Reflection Review, June 27th - Suite Class

[pumpkin 11]

To begin I’ll try to make the review at least a little short as some reviews on here can get very long, but I probably will go on and on! DW writing, traveled with DH and our DS who is 20 yrs old. We are from South Carolina. We have traveled on Celebrity for almost two decades and it is still our cruise line of choice, even as times have changed so much in the cruise industry. We mostly have done Caribbean cruises out of Florida, but over the years have ventured to Alaska and Europe a handful of few times. We sailed to Rome three years ago on the Equinox just for one day. We quickly realized that one day was not enough. I’ll start with ports first to change things up a bit. We did no tours with Celebrity for obvious reasons.

 

Rome - Pre cruise we arrived two days ahead and did A LOT of walking. Our Hotel was close to the metro and the central train terminal so we had good access to just about everywhere. Pre-cruise we walked around the Castro Pretorio area, visited the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Basilica San Paolo (breathtaking, but not in a great area), Trevi fountain, Pantheon, and the Imperial Forum Area including the National Monument. Post-cruise we visited the Vatican a second time, loved it. Rome can be a rather dirty and an inconvenient city, but we loved the food (and gelato) as usual! I don’t think the sites to see would ever get old, they are simply spectacular.

 

 

 

Santorini – Beautiful. Hard to put into words. It really does look like the postcards. Got off the tenders to find a very crowded dock. But with ease, we found the ferry to Oia and took the bus back to Fira. Both are spectacular. We spent probably five hours on land in total. Lots of nice shops and restaurants with fantastic views. The boat trip to Oia and the bus back to Fira was 15 Euros pp. I recommend the tram down as the path is difficult with the donkeys. Very hot here.

 

 

Athens – We had a lovely private full day tour the first day seeing the major sites: Acropolis, Parthenon, lunch, and then the Acropolis museum. At the conclusion of the tour we drove up a hill far beyond the acropolis with fantastic views of the city. The amount of buildings that sprawl out from the city center is overwhelming. The acropolis museum was an absolute delight. Not only is the building a splendid piece of architecture, it has some really ancient reliefs that really give you an idea of what people thousands of years ago actually believed. I do agree with others here, if you don’t want to leave Athens – having an overnight is rather useless. Again, very hot.

 

 

Mykonos – Took the bus to town of course and spend a few hours walking around. This day was quite windy for some reason. Very quaint town, but shopping and eating seemed on the pricy side. Definitely worth the walk around town. We then took a small bus to Paradise beach. We actually very much enjoyed the beach and concluded that it definitely rivals the best beaches in the Caribbean. Only downside was the water was cold. They had nice padded loungers and shade was available. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

 

 

Kusadasi – Definitely a highlight here. We did a private tour with just the three of us to see the Virgin Mary house and the ancient city of Ephesus. We had room service delivered early here as the tour met at 7:30. Ephesus was very hot, but a truly wonderful site of antiquity. The Celsius library was stunning in real life. Back in roman times it was for sure a very wealthy city. Kusadasi looked like a wonderful port to spend more time in. I’m not surprised Celebrity has pulled the Turkey ports from future cruises, but compared to the Greek mainland, Kusadasi felt safer and was certainly cleaner. I feel for the locals who make their money on tourists. Definitely do your shopping here.

 

 

Bodrum – What a quaint port. Reminded me of St. Thomas. We did a private boat tour with two other parties and had a fantastic time. They took us to coves and we were able to swim, snorkel, and relax on the boat. The scenery was beautiful. The food, drink, and hospitality were just ok. A great way to spend the day.

 

 

Crete (Chania) – The St. Croix of the Greek Islands. A shuttle was available at a cost of 1.75 Euros. We enjoyed the city very much. The market place and Venetian harbor were lovely. Some good shopping to be found here as well. We also sampled some desserts made in a fresh bakery which were delicious. You will not go hungry in this town. Chania is a great place to walk on your own. It was nice to see how the locals lived as well. This day was extremely hot.

 

 

Naples – We had originally planned to take the ferry to Capri, but didn’t like the fact that it took all day and just took the time to explore Naples instead. As other have said countless times. It isn’t a very clean or organized city, but it was well worth a look. We did the hop on hop off bus which we thought was a good way to see the city, the harbor, and the surrounding landscape. We got off at one point and walked around before heading back to the ship. This isn’t a place I would spend time trying to look for a nice restaurant, but the margarita pizzas looked quite good. Once again, very hot here.

Edited July 22, 2016 by pumpkin 11

[pumpkin 11]

Cabin - 9376 S1 corner Sky Suite. We have only ever had one suite once a long time ago, so the perks were pretty much new for us. I now understand why people love these rooms so much. They are truly wonderful (quiet) living spaces. The best feature was of course the balcony. We like to enjoy the sun and we didn’t even have to compete with everyone else up at the pool to do it. A benefit we surely appreciated. Loved the window too. The bathroom was a very nice size and very well fitted out. Bulgari products are a huge step up from the normal Celebrity issue amenities. Our cabin stewards Mariano and Israel were fabulous. Our room was spotless and they were very friendly. On many occasions they were there and gladly opened our door. Our butler Bart, was another Gem. We didn’t use him much but he was so nice and made our morning cappuccinos hot. He was very helpful in Santorini as he escorted us off the ship to the tender in record time. I think he would done anything for us. Fantastic service. Only criticisms would be the average hanging space in the closet and how low the rain shower head is. Very minor issues. I now understand what all the fuss is about these rooms. They are indeed special.

 

 

 

Luminae – I really do not understand how anyone could have any serious complaints about Luminae. They would bend over backwards to get us anything we wanted. As a comparison, this restaurant is on par with just about any fine dining restaurant in the greater Charlotte area. You may be able to go down a step in quality and find more appealing choices, but not quality. The matre’d and hostess were very accommodating in making our reservations. We had the same waiter, (Vishrel I believe his name was) and he would bring us our usual drinks every night without even asking. I also had a made to order salad every night made just for me. The service here is truly wonderful. The food is rich, but you can definitely choose lighter appetizers to not feel as full. Loved the Milk Chocolate Brownie and the Melting Sphere. The Luminae burger is out of this world. Breakfast was also very nice. In short, we loved Luminae. Only complaint with regards to food was that it seemed like none of the tomatoes were ripe. Odd as we were sailing from Italy, but seriously that was my only complaint here. It would be nice if they locally sourced their menus, but we very much enjoyed It. Well done Celebrity.

 

 

Lawn Club – We had two free specialty dinning reservations but only did one night at the lawn club because it was the only one we had never tried before. We ate that evening while docked in Santorini, breathtaking. The food was very good. I had a steak, two shrimp kebabs, and we ordered just one margarita pizza for the three of us. They gave us MORE than enough food and it was well worth it. The melted chocolate chip cookie dessert was delicious. If you have had it you know what I am talking about! Great service here as well. We didn’t use our second specialty evening as we were so pleased with our experience in Luminae.

 

 

Michaels Club – The open bar here is a wonderful perk. We already had a package, but spending time here with fellow guests before dinner was a real highlight. Staff was extremely nice and very well trained in customer service. For canapés they served sushi from sushi on five a few times so we didn’t feel the need to try it out. I’m sure it’s still very good. Entertainment here was minimal but appreciated when there. Strings were very good one evening. We didn’t use the concierge but he was always available. Just about any drink from 7am to midnight in a private atmosphere, lovely.

 

 

 

Oceanview café – The buffet was fine. Breakfast and lunch remained largely the same while they had some more appealing food for dinner. I would just say the buffet was good, nothing close to really bad but very little that was excellent. For dinner they had some very nice themed Greek, Turkish, and Italian foods. Mozzarella looked very good. Greek and Turkish sweets were very tasty. The black and white cookies in the NY deli section at dinner were just as good as Hoboken. With that said, the buffet was very clean and tables were cleared very quickly. It certainly met our expectations as most of the time we were on the go with so many port days. The free ice cream is defiantly better than the gelato downstairs by a mile IMHO. The low fat ice creams were absolutely delicious.

Entertainment – The new “broken strings show” and “elisia” (or whatever it was called) were okay. Really nice music and staging but the storyline is almost impossible to follow. Is the volume to loud or do the mics just not pick up the lyrics? Not really sure. A range of talent for sure with the singers. Pretty much all of the dancers were impressive. The comedian Greg London was really funny. Probably the best show was the Celine Dion tribute with Tracey Shield. She was Fantastic. The Flyboys quartet was also very popular. We love trivia and the questions this time around we thought were very good. We always have a lot of fun with these. The sessions were quite well attended.

 

 

The Reflection is in really good shape. All decks and public areas are very clean and in good order. These ships are truly contemporary works of art. The atrium/lobby areas are lovely. I don’t think there are ships I like more as far as style goes than the solstice class. The only elite perks we used were the laundry/ dry cleaning coupons and the port day spa pass. The double size Persian garden was very welcome (I did miss the T-pool on the millennium class!). We didn’t feel the need to utilize much else as Michael’s club satisfied the free drinks/ tea time atmosphere. The captain and senior officers were very visible which was nice. They love to brag about their crew and ship, and they have good reason to. Smiling faces and professionalism just about everywhere we went. I was sorry we didn’t attend more of the speakers as some of them seemed very interesting. I hope Celebrity keeps these. We had the trip of a lifetime on the Reflection and will certainly try to book more suites in the future. If you have never booked a suite consider trying it at least once, they really treat you like royalty.

Edited July 22, 2016 by pumpkin 11

[NanaChar]

We had Bart as our butler earlier this year. He was marvelous. I had thought about a corner suite but was hesitant since the only ones open were on 7th deck when we booked. I was worried about the service being only one of two suites on the deck. What was your experience?

 

 

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[watchdiva]

Great review! We are on the Reflection next February and am reading everything I can find about the suite life on Celebrity!

 

 

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[Clarea]

Excellent report, thanks!

[excitedofharpenden]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mykonos – Took the bus to town of course and spend a few hours walking around. This day was quite windy for some reason. Very quaint town, but shopping and eating seemed on the pricy side. Definitely worth the walk around town. We then took a small bus to Paradise beach. We actually very much enjoyed the beach and concluded that it definitely rivals the best beaches in the Caribbean. Only downside was the water was cold. They had nice padded loungers and shade was available. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

Mykonos is renowned for being windy. I was there three times in June on Azamara Journey. We tendered twice and docked the last time. It was windy every time. We broke three mooring ropes when docked because of the wind and instead of being there overnight had to leave at midnight. A shame. Have to disagree about Paradise. Good place for a beach party, but it wasn't great for swimming because of a reef right near the shore. There are much nicer beaches elsewhere in Greece.

 

It's a neat way to get to Oia on Santorini, isn't it? I've done that a few times and never tire of the trip up the coast on the boat.

 

We saw Reflection a few times as she shared ports with us, but not on your trip.

 

Phil

[pumpkin 11]

We had Bart as our butler earlier this year. He was marvelous. I had thought about a corner suite but was hesitant since the only ones open were on 7th deck when we booked. I was worried about the service being only one of two suites on the deck. What was your experience?

 

 

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I actually had similar reservations because we were on deck 9, but he would make an effort to come at least once a day and he gave us his extension. Bart was only ever a phone call away.

 

 

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[pumpkin 11]

Mykonos is renowned for being windy. I was there three times in June on Azamara Journey. We tendered twice and docked the last time. It was windy every time. We broke three mooring ropes when docked because of the wind and instead of being there overnight had to leave at midnight. A shame. Have to disagree about Paradise. Good place for a beach party, but it wasn't great for swimming because of a reef right near the shore. There are much nicer beaches elsewhere in Greece.

 

 

 

It's a neat way to get to Oia on Santorini, isn't it? I've done that a few times and never tire of the trip up the coast on the boat.

 

 

 

We saw Reflection a few times as she shared ports with us, but not on your trip.

 

 

 

Phil

 

 

I actually saw the reef as a benefit. I swam out quite a bit and it was still quite shallow in parts. I've always hated how sticky sand can be, and liked the smaller rocks. My husband and son prefer the normal sand. To each their own!! The boat trip was beautiful.

 

 

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Edited July 22, 2016 by pumpkin 11

[BobbyD]

Thanks for the report. We'll be on her in two weeks! So exciting!

[jabrown40]

We're also in our first suite next March on Reflection. Love hearing positive feedback for Luminae!

[portofrome]

Thanks for the review.

[DJromebound]

We had Bart as our butler earlier this year. He was marvelous. I had thought about a corner suite but was hesitant since the only ones open were on 7th deck when we booked. I was worried about the service being only one of two suites on the deck. What was your experience?

 

 

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Sky Suite last April - we could easily live without the butler service which just added another layer between us and reservations we wanted to make. Did nothing special and another potential trip-end tip.

 

Provided incorrect information several times.

 

The real resource who was very helpful to us was the concierge in Michaels Club. She even fixed things the butler messed up.

 

My thought: don't make any decisions based on butler service unless you're trying to impress yourself or your friends being able to say it.

 

 

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[Lastdance]

We had Bart as our butler earlier this year. He was marvelous. I had thought about a corner suite but was hesitant since the only ones open were on 7th deck when we booked. I was worried about the service being only one of two suites on the deck. What was your experience?

 

 

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We had an S1 corner aft on deck 9 on the equinox. The service from our attendant was do bad, that I didn't think anyone would believe me if I told them. Three days without any PM service and etc. I can only say that Celebrity moved us there from a C2 for $300 total. We loved the cabin! That made up for the rest...until then, we never had poor service, but were always on higher decks.

 

 

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[H2OH!]

Great succinct review

 

Thank you!

[countess5]

Thanks for the review! It brought me back to two years ago when we were on Reflection sailing the Eastern Med!! We had a Celebrity Suite and everything was fantastic!!! We loved all the ports, especially Santorini.

 

I need to book that one again! :D

 

We loved the ship so much we sailed her in the Caribbean!!! Fantastic as the first time.

[Texed]

Pumpkin,

 

Thank you sooooooooo much for posting. :)

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your report.

 

Keith

[landj999]

I think I read on some post that Reflection has a lot more Sky suites than some other ships. Was Luminae crowded ? Or Michaels club?

[pumpkin 11]

Nah, not really. It does have more sky suites but we didn't notice Luminae being especially crowded. It was almost full at peak time.

 

 

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[chemmo]

Nah, not really. It does have more sky suites but we didn't notice Luminae being especially crowded. It was almost full at peak time.

 

 

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Thanks for your review generally and comments on Michael's Club specifically! We really have enjoyed Michael's pre and post dinner on previous cruises and were concerned in case it would be much busier on Reflection which we have booked for 2018.