Recent reflection review

[LOP]

My take on a recent reflection cruise, please excuse the grammatical errors noticed after the fact.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=249175

Edited February 7, 2014 by LOP

[cynbar]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review. We'll be on Reflection in May, and I hope we encounter a better attitude from the crew. Hope your in laws had a wonderful time.

[Phxazzcruisers]

Wow, thanks for posting your review. Our experience on the New Year cruise was exactly opposite. The staff and crew bent over backwards to be friendly and helpful. We could not pass anyone without receiving a smile and a good day. I am sorry you had a bad experience, I truly hope the crew was just tired and this does not become the norm.

[diesel1973]

I just returned from the Jan. 25 cruise and had a great time. Found the help very cheerful and the food great!!! Could it be possible that X has 2 ships named Reflection??????LOL:):):)

[20pluscruises]

Wow, thanks for posting your review. Our experience on the New Year cruise was exactly opposite. The staff and crew bent over backwards to be friendly and helpful. We could not pass anyone without receiving a smile and a good day. I am sorry you had a bad experience, I truly hope the crew was just tired and this does not become the norm.

 

I was on the Christmas cruise and found that half of the crew were well above excellent, and the other half had a really bad attitude. This has not been the norm on other cruises with Celebrity and it really stood out. It was just plain odd.

 

To be honest the thought had crossed my mind as maybe the unhappy crew were possibly in training and due to a training period...not getting a share of the tips.????

[itsjb1]

I guess that it may be all about experience and expectations. We were on the Jan 25th sailing, our 1st Celebrity after many on other lines, and found the staff to be very pleasant, the service to be good and the food in the MDR to be very good. We had no difficulty finding chairs, up on Deck 15 and not right by the pool.My only complaint/surprise was that the pools were so small for such a large ship.

 

It may be that the service and food may not be as good as it was in the past(but then what is?), however, IMHO, the service and food was better than on any of the other lines that we have been on.

Edited February 7, 2014 by itsjb1

[sprtslovr]

I also was on the Jan 25 cruise. My experience was nothing short of wonderful.

Very friendly staff and crew. Practically every crew member seemed like they couldn't walk by me without a hello or good morning/afternoon etc.

The most amazing service from waiters, bartenders, stewards and customer service personnel.

I sailed on the Millennium two years ago and also had a fantastic experience, after reading quite a lot of reviews before this latest sailing on the Reflection, I was somewhat concerned that the service and quality had fallen off in the two years since my last cruise with Celebrity, my fears were certainly unfounded !

 

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Edited February 7, 2014 by sprtslovr

[Gradelady]

I was also on the Reflection 1/18/14. Actually, we encounterred great service almost everywhere. Only exception would be the anytime dining area in Opus. Service was very slow and uncaringon the port side, but excellent on the Starboard side...I really enjoyed the cruise and was quite impressed with Celebrity.

[Gradelady]

Did you feel the ship 'rocked' a lot? It really didn't bother me, but it did surprise me. Seas seemed pretty calm.

[20pluscruises]

Did you feel the ship 'rocked' a lot? It really didn't bother me, but it did surprise me. Seas seemed pretty calm.

 

Not on the Christmas cruise...no rocking at all...even the day it was very very windy the ship seemed pretty stable.

[20pluscruises]

I guess that it may be all about experience and expectations. We were on the Jan 25th sailing, our 1st Celebrity after many on other lines, and found the staff to be very pleasant, the service to be good and the food in the MDR to be very good. We had no difficulty finding chairs, up on Deck 15 and not right by the pool.My only complaint/surprise was that the pools were so small for such a large ship.

 

It may be that the service and food may not be as good as it was in the past(but then what is?), however, IMHO, the service and food was better than on any of the other lines that we have been on.

 

I will agree with you the food is still better than the other lines...with the exception of Disney (we haven't done this cruise) but have heard they are above Celebrity. I will have to see for myself as I was shocked to hear this from so many.

[Alsmez]

We were on the same cruise and had a better experience with the staff, although there were definitely a few surly bartenders here and there (one at the Mast Bar and on at the Passport bar in particular were downright rude). We also had TERRIBLE service in Cellarmasters - they did nothing but push the enomatic cards and one waiter basically refused to wait on us (we had the Premium package). Most everyone else ranged from pleasant to friendly, but we aren't super concerned with seeing a smile from every staff member we encounter (not to say the OP is, just giving an idea of our expectations).

[20pluscruises]

We were on the same cruise and had a better experience with the staff, although there were definitely a few surly bartenders here and there (one at the Mast Bar and on at the Passport bar in particular were downright rude). We also had TERRIBLE service in Cellarmasters - they did nothing but push the enomatic cards and one waiter basically refused to wait on us (we had the Premium package). Most everyone else ranged from pleasant to friendly, but we aren't super concerned with seeing a smile from every staff member we encounter (not to say the OP is, just giving an idea of our expectations).

 

Do you think the rudeness was due to the premium package? I can see why it would hurt their tips as there is no tip line incentive / paper to sign. We always tip extra either in cash or on our non package paper slip...I didn't see many handling out extra cash tips on our cruise. Not that anyone has to tip extra...and honestly, probably wouldn't have added an extra $1.00 for each $2.50 can of soda like I did with the signed slip. Maybe just every other can. :)

Edited February 7, 2014 by 20pluscruises

[bjarrett7]

I was also on this cruise and had a great experience. The service was excellent. We dined in Blu and never waited for a table or a drink. All bartenders were very polite... But I don't think we frequented the ones mentioned above. I would say the food was as good or better than our disney cruise.

I did however feel the boat rock a lot! I didn't mind it at the time but I am struggling a little with the post cruise thing.I did wonder about the movement...

 

 

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[CruiserFTL]

Did you feel the ship 'rocked' a lot? It really didn't bother me, but it did surprise me. Seas seemed pretty calm.

 

I was on the 1-25-14 sailing and yes the ship rocked more than I thought it should with the new stabilizers. I felt at times I might get thrown out of bed. I just laid back and enjoyed the ride! On day there was very heavy winds and I think the ship was just catching them wrong, but again it did not bother me but it was one of my more bumpy rides.

As for the crew in my review I did state that I did have one bad experience with a bartender and noticed others did to. This was set right by the Assistant Bar Manager and the excellent care of a Bar Server. I loved my experience with the Crew! I also was on the premium bar package and never felt that it was an issue. If I wanted a drink in my hand I had it with no wait at all anywhere except for evenings at the Martini bar which was always packed. So I made the Molecular bar my evening haunt and loved every minute of it and can't wait to hang at it on my May Solstice cruise.

 

If you check out my walk around deck 15 video that was shot on the second sea day, mid day. You will see the Bar servers out and about.

[Tommy3putts]

Sailing Reflection this June. So always read the reviews on Reflection. Didn't take long to realize that folks view things differently. I appreciate all the info, but that's all it is to me, information.

[daydreamer16]

I was also on the Reflection 1/18/14. Actually, we encounterred great service almost everywhere. Only exception would be the anytime dining area in Opus. Service was very slow and uncaringon the port side, but excellent on the Starboard side...I really enjoyed the cruise and was quite impressed with Celebrity.

 

We were on the 1/25/14 sailing and we felt the same about the service difference from port to starboard in Opus. Great service at all of the tables on the Starboard side! The one night we ate on the Port side they brought us to the wrong table, it took a while to get wine service and then it took forever to have our plates cleared. The next night we were back on the Starboard side!:D

[irishgal1970]

I was on the 1/18 sailing and found the crew to be mixed in terms of politeness, attitude, etc. Our waiter, assistant waiter, and sommelier in the MDR were extremely nice. The bar staff was mixed; pluses to Pool Bar, Sunset Bar, and Passport Bar; minuses to the Martini Bar. While I found their "performance" entertaining, they took forever to ask if you wanted a drink. My biggest issue was perhaps at the Shore Excursions desk. Toward the end of the cruise, the hours were very limited. Instead of explaining why, and being polite, I received a curt "we just closed; come back later". I expressed my displeasure with the hours, and the same phrase was repeated. I understand completely that I should've looked at the daily and checked the hours, and planned around that. However, I don't think that I deserved such a short, unfeeling response. Overall, though a great experience...although as you can see, I only have X Solstice Class ships in my "history". So, I don't have much to compare it to. Although, every passenger whom I questioned consistently said that X is the best of the "mass-market" brands.

Edited February 8, 2014 by irishgal1970

[huskerdan25]

We were on the same cruise as the OP and our experience as far as the crew was much different. I plan to post a review of our first Celebrity cruise in the next week but Celebrity has a great product and we absolutely loved the Reflection. We got non-stop greetings and the staff everywhere we went was outstanding and friendly. I'll be more specific once I get my review out.

[drarill]

My take on a recent reflection cruise, please excuse the grammatical errors noticed after the fact.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=249175

 

Thanks for taking the time to write a review. Will be cruising on the Reflection in July… hope our experience is better than yours.:)

[MVPinBoynton]

LOP,

I am sorry that your Reflection cruise was not up to your expectations. Our review of the Dec 7 cruise was quite positive, especially as to the service received. I was even surprised at how pleasant and efficient the folks in guest relations were. They are normally punch drunk from complaints and demands of rude passengers. Of course our cruise was before the busiest few weeks. Although it is not a good excuse for poor service; but with the two holiday weeks in a row, I am sure the ship was very full and the employees very tired.

[LOP]

Thanks all...and anyone that has ever met me or my wife can attest that we ALWAYS have a smile on our face and a pleasant greeting.

 

And as I stated, there were a few very friendly faces in terms of staff, but overall this is the lowest in terms of customer service that we have ever experienced...especially from what we witnessed (not experienced) with management.

 

Oh well, we are not bitter, just wanted to share our experience in hopes that others have a better time on future cruises...as I'm sure they will.

 

Again, Reflection is a GRAND ship, Celebrity did very well on this one!!!:D

[dodger1964]

Thanks all...and anyone that has ever met me or my wife can attest that we ALWAYS have a smile on our face and a pleasant greeting.

 

And as I stated, there were a few very friendly faces in terms of staff, but overall this is the lowest in terms of customer service that we have ever experienced...especially from what we witnessed (not experienced) with management.

 

Oh well, we are not bitter, just wanted to share our experience in hopes that others have a better time on future cruises...as I'm sure they will.

 

Again, Reflection is a GRAND ship, Celebrity did very well on this one!!!:D

 

I didn't read your review as "bitter". Everyone just has to relay their personal experiences in these reviews.

 

I'm sure others on the same cruise would say they had the "best cruise ever".

 

There are so many things that go into ones perception that it is very easy to see how someone can have bad experience and someone else just the opposite.

 

We are on the Reflection 4 Saturdays from now (YAY..tired of snow and COLD), and will go into our cruise with open mind and hopefully will experience the "good side" of X!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I was on the January 25 Reflection cruise. In my experience, the food was excellent. As was the service. We were in select dining on the port side and had wonderful table service and the best sommelier we've ever had. Excellent cabin service.

 

I did not find the officers as engaged with the passengers as on past cruises. No senior officers showed up at the Cruise Critic Connections party and the CD didn't open the party, which I thought was strange. I had several occasions to stop by Guest Relations and found the folks there to be unfailingly smiling and polite. One interesting thing I learned was that they no longer use Attention to Detail cards.

 

Sorry to hear your experience was not the same. Better luck next time!

[Alsmez]

Do you think the rudeness was due to the premium package? I can see why it would hurt their tips as there is no tip line incentive / paper to sign. We always tip extra either in cash or on our non package paper slip...I didn't see many handling out extra cash tips on our cruise. Not that anyone has to tip extra...and honestly, probably wouldn't have added an extra $1.00 for each $2.50 can of soda like I did with the signed slip. Maybe just every other can. :)

 

I'm not sure - from what I understand, the bartenders receive a 15% tip on each drink you order with the package, so they're still getting paid. I suppose they might not be getting the extra $1 and $2 tips that people might be inclined to leave if they were getting a slip though. However, in the case of the Mast Bar, the rudeness occurred before we even presented our cards - the guy was either an a$$ or having a really bad week! The Cellarmasters thing was definitely due to the package, though, or rather a combination of the package and our unwillingness to buy an enomatic card.