Itchy&Scratchy

We were in an inside cabin for 4 (8149) which is located in the forward section of the ship. I was worried that due to the smaller ship size and cabin location we would experience seasickness, so I brought copious amounts of meclizine with us, but we felt very little movement and weren't seasick at all. Yay! I really liked it that we could drop off our carry on luggage and 3 12-packs of soda in the cabin before the rooms were ready for us. The cabin was great, and it had a pullman bed for our kiddo, which he loved. Our cabin attendant was terrific and kept the room immaculately clean. Here are some photos of the cabin for those who haven't yet traveled on Reflection: The bathroom was roomy, water temp and pressure was great. Our sink made a funny sound after the water drained. No funny smells. We usually bring our own toiletries since our kid usually breaks out in hives from using ship stuff. This time it was my poor husband who broke out in hives after using the provided body wash. ETA: the only gripe we had was the minibar-fridge temperature. It was a cooler at best. Kept the sodas at barely below room temp. We asked the cabin attendant to empty out the minibar and used it for our sodas.

our kid once again loved sleeping on the pullman bed. He just turned 13 and is the size of a small adult (5'5 and 120#).

reporting: we went to the beach in front of Divi Phoenix hotel and, when asked nicely, the hotel employee simply gave us the password for wifi.

We've just had a great first cruise with Celebrity! We traveled on an 8 day ABC island itinerary on Reflection, with our kid who turned 13 right before the cruise. I will post photos of all the dailies, menus, MDR and buffet food, and cabin pics. Please bear with me since it's a lot of images and info, and I came back to a rather large work backlog. 🙂 And don't forget - it's tax time, and I haven't filed the taxes yet. We started our journey the day before the cruise, flying on Spirit and staying at the Embassy Suites next to the airport. Took an uber to the hotel (no free shuttle available). I have been forewarned about the condition of the hotel rooms, so I wasn't unpleasantly surprised. It was the cheapest hotel I could find in the area, and beggars can't be choosers, especially during spring break. The room was rather run down and very dated, but clean, and there were no visible bed bugs. Our windows and balcony, unfortunately, had the view and the smell of the giant hotel dumpster. The front desk clerk told me that the renovations were starting in April. We had a nice dinner at Outback which is 1 minute walk away, and I was very sorry to have all the leftovers, but no use for them. The free breakfast was great - made to order omelets, cereal, coffee, muffins, fruit, pepsi, juices, etc. The beds were uncomfortable and very small, imho, but it is what it is. The location was superb, and we loved having both Publix and TJMaxx right next to the hotel, since we forgot a couple of clothing items at home, and wanted to bring soda onboard. We shopped in the morning before the cruise, and it was great. Got Dr Pepper (apparently, none on board), Diet Coke and Mountain Dew in blue raspberry flavor. Saved a lot of money, since one can of soda onboard is $4+20% grats. So grateful for this board, since it's where I learned that X allows you to carry on soda. Would definitely stay here again, especially after the renovations, if the price is more favorable than other hotels'. Took an uber to the port in the morning (around $20-25).

Last week we sailed on Reflection with our just-turned-13 DS, and the kids in the 13-17 club looked much older than him. We've only seen one other kid his age in the club, but neither he, nor my son stuck around. We've seen a few groups of kids of similar age running around, but I think they were cruising together. Other kids appeared super extroverted and were running around in a group doing digital scavenger hunt and other activities together. Mine's an extreme introvert when with strangers, so it was a no go for him. I don't know but my kid says they checked his name that one time he stayed in the club to play some video games.

we have received superb service in a lowly inside cabin on Reflection last week. The cabin was super-duper clean as well. This was our first X cruise.

wait, what?

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/386-florida-departures/

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have you tried introducing daily magnesium supplements? they do wonders for leg cramps and spasms, constipation and sleeplessness.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/317-east-coast-departures/

you mean to tell us that your son's college aged GF is not mature enough not to buy jewelry on the ship at someone else's expense? Have your son use his own credit card for all their purchases on the folio/onboard account (assign it either at check-in if on different reservations or at GS).

me before every cruise because I don't condition myself:

oh, so I am only 20???? Yay! Why does my back hurt so much, though?

June 1 for us! And I booked her again for summer 2025.

like me and my hubs. We are just a hair short of 50. And our teen kid. some of it is very good, indeed. I am so tired of Princess playing Sinatra and the like all the time. Thankfully, on our last cruise on Enchanted we were super pleasantly surprised with much more modern performances and music. we are not luxurious people, but we do like good food and a clean, well maintained ship. And a relaxing atmosphere. So, we are looking forward to experiencing what X has to offer. I will even bring my 70+ yo parents with us next year. Now, MSC definitely targets a much younger, family audience, but they have barely met our expectations. And talk about nickel and diming - $5 per extra entree in MDR and $5 for a soft serve cone which has traditionally been free on other cruise lines... Also, didn't we just discuss all of that in this thread? https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2991149-are-you-new-to-celebrity-if-so-what-did-you-think/

how much were umbrellas and chairs, and was there wifi?

we usually either tell the driver when to come and get us to take us back to the ship, or he gives us his phone number and we ask the bar staff to call them from a local phone about 30-45 minutes before we want to leave. yes

how do I match my husband's RCI status to Celebrity Captain's Club? I did it for myself several months ago and I don't remember how. I've just enrolled him into the Captain's Club.

he or she will NOT have a classic drink package...

oh, in that case that'd be great. There will be 5 of us, with a somewhat immobile dad, so the expenses for getting 5 to the beach and entrance fees certainly add up very quickly. I hope we get to go to the Mahogany Bay. 🙂

what's the difference between these two? We've been to Roatan a couple of times, but I am not even sure what particular port we were at. I think it was Coxen Hole both times. We just took a taxi to the beach (Infinity bay beach club in West Bay - it's next to Tabyana beach). We are going to be in Roatan again this June and at this time it's supposed to be Mahogany Bay port, but what's the difference? What's better about Mahogany Bay port?

unless the "little thing" was not still not living together or not being married after 10 years of dating, I'd rethink this relationship all together.

or he can go by himself. Why waste a cruise? I have read on this subforum that you can change the passenger up to 48 hours before the cruise.

I don't think so. My other 2025 cruise costs more now than at the time of booking.