Just off Celebrity Reflection, our first Celeb and we saw many differences from Royal

The Reflection is a beautiful ship, everything so nice and new. I've read so many reviews that said there were not many differences between the two but Em and I certainly encountered many things we wished were the same. Its odd, that no matter what Royal ship we are on, we know it like the back of our hands. We know the layout, what the names of the bars and resturants are. It tooks us a while to figure out how Celebrity works.

So we had a conceirge class veranda (equivalent of Junior Suites for you Royals). We weren't sure at first, if we received certain amenities because we are Elite, in the conceirge class or because it was the maiden voyage. (usually ended up b/c we were in conceirge). We did the Allure maiden voyage where they gave us a new gift every day. Not so on the Reflection (we received nothing). The things I did like we had in our stateroom for use while on the cruise - little binolculars, big umbrella, chair and ottaman on balcony (although I think the balconies on any Royal ship were bigger) and beach towels. We also had a bottle of champagne waiting for us. nice touch.

I felt the food was tastier at the buffet, but Em hated it as she eats mostly carbs. We only saw mashed potatoes on the second day at lunch. They had lots of stations, but mostly the same exact food at each station.

We did like that there were far less announcements. Except for the annoucement over and over for a Theresa Phelps who they obviosly left on coco cay, lol. Em said not to worry with a name like Phelps she was probably just going to swim home.

The Elite event was held in what was equivalent to Royals Viking Crown, except it was really dark and the waiters brought around trays of hors d'oeuvres such as goose liver and foo foo things like that. (we like Royals better). Wait staff service was poor when it came to getting drinks; both nights we had to go to the bar to get service. I did hear the Captain Club manager tell others they are looking at how to break up into different levels. They definetly need that as they are still using the old system of how many cruises, regardless of length of nights.

A nice touch because they screwed up with our berth in Nassau. The owner was on board Reflection and not happy how they handled the lack of ability to dock in Nassau so they opened the bar for everyone the second night for 90 minutes.

There are things you can count on while on Royal. I understand on this sailing, they redid the Celebrity Today (equivalent to the Compass) and we received that the morning of, rather than the night before. But the next day's Today was in some of the room holder, but many rooms didn't get it. We never received information on baggage tags or where to go. We never received a bill at the end of the sailings. (my room attendant said they only give those on longers cruises)?????? We never received the guest comment form.

Coupon credits handed within the first few hours of boarding still weren't posted when we had to go to guest relations the last night. They said it normally takes 48 hours to post charges and such. I think Royals charges show up within minutes.

And one really crazy thing, we do many resturants and like to pay cash for our tips, but on Celebrity you have to know to go to guest relations and opt out of gratutities (signature required in their book) or it will be automatically charged to your sea bill. If you don't know to do that, and you don't get a bill at the end of the cruise, you'd never know and may be double tipping.

Em went to find our MDR waiter to tip hime the last night (we ate their one night) only to find out they reassigned him to the oceanview resturant. Who would do that the last night when most people tip.

Things just seem willy nilly and others who sail Celebrity told us, not to judge the line b/c many things were screwed up due to it being new.

Most of the shows were amazing. They do have a comedy club, a little bigger that the Oasis class, however, they do not accept reservations and the three shows we saw were packed with people sitting on the floor and/or anywhere they could. We showed up early and got seats, but I felt guilty seeing even much older than myself who came in later standing the whole show.

Both lines have some really solid procedures. Too bad they don't take the best of both and incorporate them into each others.

Em and I are sticking with Royal for now and not jumping ship. We do enjoy sailing new ships though regardless of what they are.

Nice comparison. Because you were on the maiden, yes it sounds like things were a little off. Celebrity offers a fine product. Try all the lines, never true to one. :D

New ship and very short cruise may explain some issues. she will normally be doing longer trips, so hopefully other will have different experiences.

I understand what you mean about knowing Royal's ships like the back of your hand, even the as you step aboard for the first time. The difference is...you seem to like that and I see it as a negative...I just love variety.

concierge class earns double points like JS, but otherwise I'd hesitate to compare them. To me CC is just a glorified balcony with some amenities like the umbrella, binoculars and fresh flowers, where as the JS is a big step up in size from a regular balcony. doing five short X cruises in a CC balcony is the fastest way (and probably cheapest way) to Diamond/Elite.

always wondered what a longtime RCI guy thought of celeb.

I used to hear is skewed much older and quieter, but have heard more positive experiences recently.

We've flirted with the idea for a while now.

Long time RCCL cruiser who loves Celebrity........been on two so far and look forward to more(while still cruising RCCL as well)........I just think Celebrity's little touches are a notch above RCCL...

always wondered what a longtime RCI guy thought of celeb.

 

I used to hear is skewed much older and quieter, but have heard more positive experiences recently.

 

We've flirted with the idea for a while now.

I'm looking forward to trying Celebrity and the Reflection. I know that it's a beautiful ship and I love all of the specialty dining options on board. I do expect the ship to be a much more relaxed atmosphere than that of RCI which will be a welcome change.

First cruise with Celebrity in August to the Baltic. The ship was nice but my preference is definitely Royal. Will be sailing again in March. It's nice that we do not have the same likes and dislikes. I have now tried Holland

America, Princess, Celebrity and Carnival but back to Royal I go.

I was on the same sailing. The rooms are comparable to that on the Oasis/allure. Not sure I would rush back to celebrity soon. Our issues went beyond the typical new ship excuse.

 

I understand what you mean about knowing Royal's ships like the back of your hand, even the as you step aboard for the first time. The difference is...you seem to like that and I see it as a negative...I just love variety.

I love getting lost on a ship too.

Thanks for the review!

always wondered what a longtime RCI guy thought of celeb.

 

I used to hear is skewed much older and quieter, but have heard more positive experiences recently.

 

We've flirted with the idea for a while now.

I'm a long time RCI gal who really likes Celebrity too. I didn't agree with the reviewer who said Celebrity's concierge class rooms are just like a Royal Junior Suite. For one thing, a Royal Junior Suite has a far bigger closet. In fact it is a walk-in closet and serves as a handy "extra room" for dressing if needed. Our CC class cabins have had a smallish closet which is so close to the bed it is quite difficult to get in it and see what is where.

One difference I love on Celebrity is that there is no smoking on balconies, but it does happen, I can assure you. However it isn't so frequent or blatant.

Celebrity's interiors are basically smoke free and the ships have a wonderful fresh smell.

I look forward to sailing on Reflection but it will have to wait for awhile as we have other cruises booked. Reflection is definitely on my bucket list. We really have enjoyed Solstice and Eclipse.

Yeah, do go back and try Celebrity again in the future. Our first try with them was horrid and we did not go back for nearly 10 years. However our second trip was wonderful and we miss having an X ship somewhere near us. We have been on several over the years and do like them.

I would not consider a maiden voyage indicative of how the ship will operate in the future. There are always things to be ironed out.

We sail on both lines. Nothing bigger than Voyager class on RCI and Millenium class on Celebrity. We like smaller ships best.

I think that there is more in common on the two lines than differences. Royal has, hands down, a better buffet with more selections and changing menus. MDR food is a little better on Celebrity.

Service on both lines is wonderful. The same corporate culture prevails. It is very rare to encounter a crew member who is not perfectly trained and impeccably polite. Both lines always make me feel like a valued guest.

Shows depend on the itinerary and I've seen great shows and awful shows on both lines. I've seen the same acts on both lines, too. Do like the ice shows on the Voyager class RCI ships.

Royal has softer towels. Even in a sky suite the Celebrity towels were scratchy. Never had that problem on a Royal ship. Just did an RCI cruise from Venice in October and we were in an outside cabin with the softest towels.

Loyalty club benefits are better on Celebrity, but I have seen improvements on Royal where the Diamond Lounges are being installed.

The one thing that I have found after several cruises on both lines is that Royal Caribbean is so much better at tendering than Celebrity. Don't know why, but it's what I have experienced.

We like to play trivia and the CD staff on Celebrity uses Apple laptops and projectors so you can read the questions. Much better than Royal where half the time you can't understand the accent of the CD person.

We sail for itinerary and price switching from one line to the other. Have absolutely no interest in sailing with anyone other than Royal or Celebrity. Maybe Azamara if I hit the lottery, but I never buy a ticket.:)

So we had a conceirge class veranda (equivalent of Junior Suites for you Royals).

Actually, a Celebrity Sky Suite is more akin to a junior suite, size wise. Except on some of the older RC ships, a JS is around 300 sf, as is a Celebrity Sky Suite. The regular concierge class veranda is much smaller, so not really comparable IMO.

The Reflection is a beautiful ship, everything so nice and new. I've read so many reviews that said there were not many differences between the two but Em and I certainly encountered many things we wished were the same. Its odd, that no matter what Royal ship we are on, we know it like the back of our hands. We know the layout, what the names of the bars and resturants are. It tooks us a while to figure out how Celebrity works.

 

So we had a conceirge class veranda (equivalent of Junior Suites for you Royals). We weren't sure at first, if we received certain amenities because we are Elite, in the conceirge class or because it was the maiden voyage. (usually ended up b/c we were in conceirge). We did the Allure maiden voyage where they gave us a new gift every day. Not so on the Reflection (we received nothing). The things I did like we had in our stateroom for use while on the cruise - little binolculars, big umbrella, chair and ottaman on balcony (although I think the balconies on any Royal ship were bigger) and beach towels. We also had a bottle of champagne waiting for us. nice touch.

 

I felt the food was tastier at the buffet, but Em hated it as she eats mostly carbs. We only saw mashed potatoes on the second day at lunch. They had lots of stations, but mostly the same exact food at each station.

 

We did like that there were far less announcements. Except for the annoucement over and over for a Theresa Phelps who they obviosly left on coco cay, lol. Em said not to worry with a name like Phelps she was probably just going to swim home.

 

The Elite event was held in what was equivalent to Royals Viking Crown, except it was really dark and the waiters brought around trays of hors d'oeuvres such as goose liver and foo foo things like that. (we like Royals better). Wait staff service was poor when it came to getting drinks; both nights we had to go to the bar to get service. I did hear the Captain Club manager tell others they are looking at how to break up into different levels. They definetly need that as they are still using the old system of how many cruises, regardless of length of nights.

 

A nice touch because they screwed up with our berth in Nassau. The owner was on board Reflection and not happy how they handled the lack of ability to dock in Nassau so they opened the bar for everyone the second night for 90 minutes.

 

There are things you can count on while on Royal. I understand on this sailing, they redid the Celebrity Today (equivalent to the Compass) and we received that the morning of, rather than the night before. But the next day's Today was in some of the room holder, but many rooms didn't get it. We never received information on baggage tags or where to go. We never received a bill at the end of the sailings. (my room attendant said they only give those on longers cruises)?????? We never received the guest comment form.

 

Coupon credits handed within the first few hours of boarding still weren't posted when we had to go to guest relations the last night. They said it normally takes 48 hours to post charges and such. I think Royals charges show up within minutes.

 

And one really crazy thing, we do many resturants and like to pay cash for our tips, but on Celebrity you have to know to go to guest relations and opt out of gratutities (signature required in their book) or it will be automatically charged to your sea bill. If you don't know to do that, and you don't get a bill at the end of the cruise, you'd never know and may be double tipping.

Em went to find our MDR waiter to tip hime the last night (we ate their one night) only to find out they reassigned him to the oceanview resturant. Who would do that the last night when most people tip.

 

Things just seem willy nilly and others who sail Celebrity told us, not to judge the line b/c many things were screwed up due to it being new.

 

Most of the shows were amazing. They do have a comedy club, a little bigger that the Oasis class, however, they do not accept reservations and the three shows we saw were packed with people sitting on the floor and/or anywhere they could. We showed up early and got seats, but I felt guilty seeing even much older than myself who came in later standing the whole show.

 

Both lines have some really solid procedures. Too bad they don't take the best of both and incorporate them into each others.

 

Em and I are sticking with Royal for now and not jumping ship. We do enjoy sailing new ships though regardless of what they are.

Hummmmmm.......and who is the "owner" ? (RF?)

Hopefully someone can help answer the question regarding who was on board that opened the bar. I happened to be at the loud bar at the time, I think it was CEO Michael Bayley. Owner or CEO, they made some kind of annoucement like that. Everyone was happy, although we never did dock in Nassau.

The other thing I really noticed on the Reflection and not sure if this is typical. On Royal big ships, sure there are a few pay resturants but clearly there are so many places to get a bite to eat, that are free. There were so many, many fee resturants or cafes on Reflection. One really had to go up to deck 14 to get a snack or meal for free. They had a mast grill outside, near smokers, but it was very limited and of course healthy choices at the solarium, but again deck 14. I like some type of cafe on most royal ships around deck 5ish, where you can get a snack and a cup of coffee especially for those who like to use the steps, but not ALL the way up to 14.

I'll be in my first Royal JS on Sunday, so I will be able to better compare the size. I really have no interst in a bathtub or walk in closet so we shall see, and loved, loved the Reflection bathroom and shower.

One other thing I absolutely loved on the Reflection was the beautiful television with clear picture and ON DEMAND free movies and many channels. Didn't watch too much, but like to fall asleep watching TV. We are always using our comment cards on Royal to tell them they need satilette upgrades and to be able to get the all the major football games on board. Celebrity announces the games in their compass.

 

There were so many, many fee resturants or cafes on Reflection. One really had to go up to deck 14 to get a snack or meal for free. They had a mast grill outside, near smokers, but it was very limited and of course healthy choices at the solarium, but again deck 14. I like some type of cafe on most royal ships around deck 5ish, where you can get a snack and a cup of coffee especially for those who like to use the steps, but not ALL the way up to 14.

 

So..... take the steps for a couple of flights and the elevator the rest of the way. Or vice versa. Seems simple enough to me. :confused: But then, I'm just happy having a variety of dining options; I don't worry so much about specifically WHERE on the ship this option or that option is located.

We loved our first Celebrity cruise on Century in October and felt each cruise line could take a lesson from the other:

Advantage: Celebrity

More items offered on MDR menu (although this may have changed with new menu for RC)

Pizza in buffet was really good, and I loved the grilled veggies.

Pool Grill was nice, the odor of hamburgers grilling each day was heavenly!

Officers mingled with passengers a lot more than you see on RC although I did find being asked how my cruise was every 5 minutes a little irritating at times.

I liked the arrangement of the bathroom better than any we have had on RC.

Room decor was lovely.

Loved the table on the balcony for room service breakfast.

Poultry dishes in MDR were excellent!

Desserts for the most part, were excellent and an improvement over RC.

Loved the outdoor eating area behind the buffet, wish all if Royal's ship had one.

Brunch in the MDR on the last sea day was a nice touch.

Loved the smoking policy, it was nice to be able to breath in the casino.

Advantage: Royal

Windjammer Buffet wins hands down over the Island Buffet. With the exception of pizza, food was pretty tasteless on in the Island Grill. And I did not like the arrangement of the food stations.

Excellent breads and pastries, really missed these on Century, although my waistline did not!:D

MDR has much better pasta dishes and beef dishes. My husband said he has had much tastier prime rib on Royal.

Diamond Lounge/CL cocktail hour wins over Elite Captains Club. Better snacks, drinks, times.

Liked the room arrangement with the bed next to the balcony better on RC. More usable storage in room on RC.

We prefer Chops and Portofino over Murano. The service was excellent in Murano but we did not feel the food was worth $40 extra per person.

Cocktails are much better on RC, every drink I had on Century was really weak!

And something I thought I would never say: The coffee on Royal is really good compared to the coffee on Century. The only decent coffee we had were the specialty coffees from the Cova cafe.

All of the above is just our opinion, of course. As I said, we really loved our cruise, future cruises will be determined by itinerary & price but it's good to have choices. We definitely hope to cruise Celebrity, especially the Century, again.

Sherri:)

Actually, a Celebrity Sky Suite is more akin to a junior suite, size wise. Except on some of the older RC ships, a JS is around 300 sf, as is a Celebrity Sky Suite. The regular concierge class veranda is much smaller, so not really comparable IMO.

Most on the X board state the Concierge class is a waste of money. It's a glorified balcony cabin and not much else. I think one has to book Aqua class and higher to see the better benefits. I like that X gives certain suites a complete bar set-up in the cabins. I am looking forward to that.

Thank you very much for your report. I just booked this ship for my bday and after reading at their daily news letter I was a little worried that ship might not be ideal for me. Good to hear good reports about her, since there are so many negative comments floating around.

Can I ask a quick question? Which days were formal nights on?

Thank you very much for your report. I just booked this ship for my bday and after reading at their daily news letter I was a little worried that ship might not be ideal for me. Good to hear good reports about her, since there are so many negative comments floating around.

 

 

Thank you for reporting this.

Most of the issues that I have read we're due to the electrical issues which have now been corrected and the fact that the TA had over 1000 Elite members on board. I think once she settles down on her regular routine, things will be fine

Thank you very much for your report. I just booked this ship for my bday and after reading at their daily news letter I was a little worried that ship might not be ideal for me. Good to hear good reports about her, since there are so many negative comments floating around.

 

 

Can I ask a quick question? Which days were formal nights on?

These people were on a 3 night cruise so it cant compare to a 7 nighter(which is going on right now)....so when those people come back,they can tell you...........first formal night will be the 2nd night............just not sure about the second one..

We loved our first Celebrity cruise on Century in October and felt each cruise line could take a lesson from the other:

 

Advantage: Celebrity

More items offered on MDR menu (although this may have changed with new menu for RC)

Pizza in buffet was really good, and I loved the grilled veggies.

Pool Grill was nice, the odor of hamburgers grilling each day was heavenly!

Officers mingled with passengers a lot more than you see on RC although I did find being asked how my cruise was every 5 minutes a little irritating at times.

I liked the arrangement of the bathroom better than any we have had on RC.

Room decor was lovely.

Loved the table on the balcony for room service breakfast.

Poultry dishes in MDR were excellent!

Desserts for the most part, were excellent and an improvement over RC.

Loved the outdoor eating area behind the buffet, wish all if Royal's ship had one.

Brunch in the MDR on the last sea day was a nice touch.

Loved the smoking policy, it was nice to be able to breath in the casino.

 

Advantage: Royal

Windjammer Buffet wins hands down over the Island Buffet. With the exception of pizza, food was pretty tasteless on in the Island Grill. And I did not like the arrangement of the food stations.

Excellent breads and pastries, really missed these on Century, although my waistline did not!:D

MDR has much better pasta dishes and beef dishes. My husband said he has had much tastier prime rib on Royal.

Diamond Lounge/CL cocktail hour wins over Elite Captains Club. Better snacks, drinks, times.

Liked the room arrangement with the bed next to the balcony better on RC. More usable storage in room on RC.

We prefer Chops and Portofino over Murano. The service was excellent in Murano but we did not feel the food was worth $40 extra per person.

Cocktails are much better on RC, every drink I had on Century was really weak!

And something I thought I would never say: The coffee on Royal is really good compared to the coffee on Century. The only decent coffee we had were the specialty coffees from the Cova cafe.

 

 

All of the above is just our opinion, of course. As I said, we really loved our cruise, future cruises will be determined by itinerary & price but it's good to have choices. We definitely hope to cruise Celebrity, especially the Century, again.

 

Sherri:)

Sherri,

We sailed on Century in April and I absolutely agree with you on all points. We had a deck 12 sky suite (touched by the magic wand of the upgrade fairy). The cabin was huge and the bathroom incredible, but all in all, I've had better sailings on RCI, than on Century.

Murano was not at all impressive. There were six of us for dinner and it took almost 3 hours. Some of the dishes were coated in gastronomic foam, which I'm sure they thought was "high kitch" but we thought it ruined it. Like someone sneezed on your food. Yuck!:(

Did have a great sailing on Infinity in January in an outside cabin on deck 3. The MDR food, though the same menu, was much better on Infinity than on Century. SS United States had a different menu than Murano and we loved it. Still had lousy buffet.

It is rather sad that my favorite lunch on a Celebrity ship is a hot dog at the grill by the pool. Missed my Royal Caribbean Tutti salad bar on sea days. Was so thrilled to get it twice on our October Grandeur cruise.

Sherri,

 

We sailed on Century in April and I absolutely agree with you on all points. We had a deck 12 sky suite (touched by the magic wand of the upgrade fairy). The cabin was huge and the bathroom incredible, but all in all, I've had better sailings on RCI, than on Century.

 

Murano was not at all impressive. There were six of us for dinner and it took almost 3 hours. Some of the dishes were coated in gastronomic foam, which I'm sure they thought was "high kitch" but we thought it ruined it. Like someone sneezed on your food. Yuck!:(

 

Did have a great sailing on Infinity in January in an outside cabin on deck 3. The MDR food, though the same menu, was much better on Infinity than on Century. SS United States had a different menu than Murano and we loved it. Still had lousy buffet.

 

It is rather sad that my favorite lunch on a Celebrity ship is a hot dog at the grill by the pool. Missed my Royal Caribbean Tutti salad bar on sea days. Was so thrilled to get it twice on our October Grandeur cruise.

The hot dogs & hamburgers were yummy and those are foods I rarely eat but did indulge a few times!:D

I believe it was the hotel director who told us Century's food is consistently ranked as number 1 among Celebrity ships. We thought it was good but, with exception of a few things, not any better than food we've had on Monarch or Jewel.

Sherri:)

So..... take the steps for a couple of flights and the elevator the rest of the way. Or vice versa. Seems simple enough to me. :confused: But then, I'm just happy having a variety of dining options; I don't worry so much about specifically WHERE on the ship this option or that option is located.

Seriously, crusing IS simple and I don't worry about a thing. I was only making an observation.