Live from the Deep Blue Sea on Reflection (Nov 25 - Dec 3)

[81Zoomie]

Disembarkation Day.

 

We were the first ones in the port and nestled into slip 19.  It doesn’t get any closer to the Palm parking garage than this!  It’s time to vacate our room.  This is always the least fun part.  Hopefully we have the immigration facial recognition and customs process all go smoothly. I will finish with a final review when we get home.  

[SuzyL]

Thank you for sharing your trip. Our daughter and new son-in-law were on the ship celebrating their honeymoon. It was fun to follow along with your great review. 

[81Zoomie]

Our morning began unexpectedly early.  Our Apple devices did not all synch up to the time change Friday.  DH set an alarm this morning for 6:30… or so he thought.  He selected a 5:30 on his iPad.  When the alarm went off he figured it was 5:30 and told me to go back to sleep.  That was not really possible this morning.  After laying there for an hour… he told me it was 5:30 again. Really???  Apparently the first alarm sounded at 4:30 ⏰😳😴 Needless to say we are a bit tired 🥱🥱

We walked through the Oceanview to grab some breakfast about 6:30.  There were a lot of people doing the same.  It was nice to be able to eat breakfast with my DH and Bro.

 

Self disembarkation began at 7:30.  The line looked quite long.  We were in group 4 and called just about 8:00.  Found our bags, passed the facial recognition screen, and we were out the door.  Very easy! It was a short walk to the Palm parking garage and we were on our way at 8:18.  Traffic was very light since it was Sunday.  Safely home before noon.  Our food reduction and water intake increase went into effect immediately!

 

A couple Celebrity hints follow.  A few folding cube containers help keep items in the overhead organized.  Magnet hooks help you stay uncluttered, hang hats, and dry clothes.  The walls hold them, but the ceilings work better.  Bring a night light or small battery tea light for the bathroom.  We like to bring our own liquid hand soap.  The bars get mushy.  Bring a reusable water bottle.  Bring a Euro plug adapter to have more outlet availability.  If you want to relay staff kudos, or anything that needs to be addressed (needs attention) tell someone on board.

 

A few closing thoughts.  As I said in the beginning, we are veteran cruisers on several lines and Elite on Celebrity.  We were in Aqua on this cruise.  We have been reading about the recent cuts in service and quality on Celebrity.  My assessment, and you may agree or disagree, is that in general things were better than I expected.  Granted, not the same in every way as pre Covid, but not awful either.  Our stateroom, while not revolutionized, was in very good shape.  The ship appeared to be in excellent condition.  The Captain mentioned a dry dock in 2026 and he said, “We need Retreat upgrades”.  The ship appeared to be very full.  Most chairs on the outdoor decks were taken at peak times.  The staff was constantly cleaning, gathering towels, offering drinks.  The only unusually musty odor was entering the theater on deck 4 port side.  Other than that no odd, strong, sewer odors anywhere that I smelled.  All the public toilets were very clean and in service.  For the ladies - the paper seat liner containers were empty everywhere I checked.  Restrooms were all stocked with the folded cloth towels.  We had possibly the best room steward ever.  He met our every need with a smile.  We were always able to get a drink in a reasonable amount of time.  The pours were quite liberal.  There was live music that rotated about the ship.  It was in the shows, the atrium, the Ensemble Bar, the pool area.  The entertainment was very good.  They were not broadway shows, but it was entertaining.  You could get barista style coffees at multiple venues.  The S-Class gyms are my favorite at sea.  The Elite and up Captains Club breakfast was a wonderful quiet way to start the day. IMHO, the Oceanview is better organized, had more seating, better flow, more choices, and more attendants than some of the other lines.  It did not feel as chaotic as in the past.  Sometimes there was an attendant squeezing sanitizer into your hands, sometimes not.  There is no smoking or vaping inside.  The housekeeping staff/room attendants/retreat hosts appear to be maxed out.  We spoke to a reputable source who indicated between 16-22 rooms per person.  There seems to be a lot of training in the dining rooms.  There were wait times in main dining (with beepers) and BLU.  The menus had a lot of poultry, pasta, and ice cream.  Cut fruit was pineapples, watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon.  Any kind of berry was scarce.  I never found oatmeal.  The quality of the meat, vegetables, sides was very inconsistent.  Some nights good, others not so good.  A filet mignon should never be difficult to cut.  One night in Tuscan the person bringing the food to the four of us had no idea who ordered what for all the courses.  Water glasses went unfilled.  In BLU a morning smoothie was delivered to the table next to us. The server never figured it out. Bro raved about main dining one night and called it a circus the next.  Premium priced wines by the glass should be available in all venues.  The classic wines were usually offered. Desserts were good, nothing over the top.  We did not take any ship tours or use the spa.  I cannot comment on the Retreat or Luminae on this cruise.  All in all we had a very nice time and would not hesitate to recommend someone consider a vacation with Celebrity.  The biggest area needing improvement is the quality and consistency of the food.  Additionally, pricing continues to increase and the value of the experience is not commensurate in all cabin categories.  This is the first cruise in many that we did not book a future cruise on board.  However, are booked through 2024 (Millennium, Edge (B2B), Constellation, and Rotterdam.  We will wait to see what looks interesting in 2025 and beyond.

 

Well, we are back in the real world.  I have laundry to attend to and mail to sort.  Dinner will be very basic… and SMALL 😁.  Thanks for following along on our cruise!

 

 

 

Edited December 3, 2023 by 81Zoomie

[cocosmum]

Thanks so much for taking the time to put all of this together😀

[81Zoomie]

6 minutes ago, cocosmum said:

Thanks so much for taking the time to put all of this together😀

I had fun.  DH was very understanding when I took time to take some pics ❤️ Glad you enjoyed it!

[hcat]

welcome back

very enjoyable review

[81Zoomie]

15 minutes ago, hcat said:

welcome back

very enjoyable review

Thanks so much!

[imlulu]

Thank you for taking the time from your vacation and providing a review. Your review was straightforward and gave the reader a good idea of your experience. We look forward to cruising on Reflection in a few weeks. 

[81Zoomie]

46 minutes ago, imlulu said:

Thank you for taking the time from your vacation and providing a review. Your review was straightforward and gave the reader a good idea of your experience. We look forward to cruising on Reflection in a few weeks. 

Have a great cruise!

[81Zoomie]

The day after.

 

Really back to reality with oatmeal and berries for breakfast.

 

Until next time, Bon Voyage and safe travels to all!

[Maisyboo]

Terrific review and accompanying photos .95 days until we board the Reflection your posts just made it seem close and more real.Did you happen to notice if Celebrity has a wine package to purchase once on board?.  

[hcat]

On 12/4/2023 at 2:45 PM, 81Zoomie said:

The day after.

 

Really back to reality with oatmeal and berries for breakfast.

 

Until next time, Bon Voyage and safe travels to all!

looks good to me!

[81Zoomie]

1 hour ago, Maisyboo said:

Terrific review and accompanying photos .95 days until we board the Reflection your posts just made it seem close and more real.Did you happen to notice if Celebrity has a wine package to purchase once on board?.  

I’m glad you enjoyed my recap. I don’t recall ever seeing wine packages on Celebrity like HAL has.  The best wine by the glass selection on the Reflection is in Cellar Masters.  We frequently grabbed a glass to go before dinner.  I have read on other threads that Celebrity has just raised the price of many wines by the glass.  Some have increased beyond the premium package price limit.