jenniebnyc

The OP must have missed a thread from early this a.m. titled "Bulgari Reinstated?"

 

One answer mentions receiving them a few days into the cruise.

I just saw it. Not sure if this is the excess they wereusing up from their prior surplus or is it the NEW stuff. X states we are getting all NEW bulglari. Not sure what that means...larger bottles? different scent? etc.

Thanks!

This is a picture of what we got in the afternoon in a Royal Suite on Dec 23 2015 on the Eclipse, the afternoon canapés, sandwiches and cakes changed daily

 

Everything was fresh and delicious:

 

This does not look like the upgraded food. Lord, I hope it's not. The photo X shows has lamb chops and tuna tartare is I recall correctly!

In lieu of CS getting 1 or 2 free specialty meals, as of 1/1/16 you get 2 bottles of water on embarkation. Quite a swap in perks, and not for the better, especially considering you can go to Michael's Club when you board and get as much water as you want.

To clarify, this is "bookings" after 1/1, I believe. I was told we would receive the free specialty dinner since we booked last year...even though we are sailing in a few weeks. Right?

This is a picture of what we got in the afternoon in a Royal Suite on Dec 23 2015 on the Eclipse, the afternoon canapés, sandwiches and cakes changed daily:

 

Thanks. The photo did not come through.

We stayed in a Royal Suite on the Eclipse Dec 18 to Dec 27th sailing, upon arrival we saw we had just the regular bath amenities. Asking the Butler about it on Embarkation day, he immediately replaced them with the Bulgari amenities.

 

We then had a Penthouse on the Silhouette sailing Dec 27 to Jan 3 and the Bulgari amenities were there.

Thanks for the info. Are they the small sized toiletries that were always offered to suite guests? Or are they larger now? Is it the same scent? Thanks!

We were in a Celebrity Suite in November and I have to say I didn't notice the toiletries as I bring my own when I travel.

 

We don't usually take the regular snack offerings. We get the cart that the butler brings in and on the first day (or on a phone/email to shoreside concierge service) we let them know what we like. What we like is smoked salmon, berries, cheese tray (we specify the cheeses we like), boiled shrimp --- and we don't want it all every day. We ask to alternate, and some days we don't want it at all.

I also asked for hummus and raw veggies and crackers (they brought an entire box of Carr's!!) and the hummus was great - not the spoonful but about a cup full, too much really.

 

I actually liked the handful of olives and few chips, etc. but we also have butler service so it's (to me) redundant.

 

 

What we loved was Michael's Club. That, and our unlimited internet which we bought, and premium pkg and Michael's made it a completely all inclusive cruise and we really had a great time.

Thanks for the info. Celebrity advertised that they are rolling out new stuff effective January. I am hoping it will be available in a few weeks when I travel. I was not a huge fan of the soggy chips, etc.. The new items look a bit more appealing and gourmet. We shall see! I am looking forward to Michaels Club. Just received a list of wines to choose from from our shoreside concierge! Happy to report they will be stocking a 90 point rated sauvignon blanc, a french rose and an italian sparkling rose that received a very high rating as well. Cannot wait for cocktail hour! Plus, fresh juices! yippee

I can't pinpoint the thread, but someone who was currently onboard posted that their suite did not contain the new toiletries. The new contest Celebrity is running has Celebrity gift packs as prizes - branded robe, slippers, tote, the new Suite amenities etc. I haven't been able to find a photo of the prize pack. I doubt if they're anything but mini-sized items though, since the entire prize pack is worth $150.

Thanks for the info. Maybe it will start next week. hmmm

I can't remember which thread it was, but someone who was onboard in a suite said that they did not have the promised Bulgari toiletries.

This enhancement was to begin January 2016.

You might want to do a search on this. Several people have posted about their suite experiences.

 

Thanks, but these perks were to roll out in January 2016. Since 1/1 I haven't seen anyone comment on the new toiletries or new apps being provided in suites. If you know of I post I might have missed, I would be grateful for some direction where that might be.

Thanks again

We got back from our New Year's cruise on the Reflection. We did do the new Chef's Discovery excursion in St. Thomas. There was one in each of the ports. Although it looked like they followed similar formats, each is unique due to the port part of the excursion.

 

The excursion turned out to be very good. It was a little rough around

the edges, with some kinks needing to be worked out. With a little

refinement, it will be well worth the expense for anyone interested

in the culinary aspects of the destinations.

 

Our excursion met in the morning on the dock where all the other

excursions met. This part was run by a local tour company, who was

obviously contracted to provide the transportation. There were 4 couples including us escorted to an open air tram, similar to those used for many of the excursions. After one additional lone straggler hopped on the tram, we headed out.

 

Along the way the driver gave us a mini-tour of the island along the

path we were taking. During this time, we started wondering about the

details matching our expectations - wasn't there supposed to be one

of the ship's chefs with us? There was very little communication as to

what we should expect, other than the original tour description.

 

Turned out that lone straggler was Chef Conroy, the Executive Sous Chef from the deck 4 MDR. I didn't become aware of that until we got to the Blue Orchid. At the Blue Orchid, we met their Executive Chef, Sally, who had prepared a tasting menu of several island dishes. She also talked through a recipe for a hot sauce that we could easily try at home. Also provided were samples of the many flavored rums from the island.

 

Again, some of us were wondering what had happened to the stop at the farm to look at the produce (with an eye to dinner). Again, a little

communication up front can go a long way. Turned out that due to heavy rains the previous night, the farm visit was literally washed out. So the farm, which is next door to the Blue Orchid, came to us. The lady who grows the produce brought an ample selection to us, where we sampled some of the offerings. Then, while we roamed the grounds of the Blue Orchid (which are absolutely lush and beautiful), Conroy picked out the produce for our dinner.

 

After returning to the port, that portion of the tour was concluded. We

reconvened that evening. Some more confusion as we were to meet in Cellar Masters, but the staff there was hosting another dinner there, and wasn't aware that we were meeting there.

 

Once we were assembled, we were escorted by the Maitre'd for a tour of the Deck 4 MDR galley. Full tour, during dinner service, watching them turn out the meals. We were met there by the ship's Executive Chef and the Executive Pastry Chef to talk about, well, what we wanted to talk about.

 

We then went up to the Porch, where Conroy was preparing our dinner. 4 course dinner, prepared with the fresh produce that was purchased that morning. Dinner was constantly monitored by the Executive Chef. I don't know if that was done to watch over a new and still being refined experience, or if that would be standard practice (I kind of think it would be the former, especially since the excursions desk also solicited our feedback from the experience.)

Great meal, good company, highly enjoyable experience.

 

So as a recap, and for Celebrity (who clearly said that they follow these discussions):

 

The good:

 

-great concept

-fantastic galley tour being during the dinner service

-excellent staff involvement

-group size of 8 was perfect. I don't think some parts of this would be

managable if you get above maybe 12 people

 

Needs improvement:

 

-communication; let the chef introduce himself at the start when

everyone gathers for the tour, let everyone know what is going on, especially since something like this may dynamically change due to conditions.

 

I'm already planning on grabbing one of these offerings on the Eclipse

for next new year's.

 

 

 

Bennett of

Bennett and Debbie

Thanks for your review. Did you only eat produce for dinner? What else was on the menu? Did you watch them choose other ingredients or just the produce?

IMO I am not seeing how this is worth $199 but maybe that's just me. I will continue looking for reviews in hopes the kinks will be worked out eventually.

Thanks again.

HI:

Anyone know if the new stuff has been implemented?

I recall it was going to be new bulgari toiletries. Are they larger in size? Are they the same scent or maybe the green version? Hoping it's the green stuff.

How about the new snacks delivered to the room? They looked good in the photos advertised by X. I am hoping gone are the days of the 2 cold tortilla chips and a sppon of hummus!

Any info would be appreciated!

Until Summit guts the bathrooms in their cabins, I personally would choose Reflection. I also do not care for the buffet on this Summit. Finally, I found certain areas on the Summit to be very warm, including the buffet, hallways and our cabin.

In addition, as poster above mentions, Celebrity does not allow children in pools who are not toilet trained. No diapers or SWIM diapers allowed. So, please take note of this.

Good luck!

With. :)

Thanks!

Hi all:

Can anyone let me know which Bo5 menu Reflection currently has?

The one with daily specials and a burger, etc...or

The one without daily entree specials?

Thanks much

Thanks for your review.

What I am still waiting to hear about is when Luminae will be receiving locally purchased and prepared meals as promised in the rollout of Luminae. It seems if you pay $199 pp they are somewhat making this happen (sans the exec chef), but when included in the price of dining in Luminae nothing is being done yet. Interesting.

Thanks everyone :)

Not anymore. Sorry.

I just "chatted" with a Celebrity expert on their website who gave me the number for Special Services who could help answer questions about being contacted ahead of time for requests..items in MC, dinnners, excursions, etc. After holding for a while a friendly woman came on the line. I explained I had an upcoming cruise in a CS and wanted to know what the process was for talking to shoreside concierge ahead of time for some requests. She had no clue what I was reffering to in the least. I explained a bit more and she said she was happy to learn something new from me today. REALLY? She put me on hold to talk to her supervisor who apprently knew a little about this as well. What I did eventually find out is there is now a new team called "One Touch" that assists with pre and post cruise passengers. I was given the name and 800 number for the Refelction One Touch contact...her name is Diana Dolphin (and she is on vacation until Monday). Since Diana was on vacay I talked to Sean who "thought" I was supposed to be contacted 45 days ahead of our cruise and was surprised I was never contacted. Then he states...well maybe 30 days. Regardless, we were never contacted and it's 3 weeks until the cruise. I was then transferred to Shirley, the Eclipse One Touch contact, who was very nice. I told her we just wanted to make sure we had some nice wines available to us in MC. I asked for a wine list to be sent to me. Since she is on the Eclipse she could not help bc wines are different on Reflection. So, long story short, Diana will contact me (hopefully) upon her return from vacation and Shirely will let Reflection MC Concierge I would like a copy of the wine list sent to me.

Over an hour on the phone, not much progress, a lot of misinformation and unknowledgable people (all who were very nice). It is crazy how misinformed everyone at Celebrity is...where we the customers educate them on their current policy.

Anyhoo, thought you would be interested in hearing about this new group of people who are to contact suite passengers sometime before they sail.

Thank you for the update, Hulamoon.

We loved him dearly on our last Reflection cruise! He will be miseed on our next Reflection cruise.

If Celebrity would stay open later for breakfast, you would not need to see me in my yoga pants, but closing at 9am makes it pretty tough on a vacation. Hopefully they are taking note!

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I will not be wearing any netted clothing, miniskirts, etc...I am actually one of those who will "dress" on the chic nights in an actual dress. I will consider by lululemon workout gear chic as well...for breakfast only :)

you will automatically be assigned to Luminae which is techinically anytime dining. you will be asked on your first night in Luminae when you plan to dine on subsequent nights, but you are not obligated to come at that times if you decide to change your mind and want to dine.

Almost anything is fine for breakfast but use common sense after a workout.

Thanks. Obviously will not go into Luminae sweaty and stinky. I plan to walk on the treadmill. Sweat and stink should be non existent. :)

Sorry if I was not clear. I thought suite guests were able to request items be made available in MICHAELS CLUB...such as certain wines, etc. I am not asking for special requests for in our suite, but in MICHAELS CLUB.

Thanks!

I never saw anyone "dressed up" for breakfast in Luminae. Shorts, tee-shirts and sneakers were the norm, so I see no problem with yoga pants, tee-shirt and sneakers.

 

Our butler did deliver Luminae pastries to our suite (he actually offered to get anything we wanted from Luminae but we were happy with a few of their pastries!), but I'm not sure all butlers will do this for you.

Good to know. Were you on Reflection? Thanks!

HI:

Traveling on the Reflection this month in a Celebrity Suite. What is the latest on requesting things ahead of time for Michael's Club? Will someone call or email us?

We don't need much, but would love it if they had a nice french rose and a sauvignon blanc. Would also love some fresh juices if possible to add to vodka drinks (watermelon, cucumber, etc.). Are these things we can request?

Thanks in advance.