my hands whilst waiting to start a new job I thought I might have a go at writing one. Not planning on writing a review I dont have extensive notes, but I did provide a daily photo update of our trip to friends and family as we went along and I also have a notebook I kept of what I booked when prior to the cruise,  my question is before I write one would anyone be interested in reading it? 

Absolutely, we need some positivity on here.

[fizzy1]

Yes please !!!!!  On our first Refection cruise, hopefully, this Dec around the Caribbean.  

[anniedave]

Introduction

Okay as in true Cruise Critic style let me give you a bit of an introduction. My name in Anne, and myself and my husband Dave are from Essex in the UK. Back in 2017 I started talking about a big trip for my 50th Birthday in Feb 2020.  My easy going husband is 58. We holiday every year in the UK and further afield - but within Europe, Also several times a year we attend music festivals in the UK and Spain (rockabilly/psychobilly).

The furthest we have been was a trip to Vegas in 2007. We both work full time and between  us we have 4 grown up kids and 10 grandkids. Plus we also have together an 18 year old daughter who we were going to be leaving home alone

( her choice not ours!!!).

I suggested several ideas to my husband .....who is generally happy to go with the flow....  but was annoyingly particular about our holiday destination ! My first suggestion was Thailand ...too much fish!!!( he is allergic) Vietnam....he didnt fancy it!!! Guadeloupe( where my favourite British murder series Death in Paradise is filmed)....too French???!!! Then in April 2018  I spotted a holiday company offering a cruise/ stay holiday -  1 night in Fort Lauderdale, a 9 night Carribean cruise and  a 5 night stay in Mexico . A cruise, the Carribean and Mexico were all on our bucket list....Perfect ..I booked it before he could raise any objections !!! 

 

[anniedave]

 Original Trip

Our original cruise was a trip on Celebrity Silhouette - departing on 24th Jan,  the itinary was the ABCs and Grand Cayman . I had booked concierge class. The trip also included an overnight stay in Fort Lauderdale pre cruise ( room only Sawgrass Doubletree Hilton ) and  5 nights in a large resort 5☆  all inclusive hotel in Cancun post cruise and  included flights, transfers, a classic drinks package. Total cost

£ 5658. The thing you need to know about me is that I am a planner....when I say planner I have lists....then I have lists of lists and I saw this trip as a challenge to do as much research and planning as I could . I had a new hobby!!! 

I began researching all I could about the Silhouette and our ports of call. I joined groups ....discovered the joy of Cruise Critic ( spent  hours reading reviews of cruises and the newbies board). Bought guide books about the ports we would be visiting , even excitedly booked a couple of celeb excursions. Looked at reviews of the hotels we would be staying in . This is all after my husband and I had written to and received permission  from our respective work places to give dates and  request a 3 week extended holiday for the special occasion.....Then in December...after a week or so of uncertainty and speculation on Cruise Critic boards  I received an email telling me that the Silhouette would be in extended dry dock and the cruise was cancelled .

So when I say we had never done a cruise before... back in 2009 we had booked a cruise round the med with a company called Island Cruises ....and then the cruise company decided to sell the ship and the cruise was cancelled and we never went ...it was happening again !! 

[pattyj 1204]

I hope you continue with your review. I'd be interested to hear how you liked the Islands. 

[anniedave]

Revised Trip

We received an email letting us know that we could have our deposit back or chose an alternative cruise for the same price - with a choice of options. I was very tempted by a 2 week one on offer but unfortunately it didn't fit in with our already booked and authorised holiday dates ( subsequently that one was also cancelled ...right choice !!) there was one which did fit in with our dates, it was the original cruise with the addition of a stop in Cartagena Columbia and an extra  2 nights..... 11 nights for the price of 9, and extra port and $150 obc as compensation .. amazing . Because our new sail date was a few days earlier it meant we could add an extra couple of nights onto our post cruise stay in Mexico, even better. In between booking the original cruise and the new cruise I had discovered Cruise Critic and had heard all about the joys of Aqua Class, so for an extra $150 pp for the whole cruise we upgraded. I also found a beverage sale and so using the $150 obc I only had to pay about £12 to upgrade to a premium drinks package.

 

Once we were all rebooked, I spent the next few months planning the cruise, looking at excursions, hotel and flight options ready for when the TA contacted me to discuss and  book the finer details. It was at this stage my husband questioned why I was looking at hotels and flights etc when I had a travel agent for that.... You would think that after all these years he would know that I wouldn't be happy with the TA telling me which flights and hotel I would like! 

 

The original hotel in Mexico that came with the package was a large A/I high rise family hotel in the hotel zone in Cancun...we were holidaying as a couple... no kids...no grandkids why would we want a large family hotel? I on the other hand much preferred a beautiful beachfront palapa resort I had found in Playa del Carmen.... however looking online the price was quite a bit higher... I would need to use my best negotiating skills...not with the TA but with my husband.

 

So cruise booked and with an idea for our holiday hotel, I started to think about flights. I began to worry that as we were travelling in January and the good old  British weather was never on our side, that only travelling out the day before the cruise wouldn't leave a lot of leeway if flights were delayed because of snow. So, I decided we needed to add an extra day pre cruise. Because of the date change it meant our cruise started on a Monday, the first week of our booked time off work, so if I wanted to fly out 2 days early we would need to fly on the Saturday. My husband works night shifts and his last night at work was the Friday night. So all I needed to do now was find a flight ( that I could then tell the travel agent I wanted )that flew from a London airport to Fort Lauderdale on  Saturday 18th January in the afternoon...with an airline that we could also then fly from Fort Lauderdale to Mexico on 31st January and from Mexico  back to London on 8th February... easy right? How naïve was I !!!! I did ask for advice on Cruise Critic for this one, and despite lots of advice and tips it wasn't possible to find a solution.

 

 

Whilst planning the cruise and through the social medium that is FB I discovered that my cousin who  had moved out to America to be an au pair when she was a teenager, and I had not seen for over 30 years, actually lived only a short distance from Fort Lauderdale. We had arranged to meet for dinner whilst we were overnight in Fort Lauderdale pre cruise. As she regularly travels to the UK I asked for her advice on flights. At this point we realised that she actually lived as close to Port Everglades as the hotel the TA had booked us into, so she very  kindly suggested we cancel the hotel and go and stay with her and her family for the 2 nights pre cruise. The flight problem was eventually sorted with us finding American Airline flights that went to and from Miami and my husband getting an extra day off work meaning we could take a Saturday morning flight ….now all I had to do was wait for the TA to contact me!

 

 So it went something like

'Hi I am phoning to arrange your hotel and flights for your holiday, I believe we are looking at a night for you pre cruise at Double tree Hilton'

'Thankyou but can that please be cancelled as I am now staying with family'

'Okay that's fine, and I believe we are also going to book for you the Oasis in Cancun'

'No sorry I don't want to stay there, as we would prefer something smaller, I actually want to stay in Mahekal Beach in Playa del Carmen, … would you like me to give you the details so you can book it for me?

'Okay so now lets look at possible flights... we are looking at you flying out to Fort Lauderdale on 19th Jan'

'actually no I would like to fly out on the 18th '

'Im afraid there aren't any flights on that day'

'Yes I know but there are flights to Miami on 18th....would you like me to give you the airline and flight details so you can book for me?'

All sorted and aside from my husband questioning why I was bothering with a TA! I got the holiday I wanted. There was a particular room type I wanted at Mahekal Beach in Mexico - when I asked the TA about it she said it would cost an additional £1200 so I decided it wasn't worth it. As the difference between the different categories of rooms looked much less on the hotel website, on the off chance I contacted the hotel directly and amazingly got the upgrade I wanted for $12 a night - a total of $84 compared to £1200 quoted by the TA.

 

 

[helen haywood]

Great review!  How wonderful to read about an actual sailing not gloom and doom about when/if cruising will be start again and if/when we'll ever get refunds for canceled cruises.  This is for real, right?  You aren't playing an elaborate trick on us starved for happy cruising stories folk are you?  

 

And your husband is quite right; you certainly do not need a TA!!  That price difference in the hotel upgrade alone will I hope tell you not to use that TA again!

[helen haywood]

YES!  Read my response to the start of your review!

[anniedave]

Final Itinerary

So I was nearly there , I now how the cruise, hotels, transfers booked ( I didn't interfere with those , apart from my cousin kindly offering to pick us up from the airport when we arrived and drop us off at the terminal for the cruise) . All I need to do was plan the rest of the excursions and organise airport parking!

As  we now had a morning flight booked and my husband finished work on the Thursday night -Friday morning we now had  the luxury of having all day on the Friday to prepare. I started to consider booking a hotel at Heathrow on the Friday night and discovered that as we needed 22 nights parking ( so much for our original 15 day holiday !!) it was nearly as cheap to book a hotel with parking than parking alone. I discovered a hotel called the thistle which offered a 22 night parking, bed and dinner deal for £213. It also had a 'pod' link a driverless pod that we could get for £5 each that took us directly from the hotel to T5, from there we just needed to get the rail link to T3. As Dave is an airport snob who hates noisy airports...and we discovered a few years ago that if you are planning on having a couple of pre flight drinks... that by the time you have bought food and drink its nearly as cheap to pay for a lounge.. I booked the aspire lounge at T3.

 

17th Jan - Stay  overnight Thistle Hotel Heathrow

18th Jan - Fly to Miami - Stay at my cousins

19th Jan - Day in Everglades

20th Jan - Day 1 - Fort Lauderdale

21st Jan - Day 2 - At Sea

22nd Jan -Day 3 - At Sea

23rd Jan  -Day 4 Cartagena

24th Jan - Day 5 Overnight Aruba

25th Jan - Day 6 Aruba

26th Jan - Day 7 Curacao

27th Jan - Day 8 Bonaire

28th Jan - Day 9 At Sea

29th Jan - Day 10 Grand Cayman

30th Jan - Day 11 At Sea

31st Jan - For Lauderdale - flight to Cancun

1st Feb  Mahekal Beach Playa del Carmen

2nd Feb My 50th  Birthday  

3rd Feb Mahekal Beach Playa del Carmen

4th Feb Mahekal Beach Playa del Carmen

5th Feb Trip to Chichen Itza

6th Feb Mahekal Beach Playa del Carmen

7th Feb Flight Cancun - Charlotte - Heathrow

8th Feb Arrive Home

 

[scrapcreator]

Yay! What a joy to have a new review. We were on the Reflection in February.

[anniedave]

16 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

Great review!  How wonderful to read about an actual sailing not gloom and doom about when/if cruising will be start again and if/when we'll ever get refunds for canceled cruises.  This is for real, right?  You aren't playing an elaborate trick on us starved for happy cruising stories folk are you?  

 

And your husband is quite right; you certainly do not need a TA!!  That price difference in the hotel upgrade alone will I hope tell you not to use that TA again!

Hi Helen, Thanks definitely for real! Once I start the review of the cruise proper there will be lots of photos to prove it I promise. I never planned on writing a review, but with all the doom and gloom and time on my hands whilst I'm in lockdown waiting to start a new job I thought why not?! . Luckily pre cruise I kept a notebook with all the info I'm using for the first part, and then during the cruise we kept our friends and family updated on a daily on a group chat , with lots of info and pictures, so I'm planning on using those and the 'Today's' I kept as a memento to help write my review.

[bikerunner]

I loved the Reflection, was on it for a 11 day in Nov for Thanksgiving.  I am hoping I will be doing the same trip this year in November (hopefully again)  Mainly booked it because I like the ship 

[anniedave]

Planning Continued

I promise I will get to the actual trip itself, but when reading other peoples reviews I love to hear about the background and planning that go into trips. Hopefully you wont all doze off before I get to the good parts.

Talking of reviews I just want to give a shout out to all those who have inspired me to write this: Although only lurking on these boards for a couple of years I love to read the lengthy reviews, including those by vtcruising - sadly whom I know many knew and miss. Also Chicago Paul, Jim_Iain, Noreen, Marvy Mare, Mr T, Calicakes and Sleeping Ugly.

So what else did I pre plan book. I originally booked a couple of excursions with celebrity and then they got cancelled when the original cruise got cancelled. I then spent more time reading guide books , doing research - of course on here, as well as other cruising site and trip advisor. I eventually booked some more excursions - only to cancel and rebook when I found they were in a sale. My final choices were

Cartagena - A Horse drawn carriage ride with celebrity

Aruba - dinner at Barefoot Beach day 1 and a UTV adventure day 2( neither through celebrity)

Curacao - Jeep tour ( not celebrity)

Bonaire - Mangrove Eco RIB ride with celebrity

Grand Cayman - Stingray City and Calico Jacks with Celebrity

I also booked an excursion to Chichen Itza for when we were in Mexico

My husband loves to relax by playing games on his kindle and he likes to watch Netflix, whilst I read and we wanted to be able to keep in touch with family so we did splash out on internet for one device... which I though was very expensive … but not being technically minded there may be a reason for this ? Also just pre cruise the new drinks and more package was introduced. My husband loves to play poker so we would use the casino credit, and  we thought it would be nice to be able to help ourselves to drinks from the mini bar so we upgraded. I considered booking some speciality dining but thought we would wait until onboard as I had heard we could probably get a good deal. I also considered a photo package but again I wasn't really sure what we would want so decided to wait. 

When I keep saying I... I do mean I... other than the original fussiness about the holiday destination Dave left the rest to me. There were many evenings I read him bits from guide books or reviews from Cruise Critic and to be fair he did murmur and nod in the right places, and by the time of the cruise he even realised we were going to the Caribbean … but other than that  was left to my own devices to plan and prepare. Just the packing to go.

[Jim_Iain]

Yes.. please post your review.    I personally love to hear of the options and perception of your cruise.  

 

It will help us all live vicariously in your cruise experience while we are stuck at home.

[maxydu]

Hurry....please

[Bo1953]

10 hours ago, anniedave said:

Hi Everyone my name is Anne, I'm from the UK and in January myself and my husband, as part of a longer holiday to celebrate my 50th birthday did our first ever cruise,  on Celebrity Reflection to the ABCs. Prior to the cruise I  had spent the previous 18 months enjoying reading reviews on cruise critic, these gave me some great tips and helped build my anticipation & excitement. I didnt plan on writing a review of the trip but with the current situation and understandably lack of reviews on here as well as a bit of spare time on my hands whilst waiting to start a new job I thought I might have a go at writing one. Not planning on writing a review I dont have extensive notes, but I did provide a daily photo update of our trip to friends and family as we went along and I also have a notebook I kept of what I booked when prior to the cruise,  my question is before I write one would anyone be interested in reading it? 

A resounding YES!

 

I look forward to it and thank you for considering it....

 

bon voyage

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I'd love to read your review.  It's always fun to hear what someone who is new to cruising thinks.  I remember the sense of wonder from my first cruise.  At the time, I knew nothing about Cruise Critic.  Plus, I'm tired of reading about Corona and how Celebrity isn't refunding money!

[anniedave]

Packing

 

Okay I'm going to tell you about the packing and then I promise I will get on with the trip itself.

Well having never cruised before I wasn't sure what I needed to get. I read all the advice on cruise critic ….there's lots about packing/what to take !! I even watched some YouTube videos of preparing for a cruise. My logic was that if I left everything until just before the cruise the chances of me being able to buy what I needed for the Caribbean in December in the UK were probably quite slim...so I decided to actually plan in the summer when I could get what I needed. Alongside this I also started a 'cruise box' all those 'must haves' that people said I needed....towel clips, highlighters, post it notes, various meds and seasickness remedies, wrinkle release and magnetic hooks.

I was also considering the fact we were going to be away for 3 weeks and would be going straight from the cruise to Mexico with no self service laundry and quite expensive laundry facilities on the ship. Not to mention flying from the UK, we were on quite a strict luggage allowance with a suitcase and carry on each ( or as Dave put it my 2 suitcases and a bit of space for him for a couple of t shirts). 

I think I've read more 'evening chic' debates than anything else on here. On top of this there was the dilemmas of - an  11 night cruise might have 3 chic nights, there might be a white party? Would I need a wrap for the evenings?  I bet you seasoned cruisers on here are laughing at my packing naivety.  I did think I was over complicating it... but then I read a post from a lovely lady on here who was asking if someone could take a picture of the hook on the inside of the ladies toilet door... so she could purchase a suitable evening bag that would fit... which justified to me that I wasn't the only one and that actually I was quite sane. Well of course once I had decided exactly what I could fit in the cases ...Dave who has to be cajoled into wearing a shirt rather than

t shirt when we  go out for dinner decided he would actually like to take a suit, several nice shirts, his dress shoes etc etc… of course he did... I'm sure it was just to annoy me... however never one to discourage his enthusiasm I worked out that I would just have to fill my carry on with all my shoes, hair curlers and straighteners.  Remember we had all those kids and grandkids who would be expecting presents ( how small is too small?!!!) not to mention the teenage daughter who was being left at home and despite the fact she wanted to stay home was now pulling at my guilt strings by  telling me how a gift from each port would make up for her missing the cruise! ( do beach shells and pillow chocolates count? )

[cachouonacruise]

Yes indeed! 

[yorky]

1 hour ago, anniedave said:

Revised Trip

We received an email letting us know that we could have our deposit back or chose an alternative cruise for the same price - with a choice of options. I was very tempted by a 2 week one on offer but unfortunately it didn't fit in with our already booked and authorised holiday dates ( subsequently that one was also cancelled ...right choice !!) there was one which did fit in with our dates, it was the original cruise with the addition of a stop in Cartagena Columbia and an extra  2 nights..... 11 nights for the price of 9, and extra port and $150 obc as compensation .. amazing . Because our new sail date was a few days earlier it meant we could add an extra couple of nights onto our post cruise stay in Mexico, even better. In between booking the original cruise and the new cruise I had discovered Cruise Critic and had heard all about the joys of Aqua Class, so for an extra $150 pp for the whole cruise we upgraded. I also found a beverage sale and so using the $150 obc I only had to pay about £12 to upgrade to a premium drinks package.

 

Once we were all rebooked, I spent the next few months planning the cruise, looking at excursions, hotel and flight options ready for when the TA contacted me to discuss and  book the finer details. It was at this stage my husband questioned why I was looking at hotels and flights etc when I had a travel agent for that.... You would think that after all these years he would know that I wouldn't be happy with the TA telling me which flights and hotel I would like! 

 

The original hotel in Mexico that came with the package was a large A/I high rise family hotel in the hotel zone in Cancun...we were holidaying as a couple... no kids...no grandkids why would we want a large family hotel? I on the other hand much preferred a beautiful beachfront palapa resort I had found in Playa del Carmen.... however looking online the price was quite a bit higher... I would need to use my best negotiating skills...not with the TA but with my husband.

 

So cruise booked and with an idea for our holiday hotel, I started to think about flights. I began to worry that as we were travelling in January and the good old  British weather was never on our side, that only travelling out the day before the cruise wouldn't leave a lot of leeway if flights were delayed because of snow. So, I decided we needed to add an extra day pre cruise. Because of the date change it meant our cruise started on a Monday, the first week of our booked time off work, so if I wanted to fly out 2 days early we would need to fly on the Saturday. My husband works night shifts and his last night at work was the Friday night. So all I needed to do now was find a flight ( that I could then tell the travel agent I wanted )that flew from a London airport to Fort Lauderdale on  Saturday 18th January in the afternoon...with an airline that we could also then fly from Fort Lauderdale to Mexico on 31st January and from Mexico  back to London on 8th February... easy right? How naïve was I !!!! I did ask for advice on Cruise Critic for this one, and despite lots of advice and tips it wasn't possible to find a solution.

 

 

Whilst planning the cruise and through the social medium that is FB I discovered that my cousin who  had moved out to America to be an au pair when she was a teenager, and I had not seen for over 30 years, actually lived only a short distance from Fort Lauderdale. We had arranged to meet for dinner whilst we were overnight in Fort Lauderdale pre cruise. As she regularly travels to the UK I asked for her advice on flights. At this point we realised that she actually lived as close to Port Everglades as the hotel the TA had booked us into, so she very  kindly suggested we cancel the hotel and go and stay with her and her family for the 2 nights pre cruise. The flight problem was eventually sorted with us finding American Airline flights that went to and from Miami and my husband getting an extra day off work meaning we could take a Saturday morning flight ….now all I had to do was wait for the TA to contact me!

 

 So it went something like

'Hi I am phoning to arrange your hotel and flights for your holiday, I believe we are looking at a night for you pre cruise at Double tree Hilton'

'Thankyou but can that please be cancelled as I am now staying with family'

'Okay that's fine, and I believe we are also going to book for you the Oasis in Cancun'

'No sorry I don't want to stay there, as we would prefer something smaller, I actually want to stay in Mahekal Beach in Playa del Carmen, … would you like me to give you the details so you can book it for me?

'Okay so now lets look at possible flights... we are looking at you flying out to Fort Lauderdale on 19th Jan'

'actually no I would like to fly out on the 18th '

'Im afraid there aren't any flights on that day'

'Yes I know but there are flights to Miami on 18th....would you like me to give you the airline and flight details so you can book for me?'

All sorted and aside from my husband questioning why I was bothering with a TA! I got the holiday I wanted. There was a particular room type I wanted at Mahekal Beach in Mexico - when I asked the TA about it she said it would cost an additional £1200 so I decided it wasn't worth it. As the difference between the different categories of rooms looked much less on the hotel website, on the off chance I contacted the hotel directly and amazingly got the upgrade I wanted for $12 a night - a total of $84 compared to £1200 quoted by the TA.

 

 

To be honest this is why we never use a TA for flights or Hotels. I also get way better deals doing it all myself. The difference you were quoted for an upgraded room was crazy and a complete rip off.

 

[vms]

Thank you for doing this! I'm really enjoying people's reviews while dealing with my sadness of having my cruise cancelled.  I'm headed off to read right now.

[frteach]

Going to read your review right now. Thanks for the effort! Will be on the Reflection to the ABC's in March of 2021, unless something intervenes with this plan...