F5Loar Posted January 9, 2014 #1 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Okay here is a brief report from our 4th X cruise, this time on Reflection for their Dec. 28 cruise called their New Years Eve cruise. Easy getting on even with the ship coming in 2 hours late due to medical emergency requiring a stop in Nassau. In port at Noon and in our room at 1:10. We had Conciege Verandah mid ship room. Big bathrooms and plenty of storing in room. Nice balcony. TV was great. Bed slept fantastic. Where do they get those oh so soft duvet covers? Food in MDR all week and never had a bad meal. Steak perfect and high quality. Escargo every night was a surprise to me so I went for it. We had an assorted cheese platter brought before the bread each night and even that was great. Breads are quite good and fresh compared to other cruise lines. Even had different kinds each night. Loved the changing salad dressings. Wife had shrimp cocktail each night and it was great. We had the free classic drink package for booking very early and we used it. I had 50 drinks and my wife had 25 in those 7 days. Always got the recommend chef's wine by the glass every night and they kept it full. On our week was the CEO of X and his entire family of about 50 from Mexico. They said beside us in two huge tables. They were really well dressed in the finest new styles from France and Italy. Captain also had his family onboard that week. Now here is the good news. After Host Annie said she heard constant RAP music her week the previous month, we heard none. I do know what real RAP is and what we heard was up to date modern pop/rock music. The one girl even sung Katy Perry's new Lion song and did it really good. We heard some current songs by Pitbull, Black Eye Peas, and other current artist but no RAP. While I am 61 and was raised on the Byrds and the Beatles, I do keep up with what's hot and Katy Perry is pretty hot but she is far from being considered a RAP artist. We did not hear excessive loud speakers throughout the ship. Could always find plenty of quite spots. Not sure how many got this Classic/Premium drink package but never got in a line nor a wait of more than 3 minutes. Most bars (I went to all of them) were so empty I walked right up and was walking away within 3 minutes. I went to the late night comedy show every night they had it and although it was standing room on by show time, I never had a problem getting a seat. They were great and so was the nice stripper! Glad to see X do this on their ships. Other shows were as good as any other cruise line and after 40 cruises we've seen a lot of shows. I can say this was our best cruise in a long time and glad to be back on an X ship. Others complained of it being a dirty ship, we didn't see it. As clean as we've seen. Service staff was not overworked and during popular times at the bars they had extra staff onhand. But if I had to tell complaints they would be this: 1) On this ship they no longer enforce the dress code especially on Formal night. Very disappointed to men only wearing an opened collared shirt with pants and sandals on Formal nights. Casual nights had lots of T-shirts and few jeans. I was expecting more from X on enforcing their rather lax dress code. 2) Hots tubs were not very hot and I felt over chlorine. When it continues to bubble up, it's too much. May be a safety/sanitary cause for this. The adult pool seemed really cool all week so I guess it's not heated but it was fresh water so no burning eyes! 3) The fresh squeezed OJ at $3 a glass (free for us) tasted watered down. In fact my wife said the regular OJ tasted more fresh to her. I never saw them actually squeeze any as they poured from a pitcher and I could see the water separation on top. HAL does not water theirs down so felt it was in poor taste that X would do it. 4) With only 2 banks of elevators (mid and forward) they were really slow. You would see some go by without stopping. For a ship this size and a full ship they were crowded a lot. While we expected more kids than normal due to holiday week, we did not expect X to bring on board kids that got a kick out of pushing the buttons for all the floors and then getting out. We loved the CD Alexander, which he said was the youngest on in the fleet. Very upbeat attitude and loved his job. The Captain seemed to be all over the ship and we always spoke to him. I will check back here for a few more days to answer any questions. After that we book another X cruise this summer to Bermuda. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilghallinsf Posted January 9, 2014 #2 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Great honest review. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drarill Posted January 9, 2014 #3 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Great review!! Thanks for sharing your cruise with us!!:):) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lois R Posted January 9, 2014 #4 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Hi:)....is there a way to re-post this into paragraphs? I guess my old eyes are showing:eek:....it is too hard for me read it all:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portofrome Posted January 9, 2014 #5 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Thanks for your review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CathyCruises Posted January 9, 2014 #6 Share Posted January 9, 2014 :) Just curious how you knew the CEO's family was dressed in the latest styles from Italy and France?? I would never have been able to figure that out! I guess I just don't keep up enough.:rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feelin' Nauti' Posted January 9, 2014 #7 Share Posted January 9, 2014 I went to the late night comedy show every night they had it and although it was standing room on by show time, I never had a problem getting a seat. They were great and so was the nice stripper! Glad to see X do this on their ships.:eek::eek: Hope the stripper is a male. That's what I prefer to see on my Reflection cruise come April. :D:p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueboro Posted January 9, 2014 #8 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Hi:)....is there a way to re-post this into paragraphs? I guess my oldeyes are showing:eek:....it is too hard for me read it all:( Agree, gave up after a few sentences but looks like a reveiw I would like to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wpgcycler Posted January 9, 2014 #9 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Thanks for sharing with us. My excitement builds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turning46 Posted January 9, 2014 #10 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Nice review! The good, the bad, and the bratty. I take your 50 drinks as a personal challenge. :D I think the "stripper" is kind of goofy - for those who haven't seen it, it's part of the comedy act and is a tie-in with Las Vegas' "Sin City" comedy club. The comedian(s) do their act, and in between a pretty young woman comes in and sort-of strips down to lingerie. When we saw the show last September we thought it was kind off awkward, frankly, because the venue is so small. Seemed a little forced, but the woman was game and cute and some lucky (or unlucky, I guess, depending on how you see it) guy always got roped into sitting on stage for a sort of choreographed mini lapdance. Now that another poster mentioned it, maybe a male stripper would be a nice change of pace . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjrpar Posted January 9, 2014 #11 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Needs some paragraphs, it's a struggle to read Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muushka Posted January 9, 2014 #12 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Paragraphs pretty please?:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfrcal Posted January 9, 2014 #13 Share Posted January 9, 2014 (edited) Someone had to do it (REVIEW WITH PARAGRAPHS) Okay here is a brief report from our 4th X cruise, this time on Reflection for their Dec. 28 cruise called their New Years Eve cruise. Easy getting on even with the ship coming in 2 hours late due to medical emergency requiring a stop in Nassau. In port at Noon and in our room at 1:10. We had Conciege Verandah mid ship room. Big bathrooms and plenty of storing in room. Nice balcony. TV was great. Bed slept fantastic. Where do they get those oh so soft duvet covers? Food in MDR all week and never had a bad meal. Steak perfect and high quality. Escargo every night was a surprise to me so I went for it. We had an assorted cheese platter brought before the bread each night and even that was great. Breads are quite good and fresh compared to other cruise lines. Even had different kinds each night. Loved the changing salad dressings. Wife had shrimp cocktail each night and it was great. We had the free classic drink package for booking very early and we used it. I had 50 drinks and my wife had 25 in those 7 days. Always got the recommend chef's wine by the glass every night and they kept it full. On our week was the CEO of X and his entire family of about 50 from Mexico. They said beside us in two huge tables. They were really well dressed in the finest new styles from France and Italy. Captain also had his family onboard that week. Now here is the good news. After Host Annie said she heard constant RAP music her week the previous month, we heard none. I do know what real RAP is and what we heard was up to date modern pop/rock music. The one girl even sung Katy Perry's new Lion song and did it really good. We heard some current songs by Pitbull, Black Eye Peas, and other current artist but no RAP. While I am 61 and was raised on the Byrds and the Beatles, I do keep up with what's hot and Katy Perry is pretty hot but she is far from being considered a RAP artist. We did not hear excessive loud speakers throughout the ship. Could always find plenty of quite spots. Not sure how many got this Classic/Premium drink package but never got in a line nor a wait of more than 3 minutes. Most bars (I went to all of them) were so empty I walked right up and was walking away within 3 minutes. I went to the late night comedy show every night they had it and although it was standing room on by show time, I never had a problem getting a seat. They were great and so was the nice stripper! Glad to see X do this on their ships. Other shows were as good as any other cruise line and after 40 cruises we've seen a lot of shows. I can say this was our best cruise in a long time and glad to be back on an X ship. Others complained of it being a dirty ship, we didn't see it. As clean as we've seen. Service staff was not overworked and during popular times at the bars they had extra staff onhand. But if I had to tell complaints they would be this: 1) On this ship they no longer enforce the dress code especially on Formal night. Very disappointed to men only wearing an opened collared shirt with pants and sandals on Formal nights. Casual nights had lots of T-shirts and few jeans. I was expecting more from X on enforcing their rather lax dress code. 2) Hots tubs were not very hot and I felt over chlorine. When it continues to bubble up, it's too much. May be a safety/sanitary cause for this. The adult pool seemed really cool all week so I guess it's not heated but it was fresh water so no burning eyes! 3) The fresh squeezed OJ at $3 a glass (free for us) tasted watered down. In fact my wife said the regular OJ tasted more fresh to her. I never saw them actually squeeze any as they poured from a pitcher and I could see the water separation on top. HAL does not water theirs down so felt it was in poor taste that X would do it. 4) With only 2 banks of elevators (mid and forward) they were really slow. You would see some go by without stopping. For a ship this size and a full ship they were crowded a lot. While we expected more kids than normal due to holiday week, we did not expect X to bring on board kids that got a kick out of pushing the buttons for all the floors and then getting out. We loved the CD Alexander, which he said was the youngest on in the fleet. Very upbeat attitude and loved his job. The Captain seemed to be all over the ship and we always spoke to him. I will check back here for a few more days to answer any questions. After that we book another X cruise this summer to Bermuda. Edited January 9, 2014 by tfrcal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueboro Posted January 9, 2014 #14 Share Posted January 9, 2014 A Stripper...Really??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger1964 Posted January 9, 2014 #15 Share Posted January 9, 2014 A Stripper...Really??? If you haven't seen the show it isn't really a "stripper". It is more of a burlesque dance. nothing even "R" rated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascol Posted January 9, 2014 #16 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Nice review.....but paragraphs please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Frances Posted January 9, 2014 #17 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Nice review.....but paragraphs please! See above:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feelin' Nauti' Posted January 9, 2014 #18 Share Posted January 9, 2014 If you haven't seen the show it isn't really a "stripper". It is more of a burlesque dance. nothing even "R" rated. :cool: Bummer! I was hoping to see some chippendale dancers :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harz99 Posted January 9, 2014 #19 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Someone had to do it (REVIEW WITH PARAGRAPHS) We loved the CD Alexander, which he said was the youngest on in the fleet. Very upbeat attitude and loved his job. The Captain seemed to be all over the ship and we always spoke to him. [ I presume you mean Alejandro (or is it drou?); if so unless he has improved a lot since I sailed with him on Infinity in South America Feb/March '13 we have opposite tastes! Thanks for the review.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wine-O Posted January 9, 2014 #20 Share Posted January 9, 2014 I presume you mean Alejandro (or is it drou?); if so unless he has improved a lot since I sailed with him on Infinity in South America Feb/March '13 we have opposite tastes! Thanks for the review.:) No, not Alejandro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruisersTimesThree Posted January 9, 2014 #21 Share Posted January 9, 2014 I presume you mean Alejandro (or is it drou?); if so unless he has improved a lot since I sailed with him on Infinity in South America Feb/March '13 we have opposite tastes! Thanks for the review.:) Probably Alexander Yepremian...love him! He was our CD this past June on the Summit! He is alot of fun and very involved with the passengers...wish all CD's were like him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20pluscruises Posted January 9, 2014 #22 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Probably Alexander Yepremian...love him!He was our CD this past June on the Summit! He is alot of fun and very involved with the passengers...wish all CD's were like him! YES!!! That was who the CD was on the Reflection. He was great!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phxazzcruisers Posted January 9, 2014 #23 Share Posted January 9, 2014 We we on the same cruise and I must agree 100%. WE ate in Blu, however, and the food was GREAT. Jose is one of the best waiters in the fleet. ALexander is a newer CD and a lot of fun. A great cruise !!! Thanks for the review, now I don't have to write th whole thing :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harz99 Posted January 10, 2014 #24 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Probably Alexander Yepremian...love him!He was our CD this past June on the Summit! He is alot of fun and very involved with the passengers...wish all CD's were like him! Aha a new name to me, hence my confusion. I guess I won't be the only one.;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cwtravel Posted January 10, 2014 #25 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Had Alexander as the CD on the Summit in June and he is great, the best CD we have had in 30+ cruises. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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