Go-Bucks!

I've used the Early Bird option for years - love it. Used to cost $10 but now is $12.50. Still a great deal since I never need to do the old "exactly at 24 hr before boarding check in" routine. Makes less stress, especially when there's a sea day for the last day.

 

The sooner you book your flight and order the Early Bird option, the better boarding position you get. I booked last weeks flights back in November and I was A32 and A25.

I said I would never again cruise Carnival due to their too loud music. I think "X" is stoopid for copying Carnival on this. I love music of all kinds, but not at levels that are injurious to my ears. I may end up calling HAL my home cruiseline if Celebrity morphs into a "Carn-ebrity."

 

Just to clarify - the loud music was being played by a live band in the grand foyer in the evening and could not be heard in my cabin which was near the foyer area. It was not piped in music being played all over the ship. The ship was very quiet during the daytime except for the pool area. Quiet music was played in the buffet. The band at night was the only loud music I ever heard. Definitely don't avoid Celebrity because of just one band at night in the foyer.

while this is not an amenity we would want to use again, I have to give a plug for Princess medical facilities.

 

 

Interesting that you brought this up. I'm a nurse and so is my friend who I travel with. We've visited the medical facilities on Carnival and Princess before (being a patient once on the Emerald Princess) and they were very good.

 

But, unfortunately, we really had a chance to visit the Medical Center on the Celebrity Reflection last week! My friend started feeling nauseous as we were arriving at the ship and by the time we were checking in, she was having severe abdominal pains and needed a wheelchair. We got to our cabin and she laid down on the bed. Soon she was crying and screaming in pain. I called the nurse in the medical center and we went down to see the doctor.

 

The doctor was fantastic!! He examined her, took xrays, ran blood work, had an IV started, did an EKG and finally gave her some pain meds after correctly diagnosing her with pancreatitis! They called the Emergency Squad (we were still in Miami) and she was debarked from the ship and taken to a hospital in Miami. This was all done in less than 2 hours.

 

Sadly, I had to go on the cruise by myself and she was in the hospital for several days. She is improving and was able to return home a couple days ago. But I was amazed at how well equipped the medical center is and how good the doctor was.

 

Biggest lesson learned by my friend - she didn't have travel insurance (I did) and is expecting a medical bill from the cruiseline of about $1,000! Celebrity did say they will give her a partial cruise credit since it was an emergency, but haven't said how much.

Just curious, is it possible for you to describe why you thought the Buffet was better on Celebrity? Was it the selection, the presentation, the preparation or all three?

 

 

A combo of all 3, plus a nice, spacious layout.

 

Selection: Stations for lunch and dinner included salad bar, other types of salads, breads/cheeses, desserts, vegetables/potatoes, pasta/toppings/sauces, pizza, hot foods, grilled foods, mexican, indian curries, seafoods, and sandwichs. For breakfast, eggs/omelets, hot foods, cereals, breads, English breakfast foods, and fruits.

 

There are 2 large beverage stations (on each side of the buffet) with self-serve drinks. Iced tea, juices, lemonade plus coffees and a large tea selection.

 

The hot foods were always hot and fresh. Many things were custom cooked while you wait (grilled meats, chicken, fish, eggs, and omelets). When the foods got low, they were replaced quickly. A worker was always at each station to help. Salad bar was fresh and had a large selection of toppings and dressings.

 

The "Il Secondo Bacio" was at the buffet. They served alcoholic drinks and a server came around to take orders if you wanted one or you could go up and get one yourself.

 

There were large and small square plates along with large bowls. Silverware wrapped in cloth napkins were located in several places around the buffet.

 

I thought the quality/taste of the food was as good as the MDR, but not as "gourmet"-like. It was delicious and I was not disappointed in eating there. If this was the only place I could eat, it would have been fine. **Note: I'm not a foodie.** ;)

I am concerned about what I recently read about very loud music being pumped throughout the ship, ostensibly to attract a younger more hip crowd. You confirmed this and frankly, thats a deal-breaker for me. If that issue doesn't get rectified, I'll never book Celebrity.

 

 

Just to clarify - the loud music was being played by a live band in the grand foyer in the evening and could not be heard in my cabin which was near the foyer area. It was not piped in music being played all over the ship. The ship was very quiet during the daytime except for the pool area. Quiet music was played in the buffet. The band at night was the only loud music I ever heard. Definitely don't avoid Celebrity because of just one band at night in the foyer.

Doesn't Celebrity allow agents to give "OBC" instead of discounting? At least they did the last I checked.

 

 

I got a little OBC from the agency but no cruise discount. With Princess, they give me a large discount as well as usually twice or more as much OBC as I got for this last cruise.

first, we had a rough sea day to start things off on our week, and since some folks do not come prepared for sea-sickness, someone had from the aroma clearly vomited in the hallway on the way to our cabin

 

Wow, I was on the same sailing as you but the weather couldn't have been more different. The first sea day was definitely not a rough sea day!! I keep a journal when on vacation - here's part of the entry for Sunday 3/9: "Woke up early because the sun was shining into the room. Beautiful sunny warm morning with calm seas. . . went to breakfast in the buffet. . . sat outside to watch the wake and enjoy the lovely day." Friday 3/14 was very windy with choppy seas starting in the middle of the night and continuing until about 6pm - maybe this is the day you were thinking of.

 

Second, and this is nothing like the above issue at all, but NO towel animals the whole cruise!!? We had a lovely aqua class balcony cabin, but never had a towel animal the whole cruise. This is one aspect I must admit in my many cruises I really enjoy! But I guess X doesn't do this, and the missing whimsy was too bad... can't we be elegant and whimsical??

 

I didn't realize that Celebrity made towel animals. Guess if you really want them each day then you might want to try sailing on Carnival.

the same idea in the Wheelhouse Bar for a traditional English lunch (delicious!) with purchase of a drink.

 

 

One small correction: the Pub Lunch (usually in the Wheelhouse Bar, but sometimes in other venues on different ships) is free - no drink purchase necessary. Pub Lunch is served on sea days. :)

Just returned from my first Celebrity cruise on the Reflection. Had a 1A balcony room on the hump (great location). Wanted to share my thoughts on the experience as compared to my experiences on Princess. Granted, this was just one time on Celebrity vs. 6 Princess cruises, but here are some insights on a number of areas. Overall, I like both cruiselines and will cruise on either again. Some specifics, though, are:

 

 

Liked these on Celebrity

1) Large, deep covered balcony (had the triple sized one)

2) Roomy, well designed bathroom with large shower with doors and decent amount of storage space

3) Extremely comfortable beds and pillows

4) Great buffet layout (stations) that didn't seem congested, even when busy. Lots of seating including lots of outdoor seating with no smoking allowed.

5) Excellent buffet food - far better than Princess. Same quality as MDR.

6) Officers/staff were very visible and talked with passengers, asking if you were having a good time and was there anything they could help with

7) Very friendly crew who greeted passengers whenever they saw you

8) A covered "welcome station" at the gangway that had icy cold washcloths, water and punch, and seats to sit down to relax a minute before reboarding

9) MDR food was very good - about the same as Princess but I felt some of it was better, except for the bread - bread is much better on Princess

10) Nicer balcony floor - it was a wood laminate that was much more comfortable to stand on than Princess' blue cutout matting

11) The free drinks include lemonade and juice, although the orange juice was very watery

12) Many more TV stations, but much fewer movies - and the movies they do have were mostly violent R-rated

13) Persian Gardens (same thing as Princess' Thermal Suites) - many more hot stone beds (16) that were nice and hot, 2 different type of saunas, one aromatic steam room, and a cold room (25 degrees F, felt great). And each of these rooms could seat 7-15 people each!

14) Bigger and more elevators (8 of them are glass)

15) Very easy to get around the ship. No trying to figure out which elevators to use to get to certain places on certain decks.

16) Ship did not feel crowded despite having 3,000 pax

17) Very little "junk mail" delivered to cabin

18) Escargot is on the Every Night menu in the MDR! Yumm - they were the best ones I've ever had!

19) Lovely large MDR

20) Guest Services desk much less crowded and had more crew to help

21) Very few smoking areas and did not smell smoke anywhere. Nice to have a smoke free casino too.

 

 

Don't like as well on Celebrity

1) Balcony cabin was larger than the same on Princess, but cost more. It was much narrower than a Princess minisuite (it had a very hard sofa), but cost about the same as a minisuite. I think a Princess minisuite gives more space for the money. Decor was OK.

2) Extremely little storage space! This was a big problem. Only 3 drawers, a shelf over the beds that was very high for a woman to reach, and a small closet with no shelf. I had to keep some stuff in my suitcase under the bed.

3) Afternoon tea isn't really afternoon tea. It was just the same goodies available to pick up in the buffet. You just get it yourself, make yourself some tea at the beverage station and sit in the buffet seating to eat it. And rock music was playing! Definitely not real "afternoon tea."

4) Have to prepay for excursions.

5) My balcony rail was very worn and rough with lots of splinters sticking up. Couldn't rest my arms or hands on it.

6) Very few daily activities compared to Princess.

7) Only 2 pools and they were both CROWDED (packed out) by 9am every sea day! Also, all the other lounge seating in other areas was too. Much easier to just lay out on my own balcony.

8) Only a few movies were shown in the Central lounge during the entire week. Princess has many (and better) movies everyday, including MUTS.

9) It was nice to have a covered balcony, but the "covering" was metal and it reverberated the neighbors conversation so it was often very noisy while sitting out there.

10) Very loud music in the foyer each night

 

 

Like on Princess

1) In minisuite (which is what I usually have), there is a nice big tub and large bathroom. Have a clothesline that helps with drying bathing suits or other clothing.

2) Afternoon tea - a classy event

3) Very good MDR food

4) Crew helps pax in buffet to get drinks and silverware. At dinner, there are tableclothes and it feels classier

5) More daily activities

6) Wider cabins

7) Lots of storage space in cabins

8) Don't have to prepay for excursions

9) MUTS and daily movies - many are very current ones

10) More pools that are less crowded

11) Lovely atrium/piazza with nice venues (esp IC) that makes sitting there a relaxing experience

12) Better loyalty perks

13) Better FCC program (although not as good as it was until recently)

14) Self-serve laundromats on each stateroom deck (and cheap too). Really a great perk for long cruises.

 

 

Don't like as well on Princess

1) Hard, uncomfortable beds and pillows - even the foam topper doesn't help. In all fairness, though, I heard they're replacing the beds so maybe that will help.

2) Buffet food that seems like banquet quality food to me. Dinner is a bit better, but still not MDR quality. Very small and crowded food area with too little seating. Very little outdoor seating and what is there is the smoking area. Plus, there is smoking allowed on a pool deck near the buffet and people have to walk through it to get in. Yuck.

 

 

I think prices are better on Princess, plus my travel agent gets me 15-18% discount so it makes the prices even better. Celebrity doesn't allow discounting.

 

 

I read on another thread that some people thought that the free drink package was causing others to be drunk, but I saw nothing like that. There was a very diverse demographic because it was spring break week. Not alot of elderly, mostly middle-agers (many with older children), and quite a few younger families with small children. Teenagers had basically taken over the Hideaway and often were a bit roudy. This is probably just because of school break.

 

 

Again, overall Celebrity provided a nice cruise and I'm willing to sail them again. Princess is still my favorite, but frankly any vacation where I don't have to work, cook, or clean house is a GREAT time! :D ;)

Just returned from my first Celebrity cruise on the Reflection. Had a 1A balcony room on the hump (great location). Wanted to share my thoughts on the experience as compared to my experiences on Princess. Granted, this was just one time on Celebrity vs. 6 Princess cruises, but here are some insights on a number of areas. Overall, I like both cruiselines and will cruise on either again. Some specifics, though, are:

 

Liked these on Celebrity

1) Large, deep covered balcony (had the triple sized one)

2) Roomy, well designed bathroom with large shower with doors and decent amount of storage space

3) Extremely comfortable beds and pillows

4) Great buffet layout (stations) that didn't seem congested, even when busy. Lots of seating including lots of outdoor seating with no smoking allowed.

5) Excellent buffet food - far better than Princess. Same quality as MDR.

6) Officers/staff were very visible and talked with passengers, asking if you were having a good time and was there anything they could help with

7) Very friendly crew who greeted passengers whenever they saw you

8) A covered "welcome station" at the gangway that had icy cold washcloths, water and punch, and seats to sit down to relax a minute before reboarding

9) MDR food was very good - about the same as Princess but I felt some of it was better, except for the bread - bread is much better on Princess

10) Nicer balcony floor - it was a wood laminate that was much more comfortable to stand on than Princess' blue cutout matting

11) The free drinks include lemonade and juice, although the orange juice was very watery

12) Many more TV stations, but much fewer movies - and the movies they do have were mostly violent R-rated

13) Persian Gardens (same thing as Princess' Thermal Suites) - many more hot stone beds (16) that were nice and hot, 2 different type of saunas, one aromatic steam room, and a cold room (25 degrees F, felt great). And each of these rooms could seat 7-15 people each!

14) Bigger and more elevators (8 of them are glass)

15) Very easy to get around the ship. No trying to figure out which elevators to use to get to certain places on certain decks.

16) Ship did not feel crowded despite having 3,000 pax

17) Very little "junk mail" delivered to cabin

18) Escargot is on the Every Night menu in the MDR! Yumm - they were the best ones I've ever had!

19) Lovely large MDR

20) Guest Services desk much less crowded and had more crew to help

21) Very few smoking areas and did not smell smoke anywhere. Nice to have a smoke free casino too.

 

Don't like as well on Celebrity

1) Balcony cabin was larger than the same on Princess, but cost more. It was much narrower than a Princess minisuite (it had a very hard sofa), but cost about the same as a minisuite. I think a Princess minisuite gives more space for the money. Decor was OK.

2) Extremely little storage space! This was a big problem. Only 3 drawers, a shelf over the beds that was very high for a woman to reach, and a small closet with no shelf. I had to keep some stuff in my suitcase under the bed.

3) Afternoon tea isn't really afternoon tea. It was just the same goodies available to pick up in the buffet. You just get it yourself, make yourself some tea at the beverage station and sit in the buffet seating to eat it. And rock music was playing! Definitely not real "afternoon tea."

4) Have to prepay for excursions.

5) My balcony rail was very worn and rough with lots of splinters sticking up. Couldn't rest my arms or hands on it.

6) Very few daily activities compared to Princess.

7) Only 2 pools and they were both CROWDED (packed out) by 9am every sea day! Also, all the other lounge seating in other areas was too. Much easier to just lay out on my own balcony.

8) Only a few movies were shown in the Central lounge during the entire week. Princess has many (and better) movies everyday, including MUTS.

9) It was nice to have a covered balcony, but the "covering" was metal and it reverberated the neighbors conversation so it was often very noisy while sitting out there.

10) Very loud music in the foyer each night

 

Like on Princess

1) In minisuite (which is what I usually have), there is a nice big tub and large bathroom. Have a clothesline that helps with drying bathing suits or other clothing.

2) Afternoon tea - a classy event

3) Very good MDR food

4) Crew helps pax in buffet to get drinks and silverware. At dinner, there are tableclothes and it feels classier

5) More daily activities

6) Wider cabins

7) Lots of storage space in cabins

8) Don't have to prepay for excursions

9) MUTS and daily movies - many are very current ones

10) More pools that are less crowded

11) Lovely atrium/piazza with nice venues (esp IC) that makes sitting there a relaxing experience

12) Better loyalty perks

13) Better FCC program (although not as good as it was until recently)

14) Self-serve laundromats on each stateroom deck (and cheap too). Really a great perk for long cruises.

 

Don't like as well on Princess

1) Hard, uncomfortable beds and pillows - even the foam topper doesn't help. In all fairness, though, I heard they're replacing the beds so maybe that will help.

2) Buffet food that seems like banquet quality food to me. Dinner is a bit better, but still not MDR quality. Very small and crowded food area with too little seating. Very little outdoor seating and what is there is the smoking area. Plus, there is smoking allowed on a pool deck near the buffet and people have to walk through it to get in. Yuck.

 

I think prices are better on Princess, plus my travel agent gets me 15-18% discount so it makes the prices even better. Celebrity doesn't allow discounting.

 

I read on another thread that some people thought that the free drink package was causing others to be drunk, but I saw nothing like that. There was a very diverse demographic because it was spring break week. Not alot of elderly, mostly middle-agers (many with older children), and quite a few younger families with small children. Teenagers had basically taken over the Hideaway and often were a bit roudy. This is probably just because of school break.

 

Again, overall Celebrity provided a nice cruise and I'm willing to sail them again. Princess is still my favorite, but frankly any vacation where I don't have to work, cook, or clean house is a GREAT time! :D ;)

I just got off the ship (Reflection). First cruise on Celebrity. I liked the comfy beds/pillows, buffet layout and food, Persian Gardens, ship didn't feel crowded, and the huge private balcony (had the triple sized one). There weren't alot of announcements, but I'm not used used to lots of them anyway. There were lots of kids but it was spring break for alot of schools.

 

The band in the foyer was very loud but I only had to hear it when walking in the hallway. There were, though, some things that I didn't like as well as other cruise lines. All in all, it was a nice ship and vacation.

We will be joining you on the reflection tomorrow. While we have never been on this ship before, we have sailed on two other Solstice class ships. In my opinion, they are simply wonderful. The Martini bar and Molecular bar are our favorites. Hope to meet you at the Martini Bar tomorrow at around 5pm. My husband will be wearing a blue golf shirt with a logo that says "The Villages" and I will have on a top that has butterflies on it.

 

 

Well, you won't find us there because neither of us drinks alcohol and we don't go to bars. We usually hang out on our balcony - prefer reading a book, relaxing and privacy. We're going on this trip to de-stress. Any cruise is a good cruise - just hope all these negative statements are from "Debbie Downer" type folks. ;)

I'll be boarding the Reflection tomorrow and, after reading so many negative posts, sure hope I won't be sorry for trying Celebrity. Lots of loud music and virtually no storage space in the cabin certainly doesn't sound like an upscale cruise ship. If it's true, I'll be glad to get back to Princess next fall where it's quiet and relaxing with tons of storage space in the cabin.

 

P.S. The OP's review has such a negative undertone that I'm trying to take it with a grain of salt. Some people just have the "glass-half-empty" attitude.

Just returned from a great cruise on the beautiful Celebrity Reflection 2/22/14 – 3/1/14

Glad you had a wonderful cruise! We're sailing on Reflection in 5 days - our first Celebrity cruise. You're review was helpful.[/SIZE]

 

MDR Dining:

We ate in the MDR on both formal nights and the food was outstanding.......started with the escargot.......

I'm also glad to hear that the MDR had good food because since I'm already paying for food, I don't want to go to specialty restaurants and pay more. I absolutely love escargot, so very happy to see that it's offered EVERY night![/SIZE]

 

Entertainment:

Kind of hit or miss.

I enjoy the Movies Under The Stars (MUTS) on Princess. We love to get comfortable on a lounger with a nice blanket to watch a "drive-in-like movie"! Too bad Celebrity doesn't have this feature.

I've had them make spinach sauteed in olive oil and roasted garlic. Yumm!

Nice looking cabin! Love the huge window. Reminds me of the 2 large windows in the Window Suite cabins. :)

I agree. Although Princess' insurance is good, it covers so little. With a third party insurance company, your transportation to/from the cruise, pre- & post-cruise stays, airfare and more are covered.

 

 

This is exactly why I haven't used Princess insurance, but get a private policy instead. Most important to me is the medical and evacuation coverage, but also want luggage and flight issues covered because I don't book travel through Princess. I use insure my trip dot com so I can see many different policies and choose the one that most fits my needs. I think the premiums are quite reasonable and are underwritten by reputable companies. Haven't had to use a policy yet (thank goodness) but it sure feels good to know that I won't lose money if there's a problem since I'm not rich and don't want to eat the cost of a trip.

Buffet also has very good museli. Seems like most all of the typical American breakfast items can be gotten in either the buffet or MDR. The IC has nice breakfast sandwiches and sometimes museli.

Could it be done with 8 single day cruises in a Suite?

 

 

Yes, in as little as 24 days of sailing if you take the 3 day cruises. A solo in suites can do it in as little as 15 days!! :eek:

 

Or if you take one day cruises, only 8 days or 5 days. Crazy.

[quote name='Coral']I have a difficult time buying this argument (fireproof) as last I knew, they still used similar furniture on suite cabin balconies.[/quote]


I've seen posters give this rather lame explanation about why loungers aren't allowed on non-suite balconies, but I figured that they didn't know that wood loungers, chairs and tables are on suite balconies so obviously the "fireproof" argument isn't valid.

We have had the extra-long minisuite balcony (9 ft. deep and 18 ft. wide) several times and could never figure out why we couldn't have a lounger - PLENTY of room! :rolleyes:

I qualify for Princess insurance (upgraded) but go with a 3rd Party insurance policy most of the time.

 

It has a much larger medical coverage. I find Princess's policy embarrassing on medical coverage.

 

It also covers me if my employers says that I can't go and I get a refund, not a cruise credit.

 

I want insurance for medical coverage and I don't think Princess's policy is adequate IMO.

 

 

I totally agree with you. I also qualify for the upgraded Princess policy, but I have always been able to get policies with better coverages from 3rd party companies. I want high levels of medical and medivac coverage, cancel for work refund, travel disruption and delay, and luggage coverages. I'm not young, but I get reasonable prices.

 

And I want my money refunded, not a cruise credit issued.

We've had the Window Suite F311 on the Caribbean Princess and it was very quiet and peaceful. Never heard anything from above or in the private hallway. The only noise we had was from the stabilizers during a couple days of rough seas, but it wasn't bad at all.

 

We love this cabin and have booked it again on the Golden. Between the lovely room and the sweet suite perks, I think you'll love it as much as we do. :D

The 'new' balcony furniture is so uncomfortable that it does impact my enjoyment of the balcony. Even with pillows, etc., I can't get comfortable. have little hope that it will be changed anytime soon.

 

 

We usually book minisuites and have experienced the same thing! I also put the bed pillows on the chair and the sofa pillows on the footstool with so-so results. I was so surprised that Princess would buy such uncomfortable furniture.

 

I'll be sailing on the Celebrity Reflection next month and I read on the Celebrity board that the balcony chairs are comfortable, but unless you book the Concierge or Aqua class balcony cabins (which we didn't) you don't get a foot rest!! The suggestion is to take a beach ball so you can blow it up to the right inflation height and use as a foot rest. Great idea! I bought one and hope it will works well. But now I think I'll also take it with me on Princess cruises to replace the foot rest. ;)

do you think it's due to the size of the ship ?

everyone says the archipelago is so awesome -

it would be a shame to miss that experience !!!

 

 

Last summer we missed docking in Stockholm (and going thru the archipelago) while on the Crown because of bad weather. Even smaller ships aren't immune from missing this port. We docked in Nynashamn and the bus ride was about 45 min. into Stockholm.

I had a very disappointing experience for the past 2 cruises. Each one took weeks and needed multiple submissions. They kept saying that they never received the paperwork, but the faxes went through successfully each time. Sure hope the next one will be better. That dept. has been a mess since Liza left. :(