Reflections cruise review Dec. 22

[seaisme]

She is a beautiful ship. And their STAR customer service training certainly is evident! Even the ship officers were very visible and approachable. This was our first time with Celebrity and we were not disappointed.

 

I swear we went through the boarding process in 2 minutes. Smooth and effortless. So we were able to enjoy the ship all day before sailing. Our luggage arrived about mid-day. (we were in a Concierge class stateroom). Stateroom was well appointed but closet/drawer space very limited (as compared to Holland for a similar size stateroom). The hair dryers worked much better on this ship than any cruise we have been on. They actually dried your hair!

 

The speciality restaurants were nothing less than wonderful. We ate at Muranos (twice), Qsine (twice), Tuscan Grill, and the Lawn Club Grill. All had excellent selections and the food was prepared at a five-star level. And the service was perfect! If you eat at the Lawn Club Grill, make certain you take your camera. They give lessons on tossing your own dough for the flat breads and everyone from age 10 to 80 were having a great time. And be careful to not order too much at Qsine. I would recommend that each person at your table order no more than two items. The servings are generous, and the food unusual but very tasty. We loved every selection! At Murano we would both recommend the lobster. Basically, it was "to die for". And prepared right at your table.

 

We only ate in the diningroom once, for breakfast. And it was very disappointing. They crammed everyone into one tiny section and the food was less than desirable. We left and went to the Cafe for the buffet. Typical breakfast and lunch selections. Food well prepared and offerings varied througout the week. Had room service for lunch once. Food was hot/cold as appropriate, but servings were small (you might want to double up when ordering room service. For example, the turkey club was half a sandwich and soup was a cup). Breakfast for stateroom service always came on time as ordered the night before and was always perfect.

 

As mentioned before, the service was excellent. From the wait staff in the bars and restaurants, to the staff in the casino and of course our amazing stateroom attendant. They hit a "10" every time. (I am responsible for customer service at our organization so I am very attentive to how other companies deliver service).

 

The entertainment in the Theatre and lounges was very good. They varied the lounge entertainment, so if you went to the same lounge pre-dinner every night, you were able to enjoy different entertainment. As for the casino, I have no complaints. Won or broke even every time I played.

 

Only negatives were the loud "creaking" of the ship and the stabilizers. It is a new ship and just hasn't had time to settle into herself so there was a lot of noise. But the stabilizers not functioning well did lessen the cruise experience somewhat. I guess these things are expected in a new ship. They didn't ruin the cruise, just diminished the experience somewhat.

 

Because our Grandchildren will be cruising with us soon, I surveyed a lot of parents who had children enrolled in the kids program. To a person they all said the kids were having a wonderful experience. And I even asked the kids, and they also said it was "great".

 

I purchased the week package for the spa. The heated lounge chairs are Heaven and the different saunas were wonderful They limit the number they sell so I always had a lounge chair to use. If you want this package I would book it as soon as you board the ship.

 

We would not hesitate to cruise Celebrity again. We had no issues at all. All pre-ordered packages arrived as ordered (we had a terrible time last cruise on Holland with pre-ordered items). The customer service desk was always responsive. The two shore excursions from the ship were well handled and we had a great time.

 

We hope your experience on the Reflection will be as relaxing and wonderful as our experience.

[librarylady19]

Thank you so much for your review! We are sailing next week and can't wait. We love the Persian Gardens and are looking forward to the expanded options on this ship.

 

A couple of questions if I might -

Where your arrival times in any of the ports delayed due to the reported problem?

 

How was the disembarkation process?

 

Please add your cabin report to the S class sticky when you can:

[d4m]

Thanks for the review and letting us know about your great cruise!

[Shepsue]

We were on the same sailing and agree with your conclusions 100%

[firemanbobswife]

We were on the cruise before you and the ship's stabilizers were working fine. That came from the Captain's own mouth the second to last day during his Navigation class in the Reflection Theatre.

 

The only mechanical issue there was that there was slightly reduced power to one of the engines which resulted in a minor slowdown of speed but that was it. Is the ship now having stabilizer problems too?

[hansolosmom]

Hi - so glad to hear you had a good time.

 

Couple questions

Do you get a discount if you do the 3 specialty restaurants?

How many at your table can 'help' at the lawn grill?

 

If you don't mind how much was the week for using the heated loungers? That's always my treat on vacation :)

[PathfinderEss]

Nice review, glad you had a wonderful time.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[harz99]

We were on the cruise before you and the ship's stabilizers were working fine. That came from the Captain's own mouth the second to last day during his Navigation class in the Reflection Theatre.

 

The only mechanical issue there was that there was slightly reduced power to one of the engines which resulted in a minor slowdown of speed but that was it. Is the ship now having stabilizer problems too?

 

We were on the TA in a forward deck 9 cabin and experienced a fair bit of rolling on what didn't seem to be very high seas; we wondered whether the stabilisers were working fully at that time, or if the increased weight at the top front was having an effect.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[maritimer2]

Great review, thanks so much. Do you remember how much the spa cost for the week?

[countess5]

Thanks for the review, we are sailing on Reflection 1/19/2013!

Please post the cabin review as librarylady19 points out. I am new to CC and found the cabin review so helpful, here is why.

 

We are first time with X and booked a Sky Suite, exactly Suite 2179. In reading about Celebrity on CC, we found through a post by librarylady19, the cabin reviews. Went on and sure enough there was our cabin with a review from a person who's friend stayed in 2179 during the TA trip. They basically took the cabin apart during the trip. :eek: The noise was so load that X gave them headsets to block the noise. In the end the people got an upgrade for their next cruise. Read the review.

 

Anyway I shared this with my TA and she shared it with the district manager of X in our area. We are now, at no additional cost, upgraded to an Auqua Suite. :) The TA is a personal friend of ours but I am sure that had nothing to do with the upgrade.:rolleyes: X stepped up!

 

So posting the cabin review helps!

 

By the way librarylady19 looking forward to your review when you get back, as you debark we will embark! :) Will post my comments on returning! Happy Cruising!!!

[librarylady19]

Glad the spreadsheet helped. What a bummer if you didn't find that out until you were onboard!

I will definitely be posting a lengthy review with photos.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[seaisme]

The spa was about $140 for the week for one person.

I didn't mention that the water/soda package really wasn't a good deal unless you drank a large amount of water and sodas. We wasted our money on that package.

Right before the cruise, after we had booked all of our restaurant reservations, Celebrity did offer a discount for multiple bookings at their restaurants. They did not apply the discount to our account even though we would have qualified for the discount if we had waited.

As for the stabilizers, I can only say that if they were working, then I would sail on Holland again before Celebrity. You felt every wave. And when we came into each port, the ship had a "stacotto" bump that was very irritating. We never experienced that on any cruise, including Royal Caribbean. But again, it was a wonderful cruise and a beautiful ship with outstanding service.

For those sailing in the future, have a wonderful time and say hi to the crew for us.