SAC69

I was on this same cruise. I have not written a full review yet, but agree with some of OP's opinions. I have been on 6 or 7 celebrity cruises. While I enjoyed the Reflection, I also saw issues. In the past there were plenty of waiters at the buffet coming around to take drink orders. This cruise they were very understaffed. I had to wait in line to get a coffee drink, orange juice or soda. The pool bar was ridiculous on sea days. No one came around to the chairs, so everyone had to wait at the bar, but there was no organized line. In my opinion, the beverage packages are overwhelming the staff. Even in Luminae, there was only one Sommelier for a room full of tables. I had one excursion that I was not happy about. I read the description and I do my homework. Sometimes an excursion is just not good. Celebrity needs to take the feedback and it is not always the customer's fault. Also, when I book through the cruise line, I am their customer not the tour operator's. OP had every right to complain to Celebrity and to expect a courteous response. I love Celebrity, but they are not perfect and they are not necessarily getting better over time.

I was also on this cruise and had the exact opposite opinion regarding service in the buffet as well as drinks around the pool. There was always a guy pushing a cart full of beer and water around the pool area. There was always someone coming through the cafe asking me if I wanted something from the bar. The only drink problem I had was that noone knows how to make the Celebrity Bloody Mary. It is Ketel One, half tomato and half Clamato juice with a pickle. Most of the time they would reach for the well vodka so I had to stop them., or they left out the Clamato, etc. I must have had 20 during the cruise and they were wrong every single time. It was a running joke with my wife. We had a great time and the service was fantastic from the fast check in to the departure.

Great review! I'm next up this Saturday!!!:D

I'm wondering if the service issue is related to most employees coming to the end of their contracts. I have to assume that they all switch out after the last cruise before the TA first week in April. I assume I will find put myself in 3 days.:(

Thanks for this info, we got the unlimited internet through the suites go best offer. I was wondering if we were going to need to upgrade to get the high-speed internet. Great news for us. :)

Agree, I was wondering about the Go Best internet being just the slow and would have to upgrade. Thanks for the info.

We are next up!:D

I know taste is personal, but Bud Light is like drinking lemonade.

I was thinking of something else it tastes like, and it's not good.

Lounger or chair?

It's been a while since this happened, but in 2011 we got upgraded from a C1 to a Sky Suite. Almost.

 

Because we knew this might happen, we had our booking flagged as "NO UPGRADES", but they missed it. We really wanted that aft C1. I caught it quickly (there was no notification), called my TA and she got it straightened out before our beloved C1 went into inventory and got assigned to someone else. I don't know what they would have done for us in compensation, since it was properly flagged not to upgrade.

 

As far as I know, you must still have a "No Upgrades" flag, else the Upgrade Fairy might strike, even when you don't want her to. You can make it conditional, such as "No Upgrades to A1, A2, S1 or S2" if you'd trade for a CS, RS or (gasp) PS.

This is what I am afraid of, that they would do that even after I have completed the online check in process. I'll have it marked no upgrades to be sure.

no lifeboats at the stern

 

the difference in veranda size is only slight

 

go to the reflection and look at the deck plans. deck 5 has public areas below.

The size difference is 30% wider, but no deeper.

I have 1A 7286 on the hump and chose to keep it over a A1 even at the same price. The larger balcony is more important to me.

I tell the photographers I'm in the Witness Protection Program and walk right by them. :D I'm sure they've heard it a lot by now but 10 yrs. ago, it worked really well. Now they just step back with a smirk. :cool:

I tell them I'm a vampire so there is no need for a picture.:cool:

Thanks for the review. I'll give it a try later this month!:D

In your experience, would the cruise line be more inclined at this point to upgrade people automatically (or otherwise offer free upgrades) so the lower priced rooms are up for sale again, or just drastically slash rates on the upper priced cabins and hope they get filled?

I would hope they would not automatically upgrade someone without their permission. I've got a 1A on the hump that I would be very angry about if they took it from me and gave me a AQ or C2 cabin with a smaller balcony.

I just got off Reflection Feb 27 -

It was advertised as the new upgraded speed but I only saw 3 options to buy. There was unlimited for the whole week for $175 (ish), something smaller that was around $100, or you could pay by the minute for $0.99!!!!!

 

Umm, no thanks.

 

I was hoping for something similar to what they had before like $40 for a small amount of minutes but there was nothing like that.

 

I can't comment on if it was faster because it was way too expensive for me.

 

 

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OK, so if I have the Go Best that includes unlimited internet (which I do) it's the dial up non existant speed correct? Then they offer the high speed unlimited for $40 more as an upcharge?

Oceanview is no longer offering sushi... they have replaced with deli selections.

Can you better define "deli selections"? Is it now a specific deli station where they make to order or just build your own like they already have?

Unless eating in BLU is a must go with a standard 1A on the hump. The rest of the "perks" for C and A cabins are not worth it IMO.

I'll be on the Equinox in 10 days. I'll confirm if this is true. It probably is true' date=' I'm just in denial. :([/quote']

 

Reflection only at this point.

I've just heard that there's no longer sushi at the buffet due to the new sushi on 5 cafe! [emoji848]

I saw that coming and it's now $15.00 PP!:rolleyes:

7286 is the biggest balcony

I have 7286 in less than 30 days!:D

On the Reflection two weeks ago, there were a couple of specials running. Something like half off a second package and then there was also a 24-hour bundle towards the end of the week that was cheaper overall than the standard per-minute rate. So they do run specials sometimes.

 

The Captain's Club discount applies to the first package you buy.

 

ETA: Reflection has a fast speed option that is actually fast, so that's two bits of wrong advice corrected. The other ships are supposedly getting the same system at some point.

Does anyone know what the up charge is for Xcellerate?

thanks....at least this gives me a ball park $$ to figure on

it's now my understanding that Reflection has two tiers of internet service. Standard dial up speed internet that is essentially worthless (comes as part of your Go Better/Best perks) and the new Xcellerate that they charge a premium for.:rolleyes:

When several of us were struggling and just seeing the whirling and whirling and… , the computer lab attendant came over and showed us how quickly he could connect on his iPhone. It was really fast! He could get my iPhone to work that quickly if we upgraded. We declined and came back when the ship had docked and we were able to connect much more quickly. So my advice, if you are using the standard package which either comes free with Elite or thru purchase, you may want to try it and if you have difficulties, wait until you get into port when there is less demand. The first two days were nearly impossible for us and we lost alot of minutes.

What was the upcharge for internet that actually works?

It is activated but at an additional cost. There is the standard internet which comes with all packages and you can upgrade from there.

Nickels and dimes...:rolleyes:

Yes- they are starting the sushi restaurant tonight onboard the Reflection only and will roll it out to other ships in the near future. It will be a la carte pricing. They had a final test run for officers last night.

A la carte pricing? I heard it was going up to $15.00 PP. If it's a la carte I will skip it. More nickel and dime extras from Celebrity and their "modern luxury". Also, assume the sushi in the buffet goes away.:rolleyes:

The CB is a much older ship and has an additional deck compared to other Grand class ships. This adds 500 additional passengers with no additional public space so it can be crowded at the popular locations around the ship. We did the same cruise you are looking at a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. I prefer S class ships myself. Either way you will have a good time.