Reflection Review - Nov. 30 - WARNING - LONG READ

[kgrassel]

Anne, could you elaborate on the part you mentioned about casino smoke? One of the things we love about Celebrity is that the casinos are non-smoking! Has that changed?

If it hasn't changed, where was the smoke smell coming from? Looking forward to our 2nd cruise on Reflection this April, and don't want to be disappointed. Loved it last year!

[drarill]

Great review Host Anne. We are cruising on the Reflection next summer, can't wait!! Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.:)

[20pluscruises]

Anne, could you elaborate on the part you mentioned about casino smoke? One of the things we love about Celebrity is that the casinos are non-smoking! Has that changed?

If it hasn't changed, where was the smoke smell coming from? Looking forward to our 2nd cruise on Reflection this April, and don't want to be disappointed. Loved it last year!

 

 

Yes, I would also like to know where the smoke smell was all about...cigarette smoke?, something from the engines? Thanks!

[Host Anne]

cle-guy ~ wish we had time to chat on board. The week went too quickly. I have no problem with Celebrity offering different kinds of music, including techno and rap - in the right places. Martini bar, fine. Sky Lounge at night, fine. Deck party where they announce what they are playing, fine. Pool deck, I'm OK with a mix of everything. What I don't like is that you can no longer get away from the techno and rap. Even before trivia in the Ensemble lounge in the morning, if Oz was the host, he'd blare loud techno for the ten - fifteen minutes before trivia began. Almost left. I'd be fine if it were in some places that I could choose to avoid. But it isn't that way any longer. Even the music I like, they are playing WAY too loud. If I can't sit and have a drink with someone and actual carry on a conversation because the music is too loud, I need to move on. I spend far too many hours working so I can enjoy vacation to spend it in an environment that is becoming unpleasant.

 

I'm with you on the large groups. I occasionally take groups on ships (not quite this large) and Celebrity knew exactly what the demands would be. That's why I'm so concerned. They knew and did nothing. Makes you start to wonder.

 

Wishing you lots of great future cruises!

[Host Anne]

Thanks for your review. We're going on Silhouette in January and wondering if we need to be worried since they're such similar ships.

 

I'm just curious- you commented that photos were $22.95? We were on Summit in October and they were $29.95 for formal pics. It seems odd that pictures would be different prices on different ships!

 

 

Susie ~ I only looked at the two photos they took of us in San Juan. I'm sure they had other photos priced differently. I thought $22.95 was bad. $29 is worse. :)

[Host Anne]

We were told by the cruise director on a recent cruise that Celebrity was definitely "going in a new direction" and wants to attract a younger customer base. He also said that the style and volume of the music was dictated from Miami and he could not change the music or lower the volume. This "more contemporary" music is suppose to appeal to a younger audience.

 

We were also told that the cruises with older passengers were not as profitable and that was part of this decision.

 

We are regular Celebrity cruisers but we are definitely looking for a change of pace and have booked cruises on Azamara, Oceania and Princess for 2014.

 

Tripacian ~ no surprises in what you were told. I'm seeing it first hand. It's their company and they are free to do with it what they like, depending how their stock prices hold up. And as you mention, we are free to take our vacation dollars elsewhere. Seeing the inventory they have available and the need to continue to offer free drink packages to get folks onboard, I'm struggling to see how that's going to work for them in the long run. One has to ask if the "younger" demographic they claim they want will be loyal and return when the "free" stuff goes away. Time will tell.

[Host Anne]

Thank you, what a fantastic review!

 

We are doing the same cruise for our honeymoon and cannot wait!

 

Please could you tell me which nights of the 7 day itinerary the formal nights are? You mentioned chateaubriand which we would like to try, which night did you have this please? I only ask so we know which night to book Murano for.

 

Thanks again :)

 

Formal nights were night #2 and night #6 (Sunday and Thursday).

 

Congratulations on your wedding. Have a fantastic honeymoon!!!

[Host Anne]

 

Anne-On a personal note we booked your room for next year on Silhouette got to check it out on disembarkation yesterday.

 

Steve & Marlane

 

You will LOVE the room, Steve. So good to see you and Marlene again. I'll have some photos for you soon!

[SuperTrooper00]

Thanks for the review. We are in our 30's, so guessing we are a part of the "younger demographic" they are trying for. We had a group of 8 of us (all our age or younger) a week before your sailing. We of course enjoyed the music around the pool, etc.. We also had a different experience in Tuscan as you. It was probably the worst SPecialty restaurant we have tried on a ship. We thought the entertainment was pretty awful, but loved dancing late into the night in Sky (which we LOVED).

 

But, like you, we loved the Porch. We loved Blu. We also noticed the long waits at bars. Gone are the days where servers hound you for more drinks (The Martini Bar is the closest to this if you can find a seat). On this ship, you just have to go to the bar and be aggressive most of the time. With the drink package, we didn't mind.

And we definitely noticed the smoke smell in the casino and surrounding shops. The only thing I could come up with is that they got their machines/furniture from a casino with smoking and the smell is still there.

[Sarbear1681]

Thank you, what a fantastic review!

 

We are doing the same cruise for our honeymoon and cannot wait!

 

Please could you tell me which nights of the 7 day itinerary the formal nights are? You mentioned chateaubriand which we would like to try, which night did you have this please? I only ask so we know which night to book Murano for.

 

Thanks again :)

KFOINST - We were on this cruise for our honeymoon (Hi everyone!!!), and we went to Murano for our final night on the ship. We both agreed that it was the perfect way to end the trip (seriously, I am going to be dreaming of the bleu cheese souffle for months). If it works for your plans, I highly recommend it for the final night of your honeymoon!

 

As a first timer on Celebrity, I was in awe over almost the entire experience. I thought the MDR food was great but could have been warmer. DH did not agree, but I tend to like my food pretty scalding. We were in the same boat as CLE-GUY about the music, but, as he said, that's personal taste. We enjoyed it overall.

 

I agree wholeheartedly about the bar service. The bartenders worked their butts off, and I was exhausted just watching them. How the (wonderful!) Molecular bartenders didn't collapse from exhaustion is beyond me. The guys at the Sunset Bar were my personal favorite, and I was impressed with their ability to keep up.

 

Sara

[Host Anne]

As more and more lines seem to be adopting the auto gratuities policy, just thought I would mention this as informational. I don't know if this is just a Holland America policy, or pretty much standard but if you search the HAL board for "removing auto gratuities" you will find a discussions of this. It seems that a list is passed down to all staff managers of those passengers who have removed the auto tip, and they subsequently inform all those workers who are yours that all tips left to them must be turned in to management, and they will then be divided among the whole pool of your staffers(hope that makes sense). So in reality, the person you want to reward, may actually get less. Passengers have posted that while looking in the service areas for their cabin attendants, they have indeed seen these lists prominently posted. We feel as you do, and preferred the old days when you gave each staff member the envelope with the amount that you wanted. Don't think we should have to tip a head waiter who asks one time if everything is all right or a wine steward that we never utilize.

 

Believe it or not, I was on a galley tour in the past two years and there a signed posted of guests who removed their gratuities. Became a major problem for them as I recall when guests saw the list. This is the first time I've ever removed gratuities. We always give more than requested because crew are the hardest working folks out there. When you are giving cash, there isn't any way they can possible know how much a crew member is given. What about the passengers that don't give them anything (I know that exists, too). I guarantee you that there is staff we tipped privately with cash this week and that tip isn't going to be shared with anyone. I also just read on another thread that the additional tip you add in writing to a check doesn't go to the server. Now I'll have to check that out next month when we sail again. Thanks for the info.

[Host Anne]

Were vouchers used for the Elite lounge this sailing?

 

Vouchers were only used one evening because there was a private event in the Sky Lounge. We received three vouchers each for that evening and they were good in several (but not all) bars. The time and date were on each voucher along with the bars where they couldn't be used. It's a nice option when the Sky Lounge was in use.

[Host Anne]

Anne, could you elaborate on the part you mentioned about casino smoke? One of the things we love about Celebrity is that the casinos are non-smoking! Has that changed?

If it hasn't changed, where was the smoke smell coming from? Looking forward to our 2nd cruise on Reflection this April, and don't want to be disappointed. Loved it last year!

 

 

Kgrassel ~ I wish I could explain it. I've never smelled anything like it on our past Celebrity cruises. It was a very strong smoke smell. I mentioned it one morning and later the casino seemed a little better but the shopping hall and the area above smelled of smoke all week. Don't know if they had a cigar convention on the week before (I'm joking about that), but something happened that was unusual. I don't think this is a normal occurrence. At least it hasn't been in recent years.

[Host Anne]

20plus ~ it was definitely cigar/cigarette smoke.

[20pluscruises]

20plus ~ it was definitely cigar/cigarette smoke.

 

Thanks! I wonder where it was coming from....very odd.

[orchestrapal]

Great timing!

We have looked at various b/b Celebrity cruises but the loud music would be enough to keep us right where we are on classy Oceania.

Thank you for your very informative review.

[suni]

Thanks for the great review! We are sailing on the Reflection next month. Very concerned about the smoke smell you are reporting. I hope it doesn't permeate to the balcony areas of the cabins.

Can you elaborate about the Extreme Race game? There was a game on Royal Carribben that we have played that is lots of fun. Curious about this game on Celebrity.

We have reservations at Tuscan Grill!

Any other not to be missed items for us?

[PhD-iva]

Thanks for a great review! We're departing this Saturday on Reflection, and your review is very helpful. Good thing we didn't upgrade to the alcoholic drinks package. I will try to stick to "bubbly" water and specialty coffees.

Speaking of coffee, how was the regular coffee on Reflection? I heard it's not made from syrup and is pretty good (I'm quite particular about coffee).

[jerseygirl3]

Hi Tata ~ thanks for your comments. I'm with you all the way. When are you sailing Equinox? If we're on the same sailing we can compare notes.

 

I'm hoping on Equinox that they will truly be "squeezing" the oranges again. Never saw them do it on this cruise but the lines were always long.

 

Fingers crossed that we don't have the bar and music issues. We'll see!

 

Anne, we're on the 1/29 sailing of Equinox. Is that the one you're on?

[jenniebnyc]

What a great review. Thank you.

 

What a bummer about the music. I am so upset! We will be on Reflection January 11th and I was so happy to see that they had turned the volume down. Not so, I guess on Reflection. Ugh!

[Host Anne]

Thanks for the great review! We are sailing on the Reflection next month. Very concerned about the smoke smell you are reporting. I hope it doesn't permeate to the balcony areas of the cabins.

Can you elaborate about the Extreme Race game? There was a game on Royal Carribben that we have played that is lots of fun. Curious about this game on Celebrity.

We have reservations at Tuscan Grill!

Any other not to be missed items for us?

 

 

Suni ~ no smoke on the balconies at all. The only place it smelled was in the casino/shops area.

 

Extreme Race started the first sea day. Teams of two people. You were given a clue (each day started with a clue) that led you to an area of the ship where there was another clue. That led you to a staff member who had two challenges for you to pick from. Brain or Barter was you choice. Brain was a trivia quiz (which we chose). Don't know what Barter was. Then we got a clue that led us to a next challenge which was Pick It or Putt It. We chose putt it. That led us to our final clue of the day and to the pit stop (which was hilarious and I won't tell you here so I don't spoil it for anyone who wants to play). The subsequent days weren't quite as good as they didn't really do any other challenges until the last day. It was just one clue leading you to another spot on the ship leading you to another clue. But overall the idea was great and we had fun doing it.

 

I definitely recommend seeing Reflection, the Show if you enjoy rock and roll. Great production show. The comedy show was good as well although it was a late night adult show (language mostly).

 

There are lots of activities outlined in the Celebrity Today newsletter you get each evening. Choose the ones that appeal to you.

 

Have a fantastic time!

[Host Anne]

PhD-iva ~ have a great cruise! Bon Voyage!

[Host Anne]

Tata ~ bummer...we are on Jan. 10. I'll let you know how it goes!

[Host Anne]

jennie ~ who knows. Maybe it was just the cruise we were on....Hoping your cruise isn't quite as loud.

[HEAD4U]

I was on this Nov 30th cruise with all of you. This was my first Celebrity Cruise and I was thoroughly impressed. This is also the first time I have posted anything on this site. I agree with most every thing everyone has written here.

 

- I agree 100% about the lack of bartenders at every bar. It did get better as the week went on, but Celebrity should have know there were 1000 alcoholics about to come on board. I will say though that management should have stepped up immediately. I was at the Sunset Bar on the 2nd day. The 6 bartenders were bumping into each other unorganized and it wasn't very busy. I could not believe when one said the bar was out of cranberry juice. I said I would wait, thinking it was in a close by store room. He was gone for about 15-20 minutes and came back with much more than just cranberry juice.

 

- I detected NO smoke smell in or near the casino or anywhere else on board. The casino staff was the worst crew members. They were very uptight and unfriendly, unlike the rest of the crew. The cocktail waiter also was new/nervous and screwed up my drink order putting vodka in my plain cranberry juice.

 

- I ate in Blu every night and was so pleased I never wanted to go to a specialty restaurant. I did hear pros/cons about the MDR from others.

 

- I have mixed feelings about the Music. It may have been distasteful or loud in certain areas, but I just went somewhere else. The ship is huge ! There are so many out-of-the-way places to relax or talk.

 

- Celebrity will not allow electronic "vaping" cigarettes, which produce no second hand smoke. But they say nothing to the elderly woman who doses herself in Channel #5 thus ruining the theater show for everyone within 10 feet of her.

 

- I was unhappy the pools, hot tubs, and the entire exercise area/weight room were not open 24 hours, or at least after dinner. There is nothing better than a late night swim or sauna to relax before bed. 10 pm is too early !

 

- The bingo games are a scam, and Celebrity lies about the "take". They gave away approx $500 each day (3 games) of the approx $3000 taken in. (I estimated this low, multiplying the lowest package price of $30 by the number of people (100) I counted in the room. (FYI - I bought the $70 package, so $3000 est is very very low). I asked for clarification from both the casino manager and the entertainment department concierge desk. Both persons said that "all money taken in from bingo is given back the the players 100%". The "entertainment dept" crew members advertised that each day monies not given out accumulate into a "big prize" that is given out the last game of the last day". I asked 3 times for an estimate of this "big prize" and only got a "It's BIG" and weird smiles. They do bingo every cruise/every week for gosh sake! They did not even disclose the prize amounts before you start playing! The end game prize was $947 which was only announced 2 balls before someone called BINGO. Of course $947 sounds nice to anyone, but any 5th grader can figure out the numbers don't add up. If they LIE about it, then I consider it a SCAM. Even though Celebrity scored big points for the week, this incident made me rethink everything about Celebrity Cruises.

 

- I LOVED that there were no children on this cruise ! I do not appreciate spending $5000 on a vacation, purposefully leaving my kids at home - just to have to put up with someone else's. This is the main and best reason I would consider Celebrity Cruises first for my next cruise.