1st & last time 7/4/14 celebrity reflection

[sweetpea143]

For background we're a family of 3 with a 17 y/o son and have cruised Disney Cruise Line, NCL and Holland America for the past 14 years. We booked Celebrity with our friends, consisting of a family of 5 with a 16 y/o son, a 14 y/o daughter and an 11 y/o daughter turning 12 on the cruise. Our friends are frequent RCL and NCL cruisers.

 

We understood Celebrity was more upscale than NCL and RCL. It wasn't by any measure.

 

Embarkation in Civitavecchia was very smooth and quick. On board lunch in the buffet was very good and service was great. Cabin was balcony #8136 and was very comfortable for 3 people with the fold down bed. Room attendants were nice and we have no complaints.

 

We were scheduled to depart 6PM for Messina, but the ship (which had its inaugural season last year and is to me, still brand new) had a malfunction which required over 24 hours to repair. We missed the Messina port but Celebrity credited us $200 per room plus $50 per 3rd and 4th passenger. A nice gesture, but we had not been to Messina and coming from the U.S., the port was far more valuable and important to us than $250.

 

While stranded at Civitavecchia for 1.5 to 2 days, Celebrity offered passengers a complimentary shuttle into Civitavecchia. Which was nice, but most passengers didn't book the cruise with the draw being Civitavecchia. They booked the cruise with the draw being ROME. Celebrity did not offer a complimentary shuttle into Rome; which is where most passengers fly into and desire to spend more time in. When we inquired with Celebrity we learned that all Celebrity would provide was the Civitavecchia shuttle. BUT, Celebrity was sympathetic and understood the desire to return to Rome for that forced port day and would gladly book a passenger on a hastily arranged and last minute shore excursion day transport from the ship to Rome at a more than inflated price. Celebrity made their money off the shore excursion transport into Rome but provided only complimentary transportation to Civitavecchia. Wish we had the extra $ to book Celebrity's "excursion" into Rome to spend an extra day in Rome, but we didn't. We had just paid a lot of euros to be driven from Rome to Civitavecchia and Celebrity thinks we're going to spend it again on an excursion, but with them getting a cut.

 

First day under the published itinerary was a sea day, but I was still in port Civitavecchia. I purchased the day spa pass to enjoy the heated loungers, sauna and steam room. I was there most of the day and dirty towels piled up in the sauna, steam room and heated lounge area. I mean PILES and no one picked them up. A pair of used pedicure slippers were parked at the water station all day. And the water station was empty from noon when I arrived until 7PM when I left. It was never re-filled. Heated loungers are limited and a group of 4 adults in my area with 5 heated chairs were loud, disruptive and chair hogs. They left towels, books and belongings on the loungers while they went into the adjacent sauna. Against the rules. A husband and wife came in and waited for available chairs, while 4 of 5 sat unused but "taken." After 30 minutes, I told them the people hogging the chairs were in the sauna (we could see them through the glass door) and that they had been violating the chair rules for hours and that he should report it to a staff member. He did and he was told to just remove the belongings or to tell the guest himself that he was removing the items for violating the rules. Celebrity put these passengers in the uncomfortable position of confronting 4 other guests! It's Celebrity's JOB to enforce the rules and act or intervene on a guest inquiry or complaint. It's not the passenger's job! But in the Reflection Spa it sure is. It was so awful with the dirty towels, lack of heat in the sauna, dirty slippers and lack of water, I cancelled my spa pass for the remainder of the cruise. A real disappointment for me because the spa access is a highlight of my cruise.

 

The only premium restaurant we dined in was Q'Sine to celebrate the 12th Birthday of our friend's daughter. The food was good, but comparing with upsell restaurants on NCL, HAL and DCL, not $45 pp good. During dinner at Q'Sine, our friend and the 12 y/o went to the public ladies' room during dinner. The door was locked to the restroom and a few seconds after trying to open it, the door was unlocked and a male officer in ship uniform walked out. He actually commented to them and the women who had arrived behind our friends, that the restroom was clean for them to use (as if he were inspecting it). Upon entering the empty bathroom, they met a female janitorial staff member inside the bathroom. Yuck.

 

Our friend asked me to report this because she didn't want her kids to hear her report it and focus on it further. That night I tried to call Guest Relations 5-6 times from our cabin and no one answered, despite the 24/7 availability. The next morning I called Guest Relations and they confirmed their 24/7 availability and denied that a call would have gone unanswered. I requested to speak to a supervisor and I spoke to a wonderful assistant guest relations manager. I told her everything and she was genuinely shocked by the bathroom incident and upset at the lack of an answer to our calls.

 

I mentioned to the assistant guest relations manager that the ship must have surveillance video to prove/disprove what I was reporting. She called back later and said she had conferred with security and they had confirmed what I had reported and seen activity leading up to it. She generally confirmed that the male was a ship officer who had no business in the bathroom. She restored some of our faith in this cruise line as we struggled to explain to 2 male and 1 female teenager, and 1 young lady turning 12 (who witnessed this) why it was inappropriate, why people in positions of power should not take advantage of those with lesser power, and why they should trust that there would be consequences suffered by the wrongdoers. We realize that this could have occurred on any cruise line. But, it happened on Celebrity, on our first sailing and in conjunction with every other operational disfunction this cruise line personifies.

 

This sailing had 2 tender ports. We did not book a shore excursion in the 2 Greek tender ports. The night prior to the first tender port, we were told by our wonderful dining attendant that we had to be at Guest Relations at 7AM the following day, to obtain a tender ticket for that day. Celebrity did not inform guests of their policy until late the night before when the itinerary for the following day was delivered to the cabin. Consequently, there were more people waiting to get a number from Guest Relations (like a deli) than there were those with numbers getting called to board a tender. This happened for both Greek tender ports. Upon hearing this, we went personally to Guest Relations and while waiting in line, we realized why Guest Relations had not answered the phone 2 nights before. The Reflection does not have a dedicated area for music and dancing. They have the band/DJ in the main foyer on the 3rd deck, IN FRONT OF THE GUEST RELATIONS COUNTER, and they don't answer phone calls because they can't hear them! There is no customer service from the time the band plays in front of Guest Relations until they finish. What genius thought of that? Plus, if you want to dance, it's uninviting and uncomfortable as you have a band/DJ, people dancing and walking and talking by 2-3 stories up. It's an atrium! People walking above look at the dancers below and snicker. The guests become the Celebrity Reflection entertainment without knowing (classy) and they don't have a comfortable place to sit, relax and have a drink.

 

There is no comfortable place to sit and enjoy the music and dance if you like. We love to go dancing on cruises but on Celebrity, we weren't about to disco in the main area while 3 floors of passengers walked by, pointed, took photos, posted on Instagram, etc. There are many appropriate and comfortable venues on the Reflection for dancing and listening to a band/DJ, but for obvious reasons, Celebrity tries to draw the crowd to the main foyer where all the shops and casino are located. One night our Daily reported the DJ playing at the lounge with a dance floor and panoramic views in the 14th floor, at 10PM. We arrived at 10:15PM and the staff told us the DJ was scheduled, but didn't show up. Really? This is the mentality of this ship and most staff.

 

Meals in the main dining room were average to mediocre. One or more of us ate escargot every night for the first several nights because it was on the every day menu. Afterwards, it didn't taste the same, so I asked that it be removed. Later during the same meal, I ordered tomato soup and to me, it tasted like water, ketchup and salt. I didn't complain, I just asked that it be removed and changed for the French Onion soup. I was approached at the table by a man in a uniform (still don't know who he was) and he questioned me and berated me for having the food returned. This is a cruise and I could have ordered 3 of the same appetizer or soup (and I wasn't returning a steak), so why this dining room officer would embarrass me like that is still a mystery. That has never happened to us on any cruise and we've been cruising for 14 years.

 

There's more, but in an effort to be as brief as I can, I will discontinue this review with the knowledge that the most important points were expressed. We're returning to Disney, NCL and HAL. Our friends have recommended RCL for years, but after this experience on RCL's related line, they are not so sure anymore. We won't return and we aren't likely to try RCL as it is related to Celebrity. We hope everyone else has a great experience.

[dln929]

"Heated loungers are limited and a group of 4 adults in my area with 5 heated chairs were loud, disruptive and chair hogs. They left towels, books and belongings on the loungers while they went into the adjacent sauna. Against the rules. A husband and wife came in and waited for available chairs, while 4 of 5 sat unused but "taken." After 30 minutes, I told them the people hogging the chairs were in the sauna (we could see them through the glass door) and that they had been violating the chair rules for hours and that he should report it to a staff member. He did and he was told to just remove the belongings or to tell the guest himself that he was removing the items for violating the rules. Celebrity put these passengers in the uncomfortable position of confronting 4 other guests! It's Celebrity's JOB to enforce the rules and act or intervene on a guest inquiry or complaint. It's not the passenger's job! But in the Reflection Spa it sure is."

 

I can totally relate to this incident as it pretty much happened to me on the Reflection and it left a sour impression. I came into the spa and most of the loungers had occupants on them but there were about three that had only towels on them. I looked around to see if they obviously belonged to someone but there didn't appear to be anyone so I put the towels in the hamper and took one of the chairs for myself. Bliss! Until about 15 minutes or so when this man came up to me and jabbed me on the shoulder (yes, jabbed) and angrily told me that I stole his wife's lounger and now because of me they couldn't relax by each other. I was taken aback to say the least but I told him quite firmly that there was no reserving and that I wasn't moving. When I left the spa this man shot daggers at me with a dirty look. What made it worse was that this man exactly fit the demographic that (according to this forum) Celebrity is trying to attract. Celebrity can keep them. Like you I won't be back.

[Kevnzworld]

I feel your pain! :)

I sailed on the Reflection in April and I can relate. The issues you bring up are symptomatic of Celebrity overall these days. Dirty towels, bad service and poor food....

I like Celebrity, but I liked them a lot more before their fares increased by 50% .

Given the fare increases and budget cuts, I'm migrating to other cruise lines.

I'm Elite +, and I want to try the new suite restaurant hoping that it isn't just Blu version 2 ...

[TxnAquarian]

Wow! You guys are either having really bad one-off experiences, or are just being dramatic. But we have never had anything like this on our Celebrity cruises. In fact, given a choice between a higher-end cruise on Crystal or going with Celebrity, we prefer Celebrity. We have had nothing but fantastic cruises, with a little hiccup here and there. I have never seen a dirty towel anywhere; in fact, I see the staff constantly cleaning. The food is always good, although we are becoming bored with Blu. And the staff, except for the occassional bad apple, are fantastic. I'm sorry to hear that you guys have not had the same experience. And I'm hoping that these issues aren't going to start becoming systemic across the fleet =(

 

 

 

Michael

[buffetking]

Hanky panky in the bathroom! You would think with camera's everywhere recording everything officers would be more discreet, especially in passenger area's. Guess he just had to have it...NOW. Too bad children had to witness it.

 

Does staff forget there is something called...the internet? They do something stupid

and in an instant it can be posted all over the world..with video or pictures.

 

If towels pile up in the spa...take a picture and post it. If enough people record bad service,

Celebrity will have address these shortcomings, or risk losing business. They are not the only ships afloat.