Just back from Reflection

[twentyknots]

Reflection cruise review January 29-Feb 5, 2023

Overall I gave the cruise a C+, the others a B-. 

 

Pre cruise Riverside Hotel Fort Lauderdale:  Older hotel but has charm.  We stayed one night in the classic section which was old and small but adequate for a short stay.  If I were staying longer I think I’d book the newer tower section.  The area around the hotel is what makes this place special.  Great for people watching, shopping, eating and drinking.  We ate at the Big City Tavern for lunch, Gran Forno Pronto for dinner and JJ’s for breakfast.  We had cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory, donuts from Hollywood donuts, and gelato from Pan'e Dolci Italian Bakery, all very good.  We bought wine for carry on at the Greenwise market just a few blocks from the hotel.

 

Embarkation:  We had 12:00 check-in so got Uber XL from hotel to pier since it was 4 of us with 8 bags. Fare was about $30.  We arrived around 11:30 and explained that we were early and looked for 12 o’clock line but were told to proceed to check in.  We were on the ship in 15 minutes.

 

Cabin: My wife and I were travelling with my son and his wife.  We had adjoining Concierge cabins on deck 12 in cabins 2214 and 2223. The cabin itself was as expected.  We did not feel cramped and the size of the verandah was fine. 

We had the cabin steward remove the panel between the cabins on the verandah.

My wife and I have cruised many times in aft-facing cabins and love the view.  We wanted our son and his wife to experience that.  Our decision to book deck 12 was based mostly on the deck being covered.  The other aft cabins are partially covered.  We did not want to be sitting in full sun. We knew from reviews that deck 12 has noise from the chairs in the OVC above but most reviews said it was not a big problem.  We all disagree; it was nosy most of the time.  The last 36 hours of the cruise was very rough.  The ship creaked and rolled like it was some old rust bucket.  The sea didn’t appear to be that rough.

 

Condition of the ship:  The ship appears to be in excellent condition.  Clean and well appointed. 

 

Staff:  Very hard working and friendly.

 

Dining:  We ate breakfast and lunch in the OVC most days.  The food there was disappointing.  The selection was okay, but was bland and often not hot when it should be.  We had most dinner meals in the MDR except one evening in the Tuscan Grill.  Like the OVC, the MDR food was bland for my tastes.  I will say though that my wife is a vegetarian and she liked her meals in both the OVC and the MDR.  The Tuscan Grill was very good.  We had anytime dining option for the MDR and the first and second nights we arrived around 6:30 and were told there would be a 15 minute wait.  We were given pagers.  We waited 40 minutes.  Once seated the service was very slow.  I complained and was told to book an early seating time of 6pm and there would be no wait.  We did and the service improved.

 

On the 2^nd night we responded to our pager and were standing in line behind two men and two women.  The men were wearing shorts and flip flops.  The maître d' was called over and the two men were refused entry.  A heated discussion developed as the men in shorts argued that they were being disrespected.  The maître d was firm and the men and women left.   One of the women returned and was very angry and made some nasty remarks and obscene gestures.  Security was called.  Later as we were leaving the dining room we saw the two men dressed in nice suits as they made their way back to the MDR.

 

Entertainment: We attended three shows, none of which was very good in our opinion.

 

Ports of call: Nassau, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.   We’ve been to all of these numerous times in the past so nothing of interest for us.  We walked around some but mainly enjoyed the ship with fewer people.

 

Oh, a word of caution.  On Friday evening after dinner I started feeling some gastrointestinal distress.  I had brought a few pepto bismol tablets with us but used them all so went looking for some to buy Saturday morning.  I couldn’t find them for sale so asked around and was told to go to the “pharmacy” on deck 2.  Well there is no pharmacy, just medical.  When I asked for some pepto the nurse asked about my symptoms and had me fill out a lengthy questionnaire followed by quarantine for the last day.  My advice: unless you think you’re having a heart attack keep your mouth shut.

[Pickels]

Thanks Twentyknots for your review.  We will be on the Reflection in a couple of weeks, can't wait.  It can be very upsetting when people (shorts/flip-flops in MDR] don't abide by the rules.  That can ruin your evening.  And thanks for the review on the Riverside Hotel.  We will be staying in the tower for a couple nights re-cruise.  And thanks for the early MDR seating.  We appreciate you taking time to write a review!

[horseymike]

Thanks for your review 

[Shep_Proudfoot]

I was on this cruise and it was a B for me. The ship, staff, embarkment, specialty dining (except The Porch) and cabins were all great. The included dining, entertainment, excursions and ports (especially Nassau) not so much. 

[SusieAV8R]

On 2/7/2023 at 7:47 AM, twentyknots said:

Reflection cruise review January 29-Feb 5, 2023

Overall I gave the cruise a C+, the others a B-. 

 

Pre cruise Riverside Hotel Fort Lauderdale:  Older hotel but has charm.  We stayed one night in the classic section which was old and small but adequate for a short stay.  If I were staying longer I think I’d book the newer tower section.  The area around the hotel is what makes this place special.  Great for people watching, shopping, eating and drinking.  We ate at the Big City Tavern for lunch, Gran Forno Pronto for dinner and JJ’s for breakfast.  We had cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory, donuts from Hollywood donuts, and gelato from Pan'e Dolci Italian Bakery, all very good.  We bought wine for carry on at the Greenwise market just a few blocks from the hotel.

 

Embarkation:  We had 12:00 check-in so got Uber XL from hotel to pier since it was 4 of us with 8 bags. Fare was about $30.  We arrived around 11:30 and explained that we were early and looked for 12 o’clock line but were told to proceed to check in.  We were on the ship in 15 minutes.

 

Cabin: My wife and I were travelling with my son and his wife.  We had adjoining Concierge cabins on deck 12 in cabins 2214 and 2223. The cabin itself was as expected.  We did not feel cramped and the size of the verandah was fine. 

We had the cabin steward remove the panel between the cabins on the verandah.

My wife and I have cruised many times in aft-facing cabins and love the view.  We wanted our son and his wife to experience that.  Our decision to book deck 12 was based mostly on the deck being covered.  The other aft cabins are partially covered.  We did not want to be sitting in full sun. We knew from reviews that deck 12 has noise from the chairs in the OVC above but most reviews said it was not a big problem.  We all disagree; it was nosy most of the time.  The last 36 hours of the cruise was very rough.  The ship creaked and rolled like it was some old rust bucket.  The sea didn’t appear to be that rough.

 

Condition of the ship:  The ship appears to be in excellent condition.  Clean and well appointed. 

 

Staff:  Very hard working and friendly.

 

Dining:  We ate breakfast and lunch in the OVC most days.  The food there was disappointing.  The selection was okay, but was bland and often not hot when it should be.  We had most dinner meals in the MDR except one evening in the Tuscan Grill.  Like the OVC, the MDR food was bland for my tastes.  I will say though that my wife is a vegetarian and she liked her meals in both the OVC and the MDR.  The Tuscan Grill was very good.  We had anytime dining option for the MDR and the first and second nights we arrived around 6:30 and were told there would be a 15 minute wait.  We were given pagers.  We waited 40 minutes.  Once seated the service was very slow.  I complained and was told to book an early seating time of 6pm and there would be no wait.  We did and the service improved.

 

On the 2^nd night we responded to our pager and were standing in line behind two men and two women.  The men were wearing shorts and flip flops.  The maître d' was called over and the two men were refused entry.  A heated discussion developed as the men in shorts argued that they were being disrespected.  The maître d was firm and the men and women left.   One of the women returned and was very angry and made some nasty remarks and obscene gestures.  Security was called.  Later as we were leaving the dining room we saw the two men dressed in nice suits as they made their way back to the MDR.

 

Entertainment: We attended three shows, none of which was very good in our opinion.

 

Ports of call: Nassau, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.   We’ve been to all of these numerous times in the past so nothing of interest for us.  We walked around some but mainly enjoyed the ship with fewer people.

 

Oh, a word of caution.  On Friday evening after dinner I started feeling some gastrointestinal distress.  I had brought a few pepto bismol tablets with us but used them all so went looking for some to buy Saturday morning.  I couldn’t find them for sale so asked around and was told to go to the “pharmacy” on deck 2.  Well there is no pharmacy, just medical.  When I asked for some pepto the nurse asked about my symptoms and had me fill out a lengthy questionnaire followed by quarantine for the last day.  My advice: unless you think you’re having a heart attack keep your mouth shut.

I agree.  Keep your mouth shut, unless it is severe food poisoning like I had on our pre-covid X cruise to Bermuda!!  (Yes, I contracted it on board, then waited 8 hours longer than I should 😞. I was told to stay in our stateroom for 24 hours with a soft food diet........now all would default to covid!!  😞 )

[volk904]

I am hoping everyone disappointed in the food let’s Celebrity know in their post cruise reply.   We are going on the Beyond in 3 weeks.  I understand they have cost issues but believe they should just increase the cruise cost a bit to improve the food and menu. 

[kollegekreed]

Lmao. I can’t believe people still think someone wearing flip cops in any way affects their vacation. Good lord. 

[Honolulu Blue]

@twentyknots:  Thank you for your review.  I'm sorry you had to witness those disturbances in the MDR.  Advice noted re: illness.

[Wakepatrol]

5 hours ago, kollegekreed said:

Lmao. I can’t believe people still think someone wearing flip cops in any way affects their vacation. Good lord. 

Have you seen some of these toenails?

[twentyknots]

5 hours ago, kollegekreed said:

Lmao. I can’t believe people still think someone wearing flip cops in any way affects their vacation. Good lord. 

I dont think anyone in line for dinner that night cared or complained.  The maître d' who was only doing his job, enforcing the dress code clearly posted. 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

8 hours ago, SusieAV8R said:

I agree.  Keep your mouth shut, unless it is severe food poisoning like I had on our pre-covid X cruise to Bermuda!!  (Yes, I contracted it on board, then waited 8 hours longer than I should 😞. I was told to stay in our stateroom for 24 hours with a soft food diet........now all would default to covid!!  😞 )

 

Actually GI-related quarantine is to prevent the spread of norovirus and would/should have happened even before COVID.

[onespots]

After 15 cruises with Celebrity, I have never witnessed  a maitre d  enforce a dress code in the main dinning room. The Formal night or Gala or whatever it is called encourages guests to dress a little better for that evening. Yet I have never seen anyone turned away. Guests have other options to dine, & should use them if they wish not to be properly attired. The most casual dinning I have experienced is on the Alaska cruises. I completely understand why many people would dine in the same outfits they wore on their excursion. However, I don't think shorts should be allowed at dinner on any occasion.

This is totally my opinion & likely upset others.

 

Happy Travels,  John