TexSea

I've scanned the Celebrity Today dailies from the trip and uploaded the PDF to my Dropbox.

You can download the PDF file at https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/67289472/ReflectionEasternMed2014.pdf.

Still working on the rest of the review...

Here's a short video I took of the bubble boy at Liquid, held in the Solarium the night before Kusadasi.

[YOUTUBE]mYYwu4eXovA[/YOUTUBE]

Hi, Great review so far. We're on this cruise in August..CANNOT wait!

One question, did you get Turkish Lira for Istanbul?

Did you bring it with you of change it locally?

Maybe you used euros?

 

As yet, i've not sorted any.:confused:

I did get lira beforehand because I wasn't sure if we'd need it right away or not. If I had to do it over again, I would wait until I got there to get money from an ATM.

I noticed Euros were accepted many places with an exchange rate posted if you wanted to use them.

I completely agree with what Gordy and Tommy said about the calmness. Some days the Med looked like blue glass.

Though interestingly, one of the of the spa employees said the seas were "rough" compared to the usually calm Med. But if that's rough I'll take it!

Great review. Didn't realize this was going to be your first Celebrity cruise. Glad you had a good time.

Excellent review!! We are doing the same itinerary next week and I can't wait. Can you let us know if you had two or three formal nights and which days were formal? Also, when was the Liquid party?

 

Thanks for taking the time to share your cruise with us. :)

I will find out the Liquid day as soon as my luggage appears with my saved schedules. Lufthansa is supposed to be Fedexing our one late suitcase tomorrow.

You'll have a great time!!

Hello everyone. Just back from a fantastic June 23 Eastern Mediterranean cruise on the Reflection. This was our third time on Reflection in AquaClass and it was probably the best experience overall - the food and service were up a notch or two. I have the dailies and some Blu menus and will post them in the next few days. This part of the review is mostly about the ship experience and I'll post information about the ports later. And of course I'll try to answer any questions.

Embarkation...We dropped off our bags and after a very quick check-in we were sipping sparkling wine and making our way to Bistro on 5. It really felt good to be "home." I upgraded our classic drink package beforehand and it was correctly noted on our seapasses. The rooms ready announcement was made a little after 1:30 (I think). We went to drop off our carry-ons and our luggage was already there. So easy.

Stateroom...We were in 1578. Nice location between the two sets of elevators. Rogelio the room attendant was attentive, always with something nice to say in the hallway. Absolutely no problems with the room. After a week we happen to notice there were no flowers - not sure if it was just an oversight or a discontinued amenity. The bath products have been changed and upgraded (in my opinion) to Gilchrist & Soames. Loved the scent. Were the products changed for all rooms?

Blu…I know a lot has been said about Blu on Reflection, including comments I have made. But dining there was a pleasure every time on this cruise. I thought they had actually separated some of the tables, but my partner says they didn't. A lot has been hyped on CC about Jose and his section. All I can say is the hype is much deserved and he's well aware of his CC reputation. Our first dinner there we requested his section - in the back, behind the partition this time. He seemed to recognize us even though he had never served us. His assistant Lestari we already knew and she immediately was excited to see us. Every dinner he was warm and welcoming, ready with recommendations. I'm a vegetarian and he would give options that he thought I would like. He learned we liked spicy food and would make sure to add heat to dishes when appropriate. Even during breakfast when we weren't in his section he made a point of making sure we were taken care of. There was a misstep during the second breakfast when it seemed the servers were forgetting everything that was ordered in our section. But the personable, sweet and funny hostess Mirjanna and the manager Murat were more than willing to help out to make sure things worked. Overall the mood in Blu felt less hectic to us and I think that is due to Murat and Mirjanna. Our sommelier Fernando was just OK, more like a wine server. He never offered suggestions based on our actual meal orders. But he was attentive and quick to come to the table when we sat down. I noticed that both Jose and Lestari refilled our wine glasses sometimes. While I don't know if that's supposed to happen, I didn't care because from a customer perspective I liked it.

Bar service…excellent. Never a problem with the drink package or getting prompt service at any bar. And we tried them all at busy and less busy times. On this cruise the Molecular Bar (Barbara and George) and the Ensemble Bar (Nigel) were particularly outstanding. All servers seemed very aware of the packages and made sure to check your card before serving a premium drink. Saw very few slips being signed.

Cellar Masters…We never spent much time there before. However, we found out that Stephania, our favorite sommelier from Blu, was now working there, so we used Cellar Masters a bit more. We did a California wine tasting and the premium wine tasting there and both were a lot of fun. A few nights we popped in there before dinner to get a glass of wine to take back to Blu, much to the chagrin of the Blu sommelier. Cellar Masters does have bottled wine that you can use with the premium drink package. Or at least we did. Whenever we went in before dinner it was pretty busy. One night Cellar Masters was turned into a dance club with a small stage.

Canyon Ranch spa...On previous cruises we each have had three to four treatments so we are familiar with the AquaSpa experience and eagerly anticipated the Canyon Ranch takeover. The treatments that we had on this cruise were very good. There was no hard sell of products at the end. I was offered one product half-heartedly, I said no, and that was that. However, the experience outside the treatment room was a disorganized mess. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and hope that their customer service will improve as they gain more experience on the ship. Questions at the front desk were usually met with blank stares until they realized they should help. The treatments we had all began at least 15 minutes late. While it wasn't an issue for me personally to be anyplace else on time, other guests were agitated they would be late for their other engagements. For a massage when my name was called in the Relaxation Room another guest said that it was him. I assumed I misheard but my partner was sure it was my name. I asked someone and sure enough the therapist had taken the wrong person back who wanted a different treatment. I made an appointment for a facial consultation. First the male (yes, they have males working there now) massage therapist who was working the front desk was confused about what I was asking for and kept asking me to repeat. He claimed the aesthetician was with another client so I waited. For the fifteen minutes I waited I saw the front desk completely empty for several minutes at a time while agitated guests queued up. A young man came in for a "massage trial." The desk had no idea what he was talking about and tried to setup a massage. He left frustrated. Then four other people came in for the "thai massage tester". Why the staff didn't realize that's what he wanted I'll chalk up to a language issue I guess. After fifteen minutes no one came to get me so I walked out and we didn't schedule any future appointments. This was the smallest cruise bill ever for us so it wasn't all bad.

Persian Gardens...Relaxing as usual with a great view. No problem getting the tiled beds when we wanted. However, there were definitely chair hogs that prevented others from using them. One bed didn't work at all and another was so hot you needed at least three towels to buffer the heat. When we notified the front desk about the broken beds and the chair hog issue they were only mildly interested. The locker rooms no longer need a checked out key and use a self-setting combination. Not sure why some literature says there is a fee for using the locker rooms as anyone can just walk in.

Pool deck and solarium...busy on sea days. We could always find two chairs though. Chair hogs were out in force of course. I do wish that people would discard their towels if they weren't using the chairs anymore and the pool butlers were more aggressive about picking up used towels from chairs so that more chairs would appear available.

Oceanview Cafe...Great for a late night pizza run after the Molecular Bar. Otherwise didn't eat there.

Mast Grill...Our favorite non-Blu dining location. The long lines have been much improved with more patties being made ahead of time. However, you have to stand in line before they will put a veggie burger on the grill, which takes another ten minutes to cook. So for veggie burgers it still takes some time. The french fries are the best and kept us going back. The Mast Grill was also the scene of the only rude guest behavior we saw. I think the wait in line brings out the worst in people.

Room service...Due to early touring days we did room service breakfast twice. We ordered omelettes that seemed almost pre-made and warmed up. Disappointing but got the job done I suppose.

Specialty restaurants...Throughout the cruise we received several voicemails offering discounts. They were from the Blu hostess so I assume these were offered just to AquaClass. We did Tuscan Grille the first night at 50% off. It was our first time to eat there. We had the filet and the mushroom ravioli. The food and service were excellent. And the view from our table by the window - outstanding. Another couple we met were very good at negotiating discounts and we ended up at Murano (also our first time there) for 50% off the second formal night. I loved the attentive service there and the deliciously rich food.

Entertainment...The Momentum show was a little tedious as we had seen it twice before, but the aerialists were fun to watch again. We wish the song "Runaway" at the end would be retired - it goes on forever and ever. The featured violinist was entertaining. The ventriloquist was hilarious. We made the mistake of going to a blackjack class which emboldened us to play for real. Celebrity is a few bucks richer because of it. We were never bored or lacked things to do. Other guests commented to us about the lack of the acapella group and guest lecturers. The World Cup was a scheduled event in several areas, for better or worse.

Liquid and Indulgence...One night they turned the Solarium into a Miami-inspired club called "Liquid." I know it's been done before but this was a first for us. They had mermaids, contortionists and bubble boys. I'll post a video of the bubble boy later. It was fun to watch and a number of people were dancing. Indulgence I hadn't heard about on CC before. This was the first Indulgence scheduled for Reflection. For a $39 fee you get unlimited food and drinks for a couple of hours in a "Moulin Rouge type experience." They decorated the Ensemble Lounge and down to the restaurant courtyard with velvet curtains with staging areas for different acts. We initially made a reservation but cancelled it thinking it'd just be "stupid". A couple we met went and they enjoyed it for the most part. They said the food and drinks was pretty good and different. However, the drinks were unique to this event so the bar staff was completely overwhelmed and frustrated. Kudos to the cruise director for trying out different events.

Exiting the senses...I wish Celebrity would hire me as a proofreader. How many times did I see "Exiting the senses" instead of "Exciting the senses"? Or question marks instead of periods? Or black type on a dark purple background?

Disembarkation...Walked right off at our assigned time, luggage was there, got in our hired car to go back to Rome. So easy. Neither of us have received the end of cruise questionnaire survey.

Celebrity is a great fit for us and we love the product and the new things they are trying out.

We were on the June 23 sailing as well. We had a great time and am writing a review now.

I'm kicking myself now. I noticed a lot of work going on on the pier. Lifting big parts with cranes. I thought to myself I should take pics but didn't as we had to eat breakfast before we disembarked.

Thanks for the review. We will be sailing on Reflection in three weeks. Glad to hear everything was good!

That is a great idea. I too hope they keep it up.

Though embarkation is the only time we ever eat at Bistro on 5. Last time it was packed. But delicious.

Check out the menus at http://www.thepreismans.com/ecarib_reflection.htm.

Just did my edocs too. Had a page worth of confirmed restaurant reservations for other RCCL ships main dining rooms. And a list of Azamara Italy and France shore excursions to choose from for my Reflection eastern med cruise.

My beverage package was on there correctly, which is all I really cared about. :)

I'm guessing they revert to regular, non-AQ suites and will have access to the new suites-only dining venue.

Wow! What a great, thorough review. I will definitely be bookmarking this for our trip in June. Thank you for taking the time!

Jayson and Matt here from San Antonio. Anyone else? Some great ports on this trip.

Here's the official press release from Celebrity's site

http://www.celebritycruises.com/aboutceleb/tabLanding.do?pagename=footer_pages_about_celebrity#footer_pages_about_celebrity_press_room_tab/aboutceleb/pressRoomDetails.do%3Fevent_date=2014-02-12&event_type=press_release&sequence_code=A&pageNumber=

It's unclear to me whether or not Blu access will remain for suite guests. I kinda hope not since a new restaurant will be created.

It depends. On what, I don't know.

On our December 2012 cruise there was a brunch on Thursday.

On our December 2013 cruise there was no brunch. However, the sailing a week or two before ours did have a brunch on one of the sea days (Thursday I think).

Someone on our roll call found a link to the dailies from a Reflection cruise last September.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8BZu-tZ9-K_bDJlUWZ0cXRzUm8/edit?pli=1

Hope this helps.

Another great review! Sorry you had such a bad breakfast experience as it's always one of our best meals.

The tableside muesli presentation that everyone on Cruise Critic seems to go nuts for was a HUGE part of the problem – it’s freaking oatmeal, why does it take you 10 minutes to decide which of 8 toppings you want in it? Also, EVERYTHING on that cart is available at the buffet – why not just go up there and make it yourself?

My favorite quote - my thoughts exactly.

Great review. I like your idea about the iPads in Cellarmasters. Reflection already uses them for art tours and Qsine so it wouldn't be too much of a leap to use them elsewhere.

Thanks!

We are excitedly planning our third Reflection cruise in the Med in June, after two Caribbean cruises. She's a great ship and you'll have a wonderful time.

I will say I was a little worried after reading the reviews/comments just prior to our December 2013 trip that I wasn't sure if we'd keep our June plans. However, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and saw no need to change our future reservation.

The black & white cookies at Cafe al Bacio.

BTW, Costco sells great fresh pretzel rolls.

They will also provide blankets. The first time we went they offered to cancel our reservation and refund the fee as it was pretty cold and windy that night. However, with the heaters and blankets it was comfortable. The warm chocolate chip cookie dessert certainly helped.

Thanks for the review and updates. Can't wait to see what changes are in store for AquaSpa this summer.

I hope you have as great a time as we did. Enjoy. Ask for Jose C in Blu. He and his asst Andrea are excellent.

On our cruise people were sitting outside Blu waiting for one of Jose's tables to open up. He must be really good!