On Reflection now and it is Incredible

[luv4cruises]

7 hours ago, 1620rock said:

What excursion is this ? Thanks.

[capsplace]

4 hours ago, kjb1466 said:

Who are the captain and cruise director on the Reflection? 

Our Jan 2 was Capt Nik and CD Patrick

[capsplace]

On 1/23/2022 at 3:54 PM, 1620rock said:

I hope you have a great cruise. The crew are all eager  Our ports haven’t changed so far but ship tours are required for St Lucia, Barbados and Antigua.

You can book a taxi tour at the port in Barbados.  We did on our Jan 2 cruise.  Found two couples from our ship, so six of us paid 25 each for 3 hr tour of island.  Legal and cheaper than ship tour.

Edited January 25, 2022 by capsplace

[sakigemcam]

30 minutes ago, capsplace said:

You can book a taxi tour at the port in Barbados.  We did on our Jan 2 cruise.  Found two couples from our ship, so six of us paid 25 each for 3 hr tour of island.  Legal and cheaper than ship tour.

I believe the status in Barbados has changed this week per OP's post. 

[Grambler]

On 1/23/2022 at 12:19 PM, 1620rock said:

We are on the current Reflection sailing and having a great cruise. Only around 800 passengers and 1000 crew.  Don’t remember the exact numbers but it is totally different cruise experience.  We are very Covid conscience but feel very comfortable as we always wear mask anyway so that is not an issue for us.  With the lower passenger count we are able to distance from others that don’t.  We have not heard of any confirmed passenger Covid cases which is excellent and we feel safer onboard than back in Boston where cases are very high. 

 

We are in St Lucia now so using Verizon travel pass to post.   We only have surf and that has been fine for email and slow browsing.  Have had issues with iMessages so if you only have the surf internet maybe download What’s App before your cruise if you don’t want to pay for the Stream upgrade or visit the iLoungue frequently to fix the issue.  

 

Crew have been excellent very friendly and we were able to change our Move Up balcony cabin after we felt too much vibration in our assigned cabin.  Moved up one deck to 8227 and very happy with the location. 

 

There has  been one show every night at 9 with a variety of entertainment and plenty of activities onboard during sea days.  Dining has been good to very good but the highlight of the cruise has been the lack of crowding and the excellent and friendly service.

 

We have had some high winds but it has been smooth cruising.  So if you are asking yourself should I cruise or cancel I would say cruise 🚢 as it has been amazing and don’t think that these low occupancy cruises will continue.  I have been working at home since March 2020 and mainly isolating at home but took a leap of faith to trust Celebrity’s health protocols and the same practices we do at home.  So glad that we did and living  being back at sea and in the Caribbean.

 

Happy to answer any questions but not to debate about masking requirements etc. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, that’s exactly what I needed to hear! Your post and one from another ship has really helped me make decision to go on our cruise Feb 19th! DH has Alzheimer’s and after having to cancel our ‘20 & ‘21 cruise due to Covid, we feeling like we may only have a window of opportunity to enjoy vacations together, kinda feel like we r running against the clock. Will be so happy to get on the ship and out to sea with the love of my life!

[fabric_fabric]

We love the Reflection. I hope the best waiter on any cruise (40+ and counting) remains the lynchpin of the MDR. Shout out to Melvyn.

 

[1620rock]

[1620rock]

That is the port info we were given this week but it changes week to week so just be prepared to be flexible.  I would recommend booking a Celebrity excursion for your ports prior to your sailing as they usually offer pre-cruise discounts and the you can cancel and get a refund if things change.

[1620rock]

13 hours ago, luv4cruises said:

What excursion is this ? Thanks.

Costal Cruise to Pitons

[1620rock]

9 hours ago, Grambler said:

Thanks, that’s exactly what I needed to hear! Your post and one from another ship has really helped me make decision to go on our cruise Feb 19th! DH has Alzheimer’s and after having to cancel our ‘20 & ‘21 cruise due to Covid, we feeling like we may only have a window of opportunity to enjoy vacations together, kinda feel like we r running against the clock. Will be so happy to get on the ship and out to sea with the love of my life!

It is a great time to cruise.  Celebrity really is making every effort to have safe and healthy sailings.  I hope you have a wonderful cruise in February 😃

[1620rock]

19 hours ago, sakigemcam said:

Thank you, fellow New Englander (CT here....). One more question - your cruise to the Pitons, what kind of boat was it? (I'm prone to sea sickness - will have my trusty patch but due diligence) - and how much time (and where) did you get to swim? Thanks again 🙂 

It was a double decker catamaran and it was fairly smooth sailing. Our sailing was little out of order of the description we sailed into Marigot Bay for photos then headed to another inlet Anse ??? and had about a 40 minute swim stop then sailed on for views of the Pitons.  The crew were very nice and would take photos with your camera. 

[Guest]

27 minutes ago, 1620rock said:

Sounds like they have stopped the “government approved” taxi tours which would take you to the Boatyard. Hope that changes before my Silhouette cruise in Feb/March. 

[1620rock]

Congratulations on your Move up.  We would love to try Aqua class sometime.

[1620rock]

[1620rock]

Port info for Antigua today.  We had hoped to do a island and beach tour with Lawrence of Antigua but will be going on the Celebrity beach break instead. 

[Valentin53]

Thank you very much for the information you upload and for taking the time to do so. We all travel with you. If possible, could you upload more information about what excursions are offered on the ship in Antigua and St. Kitts. I hope that the situation will improve for our cruise at the end of February, but if I can compare what is offered as pre-cruise excursions and on the ship would be good.

[Scoobyneal]

On 1/23/2022 at 4:38 PM, kwokpot said:

Much easier and better for your mental health to just take yourself out of a situation you're not comfortable with than getting upset at people not following the rules. 

 

[Welland]

On 1/25/2022 at 10:12 AM, 1620rock said:

Port info for Antigua today.  We had hoped to do a island and beach tour with Lawrence of Antigua but will be going on the Celebrity beach break instead. 

Thanks for your live updates.   Could you please advise if karaoke or bandaoke is being held at any time during the cruises.   Thanks so much.

[sfcsu]

On 1/24/2022 at 6:54 PM, sptrout said:

I am on the Reflection also and there is one show in the main theater and it is at 9 PM each night. 

That's annoying.   We always eat late dinner.   We sometimes end up closing the dining room!  Are they any good?  I may never get to a show. 

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, sfcsu said:

That's annoying.   We always eat late dinner.   We sometimes end up closing the dining room!  Are they any good?  I may never get to a show. 

It’s about being flexible.  Unfortunately crew, entertainers as well as passengers find they they have tested positive and can’t do their jobs or can’t board the ship.  If the planned entertainment can’t board or are on board but are positives then th show won’t go on.  Cruising today isn’t what cruising was in 2019. 

[5:00_Somewhere]

On 1/25/2022 at 10:10 AM, 1620rock said:

Congratulations on your Move up.  We would love to try Aqua class sometime.

 

We LOVE Aqua Class, and especially enjoy dining in Blu. One note: if booking Aqua on the S-Class ships, it's wise to look on the deck plans to see what's above you. It's not such an issue on the Reflection because there are passenger cabins above most of Deck 11 where the Aqua Class cabins are, but on the others the pool deck and buffet are directly above the majority of the Aqua Class cabins, and people report that can be very noisy. For that reason (and because we prefer not to be under the overhang), we've always chosen forward cabins beneath the spa. But even there you have to be careful that you're not under the treadmills or aerobics area. 😉  That said, it's pretty easy to find great Aqua Class cabins. 

 

6 hours ago, jelayne said:

It’s about being flexible.  Unfortunately crew, entertainers as well as passengers find they they have tested positive and can’t do their jobs or can’t board the ship.  If the planned entertainment can’t board or are on board but are positives then th show won’t go on.  Cruising today isn’t what cruising was in 2019. 

 

Also, people are reporting that, due to the significantly reduced passenger load on most cruises, there have not been a lot of people attending shows. The up-side is that they report social distancing is not a problem, but on the flip side, it means the entertainers are performing for a relatively small audience. It may simply not make a lot of sense to do 2 shows for very small audiences, especially where that would mean additional exposure, as you mention.

[sptrout]

9 hours ago, sfcsu said:

That's annoying.   We always eat late dinner.   We sometimes end up closing the dining room!  Are they any good?  I may never get to a show. 

The other posters are both correct. The Reflection sailing now only has 841 passengers (per the Cruise Director). With so few passengers even one show has very small crowds. We feel sorry for the performers to have to play to a nearly empty theater; very difficult to get the small and scattered audience fired up. 

 

The CD has managed to have different shows each of our 10 evenings. A few hits and misses, but considering what has to be a limited entertainment budget the majority of the shows have been good. 

[eltigre]

On 1/24/2022 at 9:52 AM, 1620rock said:

We have the classic package this cruise. We have usually upgraded in the past but this cruise decided to try just the Classic since DH only has 1 or 2 alcohol drinks a day.  i am not sure about coconut water but i would guess that is premium.

 

The  water we have included is in the aluminum bottles and has been fine and iWhen we had the Premium  I think it was more stress trying to get the bartenders at the pool and other decks bars to use premium liquor in drinks since the usually reach the standard liquor no matter what package you have or what liquor is listed in the menu.  I  kicked my Zero water habit 😀 so don’t miss that.

 

The Classic wines have also been okay just and for cocktails I still order what I like and pay the additional at the martini bar or cafe al bacio.  If you drink 3 or more cocktails I would say it is is worth the upgrade but not if you mainly drink frozen drinks. 

Is it possible to take some photos of drink menus? I have searched the boards to find out the types of wines in the classic package and the drink prices for various cocktails, martinis, frozen drinks. We are going to be first time X cruisers soon and would like to know if the classic pkg would be suitable.

[sfcsu]

4 hours ago, sptrout said:

The other posters are both correct. The Reflection sailing now only has 841 passengers (per the Cruise Director). With so few passengers even one show has very small crowds. We feel sorry for the performers to have to play to a nearly empty theater; very difficult to get the small and scattered audience fired up. 

 

The CD has managed to have different shows each of our 10 evenings. A few hits and misses, but considering what has to be a limited entertainment budget the majority of the shows have been good. 

How is the live music?   Tbh, I like a piano bar or live music best.  I loved the cruises where they had music at the back bar behind the buffet.

[39august]

The drink menus at  various bars, and dining venues are not the only drinks available at that venue. Order whatever cocktails or drinks you wish at any bar. The exceptions are the Martini Bar for large, fancy, and more expensive martinis, and the World Class Bar which generally serves only the drinks on their specific menu. These are not covered under the classic package. The wine lists cannot be depended on to be correct, as inventory is not all the same on every cruise or every ship.  I can tell you that wines in the Premium package  have always been better then the Classic. Not by a lot, but certainly some. 

Edited January 27, 2022 by 39august